Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-566

Floating in the air, the Lord of the Blood River looked furiously down at Tang Jie.

He had already lost his mind with rage.

After all these days, the Blood River Lord had finally found Tang Jie, but to his surprise, before he could do anything, Tang Jie had ambushed him.

Crucially, he still didn't know how he had exposed himself.

He was an Immortal Platform Titan, so even though the avatar he was using was only at the Heart Demon Tier, he shouldn't have been so easily exposed.

He glared at Tang Jie and roared, "Talk! How did you notice me?"

That group attack had clearly been led by Tang Jie, so the Blood River Lord knew that Tang Jie had to be the one who had noticed him.

And in truth, Tang Jie had never believed that the Blood River Lord would give up on him.

When they had just arrived at the Blood River Domain, he had discussed the matter of the Blood River Lord with Tutu, during which they had guessed that the Blood River Lord was highly likely to give chase. Since that was the case, how could they not make preparations?

Tang Jie had long ago placed surveillance formations around the City of Freedom and tasked Yiyi with tending to them. Any existence suspected of being the Blood River Lord was put under watch.

The Blood River Lord had no concept of counter-surveillance, so when his avatar went in and out of the City of Freedom, he made no attempt to hide. Thus, it would've been stranger if Tang Jie hadn't noticed him.

This was exactly why he had found the Blood River Lord before the Blood River Lord had found him. After noticing him, Tang Jie stopped going to the arena, and since he remained in the pagoda, the Blood River Lord didn't know where he was, could only vaguely sense that he was somewhere in the city and blindly search for him.

Tonight's feast was the only time Tang Jie had gone out.

But to his surprise, the Blood River Lord immediately tracked him down.

If he hadn't deployed countermeasures, he would have never imagined that the Blood River Lord could sense him, so he had used the excuse of a fake dine-and-dash to run out of Hundred Hills Pavilion. Even so, the Blood River Lord still gave chase, so Tang Jie realized that the Blood River Lord had a way of tracking him and set up an ambush.

Unexpectedly, even though it was just an avatar, the Blood River Lord was able to hold out against their joint attack. In the end, he was an Immortal Platform Titan, so even a Heart Demon Tier avatar was far above his peers.

Tang Jie chuckled and said, "You want to know?"

The Blood River Lord instinctively nodded.

Tang Jie smirked. "But I'm not telling."

The Blood River Lord was so enraged that he almost fell from the sky.

Tang Jie shot into the air and thrust out his hands, and blades began to fall from the heavens.

The Nine Heavens Calamity Blades!

As blades rained down from the heavens, Tang Jie shouted, "Attack!"

Na Shan frowned. Although he was a straightforward and fierce warrior, he was no impulsive brute. He wanted to ask who this person was and why he had been following them. If Tang Jie hadn't warned them that they were being followed, he really wouldn't have noticed. Na Shan wasn't afraid of battle, but he didn't like to fight while still not understanding the situation.

Alas, Tang Jie was all about attacking, giving the other party no chance to talk.

What he didn't know was that Tang Jie didn't want them to know that this was the Blood River Lord. Such was the Blood River Lord's reputation that few people would dare to attack him, which was why Tang Jie had immediately gone on the offensive and given him no chance to state his identity.

Once the battle started, stating one's name was a sign of weakness, and the Lord of the Blood River was too proud to do that.

As Na Shan hesitated, Hei Yan charged out, two pillars of flame shooting toward the Blood River Lord.

Things were much simpler in Hei Yan's view. Since this person had been following them, he must have harbored ill intentions, and since he was harboring ill intentions, there was no need to be polite with him. Asking questions was pointless, so they just needed to fight. Thus, he used his strongest move, the Charred Heaven Flames, two black flame dragons rushing toward the Blood River Lord.

At the same time, Shui Yao and Qing Lian attacked, vines crazily whipping at the Blood River Lord while blue fountains of water turned into bright points of light and rained down.

Na Shan couldn't just sit things out after seeing this, so he summoned the yellow dragon to assist the formation.

The five of them attacking together filled the air with crisscrossing flames of energy that swept up the Blood River Lord.

The Blood River Lord simply grunted, "Juniors."

