Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-657

Tang Jie flew more than a thousand meters before he managed to stabilize his body.

His shattered bones healed, and as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, he said, "This move is called Thousand Hands? Not bad; I've been taught something. Then try this one on for size!"

Tang Jie charged back into the fray.

This time, he didn't use any spell art at all, simply punching the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor kept his hands behind his back and simply watched as Tang Jie approached him. As Tang Jie reached him, the Thousand Hands emerged from behind him again, catching Tang Jie's mighty punch. But as the punch was blocked, Tang Jie's body flashed with a crimson light, a bloody halo spreading out around him. As the bloody halo engulfed the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, crimson tendrils began to compress his body with the weight of mountains, and even this mighty Fiend Emperor couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Plush!

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor even threw up a little blood, which was instantly absorbed by the Flesh Millstone, but it had no time to use it to increase its strength.

For a moment later, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor let out a sharp bark, and a black energy erupted from his body. As black met red, there was a powerful shockwave that darkened the world for a brief moment.

And then the two of them broke apart.

Unlike before, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor swayed a little. As for Tang Jie, as before, he was pushed a thousand meters away before finally stopping himself, clearly badly injured.

The immense gap in strength made him nothing more than a ball in front of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, kicked away again and again.

But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor wasn't having everything go his way. The Flesh Millstone had actually managed to injure him.

Although this was mostly because he had been careless, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor still felt inexplicably ashamed.

He had been injured by a puny human cultivator!

He angrily glared at Tang Jie. "Hmph, so you really do have some tricks. Anything else?"

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Tang Jie replied, "I've got more so long as you want to see it!"

Tang Jie lunged forward.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was ready this time, a light silver barrier covering him as Tang Jie approached.

While his Thousand Hands could both attack and defend, its flaw was that there were gaps in the defense, and it was impossible for it to defend against a flood-like attack such as the Flesh Millstone, which was how Tang Jie was able to get a blow in.

But this additional barrier would make it much more difficult for the Flesh Millstone to repeat the feat.

Boom!

Tang Jie rushed up, and just when they were about to collide, Tang Jie thrust out his finger, which shone like jade. As it touched the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's Thousand Hands, plush! A small and bloody hole was punched in one of the hands.

Although it was just a small hole, it was a gap in what had been a perfect defense. Flame entered through the hole, and the hand exploded. Meanwhile, the rest of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's hands thrust out, pressing on Tang Jie's body, making him erupt in blood and gore as he was blasted away. His injuries were even more severe this time, and he was unable to immediately get back up.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked at his exploded hand, his silver eyes glistening. With just a glance, the fire was extinguished and the flesh came back, and the hand was soon as good as new.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled. "Good, good! You were able to injure me twice! Excellent idea, going for close combat and then casting your spell."

Lying on a cloud, Tang Jie said with a bitter smile, "As expected, I can't hide anything from the Fiend Emperor's sharp eyes."

As Divine Division great fiends could create arts with a single thought, trying to compete with the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor in spell arts was suicidal. Thus, Tang Jie had given up on his usual style of combining long-distance spell arts with close combat, instead charging in and getting in close before using spell arts.

The greatest advantage to this was that he shortened the reaction window to spell arts.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's arrogance meant that he only defended, confident that no matter what attack was used on him, he could immediately react and counter with his instant spell arts.

This was what had happened to Tang Jie's Nine Heavens Calamity Blade and Heavenly King Mara Incantation. No matter how fast or powerful was the spell art Tang Jie used, there was no way it could compare to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. The ability to cast spell arts with a thought was just too terrifying.

But getting close and then casting had proved to be a blind spot for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.

Casting spell arts with a thought required the thought.

In close quarters, the speed of the battle was so fast that a punch would have made contact before one even had time to think.

It was like two people exchanging blows on a street. They were acting purely on instinct, without the slightest chance to focus.

Without a time to form a thought, the arts could not be cast.

Thus, Tang Jie's choice to engage in close combat and then cast spell arts countered the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.

This was why the Flesh Millstone and Pale Cloud Flame were able to succeed at injuring the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.

But all of this was because the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn't attack first.

He was still showing off, only defending and not attacking, letting Tang Jie make the first move.

Once he got serious and started taking the offensive, all of Tang Jie's little tricks would be pointless. At that time, Tang Jie would have to deal with wave after terrifying wave of attacks from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, truly experiencing what it meant to create ten thousand arts with a single thought.

Thus, Tang Jie's tactics weren't an actual counter, and besides, he was paying far too much to injure the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. In each of these three attacks, Tang Jie had been severely injured.

It was obvious that Tang Jie was still very far from reaching Violet Palace–level existences.

Gaps at this level couldn't be made up for with just power.

But Tang Jie wasn't willing to give up.

He staggered back to his feet and shouted, "Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, I still have some tricks I haven't used. Is Your Majesty still interested in seeing them?"

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor saw that Tang Jie's eyes were still brimming with stubborn resolve despite his body being drenched in blood, and he sighed in admiration. Giving a nod of approval, he said, "If that's the case, then come again."

