Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-500

"Tang Jie, you won't die a good death!"

In the middle of this bitter scream, a blade flashed, and blood rained from the sky.

Seizing the corpse of the last cultivator, Tang Jie threw it into the Mountain River Diagram and flew off.

He ignored the majority of the corpses—not because he didn't want them, but because a large number of corpses disappearing would make Godhead Palace suspicious. Only the occasional corpse missing would make them mistakenly believe that some of the corpses had been utterly obliterated in the intense fighting. This was exactly why Tang Jie only took some of the bodies, usually those of the strongest.

The person he had just killed was the master of the Great Goose Sword Sect, a Spirit Ring True Person. He had come on orders to intercept Tang Jie but had ended up dying in battle.

Even so, Tang Jie had been struck by the sect master's final counterattack, a sword striking him on the left shoulder. Even though he had the Formless Golden Body protecting him, the dying blow of the sect master could not be underestimated. Given that his cultivation level was higher than Tang Jie's, his sword strike had almost blasted apart half of Tang Jie's body. It was only after taking several healing pills in a row that he finally managed to bring his rampant blood and energy under control.

Tang Jie estimated that he would need about three days to fully recover.

But he didn't have three days.

That afternoon, as he was flying over the Yuhua River, Tang Jie was intercepted by another small sect.

This time, two members of Godhead Palace also participated.

There was another big battle, and though Tang Jie won, he was struck by the Corroding Yin Hand. This wasn't a powerful move, but it was very sinister. Once it entered the body, it was very difficult to remove, and it would wear away at one's spiritual energy, affecting Tang Jie's ability to recover spiritual energy.

One day later, Tang Jie was intercepted again.

After another bitterly-fought battle, though Tang Jie managed to win again, he didn't manage to eliminate all his enemies, letting three of them escape. Thankfully, Tang Jie didn't have the original body go out this time, allowing him to keep that secret. But as time passed, Nan Ningjiang and the others were becoming more and more aware of the original body's existence.

Another day passed, and as Tang Jie passed through the Central Pivot Mountains, he was waylaid by the Peerless Sword Pavilion.

The Peerless Sword Pavilion was one of the superior sects of Nadir Hill, home to many experts. Its ancestor was a Violet Palace True Lord who had cultivated for a thousand years, and the current sect master was a peak Celestial Heart True Person. They were one of the few sects who hunted for Tang Jie without needing Nan Ningjiang's prompting.

Upon facing this sort of big sect, Tang Jie turned and ran.

But the Peerless Sword Pavilion was unwilling to let him go, chasing him for three days and three nights.

To chase Tang Jie, the Peerless Sword Pavilion sent the sect master and the elders, nine True Persons in all—one at Soul Transformation, three at Heart Demon, and five at Spirit Ring. They chased Tang Jie wherever he went, and if not for his duplicates and that stone canvas that could block Divine Will, Tang Jie might really have been forced to hide in the diagram in order to avoid this pursuit and catch his breath. But that was certain to expose his last trump card.

Having finally evaded this disaster, Tang Jie exhaled. Wearing the stone canvas while hiding in the water, he could feel various Divine Wills passing over him.

Even though they had lost him, those guys still refused to give up.

"Bastard!" Tang Jie ground his teeth as he grumbled. These guys had really taken him as their chance at advancement.

Since these guys thought that his flesh would be their stairway up the Immortal Path, they couldn't blame him for being ruthless in turn.

"Canhen, can you hear my voice?" Tang Jie activated Heart Consonance for the first time since he had given the spell art to Xi Shangyue.

"…Y…yes." Xi Canhen's voice replied with great difficulty within his mind. After several days of cultivation, Xi Canhen had finally managed to just barely grasp Heart Consonance.

Tang Jie chuckled. "Very good. Canhen, I have to thank you for Ninebind City."

"Alas, I still ended up getting Young Master caught in a trap."

"It's fine. This little matter can't bring me down. But I have something that I need your help with."

"Tell me."

"I need information on the Peerless Sword Pavilion."

"The Peerless Sword Pavilion… yes, you're being chased by them. They weren't sent by Nan Ningjiang. Nan Ningjiang already knows that you're going to the Spirit Mountains and is laying a trap there."

"It's fine. I didn't plan to hide that from them anyway. But before then, I'm going to take care of these bugs. Give me all the information you have on the Peerless Sword Pavilion. The more detailed, the better."

"Please wait a moment."

A few moments later, Xi Canhen began to relay to Tang Jie bits of information about the Peerless Sword Pavilion.

Tang Jie did his best to memorize everything, silently released a duplicate, and then he cautiously began to retreat. Obscured by the turbid waters, he swam downstream, and only when he was almost out of control range did he finally let the duplicate leave the water.

