Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-570

Having suffered a loss at Tang Jie's hands twice, the Blood River Lord's patience was only worsening, while his anger was rising. He was relinquishing his fear of many taboos, and he gradually started to stop respecting the dignity of others.

The grimace on the faces of the Four Heavenly Kings became even uglier.

The similarly temperamental Northern Heavenly King snorted and said, "Blood River Ancestor, we refer to you as Ancestor because you are our senior, but a senior must act like a senior. The Plain of Slaughter is not the Blood River region, and the City of Freedom is not a place where Ancestor can act as you please. Ancestor, do you really think that my Celestial Flame Pagoda has no one around?"

As he spoke, a light erupted from the City of Freedom, and a flame shot up from the Celestial Flame Pagoda. This was a sign that the City of Freedom's guardian formation was activating, and that flame rising from the pagoda was none other than the Flame Celestial Sovereign's Pale Cloud Flame.

The four Violet Palace cultivators plus the guardian formation were more than enough to take care of the Blood River avatar, but what they truly cared about wasn't the avatar but the sky above it.

A blood-colored cloud roiled in the sky, exuding an intimidating pressure. This was the pressure from the Blood River Lord, the power of his true body.

Even though he was a vast distance away, the supreme might he displayed was enough to make anyone tremble in fear.

The Four Heavenly Kings looked at each other. Even the four of them together and supported by the formation could not stop the power that the Lord of the Blood River was transmitting through space, such was his power.

Just how had Tang Jie offended him and managed to survive? Even Hero was somewhat starting to regret that promise to protect Tang Jie.

At this moment, the statue venerating the Flame Celestial Sovereign suddenly moved.

Like a clay idol coming to life, the eyes of metal blinked, and then they erupted with light that pierced through the walls of the pagoda.

A resounding voice boomed, "So it is the Lord of the Blood River who has graced my Celestial Flame Pagoda with his presence. Senior has cultivated for ten thousand years, so how are you so easily moved to anger as to quarrel with these juniors?"

"Master!" The Four Heavenly Kings shouted in unison and prostrated.

The Pale Cloud Flame swelled, instantly filling up the world, and a huge human-shaped manifestation emerged—none other than the Flame Celestial Sovereign.

At the same time, that blood cloud also morphed into a giant human figure, the Lord of the Blood River. Compared to this body, the avatar seemed puny.

These two Immortal Platform cultivators had manifested their will to engage in a confrontation across space. The Flame Celestial Sovereign stroked his beard and smiled while the Lord of the Blood River was furious and unhinged. In terms of demeanor, he clearly lost out to the Flame Celestial Sovereign.

This was understandable. While Blood River was more senior than anyone in the Blood River Domain, in terms of strength, the Flame Celestial Sovereign was above him despite coming later. It was said that he was already close to the Godhead Realm, possessing unparalleled divine might.

With just his will manifested through the flame, he exuded an aura on par with the Blood River Lord, forcing the furious Blood River Lord to calm down a little. He said to the Flame Celestial Sovereign, "Hong Qianli, that child Tang Jie stole my essence blood and has now entered the Treasure Paradise. Your four disciples are foolishly protecting him. I require an explanation."

The Flame Celestial Sovereign smiled. "It's only a little essence blood, nothing worth being angry about. In the end, Senior is so furious because you cannot suffer even the smallest loss. And do not blame them for not letting you in. My Celestial Flame Pagoda has its rules. Rules that are easily broken are not rules."

The Blood River Lord stared at the Flame Celestial Sovereign. "Then what can I do to break the rules?"

The Flame Celestial Sovereign casually said, "I have heard that Ancestor obtained a supreme treasure called the Deicide Flame, one of the unique flames of the world?"

The Blood River Lord paled. "I was wondering why you suddenly sent your will over. So you were after the Deicide Flame! Yes, you entered the Dao through Fire, so you love the special flames of the world. The Deicide Flame can burn up all things, so it's no wonder that you're tempted. But this item is not mine; it's something entrusted to me by an old friend, and in the future, he will trade with me for it. No matter what idea you have in mind, put aside any thought of getting your hands on it."

