Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Countless scales danced in the storm, like tens of thousands of knives. They shrieked with deathly wails, a horrifying tide of death.

In front of this terrifying flood, all resistance seemed futile. All that one could do was prostrate on the ground and tremble.

Chang Baimei, Tang Jie, Shen Qingdan, and the other war beasts got down on the ground and were engulfed by the storm.

In this fierce torrent, all of Tang Jie’s duplicates and bean soldiers were swept up and obliterated.

When the storm disappeared, all of the duplicates Tang Jie had created were gone, and the pangolin was the only thing left standing. He had paid dearly for this storm. The pangolin looked like he had been skinned, blood oozing out from every part of him.

But he was still able to smile, savagely shouting, “Tang Jie, what else do you have?”

Tang Jie sighed as he stood back up. “What else can I have? The formation has been blocked, the illusions broken, and I’m far too weak to fight against all of you. I naturally have no choice but to wait for death.”

Shen Qingdan screamed, “Tang Jie, what are you saying? If those illusions are gone, you can make more!”

Tang Jie bitterly smiled. “‘Make more’? With what? You think that those illusions were for free? I expended far too much of my power for this batch.”

On this point, Tang Jie wasn’t lying.

The Duplication spell didn’t require much spiritual energy, but even small amounts became vast expenditures when one made several hundred illusions at once. This effort had cost Tang Jie more than half of his spiritual energy.

If Tang Jie could cast the spell as he pleased, he would have become invincible long ago.

These words caused Shen Qingdan to despair.

The pangolin angrily glared at Tang Jie. “If that’s the case, then die!”

He charged at Tang Jie, thrusting out his spear.

Tang Jie raised his head. “Wait!”

“What?” The pangolin stopped in momentary shock.

Tang Jie took out something. “I suddenly remember that I actually do have something.”

He held it up for everyone to see that it was a wooden placard.

“This is…” Chang Baimei was taken aback.

“A recommendation token,” Tang Jie replied. “Master Ming gave it to me. He said that one full-power strike from Master Ming was stored in it. Alas, I’ve never seen him at full power, and I don’t know what sort of attack is inside it or how to use it.”

Chang Baimei paled at his words.

A full-power strike from Ming Yekong? What sort of terrifying existence was this?

He instinctively backed away, his facial expression shifting. Even the pangolin had stopped moving.

But a moment later, Chang Baimei laughed. “Kid, are you trying to pull one over on me? If that placard really had Ming Yekong’s full-power strike in it, you would have used it earlier. What would be the point in waiting until now?”

“Oh, that?” Tang Jie shrugged. “It’s because I’ve always preferred to hold my trump cards for the end. Moreover, I was considering this whole time whether it would be better to kill you or the pangolin. As I didn’t know what sort of attack was sealed inside, I couldn’t decide who to use it on. If it was powerful enough, I would naturally use it on you, who’s still at full power. But if it’s not that strong, it would naturally be better used on the pangolin. And if it was an area attack, it would naturally be better to bait you into gathering together… To put it frankly, not knowing anything is a huge headache.”

The blood rushed to the pangolin’s head. “You’re bullshitting! If you’ve got guts, come at me!”

He raised his spear and charged at Tang Jie again.

Tang Jie helplessly sighed. “As expected, lying too much makes one hard to believe. If that’s the case, I might as well go for the safe choice.”

He aimed the recommendation placard at the pangolin and undid the seal with a shake of his hand.

A brilliant light erupted from the placard.

Chang Baimei immediately knew that this light was trouble, shouting, “It was true… Pangolin, dodge!”

The blooming light drowned out his voice, and amidst the surging light, a speck of sword energy shot out.

It was only a little speck, but it lit up the entire world. It was as if the only thing in this world was this single strike.

When the pangolin saw this speck of sword energy flying toward him, he stopped thinking about anything else.

He suddenly understood something, and the barrier that had hindered his path for so many years suddenly loosened. This tiny bit of insight caused an intimidating energy to rise from his body, and a golden light gathered on the tip of his spear.

Alas, that golden light was nothing compared to that snow-white sword energy.

With a sweep from that sword energy, all defenses were void.

The golden spear shattered and blood painted the sky.

Whoosh!

As that sword energy swept past, the pangolin shuddered.

A moment later, a red line appeared, and the pangolin’s body came apart in two pieces.

This attack was like Tang Jie’s golden blade, able to cut through everything. But unlike the golden blade, it was also infused with immensely destructive power.

The vitality of a Transformation great fiend was such that even if he had been beheaded by the golden blade, he could still survive if he were given emergency treatment.

But this sword didn’t just cleave through the pangolin’s body, it also cleaved through his vitality.

The moment the sword energy penetrated through his body, the pangolin was dead.

He hadn’t died because he had been cleaved in half. In truth, the sword energy had wrung all of his life force into oblivion.

“Ultimate sword intent…” Chang Baimei said in a shaky voice.

Tang Jie had been right. This was truly only an attack that someone on the level of a Basking Moon Celestial Chief could make.

Only someone who comprehended sword intent to the apex could unleash such an attack!

Ming Yekong!

