Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 398

Chapter 398: Return

Tang Jie’s words made Mu Yi’s face go stiff.

“Brother Tang, what do you mean?”

Tang Jie sighed. “Although the Seven Absolutions Sect has never known the value of this hidden realm, if it’s a hidden realm that can make supreme-rulerhead Palace go through so much trouble to search for it, its value can’t be low. With this heaven-sent opportunity before them, I can understand why the Seven Absolutions Sect would take a chance… Didn’t they start following us from the moment we left the academy?”

Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie in shock. After a while, he finally said, “My apologies. I must obey the orders of my sect.”

As he spoke, three figures appeared in the distance.

These three were all wearing green robes. One had his hair bound with a cloud-patterned band, possessed jade-like skin, and held a brush in one hand. Another had a braided beard and a large sword on his back. The last was an old man on a donkey, holding a large gourd in his hand.

These three were walking on the ground, but with their seemingly simple stride, it took only a few blinks of the eye for them to arrive in front of Tang Jie.

The handsome man holding the brush smiled at Tang Jie. “This one is Mei Huaping. I pay my respects to Young Master Tang.”

“So it is True Person Mei.” Tang Jie bowed to the brush-holding man before looking at the other two. “Since True Person Mei is here, these two must be Mad Sword Meng and Elder Qiu.”

The Seven Absolutions Sect’s structure was different from the Basking Moon Sect’s. It was divided into seven greater courts. The External Affairs Court handled external affairs, so its members were somewhat more well-known to the general public. Mei Huaping and company were some of the more famous people of the External Affairs Court.

Mei Huaping was the strongest, at the Spirit Ring Tier of the Celestial Heart Realm, and he was currently an attendant of the External Affairs Court. Mad Sword Meng and Elder Qiu were both at the peak of Mortal Shedding, and they were currently footmen of the External Affairs Court. Mad Sword Meng was the most famous of them. He was an expert in swords, a sword cultivator who took the sword as his Dao. His combat power was impressive, and there were few among his peers who could match him.

While these three didn’t sound as scary as the three True Persons from the Stone Gate Sect, if they had fought against Shi Jingzhai, Liang Xingbang, and Yu Wanniang, Tang Jie was almost certain that it would have been the three Stone Gate Sect elders who died.

People from the six major sects were always half a tier higher than those not from the six major sects.

It wasn’t rare for Hundred Refinement to go against Nine Revolutions, and Nine Revolutions to go against Cognitive Creation, but Cognitive Creation couldn’t beat Celestial Heart. However, two at Cognitive Creation could definitely beat an ordinary Celestial Heart cultivator from a minor sect.

For this reason, for the disciples of major sects, defeating a wandering cultivator one tier higher than them wasn’t called defeating someone above their level, but an even fight. Only if this were a fight between disciples of the six major sects could it be considered fighting above one’s level.

Thus, against a peak Spirit Master from the Seven Absolutions Sect, Tang Jie didn’t have much confidence in a victory.

But Tang Jie didn’t mind. He was actually more curious about something else. “The matter of the hidden realm is so important that I thought that the Seven Absolutions Sect would at least send a True Lord.”

Mad Sword Meng and Elder Qiu both scowled and angrily grunted.

It was hard to blame them for being angry. From Tang Jie’s tone, he apparently didn’t think they were strong enough.

Mei Huaping didn’t seem to mind, saying with a smile, “Considering the value of the hidden realm, sending the three of us truly is somewhat underestimating it. But everything must also be done with consideration for the enemy. If a True Lord were sent out for every small matter, then no matter how many True Lords there were, they would all be overworked.”

He spoke in a polite tone, but he was implying that Tang Jie was too weak to warrant a True Lord.

Tang Jie laughed. “I think you need to add a reason to that: if a True Lord came, then I’m afraid there would be no more room for negotiation between the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect.”