He had entirely abandoned the right to attack precisely because he wanted to see what Tang Jie was capable of.

Tang Jie roared and charged forward. Just as he was getting close to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, he suddenly used the Chaoswind Step and appeared to his side, throwing out a punch. But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was ready for something like this. Several hundred hands appeared on his left side, creating a perfect arc that fended off that punch. But a moment later, Tang Jie appeared on the right, still throwing out his punch. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled as a hundred hands appeared on his right, once more blocking the attack. And then Tang Jie appeared below him.

He used the Chaoswind Step to the maximum extent, appearing above, below, to the right, to the left, in front, and behind, throwing out punch after furious punch.

This time, he didn't cast spell arts after getting close, focusing entirely on combat, his spell arts serving as a support for his physical blows. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor became the center of a frenzied storm of fists.

But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's Thousand Hands defense was essentially perfect. No matter how Tang Jie attacked, there would be layers upon layers of hands to fend him off.

Standing in the air, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor laughed. "Fun, fun! It's been a long time since I've had such an enjoyable battle. Alas, the difference in cultivation realm isn't something you can understand. You haven't even reached the apex of cultivation beneath Violet Palace, and even if you did, you still wouldn't be a match for me, and you never would be. In the history of the Great Stellar Chiliocosm, a Celestial Heart cultivator has never been able to beat a Violet Palace cultivator. A mantis trying to stop a carriage is destined to be crushed under the wheels!"

His eyes flew open and flashed.

The Thousand Hands drew back and instantly formed countless dizzying hand signs.

All of the hands locked together into a massive combination sign made from a thousand hands.

Tang Jie was stunned, blurting out, "You still need to form signs?"

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled. "This isn't forming a sign. This is Slaughter!"

A terrifying energy swept through the world.

The Thousand Hands moved in unison, pressing toward Tang Jie, each hand radiating a terrifying power that threatened to collapse the fabric of space. As this power weighed down, Tang Jie felt like his body was going to be squeezed to the bursting point.

"Aaaagh!" He desperately yelled, his heart thumping as he summoned all the strength he could muster. Power flowed out from his blood, bones, and organs, every cell being wrung dry. As Tang Jie roared, his power began to soar.

Finally, this unprecedented torrent of power erupted from his body, blasting back the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's Thousand Hands.

Unprecedentedly, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was pushed back several hundred meters.

Tang Jie stood tall like a mighty god, his body radiating herculean strength.

"Interesting." The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled. "I've long heard that body cultivators have formidable wills and grow stronger through setbacks, and it seems that it was true."

Tang Jie looked at his fist and muttered, "The Dao of the Martial Lord is the Dao of Honing, and it has been a very long time since I honed myself."

Tang Jie had known as far back as his battle with Gu Changqing that the Dao of the Martial Lord did not purely involve getting stronger through the Parting Classic. One could only become truly powerful through a baptism of fire and blood.

Alas, he rarely ran into opponents that required his full power. Most of the time, he relied on his teamwork with his avatar, taking down his opponents through a combination of wits and courage. As a result, the pressure that he felt had never been enough.

But today, the immense pressure from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had finally given Tang Jie the sensation of an imminent breakthrough.

It was an indescribable feeling, like the sudden arrival of a long-anticipated blessing. Every cell in his body cried out in joy, and overflowing strength healed all his wounds. He no longer felt tired, and he felt an endless will to fight.

He looked at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and shouted, "Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, I still have one more move. Do you dare to receive it?"

"Oh?" The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked at Tang Jie and smiled. "If that's the case, I can give you one more chance."

"I won't disappoint you." Tang Jie slowly took out the Herding Yang Pearl and swallowed it.

"Raaa!" Tang Jie's body began to grow.

Three heads and six arms, a spine like a dragon, bones of steel, and a body wreathed in flame.

But it still wasn't over.

This towering giant took out two weapons.

The Sovereign Blade!

The Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe!

As he gripped the weapons, red and white energies curled around them. Tang Jie slammed the two weapons together, upon which the Sovereign Blade transformed into a golden fluid and merged with the axe, using the axe as a handle for a giant saber, after which the Pale Cloud Flame curled around the saber.

Then, Tang Jie's body flashed with crimson light.

The Blood Refining Spirit spell.

And then, the blade of the saber gleamed with saber energy.

Ultimate saber intent.

In the Verdant Cloud Domain, Tang Jie realized that he had learned a lot of assorted things, and he began to focus on how to merge all these things together such that their power was multiplied. This was the result of his years of research.

As it brought together the powers of the Herding Yang Pearl, the Sovereign Blade, the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe, the Pale Cloud Flame, the Blood Refining Spirit spell, ultimate saber intent, the Parting Classic, and Yin and Yang, Tang Jie called it the Nine Extinctions Blade, the ultimate technique that he could only use in his merged state.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Six brawny arms gripped the saber, and even the tough Mother Cloud Essence Metal was slightly deformed from their strength. Staring at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, Tang Jie roared, "Kill!"

Saber energy of absolute madness and ferocity swept toward the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.