Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 535

Chapter 535: Great Dao Realm

Cang Qingfeng was startled, and then he chuckled, “You’re pretty good! You were even able to guess this correctly! But what does it matter that you know? In the end, you have to die.”

He finally stopped hiding his killing intent, his body erupting with spiritual energy, engulfing the entire hall in his aura.

This aura seemed to have physical mass, pressing on everyone so much that they found it hard to stand straight. Even Tang Jie was forced back a few steps. As he approached the bounds of the room, Cang Qingfeng waved his hand. The doors slammed shut, locking everyone within the hall.

Cang Qingfeng sinisterly said, “Nobody will be leaving this place.”

“You fucker!” Ao Chihu’s face flashed with murderous intent. “Who cares if you’re some dogshit Black Tortoise!? I’ll kill you!”

He swung his heavy sword, releasing wave after wave of frenzied sword energy.

This time, instead of striking like lightning, he moved rather slowly, as if he was swinging an extremely weighty object. But even Cang Qingfeng’s face turned solemn in the face of these extremely slow attacks.

“You seem to have grasped a little of the Sanguine True Lord’s Dark Heaven Asterism,” Cang Qingfeng said as he thrust out his palm. This simple thrust caused the fabric of space to tremble, stopping cold Ao Chihu’s attacks.

At the same time, He Changan roared, dark energy swelling out from his body, slamming into Cang Qingfeng’s torrent of green energy.

As black and green collided, they created savage shockwaves that prevented anyone else from getting close.

Amid the flashing lights, He Changan pulled out a silver-gray halberd and stabbed it at Cang Qingfeng.

The Halberd of Desolate Heavens!

This was He Changan’s weapon, an art relic of the highest grade.

That he was using this halberd meant that He Changan was finally beginning to fight with all his power. The halberd combined with his Formless Heavenly Demon Body allowed him to erupt with power, and the entire hall was full of He Changan’s intense will to fight and sharp halberd energy.

In the face of He Changan’s attack, Cang Qingfeng jumped into the air with a shout.

He summoned the coiling dragon spear back to his hand, and with one strike, he produced countless spear phantoms to contend against the halberd. At the same time, he took out a round plate with his left hand. It spun in the air, drawing all the attacks toward it.

He then took out a talisman, which turned into chains of light to suppress everyone. After that, he took out a silver shortsword, which unleashed a flurry of sword beams at everyone. The number of treasures this man had was truly frightening.

But worst of all was Cang Qingfeng’s terrifying defensive ability.

Xu Mingyue swung her sword at Cang Qingfeng, who was in the middle of dealing with Zhu Yun and He Changan. Seeing that he couldn’t dodge, he decided not to. He bent down, and a giant dragon turtle manifested behind him.

Everyone might have been confused in the past, but now, they knew that this was the soul of the Black Tortoise, the Black Tortoise Armor.

Xu Mingyue’s sword stabbed into the aura surrounding Cang Qingfeng, and that middle-grade art relic bent, unable to penetrate through that formless armor. Cang Qingfeng used this moment to turn around and swing a saber that had spontaneously appeared in his hand at Xu Mingyue’s throat.

Just when that saber was about to open up Xu Mingyue’s neck, a golden light shot toward Cang Qingfeng—Tang Jie had intervened.

“Tang Jie, you…” Cang Qingfeng shouted in anger. But he didn’t dare to take on this golden blade. He fell back and then glared at Tang Jie. “You really want to make an enemy of me?”

“It’s better than letting you kill all of them and then kill me.” Tang Jie once more thrust out the golden blade.

“Bastard!” Cang Qingfeng jumped away, the anger gathering on his face. “You really think that you’re invincible just because you have the Sovereign Blade?”

“‘The Sovereign Blade’?” Tang Jie was somewhat taken aback by this name.

This was the first time he had heard of another description for this golden blade.

But Cang Qingfeng didn’t plan to tell Tang Jie anything more than that.

“I’ll kill you one by one!” Furiously roaring, Cang Qingfeng shot out like a bolt of lightning, charging at one of the Bloodbath Hall generals. “I’ll kill you first!”

“Save him!” He Changan called out as he swung his halberd.

Cang Qingfeng turned his hand upward, and the golden plate moved to block He Changan’s attack. At the same time, Zhu Yun and Ao Chihu attacked from the sides, but Cang Qingfeng manifested his Black Tortoise Armor, which was many times tougher than supreme-rulerhead Armor. Zhu Yun’s Jade Shattering Claw and Ao Chihu’s Dark Heaven Sword were only able to leave behind ripples on that sphere of light. Meanwhile, the coiling dragon spear began to stab at the Bloodbath Hall general.

