Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-556

On a slope on the outskirts of the City of Freedom, Tang Jie took out the Mountain River State Diagram and activated the teleportation formation. Yiyi stood nearby, holding the little rabbit.

As that cliff and waterfall appeared, a powerful shockwave erupted from the cave behind the waterfall, and a man and woman appeared.

It was his original body and Xu Miaoran.

"This is the Blood River Domain?" Xu Miaoran looked up at the sky in awe.

Tang Jie walked over and hugged Xu Miaoran. "Yes, this is the Blood River Domain."

Xu Miaoran looked left and right, a smile of happiness and wonder on her face. "I didn't think that I would also be able to cross between domains one day."

She didn't seem to feel awkward about being hugged by two Tang Jies.

This was the Great Stellar Chiliocosm, and it wasn't strange for a cultivator to have an avatar, so people had gotten used to it long ago. For the woman of this universe, it was no different from one person hugging with two hands.

As Xu Miaoran lay in Tang Jie's embrace, she could sense the same soul, the same heart, the same person in love with her. In truth, only this could be considered the complete Tang Jie. Before, when Xu Miaoran had been together with Tang Jie, she felt like he had been missing something. She had once spent time alone with the original body, and she had also once strolled in the moonlight with the avatar, but there had only been a part of him there each time. It was only when original united with avatar that that long-lost feeling finally returned.

But Yiyi wasn't used to it at all. She covered Tutu's eyes and said, "Embarrassing, embarrassing, don't look."

Tutu was furious. I've lived for several thousand years, okay? You think there's something I haven't seen before?

The two Tang Jies smiled and asked in unison, "Then, are you interested in strolling around the City of Freedom with me?"

Xu Miaoran looked left and right before finally slapping her forehead. "I'm still a little unused to you being two people all of a sudden. If we stroll around, won't we cause a misunderstanding?"

The original body smiled. "Don't worry. Yiyi and I will take a walk around with you, but the avatar needs to go back to the Celestial Flame Pagoda to cultivate. In most circumstances, I will have one body cultivate and one keep you company. What do you think?"

"That's better."

The avatar put away the Mountain River State Diagram and returned to the Celestial Flame Pagoda, while Tang Jie took Yiyi, Tutu, and Xu Miaoran down the mountain.

Women were fun-loving sorts, and the liveliness of the City of Freedom made Xu Miaoran's eyes light up. The different races and the interesting things she had never seen before even made her cry out in delight. She and Yiyi began to sweep through the markets of the City of Freedom.

Interestingly, Tang Jie didn't try to stop their spendthrift ways, allowing them to spend as they pleased.

As the commercial center of the Blood River Domain, and considering its immense size, the City of Freedom was a place of neverending amusement, with countless wonderful things to buy. Even a woman's tireless desire to spend matched with a cultivator's vivacious energy would need more than a few days to completely understand the city. But if three days weren't enough, they could take ten, and if ten weren't enough, they could take twenty. Tang Jie patiently brought Xu Miaoran and Yiyi through the streets of the City of Freedom, taking them to various stores and accompanying Xu Miaoran as she haggled and bargained.

In only ten-some days, they spent more than ten thousand blackstone coins.

It had to be understood that this wasn't for cultivating, but purely for playing around. Although Tang Jie had gained a lot from selling off the materials of the underground palace, after making the teleportation formation, he had limited reserves.

Even Xu Miaoran couldn't help but ask, "I say, do you not feel sore about this?"

Tang Jie chuckled and answered, "You are my woman. How could spending money for your sake make me feel sore?"

Xu Miaoran's heart felt all warm and tingly.

If there was something about Tang Jie different from others, it was how boldly he spoke romantic words. He was direct and forthright, never taking any detours, but this was exactly what Xu Miaoran was looking for.

But while her heart was warm, she said, "That sounds nice, but you must have some other objective, right?"

"How could I?" Tang Jie said as if he was being unjustly accused, but a moment later, he still revealed his fox tail. "At most, I'm just getting a feel for the market."

"'Getting a feel for the market'?" Xu Miaoran was surprised.

Tang Jie nodded. "Mm. It's rare to be able to cross between two domains, and it would be a great pity to leave the opportunity unused."

Border trading always made the biggest profits.

Trade between Sageheart and Duskland could earn several times to more than ten times the original cost of an item.

