Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-709

Tang Jie's voice was like that of a wanderer returning home, or like rain over a parched land, and everyone grew excited.

Wei Tianchong went up to Little Three's ear and shouted, "Tang Jie, sure enough, you lived! I knew you wouldn't die. Hey, can you hear me? It's your young master! I'm at Celestial Heart now! Celestial Heart! Shi Meng's here too! He's also at Celestial Heart."

Cai Junyang also ran over and shouted into Little Three's ear. "Tang Jie, I've comprehended Slaughter! If you come back, I'll definitely be able to beat you!"

Before Tang Jie could respond, Peng Yaolong and Qi Shaoming pushed aside Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang so that they could yell into Little Three's ears too. Everyone came over and yelled at Little Three's ears, and poor Little Three couldn't even move for fear of interrupting the connection and had to just let them fight over it.

Shi Meng couldn't squeeze his way in, so he shouted from a distance, "Tang Jie, Tang Jie, are you doing well? When will you be coming back?"

Tang Jie said in surprise, "So many people! What in the world happened?"

Seeing the situation, Xu Miaoran quickly calmed down, and she chuckled.

Her chuckle made everyone regain their senses, and they tactfully backed away.

Husband and wife had yet to speak, so what were they getting all excited for?

Xu Miaoran asked, "Tang Jie, are you doing alright?"

"I'm doing well, but I won't be back for the time being. You can ask Little Three about my situation later, so I won't explain. Tell me what's going on over there. Why are you all together, and why did Hong Yuan die?"

Xu Miaoran gave a concise summary of what had happened.

Tang Jie fell silent after hearing all this, and then the light over Little Three brightened, gradually forming into Tang Jie.

Everyone was dumbfounded by this sight, wondering how he had done it.

They saw Tang Jie look around and look outside the golden barrier.

Out there, Sang Hongmei was looking over with an expression of despair.

At this point, Sang Hongmei had lost all hope.

She hadn't left only because she had nowhere to go.

After all, she was a member of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Even if her plan had failed, she couldn't actually leave, or else she would be a real traitor.

Tang Jie spoke. "I presume that you are the Blood Fairy."

"Tang Jie!" Sang Hongmei grunted.

Even though she was unwilling to admit defeat, Sang Hongmei had no choice but to take Tang Jie seriously. Tang Jie was currently famous throughout the Rosecloud Domain, his fame on par with hers. When Sang Hongmei learned that Tang Jie wasn't dead, she had felt an inexplicable sense of panic.

Tang Jie chuckled and said, "The Blood Fairy is a chief of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and as expected, you live up to your reputation as one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas. Even though Miaoran got in contact with so many of my brothers, they were still no match for you and forced to hole up behind this barrier. Truly admirable."

"But we'll win eventually," Cai Junyang stubbornly said.

"Perhaps," Tang Jie replied. "But how many more will have to die? Even a dead centipede will take a long time to harden, let alone someone as formidable as the Blood Fairy. If she really goes all out, even if all of you can win, just how many lives will you have to pay for this victory?"

None of them had anything they could say to that.

Yes, even if they beat Sang Hongmei, how many of them would have to die?

They had already lost good people in the previous battle.

Although Sang Hongmei was heavily injured, her strength was not reduced, and Xu Miaoran's group was now missing a core member in Zhou Peng and had to deal with the betrayal of Zheng Ran. With this shift in the balance of powers, even if they managed to exhaust Sang Hongmei to death, it would come at a painful price. If this woman was still holding back some trump card, half of them could end up dead.

Every person's life had value, so even if Sang Hongmei was at peak Soul Transformation, that didn't mean they were willing to give up their lives to kill her.

Tang Jie's words had everyone falling silent and had Sang Hongmei's eyes shining.

No matter how dumb or arrogant she was, she could tell that Tang Jie was implying something with his words.

Sure enough, Tang Jie said, "Thus, I hope that this matter will end here."

"Nonsense!" Sang Hongmei shrieked. "You think it's over because you say it's over? Do you know how much this has cost me?"

"Bullshit! Fiend granny, you think you're the only one who has lost something? Quite a few people on our side have died," the people on Xu Miaoran's side grumbled. If this fiend granny hadn't been so strong, then even if they had to suffer heavy losses, they still would have tried to take her down.

A pity that Tang Jie can't come back and can only talk, or else this fiend granny would be dead for sure, they thought to themselves.

