Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-522

Walking out, Tang Jie saw that a large group of people had gathered in the main hall.

They were led by a young man in opulent clothes, waving a feather fan as he sat on the main seat, Qian Yingchen's seat. Next to him was an old steward, and there were also sixteen powerful men in combat attire.

Upon closer look, Tang Jie found that he couldn't tell that steward's cultivation level, and the sixteen warriors were all at Cognitive Creation—this was the limit for a servant, as those who became True Persons would usually stop being servants.

Upon seeing that Tang Jie had come, the young man remained seated and grumbled, "Yingchen, you really know how to make a person wait."

Tang Jie laughed and went up to greet him. "Young Master Jin, how do you have the time to come and see me? I was cultivating just now, so please forgive me for not greeting you promptly."

He sat down next to the young man, assuming the subordinate position.

Information on Jin Yutang was emerging in his mind.

Jin Yutang was the only son of the Beast Refining Gate's Sanguine True Lord, and was a Spirit Ring True Person.

In terms of status, Jin Yutang's was greater than Qian Yingchen's. After all, Qian Yingchen was an adopted son while Jin Yutang was a true descendant.

But compared to the descendants of other Titans, Jin Yutang was a real good-for-nothing. He truly fit the stereotype, relying on his father's prestige to commit all sorts of tyrannical and wicked deeds.

The descendants of prestigious figures enjoyed the best education and the ideal educational environment, but they were also drowning in flattery, causing them to be misled and unable to distinguish the truth.

For this reason, children of great clans were often very extreme, either extremely outstanding or extremely awful.

Jin Yutang was of the awful sort.

The Sanguine True Lord had only one son, whom he had pampered since he was a babe, gradually turning him arrogant and bossy.

After becoming Feng Muyuan's adopted son, Qian Yingchen keenly understood that his background among this circle of True Lord descendants was lacking, so he sought out supporters. Thus, he went to Jin Yutang, just like how Huang Yue had come to find Qian Yingchen. Everyone was trying to develop their own social network, which was extremely important, even in the cultivation world.

As time went on, the two gradually became good friends.

Tang Jie was very surprised by Jin Yutang's sudden arrival. Most importantly, Jin Yutang knew Qian Yingchen the most.

Although he didn't have Insight, he had a deep understanding of Qian Yingchen, and it was hard to say what words or actions might set off his suspicions.

For Tang Jie, the moment his enemy started to suspect was basically the moment he was exposed.

For this reason, Tang Jie had to be careful with this visit. While the avatar was entertaining the guest, the original body began to interrogate Qian Yingchen.

Jin Yutang replied, "How else could it be? Didn't you ask for support?"

"'Support'?" Tang Jie was startled. "You're saying that you're the reinforcements sent by the sect?"

Tang Jie had infiltrated the enemy as Qian Yingchen, so to avoid suspicion, he had no choice but to request reinforcements from the Beast Refining Gate. He had asked for both men and resources, some of which were meant to fulfill his promises to others—it wouldn't do to leave all of them unfulfilled.

There was no problem with the handwriting. The original body had just forced Qian Yingchen to write the letter, and then it was relayed to the avatar through spell arts.

But Tang Jie had never imagined that the Beast Refining Gate would send a good-for-nothing like Jin Yutang.

While he was a Spirit Ring True Person, that was entirely because his father had pushed him up there through the sheer power of wealth. In terms of actual combat power, he was so awful that any Cognitive Creation cultivator in the sect could knock him down.

The Beast Refining Gate didn't seem to be taking this seriously if they were sending Jin Yutang, and it wasn't at all like how they usually acted. Of course, from Tang Jie's perspective, this was a good thing, but he felt like things weren't as simple as they seemed.

Sure enough, Jin Yutang waved his fan and said, "Not all of them. The sect sent Ao Chihu's group over, but I didn't have anything else to do in the meantime, and I heard that you weren't doing well in capturing Tang Jie, so I came over to help."

"So it's Senior Brother Ao who is leading the reinforcements this time."

Tang Jie also knew of Ao Chihu. He was the Sanguine True Lord's second disciple, a Heart Demon True Person and a true elite of the Beast Refining Gate. He was many times stronger than Jin Yutang, on par with Master Xuan Zhong. It was clear that the Beast Refining Gate was furious over Feng Buzhi's death and had dispatched someone even stronger.

