Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Tang Jie chuckled. “So it did have an owner?”

Judging by the aura of this will, this was an existence that had already reached Immortal Platform, and one of the stronger ones.

Tang Jie didn’t mind. He had come here to find opportunities to weaken and challenge the fiends of Divine Spring, and since the Divine Spring fiends hadn’t taken any major countermeasures against the Rosecloud Domain, he was happy to act a little more freely.

Since this will had discovered him, Tang Jie decided to unleash his aura.

The auras clashed in the underground world, and a moment later, that ancient will unexpectedly crumbled away, and a massive dark figure appeared in the air.

It appeared like a ball of dark mud, countless tentacles growing out from it and four pairs of long and thin eyestalks emerging from its center.

“What is this thing?” Tang Jie said in surprise.

Huangfu Meng’s eyes flew open. “The Dark Night Ancestor! It’s the Dark Night Ancestor! It really exists!”

“The Dark Night Ancestor”? What was that?

Meanwhile, the mud creature roared and extended its tentacles into a vast carpet that covered the ceiling.

This grandiose display couldn’t scare Tang Jie. The fact that its aura had crumbled at a single blow already told Tang Jie that this was an empty shell. What surprised him was that this guy still had the guts to attack.

As the tentacles rushed at him, Tang Jie snorted and instantly had power pressing in from all sides.

The black mud monster’s tentacles had formed a vast net, but Tang Jie’s will was like the ocean, filling the entire region.

Under the vast pressure of this ocean of power, the black tentacles exploded, and the black mud creature was crushed.

As Tang Jie’s power converged, the black mud creature howled, but it was powerless to stop itself from being crushed into a black pancake.

He had won?

Even Tang Jie was shocked.

He couldn’t believe it was that easy.

But as he withdrew his will, the black mud turned into seething smoke, and there was a furious roar. “Bastard! You dare to treat me this way! This ancestor will have my revenge!”

“So it was just a clone,” Tang Jie muttered.

It was no wonder the Dark Night Ancestor had been more bark than bite.

But Tang Jie had never heard of this ancestor.

He turned to Huangfu Meng.

Huangfu Meng realized what he wanted and explained, “The Dark Night Ancestor is a legendary existence of the underground, but nobody has ever truly seen it, so everyone has always taken it as simply a legend. I didn’t think… I didn’t think it was real…”

“What kind of legend?” Tang Jie asked.

Huangfu Meng explained that the Dark Night Ancestor was a bizarre existence of the underground world who was said to be more than ten thousand years old. It had tens of thousands of clones, each one carrying incense to protect an area, serving as a guardian god for this underground world. But it gradually stopped responding to prayers and faded out of history.

Tang Jie was surprised. Tens of thousands of avatars holding incense and protecting the land—wasn’t this what he had done when ascending to Immortal Platform? He had even gone around calling himself the All Life Divine Lord. Only when he passed the Heaven–Man Union trial did he leave, after which his temples fell into disrepair.

The Dark Night Ancestor had ceased responding to prayers for presumably the same reason. Having passed the Heaven–Man Union trial, it had abandoned its worshipers. In other words, it was at least an Earth Immortal, and given how much time had passed, it might have even reached True Immortal.

But what came next was somewhat different.

After attaining Immortal Platform, the Dark Night Ancestor did not completely disappear. Just because it didn’t respond to prayers didn’t mean it stopped doing anything. According to past custom, when a God Immortal stopped responding to prayers, its temples would quickly decline and disappear, to be replaced by new temples. In a world of God Immortals, such things were not rare. People revered strength, but they did not blindly believe in it.

But the Dark Night Ancestor’s temples were still standing.

In the underground world, there was a story that when some humans attempted to knock down one of the Dark Night Ancestor’s temples and establish a village, they suffered disaster. None of those who had attempted to dismantle the temple survived, while the temple itself was perfectly fine. From then on, no one dared to touch those temples.

Ten thousand years was a very long time, long enough that people would forget or disbelieve these tales, and some would try to disprove them.

All of them used their lives to prove the veracity and terror of the legends.

Even now, the Dark Night Ancestor’s temples still existed in the underground world. Offering worship at them came with no benefits, but destroying them was bound to bring disaster.

Thus, for ten thousand years, they had stood tall in the underground world.

Until today!

“So that’s what happened…” Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.

He thought for a while and then asked, “Is there a Dark Night Ancestor temple nearby?”

Huangfu Meng nodded. “Around five kilometers away is a small mountain on which stands one of its temples.”

“Let’s go and take a look!”

Lifting up Huangfu Meng, he flew in the direction she indicated and, soon enough, found the mountain and its temple.

He entered the temple and asked, “Is there anything different about this place?”

After a cursory glance, Huangfu Meng shouted, “The idol is gone!”

The temple originally had an idol of a form identical to that which had appeared before Tang Jie, which was why Huangfu Meng had been able to immediately recognize who it was. But now, this idol was gone, leaving only a dilapidated temple.

Tang Jie waved his hand, bringing the temple crashing down. That legend of misfortune on anyone who dared to damage the temple failed to manifest itself.