Both sides began to argue. Though each had their apprehensions, they verbally refused to back down.

Tang Jie frowned and said, "I know that you've paid no small price, so I can make a concession. Why don't we do this? You want the teleportation formation, right? I can let you join us, tell you the location of the teleportation formation, and give you the task of protecting it, as well as ten percent of the profits. What do you think? Of course, only you can know it, and you have to swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao to not tell anyone else."

"What?" Everyone was in an uproar over Tang Jie's words.

Cai Junyang angrily said, "Tang Jie, what are you saying? If you do this, what were all our previous efforts for? Yunfan died, but rather than trying to get revenge for him, you want to work with the enemy?"

Tang Jie replied, "I just don't want to see more people die."

Peng Yaolong was also angry. "Tang Jie, as a cultivator, don't we all go through dangerous situations? I can accept death, but I can't accept stomaching this resentment and anger! I can accept putting down arms to avoid further losses, but I can never accept turning around and working with the enemy! Tang Jie, this isn't considering the big picture! This is called bending the knee. Tang Jie, have you lost your mind, doing something so disgraceful? Are you even Tang Jie? Maybe you're some scheme Sang Hongmei thought up to fool us?"

Dissenting voices rang out, and even Xu Miaoran stared in disbelief at Tang Jie.

They couldn't accept Tang Jie's proposal. Sang Hongmei was also dumbfounded, having never imagined that things would develop in this way.

What was Tang Jie up to?

Was he sincerely trying to recruit her?

Ten percent of the profit!

Although she had to swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao, preventing her from sharing this benefit with the sect, ten percent of the profit was enough to recover her losses.

Even if she handed over the teleportation formation to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, Jade Emptiness and her master could probably only give her this much, or even less.

This thought immediately caused her heart to bloom. All the loss and suffering had become worth it! She was finally receiving her just reward!

Sang Hongmei excitedly shouted at Tang Jie, "Deal! This old body agrees!"

Tang Jie ignored the complaints, nodding and saying, "But before then, you have to agree to my condition."

"What condition?"

"Kill Zheng Ran. You see that my brothers don't like my decision, so I have to have something to show them. Of course, I will also swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao that if I don't carry out my promise to tell you the location of the teleportation formation after you kill Zheng Ran, I will never return to the Rosecloud Domain or meet Miaoran and the others again."

Zheng Ran was aghast. "Fairy, don't do it!"

Sang Hongmei stared at Tang Jie, watching his every move to see if he was using an illusion to fool her when making his oath.

Once Tang Jie had completed the oath to the Heavenly Dao, Sang Hongmei huffed and said, "Tang Jie, don't think that your brothers can kill me without a loss if Zheng Ran isn't here. I guarantee that you will be disappointed. If they attack, I will start killing from the person you care about the most. I'll be so furious that I won't even let Xu Miaoran go."

"You won't get that opportunity," Tang Jie indifferently said.

Zheng Ran knew that he was in trouble, shouting, "Sang Hongmei, you're not human!"

He turned and ran.

But how could he outrun Sang Hongmei? Sang Hongmei reached out without even turning around, and her arm extended toward Zheng Ran. Zheng Ran indignantly struck back, but he was no match for Sang Hongmei. He managed to fend off a few blows, and then Sang Hongmei clawed into his chest, shattering his barrier and then striking him in the head, chest, and abdomen. Ten blasts of energy erupted within his body, instantly obliterating him and leaving him as dead as one could be.

This move had Sang Hongmei's energy seething, and she threw up a few mouthfuls of blood.

Everyone was delighted, and they looked expectantly at Tang Jie, waiting for him to give the order.

Having the enemy take down one of their own generals without having to do it himself was Tang Jie's style!

But to their disappointment, Tang Jie didn't give the order, simply saying, "Very good. I can now tell you the location of the teleportation formation. But you must remember to not let anyone else find out."

"Of course." Sang Hongmei coldly laughed, and then she turned her head and barked, "You cubs over there, you've seen enough, no?"

She pointed her cane, and a beam of spear energy blasted toward a distant cloud. There was a cry of alarm, and several people flew out of that cloud, all of them wearing the standard blue robes of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. On their chests was the emblem of a dragon dancing over the seas, the symbol of the Four Seas Hall.

The Four Seas Hall was responsible for domestic security and arresting criminals. As lawkeepers of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, they had been tasked with arresting Sang Hongmei. But Sang Hongmei wasn't someone they were actually capable of arresting. These people had clearly been here for some time, but they had chosen to watch from a distance. It seemed like Sang Hongmei was aware that they had been there, but she had waited until now to expose them.

