Aspiring to the Immortal Path

"Tang Jie, you won\'t die a good death!"

"Xu Miaoran, I\'ll fuck your entire family!"

"Kill me! Kill me!!"

Miserable screams arose from a secluded valley on the southwestern end of the Spirit Mountains. These cries were determined, harsh, and brazen at first, carrying with them venomous curses, but they gradually became pleas, and then they devolved into weak moaning and weeping…

Qian Yingchen had been crucified on a large rock by the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails, and he barely looked human.

Almost every part of his body had been cut open. The formidable constitution of cultivators meant that this didn\'t kill him, but it left him in immense pain.

"If you reveal the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, I\'ll stop." Xu Miaoran spoke in a callous tone as she stroked an ice-cold finger across Qian Yingchen\'s chest, gleaming with a lethal light.

Qian Yingchen trembled. "No, I can\'t… I can\'t…"

Plush!

The finger plunged into his chest as if it was stabbing through tofu.

Qian Yingchen screamed. "Aaaagh! You two are dogs!"

"Wrong! We\'re devils!" Xu Miaoran replied.

Behind her, a pair of arms embraced Xu Miaoran.

Xu Miaoran turned around, hugged Tang Jie\'s neck, and gave him a passionate kiss.

Only the fiend women of Horizon Ocean Pavilion could act like no one else was around.

Upon meeting Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran unleashed all of her hidden affections. In this free land, she no longer cared about all those restrictions. Though she still hadn\'t punctured that last paper window, many things no longer needed to be said. Even that final step was merely waiting for the right time.

Perhaps because of this, she was more straightforward, daring, and proactive.

What was important was that Tang Jie liked it!

After that almost suffocating kiss, Xu Miaoran released Tang Jie\'s neck and opened her eyes wide. "Did you like it?"

"Of course."

"Are you being honest? Don\'t men all like virtuous women?"

"I\'m an exception. I like fiend women. The more fiendish, the better!"

"Then… shall I be a little more fiendish?"

"Take out everything you have. I can take it all."

Xu Miaoran laughed.

Gazing at Tang Jie with her beautiful eyes, she suddenly hugged him and flew into the sky.

"Hey, hey, we can\'t fly too high here…"

Before Tang Jie could finish, Xu Miaoran silenced him with a kiss.

Thus, they tumbled in the air, flew among the trees, and rolled through the lush woods.

Xu Miaoran stroked a finger across Tang Jie\'s heart and brought it all the way down.

Tempted, Tang Jie said, "Why not…"

"Okay!" Xu Miaoran gave him a crisp reply before he could even finish.

This reply was so straightforward that Tang Jie couldn\'t help but be taken aback. "You… you\'re sure you\'re not joking?"

"Do I look like I\'m joking?" Xu Miaoran seductively said.

Tang Jie swallowed. "You\'re sure… I\'m saying… do you want to rethink…"

Xu Miaoran clenched her silver teeth. "Just be quiet."

Moisture built up in her eyes, and then she grabbed Tang Jie and began to tear away at his clothes like a little lion.

As her little hands moved in a flurry, black shreds of cloth fell from the sky like butterfly wings. The layers between them dwindled away, until nothing was left.

Tang Jie had no choice but to summon some tree leaves that spun around them and formed into a giant ball of leaves.

As they spun around, they shared a deep gaze.

Finally, Tang Jie embraced Xu Miaoran and began to roughly tear off her clothes.

They kissed each other, feeling each other\'s bodies as they spun around in the ball of leaves, tasting everything each other had to offer.

The ball of leaves spun and flew through the skies.

It flew over forests, valleys, mountains, and waterfalls, and into the sky. Occasionally, one or two sounds that seemed to contain a mix of pain and pleasure came from the leaves, and then there would be an extremely loud cry of pleasure, like the soul-shaking trill of a bird.

After experiencing all this, they had finally dropped all the barriers between them, treating each other with utmost sincerity. All that was left was to work mutually to deliver themselves unto each others\' bodies.

As the battle reached its climax, the ball of leaves shattered, leaving behind only a few leaves as cover while they circled in the sky like birds, assuming a variety of postures.

They charged into the sky, and when they reached a certain height, they intertwined and rushed back down. In their rapid descent, they were still combined together, exchanging their heat and feeling the love they had for each other.

Decades of accumulated energy was released all at once as an unprecedented battle unfolded. By the time the storm passed, more than half the day had gone by.

The drifting leaves in the wind once more came together, forming a large ball that slowly brought them back to earth.

