Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-740

The Azure Dragon could not be allowed to escape, or else every human here would die.

Tang Jie hastily pointed his finger at the Azure Dragon.

As he unleashed another soul-shaking finger, Aurora threw out a blast of rainbow light, intercepting it. "With me around, don't even think about succeeding!"

In the Infinite Palace, he knew that he was no match for Tang Jie, so he could only place his hopes on the Azure Dragon and try his best to impede Tang Jie. No matter what Tang Jie did, he wouldn't let Tang Jie interrupt the Azure Dragon's soul or let Lin Xin's body get close to the Azure Dragon's corpse.

Tang Jie thrust out his finger several times, but he failed to suppress the Azure Dragon, only slightly delaying it. If this continued, the Azure Dragon would inevitably escape.

Tang Jie was at a loss for what to do.

At this moment, the voice of Immortal Ji Yao, that female demon, rang out in his mind. "Tang Jie, I will teach you a method that can prevent the Azure Dragon's rebirth."

"If the price is letting you go, then forget it. I have no plans on stopping a dragon just to let out a demon."

"How can you have such a one-track mind!?" Immortal Ji Yao was furious, but she suppressed her anger. "Ugh, forget it. You don't need to do anything. This Azure Dragon has suppressed me for ten thousand years, and so if I can't escape, he shouldn't think about faring any better. The method I teach you can deal with that dragon's soul."

"You talk and I'll listen!" Tang Jie finally agreed.

"Brat," Immortal Ji Yao chuckled. "This method of mine is a secret art that creates a protective barrier around the soul. With this art, your chances of advancing to Violet Palace will be much greater. In the past, numerous people seeking to advance to Violet Palace came to seek this one's help. Now, I want to transmit it to you, but you act as if I'm trying to hurt you."

Tang Jie was stunned.

A secret art that could increase the chance of advancing to Violet Palace?

This truly was priceless.

Tang Jie knew of treasures that could increase the chances of reaching Violet Palace, like Ming Yekong's Bloodweeping Fiend Lotus. But as this lotus had been raised on Ming Yekong's heart blood, he was the only one who could use it. There was also the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill that he had found in the fragment of the Myriad Court. He didn't know if it was still usable given all the time that had passed, so he had given it to Xu Miaoran for her to study it. There was also the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, which increased the chances of advancement for all cultivation realms, but it was so valuable that the Vermillion Bird had made it a priority protection target, and Tang Jie still wasn't able to get his hands on it.

For Immortal Ji Yao to have such a method was just incredible.

This wasn't something that could be replaced by one or two natural treasures. After all, natural treasures were gone once they were used up or else required thousands of years to grow, but a secret art could be used over and over.

To call it a divine art would not be an exaggeration.

As if guessing at what Tang Jie was thinking, Immortal Ji Yao said, "Although my secret art can increase the chances of reaching Violet Palace, it places great burden on the body. The user's Divine Soul will be affected, and it will take several years to as long as a hundred years to recover, with the exact time hinging on the degree of increase and the strength of your Divine Soul. The greater the increase, the more your Divine Soul will consume and the weaker it will be. And while recovering, you can't even cultivate, only spending every day with a terrible pain in your head. Thus, as I'm sure you can understand, it is not lightly used."

"It seems right to me. Nothing in the world comes for free," Tang Jie replied. The Great Stellar Chiliocosm was a world that revered balance, and no art in the world was without flaw. Tang Jie had obtained peerless ancient arts like the Parting Classic and the Ninedark Mantra, but this hadn't made him invincible. On the contrary, the people that Tang Jie had given sections of the Ninedark Mantra to, like Cai Junyang, had managed to create their own specialties and delve farther down their respective paths than Tang Jie ever had.

This was because while secret arts were important, the people using them were even more so!

The same was true for this Violet Palace secret art. Tang Jie didn't find it strange that it had limitations. Rather, if Immortal Ji Yao had said that there were no flaws, it would have put him on his guard.

Immortal Ji Yao laughed. "You're quite the clear-minded child. If that's the case, I will transmit the secret art to you. Its name is the Peaceful Divine Abode Classic. Listen closely…"

She began to recite the classic to Tang Jie.

The mantra directly resounded in Tang Jie's mind, transforming into golden characters that radiated an intense light that branded them into his memories. Tang Jie only needed to listen once to memorize it forever.

Tang Jie began to circulate the mantra and confirmed that there were no problems. This truly was a profound secret art that could create a Violet Palace barrier around the soul.

The Violet Palace was the sacred temple of the Divine Soul.

The process of a Soul Transformation cultivator ascending to the Violet Palace Realm was the process of substantializing the Divine Soul, giving physical form to the soul. This process was extremely dangerous and required creating the Violet Palace to protect the soul, which was where the name of the realm came from.

The Peaceful Divine Abode Classic was a method for tempering the Violet Palace, even allowing one to create the Violet Palace outside the body and use it to protect weak souls. For this reason, it could also be used to extend one's lifespan. But this method required expending the power of the user's Divine Soul, so one had to be at the Heart Demon Tier at the minimum to use it. But at the Heart Demon Tier, the Divine Soul would be quickly used up. Things were slightly better at the Soul Transformation Tier, but one was still bound to be greatly drained after the ordeal. To use it to its full extent would require a person to be at least at the Violet Palace Realm.