But no matter how strong he was, he couldn't do anything to this fool. Tang Jie was certain that this guy hadn't been sent by the Beast Refining Gate, but had intercepted Ao Chihu midway and insisted on coming.

There had to be something wrong with his head for him to give up on his luxurious life and run over to come and catch Tang Jie.

Tang Jie smiled. "Then where is Senior Brother Ao now?"

"Him? He's speaking with that First Hawk Nan, studying how to catch Tang Jie. I had nothing to do, so I came to see you. Once there's news of Tang Jie, we can go together to catch him."

He spoke as if catching Tang Jie was as easy as catching a snail.

"This…" Tang Jie looked at Jin Yutang and then looked at the old steward.

The old steward lightly coughed. "Young Master, the Spirit Mountains are a complicated place, and Tang Jie is very cunning and devious. This task will not be easy."

Jin Yutang impatiently said, "I know, I know. But no matter how cunning he is, aren't all of you here? If we can capture Tang Jie, won't everyone in the world know of my name? Hmph, when the time comes, Fairy Rose Rainbow will be prostrating at my feet. Let's see if she dares to call me 'shiny on the outside and rotten on the inside' again!"

Tang Jie was stunned. Had this guy come to catch him to get famous and earn a girl's love?

Now that he thought about it, his reputation really did make him a worthwhile target.

He was wanted by the Beast Refining Gate and was even in the top ten of the Myriad Immortal Register, on par with Wang Juemie.

He had seen many people come after him for cultivation resources, but this was the first time someone was coming at him for fame and girls.

Most of the people he had interacted with in his cultivation life were capable and ambitious youths with their own ideals, and he rarely interacted with the incompetents. Now that he had run into one, he truly found it difficult to get used to the feeling.

After a while, he came to his senses and smiled. "With Young Master Jin here, Tang Jie will find it hard to escape."

Jin Yutang laughed.

One basic attribute of idiots wasn't that they never recognized reality. Even though the various stories had proved long ago that Tang Jie was no easy customer, Jin Yutang easily ignored it all, boldly believing that Tang Jie was bound to be captured now that he was here.

Looking at Jin Yutang's smile, Tang Jie suddenly realized that this guy's arrival presented him an even better opportunity.

Far better for the enemy to get a fool of a companion than oneself getting an amazing companion—this was essentially a gift from the heavens.

―――――――――――――――

Jin Yutang's arrival truly did cause disarray in the Black Yellow Mobile Palace.

Tang Jie quickly realized that this young master was very capable when it came to causing trouble.

Finding the living accommodations of the Black Yellow Mobile Palace to be too crude, this young master cleared some land for his own mobile palace, cutting down trees in a radius of one thousand feet and using a modular type of palace art relic to create a palace complex that was many times more impressive than an imperial palace.

This guy then spent every day in this palace, committing lustful acts—he had his subordinates coming in and out of the mountains every day in order to find women to amuse him.

The sealing formation that Nan Ningjiang had set up wasn't meant to be opened up lightly, but because of this guy, it now had to be opened up almost once a day. This matter had Nan Ningjiang almost going crazy, because if Tang Jie knew of this matter, he only needed to find the right moment to teleport and thus easily escape.

At that point, the world would be his oyster, and there would be nothing left to stop Tang Jie.

In fact, Tang Jie did know about it. The only reason he didn't leave was that he didn't want to.

In the end, King Canis He Changan personally came out and rebuked Young Master Jin for treating the Spirit Mountains like they were his personal garden.

Without outside entertainment, this Young Master Jin began seeking entertainment within the mountains.

He quickly took a liking to hunting.

Yes.

He started hunting those fiends.

While everyone in Godhead Palace was being careful to not hurt any existences of the Great Mountain, this Young Master Jin was brazenly clearing rocks and trees and hunting animals.

And he even dragged Tang Jie along with him.

Worried that he might expose himself, Tang Jie initially tried to avoid him, but he later realized that this guy was a complete idiot. With his intelligence, he would never notice the differences between the fake Qian Yingchen and the real one, and even if he noticed, he wouldn't think that this guy would be Tang Jie. Thus, he decided to join Young Master Jin in playing in the mountains.