Xu Miaoran contentedly lay in Tang Jie\'s embrace, her fingers drawing hearts on his chest that floated into the air, glowing like fireflies.

They gazed at the floating hearts together. Xu Miaoran said, "Then, starting from today, you\'re my man. In the past, you had your own pursuits, so when you weren\'t at this girl\'s side, I forgave you. But now, wherever you go, you have to bring me along. And don\'t give me some bullshit about how the Immortal path is long and difficult. No matter how difficult the Immortal path is, I would still walk it together with you. Wherever you go, I will go! I won\'t be some girl in the back, but one at your side. If you don\'t agree to this, I\'ll leave right now."

Tang Jie smiled. "If I didn\'t agree, I wouldn\'t be together with you right now."

"Huh?" Xu Miaoran\'s eyes glowed. "And here I thought you would say that it was very dangerous at your side, so you didn\'t want me to follow you."

"It\'s naturally dangerous around me, so if you want to stay at my side, you need the ability to deal with these dangers," Tang Jie lazily said. "You chose this path, and now that you\'ve chosen it, you can\'t turn back."

Xu Miaoran got what Tang Jie was implying. "You\'re saying…"

"Training."

"\'Training\'?" Xu Miaoran\'s eyes widened so much they almost popped out of their sockets. "\'Training\' in what?"

"In a lot. Training in how to use the simplest and most conservative method to kill someone, training in how to fight when you can\'t rely on spell arts, training in how to battle using the terrain, training in how to work together, training in how to withdraw when the situation is unfavorable, training in how to use a gesture or gaze to indicate your intentions, training in tactics and experiences, training in how to think in the face of adversity, training in survival methods… Cultivators rely too much on spell arts, but in reality, there are many things that spell arts can\'t offer." Tang Jie finished off, "So you need to learn a lot of things. It will be tough and tiring, and I won\'t go easy."

Xu Miaoran was rather dumbfounded.

After a while, she suddenly laughed and said, "Alright, then I\'ll train. Relax. I\'m not a woman who will burden you!"

"I believe you," Tang Jie replied. "But it\'s not just you who needs to receive training. Your two maids also have to go through it."

The mention of her maids made Xu Miaoran sit up, her face paling. "Oh no! I forgot about Xian Tao and Hong Yuan."

The two had yet to recover and needed to be attended to. Xu Miaoran was tasting the forbidden fruit for the first time and had been reluctant to leave Tang Jie, but this caused her to completely forget about these two wounded patients.

Tang Jie said, "Relax. I already had Yiyi go and take care of them."

"When?"

"An hour ago."

"An hour ago… you were still with me… I can\'t believe you were still in the mood to do other things…" Xu Miaoran "angrily" said, pressed up to Tang Jie\'s body.

Tang Jie awkwardly replied, "That\'s also something I need to train you in: how to never forget important matters in any situation, and also how to secretly transmit messages."

"Don\'t try that with me. Today, this girl is going to train you first and make you understand what it means to be completely focused… Another three hundred rounds!"

"…With one soul sharing two bodies, I\'m never going to be able to focus single-mindedly on one thing."

"I don\'t care!"

"……"

――――――――――――――

Xi Canhen sat in front of Qian Yingchen\'s bed. After looking at him for a long while, he finally said, "I didn\'t think you would actually come."

When Tang Jie had given him the news through Heart Consonance, Xi Canhen had almost had a heart attack.

He had never imagined that Tang Jie would be this bold, venturing into a tiger\'s den even though he knew that there were numerous people who could see through him.

Tang Jie chuckled. "Why not? I can sleep and eat while people attend on me. Life is great! Without even moving, I can have numerous resources delivered to me."

He pointed at a nearby table, which was piled high with the gifts from Godhead Palace cultivators who had come to visit the patient. Although they weren\'t as high-quality as Huang Yue\'s, there were still many high-grade materials among them. Qian Yingchen was a True Lord\'s adopted son, and there were many people who wanted to get into the good graces of such a person. And Tang Jie, through his implications and empty promises, had actually managed to get just as much in the last two days as during the rest of his visit.

"I\'m just worried that you won\'t have a life to enjoy it all," Xi Canhen gruffly said. "If they can\'t find Tang Jie, they\'ll start getting suspicious and might check you."

"That\'s why they\'re going to find him," Tang Jie replied.

Xi Canhen was startled.

He didn\'t know of Tang Jie\'s avatar, but after hearing this reply, he seemed to understand, and there was a hint of admiration in his eyes as he looked at Tang Jie.

