Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 528

Chapter 528: Greed

After leaving the garden, Tang Jie found himself in front of a complex of buildings.

This was where the royal court proper was located. The painted pillars had been weathered and dulled by time, but he could still see their former resplendence and grandeur.

Tang Jie made his way down a stone corridor, arriving in front of an artificial mountain.

Just as he was about to keep going, he saw someone standing nearby: Li Song.

He stood there with furrowed brows, so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice Tang Jie coming. In the end, it was a call from Tang Jie that woke him from his stupor. Seeing Tang Jie, he said, “So it’s Little Brother Qian! Did you just manage to break free of that garden illusion zone?”

“Exactly. I didn’t see anyone else. Senior Li, is it just you?” Tang Jie asked.

Li Song shook his head. “We’ve all been split up. While this place doesn’t look big on the outside, there’s a whole world on the inside. Let alone our group, it could hold a hundred times our number. But that’s good. As a part of the Court of Myriad Domains, it must have many treasures inside. We are the first to arrive, so we can get some treasures before the rest. The early bird gets the worm, as they say.”

Tang Jie smiled. “Senior is right. But if that’s the case, why is Senior just standing here?”

“Heh, can’t you see that I’m thinking of a plan?” Li Song pointed at a small building in front of them. “Look at that little building there.”

Tang Jie looked at where Li Song was pointing and saw a little building of white jade standing apart from the rest of the buildings. It seemed very simple, yet there was a special aura about it.

Earlier, he had been rushing toward the large hall in the back of the complex, but now that he saw this small building, he found it very unusual.

Tang Jie said in understanding, “There’s something special about that building.”

“You finally see it,” Li Song chuckled. “Since we want to take treasure, we naturally need to get the best and most important. Another person would probably head toward that big hall in the center, but I think that if there was treasure in this place, it might not be in that central hall.”

“Oh? If Senior is so certain, why have you not gone to take the treasure?”

Li Song helplessly said, “You think I haven’t tried? I attempted to enter just now, but though this place has been abandoned, the various buildings still have seals applied to them. Not only that, some of the heroic spirits of the Myriad Court’s warriors lingered after death, becoming Spirit Ghosts that have continued to protect this place. Can’t you see that I’m trying to think of a solution right now?”

“‘Spirit Ghosts’?” Tang Jie was startled by this news.

Spirit Ghosts were also a kind of ghost, but they were much more powerful than ordinary ghosts. These were ghosts that had managed to retain the majority of their strength through a sliver of obsession.

This fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains was home to demonic energy, Yin energy, and death energy, so it was possible for anything to pop up here: demons, ghosts, and even Spirit Ghosts.

Given that Spirit Ghosts were around, it was no wonder Li Song hadn’t been able to make any progress.

“How many?” Tang Jie asked.

Li Song raised two fingers. “Two in total, so it’s not impossible to deal with. But the seal on the white jade building is still present, and it will take some effort to remove it. Those Spirit Ghosts are extremely difficult to kill, so undoing the seal while dealing with their interference isn’t easy.”

Tang Jie said, “If that’s the case, then it’s easy. If Senior does not mind, Yingchen is willing to take on this building together with Senior. If there is something inside, Senior will take 70% while this one will take 30%. What do you think?”

Li Song was a Heart Demon True Person while Qian Yingchen was a Spirit Ring True Person, so for Tang Jie to be willing to take only 30% made sense. After thinking it over, Li Song ultimately nodded. “That would be great.”

He needed someone’s help so that he could break the seal, and Tang Jie had come at the perfect time.

Spirit Ghosts were difficult to kill, so to avoid wasting time, the two of them decided on a plan. Tang Jie would hold down the two Spirit Ghosts in front of the doors to the white jade building while Li Song would break the seal.

So that no one else might butt in, the two immediately rushed to the building to execute their plan.

These buildings seemed simple, but they were actually arranged in accordance with the principles of the world, vaguely pulsing with the power of a formation. It was only the damage and lack of maintenance that allowed Tang Jie and Li Song to push through and reach the small building.

Sure enough, two golden-armored warriors stood in front of the building.

Unlike the Shamblers in the garden, these golden warriors seemed like living people but for their slightly blue faces, which were proof that they had actually died many years ago. But they still had souls, which made them Spirit Ghosts and not ordinary ghosts.