This was true. The Seven Absolutions Sect and Basking Moon Sect were not mortal foes. If a True Lord of the Seven Absolutions Sect ran over to the Basking Moon Sect’s territory to kill him, it might make the relationship unsalvageable. But for some reason, Mei Huaping felt an unpleasant sensation when he heard these words.

It was something very normal, but when Tang Jie said it, it sounded like Mei Huaping’s group were like abandoned pieces. It seemed like a True Lord wasn’t participating in such an important matter so that the three of them could be scapegoats in the future, making the situation easier to explain to the Basking Moon Sect.

This thought immediately made Mei Huaping unhappy. His face sinking, he said, “Such insolence from a child! Hand over the Mountain River State Diagram, and for your contributions to the sect, I’ll let you go.”

“‘Let me go’?” Tang Jie cocked his head and began to think. He suddenly laughed and said, “It’s not that you’re letting me go, but your honorable sect wants to let me go and won’t let you kill me, right? Let me take a guess. The person who sent you must have wanted you to say this to me before you attacked. Am I right?”

The faces of Mei Huaping’s group of three froze.

Tang Jie was exactly right. Mei Huaping’s words were something the Seven Absolutions Sect’s True Lords had personally told him to convey before sending them off, ordering him to say those words before attacking no matter what. But how had Tang Jie guessed it?

Tang Jie gave Mei Huaping a sympathetic look. “Have you ever properly thought about this? If you steal the Mountain River State Diagram from me, steal the hidden realm, if you don’t silence me, won’t other people find out that the hidden realm has fallen into the hands of the Seven Absolutions Sect?”

The three of them grimaced at these words.

In truth, it wasn’t like they hadn’t thought about this before. But they had just believed that their superiors were being kindhearted and did not want too many deaths. But now that Tang Jie had spoken, those words had taken on a completely different meaning.

Mad Sword Meng lost his patience. Pointing at Tang Jie, he roared, “Kid, what are you trying to say?”

Tang Jie casually replied. “It’s nothing. It’s just that your honored sect actually doesn’t have much confidence in you, so they made this shoddy excuse about letting me go if I handed over the treasure. In this way, if things didn’t go well, they would have a way out so that they could keep working with me.”

“Bullshit!” Mad Sword Meng was about to explode from anger.

Tang Jie dared to say that one True Person and two peak Spirit Masters couldn’t do anything to him.

Even Mei Huaping’s face flashed with anger.

Tang Jie pointed at the floating Mountain River State Diagram behind him and said, “What’s the point in being angry? I’m just guessing. Didn’t you want to go into the hidden realm? It’s right over there. If you think you can take it from me, then please, go ahead. Right, these are the materials for laying down the teleportation formation to go back.”

He threw out a Mustard Seed Bag and then backed away.

Mei Huaping’s group exchanged glances, not knowing what they should do.

Their mission was to take away the Mountain River State Diagram and seize the hidden realm, but they were not allowed to kill Tang Jie for fear of causing problems. Killing Tang Jie might be an error that they wouldn’t be able to recover from, and besides, Tang Jie was a recommended student, so killing him would enrage the Basking Moon Sect.

Thus, the three of them were prepared to have Meng and Qiu hold down Tang Jie while Mei Huaping left with the Mountain River State Diagram.

Having two peak Spirit Masters deal with a person who had just entered Nine Revolutions was already too much.

But Tang Jie’s reaction had taken them completely by surprise. He had no intention of stopping them at all.

As the three of them looked at each other, in the end, Mad Sword Meng said, “The hell are you scared of him for? Let me go first!”

He grabbed the Mustard Seed Bag, pulled out his giant sword, and took a flying leap into the air.

The world above continued its cycle of life as Mad Sword Meng roared and unleashed a beam of sharp sword energy from his sword. It penetrated through the waterfall and entered that dark cave leading to the hidden realm.

From this attack, one could see that he was a fierce and powerful cultivator, undoubtedly a battle-hardened fighter.

Just as Mad Sword Meng was about to charge into the cave, a hand grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back.

It was Mei Huaping.

