Aspiring To The Immortal Path

To say it was difficult would be wrong, but so would be calling it easy. One needed to satisfy only two conditions.

The first was that the Spiritual Space needed to be large enough to hold ten thousand drops of spiritual liquid. The second was to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge.

The former required accumulation while the latter required a determined attack.

For Tang Jie, the determined attack needed to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge actually wasn't very difficult. The true problem was accumulation.

In these last few years, despite Tang Jie's diligent cultivation, he had only entered Spirit Sea four months ago. At a normal pace, he would need at least four years to maximize the size of his Spirit Sea.

The only way to skip these four years was a large number of resources.

And that was basically impossible in normal circumstances.

But he was currently in the Langya Blessed Land, which was rich in resources, so he had some hope.

The only problem was that the herbs needed to be made into pills to have an effect, and just like the Valley of No Return, the Langya Blessed Land did not allow pill furnaces to be brought in, not even mentioning the fact that Tang Jie didn't know how to refine pills.

Tang Jie had a headache thinking about how to deal with this problem.

Within the Langya Blessed Land, Tang Jie looked into the distance.

Various flowers and herbs were growing everywhere.

They swayed in the wind, strongly tempting Tang Jie into pulling them all out.

If not for the problem of refinement, he really might have done such a thing. He really didn't care about the Wandering Palace's rules.

He obeyed the rules because he wanted to leave a good impression on all the esteemed masters, but if breaking the rules reaped him greater benefits, he would instantly transform into the worst rulebreaker.

Men didn't care much about loyalty, only about whether the temptation was great enough.

The fact that he could only look at all these rare plants left Tang Jie in pain. If not for that vague sense that he was being watched, he might have given up on his original plan and chosen to cultivate the Parting Classic, using everything in the Langya Blessed Land for his baths.

But even if he wasn't using the Parting Classic, he still didn't give up on his desire for this land's resources.

"I don't believe that this world doesn't let me eat things raw!" Tang Jie muttered.

There had to be some sort of herb that could be used without processing!

The problem was that Tang Jie had never heard in any of his classes of herbs that could directly increase spiritual energy without processing.

Was there none?

Or were his teachers just not telling?

Tang Jie thought back to the Valley of No Return.

If the students knew which herbs could be used on the spot, such herbs would probably be wiped out from the Valley of No Return.

It was not appropriate for the students to learn of such things at this point.

Upon realizing this, Tang Jie chuckled.

"You won't tell me, so I'll go and ask."

The Nine Executions Immortal Formation.

He Chong sat cross-legged on a large stone.

He sat motionless, two white slivers emerging from his nostrils and coiling in the air like little snakes before going back into his nostrils. There was a thunderous boom from within He Chong's body, like countless little explosions were taking place.

Not far from him, Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth stood, not daring to disturb him.

This cycle continued for some time until He Chong finally concluded his cultivation session.

Opening his eyes, he asked, "You still haven't found the kid?"

The two of them replied in unison, "We've looked everywhere, but we've found no sign of him!"

He Chong scowled. "Hmph, useless trash!"

Not long after they had split up, He Chong had realized that he had fallen for Tang Jie's provocation and lost the best chance to take control of the situation.

When he failed to find the checkpoint, He Chong realized that this probably wasn't because of a lack in his mastery of formations, but because somebody was causing trouble in the shadows. And there was no doubt that the troublemaker was Tang Jie.

But it was now difficult to find Tang Jie. While He Chong focused on breaking the True Celestial Heart Curse, Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth searched everywhere for Tang Jie, but they ultimately failed.

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Of course, in He Chong's eyes, this wasn't his error, but the incompetence of Deng and Duan.

Duan Fourth was somewhat unconvinced. "True Person, we've looked everywhere, but we still haven't been able to find Tang Jie. He must have entered the fifth formation already."

He Chong raised an eyebrow and turned to Deng Yuqing. "Yuqing, what do you think?"

Duan Fourth was much stronger than Deng Yuqing, but the Hawk Hall's Deng Yuqing had the more nimble mind.

Even though He Chong called them "useless", he was just venting. He still wanted to hear what Deng Yuqing had to say.

Deng Yuqing answered, "I don't think that's very possible. This Myriad Corpse Formation already had us running for our lives, and Tang Jie is no suicidal idiot. He won't dare enter the fifth formation until he completely comprehends the Ninedark Mantra and this formation's legacy!"

