Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-559

Many people thought that Godhead Palace was called Godhead Palace because of their defensive treasure, the Godhead Armor, and Godhead Palace made no attempt to deny this. But only the upper echelons of the other five sects knew that it was named such for another reason: because a Godhead really had appeared in this sect before.

Godheads were above Celestial Sovereigns. Only an Immortal Platform cultivator who could control the Dao was called a Godhead.

Celestial Sovereigns were still something that could be seen in the Rosecloud Domain, but Godheads were legendary existences.

And one such existence had appeared in Godhead Palace before.

This person was none other than the illustrious Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, the creator of Nadir Hill and the founder of Godhead Palace.

Not long after killing the ancient tapir from High Antiquity, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had broken through into Immortal Platform and then wandered the myriad domains. At the time, the people of Nadir Hill established a temple and built a statue in his honor, calling it the Guangfa Temple, which was the earliest form of Godhead Palace. Not long after that, Nadir Hill once more faced disaster, and the people fled into the temple to pray. By chance, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had gained insight into the world at this time, and his Divine Connection had grown much greater, already at the level of speak-not, think-not. He sensed the people's cries and sent a sliver of his Divine Will into the golden statue within the temple to vanquish the disaster. Afterward, that sliver of Divine Will remained in the golden statue to maintain the peace of Nadir Hill.

From then on, Nadir Hill was under the protection of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, enjoying fine weather free of natural disasters. Guangfa Temple prospered, and some people even received the legacy of the golden statue. As Guangfa Temple flourished, it gradually turned into Godhead Palace.

It could be said that the entirety of Godhead Palace was established on the legacy of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign.

Although the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had not intended to establish it, he had an indescribable relationship with it. Even now, that golden statue was still within Godhead Palace. So long as the Guangfa Godhead lived, the golden statue would not perish. Fortunately, this Godhead had no interest in the organization known as Godhead Palace. He cared only about the people of Nadir Hill, and he would not participate in Godhead Palace's struggle for dominance, or else Godhead Palace would have long ago dominated the Rosecloud Domain. Even so, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had still left something behind for Godhead Palace.

That golden statue with his Divine Will.

This item contained the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign's Divine Will, so it could be considered the supreme treasure of Godhead Palace, comparable to the Basking Moon Sect's Violet Jade Mantra and God-Conquering Merak Sword put together. The former represented legacy, and the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign's legacy was passed down through the golden statue. As for the latter, it represented battle.

But while the God-Conquering Merak Sword was a supreme Dao armament, it was not lightly used, and it was mostly used for intimidation.

The Divine Will golden statue was different.

This object was not ideal for battle. Because it had originally been made as an object of veneration within Guangfa Temple, it was made from ordinary clay. Even if the Celestial Sovereign's Divine Will had conferred spirituality on this ordinary substance, it was no natural treasure. But the Divine Will of the Godhead contained within the golden statue was extraordinary.

Its greatest function was the ability to further partition the Divine Will in the golden statue, attaching it to a designated Divine Soul. So long as that divine soul existed, that sliver of Divine Will would also persist. This was the famous "Godhead Manifest, Paramount Majesty."

The former referred to what was actually happening while the latter referred to the spirit.

He Chong was deeply trusted by Godhead Palace, and when investigating the hidden realm, he relied on both his own strength and that sliver of a Godhead's will. When he fully released the power of this Divine Will, even He Changan was no match for him.

The manifestation was complete, and an ethereal Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had appeared in the air. He Chong opened his eyes, and his voice boomed like a bell. "Tang Jie, you stand before the almighty Godhead! Hurry and kneel before him!"

His voice was like ten thousand voices speaking in unison, shaking the soul. The avatar, Deng, and Duan all paled, with Deng and Duan even prostrating. Even the avatar had to fight the urge to bow.

But a moment later, Tang Jie took in a deep breath and calmed back down.

The original body gazed at that distant manifestation and coldly smiled. "Truly the mighty Godhead. When the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign left his Divine Will in the golden statue, it was probably less than a hundredth of his Divine Will, and for you to get the golden statue's Divine Will, probably one hundredth of that would be decent. In other words, this sliver of Divine Will might not even be one ten-thousandth of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign's power, yet this sliver of a sliver is still so powerful and majestic. I can't even fathom how powerful the man himself is."

And then he really did prostrate to the Godhead manifestation.

He Chong laughed. "Tang Jie, you finally know fear."

Tang Jie smirked. "Idiot!"

"What?" He Chong was taken aback.

Tang Jie replied, "I prostrate to the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign because I admire his character. Besides eliminating the savage tapir and linking the island to the mainland, he also protected his home and its people. Although he cultivates Immortality, he has not lost his humanity. This is why I respect him, not for his immense powers but for his great virtue. There are many people of immense power in the world, but few with great virtue, and even fewer with both virtue and power. Someone powerful and virtuous like the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign is someone I yearn to be. Alas, the juniors he left behind have no potential, only knowing how to lust for the treasures of others. As for this little bit of Divine Will you possess… haha, although the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign has boundless might, you only have one ten-thousandth of a Divine Will. What's there to be afraid of?"

