Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-456-30041322

There was something extraordinary about the bolt of lightning.

Ordinary lightning was here and gone in a flash, but this lightning bolt lingered, hanging across the sky like a sword. Its body was straight and slender like a sword, its tip crackling with lightning, and its lower end was thick like a hilt, and there was even a hand grasping it.

This hand emerged from the clouds, appearing as abruptly as one of Tang Jie's Heavenly Cloud Blades!

It appeared like a simple lightning sword in the sky, but given the extreme distance, it had to have been thousands of feet long. And the sword grasping the hilt of that lightning sword seemed in perfect harmony with its surroundings.

The moment the massive lightning sword appeared, it slashed at the giant face.

The lingering lightning sliced through the clouds, through the Blue Wolf True Lord's phantasmal face.

"Is that you, Xiao Biehan!?" a furious voice exploded through the clouds.

The lightning sword ignored him, continuing to slice here and there like a child, soon slicing apart that face.

The coiling clouds refused to disperse, gathering more and more.

That lightning sword decided to take a stab at the clouds.

Lightning penetrated through the clouds, and there was a brilliant eruption that scattered the clouds.

There was a light snort from the clouds, and a clear and bright voice resounded through the world. "Feng Muyuan, you really think you're worthy of the Sword of the Sect?"

When Tang Jie heard this voice, he blurted out in shock, "Master Ming!"

"Ming Yekong!" A voice of fear, shock, and disbelief came from Feng Muyuan's mouth. "You advanced to Violet Palace?"

For Ming Yekong to have advanced to Violet Palace was no small matter.

The six major sects had wrangled against each other for many years, and their strengths had mostly been in balance.

The one with the most True Lords had been the Beast Refining Gate. If one counted their Divine Division fiend beasts, they had at least seven Violet Palace cultivators. However, while their cultivation levels were high, their strength as individuals was rather lacking. Second was the Seven Absolutions Sect, with five True Lords. Godhead Palace, the Basking Moon Sect, and the Thousand Passions Sect all had four Violet Palace True Lords, but one of each was a Celestial Sovereign. Horizon Ocean Pavilion had the fewest, at only three, but two were Celestial Sovereigns… This was connected to their cultivation arts.

Overall, everyone was about equally strong.

In these circumstances, another Violet Palace True Lord appearing in any faction would place considerable pressure on the others.

Ming Yekong's breakthrough had undoubtedly added to the Basking Moon Sect's influence.

That clear and bright voice spoke again. "Thanks to the blessing of the heavens, I finally succeeded, but I did not think my first battle would be against you, Wolf Lord Feng."

As he spoke, that hand in the sky released the lightning sword.

The lightning sword dissipated, leaving behind the hand, which pointed a finger.

This light thrust made Feng Muyuan furiously bellow like never before.

In the clouds, a blue wolf that had been taking form was turned to nothing by Ming Yekong's finger.

Feng Muyuan howled, "Ming Yekong, even if you've reached Violet Palace, you've barely stepped through the door. You're far from the power where you can act as you please!"

"But in this situation, it's quite enough to deal with you." Ming Yekong's voice remained cool and collected.

Ming Yekong was not lying. In terms of seniority, as a new Violet Palace True Lord, he was far from reaching Feng Muyuan.

But this way of fighting across space was very advantageous toward him.

His original expertise was in space. This was how he was able to master the Chaoswind Step.

After reaching Violet Palace, he deepened his understanding of space, and while he had yet to become a Celestial Sovereign who had entered the Dao, he had comprehended the Dao of Space enough that he could ignore the strictures of it.

While he hadn't created a manifestation like Feng Muyuan, that sword-wielding hand of his was actually the real deal!

He had sent his actual hand across space, and it could use 100% of his power. This was why he did not fear Feng Muyuan.

Another True Lord might have had a solution to this problem, but Feng Muyuan was the typical True Lord of the Beast Refining Gate. At least half of his power was tied to his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, and his strength was clearly weaker than that of the average True Lord.

Given this imbalance, Ming Yekong did not fear him in this battle.