They stood in front of the building like statues, but when the pair approached, they suddenly opened their eyes, which gleamed with intelligence.

Upon seeing Li Song, they shouted in unison and thrust their spears at him.

Li Song hastily retreated. “Young Friend Qian, I’ll leave this side to you.”

Tang Jie grunted and charged forward, thrusting his palms out and unleashing two energy palms at the ghosts while he himself ran off in another direction. He didn’t dare to show his attacks in front of Li Song for fear of exposing his strength, so he drew the ghosts to the other side. Fortunately, they had already agreed that he only needed to stall the ghosts for a time, so this method didn’t draw Li Song’s suspicion.

Once the two Spirit Ghosts were drawn a sufficient distance away, Tang Jie stopped and looked back at the golden warriors. Smiling, he said, “Hey, the two of you, there’s no need to chase me so stubbornly. Didn’t the ghosts of the garden warn you not to mess with me?”

The golden warriors ignored him and thrust their spears at him.

Tang Jie was forced to dodge.

Unlike the other ghosts, these two didn’t fear the Soul Refining Pearl. Their souls could not be absorbed, nor could their bodies be possessed, so he could only use force.

Thus, Tang Jie pulled out the golden saber and swung at one of the golden warriors.

But to his surprise, when the golden warrior saw the saber, it retreated and evaded the saber.

Tang Jie was shocked, and he saw the two golden warriors fall back, their eyes fixed on the golden saber. They pointed their spears at Tang Jie, and white spear beams extended from them.

The spear beams were like snake tongues, constantly extending and retracting.

Tang Jie was again startled.

Over the years, Tang Jie had gradually come to understand that while the golden saber was sharp, it still had many flaws.

In the past, its biggest problem was its lack of killing power.

After shattering soul weapons, he had finally resolved this problem. But besides that, there were still some ways of dealing with the golden saber, like higher-grade supreme treasures or non-physical weapons like saber lights.

But he had always kept the attributes of the golden saber a secret, so few people understood how to counter it.

Today, the golden saber hadn’t even touched these two ghosts, yet they already understood how to counter it.

At that moment, that scene from when his mind entered the Martial Mirror replayed in Tang Jie’s mind.

“As expected, these are old foes, so much so that they recognized it at first glance,” Tang Jie muttered.

As he waved the golden saber again, the two golden warriors flew back, their spear beams stabbing at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie snorted, evading as he activated the Chaoswind Step. Appearing behind the two Spirit Ghosts, he swung the golden saber again. But to his surprise, the two Spirit Ghosts reacted extremely quickly. The moment Tang Jie disappeared, they turned around, and a left arm swiftly reached out to grab Tang Jie’s wrist, preventing him from swinging. Tang Jie kicked out at the chest of one of the Spirit Ghosts, and there was a rip as if he had punched through leather. But the Spirit Ghost simply swayed, acting completely unaffected as it punched at Tang Jie’s chest. Even with the Formless Golden Body, Tang Jie was still sent flying.

As he flew back, he thrust out his hand and unleashed a Dragonlike Hand, and then he sent out a Matchless Slash.

Bang! Bang! The two Spirit Ghosts were struck by these powerful spell arts, but they still seemed unaffected.

“Fuck!” Tang Jie cursed.

He had used all of his strength in these attacks, and even a Heart Demon True Person like Li Song wouldn’t have dared to take them. But these two Spirit Ghost warriors had easily taken these blows, so it was no wonder Li Song had said that they were hard to kill and asked only for him to stall them.

However, Tang Jie had no interest in actually being Li Song’s lackey. He wanted to finish off these two ghosts before Li Song finished breaking the seal.

But the Soul Refining Pearl had no effect on them, and spell arts couldn’t kill them. These two also understood the attributes of the golden saber and knew how to defend against it. For a moment, Tang Jie couldn’t find a good way to deal with them.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed. “I have an idea.”

Putting away the golden saber, he gazed at the two Spirit Ghosts charging at him and snorted, pronouncing in a thunderous voice, “Shake!”

The two golden warriors froze.

Delighted that it had worked, Tang Jie shouted, “Retreat!”

The golden warriors stepped back.

Tang Jie was using none other than the Four-Nine True Words that he used to deal with those corpses in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.

The Four-Nine True Words had been created to deal with corpses and ghosts, for the purpose of jolting and shaking the soul.

