Aspiring to the Immortal Path

"Tang Jie, you liar!" Mei Huaping screamed in alarm.

"Don't panic, don't panic. It's just some countermeasures in case you try anything. Better safe than sorry, you know?" Tang Jie casually replied. As he spoke, those chains gradually disappeared into Mei Huaping's body. But Mei Huaping knew that this sliver of Divine Will not only had taken up residence in his body, but it also now controlled his life. Even if Tang Jie could no longer pay any attention to him once he was in the Nether Domain, the Divine Will could still easily kill him.

Mei Huaping sighed. "Can't you just trust me a little? After all, I also want to reincarnate."

"Only with caution can one steer a boat for ten thousand years. Moreover, reincarnating and wanting to kill aren't two contradictory things," Tang Jie answered.

Helpless, Mei Huaping could only say, "Well, you have my life in your hands, so you can do whatever you want. Send me off to the Nether Domain, then."

"No rush," Tang Jie chuckled. "Let me ask you: how do you plan to get to the Nether Domain?"

Mei Huaping froze for a moment, and then he replied, "Naturally I'll follow the Yellow Springs down, cross the Bridge of Helplessness, and then enter the Abyss of Reincarnation."

Tang Jie smiled. "If it was that simple, why would I need you?"

Mei Huaping looked in confusion at Tang Jie, who explained, "The Nether Domain is the opposing plane to Life, and it has its own system with its own profound mysteries. Within this domain, one can comprehend Life and Death, Yin and Yang, recall the past and give form to the future. All Twelve Great Daos and the three thousand minor Daos can be found within, but they manifest themselves in different forms, making for infinite Dao Wills and secrets to discover. If you don't properly experience it and gain some understanding of the Nether Domain while you're there, wouldn't it be a waste of my efforts?"

Mei Huaping was aghast. "I'm just a puny wandering soul. What right do I have to wander the Nether Domain and learn its secrets? I probably wouldn't get far before another ghost ate me up."

Tang Jie replied with scorn, "You were once a member of the middle echelons of the Seven Absolutions Sect, you know, so why is it that you don't have even the slightest shred of courage? You have to understand that a successful wandering will also be a big benefit to you. As for the dangers of the Nether Domain, you know what those are without me needing to explain them. But why do you think I chose you? You are a special wandering soul, innately different from the others, and I've also refined the Soul Refining Pearl into your body. From now on, you are like a Hunter Ghost and can devour other ghosts to grow stronger. Moreover, you don't have their limitations and can devour with no limit."

Mei Huaping was ecstatic, not expecting to have received such an enormous boon.

But he quickly realized that something was off. "It sounds very nice, but is there some disadvantage? Otherwise, why didn't you let your Hunter Ghost have it?"

Tang Jie chuckled. "Quite sharp. Indeed, in the end, you're devouring other ghosts, so it will definitely have some effect on you. But I'm not sure how exactly it will affect you. After all, this has never happened before, so I'm experimenting with you. If you're worried about your safety, you can just not devour anything, and if you feel like something isn't right, you can stop at any time."

After some thought, Mei Huaping agreed. No matter what side effect the Soul Refining Pearl had, he had the right to choose what he devoured.

He nodded and said, "If that's the case, I agree."

"Then let's make an agreement. I want you to wander the Nether Domain for one hundred years, after which you can reincarnate."

"'One hundred years'…" Mei Huaping thought it over. While one hundred years wasn't short, to a cultivator, it also wasn't too long. Given that his life was in the hands of another, he could only agree. Secretly, he thought to himself that he might be able to glimpse some secrets of Reincarnation in these one hundred years that could let him preserve his memories in his new life. If that was the case, he would definitely get his revenge on Tang Jie one day.

While he knew that even if he were reborn with his past memories, it was basically impossible to catch up to Tang Jie, a person needed hope. It was this thought that would motivate him to push through any kind of difficulty and pain in the future.

