Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-246

Chapter 246: The Hellfire Formation

Wei Tianchong panicked, shouting, “Hey, what about me? What about me?”

The fox lazily said, “The Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra primarily emphasizes understanding the Dao and comprehending laws. It is not a spell art, so even if it were passed to you, with your current intelligence, you might as well be reading gibberish. Rather than strengthening you, it might only slow down your cultivation.”

Wei Tianchong was instantly discouraged by these words.

It seemed like he so lacked the qualifications that he didn’t even have the right to learn it.

But after some thought, he realized that this was right. At his current strength, he barely measured up to an elementary school student. If he were given a college textbook, he truly wouldn’t be able to understand it.

But Wei Tianchong still wasn’t entirely convinced. “And Tang Jie can?”

The fox replied, “Tang Jie also lacks the required strength. But he is intelligent and knows when to give up, so he will not be misguided. Moreover, he has some understanding of the Dao of Insight, is able to grasp a little of the movements of the heavens. Thus, this mantra will be of some benefit to him. Even so, I can only pass to him the first level of the Supreme Mantra. Letting him read too much might do more harm than good.”

Tang Jie smiled. “If that is so, then I must thank you, young miss.”

“‘Young miss’?” Wei Tianchong was stunned.

Ever since he had gotten this little fox, the fox had kept its distance, so he had never known if it was male or female. But when he heard Tang Jie, he finally realized, and he instinctively moved to grab the fox and look to see what it had down there.

Embarrassed, the fox swung its tail into Wei Tianchong’s face with such force that he was sent flying. The fox roared, “Bastard!”

It was a crisp and tender voice, finally carrying somewhat the tone of a little girl. It seemed like she really was a vixen.

As Tang Jie watched the two of them mess around, he chuckled and said, “My young master is inexperienced and tends to be rather impulsive, so please do not blame him, young miss. Right, miss, do you have a name?”

The fox snorted. “Ever since getting me, this guy just calls me ‘sweetie’ all day. He’s never even thought about giving me a name.”

Tang Jie helplessly shook his head. “It was our mistake. That being the case, why don’t I give you a name?”

“Very well, but don’t make it anything with ‘Hu’. There are so many foxes in the world, and it is far too vapid for someone to have the surname Hu just because they’re a fox.”

Tang Jie chuckled. “Then let’s avoid that. Divine God Luo opened your mind, so you’re almost his adopted daughter, so why not have the surname Luo?”

The fox thought it over and nodded. “That’s fine. Call me Luo Yue (Moon). Since I’m in the Basking Moon Sect, I will name myself after it.”

With this conversation over, Luo Yue passed on the first level of the Celestial Treasure Mantra to Tang Jie.

For the next few days, Tang Jie studied this mantra every day.

Just as Luo Yue had said, the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra was primarily about comprehending the Dao, with cultivation being a secondary goal. More than half of the mantra described comprehending the Dao, with large chunks devoted to Spirit Will and Divine Will. In fact, the Blackwater Soul Possession was a spell art established on this foundation.

Divine Will was a major problem that all high-level cultivators had to deal with, with the Heart Demon Tribulation being the most typical example. The Five Gods Faith had dominated for a time precisely because its cultivation of Divine Will was far superior to others’. Tang Jie had little understanding of this aspect, so as he perused the mantra, he benefited greatly.

But he was limited by his cultivation and couldn’t cultivate Divine Will yet, so this didn’t confer any obvious boosts to strength. It simply opened his mind and broadened his experience, which was certain to be a big help in the future.

But the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra was a major source of inspiration to him in another aspect: the Dao of Formations.

This mantra also had some discussion on formations, but unlike Xu Muyang’s formation treatise, it was primarily theoretical rather than practical.

For Tang Jie, who had been studying formations for many years, this theoretical knowledge enriched his knowledge base and allowed him to understand many questions that had previously puzzled him.

Thus, after cultivating every day, honing his spells and increasing his cultivation level, he studied the mantra. In this time, Wei Tianchong visited Tang Jie again and gave him five thousand spirit coins.

These coins were from the lady as thanks for doing so much to help Wei Tianchong get the True Inheritance.

Once the curtain had closed on the True Inheritor struggle, the news had very quickly gotten back to Canglong Prefecture.

The entire Wei Clan puffed up with pride once it found out that it had produced a True Inheritor son, and its reputation soared. Compared to what the Wei Clan stood to gain, five thousand spirit coins was nothing.

Besides that, Zhang Qinan also came to find Tang Jie, but he had come to get his Heaventopple Stamp.

The Heaventopple Stamp was an art manifestation, and Tang Jie didn’t have the ability to use it, so it was a waste in his hands. Of course, he didn’t give it to Zhang Qinan for free. After some negotiation, they ultimately agreed on a price of eight thousand spirit coins.

With this money, Tang Jie relaxed on his cultivation. He could probably enter Spirit Sea in around two years without a problem.

Long Dao also came to find Tang Jie to get his formation breaker. Unfortunately for him, while the formation breaker was an art relic, it had no restrictions on who could use it. Tang Jie, after going through the Nine Palace Illusion Formation, had felt his understanding of formations deepen, and after studying the Celestial Treasure Mantra, he felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough. He sensed that it wouldn’t be long before he could grasp Grade 4 spirit formations, so he refused to hand it over.

Unable to get back his art relic, Long Dao cursed at Tang Jie a little before leaving in a huff.

Today, Tang Jie was standing in the yard, holding Bai Dan’s crane feather brush as he concentrated on the ground.

