Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 358: Clan Extermination

Upon waking, Tang Jie found himself in an elegant little room.

He was lying on a bed carved from fragrant wood, his body covered in a large red blanket of silk. On one wall was a masterful painting while on the other was an exquisite bookshelf. A dark green curtain had been hung over the opening leading to the veranda, and two slender figures could faintly be seen standing behind the curtain.

Tang Jie sat up. The two maids behind the curtain saw that there was movement inside, so they raised the curtain and entered. Bowing to Tang Jie, they said, “Young Sir, you’re awake.”

Rubbing his face, Tang Jie said, “I seem to have drunk too much last night.”

One of the maids covered her mouth and chuckled. “Yes. Young Sir was very intoxicated last night, and it was with great difficulty that the two of us managed to bring you back.”

“Is that so? My thanks.”

The maid shot Tang Jie a charming glance and then grumbled, “Is a ‘thanks’ all we get? That wasn’t what Young Sir said last night.”

Tang Jie was startled. “‘Last night’? What did I say?”

The maid lowered her head and answered, “Last night, Young Sir’s hands were not exactly obedient…”

The other maid chuckled.

Tang Jie was taken aback as he thought to himself, What beastly thing did I do last night? But no matter how he racked his brains, his thoughts came up empty, and he couldn’t think of what he had done.

At this moment, the memories from his original body arrived, and yesterday’s scenes appeared before his eyes. The conversation between the four, their cheerful talk, and their schemes replayed themselves.

“I see…” Tang Jie muttered, a sharp light in his eyes.

The truth had been that simple and so easily come by. Tang Jie’s heart felt light.

As for that maid’s words, it was all nonsense. He had slept like the dead last night and hadn’t even touched the two maids. It was just that someone wanted to do a little social climbing and try their hand at seduction.

What a person in high places had to deal with the most wasn’t challenges, but temptations.

As a provisional disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie had limitless potential, and even Celestial Heart True Persons had to be polite when meeting him. These maids, even if they weren’t taken as the main wife and could only be his servants, would still experience a meteoric rise in status. Thus, so long as Tang Jie gave the nod, many beautiful women would throw themselves into his embrace.

Ignoring the two women, Tang Jie stood up and started putting on his clothes. “I don’t need you to attend on me right now. You’re dismissed.”

The two girls saw how callous he was and glared at him, but they had no choice but to retreat.

Tang Jie suddenly thought of something and shouted, “Wait.”

The two women turned around in glee. Tang Jie asked, “Where’s the servant that I brought with me?”

The two of them both appeared disappointed. One of them replied, “Young Sir Xi went down the mountain last night. He said that he was going to get his little sister and that he would be back by morning.”

“I see.” Tang Jie nodded and waved his hand. “Then you may go now.”

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Once the two women had left, Tang Jie finished putting on his clothes and left the room. He found that he was in a garden located behind the main temple of Stone Gate Peak. This place had a special environment and was elegantly arranged. It was probably an area the Stone Gate Sect used for feting guests.

He emerged from the small garden just in time to see the rise of the morning sun in the distance, shining off the clouds in a sea of fire. Together with the green mountains and the sea of clouds, it was truly a pleasing and relaxing sight.

On one side of Stone Gate Peak, a group of disciples were cultivating on a square in front of the Stone Gate Sect’s main temple.

These were all the most basic disciples, weaker than even most of the students of Basking Moon Academy. Thus, their cultivation method, rather than teaching each student to their ability, was mass cultivation. A middle-tier disciple stood at the very front, looking down on the people below and occasionally shouting. Rather than cultivating Immortality, it seemed more like they were cultivating martial arts.

On the back side of the mountain were large numbers of herb gardens and spirit grain fields. As a small sect in a remote mountain range, the Stone Gate Sect had few people. Thus, it had no subsidiary academy or any mortals to do labor for them. The spirit fields and herb gardens were the responsibility of the disciples to tend to.

Tang Jie didn’t want to disturb the disciples, so he decided to take a casual stroll on the back side of the mountain. While appreciating the natural scenery of Mount Eternal and seeing how the Stone Gate Sect worked its fields, he began to think about what he should do next.

The Stone Gate Sect’s corruption had been exposed, and the proper course of action was to report.

But there was a problem here: he didn’t have any evidence.

In the mine yesterday, Tang Jie thought that he could have found some, in the meantime increasing his observation abilities.

But after encountering the Earth Devil Ape, Tang Jie gave up on the idea.