Rosecloud and Blood River were two different domains, and trade between them was certainly not easy. If one found the right source of goods, one could easily fetch hundreds to thousand times more in profit. Now that Tang Jie had completed the teleportation formation, he could freely travel between the two domains, so how could he give up this chance?

This was a path to fortune, and with this path, he could go even further on the path of Immortality!

Tang Jie had allowed Xu Miaoran to so liberally spend money precisely because he wanted to get a feel for the market and seek out a source of goods.

Trade between two domains wasn't established just because he wanted it to be. There were large costs involved, which took the form of teleportation expenses.

From the Rosecloud Domain to the Martial Lord's hidden realm and then from there to the Blood River Domain was two teleportations, and each teleportation would cost thirty thousand spirit coins for a single person, or around fifty thousand for two.

Thus, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran taking this trip had already cost one hundred thousand spirit coins, and that wasn't even considering the trip back. A round trip cost two hundred thousand.

This was the cost.

Although the Blood River Domain had many goods that simply needed to be brought to the Rosecloud Domain to command a high price, the pricey teleportation costs restricted the kinds of goods he could bring. This meant that Tang Jie had to be very picky about his sources.

This was exactly what he was doing while keeping Xu Miaoran company on her shopping.

"I see." After hearing Tang Jie's explanation, Xu Miaoran gave him a look that said, You're definitely someone who would die if you weren't scheming something. She then said, "Then did anything catch your eye?"

"I was just about to discuss it with you. What do you think about Blood Pearl Grass? This thing basically has no cost in the Blood River Domain. You can go anywhere outside and gather up tons, but it's excellent for refining blood energy. In the Rosecloud Domain, one stalk could probably sell for several dozen spirit coins."

Xu Miaoran shook her head. "It's not bad, but you'd need too much of it. A Mustard Seed Bag has limited space, but if you want to get back your cost, even seven or eight Mustard Seed Bags wouldn't do. And it's not like you don't know that taking too many Mustard Seed Bags can cause them to affect each other and make space unstable. You run high risks if you teleport with that many. Rather than trading Blood Pearl Grass, it would be better to trade in Blood Jades. One high-quality Blood Jade would fetch you at least three hundred thousand spirit coins in Rosecloud."

"The problem is that Blood Jades aren't cheap. A single high-quality Blood Jade would cost at least one hundred thousand. Three times the profit is too low."

"You can't just look at the profit ratio, but also the actual value. Blood Jades are only the size of a palm, so a single Mustard Seed Bag can hold more than a thousand."

"It also requires a large investment, and I don't have that much money. And if we have too many high-quality items, selling them off will be difficult."

"It's fine. We have a monopoly, and the Rosecloud Domain is vast enough to eat up this paltry amount of goods. As for the investment and selling it, we don't even need to worry about it. That just wastes too much time. Rather than selling it ourselves, we can just go to one of the six major sects. The Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion are both fine. We can trade directly with the six major sects, and if we lack the funds, we can have them make up for it," Xu Miaoran explained.

Tang Jie's eyes brightened.

Right! Since he had the monopoly over a channel, why should he sell to individuals?

He could just sell wholesale.

In the Rosecloud Domain, he could go straight to the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion. In the Blood River Domain, things were even simpler. Tang Jie was the Western Heavenly King's representative, and the City of Freedom was a trading paradise. With his status, there would always be merchants willing to work with him.

What Tang Jie needed to consider was what he should sell to make the most money. Trading goods between the Blood River Domain and Rosecloud Domain had only costs in the tens of thousands of spirit coins, but the profits would be in the millions. What could be better than that?

Tang Jie excitedly discussed the topic with Xu Miaoran. It was clear that they saw a road paved with gold laid out before them.

The temptation of endless money and immense resources had even Yiyi excited—this little girl also knew the importance of money.

That night, the two of them plus Yiyi and Tutu got together and discussed all the various logistics, and they quickly drew up a list.

As they didn't have much money left, this first trade would be primarily focused on recovering their costs and opening up avenues, so they chose goods that didn't have much cost, with good profit ratios but lower total profit.

After purchasing the goods, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran took them back to the Rosecloud Domain. As he needed to return to the Basking Moon Sect, it was the avatar that went back this time, the original body remaining in the Celestial Flame Pagoda. In any case, so long as they didn't have to fight, nobody could tell the difference between the avatar and the original body.