These two golden warriors were somewhat similar to the corpses in the formation, though more intelligent. Most importantly, they were physical bodies turned into ghosts, with souls residing in them, which made them the perfect target for the Four-Nine True Words.

“Leave!” Tang Jie called out, and two puffs of smoke appeared above the heads of the golden warriors, blurred faces on them. These were none other than the souls of the ghosts.

But this time, no matter how those souls struggled, they couldn’t leave their bodies.

The “Leave” word had failed to complete the job, and Tang Jie had no choice but to shout the fourth word: “Exterminate!”

The puffs of smoke scattered, but they quickly gathered back together.

These were souls that had not left the body, and their bodies had been enough to block the Extermination word.

But it had had some effect, and the two Spirit Ghosts wailed, pain and anger appearing on their faces.

As they wailed, Tang Jie heard howls rising up around him, as if countless golden warriors were responding to their cries.

“Shit!” Tang Jie knew he was in trouble. Those damned Spirit Ghosts had called for reinforcements.

Without hesitation, he turned and ran.

The two Spirit Ghosts wanted to give chase, but Tang Jie snorted and said, “I might not be able to kill you right now, but you think I can’t stop you? Fixate!”

The two Spirit Ghosts froze again.

Tang Jie already knew why the Four-Nine True Words didn’t have the destructive power they had possessed in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. The souls back in the formation were outsiders possessing an alien body, just like how he was controlling the Shamblers, achieving only a temporary fusion. This was why the Four-Nine True Word had been able to force out those ghosts so easily.

But the golden warriors had a natural integration of body and soul, so it was only natural that they weren’t as easy to push out. Even so, because the Four-Nine True Words had been designed to deal with ghosts that had souls and physical bodies, it had still had some effect.

It couldn’t kill them, but it could at least slow them down.

While the two ghosts were fixed in place, Tang Jie retreated.

As he retreated, he sent out streams of spiritual light from his hands, which caused the air to ripple as if it was water, creating a halo. The Spirit Ghosts barged into the halo and then began to run around all over the place. In that brief moment, Tang Jie had laid down a befuddling formation.

As Tang Jie attained higher mastery of formations, he gradually became capable of swiftly laying down some lower-grade formations. They weren’t enough to imprison people, but they were enough to deal with the somewhat less intelligent ghosts.

With this done, Tang Jie rushed toward the white jade building.

When he arrived, he heard a boom, and the little building erupted in light, after which the door opened and a ring of light rippled out. Li Song instantly paled—a sign that he had suffered some backlash from forcibly breaking the seal.

Tang Jie smiled as he flew over. “I came at just the right time.”

Li Song inwardly sighed in pity, as he thought to himself, If only this kid had come a little later. But he put up a smile and said, “It truly is the right time. Let’s go in together.”

The two of them strode into the small building.

Upon entering, they saw a long table, with some smaller tables and chairs on the sides. This appeared to be some reception hall, though there were no treasures. However, Tang Jie did notice that the furniture was made of spirit wood of exceptional quality.

The entirety of the Court of Myriad Domains, from the walls to the furniture, was made of rare materials. Although they couldn’t be called art relics or supreme treasures, the quantity was simply astounding. If possible, Tang Jie would have wanted to take the entire underground palace—something which the original body was already making preparations for.

The white jade building had five floors in total.

There was nothing on the first floor, so the pair headed up to the second floor, which was an opulent bedroom. It was clear that the master of this building had been a woman. The two of them saw a hairpin decorated with jade beads on the vanity table. Li Song saw that it was a special item and moved to take it, but the moment he did, the hairpin flew off in a green streak of light, transforming into a bird.

Li Song stomped his feet in regret. He had never imagined that this hairpin had already gained a spirit.

Normal soul objects simply consisted of souls that had attached themselves to objects. Only a soul object that had achieved greater spirituality could turn into a lifeform, and this was the case for the beaded hairpin. It was such a rare treasure, but it had flown off, so it was hard to blame Li Song for being so frustrated.

Tang Jie simply smiled.

The two of them headed up to the third floor.

The third floor was the weapon storage, and various art relics had been kept here. But the years without maintenance meant that most of their spiritual energy had dissipated, and unlike that beaded hairpin, they had been unable to maintain their spirituality.

Li Song felt a great pity upon seeing all these treasures. Even the strongest of them hadn’t been able to resist the power of time.