This wasn’t because he thought that there was no problem with the Stone Gate Sect, but exactly the opposite. Because he knew that there was a problem, he could not keep investigating, for if he really found something, that would be the moment of his death. Tang Jie certainly didn’t want to discover a Celestial Heart True Person waiting for him when he found out where the sandworms really were. And if there really was a problem, then the true gathering place of the Crystallized Sandworms had probably been mined out already. It was precisely because it had been mined out that they had notified the Basking Moon Sect to come and check the mine. It was just that they hadn’t expected Xi Canhen to have accidentally obtained a piece of Crystallized Sandworm.

In other words, even if he found the place, he might not be able to turn up any evidence. And Xi Canhen’s piece alone could not serve as evidence.

Now that he thought about it, these old foxes were truly very cunning, leaving no openings in their plan. Even if he noticed something, he couldn’t do anything to them.

But if that was really the case, why were they still so nervous?

Tang Jie suddenly couldn’t understand it.

Logically, the Stone Gate Sect should have already readied everything and completely mined out the Crystallized Sandworms. There should have been no reason to worry about someone noticing anything. So why had they added on all these embellishments?

Tang Jie suddenly felt like he could see a little hope.

Everything that had happened before replayed in fast forward in his mind: Qiu Shuyu’s smiling face, Shi Jingzhai’s cold treatment, the danger in the mine, the cheerful looks on the four martial siblings of the Stone Gate Sect and their words…

“A mantra for advancing to Violet Palace?” Tang Jie muttered, mulling over these words.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

He suddenly understood.

He chuckled, “If this really is the case, then things are getting interesting. Hm, perhaps I still have a chance. But I first need to find an excuse to stay here…”

As he was thinking about an excuse, he heard Xi Canhen shouting in the distance, “Young Master, Young Master…”

Turning his head, he saw Xi Canhen running over to him, his face fraught with panic and fear.

“What happened? Didn’t you go to get your little sister?” Tang Jie asked.

Xi Canhen rushed up and kneeled in front of Tang Jie. “Young Master, hurry and save my little sister! The Jin Clan’s people took her away!”

“Hm?” Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. “You’re talking about that eldest son of the Jin Clan?”

“Yes! Just last night, that bastard came himself to seize my little sister.”

“He’s really impatient to impregnate her,” Tang Jie snorted. He hadn’t expected that Jin Clan young master to act before he had a chance to intervene.

But as he thought about it, he realized, Isn’t this the perfect excuse to stay here? Smiling, he said, “If that’s the case, what are we still waiting for?”

He grabbed Xi Canhen and went over to the mining area.

After flying for around half a day, Tang Jie and Xi Canhen arrived at a small village. This was the mining region’s Jubao (Gathering Jewels) Village. Originally, its name had been Baile (Hundred Joys) Village, but after the spirit stone vein was discovered, numerous miners immigrated to the region, causing this rather deserted village to thrive. Many merchants benefited from this influx, the Jin Clan being a classic example.

With their unreasonable power, they had bullied their rivals and dominated the market, which had riled up public discontent.

Upon arriving at the village, Tang Jie asked, “Do you know where the Jin Estate is?”

Xi Canhen replied, “It’s the largest house on the eastern side of the village.”

Tang Jie brought Xi Canhen over to the Jin Estate. Once he arrived at the gate, rather than announcing himself, he simply blasted through the gate with a single palm. He then shouted, “Jin Clan, all of you get out here and accept your death!”

A bunch of hired servants rushed out and shouted, “Who dares to cause trouble for the Jin Clan?”

Tang Jie sternly said, “Where is the girl your young master kidnapped?”

The servants saw that it was Xi Canhen and erupted in laughter. The steward leading them said, “So it was you again, kid! Your little sister is getting a higher status by being with my young master, so what are you so unhappy about? If you keep babbling, I’ll break your legs!”

The servants all erupted in laughter.

The laughter was still going when a sharp blast of wind from a palm struck the steward and instantly blasted him to pieces, sending blood splattering everywhere and leaving everyone dumbfounded.

“Scum!” Tang Jie coldly said.

Although he had said that there wouldn’t be a Jin Clan in the future, he actually hadn’t been planning to slaughter the entire clan. But now, it appeared that everyone in the Jin Clan, from the master all the way down to the servants, was a bad sort. Killing them all wouldn’t inflict any sort of psychological burden on him.

Eight years ago, Tang Jie wouldn’t have thought this way. At that time, he had firmly believed that even if someone had committed a crime, they shouldn’t be so easily executed but should be punished according to their crime.

