Aspiring To The Immortal Path

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Lan Yu rode the wind, a pillar of energy spiraling around him and making his hair dance. He appeared like someone out of a painting: proud, cold, and carrying the self-confidence of the victor.

Behind him were two Horizon Ocean Pavilion students, the three of them forming a triangle. Opposed to them were two Thousand Passions Sect students.

And at the feet of these five people were five bodies.

As these sects were mortal foes, they weren't as polite as Basking Moon and Seven Absolutions. In this battle, five had died and four had escaped, the fatalities outnumbering the escapees.

"Deng Xiaoyu, the Thousand Passions Sect's defeat is certain. Why don't you concede already?" Lan Yu coldly said, folding his arms. There was still a vivid red stain of blood on the corner of his mouth.

In the clash just now, Lan Yu had allowed himself to be injured in order to finally kill a member of the Thousand Passions Sect, causing the balance of battle to weigh in the favor of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

Now that it was two versus three, the Thousand Passions Sect basically had no chance.

Lan Yu was simply too powerful, and if Tang Jie hadn't destroyed his green tassel sword, he might not have even needed to be injured.

Standing atop a tree, Deng Xiaoyu, who seemed like a general in his silver armor, smiled and twirled his silver spear. "There is no such word as 'retreat' in the clan laws of the Deng Clan. No matter how formidable Senior Brother Lan's cultivation is, this Deng is still willing to fight to the death."

In terms of talent, Lan Yu was number one, but in terms of family background, Deng Xiaoyu, a prince of Tetrapole, left everyone behind by an entire city block.

Although this was an era of magic where Immortals reigned supreme, where mortals set up their kingdoms and played the roles of stewards under the name of kings, these revered mortals still received some special treatment. The status of a prince was still above that of ordinary people.

The six major sects had decreed that one could not benefit from both secular authority and Immortal sect status. Deng Xiaoyu had been the crown prince, but to get into the Thousand Passions Sect, he had given up his right of inheritance. This seemed somewhat unbelievable for ordinary people, but for Immortals, this was as normal as could be.

While Crown Prince was a noble title, for some people, it might be better to have a place in an academy.

Thus, there were many similar examples to be found throughout history.

After joining the Thousand Passions Sect, Deng Xiaoyu still enjoyed the various resources provided by his royal family. He himself was a diligent worker, so even though he had only six cycles, he was still the strongest in his class, becoming one of the leader figures of the Thousand Passions Sect. This was also why Deng Xiaoyu brought up his clan laws.

Alas, he wasn't like Lan Yu. Lan Yu was truly the strongest in his class in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and while Deng Xiaoyu was a "leader figure", he was also a "male student" in the Thousand Passions Sect. The two weren't on the same level.

As Deng Xiaoyu had spoken, Lan Yu didn't waste words, simply grunting and saying, "If that's what you want, I'll send you on your way!"

Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect were sworn foes, so there was little to be said between them. He had only been asking for surrender to buy time to adjust his energy. After all, his abrupt burst to kill had placed a heavy burden on him.

Lan Yu thrust out his palms, sending a giant vortex spinning at Deng Xiaoyu. At the same time, the two other Horizon Ocean students lunged at the other Thousand Passions student, the bald Mu Yu. This person was ranked second in the Thousand Passions Sect and possessed outstanding strength.

The five of them battled once more.

They were the most elite of their respective sects, possessing formidable strength and numerous weapons. For a moment, the blasts of spell arts and the cold flashing of weapons filled the air.

Although the Thousand Passions Sect was disadvantaged in numbers, Lan Yu had heavy injuries and couldn't dominate the battlefield as he pleased. Moreover, the Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for having fast and unexpected spell arts. Thus, if they went all out, they could just barely hold on.

But as time passed and they used up large amounts of spiritual energy, the two of them started to falter.

Deng Xiaoyu was keeping up. He was in a duel against Lan Yu, and while he was no match for his foe, he was still holding his own. But Mu Yu was in a one-versus-two, and he was slowly tiring out.

The two students attacking him were called Gu Qinghan and Shen Zhong.

Shen Zhong was somewhat unimpressive, in the lower end of the power ranking of Horizon Ocean students, but Gu Qinghan was decently strong. Just like Mu Yu, he was ranked second in his sect. This was why Mu Yu was giving out first.

"Retreat! Get to the Basking Moon Sect!" Deng Xiaoyu shouted upon seeing this.

"You're not going anywhere!" Shen Zhong laughed. He raised his hand and thrust out several blasts of wind from his palm, cutting the pair off.

At the same time, he formed a spell, and a tiger made from fog and clouds appeared and lunged at Mu Yu.

Mu Yu grunted and swung a small wooden mallet, scattering the cloud tiger.