Tang Jie hadn’t even noticed how he had appeared behind Mad Sword Meng. With a casual wave of his hand, he pulled Mad Sword Meng back, making Tang Jie’s eyes slightly widen.

This Mei Huaping was definitely stronger than the likes of Qiu Shuyu or Liang Xingbang. He was probably enough to deal with all three of the Stone Gate elders by himself.

After pulling back Mad Sword Meng, Mei Huaping said, “Don’t rush. Let’s take a look first.”

He made several hand signs and then fired a beam of light into the dark cave with his finger.

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As the light shot in, Mei Huaping’s eyes flashed with a silver light as he called out, “I paint what I see!”

He waved his brush, and an image of a valley appeared before everyone.

This person could see the world behind the teleportation formation and even use some strange method to paint it. This move made him an expert at reconnaissance and meant that he was not one who easily fell into a trap. It was no wonder the Seven Absolutions Sect had sent him.

After all, dealing with Tang Jie wasn’t a matter of martial strength, but of being careful of his schemes.

As the image of the valley appeared, Elder Qiu shouted, “Jade Return Grass… Yellow Cycle Fruit… Violet Sandalwood… Fate Stone… even Phoenix Grass! This teleportation formation really does lead to a hidden realm, a real hidden realm.”

Elder Qiu excitedly shouted as Mei Huaping’s projection of the valley continued to expand, more and more rare spirit plants appearing before them.

Elder Qiu, who was an expert in herb identification, was almost crazy from excitement, his voice getting louder and louder.

When the image expanded to those giant corpses, Elder Qiu’s voice became abnormally high-pitched. “supreme-ruler Giant Blood Fruit! There’s even supreme-ruler Giant Blood Fruit… Good heavens, to think there still existed something this rare.”

And when he saw the objects on the other side, Elder Qiu started trembling. “Whitefiend Lotus… real Whitefiend Lotuses… and there are fifteen of them!”

Greed appeared in his eyes as he roared, “Take it! We have to take this hidden realm!”

Even Mu Yi was tempted, muttering, “Fifteen of them… Doesn’t that mean that this is a ten-thousand-year-old hidden realm? It must have been established in High Antiquity. It’s no wonder supreme-rulerhead Palace is so anxious to get it.”

He suddenly looked at Tang Jie and saw that Tang Jie remained calm. He cried out, “Be careful of any traps!”

He understood Tang Jie, and since Tang Jie was so composed, he probably had some sort of plan up his sleeve.

The supreme light faded from Mei Huaping’s eyes, and he said, “I’ve seen the hidden realm, and there are no traps. Mad Sword, Elder Qiu, inspect the formation in the diagram.”

The three of them began to inspect the entire formation.

They were acting very cautiously, but Tang Jie didn’t seem to care, only stepping back and standing next to Mu Yi. Seemingly muttering to himself, he said, “The Seven Absolutions Sect sent them, but they didn’t go to extremes so that they still had a way to back out. I’m the same. Brother Mu, although you deceived me, I don’t blame you. When one is out in the world, one sometimes can’t do whatever they want. I can understand that. But remember that you owe me, and you will have to pay it back in the future.”

Mu Yi’s face twitched, and he nodded. “I understand.”

Tang Jie continued, “Since you understand, you should hurry up and leave this place.”

“‘Leave this place’?” Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie in surprise.

“Yes,” Tang Jie firmly replied. “A battle is about to begin, and it’s not proper for you to stay here. Although the three from the Seven Absolutions Sect don’t have plans to kill me, I have to kill them… They’re seeing what they shouldn’t see, so they must die.”

Mu Yi blurted out, “I’ve also seen the hidden realm.”

“It’s not the hidden realm.” Tang Jie mysteriously smiled. “It’s the way they’re going to die.”

Mu Yi’s pupils widened.

It turned out that what Tang Jie wanted to keep secret wasn’t the hidden realm, but the way he was going to kill them?

Looking at Tang Jie, Mu Yi finally withdrew.

He chose to trust Tang Jie.

Staying here meant certain death!

