Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-509

When He Yueyang declared the cultivation type of Tang Jie's original body, Tang Jie knew that he would be unable to keep the secret that he had kept hidden all this time.

Although he had known that the day would come when this secret would be exposed, when the time came, Tang Jie still felt unwilling and reluctant. After all, the original body's strength was still Tang Jie's greatest backing, the reason he was able to so freely wander about.

Now that he had been exposed, all he could do was to get as much capital back as he could before his opponents could develop countermeasures.

He Yueyang was unquestionably one of these sources of capital that he had to take back.

Thus, as He Yueyang spoke, Tang Jie's original body let out a berserk roar and leaped from the ground, swinging that long-handled warhammer like he was Sun Wukong wielding his golden cudgel.

He Yueyang hastily countered. In the face of this sort of savage body refiner, little tricks were useless. Only strength was effective here. He Yueyang gathered up all of his spiritual energy and unleashed an attack of pure power.

Hammer and palm clashed, and He Yueyang's entire body once more exploded with light. Though his body swayed, he once more resisted the blow.

This tyrannical hammer that could even smash mountains seemed unable to do anything to He Yueyang. He sneered and said, "I'm telling you: it's useless."

"Then let's keep going!" Tang Jie roared as he swung his hammer a third time.

Accompanying that blazing streak of light was a whirlwind of energy that completely engulfed He Yueyang.

Even He Yueyang grimaced in the face of this berserk torrent of energy.

While it was true that he could block a full-force attack from Tang Jie, that was only when his spell art was operating at maximum capacity. Every blow he blocked consumed large amounts of spiritual power, and he needed time to absorb more energy and rest.

But Tang Jie made these attacks as naturally as breathing, and things were much more straightforward for him.

When wild instinct clashed with meticulous calculation, it was always the latter that would start having problems. Moreover, He Yueyang was affected by the Great Mountain's pressure, and every attack took him more spiritual energy while also being weaker.

The hammer and palm clashed again in a tremendous shockwave. He Yueyang tumbled through the air, his body flashing even more intensely, crackling as if countless flames were rising from him.

This was a sign that the Godhead Immortal Body was being used to its limit, an indicator that Tang Jie's power was not that easy to fend off.

He Yueyang was already appearing a little pale. Meanwhile, Tang Jie roared and charged at him again.

He Yueyang knew that he would be no match in these direct confrontations. He thrust out a palm, and the surrounding temperature plunged, frost beginning to form. The original body saw the frost swiftly cover his body, rendering him immobile.

Seeing that Tang Jie had been stopped, He Yueyang sighed in relief.

But before he could say anything, the ice on the original body began to crack, and a few moments later, the ice shattered, and Tang Jie charged out of the mist of ice and swung the hammer again at He Yueyang.

The attacks of body refiners had always been simple. They didn't have the variety of law cultivators, but they had sturdy bodies and immense strength. No matter what kind of opponent they faced, they could overwhelm them with pure force.

"Shit!" He Yueyang cursed.

He hadn't expected Tang Jie to be so absurdly strong that he found it hard to even block him three times. Although this was partially due to the Great Mountain's influence, it had more to do with this foe's formidable strength. He had never encountered a body refiner with such terrifying power.

Tang Jie jumped up again.

One jump brought him up thirty meters, holding up the hammer high and swinging it again at He Yueyang.

He Yueyang had no other choice than to raise his palm and receive the blow again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two of them swiftly exchanged several blows, and then there was a tremendous explosion.

In that dazzling flame of light, He Yueyang tumbled through the air like a leaf, throwing up blood. The light coming from his body at this point was like hundreds of cannons firing, and amid the explosions, He Yueyang's skin began to crack.

In every case, it was an eruption coming from within his body, like a buried mine detonating. In a flash, countless bloody holes appeared on He Yueyang's body.

This was because the Godhead Immortal Body could not completely absorb Tang Jie's terrifying power, so it did its best to release it, and the first to suffer in this case was He Yueyang's skin.