Tang Jie smiled. "Great! Little Three, send him on his way."

The transparent form of Little Three emerged, grabbing Mei Huaping's soul and tossing him into the air, casting him through the spatial barrier and into the Nether Domain.

The little ghost's control over space was growing stronger and stronger.

Once this was done, Tang Jie set off a part of his mind to observe the situation in the Nether Domain while the majority of his mind began to settle down into meditation.

He was done with the Dao of Life, so it was time to ponder what to do with the Dao of Fate.

Temporarily lacking a proper plan, he had no desire to form a Dao Art right now, so he decided to exit his seclusion.

The people outside were going crazy by this point.

Tang Jie had ascended to Immortality within the Mountain River State Diagram, but Yun Tianlan had already told everyone that Tang Jie had made the charge at Immortal Platform, and from the looks of it, he had most likely succeeded. Thus, they had been waiting outside the Freedom Palace for some time.

But Tang Jie wasn't coming out, and nobody dared to go in.

Other than Yun Tianlan and Sect Master Ling Xiao, who had enough status to wait within the palace, Xiao Biehan and everyone else stood waiting outside.

The Basking Moon Sect didn't determine its seniority based on cultivation, and one's master would always be one's master. But cultivation was not entirely meaningless. When a junior's cultivation exceeded their senior's, they could be considered a peer of their senior. Thus, Ling Xiao could still maintain his status as master and remained seated in the Hall of Divine Conference while Xiao Biehan had to personally go and welcome the most outstanding disciple of their sect.

As Tang Jie finally emerged, the crowd saw his transcendent appearance and immediately understood. Bringing their hands together and bowing, they called out, "Congratulations, Freedom Immortal Sovereign, on advancing another step and attaining Immortal Platform, becoming undying and everlasting!"

The more junior disciples even dropped to their knees and prostrated.

Bells and gongs rang out through the Zephyr Mountains, the power suffusing their melodies causing the clouds to churn and cranes to take flight.

A moon rose up over the clouds, radiating a gentle light.

"The Lunar Wheel! It's the Lunar Wheel!" someone within the Basking Moon Sect shouted in glee.

The Lunar Wheel was a natural Dao armament of the Basking Moon Sect, and also its most useless. This was because its only function was to allow the user to transmit their Divine Will to any place within the entire domain. But while it could make the Divine Will travel far, it didn't amplify its power in any way. Thus, while a spell art had unlimited range, there was no guarantee that it would land, so all it did was waste the user's Divine Will.

The last two times the Basking Moon Sect had used the Lunar Wheel were to announce when Yun Tianlan had reached Earth Immortal and then True Immortal.

For cultivators, only this level of news was worth using the Lunar Wheel.

This time, the Lunar Wheel's appearance finally had nothing to do with Yun Tianlan.

Through the Lunar Wheel, a booming voice was transmitted to every corner of the Rosecloud Domain: "Freedom Celestial Sovereign of the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie, successfully ascended to Immortality today. From now on, he will live as long as the heavens, undying and everlasting! Let all the world know of this fact!"

As that voice spoke, everyone in the Rosecloud Domain from emperors to peasants prostrated, and then they raised their heads and cheered.

At the same time, a powerful Divine Will spread to every part of the Rosecloud Domain.

This was Tang Jie's Divine Will, borrowing the Lunar Wheel to view this land from an even higher perspective, taking it all in with a single glance.

He saw the windswept deserts of the north, a caravan enduring a sandstorm. With a single thought, the sandstorm vanished, and that caravan was able to survive. They felt a powerful will sweep over them, and recalling what they had heard just now, they knew that an Immortal had saved them and immediately fell to their knees.

He saw storms raging on the southern oceans, and with a single thought, he calmed the waves. The fishermen caught up in the waves immediately exalted their savior.

