Aspiring to the Immortal Path

In the small pavilion in the Lustrous Jade Immortal Palace, Heavenly Maiden Qingyang sat in a daze, her mind reeling in shock.

As the disciple of Saintess Lustrous Jade, she cultivated the Daos of Karma and Fate.

Karma and Fate were the most direct manifestations of the Heavenly Dao’s will.

For this reason, over the last ten thousand years, she had complied with the will of the heavens, serving the Heavenly Dao and never disobeying it. Only then could one comprehend Karma and Fate, peering down the river of time and knowing all that happened in the universe, seeing through life and death, thus attaining an imperishable golden body.

But now, this young man who had received her blessing and the legacy she had left behind and had also attained Boundless was telling her that the Heavenly Dao was not the goal she should pursue, but the enemy who had killed her husband!

What… What could this even be called?

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang knew that it was the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel that had killed the Martial Lord.

But she had never hated it.

This was because the Heavenly Dao was not a person, not even a weapon.

It was the fundamental will of the cosmos, the rules by which all things operated, the conglomeration of the universe’s most profound secrets.

It was hard to say that such a thing even existed, let alone to hate it.

Thus, until now, Qingyang had hated the Court of Myriad Domains, for she thought that it was them who had killed her husband. She hated herself, because she believed that she was the one who had led her husband to his death. And she hated the Primordial Fog, for it was that unknown power her husband had obtained there that had eventually gotten him killed.

But now, Tang Jie was telling her…

That it was no one except the Heavenly Dao that had killed Li Jiuyang.

This was completely divorced from her view of the world.

She shook her head. “No, it’s not like that…”

She wanted to explain, but Tang Jie said, “I know why he didn’t pass on to you that secret art that made him grow so much stronger.”

“What?” Heavenly Maiden Qingyang stood up. “You know of it?”

“Yes, because I have it too.”

He activated the Heavenly Dao Realm.

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang immediately felt an unstoppable pressure descending upon her. Even though she was a Boundless Gold Immortal, she still felt like a helpless infant before this might.

Fortunately, Tang Jie immediately withdrew the power, but that split-second experience left Heavenly Maiden Qingyang stunned.

She looked at Tang Jie in fear and consternation, not understanding how Tang Jie had become so powerful so quickly, thinking that it had all just been an illusion.

And then, she knew that it was no illusion.

She had felt that same feeling when the Martial Lord battled against the court!

At that moment, she finally understood.

“The Parting Classic… betrays the Dao?” she asked.

Tang Jie nodded.

After learning that the Martial Lord had refused to teach Qingyang his secret art, Tang Jie had guessed that the Martial Lord must have obtained the Dao-betraying power. He refused to teach Qingyang because he knew that this was a path of no return. But he also personally did not want to give up on this valuable discovery, so he modified the Pangu True Classic and hid the essence of Dao-betraying within it.

Only this kind of power could enable him to sweep through the Court of Myriad Domains. The power of the Weapon Dao Lord could let him destroy the weapons of the countless Immortals, but it wasn’t enough to stand up to their combined might. What he had truly relied on was the Dao-betraying power.

Of course, the Martial Lord’s Dao-betraying power wasn’t necessarily the same as Tang Jie’s.

Dao-betraying was a concept. If the Heavenly Dao was the sovereign, Dao-betraying was starting a rebellion, and different rebel armies would have different ways of doing battle. But regardless of the method, their common goal was to overturn the rule of the Heavenly Dao and establish their own rule.

Tang Jie’s Heavenly Dao Realm accomplished this, and so did the Martial Lord’s Parting Classic.

For this reason, using this kind of power came with the same price: the Heavenly Tribulation.

“This is a great power, but taking this path is to become an enemy of the heavens, and there’s no backing out, so it was bound to end poorly. He didn’t want you to take this path, so he didn’t teach you, and he himself tried his best to not use it,” Tang Jie slowly explained.

Perhaps the Martial Lord had hoped to go the rest of his life without using that power.

Alas, the heavens forced his hand, and he was ultimately forced to use it, at the same time receiving the punishment of the Heavenly Dao.

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang wept in fury and remorse. Closing her eyes, she asked, “Then why didn’t he tell me?”

“The Great Daos cannot be spoken of, and the same is probably true for betraying the Dao. I don’t know what sort of Dao-betraying path Master took, but since he found this path in the Primordial Fog and only needed three hundred years, it was probably very different from mine. Perhaps it had more restrictions than mine, and maybe even greater punishments,” Tang Jie said. “In the past, I wondered what sort of Heavenly Tribulation I would face once I developed this power to the limits, but now I know… now I know what the ultimate Heavenly Tribulation will be!”

He looked up at the sky, peering into the endless void.

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang escorted him out of the Lustrous Jade Heaven.

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang asked, “So, you’ve made up your mind?”

Tang Jie nodded. “It’s not that I’ve made up my mind, but that I set off on this road long ago and can’t go back.”

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang sighed. “If that’s the case, I won’t stop you. But I will tell you that while most of the masters of the 33 Heavens are Boundless, there are also several who are Saint Immortals. They usually stay out of secular affairs, but this matter is an exception.”

