Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-323

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

As Tang Jie threw out the Mindseizer, he shouted, "Four-Nine True Word Mantra: Confuse, Seize, Intimidate, Shake!"

Four words exploded through the air, creating a dizzying sight.

This four-word combination was the Soulshaker Art of the Four-Nine True Word Mantra, but as Tang Jie had only recently created this mantra, the actual effects were very weak—the equivalent of smacking an ordinary farmer on the head with a cudgel. It was far from sufficient for a cultivator.

But Tang Jie didn't care. He used this not to injure Lan Yu, but to provide an explanation.

This explanation was for Wei Tianchong, Lan Yu, and all those spectators that he didn't even know existed.

As the power of the True Words erupted, the Mindseizer lunged at Lan Yu, swiftly entering his body.

Lan Yu's Karmic Cycle Finger thrust at Tang Jie's chest in a torrent of power like a heaven-piercing spear, breaking through the Aquagel Shroud, shattering the Formless Golden Body, and blasting a hole in Tang Jie's body.

Tang Jie threw up blood and flew backward, the finger slamming into his body like a giant hammer and dispersing all of his power. The power was utterly terrifying, and if Lan Yu thrust out his finger again, Tang Jie's fate would have been sealed.

But Lan Yu couldn't follow up.

The Mindseizer entered his body, and his eyes unfocused. His body, floating in the air, slackened and instantly dropped to the ground.

As Tang Jie flew through the air, he stared at Lan Yu. As Lan Yu fell, he threw out the Heartbreak Saber. The red eagle phantom appeared on the blade and guided the saber straight toward Lan Yu's head.

This was the advantage of a soul weapon. So long as the weapon soul was around, it could automatically pursue the enemy for a set amount of time.

Thud!

The Heartbreak Saber flew through the air, stabbing into Lan Yu's belly in a burst of blood.

Even in the white fog, this burst of blood from Lan Yu's body told everyone that Lan Yu had been injured!

This left all the spectators stunned.

The one hailed as the strongest of the students of the six major sects had been inexplicably injured.

Two figures plummeted from the sky. One was Tang Jie with a hole through his chest; the other, Lan Yu with a saber in his belly. They crashed to the ground in a plume of dust.

"Tang Jie!" Wei Tianchong shouted. He swung the axe in his right hand at the Beast Refining Gate student.

After that one last bit of resistance, this Beast Refining Gate student was powerless to fight back. His head flew into the air in a fountain of blood.

Wei Tianchong rushed at Lan Yu, chopping his axe at Lan Yu's head.

Just when it seemed like Lan Yu was going to die, there was a crack from a place near Lan Yu's neck, a small wooden placard shattering.

As this wooden placard shattered, Lan Yu opened his eyes.

He immediately stared at Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong felt a chill engulfing his body that made him pause. Lan Yu thrust out his hand and grabbed the axe while his left hand thrust at Wei Tianchong's chest, the green bangle on his wrist flashing.

As the palm made contact, a majestic energy exploded, and Wei Tianchong was sent flying while throwing up blood.

"Young Master!" Among the spectators, Shi Meng stood up in panic.

"Bastard…" Lan Yu got to his feet, his eyes blazing with rage.

In the end, he was young and lacking in experience. He didn't know what sort of trick Tang Jie had used, but just now, he had been gravely threatened, and if not for his clan's treasure, the Meditation Wood, letting him break free of the danger early, he would have died to Wei Tianchong's axe.

Even so, to beat back Wei Tianchong, he had been forced to use his strongest card, the Jade Bangle. The greatest advantage provided by this treasure was that it accelerated energy circulation and allowed him to instantly cast a spell.

As Wei Tianchong was thrown back, he gathered a giant fireball in his left hand and shot it at Lan Yu.

Fireball was the lowest level of spell, but when Wei Tianchong used it, it was as big as a millstone and carried an intimidating force as it hurtled toward Lan Yu. Lan Yu hadn't expected this counterattack, and was struck and sent flying backward.

This fireball dealt immense damage, the blast scorching Lan Yu's entire body and covering his handsome face in burns. While someone with his constitution wouldn't need long to heal these injuries, the destruction of his face still shattered the hearts of many of his admirers.

Worst of all was that when the fireball exploded on Lan Yu's body, it knocked the Heartbreak Saber free.

Unlike other weapons, the true damage from the Heartbreak Saber didn't come from its stab. When the blade stabbed into the body, it meant that the barbed hook would embed itself into the target's organs, so once the saber was pulled out, it would inflict terrible damage.

As the Heartbreak Saber flew out, blood gushed out from Lan Yu's belly, along with his intestines.

"Awooo!" Lan Yu let out a howl of unprecedented pain.

But he was truly quite the fierce fellow, still having some strength even after such a severe wound. He formed a sign with his hands, putting his thumbs together and intersecting his index and middle fingers, after which he punched with both fists. With a thunderous boom, a furious storm swept up Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong.

The raging of the storm also scattered all the white fog.

