Novel Full Chapter 754: Testing
As the bell sounded, the doors to the Hall of Divine Conference opened.
Tang Jie stepped into the hall.
The hall had originally been empty, but the moment Tang Jie stepped in, five people appeared in the air.
These five people were seated in the air, their expressions casual and relaxed, but they exuded an immense majesty that merged together into a pressure that was heavier than any mountain, deeper than any sea, instilling reverence in all who looked upon them.
Tang Jie prostrated and said, “The unworthy disciple Tang Jie pays respects to his Teacher and Sect Master, to the Heavenly Sword True Lord, to the Mystic Moon True Lord, to the Nine Splendors True Lord, and to the Night Sky True Lord!”
“Rise,” the figure seated at the center, Sect Master Ling Xiao, said.
He raised his hand, and Tang Jie was forced to stand.
“Sit.” On Ling Xiao’s right, the Mystic Moon True Lord waved a sleeve, and a stone stool appeared in front of Tang Jie.
Tang Jie replied, “With the venerable seniors present, this disciple does not dare to sit.”
“He told you to sit, so sit!” On Ling Xiao’s left, Xiao Biehan bent a finger, and Tang Jie felt his knees go weak, and he found himself sitting down.
At the same time, Ming Yekong, who was next to Mystic Moon, opened his eyes, and the stool appeared behind Tang Jie, perfectly positioned as Tang Jie sat down.
Finally, the Nine Splendors True Lord waved his sleeve and said, “Tea!”
A cup of tea was created on the spot and flew into Tang Jie’s hand. Tang Jie reached out to take it, but the tea flew a circle around him and right to his mouth. Tang Jie tried to lean back to avoid it, but the tea gave chase. Completely out of instinct, Tang Jie lowered his head and rammed it at the cup, upon which the tea cup shattered, its contents splashing into the air and dissolving into motes of spiritual energy.
Tang Jie was stunned, and he prostrated once more. “This disciple recognizes his mistake. Just now, for some reason…”
“There was no mistake. I used an illusion to influence you,” Mystic Moon said.
Tang Jie was startled.
Ling Xiao asked, “How was it?”
Mystic Moon replied, “His Divine Soul is on the weak side. It’s true that it was injured.”
Xiao Biehan said, “He’s rather strong. I initially used 5% of my strength, but I couldn’t move him a bit. In order to avoid injuring him, I carefully adjusted the power, and I had to do it 18 times before he finally moved, essentially 30% of my full strength.”
It turned out that when bending his finger, Xiao Biehan had actually secretly applied force almost twenty times. Compared to this, the ability for Aurora and Silver Eyes to cast arts with a thought was an absolute joke.
Nine Splendors commented, “He’s at Soul Transformation, but not at the peak. However, his foundations are extremely solid, and they share some similarities to Junyang and the others, so it should be that mantra he obtained from that hidden realm. Otherwise, there is nothing unsatisfactory. All in all, his physical body is extremely strong, his law cultivation is on the upper end, and he also has Dao Arts. He should be capable of fighting an Infant Tending Tier cultivator.”
In just a few moves, these Titans had completely seen through Tang Jie, not even needing him to talk.
Tang Jie blushed in shame, but just when he was about to explain, Ling Xiao said, “No wonder he dared to be so brazen in front of Jewel. As expected, he has something to back up his words. If that’s the case, Yekong, have a fight with him. See if he can really create a miracle that has not happened in the last one thousand years.”
“As the Sect Master commands.” Ming Yekong bowed.
Tang Jie was alarmed by this command, hastily saying, “Sect Master, I’ve just returned, and there’s still a lot I have to say. There’s no need to…”
Ling Xiao raised his hand and stopped him. “These five old men didn’t all come together to have a leisurely chat with you. In the end, you are still my disciple. Although your own business prevented me from ever teaching you anything, since you have returned, I should carry out a master’s duties.”
Ming Yekong smiled. “Tang Jie, just where did the courage you faced Jewel with all go? Why are you suddenly afraid to fight me? We want to test you to see if you are worthy of receiving this instruction, to see what my Basking Moon Sect will end up with two hundred years from now—a powerful Celestial Sovereign, or the corpse of a genius. Come; fight me with all your power. Use your power to prove that you have the right to be taught by us, to fight with Jewel.”
Xiao Biehan was even more direct. “Brat, stop hesitating. Our time is very valuable and can’t be wasted on idle chatter. We already know about all those trifling matters of yours, so you don’t need to say anything.”
Tang Jie could only comply. Looking around, he asked, “Right here?”
“Right here. What, you think it’s small?” Ming Yekong asked with a smile.
“This disciple would not dare.” Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed, at the same time firing a bolt of energy from his finger at Ming Yekong.
He had struck first!
Ming Yekong was rather amused by this. “Excellent, as bold as expected.”
He raised a finger at Tang Jie’s bolt of energy.
An energy sword shot out.
This was the most ordinary finger art of the Basking Moon Sect, but when Ming Yekong used it, it was like a celestial sword, manifesting the concept of an energy sword to the maximum.
The two finger bolts collided and blew apart in waves of spiritual energy. Meanwhile, Tang Jie roared and threw out thirty-two punches in a row.