Countless eyes and Divine Wills focused on the duplicate. Tang Jie used this chance to leave the water and fly off in the opposite direction.

The nine True Persons of the Peerless Sword Pavilion only found this out an hour later.

An hour was long enough for Tang Jie to do a lot of things.

He crazily flew toward the Peerless Sword Pavilion, using the Cloudpiercer Shuttle to its limit. Traveling at maximum speed, he managed to reach the Peerless Sword Pavilion in the middle of the night.

Amidst steep cliffs and towering mountains was a majestic palace. This was the Peerless Sword Pavilion.

The entire sword pavilion appeared like an enormous sword pointed at the sky, surrounded and protected by countless "small swords". At the back of the pavilion was the famous Sword Mound of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. It was said that countless precious swords were buried here.

Unlike in other places, when a disciple of the Peerless Sword Pavilion died, they did not Return their Remnants, instead pouring all of their energy and divinity into the sword they had used. Thus, when its master died, even the most ordinary sword would become a peerless weapon. For this reason, the thing that the Peerless Sword Pavilion lacked the least was famous swords. One could say that the Sword Mound was their blessed land.

The swords that were placed in the Sword Mound would wait there for a sword pavilion disciple to choose them.

When they encountered a suitable master, they would journey together with that disciple, creating a new pairing, and they would pass on the experience and part of the power of their former master to their new one. This was also the succession method of the Peerless Sword Pavilion, and it was this method of inheritance that made them powerful enough to become one of the most famous sects of Nadir Hill outside of Godhead Palace.

When Tang Jie arrived, the Peerless Sword Pavilion still hadn't realized that the greatest crisis in its history had come.

It was hard to blame them. The Peerless Sword Pavilion was a superior sect, and even if its nine elders were not present, there was still a Violet Palace True Lord holding the fort. Who would dare to come and cause trouble here?

But Tang Jie had come anyway.

Flying down to the pavilion, Tang Jie waved his hand, turning himself into the appearance of Sword Pavilion Master Void Wind, and charged right in.

A disciple saw the pavilion master flying over and hurriedly prostrated. "Paying respects to the pavilion master!"

Tang Jie grunted and strode past.

Master Void Wind had always been imposing and taciturn. Since Tang Jie was pretending to be him, he naturally wanted to limit his words.

Outside the sword pavilion was an archway of imposing stature called the Cloud Descent Gate.

Anyone who wanted to enter the sword pavilion had to go on foot starting from there.

As Tang Jie passed the Cloud Descent Gate and saw no response from the archway, he faintly smiled, knowing that he had passed the most important checkpoint.

The Cloud Descent Gate had a detector eye that could see through illusions, meant to keep out any thieves or hoodlums.

But while this detector eye was good, it couldn't see through the illusion ability of the Illusion Fox. Illusion and disguise spells had never been complicated, and even Spirit Platform students could learn them. But the Illusion Fox's disguise ability was amazing precisely because of its impressive level. One had to grasp illusion-breaking spell arts of the Dao-comprehending level to see through it.

The Peerless Sword Pavilion's detector eye was at the upper limit of what a spell art could accomplish, but it was far from reaching a Dao, so it could do nothing against this sort of illusion.

Tang Jie headed straight toward the Celestial Axis Tower.

The Celestial Axis Tower was at the center of the sword pavilion complex and its key location, connected to all other parts of the pavilion.

As an expert in formations, Tang Jie could tell at a glance that the Celestial Axis Tower was where the core of the Peerless Sword Formation was located.

Any big sect had a great formation.

The one protecting the Peerless Sword Pavilion was the Peerless Sword Formation. Although it was a protective formation, its sword energy was peerlessly tyrannical. It was one of the few protective formations in the world that had offense as its strong point, and even a Violet Palace True Lord couldn't deal with it.

Tang Jie was here for that last point.

As Tang Jie strode toward the Celestial Axis Tower, the two disciples guarding it saw him and bowed. "Pavilion Master."

Tang Jie pushed open the door as he said, "Guard the Celestial Axis Tower and ensure that no one disturbs me."

"As you command!" the two disciples replied in unison.

Tang Jie entered the tower.

He didn't have much time. While Master Void Wind's group wouldn't find out he was gone so quickly, the Peerless Sword Pavilion had its own rules. He had been able to go inside primarily because of the pavilion master's prestige and the ineffectiveness of the detector eye, but as time passed, the disciples would realize that something was wrong. They would soon wonder why nine had gone out in pursuit but only one had returned. And it was no secret that Tang Jie could disguise himself. Besides that, Nan Ningjiang could locate him, and he might realize where he was and notify the Peerless Sword Pavilion.

Tang Jie couldn't hope that none of these suspicious points would be discovered, so he needed to act before anyone had time to react, using speed to cover for his shortcomings.