"Hey, did you get a sudden case of chicken pox?" Tang Jie jeered.

The sudden expulsion of energy had left He Yueyang covered in bloody holes, his face included. Even though his body was swiftly healing, Tang Jie's mockery severely damaged He Yueyang's dignity.

"Bastard! Azure Beam Sword, go! Nine Executions Sword!" He Yueyang bellowed, raising his left hand. An azure sword flew through the air, creating nine sharp sword phantoms in the air that shot at Tang Jie's head.

Although he was a cultivator skilled in defense, he still had his own killing moves. But He Yueyang knew that body refiners weren't just strong, but also defensively formidable. In a direct confrontation, they had a natural advantage over law cultivators. While his Nine Executions Sword was powerful, it wouldn't be able to do anything to Tang Jie. Meanwhile, if he became just a little careless, the move might be easily broken by his opponent. Thus, he had initially not planned to use it. But he couldn't take being humiliated by Tang Jie and finally decided to use this move.

But a moment later, he realized how foolish he was to use his sword.

As those sword phantoms descended, Tang Jie smiled and said, "I like this."

He raised his head and punched at the air.

"Break!"

As he roared, there was a soft crack.

The sword phantoms disappeared.

He Yueyang discovered to his shock that the Azure Beam Sword was no more. All that was left was shards of metal.

Yes, they floated about in the air as if weightless, leaving He Yueyang to marvel at them.

He was dazed at first, as if he was trying to digest what had happened, and then he cried out in pain, "My Azure Beam Sword!"

His scream was the miserable scream of a child who had lost his most precious toy.

At that moment, Master Xuan Zhong's voice resounded. "Yueyang, take the bell!"

At that moment, this was the most beautiful voice in the world for He Yueyang.

He looked at Tang Jie with eyes filled with loathing.

He raised his head and shot out a ray of light.

A black bell descended from the sky and landed in his hand.

He Yueyang let out a roar of pain and anger, and also confidence. "Let's see how arrogant you are after this!"

Tang Jie shook his head. "Is that so?"

Holding steady the hammer in his right hand, Tang Jie charged at the Supreme Mystery Bell while punching with his left hand, gathering up the strongest power he had.

At the same time, He Yueyang tossed the bell right at Tang Jie's fist.

Boom!

As the fist and Supreme Mystery Bell collided, time seemed to freeze.

To his shock, Tang Jie found that the Weapon Mantra couldn't destroy the bell. On the contrary, the bell suddenly began to flow with light.

As the light flowed, it let out a resounding ring that reverberated through the land.

This was the loudest sound yet in this battle.

The massive sound wave actually manifested into a whirlwind centered on the Supreme Mystery Bell. The gale slammed into the original body, and despite his sturdy constitution, he was still sent flying, even throwing up blood.

This was the first time Tang Jie's original body had been injured.

He raised his head and stared at the bell, shouting, "A divine treasure!"

This wasn't the first time his Weapon Mantra had failed.

Tang Jie knew that, currently, only divine treasures could resist the Weapon Mantra from his original body.

He hadn't expected the Supreme Mystery Bell to be a divine treasure, and it appeared it was of an even higher level than the three divine swords of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. The shockwave just now had clearly used Tang Jie's own power against him. In other words, one of this treasure's functions was to reflect attacks.

This alone made it extremely precious.

"Shattering it would be too much of a waste," Tang Jie muttered.

Divine treasures were hard to come by. Each one was a refined concentration of spiritual energy that could uphold an entire sect.

Shattering it would only get him some golden shards. Tang Jie wasn't very willing to destroy it.

He Yueyang flicked his finger, firing twelve bolts of energy at the Supreme Mystery Bell. The bell's surface flashed with spiritual light, innumerable runes appearing, and then the bell fired twelve sonic bolts at Tang Jie's original body.

