Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 352: Heavenly Blades in the Clouds

Upon returning from his trip, Tang Jie went to the Wu home.

In the following days, he didn’t go out very much, spending every day with the Wu couple and doing his utmost to fulfill his duty as their son.

Occasionally, the lady would send someone to invite him to a meal, and Tang Jie would accept. When he was free, he would also spar with the Spirit Masters of the Wei Estate. While these Spirit Masters had average strength, in their younger years, they had traveled the world. In interacting with them, Tang Jie heard about things that he wasn’t able to hear about back at the academy.

Ten-some days quickly went by, and Tang Jie calculated that it was about time to head to Mount Eternal.

Although he was reluctant to leave, Tang Jie ultimately bid farewell to the Wei Estate and his parents. As for Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, they stayed at the Wei Estate. After all, the mission was simple and didn’t require them to go. But Tang Jie also left Yiyi with Wei Tianchong so that Yiyi could contact him if anything happened.

After leaving the Wei Estate, Tang Jie flew on the little tiger to Mount Eternal.

After around half a day, Tang Jie arrived at a mountain. From its steep sides and beautiful scenery, he knew that this was Mount Eternal.

Mount Eternal was the second most famous mountain range of Ling Province. The mountain range covered an area of around one thousand square kilometers. It extended from north to south and had more than one hundred peaks. Of these, forty-six had a name, with the primary peak being known as Glory Peak, at a height of nearly four thousand meters. Not far from the main peak was another peak called Stone Gate Peak. This was the base of the Stone Gate Sect, which had discovered the ore vein.

At Mount Eternal, before heading to the Stone Gate Sect, Tang Jie dropped by the local branch hall.

The Basking Moon Sect’s branch hall was located in a small village at the base of the mountains. Its remote location meant that this hall was much smaller than those in the big cities, and the personnel consisted of one steward, two disciples, and four servants. It was primarily for receiving guests and supervising affairs.

The steward Spirit Master was called Zhang Taixu, a cultivator at the Hundred Refinement Period. He was in his old age, his hair completely white. When Zhang Taixu learned that Tang Jie had arrived, he personally came out to welcome him. Once Tang Jie told him that he had come about the ore vein, he led Tang Jie to Stone Gate Peak.

At Stone Gate Peak, Zhang Taixu landed at the foot of the mountain and said, “This peak is protected by the Stone Gate Sect’s protective formation, so flying is not permitted. We must notify the sect and then walk our way up the mountain, but this is not intended as any sort of disrespect to my Basking Moon Sect.”

Tang Jie nodded. “I see.”

All sects had their protective formations. They were like the city walls of old or border walls, keeping enemies out. It was no easy task to set up these protective formations, so they had powerful functions while being extremely costly and time-consuming to set up. As they were connected to the welfare of the sect, they were also reinforced and upgraded over the years. Thus, to see how powerful a sect was, other than looking at their blessed lands or paradises, one could also look at their protective formation.

Thus, Tang Jie didn’t mind that the Stone Gate Sect’s protective formation prevented flight.

The receiving disciple of the Stone Gate Sect at the base of the mountain saw that the Basking Moon Sect’s people had come, so he quickly opened up the formation and led the two of them inside.

As Tang Jie made his way up the mountain path, he saw all sorts of strange herbs and grasses blooming, and Immortal cranes could be seen flying about. Stone Gate Peak was a lofty mountain cloaked in green and awash with all kinds of phenomena, giving off the aura of an Immortal abode. He couldn’t help but sigh in praise, “It’s a pretty nice place.”

The guiding disciple smiled in reply. “It is only a small place on the border. Please forgive us for making you see such a laughable sight.”

Tang Jie replied, “Though it’s a small place, it has an imposing aura. It looks to me like this mountain is half-concealed, seemingly open but actually closed. I can see manifestations of the Jade Court’s Heavenly Blades, so this should be the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, which is quite appropriate for a sect called Stone Gate.”

The receiving disciple quickly said, “Honored Emissary truly possesses sharp eyes. It really is the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation.”

This was a Grade 7 formation that excelled at keeping enemies out. It started off as an extremely powerful formation, and considering that the Stone Gate Sect had been constantly pouring resources into it for several hundred years, it had only grown more powerful.