But as he was destroying the cloud tiger, the delicate and thin figure of Gu Qinghan shot up to his side and thrust a palm at his chest. Mu Yu was sent flying, but his mallet left his hand and slammed into Gu Qinghan, sending him flying as well.

In terms of injuries, Gu Qinghan had suffered the greater wound, but as a price, Mu Yu had thrown away his most important art relic.

Holding that wooden mallet, Gu Qinghan wiped away the blood on his mouth and said, "There's no honor in beating you like this, but the Wandering Palace is too important for that. My apologies for the offense, Brother Mu."

He stepped forward with his left foot and suddenly disappeared, and when he next appeared, it was right next to Mu Yu. From the look of it, it was a technique rather similar to the Chaoswind Step. But while the Chaoswind Step claimed to be a footwork technique, it was essentially spatial teleportation. Gu Qinghan's Celestial Stride Mantra was an actual footwork technique, its transformations only serving as a diversionary tactic.

As he appeared, Gu Qinghan thrust a finger at Mu Yu. At the same time, Shen Zhong attacked from the other side with his sword.

Mu Yu had no choice but to try to stop Gu Qinghan's finger. He was well aware of the power of this Bluestar Finger. While Gu Qinghan appeared unarmed, he had actually fused an art relic into his body to imbue himself with greater strength. While the power would be affected somewhat, it made it more flexible to use.

As palm met finger, blood gushed. Gu Qinghan's finger had flashed with starlight and pierced through Mu Yu's palm. At the same time, Shen Zhong's sword had hacked at Mu Yu's back, and his barrier had shattered, resulting in another wound on Mu Yu's back.

But he was a tenacious fellow, not even grunting as he thrust a palm at Shen Zhong.

Shen Zhong didn't think there would be anything to this palm, and left his barrier to take the blow, but a moment later, the palm pierced through the barrier and made contact with his body. He was sent flying away in a shower of blood.

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"How could this be?" Shen Zhong cried out in alarm. But Mu Yu paled, and his body tottered. Gu Qinghan once more rushed up to him, and the two of them exchanged palms once more. Gu Qinghan grunted, but Mu Yu tumbled from the air and was no longer able to get back up.

Gu Qinghan's face momentarily flushed red before going back to normal. He sighed, "An excellent Mistdrift Hand, and an excellent Immortal's Wrath. I didn't think that Senior Brother Mu had already entered the Formless Realm of the Seven Emotions Killer. Truly, your attacks are strange and hard to stop."

Just now, Mu Yu had paired Immortal's Wrath of the Seven Emotions Killer with his Mistdrift Hand to instantly break the barrier. Compared to the great ruckus when Ping Jingyue had used it, Mu Yu had produced a much smaller stir—so small that his opponent didn't even know that he had used this ultimate move until after it was done.

This was the true essence of the Thousand Passions Sect's mantras. The Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for its unexpected, fast, and varied spell arts. If every spell art were cast with as much sound and fury as Ping Jingyue, then they wouldn't be unexpected and fast at all. But getting to this level wasn't easy. One first had to cultivate to the third realm, the Formless Realm.

As Mu Yu lay on the ground, he smiled. "I didn't. I just forced it."

Gu Qinghan nodded. "Yes, I understand."

If Mu Yu had really cultivated to the Formless Realm, not even Lan Yu would be able to beat him.

When it came to talent, Mu Yu was actually better than Deng Xiaoyu, possessing an eight-cycle Jade Gate. Alas, he came from an average family and lacked material support.

Gu Qinghan continued, "If you were given time, you would definitely become an illustrious figure. Alas, the hatred between our two sects means that I cannot show mercy."

Mu Yu seemed to know this. He simply smiled and closed his eyes to await his death.

"Mu Yu!" Deng Xiaoyu shouted from nearby. He thrust his spear, sending a bolt of energy at Gu Qinghan, but Lan Yu intercepted it.

Gu Qinghan thrust a finger at Mu Yu's forehead.

Mu Yu seemed doomed, but at this moment, there was a blast of air from the distance, and a green bolt of energy shot at Gu Qinghan. Behind this green bolt of energy was a familiar face.

"Tang Jie!" Gu Qinghang was aghast. He was quite the decisive person, immediately backing away, using the Celestial Stride Mantra to move to the side.

But the moment he dodged, Tang Jie also disappeared.

The Chaoswind Step!

He appeared right next to Gu Qinghan.

Whoosh!

A saber wind struck Gu Qinghan's barrier, breaking through and sending him flying.

"Aaagh!" Gu Qinghan howled in pain. But he was also a fierce sort, not forgetting to counterattack by thrusting a Bluestar Finger at Tang Jie's face.

Tang Jie raised his saber to block. Meanwhile, a fireball came howling out of the distance.