Upon entering the Celestial Axis Tower, Tang Jie was greeted by a starry splendor. The inside of the tower was covered with formation lines that gathered together in shining balls of light.

Floating in the tower was a hexagonal prism, like the one at Wind Devil Island. Through the prism, one could see everything going on in the Peerless Sword Pavilion.

Tang Jie stepped toward the prism and tapped it. The scenes on the crystal began to shift around.

As the scenes switched out, one scene drew his attention. This was a meditation chamber, in which sat an old man.

Though he was sitting, he appeared like a sharp sword, with a sword radiance that soared to the heavens emerging from his body.

"The Celestial Sword True Lord!" Tang Jie muttered.

Sensing that someone was watching him, the old man in the meditation chamber suddenly opened his eyes and looked up. Confused shock appeared on his face as he sensed that something was wrong, though he wasn't sure what it was.

Tang Jie grunted and pointed at the crystal. "Close the Nine Palaces and shift the heavens and earth! Peerless Sword Formation, lock!"

There was a clanging as the Peerless Sword Pavilion suddenly glowed with spiritual light.

But this spiritual light collapsed inward rather than radiating outward, pressing down on that meditation chamber like a giant turned-over bowl.

The enormous spiritual torrent descended toward the Celestial Sword True Lord, who paled. He pointed at the sky, and a sharp sword energy flew out, breaking through the ceiling. At the same time, that spiritual torrent coalesced into a giant sword.

The two swords clashed. Initially, there was no sound, and then a spiritual shockwave swept outward, engulfing the sky and blasting away the clouds, dispersing in a rainbow of colors that left everyone stunned.

"Who dares to act so brazenly within my Peerless Sword Pavilion?" The Celestial Sword True Lord was clearly enraged, his True Essence rippling out and making his voice resound throughout the land.

Even the faraway Master Void Wind and his group sensed this roar and paled. "Oh no! The sword pavilion!"

But this intimidating roar did not shake Tang Jie at all.

As the command center of the Peerless Sword Formation, this tower enjoyed the highest level of protection.

Looking at the imperious old man who could even withstand the concentrated might of the Peerless Sword Formation, Tang Jie chuckled and said, "Still this lively? Then I'll add a little spice. Peerless Sword Mound, rise!"

He thrust out a hand, and the countless swords at the back of the pavilion hummed as they flew into the air, leaving dazzling trails of light and stabbing at the old man.

"Impossible!" The Celestial Sword True Lord was aghast as he looked at those countless streaks of light.

Other than passing down the legacy of the sword pavilion, the Peerless Sword Mound had another important use. It was an important part of the Peerless Sword Formation.

When there was a powerful foe that even the Peerless Sword Formation couldn't immediately deal with, all the swords of the Peerless Sword Mound would unleash their might, and the power of the thousands of swords controlled by the formation was truly a sight to behold.

Even the Celestial Sword True Lord did not dare to be careless around this most terrifying attack of the Peerless Sword Formation. After shouting "Bastard!", he erupted with energy, producing countless balls of sword radiance that lit up the Peerless Sword Pavilion. Sword energy pierced the firmament, their light illuminating the earth like a sun and scaring the disciples so badly that they dropped to the ground and didn't dare to raise their heads.

"He's doing pretty good," Tang Jie smiled and turned to leave.

It would take some time for the Celestial Sword True Lord to battle it out with the Peerless Sword Formation, which was the perfect time to strike.

As he walked out of the Celestial Axis Tower, several disciples ran over and spotted Tang Jie. "Pavilion Master, what's happened? Why has the Peerless Sword…"

Swish! A saber flashed, and several heads flew into the air.

Tang Jie didn't even stop as he said, "Nothing has happened at all."

Another two disciples came over. Upon seeing the scene, they cried out, "You're not…"

Tang Jie grabbed them by the throats and coldly said, "Hush."

His face changed back into his own as he crushed their throats. He then pulled out the Mountain River State Diagram.

The ghost guard flew out.

"Kill everyone you can kill and steal everything you can steal, but don't touch the old man."

The ghost guard nodded and flew off.

"Yiyi!"

In a flash, Yiyi transformed from a little flower on Tang Jie's collar back into human form.

"Summon Black Sin."

Raaa! There was an enormous bellow as that terrifying underground fiend manifested and began to devour the disciples of the sword pavilion.

The Peerless Sword Pavilion was a superior sect and had around one thousand disciples, with several hundred of them at Mortal Shedding. Moreover, these people were much stronger than those of the average minor sect, and because they were sword cultivators, they had sharp attacks. If just a small number of them could join together, Tang Jie would find it very hard to deal with them.

But Tang Jie was in the pavilion and could disguise himself. If he ran into someone he couldn't beat, he could just run off and change his face. Unable to use their strength, they instead became nutrients for Black Sin.