Chang Baimei shivered.

Even Tang Jie was astounded.

Only now did he realize that Ming Yekong was a master of the sword.

In his battle against Heng Wudi, he mostly dodged, exhibiting the Chaoswind Step to its fullest, and nobody had seen how he attacked. At that time, everyone believed that Ming Yekong was only skilled in evasion.

Only now did Tang Jie understand how absurdly wrong they all were.

Ming Yekong had only used the Chaoswind Step that time so that he could demonstrate it for Tang Jie.

“Master Ming…” Tang Jie muttered.

Suddenly, he felt like he could hear Feng Hongluan speaking into his ear.

“Consider the sect your home, and devote your loyalty to your sect!”

It was wrong to believe that everyone was out to get him. When it came to disciples of great potential, love and care would always outweigh envy.

Ming Yekong, Xie Fengtang, and Feng Hongluan had known that he was hiding a huge secret and many resources, but they still cherished him.

This was what it meant to be a great sect, what it meant to be an illustrious character!

Ming Yekong could have never imagined that this one recommendation placard would move Tang Jie to such a degree.

But at that moment, Tang Jie truly felt the care and support from the sect. If there really was a way to score loyalty, then when that sword swept out, Tang Jie’s loyalty score went up by at least ten points.

“Awoooo!” While Tang Jie was still immersed in that attack, a frenzied roar rang out.

It was the black bear.

It angrily glared at Tang Jie. “You bastard, you killed Old Jin! You killed him!!!”

Tang Jie turned his head, looked at the black bear, and asked in confusion, “How bizarre! The Beast Refining Gate refines all beasts, wiping their minds so that they can be used and treating them like puppets. All fiends with intelligence should regard the Beast Refining Gate as their foe. The occasional fiend bearing intelligence in their ranks should be the solitary type, so why would you be friends?”

The black bear’s eyes were bleeding as it glared at Tang Jie and thrust a paw at him. “What do you understand? We all followed the young master since we were young, enjoying his favor and care. How the Beast Refining Gate acts has nothing to do with us, and how other fiends fare also has nothing to do with us. All that matters is protecting the young master!”

“As expected,” Tang Jie sighed.

He had long ago wondered how the people of the Beast Refining Gate prevented those fiends with intelligence from hating them. It now appeared that it was nothing more than rearing them and indoctrinating them.

Using personal considerations to overrule the greater cause!

The Myriad Beast Union Mantra probably also contributed.

The Myriad Beast Union Mantra could also work on fiends that had retained intelligence, but rather than being able to order these fiends around as if they were an extension of one’s limbs, it influenced their mentality to a certain extent, making it less likely that they would turn traitor.

The black bear’s palm-leaf paw swung again and again as it shouted, “Let’s see what other tricks you have!”

“Other tricks”?

He had used all his bean seeds, and he was out of spiritual energy. Tang Jie truly didn’t have many tricks left.

But this didn’t mean he had none left.

Taking out the Cosmic Breeze Pearl, Tang Jie drained it of energy, recovering almost 20% of his spiritual energy. He waved his hand, creating several more illusions. He didn’t hope that these illusions would perform as impressively as before, but he hoped that they could provide a distraction on his behalf for a bit.

Tang Jie took out a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. “At least I still have this.”

The black bear couldn’t help but shiver when he saw it.

Tang Jie didn’t throw it out.

He was in no rush.

While Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were powerful, their explosion wasn’t guaranteed to kill Chang Baimei and the black bear. On the contrary, it might end up destroying the Five Lightning Formation. Moreover, he didn’t have many Heavenbane Lightning Pearls left.

With that being the case, it was better to keep it on hand as a threat and buy time for the Five Lightning Formation to wear away at Chang Baimei’s energy and build up a new wave of Yin Lightning bolts.

Given the time that had passed, the second wave of five Yin Lightning bolts was just about done forming.

For Tang Jie, killing the pangolin had essentially decided the battle.

Tang Jie looked at Chang Baimei, the black bear, and the golden eagle that was still fighting with Shen Qingdan. He casually said, “True Person Chang, if you don’t have anything else, I’m afraid this battle is about to be over.”

Chang Baimei glared at Tang Jie.

The white snake and pangolin had been brutally slain. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, Chang Baimei had already lost.

But this was precisely why Chang Baimei needed a result.

A victorious result.

No matter what, he was still a Celestial Heart True Person of the Beast Refining Gate.

As a member of the sect that was mortal foes with the Basking Moon Sect, he could not allow a Nine Revolutions rascal to rise up because of him. This would bring shame to the Beast Refining Gate.

This absolutely could not happen!

Chang Baimei looked at Tang Jie and said, “Tang Jie, you’re vicious. You killed the white snake and executed the pangolin, relying on your power and methods to kill two Transformation great fiends. Regardless of the reasons, you have lived up to the recommendation you were given. The battle over the sea and your feats in this Beast hidden realm are enough to have your name known throughout the land. But this is bound to be your last performance. I will now show you that a Celestial Heart True Person… isn’t that easy to deal with!”

It seems like Chang Baimei is finally pulling out all the stops! Does Tang Jie have anything left?