The Bloodbath Hall general howled, and the halo around him expanded. At the same time, he swung his saber at the spear.

Cang Qingfeng had divided his attention, leaving 60% of his power to deal with He Changan, 30% to deal with Zhu Yun and Ao Chihu, and only 10% to attack the Bloodbath Hall general. Meanwhile, that general was using all of his strength and even had four layers of defense.

Boom!

As saber clashed with spear, that Bloodbath Hall general’s body erupted with light.

The spear penetrated through the saber energy and slammed into the protective barrier, unleashing a blinding light.

The Bloodbath Hall general instantly took to the air, and only then did he realize that Cang Qingfeng’s spear had pierced through two layers of defense and left his middle-grade art relic saber covered in thin cracks.

Such power!

While the Bloodbath Hall general was shocked, he had at least managed to block the spear.

But a moment later, Tang Jie roared, “Get back quickly!”

“What?” The general raised his head.

A golden light rapidly expanded before his eyes, and a moment later, a massive explosion obliterated him.

Even in death, he didn’t know how he had died.

Only the bystanders could see that Cang Qingfeng had unexpectedly chosen to detonate the spear.

The detonation of an upper-grade art relic could easily kill a single Spirit Ring True Person. Not only that, its remaining power swept over everyone else.

Thankfully, they had comprehensive defenses, but even so, the powerful explosion blasted them back a little.

Cang Qingfeng swooped along the ground and threw out the silver sword, sword energy shooting at all of them and forcing them to defend themselves. Cang Qingfeng used this chance to attack one of He Changan’s servants, the one who could seal space and had robbed him of his ability to shift.

That servant knew that he was in trouble and frantically retreated.

Cang Qingfeng gave chase like a ghost. He was fast and tough, and he had numerous art relics. He instantly caught up to the servant, laughing, “You can also die!”

He swung a violet saber, unleashing a spatial slash.

That servant reacted quickly, and as that saber swung down, his body turned into a puff of smoke and scattered.

But Cang Qingfeng simply grabbed the smoke, which couldn’t escape and returned to human form. Cang Qingfeng’s fingers turned into sharp claws and punctured the servant’s neck as a savage smile appeared on his face. “Die!”

He Changan’s halberd smashed into Cang Qingfeng’s back, but he didn’t care in the slightest.

Bang! The Black Tortoise Armor shattered, but Cang Qingfeng withstood the attack, the fingers of his left hand exploding with lightning that rushed into that servant’s head, blasting it apart. With the servant’s death, the spatial seal immediately disappeared. At this time, the attacks of Zhu Yun and Ao Chihu arrived, but just when Cang Qingfeng was about to shift away, he found that he still couldn’t move.

Looking down, he saw that the servant had pressed a hand against his body, and a rune was flashing on his body.

Cang Qingfeng grimaced as he shouted, “Fuck!”

He immediately swung the violet lightning saber in his right hand, and the weapon flashed with the light of detonation. Alarmed, Ao Chihu and Zhu Yun didn’t dare to get close.

Bang! In the middle of the intense explosion, a saber descended from the heavens, hacking at Cang Qingfeng’s back.

There was an eruption of golden light.

While the saber had failed to cleave Cang Qingfeng in half, it had destroyed that suit of supreme-rulerhead Armor.

“Tang Jie!” Cang Qingfeng furiously roared.

A talisman appeared in his left hand, which he tossed at He Changan’s halberd. The talisman let out a brilliant light, and even He Changan’s blow failed to break through it. Meanwhile, Cang Qingfeng produced a blood-colored scimitar in his right hand, which he threw at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie rapidly retreated, at the same time casting various spell arts to prevent himself from getting caught in any possible detonation.

Cang Qingfeng howled as he shot toward Nan Ningjiang.

Nan Ningjiang knew that he was the next target, and he immediately unleashed a powerful wave of energy with his sword.

But Cang Qingfeng was like a charging tiger. His right hand gained a metallic sheen as he swatted down Nan Ningjiang’s sword, and Nan Ningjiang immediately roared as he fell back.

Cang Qingfeng callously said, “You think you can run?”

His right hand suddenly extended, reaching for Nan Ningjiang’s throat.

At that moment, Nan Ningjiang suddenly threw away his sword, phantom claws appearing around his hands as he grabbed at Cang Qingfeng.

He was trying to seize him!

Cang Qingfeng didn’t expect this kid to be so bold as to try to turn the tables.