Duan Fourth said in confusion, "Then where is he hiding? Brother Deng even used the Heavenly Art Eye to try and find this kid. Even if this kid was invisible, he shouldn't have been able to escape Brother Deng's Art Eye."

Deng Yuqing shook his head. "I don't know. We understand too little about him. We don't know what he learned in Basking Moon Academy these last few years, what advantages the Martial Mirror gave him, or what sort of legacy was left behind in the fourth formation. Any one of these unknowns could play a part in his ability to evade us."

He Chong couldn't help but sigh.

Deng Yuqing was right, and precisely because he was so right, He Chong felt very helpless.

Ever since he had entered the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, He Chong had been restrained and repressed. He was clearly dealing with a child who hadn't yet entered Mortal Shedding, but a Celestial Heart True Person still couldn't do anything. Now that he couldn't even find Tang Jie, he felt even less confidence than before.

As the three of them wallowed in their helplessness, Duan Fourth suddenly pointed into the distance and said, "True Person, look!"

He Chong raised his head and saw someone making their way over. Who else could it be but Tang Jie?

They couldn't find him, but he instead delivered himself to their doorstep?

From Tang Jie's attitude, this didn't seem to be a coincidence. Rather, he had sought them out on purpose.

Killing intent appeared on Duan Fourth's face. "I'll seize him right now and see how he gets away this time."

Deng Yuqing stopped him. "What are you in such a rush for? Don't you see he's come to visit us himself? Let's wait until we hear what he has to say first."

Duan Fourth stomped his feet. "This kid is too cunning. I'm worried that we won't be able to do anything once he's done talking!"

He had struck upon the truth with these words, but alas, sometimes, there just wasn't anything that could be done.

In truth, the three of them had sighed in relief when Tang Jie had appeared.

At least Tang Jie hadn't entered the fifth formation, so they still had a chance.

They hadn't noticed at this time that Tang Jie's presence or lack thereof already had a massive psychological effect on them.

Tang Jie casually walked over with a smile on his face, as if he didn't realize that he was facing down three enemies who could easily obliterate him.

As he came over, he even waved. "Hey, are you guys doing well? Long time no see!"

Their faces twitched.

He Chong snorted, "Since you dared to come, you must have something to back it up. I'd like to see what you're going to use to escape my grasp!"

As too little time had passed, he still hadn't completely undone the True Celestial Heart Curse, but with his profound cultivation, He Chong had managed to minimize the True Celestial Heart Curse's power to the smallest possible. Right now, even if Tang Jie committed suicide, he would only injure He Chong at worst, not bring down both of them.

Thus, He Chong was now confident that he could deal with Tang Jie. If this kid was still relying on the True Celestial Heart Curse, then he would quickly find out the consequences of underestimating a Celestial Heart True Person.

Tang Jie shrugged. "What's the rush? If I really let you experience it now, there won't be a need to talk afterward."

"What do you want to talk about?" Deng Yuqing asked.

"I just want to ask you guys a few questions," Tang Jie replied.

"'Questions'?" The three of them were taken aback.

"Mm," Tang Jie replied. "I'd like to ask about Thousand Bell Grass, Mandarin Duck Flower, Red Tear Mushrooms[…] Among these herbs, which ones can be directly consumed to increase spiritual energy and which ones need to be processed?"

Tang Jie had named several dozen herbs in one go, all of them spiritual grasses found within the Langya Blessed Land.

The three of them looked at each other, and then Deng Yuqing frowned and asked, "Why are you asking this? Have you found these herbs?"

"That doesn't make sense." Duan Fourth scratched his head in confusion. "A massive war occurred here, and some supreme art was applied on the land, sucking out all of its essence and turning it into worthless soil. Unless one nurtures the soil essence once more, no spirit plants will grow here, even with all this spiritual energy around. Where could this kid have found rare herbs?"

"That's my problem. I just need your answer," Tang Jie coolly said.

He Chong's face darkened. "Brat, who do you think you're talking to?"

A Godhead student who dared to talk to him like this would have been killed on the spot for his crime of disrespect.

Tang Jie pursed his lips. "You guys probably don't have much food, right?"

The three of them grimaced.

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Tang Jie took out a bag. "This food can keep you three up for two to three months."

Deng Yuqing grunted, "Who do you think we are, actually…"

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Tang Jie cut him off. "If you don't want it, forget it."

He made a motion to destroy the bag.

The three of them shouted in unison, "No!"