He saw the Gargantua Plain in the east, gripped by drought, the farmers begging for rain while the disciples of sects did nothing. With a thought, rains descended over the parched earth while the disciples in charge of the area were instantly marked by his Divine Will and warned, causing them to turn ghastly pale.

He looked to the mountains of the west. There, in the Spirit Mountains of Nadir Hill, a massive stone heart was beating. It was no wonder the Great Mountain had a mind. It turned out it had naturally attained the Dao and formed a stone embryo within the mountains, allowing it to control the mountain range. Tang Jie was an acquaintance of that stone embryo, and through the power of the Lunar Wheel and his Celestial Eye, he had finally been able to find out the truth. He smiled and said, "There is destiny between us, so why not come with me?"

The stone embryo had existed for ten thousand years and had absorbed the essence of the Myriad Court fragment, becoming so powerful that even a True Lord couldn't subdue it, so it was unwilling to submit to Tang Jie. Tang Jie simply smiled and said, "You truly are a stubborn rock. I am granting you this blessed opportunity, but you refuse to take it. Don't think that I can't do anything to you if you stay hiding in those mountains. You must realize that there are many things that I am simply unwilling to do, not unable to. Ah, forget it; just watch closely."

Tang Jie expanded his Divine Will, and an object emerged from his Sea of Cognition.

It was the Genesis Stone Slab, shining light in all directions.

The intelligent stone embryo felt its power and began to resonate with it, floating out of the Spirit Mountains.

The Genesis Stone Slab could invoke the miracle of creation on all things. While the stone embryo possessed immense power and innately attained the Dao, it was too fixed in place. To have arts without the Dao was to have wealth with no authority. To have Dao without arts was like having authority and no wealth, and this described the stone embryo's position. The Genesis Stone Slab could provide such "wealth".

Thus, the stone embryo flew toward Tang Jie.

But the moment it emerged from the mountains, a giant hand broke through the clouds and reached for it.

Tang Jie's eyes flew open. "Audacious!"

His Divine Will immediately conjured the clouds into a hand to stop it.

But his opponent was quite formidable, shattering the hand that Tang Jie had created through his Divine Will. Tang Jie was briefly startled, and then he said in realization, "So it was you!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The meddler was none other than the Earth Immortal Ancestor of Godhead Palace, Ye Yun.

He was the only one capable of shattering Tang Jie's Divine Will hand.

In terms of strength, even though Tang Jie had just reached Earth Immortal, he wasn't afraid of Ye Yun. However, he was transmitting his strength over a vast distance through the Lunar Wheel, so he was in no shape to fight with Ye Yun. Even if Nearby Horizon could let him travel as far as he could see, until he advanced further in this Space Dao Art, he couldn't teleport using the Lunar Wheel as his foundation.

As Ye Yun reached for the stone embryo, Tang Jie snorted, "Ye Yun, you dare steal from me? Are you trying to give my Basking Moon Sect an excuse to exterminate your Godhead Palace?"

The hand trembled and reluctantly withdrew.

A voice resounded, "This Ye Yun was ignorant and offended Immortal Tang. Please forgive me."

"Deliver to my sect ten divine treasures, one hundred ultimate-grade art relics, one hundred thousand spirit jades, and ten geniuses of eight-cycle or above as hostages. Only then will you be pardoned."

As Tang Jie spoke, the stone embryo entered his Sea of Cognition.

Because of the Lunar Wheel, this exchange was seen by all of the world.

Thus, everyone knew that with Tang Jie's ascension, the Basking Moon Sect was strong enough to totally suppress the other sects.

As all cultivators were making their way to the Basking Moon Sect to pay their respects, in the Zephyr Mountains, all the cultivators prostrated, calls of "Immortal Sovereign" resounding through the heavens, and this time, there was weight to the word "Immortal".

Casting his gaze across the world, Tang Jie announced, "Three months from now, the Violet Palace Sublimation Ceremony will be held at the summit of the Zephyr Mountains, and all who attend will be able to ascend to the Great Dao."