Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Raising his finger from the center of Zuo Quanming\'s forehead, Tang Jie said, "Alright, this was the last spot."

Zuo Quanming let out a long breath.

He looked at himself. In only a little time, his body had been implanted with 49 seals, each seal made from countless small seals, intricately combined together in a complex array. Even Tang Jie, with his cultivation and formation mastery, had needed to take two breaks and some restorative pills.

Such complicated seals would have presented a challenge even to a formation master like He Chong, but even so, Tang Jie couldn\'t relax.

"A challenge" didn\'t mean "impossible", and if a Soul Transformation cultivator couldn\'t do it, a Violet Palace one might be able to.

Thus, Tang Jie also planted several beans in Zuo Quanming, and then attached the soldier-transforming secret art to them such that the beans would transform into soldiers if anyone tried to undo the seal. As a result, the beans would wreak havoc inside Zuo Quanming\'s body.

Tang Jie had even made a demonstration, "fighting" against one hundred bean soldiers for several dozen rounds and awing Zuo Quanming with their strength. The thought of these beans hidden in his body made his blood run cold, and he completely suppressed that desire to rebel.

After these two methods, Tang Jie used a secret art of the Five Gods Faith to place a tracking mark and remote will secret art on him, ensuring that he could find Zuo Quanming at any time. Only then did he stop, casually commenting, "Unfortunately, I haven\'t reached the Heart Demon Tier where I can form a Divine Will, or else I would have planted a Divine Will seed in you, allowing me to kill you with a single thought. But it\'s fine. We\'ll just stick with this for now, and then I can add on to it once I reach Heart Demon."

Zuo Quanming wanted to cry, but he didn\'t dare to complain. With a bitter look on his face, he said, "Master, is there any need for this? This old slave will definitely be utterly loyal to Master."

Now that he had Zuo Quanming under control, Tang Jie directly asked, "The moves you used before are rather interesting. Can you tell me about them?"

Tang Jie had taken Zuo Quanming\'s treasures, and now he was after his cultivation techniques! Zuo Quanming knew that he had finally met a master more ruthless than he was, but he could only reply, "The golden light stamp art is called the Frozen Light Stamp. I obtained a jade talisman from an ancient tomb from which I learned this art. The spatial shift art is a spell art called the Illusory Snake Step, also something I got from a tomb. As for that flame, it isn\'t some Fire-type spell art, but an exotic flame called the Glaze Flame. I refined it and took it into my body, where I nurture it and use it against my enemies. It\'s much more useful than the average treasure."

He released the Glaze Flame from his body.

The Glaze Flame was a flame with a glassy luster. It was a gorgeous flame, but it was extremely insidious and even had corrosive properties. Normally, Zuo Quanming contained it entirely within his body, and when he used it, it would amazingly pass through his body without hurting him. But Zuo Quanming\'s Glaze Flame hadn\'t been fully matured, so its power was a little weak. Even so, it was an extremely powerful treasure, but alas, Tang Jie had seen through it and developed countermeasures against it.

Looking at the Glaze Flame, Tang Jie asked, "Did you also get this Glaze Flame from plundering a tomb?"

Zuo Quanming turned red in the face, which was surprising from someone so shameless. "Yes! As for the Demon Calling Divine Connection, as Young Master already knows, it comes from the same sort of place."

Tang Jie curiously asked, "Do you have an ability that doesn\'t come from tomb plundering?"

Zuo Quanming quickly said, "This one\'s sword arts were taught by my teacher."

It turned out that this old man was not entirely a wandering cultivator. He had originated from a declining minor sect of the Blood River Domain. There, he had focused on cultivating and hadn\'t been such a treacherous scoundrel.

But a calamity befell the sect, and it was wiped out in a single night, with only the old man escaping. From then on, he was a wanderer. He had tried everything to get stronger, but the life of a wandering cultivator was hard, and he had ultimately resorted to grave robbing. Half of what he owned had come from this enterprise.

When cultivators died, their spiritual energy usually returned to the world, but this wasn\'t true for everyone. There were always some people who left behind remains for some reason or another. For example, cultivators who had yet to enter the Three Witherings and attain a spiritual body would naturally leave remains. Body cultivators who emphasized bodies that were tougher than steel would also leave behind remains upon death. There were also those who were poor at cultivating and had impure spiritual bodies. Finally, there were cultivators who cultivated some secret art that would also make them leave remains.

In short, in the cultivation world, there were all sorts of weird and bizarre exceptions, so there were still cultivator tombs. It was just that the number with anything valuable was extremely small.

Zuo Quanming had so many secret arts and treasures from grave robbing that he must have robbed many graves. Such frequent thievery was bound to get one chased down, and the old man was willing to do anything to survive, resulting in his current self.

To put it in his own words, without his zeal for shamelessness, he would have died countless times by now.

