Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-760

Upon leaving the Wei Clan estate, Tang Jie mounted Tutu and set off for Duskland, to settle the agreement he had made all those years ago with the Seven Absolutions Sect.

When he had made that agreement, he hadn't even graduated from Basking Moon Academy yet, was just a puny Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Master. This was exactly why he had been resistant to the idea of going to the Seven Absolutions Sect back then, as he simply didn't have the right to negotiate there.

But now, he was a Soul Transformation expert, so even if the Seven Absolutions Sect was a dragon's den, he still dared to charge in.

The Seven Absolutions Sect probably hadn't imagined that Tang Jie would need only a hundred-some years to grow so powerful.

Half a day later, Tang Jie entered Duskland.

He was in no rush, seeing the sights and appreciating the mountain vistas of Duskland.

After around two days of flying, he arrived at a lush mountain flowing with clear waters.

This area was known as Jade Spring Mountain.

Tang Jie knew that this was the place he was looking for, and he had Tutu fly toward the summit.

As they approached the summit, a formation stopped them from landing, so Tang Jie immediately came forward and punched it.

With his understanding of formations, he was able to punch directly at the formation's weak point, and his berserk power blasted the formation apart.

This was tantamount to kicking a beehive, and alarms began to blare across Jade Spring Mountain, all of its cultivators flying into the air.

These disciples immediately assembled into a massive sword formation, with ten-some cultivators forming up into a vanguard. Their movements showed that they were well-trained and disciplined.

Tang Jie was in no rush, putting his hands behind his back and waiting for them to complete their formation.

He could see clearly that the Jade Spring Sect had three Soul Transformation, seven Heart Demon, and eighteen Spirit Ring True Persons.

In addition, they had three-hundred-some disciples at the Mortal Shedding Realm. While they weren't strong individually, the formation combined their powers and allowed them to exert an extraordinary might.

Tang Jie had long known that the Seven Absolutions Sect was the major sect most skilled in the auxiliary fields, and the sects under them had similarly advanced deeply into this field, which could be seen from how a minor sect had been able to assemble a rather impressive combination formation.

Tang Jie unhurriedly said, "Are you all ready now? If you're ready, I will now attack."

These words enraged the cultivators, but just when they were about to attack, their leader shouted, "Stop!" He bowed to Tang Jie and said, "This one is Yong Ziyu, who has been granted the honor of being the master of the Jade Spring Sect. Sir, who are you to attack my sect? Is there some misunderstanding between us?"

Tang Jie coolly said, "Your Jade Spring Sect goes around robbing and killing without care, leaving both the heavens above and the people below enraged. Do you not understand how many enemies you've made? Is there any need to act so innocent?"

As expected, everyone was calm and unsurprised.

Yong Ziyu chuckled. "As expected. So that means that this fellow Daoist is not a native of Duskland."

Tang Jie shook his head. "I am not."

Yong Ziyu immediately relaxed, and a hint of murderous intent appeared on his polite demeanor. "Since you're not, why are you acting so arrogantly in Duskland? Do you not know that this area is under the jurisdiction of the Seven Absolutions Sect? No matter which sect you come from, once you're in Duskland, you are under the domain of the Seven Absolutions Sect! To dare attack a sect protected by the Seven Absolutions Sect, this is a provocation, no different from seeking death!"

Through his constant mentioning of the Seven Absolutions Sect, it was clear that he wasn't able to estimate how powerful Tang Jie was, so he was trying to scare him off. The Jade Spring Sect had committed many crimes and offended many sects in the last few years, such that he didn't even bother asking which robbery had offended this person.

In truth, this sect master knew that this business would go bad eventually.

Alas, raiding was like an addiction, and once one started, it was hard to stop. The three-hundred-some people under him were all asking for resources, the invited retainers had their own expenses, and even the protective umbrella over them cost bribes to keep up. If they stopped now, the internal conflicts would tear apart the sect before the external enemies would even have time to take revenge, so he could only stubbornly push on. He hoped that this troublemaker would be just like the others, some brat who didn't know how high the heavens or how thick the earth were.

Tang Jie was very amused. "Once I've exterminated you lot, I will go to the Seven Absolutions Sect to accept my punishment."

Yong Ziyu immediately knew that this matter wasn't going to end peacefully, so he hardened his heart and waved his hand. "Kill him!"

One of his subordinates burned a message talisman. This was a signal to his local contact at the Seven Absolutions Sect. Once the talisman was burned, the Seven Absolutions Sect would send reinforcements. While the reinforcements from the local branch might not actually be stronger than what the Jade Spring Sect could offer, their status and identity were more intimidating. Perhaps this man wouldn't be scared off by the name of the Seven Absolutions Sect, but what about the Seven Absolutions Sect itself?

The three-hundred-some disciples attacked.

Tang Jie didn't even glance at them. "Yiyi, I leave them to you."

"Okay!" Yiyi shouted, releasing the Mother Cloud combat puppet and sowing bean soldiers.

Tang Jie could fight an Infant Tending expert on his own, so he gave these two trump cards to Yiyi, granting her a terrifying combat power.