He Chong glared out at him, and then he sighed and said, "Red Tear Mushrooms. Cut off the red spots on the cap and then boil it in water, after which it can be directly consumed. It can increase your spiritual energy a little upon consumption, but the effects are very limited. You would need to eat a lot for an obvious effect."

"Anything else? Tell me everything you know."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to get from the start of the Spirit Sea Tier to the Mortal Shedding Realm as quickly as possible."

He Chong froze, and then he exploded in laughter. "Kid, you've really got some ideas! But this will require a lot of resources on your part, and where are you going to find these herbs in a barren land like this?"

"I'm just preparing for the fifth formation."

He Chong grunted, "Thinking too far into the future isn't necessarily a good thing. You want to know? Fine; then double the amount of food."

"Very well. I'll send it over in a little while."

"'Send it over in a little while'?" He Chong was startled.

He realized that something was wrong and took a good, hard look at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie had a calm expression, and He Chong could tell from how the muscles on his mouth moved that he felt no fear in front of He Chong's powerful pressure. His eyes were also brimming with confidence, as if he cared not for the danger his opponents represented.

He held that cloth bag in the air so calmly that it was frightening.

He Chong's heart suddenly leapt.

He attacked, pointing a finger at Tang Jie's left leg. He held back, looking only to wound, not kill.

The blast of energy punched a hole through Tang Jie's thigh, and blood flowed out of the wound.

He Chong's mind calmed down at this sight.

But then he realized that some of the blood coming from the wound was actually flowing upward.

His heart trembled.

At the same time, Tang Jie looked down at his injured leg and muttered as if he couldn't feel anything, "So you still couldn't help yourself?"

The ice-cold voice made He Chong's heart grow cold, and an absurd idea popped up in his mind.

He looked at Tang Jie in shock and shook his head. "How? How is this possible?"

He howled and waved his right hand, sending a wave of energy from his palm to cut off Tang Jie's legs.

Blood flew, and Tang Jie's legs went flying into the air, causing Tang Jie to drop to the ground.

Even so, Tang Jie was unmoved. He simply looked at his stumps and sighed. "Alas, I told you not to rush things. Now I have to make this run again."

As he spoke, the gushing blood turned into spiritual fog that dissipated in the air. Tang Jie's body began to burn up into spiritual energy at the stumps, the flames rapidly creeping upward, rendering his body into spiritual fog until he was completely gone.

"No! Duan Fourth cried out in despair.

"I see…"

"Sure enough…"

Deng Yuqing and He Chong instantly understood what was going on.

It was no wonder they couldn't find Tang Jie. He had somehow mastered an extremely high-level duplication illusion spell.

This duplication illusion spell was no clone spell. The human created couldn't be used for battle and possessed zero combat ability. It couldn't even block attacks.

It simply authentically duplicated the targeted item. The human form was simply what had been ordered to be duplicated. Thus, rather than saying that it created a clone, it was more accurate to say that it had recreated an "object" with a human form.

Through this method, Tang Jie was able to make an illusory self, but he could also turn himself into a stone or a corpse. Deng and Duan naturally wouldn't be able to find him then.

As for why it could speak, this had nothing to do with the duplication spell. He was just using some other spell art he had learned from the Divine Firmament Sword Classic.

This duplication spell art was of such an extremely high level that even the Heavenly Art Eye, which was intended to see through illusions, couldn't penetrate it. It could even react according to the situation. Tang Jie bleeding from his injury was a sign of the spell's adaptive ability.

The ability of the illusion to react depended on the cultivator's proficiency in the spell. The higher the proficiency, the greater the ability to react.

Tang Jie had only started learning this spell, so he was far from reaching the standard. A single bolt of energy from a finger had been enough to make it fall apart. His facial expression had been stiff, the blood effects had been awful, even flowing upward… The artistry was terrible to behold, and those severed legs had been difficult to maintain and had simply disappeared.

While the Heavenly Art Eye hadn't been able to see the truth, poor craftsmanship had exposed Tang Jie.

But regardless, this duplication spell still left He Chong's trio stunned.

He Chong had seen many illusion spells, and there were countless ways to create the human form through illusions. But none of these created humans could react. Whenever a spell art flew over, the human illusion would keep acting as usual, unaffected by external factors.

None of them could actually start bleeding like the illusion Tang Jie had created.

This was the most formidable illusion spell He Chong had seen in his life. He had never even heard of an illusion spell capable of this.

Not long after the illusion had dissipated, another Tang Jie came strolling over.