Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-700

Half a year went by in the blink of an eye.

In this half a year, Xu Miaoran engaged in a complete reversal from her isolation policy of the last two years, encouraging everyone to go out on missions.

Sang Hongmei was happy to use these opportunities to teach Xu Miaoran a lesson.

The Blood Fairy was the hall master in charge of internal affairs, and she managed all the missions issued by Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Thus, members of the All-Talent Society who took contribution point missions often had to take on the more dangerous and troublesome ones.

Although the rewards for these missions were greater, one had to carry them out with one's own strength. If one's strength was lacking and one tried to push through regardless, then one would have to pay an immense price for it, regardless of success or failure, up to and including one's life.

To be honest, this was pointless.

Even if this method made things difficult for the All-Talent Society and caused deaths, it provided no details regarding the location of the teleportation formation, which was the real goal here.

There were some things that not everyone could quite understand, and high status was no immunity against stupidity.

There were countless incidents in history of those in high positions doing various dumb things because they didn't understand the situation, and this wasn't even considering that Sang Hongmei was the sort of cultivator who spent all her time cultivating and had reached her current position with her fists rather than her management capabilities.

A thousand years of cultivation hadn't made her wise, only made her more arrogant, violent, and conceited.

Her anger toward Xu Miaoran and the desire to teach a lesson caused her to fail to realize that what she was doing had no real point. All she wanted to do was make things hard for Xu Miaoran.

Surprisingly, even in this, she failed to achieve her goal.

In the face of those challenges, the disciples of the All-Talent Society usually managed to complete their missions in an exemplary fashion. Some of them did such good jobs and reaped such rich rewards that the old granny was almost driven to madness from her fury.

This was naturally thanks to Bei Canghan's group.

For fourteen Celestial Heart True Persons, protecting the All-Talent Society's members, who were mostly at Mortal Shedding, was no big deal. After all, no matter how much the old granny wanted to make trouble, she couldn't give those disciples True Person missions.

The days went by.

Forced marriage proposals, tracking, making trouble—Sang Hongmei had tried everything she could, but she had failed to get a single thing that she wanted.

She found that she was like a clown, performing on a stage while everyone around her laughed.

Some gossip began to reach Sang Hongmei's ears, such as:

"She wasted all those years and didn't manage to get anything done, instead causing the sect to lose out on two years of profit-sharing. What a joke!"

"Such a useless woman. I was hoping that she was going to bring Horizon Ocean Pavilion another source of revenue, fool that I was to believe all her promises and boasts."

"Just a little girl, one who isn't even relying on her father, and she can't even deal with that! And this woman is a chief."

"Brainless old woman!"

These words almost made Sang Hongmei crazy.

"Those guys don't show themselves because they fear offending Xu Guanghua, but they have the nerve to mock this fairy behind my back! Bastards! A pack of bastards!"

Within the internal affairs hall, Sang Hongmei grasped her cane and howled.

Her deputy hall master, Lu Wuya, helplessly said from the side, "Although Xu Miaoran is young, she has a cunning personality that's not easy to deal with. Most importantly, she has a lot of money and is also backed by Xu Guanghua, which allows her to do what other people can't. A few days ago, I just learned that a year and a half ago, Xu Miaoran had the Seven Absolutions Sect forge a divine treasure for her."

"'A divine treasure'?" Sang Hongmei was startled.

"Correct!" Lu Wuya said. "A Divine Will Compass. It can detect and block any Divine Will probing within five hundred kilometers. It is incredibly effective and was specifically intended to deal with us. Last time, when I attempted to track her personally but was almost lured into the base of a Divine Division great fiend, it was because she had this item."

Sang Hongmei sucked in a cold breath.

She nodded. "I get it now. This little girl is able to run amok thanks to all her money."

"Yes, she has money, and we have strength. But because we're part of the same sect, we can't recklessly use our strength, whereas Xu Miaoran can use her money however she pleases, which is exactly why we can't do anything to her." Lu Wuya had concisely identified the reason for their losses.

Xu Miaoran had a neverending amount of spirit coins that she liberally used, while the internal affairs hall had strength that it found hard to use. This was why Xu Miaoran had been able to suppress them all this time.

Sang Hongmei scowled. "'Strength that we can't use'… Wuya, you're right—this really is the case. I've always said that you can't always be reasonable when doing things. If you have strength, you should use it. Insisting on sticking to the sect's rules is just tying your hands and feet! As a cultivator, I fight with the earth, with man, with the heavens, with everything in the universe! So how could I be bound by some puny sect rules? It's precisely because we have too many apprehensions that we've let Xu Miaoran ride all over us and turned into laughingstocks. Now, it's time to correct this error!"