“They stay out of secular affairs because they all pursue the Heavenly Dao, and my actions will ruin their efforts, right?”

Now that he thought about it, wasn’t Yu Cheng doing the same thing? His actions also posed a threat to the Heavenly Dao, but he took the path of the general outshining the master, so the Heavenly Dao couldn’t act directly against him, instead acting through the likes of the Three Sages Ancestor.

To put it bluntly, to ascend to the peak and become supreme required making an enemy of the heavens.

Because the heavens were their ceiling!

To break through the ceiling meant breaking through the heavens!

Tang Jie was keenly aware of this.

Qingyang nodded. “So long as you understand.”

Tang Jie smiled. “Since I have decided to go against the heavens, taking even the Heavenly Dao as my enemy, the masters of the 33 Heavens are no obstacle. If I can’t even get through them, how could I even consider making the heavens my enemy?”

Qingyang gave him a look of praise. “As expected of Jiuyang’s successor. You have his daring and ambition.”

“Oh, right, Martial Mother. In a formation, I saw a vision of a Titan of the Gigantes Domain using Master’s Devil Crushing Fist. Does Martial Mother know of this domain’s origins?”

“Did that happen?” Qingyang thought it over. “Jiuyang never told me anything about this.”

After considering this, Tang Jie said, “If this happened before he entered the Primordial Fog, Master would have no reason to not tell you. In other words, his connection to the Gigantes Domain must have happened after he entered the Primordial Fog.”

“Why do you ask me this?” Qingyang asked in confusion.

“I would like to trace Master’s footsteps and see his path of Dao-betraying. Perhaps it might be of help to me. The stone of another mountain can help to carve my jade, and on this path against the Heavenly Dao, there is probably no other reference except Master,” Tang Jie answered. “Right, Martial Mother, do you know where the Gigantes Domain is? My star compass is limited in power, and there are many domains of the chiliocosm that it cannot display.”

Qingyang also took out a star compass, but it was clear from its starry luster that it was a top-class star compass.

This was understandable. After all, any diviner worth their salt would possess excellent star compasses, fortune-telling books, and divination rods.

Qingyang examined it for a while before saying, “In the Sumeru Star Cluster, near the Western Heaven Buddha Kingdom.”

“Thank you, Martial Mother.”

“There is no need for such courtesy between us,” Heavenly Maiden Qingyang said, sending the star compass into Tang Jie’s hand.

“Martial Mother!” Tang Jie was startled.

“Since you have decided to take the path of the stars, devouring the domains of the cosmos, you will need this star compass. Take it. This is all I can do for you,” Qingyang slowly said.

Tang Jie knew that since Qingyang walked the Daos of Karma and Fate, she was bound by the heavens. If she betrayed the Heavenly Dao, she could lose all her power. It was just like how Tang Jie couldn’t comprehend the Twelve Great Daos because he had the Heavenly Dao Realm.

By doing this, Heavenly Maiden Qingyang was taking a huge risk.

Moved, Tang Jie looked at Qingyang and softly said, “One day, if I become the Heavenly Dao, I will reverse Time and Space, reviving Master so that he and you can grow old together.”

Qingyang lightly replied, “The deceased cannot be recalled. Your intention alone is enough for me.”

She returned to the Lustrous Jade Heaven, and with a wave of her sleeve, the Lustrous Jade Heaven began to close up once more.

Tang Jie could only bow deeply in the direction of the Lustrous Jade Heaven before taking his leave.

As the Lustrous Jade Heaven closed, Heavenly Maiden Qingyang suddenly paled and threw up a mouthful of blood.

Several wrinkles appeared on her face, and a few strands of her head of black hair turned white.

In a flash, Heavenly Maiden Qingyang had aged ten years.

Turning ten years older on the surface meant the loss of tens of thousands of years of lifespan for a nearly eternal Immortal.

This was the punishment of the Heavenly Dao.

But Heavenly Maiden Qingyang smiled, casually glancing at the heavens. “Is that all you could do? You are the Heavenly Dao, the collection of all the laws of the universe, but for this very reason, you must also follow the rules, never going beyond them. You know that I am helping a traitor, but in the end, you can’t do much about it, right?”

There was no response.

Heavenly Maiden Qingyang smiled even more broadly. “In the end, you are not a person, lacking the desires and emotions of a person and lacking their freedom. Despite your infinite power, you are bound by the laws. This is probably your greatest weakness, no? You punish me today, but in the future, Tang Jie will punish you on my behalf!”

Saying this, she looked beyond the Lustrous Jade Heaven.

Outside the Lustrous Jade Heaven, Tang Jie looked back at Qingyang.

When he saw Qingyang’s aged face, his heart trembled.

As their eyes met, Tang Jie suddenly understood everything she was trying to convey.

He looked up at the heavens and muttered:

“You are right here, the omniscient one observing all of the cosmos. You punished her, but you ignored me because I didn’t use the Heavenly Dao Realm… Your actions operate according to their own rules. This is your weakness!”