With his pride, he was unwilling to state his name in battle, and in his rage, he said nothing more. Thrusting out a hand, he manifested a giant crimson hand that reached toward one of Hei Yan's flame dragons.

Hei Yan was delighted. The flame dragons created by his Charred Heaven Flames were immensely powerful. Though they seemed black and unremarkable, their core temperature was extremely high, comparable to magma. He could already imagine what would happen to that crimson hand.

But to his surprise, though that crimson hand let out a hiss, the black flame dragon was still caught, and as it wriggled in the Blood River Lord's hand, it rapidly shrank down.

Hei Yan grimaced. Fortunately, at this time, green vines rose up and wrapped around the Blood River Lord, trying to strangle him to death. But as the vines wrapped around him, he melted into blood. Though the vines were dense, they could not hold the river. The bloody river water rushed out of the net of vines, and its residue ate away at vines that could even resist the blows of axes, causing large swaths of the vines to wither and fall.

This sight frightened Qing Lian.

He had never before seen anyone so easily destroy his vine net, and he cried out, "Watch out! This guy's a tough one! It's bizarre! Where did he come from?"

After seeing this man's power, Qing Lian finally had some interest in learning who he was.

The Blood River Lord laughed. "I'm only here for Tang Jie. If you go now, I'll spare your lives."

He was so proud that Qing Lian had to speak up before he had a chance to explain his connection to Tang Jie.

But to his surprise, everyone was taken back by these words, looking at Tang Jie and asking, "'Tang Jie'? Isn't your name 'Tang Ran'?"

Tang Jie shrugged. "I was being hunted by this person, so I fled to the City of Freedom and took on the pseudonym of Tang Ran to hide from him. But he still managed to find me. My apologies for dragging all of you into this."

So that's what was going on? Everyone seemed enlightened.

They had all been nervous because they thought that this was some assassin sent by another Heavenly King.

Hearing that it was one of Tang Jie's old enemies had them laughing instead, and Na Shan casually said, "That's great. Anyone who dares to bully my brother should eat my axe!"

The Skycleaver unleashed a dazzling wave of light.

Hei Yan said, "I have a chance to pay you back for the meal."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

'Great'?

What's great about it?

The Lord of the Blood River was confused. He had said that he was here for only Tang Jie, so why were they attacking him even more aggressively now?

Furious, he bellowed, "You're seeking death!"

That crimson hand moved to crush the five.

Seeing this, Tang Jie shouted, "Five Dragons Transformation!"

As he shouted, Qing Lian raised a hand, and those countless vines converged and formed into a green dragon.

Shui Yao's water fountains joined together into a blue dragon.

Including Na Shan's yellow dragon and Hei Yan's black dragon, there were now four dragons dancing in the sky.

Tang Jie cast out the ten art relic swords and the Five Sacred Mountains Sword, the eleven swords radiating their sword energy. The sword spirits molded the energy into a dragon, with the head of the dragon being the Five Sacred Mountains Sword.

The sword dragon let out a mighty roar and joined the other four dragons, swiping a claw at the Blood River Lord.

This was the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation's Five Dragon Transformation.

Even the Blood River Lord slightly paled at this sight.

With his strength, he naturally wasn't afraid of these five dragons, but things were different with this Heart Demon Tier avatar. No matter how strong his true form was, using the strength of the Heart Demon Tier against these five dragons was rather lacking.

As the dragon claw descended, he had that crimson hand return to cover his head, rising up to meet the dragon claw.

The sword energy dragon's attack collapsed before it could reach the Blood River Lord, but a moment later, Na Shan's earth dragon, Hei Yan's fire dragon, Shui Yao's water dragon, and Qing Lian's wood dragon slammed into the hand, one after the other.

While the blood hand of the Blood River Lord was powerful, it couldn't take this combination attack. After stopping the earth dragon and fire dragon, it finally reached its limit and was dispersed by the water dragon, after which Qing Lian's wood dragon slammed into his chest and sent him flying.

"Awooo!" For the first time in this battle, the Blood River Lord howled in pain.

This was his first time being injured, and in a head-on confrontation! His anger could easily be imagined.

The Blood River Lord cried out in fury, "All of you will die for daring to injure me!"