Screams rang out as those tentacles flailed, and the Celestial Sword True Lord was stunned by what he was hearing. But he was unable to break free of the Peerless Sword Formation. The Peerless Sword Formation was the sect's protective formation, and its purpose was to deal with those enemies that the sect couldn't deal with. There would be no point if it were weak. Thus, it wasn't strange that the old man couldn't overcome it unless he unleashed all his power.

Meanwhile, Tang Jie transformed into a pavilion disciple and swiftly made his way to the storehouse. Since he was here, he naturally couldn't leave empty-handed.

A disciple ran over while clutching a talisman, shouting, "Godhead Palace has sent a message! Tang Jie is in the sword pavilion! Tang Jie is in the sword pavilion!"

Tang Jie blasted apart that disciple with a punch and coldly said, "I know."

Weaving through the corridors, Tang Jie arrived at the storehouse.

As a superior sect, the Peerless Sword Pavilion had a very impressive-looking storehouse.

"There should be a lot of nice things inside," Tang Jie murmured as he took out the Mountain River Diagram. Just as he was about to take away the storehouse, a bolt of lightning shot out of the storehouse, aimed straight at Tang Jie's throat.

Tang Jie leaned back, and the lightning bolt brushed past his face.

Four people flew out of the storehouse, callous looks in their eyes, each one holding a sword. The surrounding sword energy appeared to have no effect on them.

"The Four Sword Attendants," Tang Jie grunted.

These four people were probably the famous Sword Attendants of Peerless Sword Pavilion. Although they were only at the peak of Mortal Shedding, they were said to be so strong that each one essentially had the power of a True Person. Besides that, they were fearless and faithful.

But this clearly wasn't the entire force protecting the storehouse.

A cold bark came from within. "Tang Jie! You've got guts, choosing to attack my sword pavilion while being chased by the pavilion master, putting treasures over your life."

The thunderous voice rumbled in Tang Jie's heart, leaving him rather shaken.

Spiritual light flowed out of the storehouse, almost reaching Tang Jie's feet.

A Spirit Ring True Person.

"A tenth Spirit Ring," Tang Jie muttered. "And here I thought the Peerless Sword Pavilion only had nine True Persons."

"How could you ever know of the true reserves of the sword pavilion?" As that voice spoke, a beam of sword light shot at him, vast and piercing. The True Person left behind as a guardian was even more powerful than those elders who had been chasing him.

Tang Jie sneered, "And how would you know about my true reserves?"

As he spoke, the Mountain River Diagram unfurled. The waterfall began to fly upward, and a black hole appeared.

The sword beam shot straight into the hole.

At the same time, a tremendous energy erupted from that dark hole, striking that sharp sword.

Unstoppable!

One hour later.

When Master Void Wind appeared in the skies above the Peerless Sword Pavilion, he was greeted by a scene of devastation.

It was like a storm had swept through the Peerless Sword Pavilion. There was not an intact building to be seen, the ground was covered in bodies, and rivers of blood flowed.

Master Void Wind's body shuddered as he mumbled, "How did this happen? How did this happen?"

He rushed in like a madman and began to look around. "Is anyone still alive? Any survivors?"

The voice echoed through the pavilion.

"Pavilion… Master…" A weak voice came from a pile of bodies.

Master Void Wind rushed over and pulled out a disciple.

His chest had been struck by the ghost guard's claw, and his heart had been shattered, but he had still managed to survive.

"What in the world happened?!" Master Void Wind roared.

"Tang Jie… pretended to be you… snuck into the pavilion… killed everyone… plundered the storehouse," the disciple said in a shaky voice.

"Tang Jie." Master Void Wind became dizzy upon hearing this name. In truth, he had already known the answer, but now that he was facing the consequences, he still couldn't believe his eyes.

"How could this be… Master was here. How could things end up like this? Where is the ancestor?"

The disciple struggled out, "Tang Jie… entered the Celestial Axis Tower… activated the formation… The ancestor was locked in battle with it, even going so far as to badly damage the formation… didn't expect… Tang Jie would use the chance… use the chance…"

"'Use the chance' to do what?"

"Use the chance to take… to take all the swords in the Sword Mound."

"What?" Master Void Wind plopped to the ground as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt.

The disciple said, "The ancestor was used… In his shock and anger… he… he suffered energy corruption!"

Thud!

Master Void Wind threw up blood.

The nine True Persons of the Peerless Sword Pavilion were all stunned.

The storehouse had been looted, the Sword Mound plundered, and the disciples killed, and the ancestor had fallen into madness.

Tang Jie had carved huge words into the soil of the Peerless Sword Pavilion:

"Starting from today, the Peerless Sword Pavilion no longer exists!"