In this dire moment, Gu Qinghan mustered all his strength and thrust out his palm, the powerful blast of energy forming a wall of air in front of him. The fireball collided with the wall and exploded, and Gu Qinghan used the opportunity to fall back. But as he retreated, a figure suddenly appeared from nowhere and punched him in the back: the combat puppet.

The combat puppet could render itself invisible, making it an excellent ambusher.

Gu Qinghan threw up blood as he was sent into the air. Tang Jie rushed up to grab him. For Xu Miaoran's sake, he didn't plan to kill, so he was going to take him alive. But just when he was about to succeed, Lan Yu appeared and thrust his palm at Tang Jie. It was done with incredible speed, and Tang Jie hastily brought up his palm to counter. In his haste, he wasn't able to put in enough strength. As their palms met, Lan Yu overpowered Tang Jie and struck Tang Jie in the chest, sending him away.

This was followed by a punch that blocked the pursuing Deng Xiaoyu's spear thrust. It was then that he grabbed Gu Qinghan and fell back, his eyes flashing with anger as he stared at Tang Jie.

The moment Tang Jie landed on the ground, he cursed, "Shit, the Oceancrosser Step again!"

Horizon Ocean Pavilion's Oceancrosser Step was extremely annoying, so fast that it allowed for both offense and rescue, and while running, one could also increase the power of one's palm strikes. Lan Yu's palm had almost broken Tang Jie's arm bone there, and it had also ruined Tang Jie's hostage-taking plan.

If he couldn't get the big one, at least he could get the small fry. As he jumped back, he stomped on the just-waking Shen Zhong, knocking him out again. He kicked him like a ball to Mu Yu's side so that the two of them were lying next to each other.

Wei Tianchong ran over, keeping an eye on Shen Zhong while feeding Mu Yu a pill.

Mu Yu gratefully said, "Thank you."

Wei Tianchong smiled. "No need for that. We're allies."

Mu Yu thought, You were doing everything you could to avoid us, having us face Horizon Ocean Pavilion alone while you bullied the Seven Absolutions Sect. Were we allies then? But he knew that he could only accept this situation.

Seeing that no one else was appearing, Mu Yu said in surprise, "Is it just you two?"

Wei Tianchong awkwardly replied, "Mm, the others have all gone."

Everyone was stunned.

They didn't know how the battle on the other side had gone, but they had all believed that the Seven Absolutions Sect's defeat was certain.

Horizon Ocean Pavilion was so desperately pursuing the Thousand Passions Sect because they wanted to finish the battle before the Basking Moon Sect finished off the Seven Absolutions Sect, and then run off with the five treasures. Horizon Ocean Pavilion was the best when it came to speed. If they wanted to run, nobody would be able to catch them easily.

But things had turned out completely differently from how they had expected. Only Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong were left from the Basking Moon Sect, forcing Lan Yu to reconsider whether there was any chance of turning the tables.

Deng Xiaoyu said, "Two is enough. Senior Brother Tang, Senior Brother Wei, let's work together to take down Lan Yu!"

Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong laughed, Wei Tianchong directly saying, "Naturally. Senior Brother Deng, you can relax. We're confident that we can beat up this Lan Yu kid!"

Lan Yu grimaced at these words.

He had already been humiliated once after losing to this pair. He barked, "Seeking death!"

He pushed his arms forward, and a wall of air surged at the trio.

Wei Tianchong was about to meet the attack when Tang Jie saw something wrong and pulled him to the side. The wall of wind surged forward, and as it got closer, it suddenly exploded into a shower of energy bolts.

Fortunately, Tang Jie had noticed it early and was able to put up a defense, or else Wei Tianchong would have been in danger.

Wei Tianchong paled at the sight. "It seems he's gotten more cunning since we last saw him."

"Stronger too," Tang Jie grunted.

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While Tang Jie had managed to go from Spirit Sea Tier to the Mortal Shedding Realm in twenty-some days, everyone else had also made some progress. After being defeated by Tang and Wei, Lan Yu had cultivated his combat arts, and this spell that made his wall of air turn into countless arrows was a new fighting method he had developed, capable of both attack and defense.

Lan Yu laughed when he saw that Tang Jie had avoided the attack. "Then try this one!"

He thrust out his hands again and again, sending more walls of air hurtling toward them.

Wei Tianchong was about to counterattack when Tang Jie shouted, "Use Evilhook Shadow Soldiers!"

Wei Tianchong was startled. Why use them?

The attacks of the Evilhook Shadow Soldiers were pitifully weak. As he got stronger himself, Wei Tianchong used this spell art less and less.

But he had always listened to Tang Jie, so he immediately released a large number of Evilhook Shadow Soldiers to pester Lan Yu.

Meanwhile, Tang Jie stood in front of Wei Tianchong, his Heartbreak Saber dancing with energy as he blocked the mass of energy arrows. He shouted. "Senior Brother Deng, Stillair, Laughter of No Return!"

