Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 461: Climbing the Mountain

Zhao Hui laughed. “It naturally has fiends. If there were no fiends, how would we get these spirit fields?”

Tang Jie now remembered that spirit plants needed nutrients. The Nine Executions Immortal Formation had that ancient battlefield as its foundation. The numerous spirits and ghosts it nurtured were for creating a cycle. The Water Moon Paradise naturally couldn’t be free of this requirement.

But ignorant fiends wouldn’t obey orders. It was inevitable that they would run over to cause trouble, at which point the Agriculture Hall disciples would need to drive them away.

In truth, it wasn’t like there was no way to deal with the fiends. However, it wasn’t good to have disciples spending a long time in the paradise with nothing to do. The Agriculture Hall disciples were also disciples, and they needed to be honed in battle. Thus, the fiends were kept around so that the Agriculture Hall disciples could hone themselves and also earn a little extra income.

Zhao Hui said, “Most of the fiends on this mountain are meant to live alongside the spirit plants, so they’re mostly naughty things who can’t do much harm. If Junior Brother encounters any of them, please be merciful and don’t kill them all. But there is one fiend that Junior Brother can kill without any problem.”

“Please tell me what it is.”

Zhao Hui told him of a fiend called the Reaping Wind Snake.

This was a kind of fiend that liked to gather in groups. They were fast as lightning, ate spirit plants, and would attack people. They had cruel natures, and the Agriculture Hall had even lost disciples to them. Rather than being something brought in by the Basking Moon Sect, they were fiends born from this unique environment that couldn’t be found outside. As they were born from the spiritual energy of the paradise, they were impossible to completely kill off. Not even a Violet Palace Titan could do it. As time passed, it was eventually decided to leave them to the Agriculture Hall to deal with, to serve as their daily homework.

The disciples who entered the Water Moon Paradise to summit the mountain also couldn’t avoid this trial.

“I see. Might I ask how one deals with these fiends?” Tang Jie asked. The Agriculture Hall disciples had fought against the Reaping Wind Snakes for a long time, so they were probably more familiar with the ways to deal with them.

Zhao Hui replied, “These fiends primarily rely on their speed, numbers, and small bodies. They gather in groups as thick as the fog, and when they attack, they’ll drill into the body and start eating you from the inside out, wicked things. On the 200-meter level, there is a spirit plant called the Fragrant Store Grass. It can reduce the Reaping Wind Snakes’ interest in your flesh. While you’ll still be attacked, it won’t be as intense. If you get to 200 meters, you have to get a stalk of Fragrant Store Grass. But this fiend is primarily found in the higher altitudes. If Junior Brother is not confident in reaching 500 meters or higher, it would be best to not take it.”

“Thank you for the advice.” Tang Jie opened his Mustard Seed Bag and took out a bottle of medicine. He threw it toward Zhao Hui and said, “A small gift. There’s no need to take it seriously.”

Zhao Hui looked at the bottle and shuddered. “Nine Revolutions Water Cloud Pills!”

This was one of the Seven Absolutions Sect’s special Nine Revolutions pills. It targeted the kidney, and Tang Jie had gotten it by trading the Whitefiend Lotus.

After completing Nine Revolutions, he had not used up all his medicines. He had one bottle of Nine Revolutions Water Cloud Pills left, but he had no use for it.

Zhao Hui cultivated the Kidney Meridian, and he was in the middle of Nine Revolutions. The Water Cloud Pill would be an enormous boon to him, which was why Zhao Hui was so excited.

These pills were far too important for him.

He didn’t know how Tang Jie had been able to tell what mantra he cultivated, but he gratefully bowed and said, “Junior Brother, thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” Tang Jie then took out a stack of talismans and tossed them into the air. They flew through the air and landed in the hands of the Agriculture Hall disciples. Everyone looked and saw that they were Minor Raincloth Talismans.

A Minor Raincloth Talisman could be used to move clouds to water the soil. As Agriculture Hall disciples planted and tended to plants year-round, most of them could cast the Minor Raincloth spell. The costs would be too extravagant otherwise.