After hearing the old man\'s recount, Tang Jie had Zuo Quanming write down the methods to the golden light stamp, the Demon Calling Divine Connection, and the Illusory Snake Step.

He didn\'t actually plan on learning them, but these were all rather obscure arts, so their reference value was greater than their actual combat value. If he handed them over to the Basking Moon Sect, he could get quite a few contribution points.

Zuo Quanming had no choice but to bitterly write down all the techniques, mantras, and spell arts he knew. After all, he was currently a "slave".

Tang Jie looked through them all. As expected, most of them weren\'t worth learning, but some were very good references that could allow him to comprehend other fields through analogy.

As he was avidly looking through them, he found a red page that hadn\'t been written by Zuo Quanming. He asked, "What is this?"

Zuo Quanming replied, "This page is something I got from an ancient tomb. A method to control fire is written on it."

"\'A method to control fire\'?" Tang Jie pondered this response and then asked, "The same method you use to control the Glaze Flame?"

Zuo Quanming replied in the affirmative.

Now that Tang Jie thought about it, Zuo Quanming\'s method for controlling the flame was quite unusual. It had to be understood that most exotic flames were quite fierce, and special methods were required to refine them. Even the rather weak Glaze Flame was not easy to refine.

That Zuo Quanming could refine and then take the flame into his body was an indicator that there was something very special about his method, so Tang Jie gave it a close look.

This method was called the Heavenly Yang Contraflame Mantra, and it was a mantra for controlling fire. It had no power on its own, only allowing for a flame to be refined and taken into the body to be used. Zuo Quanming initially hadn\'t paid this mantra much mind, but then he found that the page that carried the mantra was very unusual, impervious to fire and water and unable to be torn apart. As the page was a treasure in its own right, Zuo Quanming decided to learn the mantra upon it.

Not long after that, he came across the Glaze Flame, and when he tried out the Heavenly Yang Contraflame Mantra, he was able to refine the flame and make it his own. Now, that mantra had ended up in Tang Jie\'s hands.

"Idiot!" Tang Jie couldn\'t help but scold Zuo Quanming after hearing his tale.

After reviewing the Contraflame Mantra, Tang Jie knew that this was Zuo Quanming\'s real treasure. It was just that Zuo Quanming had utterly failed to properly use it, only using it to refine a low-level flame like the Glaze Flame.

But Tang Jie knew that the Heavenly Yang Contraflame Mantra had far more uses than that. It could be used to absorb the Glaze Flame, so it could naturally be used on other exotic flames. Most importantly, this mantra had a few traces of the Dao.

If the Weapon Mantra was a spell art that contained the Dao, with it essentially being the "Metal" Mantra of the Five Elements, then the Heavenly Yang Contraflame Mantra could be called the "Fire" Mantra. It operated on the same principle, but it was able to transmit only the most surface-level information, far inferior to the Weapon Mantra. Even so, these few traces of Dao were enough to turn this art into an ultimate-grade secret art, the treasured art of a sect. Alas, Zuo Quanming had no understanding of its value, so it became pearls before swine.

Tang Jie didn\'t care about the art, but he did seek the Dao.

After Yin and Yang were the Five Elements, and the best way to understand the Five Elements was through divine objects of these elements.

He had the Sovereign Blade to study the Metal Element, but nothing for the other four.

The Contraflame Mantra was his stairway to the Fire Element.

In comparison, the exotic flame was of little value.

But Tang Jie didn\'t make his intent known. Rather, he put away the page and commented, "Your Glaze Flame is pretty good, but leaving it with you is a waste. Better to give it to me."

Zuo Quanming inwardly cursed, For what reason is it not a waste with you? But he didn\'t dare to say anything out loud. Silently nursing his grudge, he took out the Glaze Flame and handed it to Tang Jie, looking to see how Tang Jie handled it. But to his surprise, Tang Jie just took out a small bottle and put the flame in it—Tang Jie had so many treasures that a bottle that could hold a flame was easy to come by.

Zuo Quanming bemoaned his bad luck and made up his mind to get revenge if he had the chance. But then he remembered the various seals implanted in his body that even a Violet Palace or Immortal Platform cultivator might not be able to undo, so he could only hang his head in sorrow.

Tang Jie saw his dejected appearance and soothed, "Don\'t be so down. If you follow me properly, you\'ll have your fair share of goodies."

He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag.

Zuo Quanming thought that Tang Jie was going to give him some treasure to make up for his loss, and he watched in anticipation as Tang Jie took something out and said, "Since you\'re following me now, I will gift you this treasure."

Zuo Quanming couldn\'t help but tremble in agitation when he saw the treasure Tang Jie was giving him.

Fuck you! That\'s my sword!

―――――――――

Regardless, the problem of Zuo Quanming had been handled. With so many restraining methods, someone of Zuo Quanming\'s craven personality would not dare to betray him.