Watching Mu Yi withdraw, Tang Jie shouted, “When you get back, tell the Seven Absolutions Sect that as a penalty for breaking their promise, I won’t be giving them that thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus.”

Mu Yi stumbled so hard that he almost fell.

On the other end, the three were still inspecting the formation, but they had not found any problems so far.

But Tang Jie remained completely composed, as if the words “I have a plan” were written on his face, so they had to be cautious.

However, they couldn’t find anything no matter how hard they looked. Mad Sword Meng finally lost his patience and shouted, “We won’t find anything even if we keep searching. There aren’t any traps here. That kid is probably just trying to scare us so that we give up on the Mountain River State Diagram and don’t dare to enter the hidden realm.”

Elder Qiu nodded. “It also seems to me like false bravado. I don’t believe that he has the ability to hide any sort of trap from us.”

Tang Jie suddenly said, “There’s no guarantee that there’s a trap. What if it’s some powerful being? There could be a powerful fiend, one at Divine Division, on the other side that will kill anyone who dares to enter the valley. Perhaps that’s exactly why I’m just waiting here for you to go inside.”

“‘Divine Division’? Isn’t that comparable to Violet Palace?” This sounded like a joke to the trio, and they scoffed at Tang Jie.

Elder Qiu said, “Ignorant junior, do you know how rare Divine Division fiends are? These beings possess prodigious strength, and treat the horizon as their next-door neighbor. How could they be willing to guard only a single valley? Its true body might be many times bigger than this valley. If there were really a Divine Division fiend guarding this place, then even a Violet Palace True Lord wouldn’t be able to take these treasures. And when a battle starts, the entire valley would be obliterated!”

Mad Sword Meng laughed. “That said, you’ve never even been to that valley, so how could you know what was inside?”

Tang Jie shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it. You can just go inside, but don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Elder Qiu sinisterly laughed. “If that’s the case, let this old man go in and test the waters first!”

He took the Mustard Seed Bag holding the materials for the return formation from Mad Sword Meng and entered the teleportation formation.

Mei Huaping slightly frowned. For something like this, a True Person like him should have led the way. But the confident smile on Tang Jie’s face made his heart pulse with fear. It was as if there was something horrifying within the valley that made entering suicide.

This was precisely why he chose to let Elder Qiu go in instead of stopping him.

Elder Qiu entered the cave and disappeared.

And in Mei Huaping’s projection of the valley, Elder Qiu appeared.

He first looked around at the valley, and then he cried out in delight. Alas, Mei Huaping’s projection couldn’t transmit sound.

But he could see that Elder Qiu was extremely excited. Only when one was in the valley would one discover that there was far more in here than could be seen from the outside.

Elder Qiu walked amid the numerous Immortal plants, looking them over. Seeing this, Mad Sword Meng laughed and said, “How’s that? Kid, your false bravado was useless. This hidden realm belongs to my Seven Absolutions Sect!”

As Mad Sword Meng laughed, the scene in the valley suddenly changed.

An enormous firebird appeared in the sky, angrily glaring at the unwelcome intruder below.

“That’s…” Mei Huaping was taken aback, and then he called out in alarm, “Not good! Elder Qiu, hurry and run!”

But his shouts from here could not be heard by Elder Qiu, and even if he had heard, where was he going to run?

A cloud of fire gathered in the sky, turning into a rain of fire arrows.

Elder Qiu finally noticed that something was wrong. Looking up, he saw the fire arrows raining down.

He cried out in terror.

The fire arrows callously pierced through his body, instantly exploding him into little bits.

“Elder Qiu!” Mei Huaping and Mad Sword Meng cried out in grief.

The firebird drew back its flame, but then it seemed to sense something and looked back.

This glance pierced through time and space to meet Mei Huaping’s gaze.

Mei Huaping felt as if something had stabbed him in the eyes.

“Aaaagh!” He cried out in pain as he flew back.

The image popped like a bubble, taking the valley with it. All that was left was Mei Huaping, blood streaming from his eyes.