The value of these talismans was much less than the Nine Revolutions Water Cloud Pills. At most, it could save everyone a little energy and end their work a little earlier. But it showed consideration for everyone, raising their opinion of Tang Jie, and all of them expressed their thanks.

Tang Jie continued to rest.

After all this, he trusted that the Agriculture Hall disciples had no objections about him, and that they would be happy to tell him about any new developments or things to look out for.

After resting for a while, Tang Jie continued up the mountain.

The moment he took his first step past the 50-meter elevation stele, Tang Jie felt his body grow heavier. The power exerted was at least double that of before.

As expected, 50 meters was a threshold. The farther he went, the more difficult things would become.

Everyone said that the first 100 meters were easy, but at Tang Jie’s current strength, the second 50 meters was already very draining.

For the first 50 meters, Tang Jie had needed to rest every ten steps, but in the second 50 meters, Tang Jie had to sit down and rest for a while after every five steps.

On the last 20 meters, Tang Jie essentially used up all his strength after two to three steps.

This made his climb up the mountain particularly difficult. It was only when the lights in the sky of the Water Moon Paradise began to dim, signifying that night was coming, that Tang Jie managed to reach the second elevation stele. By this time, he was panting for breath, his body utterly drained of strength.

As he sat in front of the stele and greedily drank in the air, Zhao Hui and the other Agriculture Hall disciples gathered around him and clapped. “Junior Brother, congratulations! That you were able to reach 100 meters on the first day means that there is bound to be a seat for Junior Brother on the Terrace of Heroes at 500 meters.”

The Terrace of Heroes was a stone platform 500 meters up the mountain. The disciples able to reach this place would often leave behind their name, cultivation realm, and the time they took to get there.

It also often served as the dividing line between the elites and the mediocre. Only people who carved their names at 500 meters were acknowledged as elites.

It was said that Ming Yekong, Yan Changfeng, and Feng Hongluan—pillars of the Basking Moon Sect—had all reached the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes.

There were also minor benchmarks, like getting to 100 meters on the first day. These were not recorded and used only for reference. It was for this reason that Zhao Hui and the others didn’t think that it was a problem for Tang Jie to reach the Terrace of Heroes.

Tang Jie smiled and shook his head. “100 meters was already this difficult. I can’t even tell how difficult the rest will be. Right, now that I’ve reached 100 meters, according to the rules, I can pick a spirit plant, right?”

“Naturally,” Zhao Hui replied. “Junior Brother Tang only has to tell us what you need and I will select the finest spirit plant for you.”

The thousand-year fields of the Water Moon Paradise were all tended to by the Agriculture Hall disciples, and these spirit plants were divided according to quality. Tang Jie had been generous with his rewards and polite with his words, so the Agriculture Hall disciples would naturally choose the best for him.

Tang Jie thought it over and said, “Then I’ll take the South Prosper Seed.”

Zhao Hui smiled. “The South Prosper Seed soothes the mind and composes the soul, but it doesn’t restore blood energy. It is good for charging at a cultivation realm but not good for the immediate situation. It seems that Junior Brother seeks this plant to achieve great things. Please wait a moment. I will personally go and pick one for you.”

Zhao Hui left, returning a little while later with a yam-like plant, freshly pulled from the soil. This was the South Prosper Seed Tang Jie needed.

It seemed ordinary, but this was because all of its essence was concentrated inside it. Thus, evaluating its quality was very simple: the bigger, the better.

A normal South Prosper Seed was the size of a date seed, hence the name, but the one in Zhao Hui’s hand was the size of a potato, indicating that it was extraordinary.

Zhao Hui said, “An 1800-year South Prosper Seed with no blemishes. Junior Brother, congratulations.”

An Agriculture Hall disciple shouted, “Several years ago, there was a kid who entered the Water Moon Paradise who was so stuck-up that his nose was almost touching the sky. He took a day and a half to reach 100 meters, and he also asked for a South Prosper Seed, even saying that it had to be at least 1800 years old and that he wouldn’t spare us if it was any less.”