But on the other hand, something that could survive ten thousand years, even if it was only an ordinary object, could be considered a great treasure, like that beaded hairpin.

In this aspect, while the treasures of this fragment of the Myriad Court weren’t what had been expected, they could actually be more valuable than anticipated.

The fourth floor was the study.

Two bookshelves within the study held books that were clearly Immortal arts.

Li Song took a look and immediately grew excited, saying in a trembling voice, “These are Immortal techniques of the Myriad Court.”

The books lined up on the shelves were clearly Immortal arts. Unlike art relics, they didn’t have the problem of spiritual energy dissipation. While ten thousand years had made them brittle, so long as they were handled properly, one could study them without a problem.

Delighted, Tang Jie and Li Song split up the books 3:7. They worked their way to the shelf in the middle, which displayed three books with pages carved from jade, radiating a warm and gentle light. One could tell at a glance that they were not ordinary books.

These were named “The War supreme-ruler Mantra”, “The Free Roaming Divine Connection”, and “The Sword of Longevity”.

Li Song looked at Tang Jie, who smiled and said, “These three books aren’t ordinary items. As per our agreement, you take seventy and I take thirty, so Senior should take two and I will take one, with Senior choosing first. What do you think?”

Li Song grunted. “Kid, count yourself lucky.”

After examining each of the three jade books carefully, he chose the War supreme-ruler Mantra and the Free Roaming Divine Connection. Something bearing the name “War supreme-ruler” had to be a powerful combat art, and the other was called a Divine Connection, so there was no way he could miss out on that. As for that Sword of Longevity, from the name, it seemed like some sword art that sought to be apart from the world, but in this world where everything needed to be vied for, it was of little purpose.

Tang Jie took the Sword of Longevity, putting it away without giving it a very close look.

After cleaning up the fourth floor, the two of them headed for the top floor.

The top floor contained a long incense table, in front of which was a prayer mat. It appeared that something was enshrined here, but the venerated object was no longer on the incense table. But there were three items still on the table: a jade bottle, a sword, and a white jade statue carved in the shape of a woman.

Li Song didn’t notice Tang Jie tremble at the sight of the woman.

His eyes were on the jade bottle, upon which was written in the language of High Antiquity: “Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill”.

“The Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill! I can’t believe it! Hahaha!” Li Song couldn’t help but loudly laugh.

The Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill was a supreme medicine with a use similar to the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, able to increase one’s chances of entering Violet Palace. It was just that the Nine Heavens Luan Grass was natural while the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill was artificial.

Li Song couldn’t care about anything else once he saw the pill, immediately grabbing it. He then turned to the sword in the center and saw that the words “Immeasurable Sword” had been carved into its sheath.

He had never heard of a sword by this name before, but since it was together with the pill, it had to be some extraordinary item, so he grabbed it.

He looked over to Tang Jie, who was playing around with the white jade statue.

Li Song chuckled. “It seems like Little Brother Qian has taken quite the liking to that woman statue. Since that’s the case, we’ll go with the same ratio, this old man taking the pill and sword while you take the statue.”

Tang Jie smiled. “Excellent.”

He put away the statue.

“Right,” Tang Jie said after some thought. “I’ve heard treasure grounds generally have secret chambers or hidden doors that hide even better treasures. Why don’t we look around some more and see if we find anything?”

“That would be great,” Li Song replied, though he secretly scoffed at this young man, thinking of him as someone who had read too many tall tales that filled his mind with thoughts about hidden chambers. This place was clearly the resting area for some bigshot of the Myriad Court. The residence of such an illustrious figure had to be heavily guarded, and given how the seal was still active after ten thousand years, it was clear that no one had dared to breach it. How could a place like this possibly have some secret chamber?

While he thought this to himself, he turned around together with Tang Jie, his hand grabbing the hilt of the Immeasurable Sword.

Although he had gotten the majority of the spoils from this small building, when he thought about how the Sword of Longevity was as valuable as a Divine Connection and how the white jade statue had been placed together with the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill, he couldn’t stand letting some brat from the Beast Refining Gate take them.

Considering that no one was here, he decided to just kill the brat. With his death, everything would be his, and nobody would be the wiser.

A murderous intent swelled up in his mind, and his grip on the Immeasurable Sword tightened. His eyes erupted with a savage glow as he turned around and swung the Immeasurable Sword.