But with Shi Mo’s death, he gradually began to understand that this seemingly thriving civilization actually acted on the principle that human lives were like grass.

Cultivators were the judges of this world, and they decided the lives of others based on what they felt, not on any sort of reason or law. So long as there was a convincing excuse, even exterminating an entire clan wouldn’t be particularly noteworthy. As for punishing according to the crime, cultivators did not consider these problems. For them, it was already quite amazing that they were willing to carry out justice.

Nobody went through the hardships of cultivation just so they could uphold the laws!

Countless thoughts passed through his mind at that moment. He cast his former pity, hesitation, and questioning to the side, caring not for what was right or wrong. All he cared about was that he had a clear conscience. This was the path of a cultivator.

There was no meaning to right or wrong. In different worlds, there were naturally different laws.

Upon comprehending this, he stopped showing mercy.

After slaying the steward, Tang Jie summoned the little tiger. “Bao’er, go. Today, you can kill as you please.”

The little tiger excitedly pounced out, and in a flash, the Jin Clan’s courtyard was turned into a slaughtering ground.

“Who dares to cause trouble in the Jin Estate?”

A blue-robed man rushed out from the back of the courtyard. It was none other than the Mortal Shedding Spirit Master retained by the Jin Clan.

The moment the man appeared, he saw the courtyard splattered with blood while a fiend tiger massacred everyone. In the middle of all of this, a young man was standing with his hands held behind his back. The blue-robed man was shaken.

The young man slightly turned his head to him, and his gaze seemed to pierce straight into his heart, causing the man to shiver.

He blurted out, “Sir, who are you?”

“The one who will take your life,” Tang Jie casually said.

The callous answer left the blue-robed man aghast. Just when he was about to move, the young man thrust a palm at him. The blue-robed man yelped and jumped, his hands forming signs. Before the attack struck, he barely managed to throw up a barrier.

A moment later, the energy palm slammed into his chest like a mountain, sending him flying. The barrier he had formed instantly shattered on impact.

The blue-robed man was terrified, knowing that this person who could shatter his barrier with one strike wasn’t someone he could go up against directly. Just when he was about to retreat, he saw that Tang Jie wasn’t chasing him, instead stopping and asking, “Where is the girl from the Xi family?”

The blue-robed man froze for a moment, and then he realized and saw a sliver of hope. He quickly said, “So Sir came for the girl! She is in the side house in the rear courtyard. If Sir wants her, then you may take her.”

He mentally cursed the young master of the Jin Clan for being an absolute fool, kidnapping people before he had figured out who was backing them. He didn’t know that the Jin young master had actually done his due diligence. It was just that Xi Canhen had only met Tang Jie yesterday, so the young master couldn’t possibly have known about him.

But to his surprise, Tang Jie replied, “In other words, you knew about your Young Master Jin raping village girls? So you’re an accomplice.”

The blue-robed man froze, getting a bad feeling from those words.

Tang Jie indifferently said, “If that’s the case, you can go die now.”

As he spoke, his saber flashed.

As his saber flashed, a gout of blood shot into the air.

Just like that, Tang Jie had easily slain a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master.

The Spirit Master had been one of the strongest in the Jin Clan, and his death threw the clan into panic. The Jin Clan people charging out saw the situation and took to their heels in fear. Tang Jie didn’t chase them, simply handing Xi Canhen the Heartbreak Saber and saying, “I’ll leave it to you.”

“Me?” Xi Canhen looked at Tang Jie and then looked at the saber in his hand. The Heartbreak Saber was an art relic soul weapon and had its own intelligence. Thus, unlike the Azure Light Sword, it would not crazily suck away at the user’s spiritual energy, but would change according to the user.

“Correct. The Immortal Path is dangerous, and no one can say who will live or die. Since you have decided to become an Immortal, you should start from killing people. In any case, the one who the Jin Clan offended was you, so it is best if you are the one who kills them.” Tang Jie called back the little tiger and had him keep guard over the area and prevent anyone from running.

Xi Canhen took in a deep breath and looked at the fleeing members of the Jin Clan. He recalled how these people had run rampant in the town and bullied everyone.

Yes, since it was his own grudge, he should be the one avenging himself.

At this thought, Xi Canhen roared and swung the Heartbreak Saber at one of these people. The Heartbreak Saber didn’t have the impressive strength it did when Tang Jie wielded it, only flashing with a weak light. But this light was enough to put it on par with the best of mortal weapons. As the saber struck the head of that servant, half of his head was sliced off, blood and brains gushing out and splattering on Xi Canhen’s face.