But what good would that do?

With a savage gleam in his eyes, Cang Qingfeng continued to thrust out his hand.

As the claws collided with the hand, there was a crisp crack as Nan Ningjiang’s arms were broken. But Cang Qingfeng realized with a start that his own arm had been captured.

While Nan Ningjiang’s broken arms restrained that arm, a light traveled along Nan Ningjiang’s arm and began to wind around Cang Qingfeng’s arm like a rope.

This was the true capture method, not with one’s hands, but with the spiritual energy flowing through one’s meridians.

“Raaaa!” Cang Qingfeng bellowed.

That spiritual energy rope binding him began to snap.

But that pause bought He Changan enough time to break through that golden talisman, and the attacks of the others also arrived.

“Useless!” Cang Qingfeng roared.

As he bellowed, a giant python charged out from his back, slamming into He Changan’s halberd and halting his attack once more.

In this group, He Changan was the strongest, so Cang Qingfeng placed him as the highest priority, using almost all the defensive techniques he had on him. Even though He Changan didn’t seem to be doing well in this battle, in reality, he was singlehandedly holding down 60% of Cang Qingfeng’s power.

If this weren’t the case, the others would pose no threat to Cang Qingfeng.

Everyone was shocked by this python, for no one had imagined that this guy would even have raised fiends. Meanwhile, Cang Qingfeng’s Black Tortoise Armor had finished regenerating, appearing once more. Cang Qingfeng snarled as he reached out to grab Nan Ningjiang, but a moment later, a golden light appeared, forcing Cang Qingfeng to pull back—Tang Jie had come to Nan Ningjiang’s rescue.

Nan Ningjiang looked at Tang Jie in shock.

As Tang Jie pushed back Cang Qingfeng, he turned to Nan Ningjiang and shouted, “What are you standing around for?”

Nan Ningjiang shrugged. “I just didn’t expect to be fighting alongside you.”

The thought of fighting alongside someone he had been trying to capture all this time was just too ironic.

“That’s why it’s said that anything can happen in the vastness of the world,” Tang Jie replied as he unleashed a Dragonlike Hand.

At this time, Cang Qingfeng’s python retreated back into his body. He Changan’s halberd wasn’t easy to deal with, and the python had been badly wounded by the exchange.

Cang Qingfeng charged out like a madman, thrusting a palm. His target this time was a Bloodbath Hall general. Everyone was about to go and save him when Cang Qingfeng waved his hand. That crimson scimitar that had flown toward Tang Jie flew out from the rear at the general, and exploded, wiping him from existence.

Just as Tang Jie had guessed, the worst part about this guy wasn’t his terrifying strength, but his numerous tricks. Ten thousand years of experience meant that he basically knew everything, and no one could say what the next trick would be.

Cang Qingfeng didn’t even frown after having detonated several upper-grade art relics. In the blink of an eye, he took out several more.

These art relics had never appeared before in the world, so he had probably made them himself. Given that he had been accumulating them for more than a thousand years, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he had more than one hundred. If he made them all detonate, he could really blast an entire army to death if he wanted to. And he also had talismans and fiends! It was no wonder he dared to be so arrogant.

“Tang Jie, where did all your tricks go? Where are your allies? Why is it that you can only do this much?” Ao Chihu shouted.

Tang Jie rolled his eyes. “You think I would bring those things that would expose me after I disguised myself as Qian Yingchen?”

Besides the golden blade and the Mountain River State Diagram, he had brought nothing else that could expose him. He had brought the golden blade because he could store it in his body, and he had brought the Mountain River State Diagram because he didn’t use it in battle, so supreme-rulerhead Palace’s people didn’t know that Tang Jie had it.

“So you’re saying you’re useless?”

“Not at all,” Tang Jie coldly chuckled. “I just wasn’t being serious yet…”

As everyone rushed at Cang Qingfeng, Tang Jie suddenly put away his saber and fell back.

Staring at Cang Qingfeng from a distance, he immersed his mind in his Sea of Cognition, gathering it on his Celestial Heart Dao Fruit. He waved his hands, and spiritual energy began to ripple out from him.

These ripples weren’t too powerful, but the moment they appeared, Cang Qingfeng and He Changan paled.

Golden threads surged along the spiritual waves, like sunlit ocean waves.

These golden threads gathered together, gradually forming ribbons in the air. Fear appeared on Cang Qingfeng’s face as he cried, “How? How?”

He Changan cried out, “A Great Dao Realm! He’s able to use a nascent Great Dao Realm!”