The stone steps Tang Jie’s group was walking up were the anterior part of the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, called the Jade Court, and it was the strongest point of the formation. Flashing lights could be seen flowing across the steps, and by activating his Celestial Eye a little, Tang Jie was able to see that sharp blades were concealed among the clouds. These were the Heavenly Vortex Blades. They appeared like guillotines suspended in the air, their sharp edges pointed downwards. They had no handles, only two thin chains that led into the clouds. If an enemy tried to force their way through the formation, these blades would drop, and these were not ordinary attacks, but weapons capable of killing True Persons. If someone just tried to barge their way in, even a True Lord might be sliced into little chunks.

These were the Jade Court’s Heavenly Blades, a powerful attack that could even kill True Immortals.

For Tang Jie, this was truly a learning opportunity. It was very rare for one to get an opportunity to enter an unguarded formation. As he walked through it, his thoughts began to extend into his surroundings.

Those blades in the clouds were particularly inspirational for Tang Jie. As his mind floated among the clouds and examined the Heavenly Vortex Blades, they did not appear like blades, but as countless complex designs made from spiritual energy, each one inscribed with the principles of the world.

Tang Jie almost lost himself in these designs, and his mind rapidly worked as it tried to deconstruct the mysteries behind all of this.

This was the power of Wisdom. It could deconstruct the laws of the world and the composition of secret arts. It was just that he had never really tapped into the power of this deconstruction ability, as it was no easy task.

He hadn’t expected to come across an opportunity like this today. He had originally just wanted to comprehend the secrets of the formation, but this caused the Wisdom within him to go to work and start deconstructing those blades suspended in the heavens, leaving him very surprised.

But there was no time for him to be emotional, surprised, or shocked.

In front of him, the curtain over a vast and mysterious world was slowly being lifted.

Tang Jie absorbed these secrets like he was starving and thirsty. Bit by bit, as the secrets of the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation opened up to him, he absorbed and mastered them, leaving almost nothing out.

Just like that, the secrets behind the formation that had protected the Stone Gate Sect for centuries were revealed, absorbed, and digested by Tang Jie.

And this still wasn’t enough!

For Tang Jie, there was nothing special about comprehending the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation. After all, he had already gotten some basic understanding of this formation through Xu Muyang’s formation treatise, which was what allowed him to comprehend it so quickly.

What truly interested him was the construction of the Jade Court’s Heavenly Blades.

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Those powerful guillotine blades suspended in the air, and those thin chains that extended into the heavens—what would happen if he could cast a spell art like this?

This wasn’t some unrealistic fantasy. Everyone knew that formations were actually just methods for using the world as a vessel to cast spell arts. While formations were somewhat less flexible in their usage and had higher costs, as they were free from the limitations of the human body, they were also more powerful.

This was precisely why spell arts that a formation could use could also be used by cultivators, so long as one could find the correct method.

For example, the Heavenly King Mara Incantation had actually been born from the Heavenly King Mara Formation. This formation was a famous Grade 7 formation. Anyone who intruded on this formation would come under attack by the formation, and the formation’s attacks would take the form of none other than the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, though the power would be even fiercer. Later on, someone had been inspired by the formation and researched the structure of the formation to ultimately develop the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.

One could also have a spell art and then have the formation.

Tang Jie acted on this sudden inspiration, his mind surging toward those heavenly blades in the clouds. The majority of his focus was placed here, only a small part of his mind left in his body to control it, but not enough to say a single word. The guiding disciple had hoped to get on Tang Jie’s good side in this time, but found him completely unresponsive.

There were 81 Heavenly Vortex Blades in the clouds, exactly nine times nine.

For Tang Jie’s purposes, he only needed to deconstruct one. The rest were just an exercise in repetition.

He focused all of his mind on deconstructing the composition of the Heavenly Vortex Blade. That enormous number of thin spiritual lines and that complex design were like countless spirits whispering into his ear, leaving Tang Jie dizzy and his head feeling swollen. But he pressed on, analyzing, memorizing, digesting, and comprehending the meaning behind their existence.

He needed to not only comprehend them, but also evolve them into a spell art that he could use.

This was no simple process. Even a Celestial Heart expert would need several years or even several decades to turn an offensive formation into a spell art, and this was on top of the needed perception.

But with the deductive power of reason, Tang Jie was able to greatly shorten this process. If one were able to see what he was seeing, one would see scenes rapidly flying past his eyes like flowing water, and while a bystander might not be able to make out anything, Tang Jie was able to memorize it all and rapidly calculate.

“Mmph,” Tang Jie grunted. The burden from the numerous calculations caused him to bleed from his nose, so he decided to just stop moving.

“Sir Emissary!” The guiding disciple saw that something was wrong and cried out in alarm.