"Bastard!" He Chong roared. "The punishment for blaspheming the Godhead is death!"

That manifestation behind him raised a hand and pressed it down at Tang Jie.

Although this sliver of Divine Will had been left behind by the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, in order to make it easier for Godhead Palace to control, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had long ago wiped his will from it, leaving only its power. Thus, under He Chong's control, the Godhead manifestation thrust a palm at Tang Jie.

It was the same kind of palm attack, but the power was on a completely different level.

He Chong's palm had been like a mountain, and the Godhead's palm was like a falling star.

The palm darkened the skies and sent down an unstoppable pressure. At that moment, Tang Jie felt like he was Sun Wukong facing down the Mountain of Five Fingers, helpless before the infinite might of the divine.

(TN: In the Chinese novel "Journey to the West", the main character Sun Wukong takes a bet with the Buddha to escape the palm of his hand, but after flying all the way to what he thinks is the edge of the universe, he ultimately finds that the five massive pillars he sees are just the Buddha's fingers. The Buddha then turns his hand into a mountain and traps Sun Wukong beneath it.)

But a moment later, Tang Jie laughed and jumped into the air. "Useless!"

He thrust out the halberd against that sky-engulfing hand, and in the middle of a giant boom, that palm actually stopped.

"What dogshit Godhead Manifest? No matter what heaven-sent powers you have, I will always be able to fight back!" Tang Jie bellowed, the strength erupting from his body allowing him to hold off this titanic hand.

He Chong chuckled. "Just a frog at the bottom of the well, a summer bug who knows nothing of ice."

As he spoke, that giant palm erupted with a shockwave that savagely slammed into Tang Jie.

Boom! The palm bashed Tang Jie into the ground.

Stunned, Tang Jie saw He Chong extend his hand and press down with it. His body erupted with light, and a violet radiance gathered above his head, taking on the appearance of a palace.

"Violet Palace?" Tang Jie was alarmed. "This Divine Will boosted you to the Violet Palace Realm!"

That sudden increase in strength didn't come from the Godhead manifestation, but from He Chong himself. This multiplied the strength Tang Jie was dealing with by so much that he had been overwhelmed. And the words He Chong had said weren't to activate the Divine Will, but rather to form a Divine Connection with the world, for the Divine Will manifestation had temporarily brought him to the Violet Palace Realm.

At the Heart Demon Tier, cultivators developed Divine Wills, and at the Soul Transformation Tier, the Divine Will transformed into the Divine Soul, and the Violet Palace was the substantialization process of the Divine Soul. It tempered the Divine Soul and also served as an outer shell to protect it.

Once achieved, the Divine Soul would have the ability to leave the body, so the Violet Palace Realm was also known as the Soul Projection Realm.

The ability to project the Divine Soul outside of the body allowed for the Divine Connection with the world, for the ten thousand arts springing from a single thought. To be blunt, it was the soul fusing with the world. When one's thoughts were the world's thoughts, there was naturally no need for any signs or any sort of casting process. A single thought was all that was required to manifest the spell art, which was why it was called a Divine Connection. Thus, in the earliest period, Divine Connections were just another way of using spell arts. But the greater attunement of the Divine Soul allowed the power of many Divine Connections to far surpass that of spell arts and were beyond the ability of spell arts to replicate, so they became their own category.

And this sliver of a Godhead's Divine Will had the ability to mimic a Violet Palace, protecting the Divine Soul projection and allowing He Chong to temporarily achieve a Divine Connection with the world.

The problem was that, from what Tang Jie knew, the golden statue's Divine Will did not come with this ability. While it could strengthen the Divine Will and spell art power of the user, and it possessed tremendous power of its own, it definitely did not have the ability to boost Soul Transformation to Violet Palace, even temporarily.

Otherwise, when Godhead Palace fought with others, they would just need to partition that Divine Will to create a hundred Violet Palace True Lords, and nobody would be able to stand up to them.

Although the Godhead Manifest was strong, it had its limits. Tang Jie dared to face it precisely because he had made his preparations.

But He Chong had far surpassed his expectations. The Godhead Manifest was no longer simply the manifestation, but a soul-protecting Violet Palace!

"Correct!" He Chong laughed. "Hahaha, you didn't expect this, right? Godhead Palace didn't give me one hundredth of the Divine Will, but one tenth! And by imprisoning me here for ten-some years, you inadvertently aided me!"

There were several reasons the Divine Will did not boost a Soul Transformation cultivator to Violet Palace. The first was that there was not enough of it, but He Chong had obtained much more of the Divine Will than Tang Jie had imagined. This was because the Martial Lord's hidden realm had been left behind by the Martial Lord, so Godhead Palace was worried about some sort of trap that might even kill Violet Palace True Lords. The True Lords themselves did not dare to enter, and the weaker cultivators would just be going to their deaths, so He Chong was given more of the Divine Will. Even if He Chong died, it was fine, for the Divine Will would simply return.

