Aspiring to the Immortal Path

As Tang Jie spoke, there was a flash of sword energy.

This was an extremely dense storm of starlight, each point of sword energy twinkling like a star and exuding a terrifying energy. As they gathered together, they formed a black hole that exerted a powerful pull on the Eight-Armed Heavenly Demon.

Starlight Execution!

“AAAH!” The Eight-Armed Heavenly Demon’s projection was pulled into the black hole, letting out a scream of unwillingness as it was ground to dust by the black hole.

With the death of the Eight-Armed Heavenly Demon’s projection, the spatial fissure to the Primordial Fog Domain closed. No more demons could come in, and those present could no longer go back. Huang Wuji used this chance to strike, and without reinforcements, it was only a matter of time until the demons were all slain.

As the sword energy faded, the tall and majestic figure of Xiao Biehan emerged.

On the other end, Ran Qing was losing ground against Guang Yuan, but just when it seemed like she had reached her limit, a barrier of Immortal energy appeared around her.

Guang Yuan’s sword struck the barrier, and though there was a cascade of ripples, the barrier stood strong, even bouncing the attack back at Guang Yuan.

“The Limitless True Astral Barrier?” Ran Qing shouted in disbelief.

As an ally of many years with the Basking Moon Sect, she recognized it immediately.

But when had Ling Xiao’s Limitless True Astral Barrier become so strong that it could bounce back the attack of an Earth Immortal?

Could it be…

As this thought occurred to her, she looked back and saw none other than the graceful figure of Ling Xiao.

From his aura, he was clearly an Immortal.

And then a third Immortal appeared, their hand grasping a Jade Dragon Banner. With a light wave of the banner, the waters of the Blood River transformed into dragons with the sheen of snow-white jade. While most of them only had Transformation-level power, there were great numbers of them, and they were created from the waters of the Blood River, so there was no need to worry about them dying.

And then the Immortal threw out a Golden Cauldron Bell, a Pure Water Plate, a Striding Phoenix Brush, and a True Scarlet Pestle, all of them upper-grade divine treasures, empowered by Immortal power to even further heights.

Everyone shouted in unison, “Ji Qingfeng!”

It was none other than the master of the Seven Absolutions Sect, Ji Qingfeng.

Everyone was baffled and stunned by the appearance of three Immortals.

Huang Wuji said in realization, “So you had all already advanced… Right, Tang Jie has the Wish Granting Book. If it can help one ascend to Violet Palace, then it should also be able to help one ascend to Immortal Platform. Tang Jie, did you already expect all this?”

Tang Jie nodded. “Indeed. I’ve suspected Hong Qianli for a long time, so how could I not take precautions against him? The Azure Dragon and the other three were long ago considered in their calculations, so it would be difficult for them to serve as back-up. Thus, I used the Wish Granting Book to help my master and others ascend to Immortal Platform. They are our true trump card.”

Everyone was elated by this news.

Meanwhile, Blossom Queen Ran Qing glared at Tang Jie and said, “So for the sake of victory, you didn’t care if Ji Wenzhang died? And you, Ji brat, while you were hiding, your ancestor died! If you all had come out earlier, he might have lived!”

Tang Jie bitterly smiled. “It happened too suddenly. I didn’t know that Guang Yuan would betray us, or that Jin Tianya would come back with a soul-slaying Dao armament…”

Ran Qing refused to let the matter go. “Then why did you not call them out after that? Only when this old woman was losing and about to die were you willing to let them show up. Are you so desperate to increase your authority?”

Ji Qingfeng hastily said, “Senior, please don’t misunderstand. Although my ancestor’s soul was destroyed, he is not dead.”

“What did you say?” the Immortals said in surprise.

Ji Qingfeng took out an item and explained, “This was bound to be an extremely dangerous battle, and nobody could say what sort of methods the enemy would use and how lethal they would be. Thus, Tang Jie had us stay in hiding not only to serve as reinforcements, but also in case of the worst scenario. This is called the Primal Herding Pearl. If one of our cultivators was to fall in battle and their Primal Divinity destroyed, the Primal Herding Pearl could absorb their scattered Primal Divinity and bring it back together, allowing for revival. But this Ji did not think that this pearl would be used on my own ancestor.”

Only then did the Immortals understand just how prepared Tang Jie had been.

Ji Wenzhang had already reformed his Primal Divinity inside the pearl and rebuilt his Immortal body. But, having received a blow from the Godslayer Sword, his Primal Divinity was still heavily injured. Thus, after reviving, he had returned straight to the Seven Absolutions Sect to recover, no longer participating in the battle.

The Primal Herding Pill was a treasure when it came to reviving Immortals, but it had many conditions for its use, which normally made it extremely difficult to use. Fortunately, Tang Jie had had Ji Qingfeng do all these preparations beforehand, or else he really wouldn’t have survived.

For this, Ji Qingfeng was incredibly grateful.