Alas, Tang Jie didn't have much choice.

Upon realizing this, Tang Jie split back into two.

The avatar sat down on the platform and began to circulate the mantra.

The original body focused entirely on Aurora for fear that he might interfere. Ignoring his heavy injuries, Tang Jie let out a dozen punches, at the same time throwing out three banners: the Alarm Gate Banner, the Stop Gate Banner, and the View Gate Banner.

The View Gate Banner was secondary, as its concealment effects were of little use in the current situation, but the Alarm Gate, which could disturb the mind, and the Stop Gate, which controlled variation, had powerful effects when put together.

In the Infinite Palace, everything from a building to a grain of sand could become a lethal trap and attack Aurora. The original body was also taking various materials from his Mustard Seed Bag and recklessly throwing them into the palace.

The Infinite Palace was already capable of generating all things, and his adding more materials was like adding oil to a fire. Various small formations took form, and the air filled with various natural phenomena—thunder storms, sandstorms, firestorms, ice storms, and even giant vines. Even someone as powerful as Aurora was pushed back by all this. He knew that this did not bode well for him, and he shouted at the Azure Dragon, "Watch out!"

Tang Jie's avatar opened its eyes and looked at Lin Xin. A divine beam issued from his eyes and fell upon Lin Xin.

As this divine light fell, the Azure Dragon bitterly cried out, "The Peaceful Divine Abode Classic? It is! Immortal Ji Yao, you bitch! No… Stop him! Hurry and stop him! Don't let him stare at me!"

But the original body was doing everything he could to barrage Aurora. Aurora knew that this was Tang Jie's last desperate struggle, and once he endured it, Tang Jie would be powerless. The problem was that Aurora couldn't endure the barrage, and he had no choice but to fall back against the original body's frenzied assault.

At the same time, the Azure Dragon birthmark reappeared on Lin Xin's body, accompanied by the crazed roars and furious curses of the Azure Dragon.

Meanwhile, above Lin Xin's head, the see-through figure of a woman appeared—Lin Xin's soul.

As a mortal, her soul shouldn't have been able to leave her body. If it did, it would either be instantly obliterated, swept away by the winds, or it would turn into a ghost and fall into the Nether Domain. Neither outcome was positive.

Soul projection had always been the privilege of Violet Palace cultivators.

But now, Lin Xin's soul was safely out, and her body glowed with a violet aura that protected her from both the searing energies of the positive plane and the call of the Nether Domain.

The Violet Palace!

Tang Jie had used his Divine Will to create a Violet Palace to protect Lin Xin's soul. One could say that this was another method of advancing to the Violet Palace Domain.

The only difference was that, since he didn't need to substantialize his own soul, Tang Jie was able to save a lot of energy and focus entirely on creating the Violet Palace. This was much easier and safer than actually attempting to advance to the Violet Palace Realm—after all, if there were any problems, it would be Lin Xin who died.

Under Tang Jie's protection, Lin Xin's soul slowly emerged from her body. Floating in the air, she looked at herself in disbelief, and then she saw her floating body, saw the distant battlefield where humans and fiends battled, saw Tang Jie fighting with Aurora, and she saw another Tang Jie protecting her and pulling her.

At the other end was the giant body of the Azure Dragon.

Was that going to be her future home?

Lin Xin was dumbfounded.

Her soul flew higher and higher. Finally, her soul broke free of her body. Just when it was about to fly toward the dragon's corpse, a translucent dragon claw grabbed her ankle.

Lin Xin screamed.

But as a soul, she couldn't actually make a sound.

She desperately shook her leg, but she couldn't break free. Meanwhile, on the Azure Dragon birthmark, a claw was disappearing.

Forever!

The old dragon was putting everything on the line to get back his body, even using up his Divine Soul in an attempt to break the seal.

As Lin Xin's soul drifted in the air, that Violet Palace that protected her began to reach its limit.

Its structure began to crumble like an old building in the middle of an earthquake. In the end, Tang Jie was only at Soul Transformation, so a Violet Palace made from his Divine Soul couldn't last long.

The avatar threw up blood. He knew that if this continued and he consumed all of his Divine Soul, he would end up like Reverend Seer.

But he still didn't let go, gritting his teeth and pushing on.

The old dragon laughed and then snarled, "You're not leaving!"

Lin Xin soundlessly screamed in terror.

As the Violet Palace began to crumble, she felt a terrifying power beginning to threaten her.

Her soul was on the verge of disintegration.

But at this moment, the distant Mother Cloud combat puppet suddenly turned its head.

His eyes flashed red as he looked at Lin Xin, the Azure Dragon birthmark, and that translucent dragon claw.

Wherever his gaze went, a black vortex appeared, radiating death energy.

"Begone, soul!" he said.

The dragon claw turned into black smoke and was sucked into the vortex.

Lin Xin's soul was finally free, and it turned into a streak of light and flew toward the distant Azure Dragon corpse.

"NOOO!" the Azure Dragon roared in despair.

"Raaaa!" The roar of a dragon resounded through the world.