Lu Wuya was alarmed. "Hall Master, you're not planning on moving against Xu Miaoran, are you? You absolutely must not! In the end, she's still Xu Guanghua's daughter. Attacking her is a major crime, and not even the Jewel Celestial Sovereign will be able to protect you."

Sang Hongmei chuckled. "I won't be striking that little girl. Isn't that what she's depending on? But while I can't attack her, that doesn't mean I can't attack the people below her. Or can the light of the Sorrowgone True Lord protect both his daughter and his daughter's subordinates?"

Lu Wuya worriedly said, "But those are still our own people, which is still a crime."

"But not a capital crime, right?" Sang Hongmei clenched her dragonhead staff. "Xu Miaoran has money, but this old body has a fist. I'd like to see which one is more powerful!"

"Who do you plan to target?"

"Hong Yuan," Sang Hongmei replied. "This woman has followed Xu Miaoran for many years, and when Tang Jie was in trouble in Nadir Hill, it was her and Xian Tao who went with Xu Miaoran. Not long after that, when they returned, they had a teleportation formation. Since then, I recall that Hong Yuan has been with Xu Miaoran the entire time while Xian Tao is managing the Blood River Domain side of things. This old woman is sure that Hong Yuan knows everything about the teleportation formation."

Lu Wuya's eyes lit up. "That's right. Hong Yuan definitely knows what's going on. If we catch that maid, we can interrogate her about the formation's location, and if it comes down to it, we can use Soulscour, and then it's done! But if we do this, whether we succeed or fail, Hall Master won't be able to avoid some punishment."

Sang Hongmei laughed. "What about it? It's precisely because we were worried about so much and restrained ourselves that we ended up in this mess. At this moment, such a small price is nothing. It should have been done long ago, and doing it now is already late. But regardless, this brat Xu Miaoran can't hope to escape my clutches this time!"

She stamped down her cane, a shockwave silently rippling out from it. A few moments later, the entire courtyard collapsed.

"Keee!" A shriek resounded through the dark skies of the Nether Domain.

Little Three sucked up the remains of that keening ghost before raising its head and letting out a proud and beautiful cry.

Three years of wandering had made it so that Little Three no longer looked like a child.

Its body was tall and stocky, and it was no longer translucent, instead thick with black energy. This black energy acted as if it was stuffed in a bottle, normally roiling within its body, and when it was needed, it could be spat out and turned into a black flood.

This wasn't its innate ability, but a power it had nurtured through its countless hunts.

Three years of wandering had also endowed Little Three with immense experience and greater knowledge, allowing it to understand the true vastness of the Nether Domain and also how tiny it was. No longer was it so arrogant and reckless.

Using its innate spatial ability, it freely traveled through the Nether Domain. It stopped its frenzied hunting, became more furtive and cautious. It was less prone to challenging or fighting to the death, fleeing the moment the confrontation turned disadvantageous.

In such a situation, with two major spatial abilities to escape and hide, Little Three was never again in such a risky situation as the last time, and its strength gradually grew.

Even so, the mission to find the other two domains remained long and difficult.

Little Three couldn't see the end, nor could it sense the information coming from those two domains.

The Karma thread in its body still led far into the unknown, and no end after three years had Little Three feeling perplexed.

Fortunately, Tang Jie's will would occasionally cross over from the other end to comfort and encourage Little Three, giving it the resolve to press on.

But Little Three had no idea how long it would have to press on.

Today, after hunting a ghost, Little Three smoothly cleaned up the remains and continued flying forward.

Suddenly, it felt the thread of Karma within it pulse.

Far off in the distance, a familiar sensation was coming from behind that misty space.

Little Three's mind trembled.

It had sensed it.

That familiar feeling was right in front of it.

With a cheerful howl, it flew into the distance.

It moved as quickly as lightning.

But as it got closer, that sensation abruptly disappeared like a kite that had its line cut.

Little Three grew frantic, but no matter what it did, it couldn't get back that feeling.

The thread of Karma returned to its inactive state, and the pointer of Fate only nudged a little before stopping again.

"Don't panic." Tang Jie's voice resounded in Little Three's mind.

"Fathe!" Little Three shouted.

"I sensed it," Tang Jie answered. "You have not arrived at the space where one of the two domains is located, but you've received some Karma."

"'Some Karma'?" Little Three was confused.

"To be more precise, it is my Karma. My thread of Karma was pulled out. Perhaps it can guide you into the two domains."

"What should I do?" Little Three urgently asked.

After some thought, Tang Jie answered, "Follow that feeling, and when you feel like you should stop… wait!"

Little Three heard this and closed its eyes.

A few moments later, it turned to the distance.

A giant river was surging out from the heavens.

The Nether River.

No matter how far Little Three went, it was always able to see this river.

No beginning, no end.

Thus, Little Three began to walk toward the Nether River, that feeling telling it that it could find the opportunity it was waiting for there.

The exit was close!