After becoming a Spirit Ring True Person, Tang Jie had grown much stronger, but he had rarely used the unique battle characteristics of a Spirit Ring True Person. Usually, he fought the same as he had always done.

This was because he was still adapting to his new cultivation realm.

And in this cultivation realm, the major difference in how one did battle was the Celestial Heart Dao Fruit.

Celestial Hearts were called Dao Fruits because the Dao Wills that a cultivator had mastered and experienced over many years were carved into it.

The process of condensing the Celestial Heart and discovering one’s talent was also the process of condensing one’s Dao Wills.

As the condensing of Tang Jie’s Celestial Heart was different from others’, he didn’t even know what his talent was. This was how he was inferior to other True Persons. Other people could get a stronger spell art in the process. For example, a Fire-type talent would make one’s Fire spell arts particularly strong. But as Tang Jie hadn’t found his talent, he didn’t know where to start.

However, when it came to condensing Dao Wills, he had no obstacles.

After twenty-some years of cultivation, Tang Jie had comprehended Wisdom, Time, Life, Karma, and other such Great Daos, but he had never tried to integrate and use them together.

With the Dao Fruit, this was now possible.

With the Dao Fruit, cultivators could fully unleash all that they had comprehended of their Daos.

But Great Daos were difficult to comprehend, and most people went their entire lives barely comprehending one. When they became True Persons, their Dao Fruits usually had only a few Dao Runes. This sort of person didn’t have a right to a Dao Fruit, and they could only call the result a Celestial Heart. Thus, in Tang Jie’s life, he rarely saw people who had achievements in the Dao. At best, there was only Feng Buzhi, who had some attainment in the Dao of Reality and Illusion.

The difference between True Persons manifested itself in the Celestial Heart Dao Fruit.

For example, the chiefs of the six major sects could stand at the apex precisely because they had condensed a sufficient number of Dao Wills on their Celestial Hearts, thus possessing true Dao Fruits.

Tang Jie didn’t have an advantage over others when it came to cultivation level, but when it came to Dao Wills, he would have many bigshots choking in his dust.

But Tang Jie had never tried to use his Dao Wills in battle before, so he had no concept of it.

All he knew was that when a cultivator had comprehended a Dao Will enough, they could integrate it with their Spirit Ring, creating an even more powerful space, their own personal realm.

The Spirit Ring was simply a forcefield of spiritual energy created by the Spirit Will, able to enhance one’s strength. But there was something more absolute about a realm.

However, creating a Great Dao Sphere from Dao Wills was a complicated matter. It required one’s grasp of the Dao Will to at least be at the Dao-Entering level.

And entering the Dao was the standard for Celestial Sovereigns.

In other words, anyone who could possess a Great Dao Realm at the True Person level would become a Celestial Sovereign upon reaching Violet Palace.

Even Tang Jie, despite all the Daos he had comprehended, had yet to enter the Dao.

It was too difficult!

But while he had yet to enter a Dao, he was extremely close to it.

It was in Insight.

In that interaction with the Great Mountain, the Great Mountain’s guidance had greatly improved Tang Jie’s Insight abilities.

This was the first Dao he had comprehended, and the one he used the most, one of the core abilities he had relied on the most in his one year in Nadir Hill. Whether it was in terms of proficiency or comprehension, it was the strongest Dao Will Tang Jie had comprehended. With the Great Mountain’s help, it was now extremely close to the Dao-Entering level. All he was missing was that final, most difficult, and most critical step.

Even so, through Insight, Tang Jie had a nascent Great Dao Realm.

The Realm of Insight!

Tang Jie raised his head and looked at Cang Qingfeng. There was a glint in his eyes, and he suddenly shouted, “Ao Chihu, retreat and defend!”

While everyone was wondering what he was saying, Cang Qingfeng suddenly lunged at Ao Chihu, thrusting his sword at Ao Chihu’s throat.

Ao Chihu yelped as he fell back.

“Left armpit!” Tang Jie shouted. Ao Chihu immediately swung his sword to protect his armpit, and, sure enough, he blocked the oncoming blow.

Tang Jie shouted again, “Attack his Sea of Energy, Upper Pillar, and Heart Field points. These are his weaknesses.”

“You!” Cang Qingfeng angrily glared at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie had announced all of Cang Qingfeng’s weak points. Tang Jie had taken the path of detecting weaknesses, but this path was too difficult, and it took a very long time to find weak points. There were many times where he simply didn’t have the opportunity to use it.

But things were different with the Great Dao Realm.

Nothing could hide from the power of Insight!