Lan Yu didn't know if Tang Jie had any more Mindseizers, but he knew that since Tang Jie had released this white fog before daring to use it, the best way to deal with it was to scatter the white fog.

This wasn't difficult, but doing it in such a short time wasn't easy at all.

In truth, this move really had struck right at Tang Jie's weak point. Without the white fog to cover him, Tang Jie didn't dare to use Mindseizers anymore, even though he did have some more.

Lan Yu didn't waste the energy used to make this storm. He formed another sign, and the air coalesced into countless green needles that shot at the pair.

This was the Thousand Blade Gale.

But this Thousand Blade Gale was even stronger than when it had been used on Li Zhiping, carpeting the entire area.

Just when the two were about to be filled with holes, Tang Jie raised his hand, and a large number of Blazeravens rushed out to cover them. The Wind Needles pierced through the Blazeravens, creating dazzling fireworks. While the Wind Needles were numerous, their power was average. Most of the Wind Needles were eliminated, and the few that managed to strike the two had little effect.

At the same time, the figure of the Grade 3 combat puppet flew at Lan Yu at high speed.

But Lan Yu easily dodged the puppet's attack, and then he created countless illusions of himself, making it hard to identify which was the real him. Unlike Qi Shaoming's clones, which were made from spiritual energy, these were afterimages created by the high speed at which he was moving. This was the Oceancrosser Step.

Horizon Ocean Pavilion was the fastest of the six major sects of Rosecloud. Even the Thousand Passions Sect and its "action without trace" of the Six Desires Mantra could only vie with Horizon Ocean Pavilion in a short sprint, and it focused more on bizarre and varied movement. When it came to pure speed, there was really no one that could beat Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

But he had just started moving when Tang Jie shouted, "Break!"

Blood burst out from the wound on Lan Yu's belly, making him tremble in pain. His speed dropped, Tang Jie's simple action breaking the Oceancrosser Step.

The Four-Nine True Word Mantra wasn't strong, but Tang Jie had targeted it at Lan Yu's wound. No matter how formidable Lan Yu's cultivation was, so long as he didn't have a constitution like the Jewel Body, this wound would always be his weak point, and even a single finger would leave him in unbearable pain. And while the Oceancrosser Step was powerful, it needed Lan Yu to concentrate all his power to maintain it. The slightest gap would lead to its failure. This was why a single "Break" from Tang Jie had been enough to ruin it.

Lan Yu swayed and dropped from the sky, and the combat puppet pursued. Unable to dodge, Lan Yu slapped his body, and his body flashed with light as he applied a spiritual barrier to himself. A moment later, fist met barrier in an explosion of rainbow light.

Lan Yu borrowed the impact to rise, and as he thrust out his hand again and again, one wind wall after another appeared, pushing toward Tang Jie. What had been a defensive spell became an attack through his hands—a sign of his rich combat experience.

"Young Master, break the walls!" Tang Jie shouted. He called the Heartbreak Saber back into his hands and chopped, green flames spreading along the blade and streaking toward Lan Yu. At the same time, Wei Tianchong threw out another large fireball. In Wei Tianchong's hands, this low-level spell displayed tremendous power, and even Tang Jie was shocked at how powerful it had become.

The two of them together seemed unstoppable, breaking through three wind walls and charging up to Lan Yu.

Lan Yu knew that this was the key moment, and his eyes glinted as a vortex suddenly formed in his hand. In a flash, it became a little green sword, its tip thrusting straight at Wei Tianchong.

This sword was about one foot and three inches long, with a green tassel hanging from its handle. It seemed unremarkable, but the moment it appeared, Xu Miaoran, who had nervously been watching the battle, stood up in shock and shouted, "Senior Brother, don't!"

Tang Jie's heart tightened when he saw this sword.

Tang Jie had seen Lan Yu fight in many battles in the Immortal Fortune Conference, but he had never seen him use this weapon. He normally used his hands to cast spells and his high speed to easily achieve victory. Even against Helian Hu, he had never used a weapon.

But now, Lan Yu had taken out a weapon, and Tang Jie immediately had a bad feeling.

Lan Yu had targeted Wei Tianchong.

Tang Jie was actually weaker than Wei Tianchong right now. After all, Wei Tianchong wasn't fighting alone, but had his puppet to help. Thus, Lan Yu had chosen to kill Wei Tianchong.

Lan Yu's green sword thrust forward, first striking Wei Tianchong's fireball. With a light touch, the giant fireball burst into sparks, dispersing like a firework. The energy from the sword continued unimpeded, digging out a furrow in the earth as it swept forward.

Tang Jie lunged forward with all his strength, pushing the Blood Refining Spirit and Violet Lightning Lunge to their limit. Grabbing Wei Tianchong, he rolled.

But he was still a little slow, and the sword energy brushed over his butt, shaving off a chunk of meat and exposing the bone. Even the Formless Golden Body had failed to reduce its power by even a little. The sword energy kept going, felling countless trees and creating a fissure in the ground that extended for three-hundred-some meters before finally stopping.