Tang Jie was also unsurprised. "Since that's done, Fairy Sang, please swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao that you will not let others know of the location by any possible means."

"Tang Jie, are you really giving her the teleportation formation?" Wei Tianchong shouted.

Everyone once more grew restless.

Tang Jie casually replied, "I was the one who established the inter-domain trade, and the relay station is also mine. As this is all my business, outsiders have no right to intervene."

"You!" Everyone was so angry they wanted to throw up blood. Ye Tianshang even shouted, "Tang Jie, you've changed!"

Tang Jie replied, "I've never changed. It's just that none of you understand me enough."

Sang Hongmei made the Heavenly Dao Oath to obtain the secret. She didn't attempt any tricks, and to be honest, she didn't have the brains to come up with a trick on such a short notice. Tang Jie whispered a few words to Little Three, and then Little Three flicked its finger, sending a mote of light out of the barrier and toward Sang Hongmei.

Sang Hongmei let the light disappear into her head, and then she closed her eyes and reviewed the information. She laughed and said, "I see, I see! No wonder you were able to pull off the inter-domain trade, and no wonder Xu Miaoran tried so hard to keep it a secret. So there was a hidden realm serving as a relay station! The legends were real, hahaha!"

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Xu Miaoran abruptly called out.

"What? Little girl, are you feeling regret?" Sang Hongmei turned to Xu Miaoran.

Xu Miaoran replied, "I've installed Heavenbane Lightning Pearls in the teleportation formation. If you don't enter in the right way, they'll explode. Tang Jie doesn't know about this. You have to use this method to stop them from triggering."

She proceeded to tell Sang Hongmei the method.

Sang Hongmei was startled. "When did you become so considerate?"

Xu Miaoran explained, "If I didn't tell you, I wouldn't be losing just ten percent, but everything. Moreover, Tang Jie is my man. When he makes a decision, even if I don't like it, I won't object to it."

She looked over at Tang Jie, who smiled back.

This smile made Sang Hongmei somewhat uneasy, and she felt like something was off. But considering that Tang Jie's appearance was unplanned and that everyone was here, pulling off some sort of scheme would be very difficult. Moreover, since Tang Jie had told her the location of the teleportation formation, she had to go over and take a look, right? She couldn't give up on it just because she was being paranoid, right?

That being the case, she might as well seize this opportunity to rush over while they were all here. Without them around, she would feel safer.

Thus, Sang Hongmei flew off for the teleportation formation without hesitation.

After watching Sang Hongmei leave, Tang Jie turned to the Four Seas Hall disciples and asked, "This matter is over. Why haven't you gone back already?"

The lead disciple awkwardly said, "Our mission was to arrest Sang Hongmei…"

Tang Jie shook his head. "No need. She won't be coming back."

Sang Hongmei finally reached the teleportation formation Tang Jie had spoken of.

Sang Hongmei thoroughly inspected the area and confirmed that there were no traps besides the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls Xu Miaoran had mentioned.

Even so, Sang Hongmei chose to activate her strongest defenses before going in.

But as she teleported through, she encountered no ambushes.

Finally, after several teleportations, Sang Hongmei entered the Martial Lord's hidden realm.

Walking out of the cave, Sang Hongmei found herself in a paradise.

"It was real! The hidden realm, it's actually the hidden realm! No wonder it could become a relay station for the inter-domain trade! It's actually located in a crack between domains!" Sang Hongmei was trembling in excitement as she flew forward.

That flourishing valley in the distance was the location of the teleportation formation leading to the Blood River Domain that Tang Jie had spoken of.

Sang Hongmei was about to fly in when she came to a sudden halt.

"Jade Return Grass, Heavenly Secret Stone, Rebirth Fruit, thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus…" Sang Hongmei almost went crazy upon seeing the countless spirit plants growing in the valley.

Greed didn't make Sang Hongmei lose her sense, and she still inspected the area.

There were no traps or illusions. Those Immortal grasses were all real.

Sang Hongmei recklessly charged in, plucking a stalk of Jade Return Grass. Seeing that there were even more valuable Immortal plants growing within, she charged in deeper and began to gather them, stuffing them into her Mustard Seed Bag. She was so engrossed that she failed to notice a fiery being appearing overhead…