Tang Jie coolly said, “Once you get used to fighting against traitors, you develop a habit of safeguarding yourself against traps and conspiracies. While I had other reasons for ascending the four of them, this also played a factor. Hong Qianli, you thought you knew all my cards, but you didn’t think of this, right? You can always make more trump cards.”

“‘Four’?” The Lord of the Blood River immediately picked up on what Tang Jie was saying and said in shock, “There’s still one more? Where is he?”

“Where else?” Tang Jie mockingly smiled. “Over with Jin Tianya. You really think I would let him go after he killed one of us? Or that one Godslayer Sword can only be traded for one Earth Immortal’s life?”

——————————————————

A somewhat slender hand moved toward Jin Tianya’s back like a gentle breeze, but Jin Tianya sensed death.

He wanted to retreat, but Fairy Gu Ye gathered all of her power and sent it rushing at him in a furious torrent of Immortal energy that even Jin Tianya couldn’t ignore. That brief pause was enough for that hand to reach Jin Tianya’s back.

That light palm landed on Jin Tianya’s back with a terrifying clap of thunder.

Lightning erupted from his back, snakes of electricity thousands of feet in length, rising out of the Blood River and lighting up all the world.

“Xu Guanghua!” Jin Tianya howled.

The war between the Rosecloud Domain and Blood River Domain had gone on long enough for most to know the major combatants on each side. While Jin Tianya hadn’t taken part much, he had still heard of this Sea Anchor True Lord.

But when had Violet Palace True Lords been so powerful as to heavily injure him with one strike?

No, this was clearly the power of Immortal Platform!

How was he already at Immortal Platform?

There was no time to think. Jin Tianya immediately circulated his energy, attempting to use his Immortal energy to push out the lightning Xu Guanghua had inserted into his body, but Xu Guanghua pressed his hand down again: “Sea Anchor Stamp!”

A giant blue stamp appeared in the air, pressing down on Jin Tianya and forcing all that violet lightning back into his body.

In battle, “bigger” didn’t always mean “better”. Those long snakes of lightning seemed scary, but when they were condensed to the maximum and pushed into the enemy’s body, they were even scarier.

Through the Sea Anchor Stamp, the violet lightning was pushed bit by bit into Jin Tianya’s body, and he howled in pain.

Though Xu Guanghua had entered Immortal Platform, his cultivation was far below Jin Tianya’s. Thankfully, Fairy Gu Ye was doing her utmost to hold him down, letting Xu Guanghua boldly unleash all his power.

The Sea Anchor Stamp managed to increase the lightning pressed into Jin Tianya’s body by a third.

There was so much lightning bouncing around in his body that he seemed like a miniature sun, the torrents of electricity wreaking havoc within.

Still, this wasn’t enough to kill Jin Tianya, and he frantically gathered Immortal energy to heal himself.

He understood that he couldn’t die, for if he died, he would not get a chance to revive.

Because of the Godslayer Sword!

Once he died, Fairy Gu Ye and Xu Guanghua would seize the sword and take away any chance for him to revive.

“No, I won’t die!” Jin Tianya bellowed.

He unleashed all the power in his body, blue demon flames raging across his body.

This was some of the Primal Flame of the Blueheart Flame that he had stored up in his body over the years. As the flames mixed with the lightning, they traveled along the lightning and attacked Xu Guanghua—if he couldn’t push out the lightning, then he might as well use it to counterattack!

Jin Tianya was desperate.

The Blueheart Flame had been refined by Jin Tianya to be far more powerful than the original, able to burn the body, soul, and even Immortal energy. Xu Guanghua felt like he had been thrown into a furnace, and grunted in pain. But he knew that this was a critical moment, and if they missed this opportunity, it would be too difficult to get another chance to kill Jin Tianya, so he clenched his teeth and refused to let go. Like Jin Tianya, he unleashed all of his energy, though their reasons differed. Jin Tianya refused to die because he didn’t dare to die, while Xu Guanghua couldn’t lose this opportunity.

Fairy Gu Ye was also unwilling to lose this chance, and this supporting pillar of Horizon Ocean Pavilion also began to go all-out.

In complete contrast to Ran Qing, when she went all-out, her hair started to turn white, her face began to wrinkle, and the aura of decay began to exude from her body, revealing her true age and all the years she had lost.

When she unleashed all her power, she no longer concealed her age and weakness, letting the years have their way with her, all the while unleashing a flood of Immortal energy that held down more than half of Jin Tianya’s power, contending with him to the very end.

“No, no, I won’t… It shouldn’t be like this!!!” Jin Tianya screamed.

He cried out in indignation, sensing that the end was near.

But no matter how he struggled, the attacks of two Immortals and the lightning running wild in his body meant that he could only despair.

Finally, his cries died away.

He slowly dropped his hands.

The lightning ceased, and the flames went out.

A calm descended over the battlefield.

Jin Tianya stopped struggling.

He dropped his head and died.

The only ones left were a white-haired old lady and a human-shaped piece of charcoal.