Crimson light radiated from his body, manifesting a sea of blood around him.

The waves of this sea of blood raged as if they wanted to engulf the skies.

In this sea of blood, the Blood River Lord seemed particularly large and imposing. As he roared, countless creatures emerged from the sea of blood. Holding weapons in their hands, they angrily roared at the heavens.

The Blood Sea Divine Connection!

The Blood Sea Divine Connection was the Blood River Lord's most important and most fundamental Divine Connection. The Blood Sea was his kingdom, and with a single cry, he could summon countless Blood Fiends and create a world of blood. In this crimson world, the Blood River Lord was the absolute ruler, able to use his power as he pleased.

Although Divine Connections could only be officially used at the Violet Palace Realm, just who was the Blood River Lord? Breaking the limit and performing the connection with a Heart Demon Tier body wasn't impossible. At worst, its power would be reduced, but this was enough to deal with these five.

As the Blood Sea expanded, it swept up the five, and they paled as the wailing of ghosts and the howling of winds resounded in their ears.

Hei Yan, Shui Yao, and Qing Lian weren't Hemos, so didn't quite understand what was going on, but Na Shan was a prince of a Hemos tribe, so the Blood River Lord was his god. As a result, he had some understanding of the Blood Sea Divine Connection. However, because the Blood River Lord had always been a stranger to the Hemos, he wasn't very familiar with it.

Upon seeing this raging sea of blood, Na Shan felt a sense of uneasiness.

But he had never seen the Blood Sea Divine Connection before, only heard its name. Moreover, this was much less powerful than the vast sea that reached all the way to the heavens that the Blood River Lord's true body could use. For the moment, he hadn't thought about the possibility of an avatar, so he failed to realize that this was his god.

The Blood Sea Fiends rushed at the five.

"Five Dragons Grinder!" Tang Jie shouted.

The Five Dragons Grinder variation of the formation was activated, and the five dragons coiled together, their scales rising up, turning the dragons into bladed gears that minced up the Blood Sea Fiends. But moments after these fiends were obliterated, they would fall back into the Blood Sea and be reborn.

The Blood River Lord's strongest attribute wasn't his offense or defense, but his constant regeneration that rendered him unkillable. In a protracted battle, few in the Chiliocosm could match him. His Blood Sea Divine Connection exemplified this attribute, and while the grinder could kill the fiends, it couldn't truly destroy them. So long as the Blood Sea existed, the fiend would be reborn.

Numerous fiends continued to charge at the formation, and the five of them felt a great deal of pressure.

Shui Yao said in surprise, "Tang Ran, what sort of monstrous being did you offend? He's way too strong!"

As elites among their peers, all of them had been able to overcome people stronger than they were, having at least one or two Heart Demon cultivators under their belts. And Na Shan, as a Heart Demon Tier cultivator, had even killed Soul Transformation cultivators before. But the five of them working together couldn't deal with a single Heart Demon cultivator—a truly incredible event.

Everyone thought at the same time that if this person were to be recruited by another Heavenly King, they would probably all be leaving the Treasure Paradise empty-handed, if they were even lucky enough to get out alive.

With this thought in mind, everyone except Tang Jie and Na Shan made up their minds to take down this man while he was still alone.

The moment they thought this, the three of them shared a glance. Hei Yan flew out first and pointed a finger at the Blood River Lord. "Azure Black Dragon Flame!"

A massive black dragon of flame erupted from his arm, much larger than the one from before. It let out a mighty roar, carrying some of the majesty of a true dragon, and charged into the Blood Sea.

With this charge, countless fiends were instantly obliterated, and the sea itself had a large hole punched through it.

Shui Yao and Qing Lian also attacked. Shui Yao, instead of opting for a bigger water dragon, summoned a mighty deluge that fell upon the Blood Sea. In the space of a second, it had an incredible effect, each drop of water falling upon the Blood Sea delivering to the Blood River Lord a searing pain.

And green lotuses began to bloom in the Blood Sea, each one causing a part of the Blood Sea to harden. As more and more lotuses opened, they managed to stymie the flow of the sea.

With its currents impeded, the Blood Sea's heaven-toppling might was affected, and the five dragons became much less restrained.

"You guys!?" Na Shan grimaced.