Zhang Taixu stopped him. He had abundant experience and knew that Tang Jie was in some sort of enlightenment state. He couldn’t but sigh in praise, “As expected of someone given a recommendation placard by Master Ming, achieving enlightenment as easily as one might eat a meal.”

The guiding disciple was dumbfounded and looked at Tang Jie like he was seeing a ghost. And what would he think if he knew that Tang Jie was comprehending the Stone Gate Sect’s supreme Jade Court’s Heavenly Blades?

Tang Jie’s distant mind was currently in the tensest phase.

A single Heavenly Vortex Blade was made of 1312 individual patterns. If one removed the identical designs, there were 456 left. Tang Jie didn’t need to just memorize these designs, but remember how they were put together and what function they served. Moreover, he ultimately needed to modify them so that he could cast the spell art on his own.

While Tang Jie could memorize everything and go back to slowly study them, it wasn’t like he could memorize everything forever. Tang Jie could feel a very strange will as he floated among the clouds.

It was precisely this will that had allowed Tang Jie to enter this state and deconstruct the Jade Court’s Heavenly Blades, and it was precisely this will that allowed him to so quickly achieve breakthroughs and find what he needed to find. If he left this environment, it would probably take him years to achieve his current results.

Thus, Tang Jie didn’t let up, continuing to keep his mind in the clouds.

Finally, something seemed to open up in his mind, and he understood many things which had previously been incomprehensible. An impulse welled up, an energy spreading throughout his entire body, and Tang Jie itched to test his abilities.

But he knew that this wasn’t the time. There was still one last thing to be done.

His mind extended outward, once more taking in the entirety of the Jade Court. Tang Jie memorized how the 81 Heavenly Vortex Blades were organized.

Compared to the individual structure of each blade, the 81 blades had a much simpler arrangement. With a single glance, Tang Jie completely grasped the structure of the Jade Court’s Heavenly Blades.

As he was comprehending it all, an ancient and dignified energy erupted from the clouds.

Tang Jie knew that this was created from the knowledge the Stone Gate Sect had accumulated over the centuries. As his mind floated amidst this energy, he felt like he could sense the will of this sect’s ancestors.

Under the influence of this will, the floating blades shook and clashed against each other, ringing out like wind chimes.

“This is…” The guiding disciple and Zhang Taixu raised their heads in shock.

“Celestial music to welcome the guest… truly an honored emissary of a great sect, able to casually walk in the Jade Court and comprehend the Dao. Congratulations!”

As this voice rang out, a party descended from the summit of Stone Gate Peak, their leader a man with a purplish skin tone and long whiskers, exuding the aura of an Immortal.

Zhang Taixu whispered to Tang Jie, “This is Sect Master Qiu Shuyu.”

Tang Jie quickly brought his hands together in front of him. “Basking Moon Disciple Tang Jie pays respects to True Person Qiu.”

Although he was an emissary from the Basking Moon Sect, the other party was a Celestial Heart True Person who commanded a sect. His status was undoubtedly higher than Tang Jie’s, so he did not dare to be impolite.

Someone of Qiu Shuyu’s status had no need to welcome Tang Jie, but he knew when Tang Jie had arrived at the base of the mountain and had wondered what was taking him so long. When he used a spell art to check what was going on, he discovered that Tang Jie was comprehending the Dao in the middle of his sect, so he had rushed out. But before he had even seen Tang Jie, he had heard celestial music, indicating that the ancient will slumbering in the formation had acknowledged Tang Jie. Thus, Qiu Shuyu did not dare to be negligent.

Upon hearing Tang Jie state his name, Qiu Shuyu replied, “So it was Fierce Tiger Tang Jie, the one even Celestial Chief Ming has taken a liking to. It is no wonder you are so outstanding.”

As they were both at Celestial Heart, Qiu Shuyu found it more respectful to call Ming Yekong “Celestial Chief” rather than “True Person”.

Tang Jie replied, “This lowly one was rude and lost himself in the delight of comprehending the art of the Jade Court. Please forgive me for my discourtesy.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Qiu Shuyu laughed. “Sure enough, talents are emerging from the cultivation world with every generation, and there has never been a lack of geniuses. A few years ago, Bei Canghan appeared in the Basking Moon Sect, and I thought that he would be the leader of the students that joined the academy within the last ten years, but now there is a Tang Jie! For a genius junior like this, this old man is only too happy to make your acquaintance.”

He grabbed Tang Jie’s hand, seemingly very happy. But the people around him seemed rather displeased.