Another person continued, “And then we found him one that was even bigger than this.”

“But it had been eaten up by bugs.”

“It was empty inside!”

“That kid was so angry he turned green in the face.”

“In the end, he went scurrying off before he could even reach 300 meters.”

“Hahahaha!”

The disciples bounced their words off each other, all of them laughing.

Tang Jie couldn’t help but shake his head and bitterly smile. Taking the South Prosper Seed, he repeatedly voiced his thanks.

The Agriculture Hall’s people were now off from work, so they couldn’t stay for long. One by one, they bid farewell to Tang Jie.

Tang Jie ended up being the only person left in the Water Moon Paradise.

Looking at that lonely mountain and the empty fields, Tang Jie couldn’t help but sigh.

He did not continue to climb upward. He sat down and began to meditate and recuperate.

The daytime was the time to boldly ascend.

Night was time for cultivation.

This mountain grew more difficult to climb the farther one went. If he relied only on his own efforts, he could spend one hundred years and still not reach the summit.

The people who could truly reach the top of the mountain, other than those of mighty will and sturdy constitution, were those who improved themselves during their ascent.

The formation set down in the Water Moon Paradise would adjust its power according to the strength of each person that entered. Whether one was at Violet Palace or at Mortal Shedding, they would all face the same difficulties at the beginning. The stronger one was, the greater the power one would encounter. The only thing that differed was the adjustments made for one’s will and physical strength.

But regardless of the arrangements made, there was one thing for certain: the obstructive force set down by the formation was extremely powerful, so powerful that it was basically impossible to reach 500 meters.

This was where the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes came from.

The only way of breaking this limit was to increase one’s strength.

This was because, once the formation decided how much power to use, it would not change again until the challenger left.

In this period, improving oneself became key to reaching the summit.

This was the main objective of the Water Moon Paradise.

The challenge was originally impossible to overcome, so one had to challenge one’s limits and overcome oneself.

This was exactly why the spirit plants chosen every one hundred meters were extremely important to the challenger, for this was the sole resource they had for strengthening themselves.

Tang Jie had wanted to enter the Water Moon Paradise before Cognitive Creation precisely for this purpose.

If he could achieve Cognitive Creation within the Water Moon Paradise, it would not only be hugely beneficial to him, it would also be able to assist him greatly in his climb up Water Moon Peak.

Tang Jie settled into meditation, focusing his mind as he made his first official attempt at Cognitive Creation.

Cognitive Creation meant opening the Sea of Cognition.

The Sea of Cognition was the mind space.

Everyone had a mind space, but it did not have a physical existence.

To be more precise, before Cognitive Creation, everyone could think, so one could say that they all had a Sea of Cognition, but this existence was purely on the mental level. It was not a physical, observable existence.

Only when one entered Cognitive Creation and opened the Sea of Cognition would the sea become a real sea, visible to the eyes.

The three tiers of Mortal Shedding—Hundred Refinement, Nine Revolutions, and Cognitive Creation—represented respectively the body, heart, and will. The body shed its mortality, the organs became infused with spirit, and the will was given substance.

From this division, one could see that this was a process that started on the outside and worked inward, that went from real to illusory, and then from illusory to real.

The body shedding mortality was the easiest part. After Hundred Refinement, the mortal body would become a spiritual one.

The spiritual infusion of the internal organs came second. It was called a spiritual infusion because the Nine Revolutions Period did not spiritualize the organs, only infused them with spiritual energy. This was why Nine Revolutions cultivators could heal from injuries to their internal organs but couldn’t regrow them if they were annihilated. They had yet to become spirit organs in the true sense.

And things were even more different at Cognitive Creation.

Even successfully opening the Sea of Cognition could not be considered a spiritual infusion. This was something that only happened when moving from Celestial Heart to Violet Palace.

Even so, Cognitive Creation was several times more difficult than Nine Revolutions. This was a minor checkpoint that carried a risk of failure.

The risk of failure wasn’t just failure at achieving a breakthrough, but also backlash from the failure, which carried an entirely different meaning. Although there was little chance of death from failing Cognitive Creation, one failure would deal significant damage to the soul.

