Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 399: Painting a Mountain

But Tang Jie was no longer interested in talking with him.

He had been talking before to buy time for the original body to lay down the formation, and now that the original body was back, it was time to speedily end this battle. Otherwise, one of them might escape, or a passerby might discover his secret of two bodies sharing one soul, which would be a real problem.

As the original body appeared, the avatar waved his hand, and a long-handled warhammer flew out of the Mustard Seed Bag toward the original body.

The warhammer was around five meters long and as thick as a large bowl. The hammerhead alone was the size of a millstone. A normal person holding it would seem like a child holding a giant axe, not even able to lift it up, let alone fight with it. But it was perfect for the original body’s four-meter-tall figure.

Tang Jie had spent a great deal of money to have this art relic forged for his original body. It was made from tough metals, all the seals had the single purpose of toughening the weapon, and it weighed a hundred tons. The weapon alone had cost more than a hundred thousand spirit coins, taking up a third of the money Tang Jie had gotten from selling off the materials for the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation. As for armor, Tang Jie hadn’t gotten any, as it might affect his ability to move around.

The original body grabbed the warhammer and swung it at Meng and Mei.

The two of them reacted quickly by jumping to the sides. The giant hammerhead brushed past them and slammed into the ground with a powerful shockwave.

This enormous force was comparable to numerous exquisite spell arts. The site of the impact now played host to a crater ten-some meters deep.

As the shockwave swept out, a halo appeared beneath Mei Huaping’s feet, extending outward with a silver glow.

A Spirit Ring!

Every Celestial Heart True Person had one, and it was a manifestation of their spirit power leaking outward. But the vast majority of Celestial Heart True Persons had very faint Spirit Rings that were barely discernible. Shi Jingzhai and the others had also had them, but they were so faint as to be invisible.

As the Spirit Ring emerged, Mei Huaping waved the brush in his right hand and then jabbed at the air, shouting, “The brush stirs the autumn winds!”

With a stroke of his brush, a gale erupted, creating a vortex that swept up him and Mad Sword Meng and blocked the shockwave.

Mad Sword Meng bellowed as his sword unleashed a large wave of sword energy: “Heaven Absolute Sword Energy!”

A rain of swords engulfed Tang Jie’s original body, but he simply covered his face with his left hand and ignored the rest of the attacks. The sharp wave of swords collided with him in a great clatter and a shower of sparks, like it was striking a man made of metal.

“How is this possible?” Mad Sword Meng was stunned.

His Heaven Absolute Sword Energy was of such ferocity that the barriers of ordinary cultivators couldn’t last against it. But this giant had blocked it with his physical body. All the storm of swords had done was leave several hundred white marks on him, and with his formidable regeneration, these marks quickly faded.

Tang Jie smirked. “That just shows how little you’ve seen of the world!”

He had even endured the Southern Divine Fire, so what was a little sword rain?

As he spoke, he raised the warhammer again, sending it howling at Mei Huaping’s waist. The hammerhead was so big that it would smash more than half of his body into a pulp.

Mei Huaping raised his brush again. “Follow the wind into my canvas!”

As he raised his brush, space seemed to freeze. Tang Jie’s charging figure became immobile, and his surroundings filled with dazzling colors. As these colors flashed, they gradually formed into a plane.

In this plane, Tang Jie’s arm expanded as if it was being imprinted into a painting. In a bizarre sensation, the flowing lights made Tang Jie’s body spin in the air.

This “Follow the wind into my canvas” was an Immortal spell that Mei Huaping had spent many years trying to comprehend. It was like Tang Jie’s Heavenly Cloud Blade, though it was many times more profound. It managed to tightly bind Tang Jie’s body in a canvas.

Mei Huaping laughed. “No matter how strong you are, in my…”

Before he could finish bragging, that canvas in the air started to crack apart, creating a spiderweb of fractures in the air.

The spiderweb grew larger and larger, and finally, with one last pop, it completely shattered into countless streams of light.