Deng Xiaoyu was startled for a moment. Unlike Wei Tianchong, he couldn't possibly obey every order Tang Jie gave. But as Tang Jie had rescued them, he felt obligated to obey.

Thus, even though he didn't understand why he was doing it, he still used Still Air combined with the Laughter of No Return on Lan Yu.

Stillair was a spell art that sealed the air, preventing flight within a specified region, and the Seven Emotions Killer's Laughter of No Return gave this effect a powerful boost, affecting even ordinary speed acceleration spells. But this spell required constant maintenance and was a rather large burden on the caster. Thus, it wasn't good for one-on-one battles.

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The moment Stillair was cast, everyone dropped to the ground.

This didn't seem like a big deal, but Lan Yu suddenly paled.

When it was one versus three, he had still been brave and intimidating, but now, he was showing a shocked face. He simply pushed out an air wall before retreating.

He was making a run for it!

Tang Jie laughed as he blocked the attack with his saber. "What's wrong? Have you lost your confidence now that the Oceancrosser Step doesn't work?"

Lan Yu was so angry that he couldn't reply.

It was true that the combination of Stillair and the Evilhook Shadow Soldier neutralized the high speed and flight abilities of the Oceancrosser Step. And without the Oceancrosser Step, he had lost an important combat support. He could no longer be as agile and flexible in battle, dodging whatever he pleased. This would undoubtedly have a huge effect on his combat power.

Of course, while the Oceancrosser Step was important, it wasn't his sole support. The problem was that he had dared to go one versus three and even take the initiative precisely because of the speed granted by the Oceancrosser Step. Even if he couldn't win, he would at least teach Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong a lesson before leaving. With the flight speed of the Oceancrosser Step, no one would be able to catch him.

Thus, while the Oceancrosser Step was his tactical lynchpin, it was his strategic lynchpin, the key for his retreat, and also the lynchpin of his confidence.

At this moment, Tang Jie had given his self-confidence a grievous blow.

"Bastard!" Lan Yu shouted and thrust a finger of his right hand at Tang Jie.

Karmic Cycle Finger!

Tang Jie made a sword sign and shook his head. "It's useless."

He countered with a thrust of his finger.

There was an explosion of spiritual light, and Tang Jie's body surged with such an intense light that not even the Karmic Cycle Finger could penetrate through it.

"Formless Golden Body!" Lan Yu cried out in alarm.

It was the same Formless Golden Body, but this strength was unprecedented, completely blocking Lan Yu's Karmic Cycle Finger.

How could that be?

When he had last used this finger spell art, it had easily pierced through Tang Jie's Formless Golden Body.

Lan Yu had a sudden thought and shrilly said, "Art-grade! This is the art-grade Golden Body! You've shed your mortality! How?"

Everyone turned to Tang Jie in shock.

Tang Jie's shedding his mortality was actually a secret that only those of the Basking Moon Sect knew about. Even the Seven Absolutions Sect hadn't known that Tang Jie had shed his mortality. This was primarily because Tang Jie had only recently shed his mortality, so he didn't have time to study and had not used any spell arts that only those at the Mortal Shedding Realm could use.

But the Divine Firmament's secret arts were different.

Most of the spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword Classic had "spell-grade" and "art-grade" distinctions.

Before this, as Tang Jie had not reached Mortal Shedding, he had not been able to use the true power of the Formless Golden Body. Even though he had shed his mortality now, he had lacked the time to make proper use of it.

But Tang Jie had used it now for this attack. He had applied the art-grade Golden Body ahead of time, so he was able to easily block Lan Yu's Karmic Cycle Finger.

While he had blocked it, he had used up large amounts of spiritual energy. The Karmic Cycle Finger was on the same level as the Formless Golden Body, and Lan Yu's cultivation level was higher, so blocking his attack would cost him more. But regardless, Lan Yu's unstoppable technique had been stopped.

Tang Jie lunged out, chasing after Lan Yu as he roared, "That's not all!"

Saber light danced, and a mighty wave of energy surged at Lan Yu.

Thousand Rupture Slash!

Not even Lan Yu dared to take his attack directly, but he didn't have the Oceancrosser Step to dodge it. His only choice was to grit his teeth and thrust out his palm several times.

The saber light spun like the teeth of a cog, grinding down the air walls and smashing into Lan Yu's defensive barrier in a burst of light. Lan Yu borrowed the impact to retreat, but he had barely made it a few steps before a fireball shattered his barrier.

A stalwart figure, the combat puppet, charged at Lan Yu and punched.

Lan Yu saw that he couldn't dodge, and his eyes crackled with electricity as he shouted, "Are you really going to just watch as I die here?"

There was a rush of air.

A figure emerged from the forest, lunged at the puppet, and sent it flying with a single strike.