The Flame Celestial Sovereign replied, "As Senior said, I entered the Dao through Fire, but I do not necessarily need to own that flame. Senior only needs to lend me it for a while so that I can comprehend it."

"Is that so…" The Blood River Lord considered this. "For how long?"

"That will just depend on when your friend comes to get it," the Flame Celestial Sovereign replied with a smile. "It's not like you're doing anything with that flame, so just leave it with me. When he comes to get it, I'll hand it over."

"Swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao!"

"Naturally."

The Flame Celestial Sovereign swore an oath on the Heavenly Do, and then the Blood River Lord swung an arm through the air, upon which the Deicide Flame flew out.

The Flame Celestial Sovereign reached out to the flame.

The Deicide Flame danced in the Flame Celestial Sovereign's hand. He looked at the flame and nodded in satisfaction. "Instantly melting down all metals, a flame that can send gods to the underworld. Truly, an extraordinary flame."

"You can let me in now, right?" the Blood River Lord gruffly said.

"Of course." The Flame Celestial Sovereign smiled. "But the Treasure Paradise is sealed, and opening it will consume ten years of the Blood Sea Formation's energy. This is why my Celestial Flame Pagoda only opens it once every twenty years—ten years of accumulation for going in, and another ten for going out. If Sir wishes to open it again, the blood power that must be consumed…"

"I'll pay it," the Blood River Lord tersely said.

Ten years of blood power was not cheap, perhaps on par with one drop of Black Tortoise essence blood. It could be seen that the Flame Celestial Sovereign was right, that the Blood River Lord was no longer driven by his essence blood, but by his emotions.

The Flame Celestial Sovereign laughed. "That would be for the best. Oh, right, there is also another thing I must warn Senior about. The Treasure Paradise is a world made from a spatial Dao armament, the Qian Kun Bag, and then Reverend Celestial Hook placed several other Dao armaments within it. One of these was the Yin Yang Division Sword, a Dao-controlling armament of vast powers. Once this weapon merged with the Treasure Paradise, it absorbed some of the Qian Kun Bag's power. It is so terrifying that even I do not dare to directly contend against it. Senior's original body does not need to go in, for even if you manage to resist that weapon's power, you will only end up destroying the Treasure Paradise and yourself, with no one ending up better off. Even this Violet Palace avatar is a little too strong. If you go in, you should be at Soul Transformation at most. And even that would be dangerous."

The Blood River Lord snorted. "I know how to handle myself. You don't need to worry about me."

The Violet Palace avatar instantly split off nine other bodies, the one Violet Palace avatar turning into ten peak Soul Transformation avatars.

The Flame Celestial Sovereign shook his head. "It's still a little too strong."

The Blood River Lord snorted, and six of the peak Soul Transformation avatars split off into thirty Heart Demon avatars. He then looked at the Flame Celestial Sovereign and asked, "Is it fine now?"

The Flame Celestial Sovereign chuckled. "As you please."

The four peak Soul Transformation and thirty Heart Demon avatars flew toward the ninth floor of the Celestial Flame Pagoda. It seemed like he knew that the peak Soul Transformation avatars would probably be killed by the Yin Yang Division Sword, yet he didn't care, insisting on throwing them in to hunt down Tang Jie.

Even if he had to sacrifice them, he wanted to kill Tang Jie.

The Blood River Lord watched his avatars go in, and with a cold snort, he disappeared, leaving behind the Flame Celestial Sovereign's manifestation. The Four Heavenly Kings looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Hero nervously glanced at the Flame Celestial Sovereign and then said, "Master!"

"I know," the Flame Celestial Sovereign replied, a smile on his face. "You didn't do anything wrong. Without this matter, I wouldn't have been able to get my hands on the Deicide Flame."

"But, Master, I recruited Tang Jie as one of my subordinates. Isn't doing this selling him out?" Hero worriedly said. "If everyone knew about this, it might harm the reputation of the Celestial Flame."

The Flame Celestial Sovereign erupted in laughter. "When did that happen? That Tang Jie hid his identity from us to use our Celestial Flame Pagoda to bear the pressure for him, and all I've done is let Old Man Blood River in. It's not like I personally captured him. Moreover, who cares if other people don't understand this? Whether it's the City of Freedom or the arena, they are all tools for gaining resources. The Immortal path is the true goal. If you can't understand which one is more important, then you will have taken yourself down the wrong path."