Tang Jie said, "This matter is concluded, so it\'s time we left. You originally belong to the Eastern Heavenly King, so you should go back to them and carry on with your own business. Unless I order you to, you are not to expose yourself."

Zuo Quanming felt like Tang Jie was ordering him to be his spy in the Eastern Heavenly King\'s camp, which would stop him from being ordered around so much by Tang Jie. Although he knew that it was only a matter of time until he was exposed, any additional day of freedom was welcome, so he quickly agreed.

Tang Jie agreed upon some secret signals and communication methods between them, and he also gave him a few message talismans. Heart Consonance was a secret art of the Basking Moon Sect, and even Xi Canhen had had to show a willingness to join the Basking Moon Sect in order to learn it, so there was no hope of this old man getting that chance.

Once this was done, Zuo Quanming went off on his own.

After bidding farewell to Zuo Quanming, Tang Jie left the valley and wandered about, taking in the scenery while trying to cultivate the Heavenly Yang Contraflame Mantra.

Cultivating this mantra wasn\'t particularly difficult. The key to it was condensing a Divine Flame Seed in one\'s body. Once the Divine Flame Seed was cultivated, one could attempt to plant a seed of fire and comprehend the Dao of Fire, in the process strengthening the fire seed and oneself.

Because Zuo Quanming\'s original sect had been in decline, he knew many rumors and wild folktales but had pitiful amounts of cultivation knowledge. He only knew to take in the Glaze Flame for him to use, but not about comprehending it, digesting it, and absorbing it, let alone improving it.

Tang Jie wouldn\'t make such a mistake.

There were several methods to condensing the Divine Spark. The safest method was to spend every noon on top of a mountain, absorbing and refining Yang energy to gradually condense the seed. The most intense method was to venture into a volcano or similar environment and absorb the Fire energy within. But the best method was to eat an exotic flame, converting that flame into the Divine Spark.

All these methods required converting Fire energy into one\'s own power, and they all harshly tested one\'s meridians.

Zuo Quanming\'s sect had fallen, and he had not properly cultivated his meridians, so he had chosen the most guaranteed method of absorbing sunlight atop a mountain. As for Tang Jie, he planned to eat the Glaze Flame and convert it into a spark.

The Glaze Flame was a strong flame that ordinary cultivators would find difficult to process. For example, if Zuo Quanming had dared to try and eat the Glaze Flame to make it a spark, he would just burn up his organs.

The advantages of the orthodoxy of the Basking Moon Sect became prominent here.

Having originated from an orthodox sect, Tang Jie had an extremely solid foundation, his meridians honed repeatedly by the surging of spiritual energy. Moreover, at Nine Revolutions, Tang Jie had focused on the Heart Revolution, which was strong in the Fire attribute, and the Grotto Metal Mantra also emphasized fire to melt metal. All these reasons meant that Tang Jie had long ago laid down a strong foundation.

Thus, Tang Jie used the Glaze Flame as the source for his spark.

Every day, he extracted a little of the Glaze Flame and refined it according to the method in the Contraflame Mantra. Little by little, he absorbed it, and the energy gathered in his Spirit Sea, forming a red cloud.

Tang Jie\'s Spirit Sea was very unusual.

Black crystals floated in the Spirit Sea, the Crystallized Sandworm having turned spiritual energy into crystals that floated like icebergs.

Above the Spirit Sea were numerous crimson clouds, a phenomenon that had appeared when Tang Jie obtained the Flesh Millstone. These blood clouds were formed from the essence bloods of the White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermillion Bird.

After that battle in the valley, the original body had obtained a drop of essence blood from the Vermillion Bird as per their agreement. Rather than using it on his original body, Tang Jie had chosen to use it on the avatar, and the three drops of essence blood from three mythical beasts formed thick blood clouds in his Spirit Sea, a hint of the true power contained in this body.

And now, a searing energy was slowly entering the Spirit Sea.

Since last time, Tang Jie had learned his lesson and was very careful with the absorption process. Those slivers of Fire energy entering his Spirit Sea didn\'t merge with any other power, but floated between the Spirit Sea and the blood clouds, forming a little ball of flame that burned in the air while the Spirit Sea provided it a constant stream of energy.

Until the spark was completely formed, nurturing the spark was a process that constantly consumed spiritual energy, burdening the body. Fortunately, Tang Jie had cultivated the Ninedark Mantra and had a Heavenly Spirit Law Body, so it was a burden he could endure. But he would still be affected in battle.

Tang Jie estimated that the spark would need around sixty days to finish condensing, but greater attainment would require an even longer period of improvement and tempering. Tang Jie was in no rush, slowly refining the Glaze Flame to raise his spark.

While refining the spark, Tang Jie continued to rove around the perimeter.

It wasn\'t long before Tang Jie had basically finished exploring the perimeter of the Treasure Paradise. He decided to venture farther in.

The farther in one went, the more treasures one would find.

Of course, he would face greater risks and run into more people as well.