If there was really another Tang Jie bouncing around in the encirclement, Godhead Palace would have no reason to check Qian Yingchen.

And this really was the case. Just last night, the original body had ambushed a Godhead Palace squad. Although he hadn\'t done any substantial damage, he had left behind many witnesses to Tang Jie\'s existence.

This was another method Tang Jie was using to clear himself.

Of course, these methods treated only the symptoms, but that was all Tang Jie needed to do. He wasn\'t planning on living as Qian Yingchen forever, only long enough to reap a sufficient profit.

With his status as a patient, Tang Jie was making quite a lot in gifts alone. Even King Canis He Changan, though he hadn\'t come to see him, had also sent over a gift—a Vampire Fiend Pellet. Vampire Fiend Pellets came from the Deepsea Blood Fiend and were extremely valuable. Once absorbed, they strengthened one\'s blood energy, and they were superb at strengthening one\'s foundation. Its value was second only to Huang Yue\'s thousand-year King Sesame.

"If there\'s anything you like, take it. There\'s no need to be polite," Tang Jie said to Xi Canhen, pointing at the gifts on the table. He was very generous when it came to giving away the wealth of others.

Xi Canhen was delighted. "There were some things I needed, so I\'ll take up your offer."

After spending a long time with Tang Jie, this kid had learned to have just as thick of a skin and as black of a heart, holding nothing back and picking only the nice things. In a flash, he had swept up many of the gifts Tang Jie had received.

Lastly, he took the Vampire Fiend Pellet and looked at Tang Jie. "You\'re willing to give this up too?"

Tang Jie smiled. "If you want it, take it. Given what you\'ve done for me, it wouldn\'t even be wrong for you to take everything. Consider it a thank-you gift. Moreover, in my eyes, these are nothing but trifles."

"You consider all these \'trifles\'?" Xi Canhen was taken aback.

"Yes. You have to go big for this kind of thing." Tang Jie then explained his "Infinite Overdrafting" plan, which left Xi Canhen amazed, and he looked admiringly at Tang Jie.

"Big! It really is big! No wonder those guys are willing to give you such pricey gifts! There was also this sort of calculation going on in the background. But in this backwater area, what sort of oil can you possibly squeeze out of them besides all this?"

While the Infinite Overdrafting plan was good, one had to actually get something from it, but Tang Jie had seemingly set his standards too high. Thus, after this initial squeeze, Godhead Palace didn\'t seem to have much juice left.

"If there are no treasures, they can just have Godhead Palace send them over. All they need is a reason. You can help out with this, and if there\'s anything you need, I can work with you on it," Tang Jie casually said. "In addition, if there are no goods, there are still people. There are many excellent people in Godhead Palace, and it would be a pity to not use them."

"You mean…"

"The Spirit Mountains are rich in resources, but that\'s not what they\'re here for, so they don\'t dare to seek them out. But surrounding and catching Tang Jie is a long-term project, and to not have any results after a long time will damage morale. If that\'s the case, they might as well explore the mountains."

Xi Canhen\'s eyes were about to pop out.

It appeared that Tang Jie felt like scamming them of treasures wasn\'t enough and he needed to scam them of manpower as well.

The Spirit Mountains truly were home to many natural treasures, but they were mostly found in the depths. Tang Jie wanted Godhead Palace to go exploring, both for treasures and to scout the way for him.

"How do you plan to do this?"

"I need your cooperation on this." Tang Jie whispered his plan to him.

Xi Canhen nodded along, and his eyes gradually began to shine with excitement. Once Tang Jie was done, Xi Canhen said, "The plan sounds good to me. Though it\'s rather risky, it really does kill many birds with one stone. I\'ll go and make the arrangements now. When do you plan to make your move?"

"Dragging this out too long isn\'t good, so once I\'ve recovered, I will begin the charge at Celestial Heart. Once I reach Celestial Heart, we\'ll move."

"\'Charge at Celestial Heart\'?" Xi Canhen almost jumped in shock. This conversation with Tang Jie had been just full of surprises.

Tang Jie chuckled and took out an item. "The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. Nan Ningjiang gave it to me last night."

"…" Xi Canhen was speechless.

For the next few days, Tang Jie quietly recuperated, occasionally chatting with the people of Godhead Palace and understanding a little more about it.

In this era, there wasn\'t much of a secret-keeping mentality, and many of the methods that Tang Jie found decent came from Nan Ningjiang\'s own intelligence rather than Godhead Palace.