The clouds churned in the sky, as the form of Feng Muyuan's Blue Sky Demon Wolf continued to coalesce, but Ming Yekong's finger dispersed them again and again. Feng Muyuan could only helplessly roar.

If his real self had been here, then with his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, he could have prevented Ming Yekong from being this bold and impetuous. But this sort of long-distance battle was a test of an individual's strength, which was precisely the Beast Refining Gate's weakness.

And the fact that the Basking Moon Sect had sent Ming Yekong was a sign that they were using this battle to boost Ming Yekong's reputation.

In the future, it would be said that when Ming Yekong became the Basking Moon Sect's new True Lord, in his first battle, he defeated Blue Wolf True Lord Feng Muyuan. Feng Muyuan was being used as a stepping stone to fame.

The thought almost made Feng Muyuan throw up blood in anger.

At this moment, waves suddenly erupted over the ocean.

A furious current ripped through the calm seas, and a giant wave emerged, growing taller and taller until it was even taller than the Immortal mountain. But it did not fall, hovering there like a mountain of flowing water, striking fear into everyone's hearts.

The sea mountain grew taller and taller, eventually reaching a height of ten thousand meters—the same altitude as that cloud.

Then the "water mountain" began to transform, gradually taking the form of a man. It was similar to the phantom of the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, though many times more majestic.

This was a middle-aged man whose facial features were made rather indistinct by the flowing waters. But at this moment, Xu Miaoran shouted, "Father!"

'Father'?

Tang Jie's heart trembled at this word.

Sea Anchor True Lord Xu Guanghua?

Sure enough, he had come, but not because of his daughter's summons.

As Xu Guanghua appeared, he opened his mouth and boomed, "Chief Ming, congratulations on advancing to Violet Palace. On such a joyous occasion, what need is there to resolve matters through conflict? As the master of this land, my Horizon Ocean Pavilion requests that these two honored ones do not fight out of respect for us."

Ming Yekong laughed. "Sea Lord Xu must naturally be shown respect, but I do not know what Wolf Lord Feng thinks."

As he spoke, that hand of his continued to thrust out its finger, refusing to let Feng Muyuan coalesce a phantom.

So long as Feng Muyuan could not manifest, he could not use his power, nor could he take back the Beast Garden, and so the Basking Moon Sect's goals would be achieved.

Feng Muyuan angrily shouted, "Don't even think about it!"

"Then it seems that Wolf Lord Feng is not willing to show respect for Horizon Ocean Pavilion. This has nothing to do with the Basking Moon Sect," Ming Yekong very righteously said.

Xu Guanghua helplessly sighed. "Since the two of you are unwilling to stop, then let me help you stop."

An arm extended from that sea mountain and slapped at the sky.

Seeing this, Tang Jie frowned.

While this slap seemed intended to stop the two from fighting, it was actually helping out Feng Muyuan.

After all, Ming Yekong was using his first-strike advantage to prevent Feng Muyuan from manifesting. Once Feng Muyuan manifested, he could join with his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, at which point it would become a problem for Ming Yekong to hold out against this senior True Lord, even with his innate advantage in long-distance battle.

Xu Miaoran had also noticed the problem, shouting, "Father!"

Xu Guanghua ignored her, only shooting a glance at Xu Miaoran. As he was looking at Xu Guanghua, he was also looking at Tang Jie next to her.

His gaze was sharp and majestic, radiating intimidating power.

Tang Jie felt his heart tremble, felt a compulsion to get on his knees. But he knew that he couldn't do such a thing, so he clenched his teeth and looked back at Xu Guanghua, refusing to back down in the slightest.

Not only that, Tang Jie began to form hand signs.

As his hands shifted, a light glowed in his eyes. He pointed at the sky and shouted, "Heavenly Cloud Blades, go!"

Twenty Heavenly Cloud Blades sliced toward Feng Muyuan.

This act left everyone dumbfounded.

Even Feng Buzhi looked at Tang Jie in disbelief.

When Titans like these took action, everyone could only obediently stand where they were, perhaps even prostrate. But this bastard dared to attack a True Lord!

Did he have the biggest balls in the world? Or was he the greatest idiot to ever have existed?

Did he really think those twenty shabby pieces of steel could do anything to Feng Muyuan?

