Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The domineering tone made Tang Jie slightly frown.

“And who are you, to have the authority to say who can go in and out?”

“Audacious!”

This was not the answer desired, and it drew an angry rebuke.

A beam of starlight shot through the void toward Tang Jie.

The endless void was an absolute vacuum, unaffected by the gravity or terrain of a domain. For this reason, attacks had much greater range and power. Even so, attacking one domain from another domain was a shocking feat, an indicator that the attacker was at least a peak True Immortal.

Such a person had attacked at the first sign of disagreement! It was very rare for a person of such status to have such a temper.

Tang Jie fumed, “You’ve got quite the temper!”

Before he could act, Huang Wuji unleashed a yellow pillar of light that shot out of the Rosecloud Domain toward the beam of starlight.

The two beams of light collided in the void, the resultant rainbow explosion ripping through the darkness.

But upon closer inspection, a thin trail of starlight had penetrated through the explosion, continuing forward, and it only stopped when the Astral Winds tore it apart. This meant that Huang Wuji was a little weaker than the enemy, though it also proved that the other party was no Gold Immortal.

A True Immortal dared to act so brazenly? Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. “Let me go ahead and reciprocate your gift.”

He thrust out his palm.

There was no eruption of light or tremendous shockwave, only a faint palm manifesting outside the domain. As it didn’t pass through the Astral Wind layer, the palm was not weakened in any way, and it shot off, moving with deceptive speed through the void.

There seemed to be no domain there, but as Tang Jie’s energy palm arrived, there was a sudden pulse of energy.

Spiritual energy rippled outward into the void.

Amid the waves of spiritual energy, a silhouette began to emerge.

This silhouette was indistinct, as if it was covered in a gauze that rendered all of it blurry. From a distance, it appeared like an egg.

But Tang Jie knew that this was a Heaven Beyond Heaven.

A Heaven Beyond Heaven was not a domain.

It was a small world!

A small world developed to the limit would be akin to a domain. Some Titans would open up their small worlds, merging with the chiliocosm and letting it become a part of it, like a miniature domain. The only difference between it and natural domains was that it had a true master. Of course, a small world merged into the chiliocosm could not have its master preside as Heavenly Dao over it, but their control over it would still be stronger than that over any other domain.

This fuzzy egg Tang Jie revealed was a semi-independent small world.

The Lustrous Jade Heaven.

As a semi-independent small world, a Heaven Beyond Heaven could freely move around, so it wasn’t surprising for it to appear anywhere, even if it spent the majority of its time immobile.

The problem was: why had it appeared here?

Tang Jie gazed at the small world, his eyes cold and profound.

The furious voice of the one who had barred his path bellowed, “Which Boundless One has come?”

His tone was much more polite.

Tang Jie smirked. “You still haven’t told me your name.”

The other party paused for a moment before he answered, “This one is the Thousand Crane Venerable. Might I ask your honorable name?”

“‘Thousand Crane Venerable’?” Tang Jie muttered.

“Venerable” was a title normally used for someone of formidable cultivation but lower status. For example, Yun Tianlan’s garden servant, the Mountain Shatter Boy, was usually addressed by the likes of Ling Xiao as “Elder Mountain”, but outsiders would call him “Venerable Mountain”.

The title of Thousand Crane Venerable indicated that while this person was a True Immortal, they had a master.

Given the presence of the Lustrous Jade Heaven, Tang Jie understood what was going on. “This one is the Domain Lord of Rosecloud, the Freedom Godhead, Tang Jie. A mere Venerable dares to act so arrogantly around me?”

“You!” the Thousand Crane Venerable fumed.

But he had just confirmed that Tang Jie was a Boundless Gold Immortal, as only a Gold Immortal was capable of exposing a Heaven Beyond Heaven with a single palm strike.

He didn’t dare to be cocky around an existence on the same level as his master, so he could only suppress his anger and say, “The Lustrous Jade Heaven does not welcome outsiders!”

Tang Jie snorted. “I have no plans on entering the Lustrous Jade Heaven, only this star cluster. Although this is called the Lustrous Jade Star Cluster, it doesn’t mean that it belongs to the Lustrous Jade Heaven. Since when was the Lustrous Jade Heaven able to decide the fate of so many domains of the Great Stellar Chiliocosm?”

The Thousand Crane Venerable answered, “The Lustrous Jade Heaven has never thought about ruling over other domains!”

“If that’s the case, why do you stop me? I’ve already stated my purpose: to exterminate the demons.”

“And devour other domains along the way, no?” Thousand Crane gruffly retorted.