Alas, the Rosecloud Domain was still essentially a world where might was right. While it had a cultured cover, in their bones, people still looked up to strength. For this reason, the likes of Nan Ningjiang and Gu Changqing, while being given important tasks, would never be shown favor.

For this reason, Tang Jie found that it was much easier to get inside information on Godhead Palace than expected.

A chat over tea and a few words of provocation, perhaps even an expression of curiosity, was enough for Tang Jie to get important information on Godhead Palace.

For example, he learned that the lockdown on Nadir Hill\'s border had been lifted and the Great Mountain was the final blockade.

He learned that the border conflict between the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Palace had intensified, and Godhead Palace was mobilizing men to deal with it. It was said that Wang Juemie had put on an impressive show of might in the conflict, personally killing three Celestial Heart True Persons.

The fiends of the Western Sea were making a ruckus and threatening the people of the region.

A strange fissure had appeared in the central region and was devouring countless people. It was suspected to be an infiltration attempt by the Yellow Springs Domain.

Many other interesting pieces of information were conveyed to Tang Jie\'s ears.

When a place was big enough, there would be all sorts of incidents. If it wasn\'t fiends sowing chaos, it was strange phenomena or enemy invaders, or perhaps just internal discord.

Nadir Hill had been rather unlucky as of late, suffering from both natural and man-made disasters.

There was Tang Jie running around like a giant rat, various internal incidents, and even the Seven Absolutions Sect attacking. Godhead Palace was being run ragged.

Besides that, Tang Jie also learned some things about the Basking Moon Sect.

After the fiend army attacked the mountains, the Basking Moon Sect found out that the Beast Refining Gate was behind this and became enraged. It was currently in the middle of fighting with the Beast Refining Gate, but as they weren\'t neighbors like the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Palace, having the center of the continent separating them, they couldn\'t have some big war. However, minor skirmishes had become commonplace.

Rosecloud\'s so-called oasis of freedom, the Transverse Range, had become the battleground for the two sects, with elites from both sides fighting it out. Cai Junyang, Peng Yaolong, Qi Shaoming, and also Wei Tianchong were all collecting achievements there.

On the other end, the Basking Moon Sect hadn\'t let up its pressure on Godhead Palace.

Other than getting Xiao Biehan to provoke Godhead Palace into not mobilizing any Violet Palace True Lords, it had also done other things, like mobilizing many of its spies in Nadir Hill to create incidents.

This was one of the reasons behind all the troubles plaguing Nadir Hill as of late. The spies of Basking Moon had received their orders and were in the middle of taking some of the pressure off Tang Jie.

It was said that even that Yellow Springs Domain infiltration could be the work of some Basking Moon spy.

This matter had a huge effect on Nadir Hill, and it was said that five people from Godhead Palace\'s Eight Kings and Nine Generals had been mobilized to repair the fissure and prevent the Yellow Springs Domain from penetrating any farther.

In addition, several small sects had left Godhead Palace, encouraged by the Basking Moon Sect\'s spies.

Through the efforts of these spies, Godhead Palace was beset by storms, and the people of Nadir Hill were frantic and worried.

In these circumstances, the decision for Godhead Palace to send King Canis to deal with Tang Jie had not come easily.

And to capture Tang Jie, Godhead Palace was still sending over resources. Tang Jie was able to see a small storehouse behind the Black Yellow Mobile Palace, and it was stuffed with those resources.

This included pills for cultivation, magic tools for combat, talismans, tracking devices, and so on.

Most of them were ordinary items of little value, but one couldn\'t overlook their quantity.

Thus, on the fourth day after Tang Jie infiltrated as Qian Yingchen, a fire swept through that storehouse.

Although it was put out in a timely fashion through a large downpour created by spell arts, the fire still managed to destroy a third of the resources, leaving Nan Ningjiang enraged.

Upon investigation, it was learned that a servant warrior had gotten drunk and knocked over an oil lamp, causing the fire.

The servant warrior was executed on the spot.

This was a common way of dealing with things in the Rosecloud Domain, just like how the Wei Estate had killed Shi Mo.

Thus, nobody realized that the servant warrior had gotten drunk because someone had gifted him a bottle of wine, and if they had asked some more questions, they would have discovered that the wine had come from Qian Yingchen.

On the sixth day of his infiltration, "Qian Yingchen" was fully recovered.

On this day, Tang Jie made a decision.

It was time to charge at Celestial Heart.

In the middle of the Godhead Palace camp, under the eyes of Nan Ningjiang, Zhou Fanghu, and Master Xuan Zhong, he was going to charge at Celestial Heart!