The three of them using their ultimate moves had left him momentarily stunned.

Tang Jie's eyes flashed with ruthlessness. "My turn now!"

He charged at the Blood River Lord.

"Tang Jie, no!"

"Tang Ran, don't!"

Hei Yan and the others called out in surprise.

A moment later, a blood-colored ring emerged from under Tang Jie's feet, forming a giant halo of blood.

The Flesh Millstone.

In this ring of blood, let alone the blood and the fiends, blood energy itself surged into the ring, strengthening the Flesh Millstone and making it stronger and more formidable.

As he rushed out, the Flesh Millstone absorbed the Blood Sea's power and grew.

The Blood River Lord realized to his shock that he was getting weaker.

Alarmed, he slapped his hands on the sea, and drops of blood emerged from the sea and turned into arrows.

He waved his hands and ordered, "Go!"

Countless blood arrows fired at Tang Jie.

As that swarm of arrows approached, Tang Jie produced a fiery sword. The sword was long, and the hilt was designed to look like a golden crow with two wings unfurled.

He thrust the sword at the air, and a three-legged golden crow flew out of the sword. This crow spat out a great wave of flames that instantly burned away the blood arrows.

The Sun Crow Sword!

This was one of the three divine swords of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. It was inhabited by the soul of the Golden Crow, a creature of High Antiquity, and it had the Solar Flame Divine Connection.

The Solar Flame Divine Connection obliterated the arrows, allowing Tang Jie to rush forward. The grinding of the Flesh Millstone meant that all those Blood Sea Fiends flooding in to attack him were simply turned to blood that made him even stronger.

The Blood River Lord knew that he was in trouble, and he opened his mouth and spat out a stream of black energy.

This was the first time he had used a non-blood power, and Tang Jie felt an immense danger from it.

Not daring to be careless, he produced an azure sword with his left hand.

As he swung the sword, a hurricane of Astral Wind swept forth, blowing away that black energy.

The Annihilation Gale Sword!

This was the strongest of the Peerless Sword Pavilion's three divine swords, and contained within it was none other than the ceaseless Astral Wind of the Rosecloud Domain.

A Titan of the Peerless Sword Pavilion had forged this sword, risking his own body to gather up those Astral Winds in the high heavens. Although he wasn't able to plumb the depths to collect the real Gold Ignis Astral Winds like Immortal Platform Titans, he had at least been able to gather the Astral Winds on the outermost edge.

Although they weren't able to melt down everything like the inner winds, they were still extremely powerful, with a single attack being like a weaker version of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. At full power, it could even exceed the pearl, and it also beat the pearl in terms of longevity and range.

The black energy was dispelled.

Tang Jie rushed up to the Blood River Lord's side.

His swords unleashed a dazzling light.

The Blood River Lord wanted to fight back, but before him were Astral Winds and golden flames, almost like he was fighting in the atmosphere of the Rosecloud Domain.

Even the Blood River Lord wasn't powerful enough to endure the attacks of these two swords, especially with the attacks of Hei Yan and the others holding back his power. In the face of these two Divine Connections, a tinge of fear finally appeared in the Blood River Lord's eyes.

This wasn't a fear of death, but an unwillingness to be defeated and wounded.

He finally shouted, "You dare! I am the Blood River–"

"Raaaa!" Tang Jie let out an explosive roar.

The swords came together in a resounding clang.

Whoosh!

Blood exploded, and the Blood River Lord was cut into three parts.

His body dissolved into blood.

But just when he was about to reform it, the Flesh Millstone turned, sucking up much of his blood energy.

The Blood River Lord watched in disbelief as a part of his body was digested and absorbed.

And then he saw the most terrifying thing of all.

A moment later, Tang Jie crossed the swords in his hands, producing a bolt of lightning that took aim at specks of crimson light within the waves of blood.

This familiar sight immediately made the Blood River Lord recall what had happened when Tang Jie had first entered the Blood River Domain.

"Noooo!" The Blood River Lord let out a howl of despair, truly afraid this time. He shouted, "I am–"

"You are a dead man!"

As Tang Jie roared, his swords sliced through every drop of essence blood in the Blood River Lord's body.

Killed in one strike!