There was absolutely nothing there, but in Tang Jie’s eyes, every inch of this empty space had special meaning. Under his self-induced hypnosis, this little space became a world made of dots and lines. Flashing spiritual light rose from the ground and created a patchwork of stars in the air.

And several of these coordinates carried a deeper purpose and meaning.

Tang Jie began to move his hand.

He lightly thrust his brush at a certain point in space, spiritual energy traveling through the brush, and a faint turbulence began to fill the space. Tang Jie swept his brush through the air, creating a straight spiritual line that disappeared without a trace. But in Tang Jie’s eyes, that line was still there. If he did not continue to provide it power, it would probably last only about three seconds, with the crane feather brush improving this to five.

He swung the brush back and proceeded to draw twelve spiritual lines, creating a small layout that allowed them to last for much longer.

“Heaven position is on Xun (Southeast), with the attribute of Wind!” Tang Jie called out as he formed seals with his left hand, solidifying this position. At the same time, the brush on his right hand swept across the ground, creating a five-pointed star.

“Earth position is on Zhen, with the attribute of Earth!”

Tang Jie’s hand swiftly motioned as he laid down spiritual line after spiritual line. As each symbol was created, the spiritual energy in these lines gradually solidified, and the entire area flashed with spiritual light. It was like sketches on paper, gradually revealing what the creator was attempting to draw. Each of these countless symbols was rich in meaning, representing countless commands, and as they combined, they formed a powerful formation.

Tang Jie moved faster and faster as the process went on, his expression growing more and more solemn as more and more sweat began to drip from his forehead. Not even in his battle with Peng Yaolong had he been so hard-pressed.

His breathing grew heavier as he consumed more and more spiritual energy. It had only been a little while, but his Spirit Lake reserve couldn’t handle the burden. He had no choice but to have Yiyi stuff a spirit-returning pill into his mouth.

As he finished drawing, he began to point or swing his hand at various points, creating a blur of afterimages. At this moment, Tang Jie roared, “Hooking above and linking below, thunder and lightning are unmoved as the five energies gather! Form the Yellow Court!”

The crane feather brush thrust out like a bolt of lightning, jabbing at the very center of the formation.

As the brush came down, spiritual light erupted from the formation, but the light quickly dimmed, everything going back to normal. As for Tang Jie, he threw up a mouthful of blood.

Despite the blood on his face, Tang Jie smiled and shouted, “The Hellfire Formation! Success!”

The Hellfire Formation, a Grade 4 spiritual formation!

With the completion of this Grade 4 formation, Tang Jie had achieved a breakthrough in formations.

When it came to spiritual formations, a Grade 4 formation was equivalent to peak Mortal Shedding.

In other words, theoretically, a Grade 4 formation could deal with a group of peak Mortal Shedding cultivators.

Of course, as Tang Jie hadn’t used any materials, this Hellfire Formation had probably only a tenth of the power it ought to.

For Tang Jie, however, just finishing it was good enough. After all, this was a breakthrough in level and strength.

On this subject, it had to be said that Tang Jie’s growth was rather uneven.

He was strongest in formations, as he now had the ability to lay down a Grade 4 spiritual formation, which was peak Mortal Shedding Realm. Second strongest was his body, which was also equivalent to peak Mortal Shedding Realm, but he was somewhat worse off than those peak Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators who specifically cultivated their body. The worst off was his cultivation level, which was still at the Spirit Lake Tier. Even if he had the Divine Firmament’s secret arts, if he had to fight purely with spell arts, he would only be able to draw with an average Spirit Sea student, not even being able to contend against peak Spirit Sea students.

Cultivation level was the foundation of everything, but there was no rushing this matter. He had only been officially cultivating for two years, and there was still plenty of time.

If possible, Tang Jie hoped to spend the remaining eight years peacefully cultivating, without any major incidents. After all, with his current situation and foundation, even if he didn’t use any more resources, he could easily reach Mortal Shedding before graduation.

As he was thinking, someone knocked on his door.

Tang Jie didn’t know who was looking for him, but he hastily dispersed the Hellfire Formation and then went to open the door.

Standing at the entrance was, unexpectedly, Nan Baicheng.

Tang Jie hastily said, “I did not know that Master Nan would pay me a visit. Please forgive me for not coming out to welcome you.”

Nan Baicheng snorted. “You’re quite polite, but you must be thinking about whether I’ve come to make trouble for you, yes?”

Tang Jie smiled. “Master Nan, aren’t you being too serious? How could this student possibly dare?”

“Then why haven’t you invited me to come inside and sit?”

Helpless, Tang Jie could only let Nan Baicheng inside.

The two sat down in the pavilion. Nan Baicheng looked at the yard and nodded. “You keep this place cleaned up rather well.”

He was in no rush to speak, and neither was Tang Jie. He poured Nan Baicheng some tea.

Nan Baicheng casually sipped his tea before slowly saying, “You won this True Inheritor struggle. Tang Jie, tell me the truth. Do you resent me?”

Tang Jie hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. After a momentary pause, he said, “This student understands that Master Nan has his own troubles. When it comes to resentment, I would already feel greatly honored if Master Nan did not resent this student. How could I possibly resent Master Nan?”

Nan Baicheng cracked a smile. “So long as you understand this, it’s fine. For this test, my master should have had to come down from his mountain to select one of the three candidates, but since you’ve helped Wei Tianchong get all three spots, you’ve saved my master from having to take this trip. My master has decreed that Wei Tianchong is Master Changfeng’s eighth personal disciple starting from today. While in school, he can go to Sunwatch Peak once a year and spend one month there, receiving personal instruction from my Master. After ten years, he will come under the Basking Moon Sect. How he will be handled then will depend on his performance.”