The blasts of wind from the punches were enough to shake mountains, but they couldn’t even cause a tremor in the Hall of Divine Conference. Each of the other four Violet Palace experts of the Basking Moon Sect occupied a corner, and whenever a gust of wind passed them, it would vanish like a drop of water disappearing into the ocean.
Meanwhile, Ming Yekong thrust out his finger several more times.
It was just one finger, but in a flash, there were thirty-some of them.
Every one of Tang Jie’s punches had a finger sword from Ming Yekong to block it, exactly 32.
These punches that were enough to shake mountains were all neutralized by the finger swords, and Ming Yekong laughed. “Not bad, but it’s still not enough.”
He blinked to Tang Jie’s side, stabbing a finger at the back of his neck—the Chaoswind Step! But the Chaoswind Step was different from before, as Ming Yekong was constantly moving around, his form appearing all around Tang Jie, moving so quickly that the eyes couldn’t keep up. The worst of all was that whenever Ming Yekong used the Chaoswind Step, it would leave behind an afterimage, and these afterimages seemed to have mass, able to punch and kick with force.
In just a few moments, Ming Yekong’s afterimages had filled the Hall of Divine Conference, barraging Tang Jie from all sides. This move was countless times stronger than Qi Shaoming’s Passing Shadow Phantom Clone Slash.
In the face of such a vicious assault, Tang Jie had no choice but to use his full power, putting the strength of his physical body on full display, enduring Ming Yekong’s attacks while swinging his fists.
He was extremely familiar with the Chaoswind Step and had memorized every star coordinate, so he knew where Ming Yekong would appear and was able to remain calm. Even so, Ming Yekong was able to easily block Tang Jie’s every punch with a finger sword.
Other than the Dao of Space, he was also extremely famous for his sword arts, his finger swords even sharper than most people’s divine swords.
Ming Yekong started to lose his patience. “Tang Jie, use your real skills already. Don’t let us look down on you. And don’t worry about injuring me. You defeating me will only make me happy. If the Basking Moon Sect were that envious of the success of others, it would have never reached its current status!”
“Yes!” Tang Jie shouted. “Martial Uncle, be careful!”
He summoned the Sovereign Blade, activated the “Two Heads, Four Arms” Divine Connection, fused together the energies of Yin and Yang, ignited the Pale Cloud Flame, imbued his weapon with the power of Destruction—he used everything at his disposal, unleashing a vicious wave of sword energy.
Even as he was building up power for this attack, the four Violet Palace experts spectating this battle could sense the terrifying power within it.
An unbreakable weapon combined with such terrifying power could hurt a Violet Palace expert.
For the likes of Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan, this power was still a little weak, but for Ming Yekong, who had entered Violet Palace only a hundred-some years ago and was still at Infant Tending, it was a rather significant threat.
Ming Yekong had also sensed this, and he was delighted rather than surprised. “An excellent move!”
He produced a small sword made of paper and sliced it at the Sovereign Blade.
When the unbreakable Sovereign Blade collided against that seemingly fragile paper sword, there was a massive shockwave of spiritual energy.
Tang Jie was blown around like a leaf in a storm, with countless paper shards flying around him.
Meanwhile, Ming Yekong was standing as if nothing had happened, though the paper sword was gone.
This was the first time Tang Jie’s Ten Extinctions Blade had been blocked in such a direct manner, and his mind was reeling in shock.
The Ten Extinctions Blade might not necessarily be able to kill a foe, but it definitely couldn’t be blocked, for the Sovereign Blade was unstoppable, unbreakable.
How could it have been blocked? And by a paper sword!
As if he could see Tang Jie’s shock, Ming Yekong chuckled. “Don’t panic. This is a Divine Connection I created after entering Violet Palace. Though it seems like a paper sword, it actually contains an isolated space that can draw attacks into the endless void.”
Tang Jie now understood what had happened.
“Since you know, let’s continue our fight!” Ming Yekong shouted, sending another finger sword at Tang Jie.
The Ten Extinctions Blade was countered by Ming Yekong’s space sword, and he found it hard to use his physical body against Ming Yekong, so Tang Jie was clearly at a disadvantage.
Ming Yekong said, “Use that art you used to resist Jewel.”
Tang Jie summoned the Infinite Palace, but in the Hall of Divine Conference, the moment the Infinite Palace was summoned, everyone was swept up into it. Ming Yekong found that rather than the formidable defense that Jewel had needed eleven fingers to break, he was instead dealing with numerous dangerous formations.
He clicked his tongue in praise. “A Dao Art of this level? Remarkable.”
Despite his praise, he moved quickly, blinking around the Infinite Palace and activating all of its traps and formations. However, none of them could injure him, and his countless afterimages wreaked havoc within the palace. Meanwhile, Tang Jie kept activating formations in an attempt to encircle Ming Yekong, and in a flash, the entire place was devastated. Thankfully, this wasn’t a real city, or else this fight would have completely destroyed it.
Even so, Ling Xiao and the other Violet Palace experts were stunned. While they understood that Tang Jie’s strength had possibly broken through that threshold, hearing was completely different from seeing.
Ling Xiao could no longer sit back, raising a hand. “Enough!”
Ming Yekong and Tang Jie immediately stopped, and the Infinite Palace disappeared in a flash of rainbow light, as if all that had transpired was an illusion.
“Teacher Sect Master!” Tang Jie bowed respectfully to Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao gave him a hard look, and then he smiled, stroking his beard. “Good, very good! Follow me!”