Tang Jie didn't dodge, letting the twelve sonic arrows strike him. Thump! Thump! Thump! They created twelve shallow wounds on his body.

As the Supreme Mystery Bell reflected attacks, its power hinged on the power of the attacker. He Yueyang, as the controller of the bell, could control the direction in which the attack was reflected. For example, even though He Yueyang had made those attacks just now, they had been reflected onto Tang Jie.

The more Tang Jie learned about the bell, the more tempted he became. Laughing, he said, "An excellent item! I want it!"

He grabbed at the Supreme Mystery Bell.

"With just you?" He Yueyang was furious. He pointed at the Supreme Mystery Bell, which flew out and slammed into Tang Jie. The treasure could not only reflect attacks, but could also be used as a weapon itself, ramming at foes.

As the Supreme Mystery Bell slammed into him, Tang Jie felt like he had been hit by a mountain. He was sent flying, the impact making him dizzy. It seemed to be completely on par with the original body.

Tang Jie staggered several times, almost falling down, but rather than surprised, he was delighted. "Wonderful, wonderful! What else can it do? Show me everything!"

He roared and charged out again.

He Yueyang grimaced and cursed, "Madman!"

But he still had the Supreme Mystery Bell ram into Tang Jie.

The power from the Supreme Mystery Bell was nothing to be trifled with. An ordinary person would have been pulverized long ago.

Alas, He Yueyang was dealing with Tang Jie's original body, whose only outstanding attribute was his powerful body. It was like a copper pea, impervious to steaming, boiling, hammering, and frying. No matter how one tried to knead it or crush it, it wouldn't die, wouldn't perish, wouldn't lose, and wouldn't give up!

An explosion of energy erupted between the two of them, ripping through the forest. The Supreme Mystery Bell incessantly rang out like the bell of an old temple, and clouds and smoke filled the sky. Even the black smoke created by the Thousand Illusion Fog Formation was significantly dispersed.

As the two of them battled, the forces of Godhead Palace began to converge on He Yueyang's location. Master Xuan Zhong had given He Yueyang the bell not only to help him subdue his foe, but also so that the others could follow the sound of the bell to his location.

And the avatar Tang Jie did everything he could to stop Godhead Palace's reinforcements.

Just like it was always said in classic military texts: encircle a part of the enemy army and destroy it while preventing reinforcements from reaching it.

Thus, while He Yueyang, this "part of the enemy army", had yet to be destroyed, the avatar, the ghost guard, Yiyi, and the bean soldiers threw themselves into a stubborn and tough interception battle.

On a large stone in the forest, the bean king, "Tang Dou", wearing a blood-colored crown and golden armor, was commanding his troops to attack the enemy in the fog.

Countless bean soldiers were throwing themselves into the fray, showing no fear against these formidable foes. With their heedless charge, they were able to keep out the reinforcements from Godhead Palace and even kill many Godhead Palace disciples.

The one hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples Nan Ningjiang had brought this time were utterly wiped out by the bean soldiers, and even Nan Ningjiang's group was pushed to the limit.

"What are these things?" Second Brother Tian Zhong shouted in shock as he stared at the little soldiers charging out of the black smoke.

"I don't know… That damn Tang Jie—just where did he get all these freakish things from?" Third Sister Zhou Fanghua angrily said. Even with her experience, she had never seen these bizarre bean soldiers before.

How could Sowing Beans into Soldiers produce such powerful creatures?

Neeigh!

A sharp cry came from the black smoke.

A group of cavalry charged out of the smoke.

They were only the size of a fist, but all of them were surrounded by black smoke, as if they were spirits of the dead. Five hundred of these black horsemen charged out, led by a general. As the general charged out, it hurled its spear at Zhou Fanghua.

"Watch out!" Tian Zhong shouted, turning around and chopping his palm at the spear.

The palm struck the spear, and though the spear was sent flying away, Tian Zhong felt a jolt of pain from his palm.