Upon their return to Rosecloud, they split up and went to the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion respectively to discuss business.

Putting aside Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie's return had all of the Basking Moon Sect in an uproar.

In the conflict of Nadir Hill, the mighty Godhead Palace had not only failed to capture Tang Jie, it had suffered a bitter defeat, even losing a Celestial Chief. As the reputation of Godhead Palace fell, the reputation of the Basking Moon Sect rose by its most significant degree since Ming Yekong's advance to Violet Palace.

The Basking Moon Sect had even won a Dao armament from Godhead Palace because of it.

Although it was an artificial Dao armament, it was still a Dao armament, and the Basking Moon Sect rose in power, showing signs of becoming number one among the six major sects.

Tang Jie returning under these circumstances was naturally treated with utmost favor.

Tang Jie's avatar had already entered Celestial Heart, so according to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, he had left the ranks of the disciples and become one of the main forces of the Basking Moon Sect. Thus, upon his return, the hall master of the Secret Hall issued a decree promoting him to Secret Hall Chamberlain.

Chamberlain posts were usually held by Heart Demon Tier cultivators, but with Tang Jie's current reputation and his contributions, nobody considered this a problem.

But for Tang Jie, this was only the beginning.

The second day after his return, Tang Jie received a summons from the Basking Moon Sect Master, Ling Xiao.

This was Tang Jie's first time meeting the Basking Moon Sect Master.

In the eyes of the Basking Moon Sect's disciples, Ling Xiao was a god-like existence, enveloped in a cloud of mystery from which he rarely emerged. In comparison, Xiao Biehan was much more human than god, and in external affairs, Xiao Biehan would appear. It was such that many people even forgot that the true master of the Basking Moon Sect was Ling Xiao. But those who actually knew about Ling Xiao knew how terrifying this sect master was. They would rather face two Xiao Biehans than deal with a single Ling Xiao.

But for Tang Jie, all of this was a little too far off.

The sect master he saw was an elegant and handsome middle-aged man standing beneath a tree, a cool breeze caressing him as a bright moon hung in the sky.

This was the lecture platform of Starsnatch Peak.

It was also Ling Xiao's place of residence.

When he came to the lecture platform, he saw that Sect Master Ling Xiao was standing under a galaxy of stars, and far in the distance, a red sun was rising, with little plumes of smoke beginning to rise from kitchens. It was as if he had walked into a painting.

When Ling Xiao glanced at Tang Jie, his eyes gleamed with admiration.

His first words were, "You have already entered the Dao."

Yes, Tang Jie's avatar had entered the Dao—the Dao of Insight!

This had happened not too long ago, thanks to the training in the Celestial Flame Pagoda.

Although it was only a single Dao Rune, it had brought him numerous benefits, with the greatest being that he was much faster at learning those various weapon manuals. Nobody except Xu Miaoran and Yiyi knew about this, but Ling Xiao had seen through it at a glance.

Tang Jie felt like he could have no secrets in front of the sect master, as if he was stark naked.

Fortunately, Ling Xiao was delighted by the discovery. Stroking his beard, he said, "The path of Immortality is hard to walk, but the Great Dao forms the track. Since you have already entered the Dao, it means that you are already on the path. Wonderful!"

Entering the Dao was being on the path?

Tang Jie was baffled.

As he stared at Ling Xiao in a daze, Ling Xiao smiled and said, "Are you interested in becoming my disciple?"

Tang Jie's mind shuddered.

He dumbly gazed at Ling Xiao. He had never imagined something like this.

Becoming Sect Master Ling Xiao's disciple? This was a heaven-sent opportunity! It was something that countless people could only dream of, but it had been given to Tang Jie all of a sudden.

The blessing had come too quickly and too simply, catching Tang Jie completely off guard.

Even more shockingly, Ling Xiao followed by saying, "I know that this has caught you unprepared, and I was originally just planning to get a look at you. But it's no good. Old Third is in too much of a rush and is trying to take my disciple, so I can only strike first."

'Old Third'?

Tang Jie didn't understand what this meant at first, but then he realized, Isn't that Xiao Biehan?

In other words, Xiao Biehan also wanted to take him as his disciple, but then Sect Master Ling Xiao struck first and summoned Tang Jie.

This was why Tang Jie was here.

