Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The Divine Spring Domain.

Tang Jie looked down at the Divine Spring Domain from space.

Completely covered in those spore-like Astral Winds, it appeared like a giant mushroom.

“Remember: when you go in, don’t destroy those spores. Let them cover you to conceal your aura,” Yiyi reminded Tang Jie.

Nobody knew what the situation past the Astral Winds was. Perhaps there were already countless fiends standing guard down below. Considering the size of the world, this wasn’t too likely, but if the fiends had speedy messengers, or if some Titan was able to discover the invaders early, such a scenario could still occur.

This made Yiyi’s reminder even more important.

He hadn’t expected these spore clouds to be able to conceal him.

Tang Jie could technically do this with the Heavenly Dao Realm, but the spore clouds spared him this need.

Tang Jie nodded and flew downward.

With his cultivation, these highly corrosive spore clouds naturally did nothing to him.

As he let the clouds cling to him, he felt like he was being hit by countless rain drops, drenching his body and making him itchy all over. Yiyi and Tutu were somewhat better off. They weren’t humans in the first place, and they already had some reputation in the Divine Spring Domain, so they had no need to hide their auras.

After flying for some time and ending up with a thick layer of “moss” for his troubles, Tang Jie finally emerged from the spore clouds and arrived in the skies of the Divine Spring Domain.

What he saw was a vast and thick jungle, green as far as the eye could see, punctuated by giant trees with massive canopies.

It was a clean and natural environment with no sign of an ambush.

Shaking off the “moss” and concealing his energy signature, Tang Jie asked, “Where is this?”

Yiyi answered, “This is the Forest of Gems. Be careful; this is the territory of the Rainbow Fiend God.”

Tang Jie knew from Yiyi that the Rainbow Fiend God was a peacock fiend, like the Aurora Fiend Emperor from the Verdant Cloud Domain. Its Rainbow Beam Divine Connection was said to counter all treasures in the world.

This place was called the Forest of Gems most likely because of the Rainbow Fiend God. With its Divine Rainbow, it made wherever it was a land of riches and treasures.

Tang Jie’s Weapon Mantra and Sovereign Blade also countered treasures. In normal circumstances, Tang Jie would have tested the power of the Divine Rainbow to see which was stronger, at the same time collecting some treasures.

But he wasn’t here to fight, and ordinary treasures meant little to him, so he had no interest in causing trouble for that peacock.

On the other hand, the serenity made Tang Jie feel strange. “Once those fiends returned and told everyone what had happened, the fiends should have gotten wary, so why is this place so calm? Did they lay down a formation to conceal traps?”

But no matter how he looked at it, there was nothing suspicious in this forest.

Yiyi was also puzzled. “I can sense that Fiend God’s energy. It’s here.”

“I can also sense a strong energy nearby,” Tang Jie replied, but he was unperturbed.

The Rainbow Fiend God being nearby didn’t necessarily mean danger. This was its territory, so it would be stranger for it to not be here. Yiyi could sense it because it wasn’t trying to conceal its energy.

In other words, the Rainbow Fiend God had no concerns about some otherworldly invasion!

It was sleeping in its own territory, caring nothing for the humans or fiends passing through, ignoring them all so long as it was not provoked.

This left both Yiyi and Tang Jie baffled.

“What do we do now?” Yiyi asked.

After some thought, Tang Jie answered, “Since they aren’t on their guard, we don’t need to disturb them if we don’t have to. Let’s go elsewhere and get some understanding of the current situation. Let’s split up. Yiyi, you go and find the great fiends you’re acquainted with, and I’ll go and take a stroll elsewhere.”

“Okay!” Yiyi nodded.

She had been in this place for many years and knew quite a few fiends, so they were an ideal source of information.

The two of them flew off.

——————————————

The Ruins of Drowned Darkness.

This was the site of a long-abandoned city, weeds and shrubs growing out of collapsed walls and shattered buildings.

Tiger vines covered the walls, painting the drab gray stones green.

Several rock mice timidly crawled beneath the walls while peering here and there, and black flies buzzed around the grass, seeking their own targets.

A wild pig deer emerged from the distance, raising its thick and long neck to examine its surroundings, its three thin eyes staring in three different directions. Only when it confirmed that there were no enemies did it lower its head to feed on the grass.

At this moment, some of the grass suddenly turned into sharp needles that stabbed into the pig deer’s throat.

The pig deer swayed a few times before collapsing. Nearby, a human suddenly emerged from a shadow.

This human seemed to be in his teens and had a pair of bright eyes.