The spear thrown out by that little general was unexpectedly powerful.

A moment later, the five hundred cavalry charged at Tian Zhong, riding through the air with incredible speed.

Nan Ningjiang chopped a palm, creating an intense whirlwind in an attempt to whisk the horsemen away, but the saber soldiers they had been fighting with earlier jumped into the air and attacked together, creating a powerful gust of wind that blocked Nan Ningjiang's attack. One bean soldier was unable to endure the blow and was sent flying with a scream. As it landed on the ground, it turned back into a small bean.

The full-power attack of a Spirit Ring True Person was only able to kill a single bean! Nan Ningjiang was left speechless.

With the opportunity missed, the five hundred horsemen reached Tian Zhong without resistance.

Zhou Fanghua cried out, "Second Brother, watch out!"

A moment later, the numerous bean cavalry had slammed into him.

Tian Zhong was wearing Godhead Armor, so the bean soldiers specifically attacked his limbs, neck, and other unarmored areas. They attacked Tian Zhong like a cloud of bees, their spears like stingers. They left bloody hole after bloody hole on Tian Zhong, and in a flash, his body was covered in wounds, causing him to throw his head back and howl in pain.

As the second of the 12 Hawks, his specialty was in the tracking secret art, so his cultivation level was relatively average, only at Cognitive Creation, not even having entered the Three Witherings. He was far weaker than Nan Ningjiang and the others.

At that moment, the energy from the horsemen thundered into his body. What seemed like only minor damage instantly became an immense and terrifying force when those five hundred horsemen combined their power. It ran rampant in his body like a most unbridled river.

Tiny jets of blood exploded from his wounds like geysers, spurting out in an absurd fashion.

Tian Zhong's blood couldn't even last a few seconds at this rate of loss, and in the blink of an eye, he had been completely drained, shriveling up.

"Second Brother!" Nan Ningjiang howled in pain.

"Second Brother!" all the other Hawks yelled in sorrow.

"Wretches, die!" Li Song shrieked.

He shot out of the black smoke like a bolt of lightning, grabbing one of the bean cavalry. As he drew his hand back, he clenched, and the horseman exploded. At the same time, he waved his right hand, and a black tide engulfed the soldiers. If one looked carefully, one would find that this was a wave of black water.

This was the Yellow Springs Water that Li Song had taken many years to gather, and it contained extremely concentrated Yin energy.

The bean soldiers had joint combat tactics and could use their numbers to make up for their shortcomings, but these things were useless against the Yellow Springs Water. This substance could be considered a counter to them, for with their individual strength, they would basically die on contact. Li Song had only used the Yellow Springs Water against the bean soldiers because of his extreme rage.

But the Yellow Springs Water had just been unleashed when countless petals descended from the air to hold them back. Yiyi had used her Silkheaven Net. Li Song couldn't allow her to do this, and the moment the petals came out, he identified where Yiyi was and rushed at her. But at this moment, a dark figure shot out from the side and attacked Li Song, forcing him to defend himself.

Bang! That person was sent flying, but Li Song managed to identify that assailant with only a brief glimpse. Chuckling, he said, "True Person Gui, you're no match for me."

"I just need to delay you." The ghost guard's voice drifted out of the black smoke.

"Then what about us?" Two voices rang out in unison.

Elders Gold and Silver.

"You two are mine," Tang Jie's voice came from the darkness.

He raised his hands, tossing out countless talismans. Lightning, ice, flames, and various swords and sabers made of energy barraged the pair.

Tang Jie had gathered up countless resources through all of his heists. What he could use at the time had naturally all been used up, and what he couldn't use had been thrown into the world within the diagram to be broken down or saved for a moment like this.

No matter who Tang Jie's opponent was or how strong they were, until Tang Jie had finished using all of his talismans and art relics, they could only go on the defensive.

Meanwhile, the battle between He Yueyang and Tang Jie's original body was finally reaching a conclusion.