Lan Yu's face turned ghastly white after he made this strike. It was clear that this blow had taken much of his energy.

Even so, after seeing that Tang Jie was injured, Lan Yu snorted and then smugly smiled. Although he hadn't been able to kill Wei Tianchong, wounding Tang Jie was fine too. Having sustained multiple severe wounds, Tang Jie would find it very difficult to move.

Lan Yu was confident that his next strike could kill Tang Jie, and he raised the small sword again.

But just as he raised his sword, Wei Tianchong slapped a chubby hand on the ground and exclaimed, "Rise!"

That puppet that had been clumsily chasing Lan Yu suddenly accelerated to a speed that Lan Yu hadn't even thought possible, slamming into his shoulder and sending him flying. The second strike naturally missed its mark, striking at empty ground several meters away from Tang Jie.

Lan Yu was going to make a third strike, but Tang Jie turned around and waved a hand at Lan Yu.

There didn't seem to be anything at all in his hand, but Lan Yu's sharp senses told him there was immense danger, and he hastily moved to the side.

Lan Yu felt something pierce through his arm. The intense pain caused his grip to loosen, and the green sword dropped from his hand.

Lan Yu hastily went to pick it up, but as he bent down, a fireball from Wei Tianchong slammed into him.

Even though Lan Yu had a barrier, the powerful impact sent him flying. Meanwhile, the puppet grabbed the little sword.

"Oh no!" Lan Yu paled.

This green tassel sword had cost him all he owned and could not be lost. He quickly made a sword sign and pointed at the sword, trying to get control of it and bring it back to him.

"Get the sword!" Tang Jie shouted.

The puppet's eyes flashed, and a Lightning Fall crashed onto Lan Yu. The effect of this lightning was limited, but it slowed Lan Yu's act of getting back the sword.

Tang Jie waved his hand, and the golden needle flew out again, this time aimed at Lan Yu's throat.

Lan Yu raised his head, and the golden needle flew past his face. Tang Jie was startled, thinking to himself, I already used the Nullight spell to hide the golden glint, so how did he notice? When he looked at the needle, he understood. At some point, it had been stained with a few drops of blood, which had allowed Lan Yu to notice this fatal attack.

But this dodge had given Wei Tianchong enough time to grab the sword, and he began to try to remove the control spell that had been left on the sword.

Art relics like this green tassel sword weren't like ordinary spell weapons. Even among art relics, they were very valuable, and because of their value, cultivators would often pay an extra price to apply special spells that would make them easier to control, to even call them back if they were taken away.

What Wei Tianchong wanted to do was wipe away this spell and take control of the sword.

But when the small sword was in his hand, he froze.

He looked at Tang Jie. "How do I remove it?"

"You don't know?" Tang Jie asked in shock. "The teachers taught us!"

Wei Tianchong looked aggrieved. "I didn't hear it. Did you forget? I passed the test because you helped me cheat."

Tang Jie felt his vision go dark.

The spectators gasped, "He doesn't even know this?"

Ming Yekong looked at Xie Fengtang, who slapped his forehead and ruthlessly said, "For the next exam, I'll increase the surveillance by ten times!"

But for Lan Yu, this was a pleasant surprise. He laughed and pointed at the sword. "Return to me!"

The green tassel sword flew out of Wei Tianchong's palm and back to Lan Yu, and Lan Yu's eyes flashed with killing intent. Once the small sword returned to his hand, he would be the winner of this battle.

Tang Jie glared at him and sternly said, "You won't be getting it back!"

He suddenly leapt at Lan Yu.

Time seemed to freeze, a single frame fixed eternally in the minds of the spectators.

In this scene, the little green sword was flying through the air in a green streak of light.

The edge of the sword was brushing past Tang Jie, slicing across his body and coming away with a flash of red blood.

Lan Yu had a smug smile on his face.

Wei Tianchong was staring, gobsmacked, at the sky.

And in the center of this frame, Tang Jie was heedlessly charging forward!

He charged up in front of Lan Yu and punched.

At the same time, the little green sword flew back as if time was flowing backward, returning to Lan Yu's palm.

One second later, the iron fist smashed into the sword.

Lan Yu saw the most magnificent scene in his life.

The green tassel sword shattered.

Small shards filled the area, obscuring Lan Yu's vision and shaking his soul.

His morale plunged to rock bottom.

He muttered, "No, no, how is this possible?"

He looked at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie was looking at him, his eyes composed as ever.

Lan Yu panicked.

He who had been through countless battles and won every one had finally panicked.

His confidence had shattered along with the sword.

He floated back a few steps, cried out, and then fled more quickly than he had come.

Wei Tianchong was stunned. He looked at Tang Jie in the air and said in disbelief, "He ran? We won?"

The number one genius of the six major sects had been defeated by the combination of him and Tang Jie. Even Wei Tianchong found it difficult to believe.

Tang Jie smiled and nodded. "Yes… We won."

He suddenly threw his head back, threw up a large mouthful of blood, and fell from the sky.