If the soul were damaged too severely, one’s potential would be exhausted, one’s path forward severed.

This was why it was said that the Immortal path was rife with challenge. It was no mere joke. Everyone knew that they couldn’t let their path get narrower and narrower, but nobody could control their own path. For instance, right now, even Tang Jie wasn’t sure that he would succeed at Cognitive Creation.

And if he failed, his future path was bound to get narrower.

Tang Jie sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands on his knees as his will sank toward the Celestial Pass in the sea of his mind.

The Celestial Pass was the point of creation for the Sea of Cognition.

This place was like an empty void, with nothing to be seen but gloom.

For the ordinary person attempting Cognitive Creation, what needed to be done was actually very simple. They just needed to gather their will together and use it to control spiritual energy and open up a space that could fit their will. This would be the Sea of Cognition. When this step was complete, the will would no longer be a simple will, but something given form by spiritual energy, the Spirit Will.

In this process, a cultivator needed to be careful, for the creation of the Sea of Cognition was done by directly linking to the soul. Carelessness would lead to a backlash.

Even though the chance of this kind of backlash wasn’t high once one familiarized oneself with the process, there were many examples of failed Cognitive Creation every year, with some people even being rendered idiots by the backlash.

Putting aside the extreme examples, the thought of the damage to the soul possibly leading to a narrowed path and diminished potential still exerted an enormous pressure on Tang Jie.

He knew every word of the breakthrough mantra and could recite it back to front. All of the preparation work had been done long ago, but now that he was about to start, Tang Jie started to worry about the losses, and found it difficult to gather his resolve.

What if I fail?

What if I fail?

What if I fail?

The voice echoed in his mind like a Heart Demon, throwing his mind into turmoil.

The mantra for gathering the will was stopped at the final moment as he hesitated about taking that final step.Finally, after a long while, Tang Jie sighed and loosened his hands.

He gave up on the charge.

He was no longer in the right mental state for charging at Cognitive Creation. If he forced it, his chance of failure wouldn’t be 20%, but 100%.

At this moment, Tang Jie finally understood what those peak Celestial Heart cultivators felt when facing the Violet Palace Realm.

Many of them had reached the point where they could make that charge, but they tarried at that realm. This wasn’t because they lacked the ability, but because they were afraid.

The moment one became afraid, failure became inevitable.

This was exactly why people as powerful as Feng Hongluan and Yan Changfeng still didn’t dare to make the charge at Violet Palace.

In comparison, Ming Yekong’s daring and resolve to charge at Violet Palace seemed all the more valuable.

It was no wonder that, despite all the heroes of the world, there were so few Violet Palace True Lords. After all, most people were afraid of death.

But he had had countless close shaves with death and could no longer be considered someone afraid of death.

If he wasn’t even afraid of death, why did he fear such minor setbacks and failures?

Tang Jie was unable to find the answer, so he began to ponder the question.

After a while, he suddenly threw his head back and laughed. “I see! What I fear isn’t death, but a lack of hope!”

For Tang Jie, death was not something to be afraid of. Ever since he swore an oath to destroy Godhead Palace, he knew that only one of them would come out of this alive. This was exactly why he had thought of every method possible to deal with Godhead Palace, even risking exposing himself once more.

But to live without hope was even worse than death for him.

Damage to the soul would cause his potential to fall and his path to narrow. For others, this was only a small loss, but for him, it was something that could sever any hope he had.

This was particularly true right now, with his two bodies and one soul. He had two lives to use, but he still had only one soul.

For him, the original body and the avatar were like his right and left hands. There was no difference between them.

This was why he feared injury to the soul more than injury to the body.

“Since a lack of hope is something I fear even more than death, I understand how to proceed.” Tang Jie’s eyes flashed.

He gazed up at the summit of Water Moon Peak, a smile in his eyes.

He stopped cultivating and continued to make his way up the mountain.

He had a new solution.

Uh oh, it looks like Tang Jie is about to abuse his avatar again.