The giant crashed down from the sky, swinging the long warhammer at Mei Huaping.

If this hit struck true, even a Celestial Heart True Person would be turned into a pancake.

Mei Huaping rapidly backed away while waving around his brush. He had no time to cast any spell arts, simply making strokes, and with each stroke of his brush, he created spatial ripples.

Tang Jie was like a mad bull, charging headlong into the spatial ripples, which left bloody streaks across his body. Mad Sword Meng’s Heaven Absolute Sword Energy hadn’t been able to hurt him, yet these casual brush strokes had drawn blood.

But Tang Jie didn’t care at all. As a body refiner, no matter what the ultimate outcome was, in a battle, he always needed to be on the offense. If he couldn’t even do that, then there simply wasn’t a point in fighting.

A minor pain like this couldn’t make him back down. On the contrary, they stimulated his nerves, and he brazenly laughed, “Too weak!”

His voice rumbled like thunder, and as Tang Jie charged and swung his warhammer around, it created a furious gale that made it impossible for Mei Huaping to stand straight.

At the same time, Tang Jie grabbed a giant rock and tossed it at Mei Huaping. This rock was a powerful weapon in his hand, and even though Mei Huaping was a Celestial Heart True Person, the impact of the rock smashing into him made him throw up blood as he was sent flying into the air.

On the side, Mad Sword Meng rushed up in panic and thrust his sword at Tang Jie’s back.

For an ordinary disciple or student, this sword would appear to have come out of nowhere, sublime to the extreme while losing nothing in power.

But this sublime and powerful attack was barely even worth considering for the original body. He let the sword stab into the muscles on his back, and it was only able to get three inches deep. He smirked and said, “A mere bee sting.”

This mighty attack was nothing more than a bee sting to Tang Jie.

Mad Sword Meng froze in shock as Tang Jie turned around and chuckled.

His smiling face was utterly horrifying.

And then Tang Jie punched, sending Mad Sword Meng flying.

Fortunately for him, Mad Sword Meng had a barrier, so he wasn’t instantly flattened by the punch. But the barrier shattered from the punch, and Mad Sword Meng threw up blood upon impact and was no longer able to rise.

The original body snorted, “Can’t even take one attack.”

At this moment, a furious voice came from behind him. “Then try this… Invite the Immortal within the Painting!”

The original Tang Jie turned to see Mei Huaping flying in the air, his arms spread out as a painting scroll unfurled behind him.

It was a painting of a palace lady. She was wearing a gown and had a seductive figure, but she had her back to the painting, her face hidden. As the painting appeared, Mei Huaping’s eyes flew open. The fire in those eyes was no more, replaced by the image of the woman’s back.

“This is…” The original Tang Jie was taken aback. He felt like he had heard about this painting before, but he didn’t remember where.

Mei Huaping called out, “Immortal, please turn around!”

The woman in the painting suddenly moved, her body turning ever so slightly.

This little shift made Tang Jie feel like his entire mind was drawn into the painting. The world suddenly went dark, and all that was left was the back of that palace lady. It filled up the world, spanning the heavens and earth. His surroundings became cramped and small, and all sound died away.

In the eyes of others, it appeared as if Tang Jie had gone dumb, just standing there with a blank look on his face.

Mei Huaping laughed. “Hurry up and die!”

His brush came down, and as he waved it around in the air, a giant sword began to take form. Mei Huaping waved his sleeve. “Go!”

The sword shot toward Tang Jie’s original body.

Thud!

The sword pierced through Tang Jie’s body and dissolved into spiritual light. Tang Jie seemed to not sense it, his eyes remaining fixed on the painting.

“Hahaha!” Mei Huaping heartily laughed. Waving his brush again, he drew out a fierce tiger. This tiger leaped through the air and bit at Tang Jie. While it wasn’t as strong as that sword, it was longer-lasting.

Mei Huaping painted a giant bear, an eagle, and a venomous s