The only person he needed to be careful of was that old steward. Even with his Insight, he was never able to see that man's cultivation level.

But while he couldn't see it, he could guess.

A Heart Demon cultivator wouldn't be able to hide from Tang Jie's insight, and there was no way the steward could be a Violet Palace True Lord, so Tang Jie guessed that he was probably at Soul Transformation, most likely a Soul Transformation expert that specialized in concealment.

It was only because this sort of powerful person was around that the Sanguine True Lord didn't have to worry as his son ran around the place.

Besides that, there was also Ao Chihu.

As the true support the Beast Refining Gate had sent, Ao Chihu was a very capable person.

This person had come from a hunter background, so he was a master at tracking through a forest, which was why the Beast Refining Gate had sent him to replace Feng Buzhi. This person had brought sixty men: five Spirit Ring True Persons, twenty disciples of the Wild Beast Hall, thirty Beast Morphers, and five beast tamers.

The Wild Beast Hall was akin to the Combat Department of the Basking Moon Sect, and its disciples were extremely formidable in battle.

Beast Morphers were a lower level of warrior. They had average strength, but all of them had the ability to morph into some sort of beast, which would boost their combat strength for a short time. This made them excellent cannon fodder.

Among the cannon fodder warriors of the six major sects, the Beast Refining Gate probably had the most practical kind.

As for the beast tamers, unlike those who cultivated the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, they relied on herbs and medicines to entice and control numerous fiends. Unlike official disciples of the Beast Refining Gate, they were able to control many more fiends, almost without limit. But the quality was limited, as their methods were basically useless against fiends at Mind Opening or above.

The Beast Morphers and beast tamers were primarily there for Tang Jie's bean soldiers. After several exchanges, the functions of the bean soldiers had become extremely clear. While they were individually weak, they possessed formidable teamwork, and Tang Jie was always able to use them to divide and conquer his foes.

The bean soldiers hadn't killed many cultivators, but they could already be considered one of Tang Jie's strategic assets.

The Beast Morphers and beast tamers would deal with these soldiers, and taking on this mission with them would be Godhead Palace's servant warriors and Goldplate Automatons.

While calculating the strength of the two sides, Tang Jie quietly waited for his moment.

He was in no rush.

The original body was still training Xu Miaoran's group of three, and every day of delay let them get a little stronger.

The avatar was continuing to move around with the enemy, gathering intelligence and swindling resources. Jin Yutang's arrival gave Tang Jie a new target to scam. As the Sanguine True Lord's only son, this guy truly had a lot of treasures.

Besides that, the material support the Beast Refining Gate had brought had also profited Tang Jie. Using the special relationship between the two sects, Tang Jie and Nan Ningjiang colluded to enrich each other and take batch after batch of resources for themselves.

The long pursuit didn't end up with Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate catching their target, but it did fatten the pockets of the people in charge.

This made Tang Jie recall the history of his old world. The emperor, in order to bring the Ministry of Appointments under control and clean up corruption, had dispatched many officials as inspectors. But rather than finding corruption, they ended up becoming more maggots that gnawed away at the empire.

Wasn't this situation exactly the same?

Of course, this matter couldn't go on forever. The happy days would come to an end eventually.

Two months later.

Today, Tang Jie was still cultivating in his quiet little building.

Xi Canhen paid a visit.

His first sentence was: "Those above are dispatching three thousand Goldplates."

"'Three thousand Goldplates'?" Tang Jie was shocked. "When?"

"Within a month."

Tang Jie exhaled. "With such a big move, it's clear that Godhead Palace has lost its patience."

"If you wait until the three thousand Goldplates arrive, you'll have no hope," Xi Canhen said.

"It seems like we'll have to start our plan," Tang Jie casually said.

Xi Canhen's eyes gleamed. "You're certain?"

"Definitely," Tang Jie firmly replied. "To be honest, I'm also very interested in the secrets of the Great Mountain."

Even though he had received the kindness of the will of the Great Mountain, he still didn't know what the Great Mountain was or where its will had come from. If possible, he wanted to understand it more.

But he naturally couldn't do this alone. He needed the help of his enemies.

Three days later.

The Black Yellow Mobile Palace.