The four of them immediately voiced their agreement, seemingly enlightened.

The Flame Celestial Sovereign then said, "I, Hong Qianli, have always followed the principles of fair value exchange, emphasizing solid benefits over empty reputation. The Deicide Flame is the apex of the Fire Dao of the Five Elements and can increase my understanding of the Fire Dao. How could I let it go so easily?"

The Deicide Flame in his hand radiated light as his hand closed over it.

A moment later, the Deicide Flame retracted, becoming a blue flame floating in the air.

The Flame Celestial Sovereign let out a long sigh. "I have absorbed the Flame Dao Will, so I must immediately go into seclusion now. I will leave this flame here for all of you to slowly comprehend."

It turned out that the Flame Celestial Sovereign needed only a few moments to comprehend the Deicide Flame. The time he asked for was actually all for his disciples. He had entered the Dao of Fire many years ago and was already close to the Dao-controlling level. Flames like the Pale Cloud Flame were no longer very important to him, which was why he had left it here.

He threw out the Deicide Flame, which rushed into the Celestial Flame Pagoda. There, it fell into the open left hand of the statue. Despite being a divine flame that could melt almost anything, it didn't harm a single part of the statue, and the Flame Celestial Sovereign's statue came to have two flames, one in each hand.

The Four Heavenly Kings were ecstatic, prostrating together. "Many thanks, Master."

The Flame Celestial Sovereign's manifestation faded as he departed.

At the same time, a boom traveled through the City of Freedom, signaling that the formation had been deactivated.

The Four Heavenly Kings shared a look. Suddenly, the Southern Heavenly King sighed. "Ah, what a pity."

But who was she pitying? Tang Jie? Or someone else?

――――――――――――

A single step took them into a vast world.

Tang Jie found himself in the air, and around him was a great mountain range.

Jade mountains extended as far as the eye could see.

The Treasure Paradise was truly a world of its own.

There was no one around him. Every person that entered the Treasure Paradise would be teleported to a random location. Those who were lucky would be directly transported to a treasure, and those who were unlucky might be transported right into a lethal trap or the jaws of a vicious fiend.

The Treasure Paradise also had fiends, as there were always some primal beasts and fiends that managed to escape the Yin Yang Division Sword. They survived and reproduced in the Treasure Paradise, adding some more color and variety to this world within a bag.

But while it was a random teleportation, Tang Jie had a map, and everyone had already agreed on a place to meet up.

After looking at the map, Tang Jie guessed that he was in the southern part of the Treasure Paradise. However, as this was his first time here, he didn't dare to be too sure, so he still needed to fly around for some distance.

Tang Jie threw out Tutu, who he had been holding this entire time.

The little rabbit expanded, ultimately becoming the size of an elephant as it crouched in midair.

Tang Jie stepped onto the back of the rabbit. Meanwhile, a flower fell out of his sleeve and turned into Yiyi, who also sat on the rabbit. She patted Tutu's head and said, "Hurry up and get going."

Tutu miserably sighed. A white cloud suddenly appeared under its feet and whisked them away. It was so fast that it outsped the combination of Tang Jie's Wandering Celestial Peng Art and Violet Lightning Lunge, yet when sitting on it, one felt like the ride was incredibly smooth.

It was no wonder the Heaven-Lost Rabbits were known as a natural race of mounts. While their combat strength was low, their flight abilities were incredible. This ability would only truly manifest at Transformation, and as they got stronger, this ability would also become more formidable, ultimately allowing them to easily travel the void. Starting from Transformation, each additional tier a Heaven-Lost Rabbit rose by would cause its size to grow, and by Divine Division, they would be the size of a mountain, able to carry an entire palace on their backs.

But it was precisely this attribute of the Heaven-Lost Rabbits that Tutu wanted to hide.

Being a pet was always better than being a mount.

In the past, it could have hidden this ability just by slacking off on cultivating, but alas, Tang Jie's sudden wealth had ruined the plan. Tang Jie had had so much money that he was even willing to raise those bean soldiers to Transformation if he could, so how could he let a little rabbit go?

