Aspiring To The Immortal Path

The moment Reflections of Floating Life was used, Tang Jie's form filled up the world.

The combined might of thousands of Tang Jies made even the Jewel Immortal Sovereign turn a little more grave, and she inwardly praised Tang Jie as a peerless genius for being able to create such a Dao Art.

Two hundred years of training had turned the Reflections of Floating Life from being primarily made up of illusions to having real ones mixed among the illusions.

Blasts of wind, ice, flame, and blades rained down, seeking to wipe out the entire world.

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign saw all this and simply smiled.

The Hand of Myriad Wonders closed and then opened again.

This simple motion seemed like a flower blooming, layer after layer, one flower blooming to reveal another flower within it, forever and ever. This simple closing and opening contained countless mysteries, the secrets of the Great Dao.

Through this hand, that terrifying storm of spell arts disappeared, and not only that, even all of Tang Jie's clones vanished, flickering out like candles blown out by the wind.

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign declared, "The Reflections of Floating Life is nothing at all."

"Is that so?" Tang Jie said with a smile.

Jewel froze, for this voice had come from behind her.

Jewel immediately put all her energy into defense, but it was too late.

A steely fist smashed right into her back.

Even though the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had set up almost a hundred layers of defense through thoughtcasting, that punch blasted through them as if they were made of paper, and the impact made the Jewel Immortal Sovereign throw up blood. The crystalline drops of blood rained down from the heavens, so rich with energy that even those outside Heavenly Balance Mountain could feel it. Thus, all the plant life within the valley instantly began to thrive and grow.

The fist wanted to go farther, but an azure ball of light appeared around Jewel, staving off Tang Jie's attack.

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign turned her head and angrily glared at Tang Jie. "Seeking death!"

She had truly gotten careless, not realizing that the Reflections of Floating Life had also been a diversion, not purely an attack. Tang Jie had used all those clones to draw her attention so that he could hide among them and deliver this punch.

Even someone as powerful as the Jewel Immortal Sovereign couldn't take this punch unscathed. Moreover, this punch was actually the first strike of the Combat Emperor Catalog, the Devil Crushing Fist.

This had once been Tang Jie's most powerful move, and it had been strong enough to severely injure a Divine Division great fiend. Tang Jie was only stronger now, and the Devil Crushing Fist had grown stronger with him while its side effects had subsided. Thus, even Jewel had suffered significant injury from this hit.

This punch finally ignited Jewel's fury, and she screeched, "Bastard!"

She completely turned around, her eyes flashing with divine lightning and azure light spewing from her mouth at Tang Jie's face.

The usually fearless Tang Jie unexpectedly retreated in front of this azure light, hastily using the Chaoswind Step to evade.

But that azure light seemed to have a mind of its own, chasing him no matter where he moved.

At the same time, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign raised the jade bottle in her hand, throwing it into the air. A beam of light shot out of the bottle, shining on Tang Jie and rendering him immobile.

"Shit!" Tang Jie knew he was in trouble.

The azure light flew at Tang Jie's face.

Unable to dodge, Tang Jie howled, his six fists punching at each other and unleashing a powerful shockwave. A blade of lethal energy formed in his hands, and he swung it at the azure light.

But this time, the Sovereign Blade that could shatter all weapons failed to achieve anything. The azure light let the Sovereign Blade pass through it like it was a gust of wind, seeming to have no mass, and then it struck Tang Jie.

A moment later, Tang Jie's face darkened, and he howled and flew off.

The azure light left his body and went back into Jewel's mouth.

Jewel's face, pale from Tang Jie's punch just now, turned healthy once more, as if she had consumed some kind of medicine. Her eyes lit up in delight and surprise. "As expected of a body cultivator, such rich blood energy. But with my Three Purities Mantra, it will all be mine."

The azure light once more shot out of her mouth toward Tang Jie.

This light was called the Three Purities Divine Light, and it was an existence that was neither treasure nor spell art, cultivated over a thousand years of cultivating the Immortal Three Purities Mantra. Like Tang Jie's Sovereign Blade, it could take on many forms and had numerous functions. It could be considered the Jewel Immortal Sovereign's number one Divine Connection.

The azure light shot toward Tang Jie once more, but this time, it took the form of an azure cloud.

The azure light was only one form of the Three Purities Divine Light, and it was now exhibiting its true might.

That azure cloud transformed into a sea of trees.

This sea of trees extended toward the horizon, and if one looked carefully, one would find countless creatures within the forest—eagles soaring in the sky, monkeys frolicking in the trees, tigers roaring on the ground, and moles burrowing through the earth. There were even small insects gnawing at the trees. It was a scene of flourishing life.