But nobody had accounted for He Chong being trapped in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. And because he didn't die, the Divine Will did not return.

Another factor was that the Divine Will was normally not implanted for more than a year, and when the mission was done, it would be returned. But He Chong had ended up keeping it for ten-some years. In those ten-some years, that sliver of Divine Will had entered He Chong's Cognitive Sea and gradually merged with it.

It was precisely these circumstances that allowed He Chong to use the manifestation to replace the Violet Palace and allow the Divine Connection.

At this moment, that sliver of Divine Will was his own, no longer belonging to the golden statue.

As his palm pressed Tang Jie down, he wildly laughed, "Tang Jie, you might have impressive brute strength, but in the face of the world's power, you can only submit!"

The palm turned into a fist and punched at Tang Jie, making the world shudder with even this one move.

There was no spell art or casting. A single thought was enough to create heaven-reaching flames.

Vast amounts of spiritual power moved to He Chong's thought, turning into the most terrifying spell arts and blasting away at Tang Jie.

He Chong had seemingly taken control of the entire hidden realm. So long as Tang Jie wasn't strong enough to break this world, he would never be a match for He Chong.

"Is that so?" Tang Jie simply snorted in the face of this divine might.

Nearby, the avatar seized Deng and Duan and sealed their ability to cast spell arts, after which he flew up to join the original body.

"It's only a Spirit Ring cultivator. Even if he were at Heart Demon, what could he possibly accomplish?" He Chong smirked.

"I didn't say I was relying on the avatar," the original body said, taking something out.

"The Herding Yang Pearl!" He Changan's eyes narrowed. "So you really did kill He Changan."

There was still some hope with only the Desolate Heavens Halberd, but the Herding Yang Pearl confirmed it.

Tang Jie indifferently said, "I dug it out of his stomach. Although I've washed it many times, if possible, I really don't want to swallow it."

"How did he die?"

"I'll tell you if you defeat me."

"Hahaha!" He Chong roared with laughter. "No need. If he's dead, he's dead. One Godking He has died, so let there be a new Godking He! No—a Celestial Sovereign He!"

He Chong swatted a large hand at Tang Jie.

The original body threw its head back and swallowed the Herding Yang Pearl. He activated the Three-Heads-Six-Arms Divine Connection, growing two heads and four extra arms. Two of the arms grabbed at the air, a long-handled warhammer and mountain-cleaving saber appearing in them.

His body also grew larger, going to fifteen meters, and all three heads bellowed in unison.

"Raaa!"

With a mighty roar, the three weapons clashed with that giant hand.

The Herding Yang Pearl was a treasure that stimulated one's innate strength, and Tang Jie's strength now doubled. Even He Chong combined with the Godhead Manifest couldn't suppress him now.

Vicious currents of air tore through the skies, and dark clouds roiled.

Massive shockwaves swept through the world again and again as the two battled in the sky. Such was the ferocity of their battle that all the mountains in the area were flattened.

Fortunately, He Chong was confident enough in his strength that he was no longer in a fighting retreat, or else the entire hidden realm would have been leveled.

He didn't back down, and neither did Tang Jie.

He was like a monkey battling against the heavens, constantly thrusting his weapons at the sky.

He roared with anger, arrogance, and spirit!

Although the power of the world would push him back, he would always get back up and continue his dance among the heavens.

When facing the Divine Connection with the world, Tang Jie might not be able to win, but he would never concede.

No matter how fierce that Divine Connection was, he would not back down. In the middle of the frenzied battle, Tang Jie grew fiercer and fiercer, leaving He Chong amazed.

But no matter how fierce you are, before the might of the world, your defeat is inevitable, He Chong inwardly sneered.

If there were only one Tang Jie, that really might have been the case.

But Tang Jie wasn't alone.

Behind him, the avatar was forming hand signs, manifesting a long and difficult spell.

Finally, as the original body was sent flying away again, the avatar pointed at the sky, and numerous Heavenly Cloud Blades began to fall.

But unlike before, they were alternately red and white, white like frost and red like fire.

There were 81 Frost Heavenly Blades and 81 Flame Heavenly Blades. Lightning crackled around them as they whistled down, dragging out long pillars of black smoke as if they were heralds of the apocalypse.

The frost and fire were naturally the Infinity Sphere Art, and the lightning was the Astral Lightning Classic, a supporting technique Tang Jie had studied. As for the black smoke, it was the Hellslayer Saber. As for what brought them all together and allowed him to divide the Heavenly Cloud Blades into two groups, that was the Ninedark Mantra combined with the Dao of Yin Yang.

This merger of countless spell arts and techniques produced a spell art of supreme power, and Tang Jie gave it a very fitting name: The Nine Heavens Calamity Blade.