He first checked to see that nobody was around before running out to get the deer, excitedly saying, “Got another one, haha. We’re eating good this time.”

He heaved the pig deer onto his back and turned to leave.

At this moment, a cold voice sinisterly said, “Hahaha, we truly are eating good.”

The youth paled, instantly throwing away the pig deer and running forward.

A massive dark figure shot overhead and landed in front of him, halting his advance: a black scorpion.

The scorpion turned to the youth, revealing a human face protruding from its carapace, which laughed, “Finally couldn’t help but come out of those damn shadowy corners of yours, huh? Just a little pig deer was enough for you to take the bait. I, the Heaven Hook Fiend King, am truly wise beyond measure!”

The youth turned ghastly pale.

He had been too careless. Staying in the same region for three months and still hoping to not be discovered was no different from suicide.

And now, he was paying the price for his mistakes.

Even so, the youth still wanted to try one last time.

He fell backward, moving toward the shadow of a wall, and the moment he entered the shadow, he disappeared.

But the black scorpion simply said in disdain, “You dare to use that ridiculous trick in front of me? Get out here!”

Its stinger swept out, but at the clearing in front of it rather than the area the youth had disappeared.

“Agh!” The youth appeared in the clearing, the immense strength in the scorpion’s tail almost breaking him in half.

He survived not because he was strong, but simply because the scorpion wanted to eat him alive.

“Humans are best eaten fresh. Eating them while listening to their cries of misery is the finest experience!” the black scorpion said as it stalked over.

It hooked the youth on the end of its long stinger. Extending its giant pincers, it used them like scissors and cut open the youth’s clothes, as if preparing to cut open his belly, terrifying the youth. At the same time, it said, “Of course, if you tell me where the other humans are hiding, I might be able to grant you a quick death.”

The youth suddenly opened his eyes and kicked at the giant scorpion’s human face. Not expecting this, the scorpion ended up getting a solid kick to the face. It swung its right pincer in response, but the youth managed to evade the blow and get free of the stinger, after which he turned to flee.

“Trying to run?” The scorpion bellowed, opening its mouth and spewing out black smoke.

The black smoke engulfed the youth, who instantly felt dizzy. After making it only a few steps, he staggered to a stop, the world spinning around him.

The scorpion once more extended its pincer, seizing the youth’s body. “Talk! Where are the other humans hiding?”

Even though he was dazed, the youth still shook his head and said, “I’m not telling you…”

“Damn!” The scorpion couldn’t but feel frustrated that the youth refused to speak despite suffering from its poison smoke.

This poison smoke didn’t contain any kind of illusory power, but those affected by it would be confused and more liable to spit out the truth. However, those of sufficient resolve could resist the effects. The problem was that the poison smoke would also kill the target. In other words, if the youth didn’t talk now, he soon would never be able to talk again.

The scorpion hesitated.

“It won’t taste as good once dead…” it muttered.

“In truth, the taste isn’t bad if you roast them a little,” a voice rang out from behind the scorpion.

The scorpion jumped up. “Who’s there?”

It turned to see a man standing behind it.

“Human?” The giant scorpion’s eyes lit up.

Almost on instinct, the scorpion cast aside the youth and thrust its stinger at the man’s throat, exploding with murderous intent. This Heavenly Scorpion Hook was its innate spell art, an extremely powerful ability that had already taken down three Celestial Heart human cultivators. The scorpion was very confident in its ability to kill.

The man simply raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t even move, letting the stinger strike him.

It hit!

The scorpion was elated.

A moment later, it saw its once-invincible stinger cracking and crumbling, as if it had struck the hardest thing in the world.

Immense pain traveled through its tail, and the scorpion howled.

As its innate spell art, the Heavenly Scorpion Hook was like its own life. It being damaged dealt it a heavy blow as well.

The black scorpion took to the skies, spewing out poison smoke while its pincers unleashed ethereal claws at the man. This combo strike was its tried-and-true move, but this man treated it like a game.

With a light puff, all the smoke was blown away.

With another light puff, the ethereal pincers were scattered to the wind, and the scorpion was sent flying, streaking through the sky like a comet before slamming into a distant mountain as a pile of mangled flesh and carapace.

The youth stared in disbelief.

This man had killed that powerful, terrifying, and wicked black scorpion without even lifting a finger?

Was he seeing things?

At this, his vision turned blurry.

The dizzying effect of the poison intensified, and the youth’s eyelids sagged.

Before he fell unconscious, he saw that man slowly approaching him…