A tall and thin young man with a hawkish nose bluntly said, “Young Master Tang, what art were you comprehending just now?”

There was a critical tone to his question.

Tang Jie was startled, and Qiu Shuyu introduced, “This is my third junior brother, Shi Jingzhai.”

He pointed at a rather white and plump man who occasionally wiped sweat off his face with a handkerchief and a pink-clothed beauty with black eyebrows and said, “These two are my second junior brother, Liang Xingbang, and my fourth junior sister, Yu Wanniang.”

Tang Jie bowed and said, “So it is the Wind Return True Person, the Deep Earth Reverend, and the Jewel Madame. Tang Jie pays his respects.”

He had already heard about the Stone Gate Sect from Zhang Taixu. He knew that there were four power holders in the sect. Qiu Shuyu was the Great Brother and called the Mountain Water True Person, and the other three were these people before him.

Shi Jingzhai, the one who had questioned him, was different from the others, for he was the son of the Stone Gate Sect’s previous sect master. Before this, the Stone Gate Sect had been passed down from the Shi (Stone) Clan from generation to generation, but in this generation, the previous sect master had handed the sect to Qiu Shuyu. Even so, Shi Jingzhai still had an extremely high status in the sect.

Tang Jie pondered his answer and replied, “This one has a fondness for formations, so upon entering the Jade Gate Heaven Seal, this one felt something and thus managed to greatly improve this one’s comprehension of the Dao of Formations.”

“You’re lying!” Shi Jingzhai barked. “Only comprehending formations would not invite the celestial music. You must have learned some of the secrets of my sect’s Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation!”

“Jingzhai, be silent!” Qiu Shuyu roared. “You cannot be rude to the emissary!”

Liang Xingbang snorted, “Even emissaries cannot casually steal the secret arts of my sect, no? Moreover, Young Master Tang only came to ask about the ore vein. He is far from an official emissary.”

Tang Jie frowned. “I admit that I did learn some things from the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, but I was only comprehending through comparison and did not truly solve some vital secret. Since the Stone Gate Sect has opened the door, it naturally cannot blame others for this conduct. Why is it that the Stone Gate Sect is charging and keeping secrets for things that are out in the open?”

Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang both froze, unable to retort.

Tang Jie was right. It wasn’t like he had stolen into the Stone Gate Sect’s library. He was just comprehending what he had seen around the entrance. Over the tens of thousands of years of the cultivation world’s existence, it had developed a system of rules, and a situation like Tang Jie’s was not considered to be stealing secrets. As for those Heavenly Blades, though he had relied on the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation to comprehend them, even the Stone Gate Sect didn’t have such a spell art, so how could it be considered stealing?

Of course, it was no lie that Tang Jie had benefited, so to be polite, he naturally had to give something to show his gratitude. This had been his intent, but Shi Jingzhai’s questioning had displeased him.

He was just about to say something when he suddenly sensed something and turned to the silent Jewel Madame, Yu Wanniang. There seemed to be something in her hand, which flashed for the briefest of moments.

Yu Wanniang saw that she was looking at him and warmly smiled, and to be honest, her smile was quite enchanting.

Tang Jie put the matter aside and said, “Of course, I did gain something from the Stone Gate Sect, so Tang Jie is willing to show his gratitude. How does five thousand spirit coins as a thank-you gift sound?”

Shi Jingzhai sneered, “Five thousand coins? Young Master Tang, what do you take my Stone Gate Sect to be? Are you giving alms to a beggar?”

Tang Jie coldly replied, “Five thousand coins is not a lot for a sect, but for me as an individual, five thousand coins is the limit of what I can give. In truth, even this amount of money is something that I will have to wait a few days to pay.”

“Haha!” Shi Jingzhai laughed. “You need to put a measly five thousand coins on a tab! Tang Jie, it seems like I should give you five thousand coins so that you can leave.”

“Jingzhai, shut your mouth!” Qiu Shuyu roared. He quickly said to Tang Jie, “Young Master Tang, please don’t take this to heart. My junior brother has always had problems with his temper, and he never knows how to talk. It is precisely for this reason that Master gave me the position of Sect Master.”

Shi Jingzhai’s eyes flashed with rage.

Tang Jie chuckled. “It’s fine. I gained from the Stone Gate Sect, but I refuse to express my gratitude. It is only natural for True Person Shi to be unhappy.”

Shi Jingzhai grunted, but since Tang Jie had been humble throughout, he finally fell silent.

Just a nice happy little sect out in the boonies, nothing happening here…