Tang Jie was taken aback, and the Thousand Crane Venerable went on, “Mighty Godhead, you are not the only wise one in the cosmos, and what you have done is not without precedent. The chiliocosm has existed for eons and been through countless Primordial Fog Calamities. Across the ages, many domains were able to defeat the demons and attain victory. Though the history books do not record their names, there has been no lack of miracle makers.”

Tang Jie was somewhat shaken.

Just as the Thousand Crane Venerable had said, while the general trend of the Primordial Fog Calamity was that the positive plane was no match for the negative plane, with only Yu Cheng ever turning the tables and invading the Primordial Fog back, this did not mean that there were no victors. Some of the countless domains of the Great Stellar Chiliocosm would be able to win. While their victory had no effect on the overall Primordial Fog Calamity, it was still a major victory for the domain in question.

For this reason, some people would try for more, and some would take to the stars like Tang Jie.

While the Thousand Crane Venerable wasn’t as strong as Tang Jie, he had many years of experience and was no stranger to such things.

What confused Tang Jie was that since he already knew what was going on, why was he so opposed to it?

The Thousand Crane Venerable said, “Mighty One, if you wish to save people from disaster, I will not stop you, but if you seek to merge with their domains, I will stand fast against you.”

Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. “Why is that not allowed?”

Before Thousand Crane could reply, the voice of an elderly woman rang out. “It is rather inconvenient to speak this way. Freedom Godhead, if you are interested, come and have a chat with me.”

This voice rang out directly in his ear, as if the speaker was right next to him.

Tang Jie’s eyes turned cold. “Who speaks?”

“The master of the Lustrous Jade Heaven, Heavenly Maiden Qingyang.”

Tang Jie was confused. Wasn’t the master of the Lustrous Jade Heaven Saintess Lustrous Jade? How had it become Heavenly Maiden Qingyang?

But he simply said, “So it is the master of the Lustrous Jade Heaven! Tang Jie has been rude. It is only polite for me to accept the Domain Lord’s invitation, but I have urgent business and do not wish to linger.”

The Lustrous Jade Heaven was a small world, and to go there was to put himself in the base of the enemy, to receive the same treatment he had given to the Scarlet Terra Ancestor. Although Tang Jie was confident that he was strong enough to escape, perhaps even striking back with the Heavenly Dao Realm, he didn’t feel like walking into someone else’s trap unless it was absolutely necessary.

As Tang Jie spoke, the blurry form of the Lustrous Jade Heaven turned real as it completely manifested.

It was the size of a miniature domain and ovate like a chicken egg. It was surrounded by a membrane of light, through which one could see a lush world of mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, forests, and plains, above all of which floated a resplendent Immortal palace.

An opening appeared in the eggshell, light pouring out of it like a river, forming a bridge that extended toward the Rosecloud Domain.

The egg erupted with light, and within the light, one could see Dao Runes flowing out of the egg, manifesting their innumerable mysteries and even exerting some pressure on the Rosecloud Domain.

The ignorant might consider this a threat, but Tang Jie understood that the small world was releasing its Great Dao power, deepening its merger with the chiliocosm.

The small world deepening its merger with the chiliocosm meant that the Domain Lord had less control.

As the Lustrous Jade Heaven released its Dao wills, Tang Jie could sense it integrating more and more with the chiliocosm, almost to the point that there was no difference. It would take a great deal of time and effort to break out of this state. This was tantamount to dropping one’s defenses, opening oneself up to an enemy attack.

Only then did the Dao release stop, and Heavenly Maiden Qingyang asked, “Is the Mighty Godhead willing to come and chat now?”

Tang Jie naturally couldn’t argue anymore, simply saying, “I thank the Heavenly Maiden for her hospitality. Tang Jie does not dare to disobey.”

He immediately flew out of the Rosecloud Domain, landing on that silver bridge.

The silver light withdrew, streaking across the void.

Tang Jie allowed the silver light to whisk him through the void and into the egg. He found himself in a lush jungle full of animals, all of which were animals commonly found in the outside world, with nothing special about them.

While Tang Jie’s Yellow Court World was a fantastical world, the Lustrous Jade Heaven was practically a copy of the outside world, with nothing fresh or new about it. However, it was packed to the brim with vitality.

Numerous Immortal fairies and cultivators flew out of the Immortal palace in the distance.

There was a carriage pulled along by phoenixes, accompanied by drums and trumpets.

All the beasts roared and all the birds sang in welcome.

The weather shifted into a dazzling sunset vista.

Last of all was a carriage pulled along by four jade dragons.

There was a person seated in the carriage, their face shrouded in fog, their body radiating countless profound Dao Runes. Those lacking in cultivation would faint just by glancing at them.

Tang Jie was naturally unaffected, and he focused his eyes to see the face of this person.

Upon seeing the face of Heavenly Maiden Qingyang, he shuddered.