The three-hundred-some disciples were scattered apart by the combat puppet before they could get close, and the bean soldiers rushed into the gaps in their formation and commenced a slaughter.

The cultivators were all shocked, for they had never fought such things before.

The combat puppet continued to wreak havoc in the formation, and the now-isolated Mortal Shedding cultivators were assailed by the bean soldiers and slain.

Yong Ziyu shouted, "Audacious bastard, destroying my sect's foundations! Everyone, join me in killing this fool!" Not caring for his dignity, he called on all his subordinates to attack together.

Three Soul Transformation, seven Heart Demon, and eighteen Spirit Ring True Persons charged in—a force that could even battle against an Infant Tending expert. As they pulled out various art relics, the skies erupted with colored lights. Winds howled, clouds churned, lightning flashed, and all sorts of animals appeared, all of them brimming with murderous intent.

But this murderous intent seemed insignificant in Tang Jie's eyes. He coldly examined all these phenomena and muttered, "Perfect to test my blade."

He produced the Sovereign Blade and pointed it at an art relic.

It was a simple thrust, but it contained all the essence of Tang Jie's cultivation in the Dao of the Sword. As the tip of the blade touched the art relic, there was a crack, and the art relic shattered.

"My Primal Origin Bell!" a cultivator wailed.

He had spent fifty-some years gathering materials to forge this bell. It was a powerful art relic with numerous uses, but before he had been able to fully use its power, Tang Jie had shattered it.

As the bell shattered, a golden light emerged from it and fused with the Sovereign Blade, but it was such a tiny detail that nobody noticed it.

As expected, Tang Jie thought to himself.

While thrusting out the Sovereign Blade, he had used the Weapon Mantra, combining the two for the first time. He hadn't been able to do this before. It was only after absorbing all of that primordial Metal energy in the Five Elements formation that he was barely capable of using it.

When he used the Sovereign Blade with the Weapon Mantra, he sensed that shattering weapons did not take as much energy as when he used the Weapon Mantra on his own.

At that moment, Tang Jie had broken through the limitation of the Weapon Mantra, and at the same time, the Sovereign Blade could finally display its full power.

As that cultivator wailed over the loss of his bell, the Sovereign Blade swung out toward more art relics.

Sword light danced in the heavens, and all of these treasures shattered, golden grains flying out of the remains and into the Sovereign Blade.

In the blink of an eye, the cultivators had been deprived of all their art relics.

Art relics and the like were extremely important to cultivators. An ultimate-grade art relic could boost a cultivator's power by 50% or more, and a cultivator with various kinds of art relics could practically double their power.

The loss of these art relics greatly weakened the cultivators, and they were wailing so much that it was almost like the sword had shattered their hearts rather than their treasures.

Alas, Tang Jie couldn't simulate the attacks of these art relics, so he simply swung his blade.

The cultivators reacted quickly, using various methods to retreat, but one Spirit Ring True Person failed to react in time and was chopped in half. Tang Jie then used the Chaoswind Step to blink into the enemy force, where his Sovereign Blade began to cut through them like he was chopping vegetables. Ending a life with each swing of his blade was a refreshing experience for him and a terrifying experience for his enemies.

They had never encountered such a terrifying cultivator. He used no spell arts or art relics, only a single sword, yet he had shattered all their art relics and was slaughtering them like they were chickens. Any person he targeted was essentially dead.

They had no idea that Tang Jie was sighing, "Alas, my sword skills are still rather lacking." Unfortunately, he had yet to master the Longevity Sword. As a Divine Connection, it could only be used when Tang Jie was at Violet Palace, so he was using only ordinary saber and sword techniques. If he had been able to use the Longevity Sword, his enemies wouldn't have even had time to howl, and a single strike would have reaped all their lives.

Yong Ziyu knew that he was in trouble. Just when he was thinking about escaping, he saw several people wearing the uniform of the Seven Absolutions Sect approaching, led by his old friend Xiang Liang.

Xiang Liang shouldn't have been able to get here so quickly, but he happened to be nearby when Yong Ziyu sent the emergency signal, so he had immediately headed over.

Yong Ziyu immediately yelled out in delight, "True Person Xiang, save us!"

Xiang Liang was only a Heart Demon cultivator and was much weaker than Yong Ziyu, but he had a much bigger backer.

Upon hearing Yong Ziyu's cry for help, Xiang Liang bellowed, "Who dares to attack a sect under the protection of my Seven Absolutions Sect?"

He was no fool, so he immediately stopped after letting out this shout, knowing that simply revealing his identity was enough. If revealing his identity didn't stop this person, then heading in would just be sending himself to his death—wasn't the entire Jade Spring Sect already being butchered?

The sight of all that blood drenching the landscape already had Xiang Liang inwardly shivering in fear.

This was clearly some death god. If he had known that it was this bad, he wouldn't have come over so quickly. All he could hope now was that his identity token from the Seven Absolutions Sect would be enough to intimidate this man.

But he was disappointed.

Rather than stopping, Tang Jie laughed and said, "In other words, you're their protective umbrella? That's good! I might as well do a little house cleaning for the Seven Absolutions Sect while I'm at it."

A sword light swept toward Xiang Liang.

Nobody would escape!