This Celestial Heart True Person covered his eyes as he cried out, “Divine Division! It’s really Divine Division!”

Its thoughts could pierce through dimensions!

Only a Divine Division fiend could do this.

Even He Chong hadn’t been sure about this firebird’s power, but through a bitter price, Mei Huaping had finally confirmed it.

“True Person!” Mad Sword Meng rushed to assist Mei Huaping. “Your eyes!”

“I can’t see.” Mei Huaping opened his hands, revealing that his eyes were a fiery red, as if a flame was burning within them. Blood seeped down his cheeks, dyeing his entire face red.

Mad Sword Meng’s heart trembled in fear. A distant gaze across dimensions had been this powerful? He had never even heard of Violet Palace True Lords being capable of this.

But Mei Huaping added, “This is the Southern Divine Fire, and it burns away at one’s mind. Fortunately, the distance was so great that the fiend wasn’t able to use its full power, so I can still heal it. But I’m afraid that I won’t be able to use my Nether Curtain Dream anymore.”

The Nether Curtain Dream was the surveillance spell art that Mei Huaping had used before, and it was Mei Huaping’s special secret art. It had an effect similar to Tang Jie’s Celestial Eye. However, while he had managed to fortunately keep his eyes, the Southern Divine Fire had made it impossible to use that secret art any longer, which left him brimming with resentment.

Opening his burning eyes, he angrily glared at the nearby Tang Jie, whose figure flickered like a flame. “Kid, how did you find out about this Divine Division fiend? There’s no way you could have gone in there first!”

The greatest error Mei Huaping’s group had made was that they believed that Tang Jie was like them and had not entered the hidden realm, only knowing where it was. But now, they knew that they were mistaken.

Gravely mistaken!

Tang Jie casually said, “This is very simple. You’ll find out when you die.”

“‘Die’?” Mei Huaping and Mad Sword Meng looked at each other and laughed.

Mei Huaping’s expression turned ruthless, his handsome face turning savage. “You think that the fiend in the hidden realm can help you here? So long as we kill you, we can take the Mountain River State Diagram back with us, and gather the Immortal Platform and Violet Palace cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect. You think they can’t deal with a single Divine Division fiend?”

Tang Jie sighed. “I alone am naturally not enough, but what if we include him?”

Close by, Yiyi appeared, riding Shi Jingzhai.

Mad Sword Meng was startled when he saw Shi Jingzhai, and then he laughed. “Tang Jie, you don’t think some insane Celestial Heart is actually enough to beat us, do you? I could take him on all by myself!”

Tang Jie shook his head. “You’re looking in the wrong direction. I’m not talking about him.”

He pointed at the sky.

In the sky, the teleportation formation cave suddenly erupted with light.

It was a sign that it was being activated.

Mad Sword Meng’s pupils constricted. “That’s impossible!”

Tang Jie had clearly set up a one-way teleportation formation, which pointed toward a fixed coordinate and could not be taken back. This was why one had to take in the materials for another teleportation formation, so that they could link it to this teleportation formation and allow for back-and-forth travel.

But that Mustard Seed Bag had been turned to ash along with Elder Qiu. How could there be another formation on the other side to create the link?

What they didn’t know was that that Mustard Seed Bag hadn’t even contained materials for a teleportation formation.

The real materials for the teleportation formation had been sent through the formation by Tang Jie before the trio had appeared—the pebble that Tang Jie had thrown in.

With the power of the Duplication spell, Tang Jie had successfully fooled the three of them.

He had spent so long chatting with them so that his original body would have time to set up the formation. By the time Elder Qiu had entered the valley with the fake materials, his original body had already finished the teleportation formation and was waiting to teleport over. 6444

But there were some things that the trio was never going to know.

“The dead only need to see the result,” Tang Jie callously said.

A beam of light shot out of the teleportation formation, and a giant flew out and landed on the ground in a shower of debris!

“Raaa!”

A roar resounded through the area.

The original Tang Jie had returned!