Tang Jie felt dizzy, but Ling Xiao didn't wait for him to reply. "You did very well in Nadir Hill, greatly weakening Godhead Palace. To deal with you, Godhead Palace used up almost all of its financial strength… Hah, they didn't get any hidden realm and ended up suffering a massive loss instead. He Changan is one thing, but even more important is that they sealed off their borders to try and capture you. This has had broadly-felt and weighty effects that have badly wounded the vitality of Nadir Hill. This alone has cost Godhead Palace a billion spirit coins in losses, and your robberies and looting caused an additional ten million, and lastly, the failure to capture you is another one billion. In comparison, a single He Changan is nothing. Godhead Palace was obsessed with finding the hidden realm, never imagining that all they lost in its pursuit would have been enough to make their own."

Tang Jie broke out in a sweat. To tell the truth, he hadn't been thinking that broadly, but now that he thought about it, he really had dealt devastating damage to Godhead Palace. And all of this was because they wanted to capture him alive to get their hands on the hidden realm. Any other person would have never caused such a huge mobilization from Godhead Palace. Greed was the driver of progress, but it was also the source of decline!

Ling Xiao added, "Godhead Palace is a firm ally of the Beast Refining Gate, and weakening Godhead Palace is the same as weakening the Beast Refining Gate, so you have made a great achievement. But the rules of the sect do not allow rewards for actions against Godhead Palace, so no matter how much you have done, the sect cannot reward you, only make up for it through other means."

Tang Jie replied, "This disciple understands."

The Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Palace were not mortal foes, so there were no official bounties on the people of Godhead Palace. Thus, though they were happy about it, they could not openly reward him. However, in secret, they had still given him contribution points equivalent to He Changan's value.

But Ling Xiao was saying that this little reward was still too small compared to what Tang Jie had done.

Upon understanding this, Tang Jie understood why Ling Xiao wanted to take him as his disciple.

This was another kind of reward.

This was both showing appreciation for his talent and compensating him for all he had done. This also meant that if Tang Jie agreed to become Ling Xiao's disciple, he would not receive any other benefits.

Ling Xiao had said this so that he would understand.

Tang Jie stepped forward, got down on one knee, and loudly said, "This disciple pays respect to his master!"

He used his actions to give his answer.

Seeing this, Ling Xiao nodded in satisfaction, clearly very happy with this new disciple.

He waved his sleeve, and an invisible energy raised Tang Jie back up.

Ling Xiao said, "Starting from today, you are my seventh disciple. As my disciple, you will no longer need to live on Immortal Spring Peak, and your new residence will be on Starsnatch Peak. As for your status as Secret Hall Chamberlain, it is up to you if you want to keep it or resign from it."

"Yes." Tang Jie bowed, but he had an awkward expression on his face.

Ling Xiao saw this and asked, "What? Is there a problem?"

"It is like this… Your disciple discovered a hidden realm…" Tang Jie stammered.

Ling Xiao replied, "I know, but this is your good fortune, and this one will not meddle with it. Since you are my disciple, your strength is the Basking Moon Sect's strength. All is fine so long as you are loyal to the sect."

"Yes!" Even though he had already guessed that this would be Ling Xiao's stance, he still sighed in relief. He then said, "But this disciple cannot move into Starsnatch Peak just yet."

"Oh? What else is there?"

Tang Jie explained what he had been through.

"The Blood River Domain, Cang Qingfeng, a Myriad Court fragment… a domain-crossing teleportation formation…" Even Ling Xiao was taken aback when he heard about all that Tang Jie had been through in the last year. He had never imagined that Tang Jie would have had such an adventure, even running off to the Blood River Domain.

Actually, Tang Jie had been planning to keep the matter of the Blood River Domain a secret and find some other explanation. But since Ling Xiao didn't even care about the Martial Lord's hidden realm, he probably wouldn't mind the Blood River Domain either. Moreover, the teleportation formation was under his control but not within Sageheart, so Tang Jie wasn't worried about anything happening.

And besides, while people had to be on guard against each other, there also had to be some people one trusted. Someone who was constantly telling half-truths would never be able to accomplish anything great.

Upon hearing that Tang Jie had already completed the teleportation formation and was planning to engage in trade between the two domains, Ling Xiao couldn't help but sigh. "Good child, you truly have some excellent ideas. In this way, you have opened up another source of revenue for my Basking Moon Sect."

With Ling Xiao's words, the trade between the two domains was officially established.