A small world!

Tang Jie was stunned.

Tang Jie had long ago heard of the Immortal Three Purities Mantra and understood that this was one of the core secret arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Unlike the Violet Jade Mantra, which helped one comprehend the world and merge with the Great Dao, the Immortal Three Purities Mantra was a mantra that was very useful in combat. At its apex, one could create a small world which could contain countless Divine Connections.

This was why the Immortal Three Purities Mantra was the Jewel Immortal Sovereign's foundation. All of her powers were contained within, including the earlier Hand of Myriad Wonders.

As the Three Purities Divine Light spread out, the sea of trees covered the world, and three figures rose up from this small world: three more Jewels.

These were the Jewel Immortal Sovereign's three art bodies: the Supreme Pure Body, the Jade Pure Body, and the Grand Pure Body.

The one on the left was clothed in white, her head adorned with a golden ring, her bare feet standing upon a cloud, a smile upon her face and a basket of fresh flowers in her hand: the Supreme Pure Body. On the right was one in black, wearing a somber expression and a fiery-red longsword formed from the Primal Yang Needle, a snake coiled around her body: the Jade Pure Body. In the middle was a gray-robed old lady with a bitter expression, holding nothing at all and even missing her right arm. But the Hand of Myriad Wonders flew up to her and transformed into her missing right hand.

The Three Pure Bodies were the foundation of this sea of trees, and they were what ensured the Jewel Immortal Sovereign's invincibility.

As the Three Pure Bodies emerged, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign laughed and said, "Let me show you the power of my avatars."

She waved her hand, and the light from her jade bottle once more covered Tang Jie.

This bottle was called the Fixlight Bottle, and it was meant to paralyze the body, whether that meant a spiritual body, physical body, or even Divine Soul. It was a powerful and extremely useful divine item, and Tang Jie found himself powerless to resist it.

The Supreme Pure Body giggled and threw out her basket of flowers, and countless petals rained down, blotting out the sky in a rainbow of colors. But behind each of these gorgeous petals was a lethal energy.

The Jade Pure Body coldly threw out the Primal Yang Needle, which set the sky ablaze as it shot toward Tang Jie.

Finally, the Grand Pure Body sighed as if deeply reluctant to act. All she did was blow, upon which a gust formed. While this gust of wind seemed simple, it was a gale of death, the strongest of the three attacks.

The original body moved to the rear, the three avatars taking charge of the offensive, and Tang Jie instantly came under the most frightening assault yet. Tang Jie knew that he wouldn't be able to block these attacks as he was, so he had no choice but to summon the Infinite Palace.

Five colored lights emerged around him, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth weaving together a divine and resplendent complex.

Tang Jie's body towered within this grandiose palace.

The sky of petals, the sharp needle-turned-sword, and the howling dirge of death slammed against the walls of the Infinite Palace as floodwaters raged against a dike, unable to overcome its walls.

Jewel was unsurprised by this. When eleven of her finger strikes had failed to break the Infinite Palace back then, she knew that this Dao Art possessed extraordinary defensive powers.

Two hundred years had passed, and as Tang Jie grew stronger in the Five Elements Dao, the Infinite Palace also grew more powerful.

But Jewel was unafraid, all four of her bodies assailing the Infinite Palace.

One Divine Connection after another slammed into the Infinite Palace, her immense spiritual power battering against Tang Jie's supreme Dao Art.

In terms of level, a Dao Art was definitely stronger than a Divine Connection.

But comparisons did not work this way in reality.

Dao Arts were strong because they embodied the laws of the world, which were unchangeable. But things were not so absolute when Dao Arts were used by humans. A human's Great Dao power decided how well a human could act as an agent of the heavenly principles, and a sufficiently strong external force could break this Dao power.

In the past, Tang Jie had compared the Dao to a cheat, an unreasonable thing that allowed a human to do the impossible. But cheaters were not invincible. If they ran into an opponent who was powerful enough, even a cheater could be sent running for the hills.

(TN: See Chapter 229)

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was this kind of formidable opponent. She cared not for Tang Jie's Infinite Palace, her Three Pure Bodies taking it on with their overwhelming strength.

She harshly called out, "Tang Jie, you aren't strong enough to make me use my Dao Art, or even the power of my Three Purities World. This venerable one can deal with you using only her Three Pure Bodies."

As she spoke, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign's four bodies barraged the Infinite Palace, sending thousands of Divine Connections and spell arts down at it.