Having been forced to increase its cultivation level, Tutu had its original form exposed, and Tang Jie realized what its true purpose was.

Its fate as a mount was decided.

Yiyi patted Tutu and smiled. "This is great! So much faster than a Cloudpiercer Shuttle, and it also saves on spirit stones."

"The most important thing is that I don't need to give it commands." Tang Jie lay down on the rabbit's back, but he found that there wasn't quite enough space, so he had Tutu grow a little larger, after which he pulled up the tail and lay on top of it, his arms crossed behind his head. "When riding a Cloudpiercer Shuttle, you have to look ahead so that you avoid large birds, and also look out for any treasures or dangers. Meanwhile, mounts can make their own judgments."

He patted Tutu and said, "Head straight west, following the rosy light in the sky. If you see any treasure auras, go over, and if you see sword energy, avoid it."

Tutu grunted, wanting to cry.

As a world created from a Dao armament, the Treasure Paradise was much larger than the Water Moon Paradise. This mountain range alone extended for some five hundred kilometers. Even the Mountain River State Diagram dimension expanded by the Space Crystal was tiny when compared to the Treasure Paradise. And the millennia had made this world a very interesting place.

On this flight, Tang Jie saw many rare beasts and fiends.

Whether it was due to the accumulation of millennia or the unique and isolated environment of the Treasure Paradise, there were many beasts and fiends that Tang Jie had never even heard about before. Besides the fiends, there were also various rare plants that were scarcely seen in the outside world. While these were not spiritual plants, they were still hard to come by.

Life here existed in a completely different form, and Tang Jie and Yiyi oohed and aahed in wonder. When they saw something particularly interesting, they would have Tutu fly down to get a closer look.

Others entered the Treasure Paradise to risk their lives for treasure, but Tang Jie cared little for such things. He had the inter-domain trade and the Martial Lord's hidden realm, so the Treasure Paradise's treasure held little attraction for him. Rather than running around, he preferred to see the sights.

Of course, if he ran into a treasure, he didn't mind taking it. Since he was already here, he couldn't leave empty-handed, particularly because he had already received so much favor from the Western Heavenly King. It wouldn't do to not live up to that expectation.

Thus, if he ran into any treasure, he went over to get it.

Just like the Valley of No Return, the deeper one ventured into the Treasure Paradise, the more valuable the treasure and the greater the danger was.

For the sake of these more valuable treasures, everyone else rushed inward, but not Tang Jie. While he had the divine speed of the Heaven-Lost Rabbit, he played around so much that he made barely any progress at all and ended up falling behind the others.

Tang Jie spent his time casually flying around the perimeter for three days.

Today, he finally left that mountain range, and he spotted a large river in the distance.

Blue flowers grew along the shore, forming what seemed like a sea of flowers.

Before Tang Jie even said anything, Tutu weakly said, "Going to admire the flowers again? Understood."

Tang Jie gave it a playful slap. "You rabbit, you're so lazy that it's no wonder you don't want to be a mount. But you're wrong this time. Don't you see that flashing treasure light in the sea of flowers? A treasure has appeared there."

"I see it, but based on the glow, it's a middle-grade art relic at best. I'm surprised it caught your eye," Tutu said in a scornful tone.

Tang Jie smiled and replied, "You're wrong on that point. It's precisely because it's not valuable that we need to go and get it. You see, if valuable treasures like upper-grade or ultimate-grade art relics, even divine treasures, were to appear, they would release such dazzling treasure light that everyone would know and come over, so you would have to fight to get it. Even if no one else had discovered it, there's probably some great fiend guarding it. In short, it wouldn't be easy to get. But middle- and lower-grade art relics are much better. No one cares about them, so we can just go and pick them up. Is there anything better than that?"

The rabbit rolled its eyes, but it still flew down.

As they approached, they found a tower of rainbow glass before them.

This rainbow glass tower exuded a glow that indicated that it was a middle-grade art relic without a doubt.

Tang Jie's sleeve extended to envelop the rainbow tower, but just as he was about to take it away, he sensed danger. His body erupted with light as countless objects shot out of the sea of flowers and pelted him.