Xi Canhen was dumbfounded. He hadn’t been scared into dumbness when his life had been in danger yesterday, but cutting off the head of this servant had scared him witless.

At this moment, life seemed so insignificant. With just the wave of his hand, he had easily taken a person’s life.

Although this person deserved death, at the moment he took the man’s life, Xi Canhen felt hesitant, panicked, and even afraid.

“Scared? Lost your guts?” Tang Jie casually asked.

Xi Canhen turned to look at Tang Jie. Seeing how calm and assured he was, Xi Canhen gritted his teeth and said, “Young Master took vengeance for me, so how could this lowly one shrink back in fear? All of the Jin Clan’s people deserve death!”

He bellowed, and the light of the Heartbreak Saber grew stronger, unleashing a fiery flame.

Other than the blue-robed man, everyone else in this group from the Jin Estate was an ordinary person, and they stood no chance against the power of this art relic. Even a little spark was enough for them to explode in poisonous flames, their lives to be instantly devoured. Xi Canhen couldn’t help but be frightened.

But he clenched his teeth and continued forward, becoming like a god of death as he wielded the Heartbreak Saber.

Without the blue-robed man to stop him, the Jin Clan’s people were helpless against Xi Canhen. Even the stronger guards were too intimidated by Tang Jie to strike back, allowing Xi Canhen to easily cleave them in two. In the blink of an eye, Xi Canhen had created a river of blood in the Jin Clan’s courtyard.

“Jin Yue… Jin Changfu… Jin Haoyun… Jin Shisan!” Xi Canhen called out names as he strode through the Jin Estate, opening up rooms. With each person he saw, he gave a stab, and almost everyone of the Jin Clan died to his blade.

Bang!

Xi Canhen kicked open a door, and shrieks came from inside. It turned out that a group of women had been hiding in the room.

Xi Canhen was stunned when he saw that it was women. He wanted to swing his saber, but he ultimately couldn’t and said, “Scram!”

The women ran away as if they had been given a pardon.

He turned to Tang Jie, who shrugged. “This is your business.”

Though he said that he didn’t care, there was a hint of admiration in his eyes.

Only someone who could remain calm in the midst of rage, who understood what limits they shouldn’t go past, was someone that Tang Jie could admire and trust.

After getting Tang Jie’s approval, Xi Canhen rejoiced.

At this moment, a trembling old granny attempted to get past Xi Canhen, but Xi Canhen suddenly grabbed her and said, “You’re Jin Changfu’s mother, no? Your son, Jin Changfu, took a liking to the three acres of land owned by Old Man Geng of Xiaoyu Village, but he tried to buy it for only three taels of silver. Old Man Geng refused to sell, so your son sent people to break his legs and abandon him out in the wilderness, where he starved to death. His daughter came to seek justice, but when you met her, you said that it wasn’t your son that killed Old Man Geng, but that he had starved to death and that it was the will of the heavens, and after that, you even ordered someone to rape her. That night, the girl threw herself into a well and committed suicide, to which you only said, ‘That ruined a perfectly good well.'”

The old granny shuddered, shrieking, “It wasn’t me!”

“I won’t kill you,” Xi Canhen said.

The old granny sighed in relief, but then the blade flashed. There were no sparks, only four white streaks. The old granny’s four limbs were sliced off, and she collapsed in a pool of blood while wailing.

Xi Canhen said, “Young Master, please…”

Before he finished speaking, Tang Jie understood what he wanted. His fingers flew, and four streams of spiritual energy stopped the granny’s bleeding.

Xi Canhen callously said, “Just wait here to starve to death. This is the will of the heavens.”

At this moment, there was a thud as the door of the side house was kicked open.

Two people came out: a man and a woman. The girl was thirteen or fourteen, and though her face was not fully developed, one could already tell that she was a blooming beauty. The man had a knife to the girl’s throat.

“Sister!” Xi Canhen shouted, glaring at the man. “Jin Shaoqiu! If you dare to hurt my little sister, I’ll tear you to pieces!”

This Jin Shaoqiu was the one who had kidnapped his little sister.

Jin Shaoqiu gripped the knife and shouted, “Let me go, or else…”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a metallic clatter of chains.

Looking up, he saw that a handleless crescent blade suspended along two chains was dropping from the sky onto his head.

It sliced straight through his skull, cleaving him into a front half and back half in a shower of blood.

Tang Jie drew his hand back and casually finished, “Or else you’ll die for us to watch!”

Good, good, Xi Canhen, let the hate flow through you!