At this time, with Ming Yekong's attacks being hindered by Xu Guanghua's wave mountain, Feng Muyuan was rapidly manifesting.

The twenty Heavenly Cloud Blades swished over, striking the phantoms of Feng Muyuan and his Blue Sky Demon Wolf.

"Aaaagh!" A furious roar exploded through the heavens.

It was Feng Muyuan's cry.

This sound and fury was not because he had been injured. It was just his dignity that had suffered an immense blow.

A mere Spirit Master of Mortal Shedding Nine Revolutions, an ant-like existence, dared to swipe its claws at a True Lord.

This was the greatest possible humiliation!

"Die!" As Feng Muyuan roared, the Blue Sky Demon Wolf spat a blue wave of wind at Tang Jie.

It seemed like a simple attack, but it was empowered with the terrifying might of the world. Even the ghost guard and Tang Jie's original body wouldn't be able to block it.

Tang Jie turned to Xu Miaoran and said, "Are you willing to be together with me in both life and death?"

A beautiful smile bloomed on Xu Miaoran's face. "Where my husband is, I will be. If my husband dies, I will die."

The two of them smiled and embraced each other, facing down that blue wave of wind.

These two didn't seem to take their lives seriously, but the Sea Anchor True Lord's soul almost left his body.

"Absolutely not!"

The giant water hand turned around and thrust at the wind wave, dispersing it.

Rather than dispersing, the water flew over to Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran, instantly creating a transparent wall of water that enclosed them. The remnants of the wind wave crashed against the wall in a riot of colors, but the two were uninjured.

Tang Jie looked at Xu Miaoran and smiled. "In the end, I still used you."

Xu Miaoran chuckled and lightly shook her head. "I don't care."

"The problem is that I've made a bad first impression now," Tang Jie sighed.

On their first meeting, he had used Xu Guanghua's daughter as a hostage. He was certain that the Sea Anchor True Lord was apoplectic over this.

But he had no other choice.

In the sky, Ming Yekong seized the chance to destroy Feng Muyuan's just-formed phantom.

Worst of all was that even a True Lord could not keep coalescing phantoms without limit.

After so many failures, Feng Muyuan was finding it hard to maintain the connection.

"No!" he crazily yelled, his face distorting. "Brother Xu, help me out! It's not important to take back the Beast Garden. The key is to take back the thing inside! No matter what, it can't fall into the hands of the Basking Moon Sect!"

Ming Yekong coldly said, "Feng Muyuan, you must be joking. You really think the treasures of your Beast Refining Gate are of interest to us?"

Feng Muyuan savagely laughed. "Ming Yekong, there's no need to put on false airs. The Basking Moon Sect has been coveting my sect's treasures for far more than just a day or two. In fact, this is the source of our thousand-year grudge!"

Ming Yekong grunted. "Of course. When the six sects united against our common foe, it was only through the sacrifice of countless lives that we managed to slay the chief menace. According to the agreement reached by the six major sects, we would equally divide that menace between our two sects, so why does your Beast Refining Gate get to keep the corpse all to yourself? All my Basking Moon Sect wants is what we deserve, the debt we are owed!"

Everyone was dumbfounded—not just Tang Jie, but also those people still wandering the sea surface and yet to reach the Immortal island, like Shen Qingdan. All of them could naturally see what was going on up in the heavens.

Everyone knew about the grudge between the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate, but nobody had known how it had come about. Today, they finally understood that the original grudge had been a spat over the spoils of war.

But what was so good about that corpse that two sects would fight over it for a thousand years?

It had to be understood that these were two major sects. Sects were not people, and they would rarely get into emotion-driven conflicts.

Feng Muyuan bellowed, "Bullshit! My sect suffered the greatest losses, even our ancestor falling in that battle! If we had not stolen the tiger corpse, you probably would have taken even the skin and bones."

"An agreement is an agreement, not some place for your excuses. There is no trusting the words of traitors!" Ming Yekong bluntly shouted back.

Their argument quickly made Xu Guanghua lose his patience.

Feng Muyuan was slowly losing ground, so he shouted, "Brother Xu, help me!"

Xu Guanghua silently nodded.