“As expected, the idol was one of its clones.”

“Savior, are you saying that after the Dark Night Ancestor finished with its cultivation, while it no longer paid attention to mortal affairs, it left behind its clones in every temple? That it’s these clones that protect the temples and prevent them from being damaged?” Huangfu Meng asked in realization.

Tang Jie nodded. “Correct.”

“That’s weird.” Huangfu Meng frowned. “If it finished with its cultivation, why leave behind the clones? Is there something it doesn’t want to give up… Right, the stone embryo!”

Huangfu Meng’s eyes lit up.

The clone had clearly been left here to protect the stone embryo. Even if it failed to do so, it could at least warn its master.

Huangfu Meng then said, “But the Dark Night Ancestor has many temples. Could it be…”

She didn’t finish, but her eyes were practically glowing.

She had already seen how strong the intelligent stone embryo was.

And it seemed like the Dark Night Ancestor had many more such treasures!

Tang Jie couldn’t help but be surprised at Huangfu Meng’s deductive powers.

Of course, even more incredible was that Huangfu Meng had just been through a traumatic incident and then experienced a battle between Titans, yet she still managed to stay cool and rational.

But there were still more surprises to come.

Huangfu Meng said, “Does Savior want to get the Dark Night Ancestor’s other treasures?”

“Hm?” Tang Jie looked at Huangfu Meng with a gleam in his eyes, and his body began to exude a slight pressure.

Even this tiny bit of pressure was difficult for Huangfu Meng to endure, and her body began to quiver. But her face remained firm as she clenched her teeth and said, “I know where all those temples are. I can take Savior to them, so long as Savior agrees to one condition!”

“To help you kill those Blood Disciples?” Tang Jie coolly asked.

Huangfu Meng prostrated before Tang Jie. “I know I am being audacious to make demands of my savior, but I have no other choice. If Savior is willing to avenge the 321 people of Neverwinter for my sake, Savior can do with me as you please!”

Tang Jie gave her an icy stare as he considered the proposition. “There’s something I still don’t understand.”

“Please ask, Savior.”

“When you saw how all the people in the village were killed, why didn’t you plead for my help then? Why wait until now?”

Huangfu Meng answered, “Although I am just a weak girl, I know that someone who shows you kindness does not owe you anything. If they want to help you, they will naturally help, and if they don’t, asking will put them in an awkward spot. Thus, although Savior saved my life, it doesn’t mean that I can keep asking Savior to help. This would be returning virtue with resentment. In addition, I swore to take revenge on the Blood Disciples. If Savior took action, this would not count as me taking revenge.”

“But now you’re asking me to take action.”

“That’s different!” Huangfu Meng shouted. “I’m not asking you like a beggar. I am requesting it of you in exchange for the information I possess. Killing the Blood Disciples is as easy as lifting a finger for Savior, but the information I possess can save you a lot of time. Using this information to ask for Savior’s help is like spending money to hire someone, the fruit of my efforts, exchanging my abilities for another person’s abilities. This can be considered a form of revenge and does not break my oath!”

“Is that how you see it…” Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.

He hadn’t expected this argument from Huangfu Meng. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to ask, but that she wanted to ask in the form of a trade, to hire a mercenary.

An Earth Immortal mercenary!

A girl who hadn’t even reached Mortal Shedding wanted to hire an Earth Immortal.

This was the most absurd and audacious proposal Tang Jie had ever heard in his cultivation life.

Tang Jie couldn’t help but laugh.

His booming laugh made Huangfu Meng inwardly tremble.

As she gazed at Tang Jie, she could no longer hold back her fear and began to feel a shred of regret.

This was someone who had killed twelve Fiend Kings and boldly faced down the Dark Night Ancestor.

And she had tried to hire him for a trifling sum!

This was suicidal!

But she had no other choice. She could not accept pleading with Tang Jie like a beggar, because even if Tang Jie agreed, this would not be considered her revenge.

Only a trade!

Only by hiring!

Only then could it serve as a conduit for her revenge and fulfill her oath.

So she had to take the risk.

Thus, even when Tang Jie’s pressure was so immense, his laughter so terrifying, her heart so stricken with fear, she stood tall, her resolve firm.

Tang Jie stopped laughing and gazed at Huangfu Meng. “It’s not enough!”

‘Not enough’?

Huangfu Meng was stunned.

She had thought of many ways that this could turn out, like Tang Jie simply killing her in rage, Tang Jie leaving in a huff, or in her wildest fantasies, Tang Jie nodding in agreement. But she hadn’t expected him to say that she wasn’t offering enough.

He was haggling with her!?

Huangfu Meng gaped at Tang Jie, and after a while, she stammered out, “What does Savior want? I agree to everything!”

“You’ll agree to everything?” Tang Jie smiled at Huangfu Meng.

Huangfu Meng slowly stopped shivering.

She stared at Tang Jie and firmly said, “Yes, I agree to everything.”

This was the resolve to put everything on the line, which allowed her to ignore even the grandeur of a Titan.

Tang Jie grinned.

“Very good. Then my condition is… for you to be my third disciple.”