"Say that again?" Nan Ningjiang raised his head, his eyes shining as he stared at the servant warrior prostrated before him.

The servant warrior loudly said, "A secret ground has been found on the western side of the mountains. It can turn ordinary wild beasts into fiends and make fiends advance in level, and this can happen in only a day. We suspect that there is some treasure in there that can empower fiends. We watched for several days and observed nearly one hundred fiends, so we can essentially confirm that this is the reason the fiends of the mountain are seemingly endless!"

Nan Ningjiang's pupils rapidly constricted.

A treasure that could promote ordinary beasts into fiends and promote fiends an entire level was no ordinary treasure. It had to at least be a divine treasure, and it might even be connected to the secret of the Great Mountain.

The Beast Refining Gate would probably go crazy if they found out about this.

Wait—the Beast Refining Gate.

Alarmed, Nan Ningjiang asked, "Does the Beast Refining Gate know of this?"

The servant warrior replied, "We didn't take any measures to keep the information a secret while observing, nor did we try to avoid our Beast Refining Gate allies. Thus, while it is not certain that they know yet, your subordinate presumes that if they don't know, they will find out eventually."

Nan Ningjiang sighed. "Understood. You may go."

Once the servant warrior left, Nan Ningjiang began to pace back and forth in his room.

This sudden piece of information popping up at this critical moment had him caught off guard.

He was certain that the Beast Refining Gate would venture into that region the moment they found out about it. After all, they were in dire need of such a treasure.

But didn't Godhead Palace need it just as much as the Beast Refining Gate?

It had to be understood that no matter how difficult to control the Spirit Mountains were, they were still in the territory of Nadir Hill.

At this thought, Nan Ningjiang rushed out of his room and headed for King Canis's cultivation chamber.

This matter was too important for Nan Ningjiang to make the decision.

In the rear of the Black Yellow Palace was a meditation chamber.

Nan Ningjiang stood in front of the door, but he said nothing.

He knew that He Changan already knew he was here.

Sure enough, a deep and vigorous voice came from the chamber. "Why have you disturbed me?"

Nan Ningjiang relayed that warrior's report to He Changan.

After a few moments of silence, the voice asked, "Where is it?"

Nan Ningjiang described the location.

Silence reigned once more, and then the voice said, "The middle region."

"Yes!" Nan Ningjiang replied.

That place that could empower beasts and fiends was located in the middle region of the Spirit Mountains.

In the Spirit Mountains, the farther in one ventured, the more dangerous it became.

While Godhead Palace seemed to be focused on capturing Tang Jie, in the process, they had divided the Spirit Mountains into three parts: inner, middle, and outer. They had never left the outer region, for this was the only region they could be certain was safe.

The middle region was not a place they wantonly stepped into.

This was exactly why they had never been able to capture Tang Jie, for whenever he was in danger, he would flee into the middle region. Godhead Palace did not dare to recklessly give pursuit, so they remained in the outer region while slowly waiting for their chance.

"Ningjiang, what do you think?" the voice asked.

Nan Ningjiang replied, "The matter of capturing Tang Jie has already gone on too long. Our unwillingness to enter the middle region has always been the problem. If we want to capture him, we need to take the risk. I think this is an opportunity."

"The Beast Refining Gate?"

"Once they know what might be there, they will be happy to be our vanguard. But no matter how much we get, so long as we are the lords of this place, we will get the most of it."

"What of Tang Jie?"

"We were able to find this place because the servant warriors found Tang Jie's tracks there. Given how cunning Tang Jie is, he must have realized how suspicious that place was some time ago, which is why he is unwilling to leave it. In this way, we can kill two birds with one stone."

One was a treasure that could empower fiends, and the other was the target of their long hunt.

Combined, they proved to be a temptation that could not be resisted.

There was a long period of silence, and finally, King Canis spoke.

"Then we should give it a try."

That night, a message was issued from the Black Yellow Mobile Palace.

Tang Jie's tracks had been found in the middle region of the Spirit Mountains, and there was also possibly an empowering secret ground there, so everyone was to prepare to set out.

The Beast Refining Gate grew excited upon learning this, and they itched for battle.

Upon receiving the news, Tang Jie simply said, "The day of the decisive battle has arrived!"