Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The entire mountain was in an uproar, and as Huangfu Meng observed Wang Yao’s dark gaze, she sighed.

“Since all this was arranged by the White Tigers, why can Sir not let go of your grudge?”

Wang Yao chuckled.

“Did you not understand my words? Little girl, I said that this was information obtained when the White Tiger Ancestor peered into the future. It was not Fate, but Time! In other words, we did not control Fate to make the people of the Basking Moon Sect treat the White Tigers that way, but this was simply how the future would end up. The ancestor saw this, but he could not change any of it, only use it. Thus, I have no reason to forgive the Basking Moon Sect, nor will I be grateful to them. They slaughtered the White Tigers, creating a generational grudge. Would you be grateful to someone who slaughtered your entire family and forced you to jump off a cliff in desperation simply because you had a lucky encounter from doing so?”

Huangfu Meng had no response.

Yes, if Fate had been manipulated like the Azure Dragon had done, then it could be explained as simply suffering the consequences of one’s actions.

But this was not the case with the White Tigers.

So Wang Yao had no reason to forgive!

Perhaps the only reason he had to not attack the Rosecloud Domain was Tang Jie.

It was apparent that Wang Yao still had affection for Tang Jie, or else he wouldn’t have treated them so well.

Tang Xuanyu suddenly said, “You described the Black Tortoise, the Azure Dragon, and the White Tiger, but what of the Vermillion Bird? Didn’t you say that the Four Sacred Beasts all made their own decision? The Vermillion Bird isn’t even a True Immortal right now. Doesn’t that mean that she still has to pay the price? Or else that there’s a legacy for her to inherit?”

This was an interesting question, and raised Wang Yao’s opinion of Tang Xuanyu.

He replied, “The Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise were both selfish. They had no descendants, nor did they plan to have any. But the White Tiger and Vermillion Bird were different. Unable to break through themselves, they placed their hope on their descendants. Unlike the White Tiger, the Vermillion Bird was born gifted in the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements. The Dao of Yin Yang is one of the greatest of the Great Daos, second only to Fate, yet it cannot control Fate like the Dao of Fate or see into the future like the Dao of Time. Thus, the Vermillion Bird could not borrow the power of the world.”

After a brief pause, Wang Yao continued, “Unable to borrow the power of the world, she had to think of another way, so she simply decided to borrow the power of man.”

“‘Borrow the power of man’?” Huangfu Meng and Tang Xuanyu asked in unison.

They both realized something.

As expected, Wang Yao explained, “Yes, she borrowed a master’s power! This was the path the Vermillion Bird chose. To break the shackles, the Vermillion Bird Ancestor sought out a Titan who was a master in the Dao of Fate, though she was smart enough not to go to the Azure Dragon. Through that Titan, the Vermillion Bird made a wish to the Heavenly Dao that her descendant would follow a powerful being, and with the help of that being, she would complete the breakthrough. Of course, as the price, the Vermillion Bird would be loyal to her master for the rest of her life. Freedom was the price. Starting from the hidden realm, she was a prisoner, and even after she broke free of the hidden realm, she could not escape the control of her master. Moreover, this bondage would last for three generations before there would finally be an opportunity to break free. Even so, the young Vermillion Bird is still a weak firebird yet to even reach True Immortal. To break through, she must wait for Tang Jie, and she may have to wait a long time for Tang Jie’s grace. Perhaps Tang Jie could even die before then, which would mean that the plan was a failure… This is what happens when the sacrifice is not great enough.”

Huangfu Meng was stunned. “Is it worth it? Is it really worth it to sacrifice so much to break the shackles on your bloodline?”

Wang Yao replied, “How could I know if it’s worth it? After all, this decision was made by our ancestors. What I do know is that when a person has lived for eons and has reached an almost omnipotent level, there is very little worth pursuing. Breaking through the bottleneck might not have been most important. But from their perspective, what else was worth pursuing? Maybe they were also hesitant and indecisive at the start, but as the years passed and they waited and waited, they finally realized that, other than death, this was the only path they could take. Thus, it’s not a question of worth, but… that they simply didn’t want anything else.”

Huangfu Meng had no response.

Wang Yao chuckled. “Alright, I’ve told you everything I should have told you. Do you have any other questions?”

Tang Xuanyu replied, “I have a question. Since you plan to massacre the Rosecloud Domain and return kindness with hatred, how do you plan to repay my father’s kindness?”

Wang Yao laughed. “That’s precisely why I haven’t attacked all these years, because I’ve lacked an opportunity to repay his kindness. Originally, if my adoptive father had lost to Libido, I could have come to his aid and thus repaid his kindness. Alas, Libido was too incompetent and was defeated.”

He shook his head in sorrow, which left Tang Xuanyu and Huangfu Meng speechless.

Wang Yao continued, “So I waited and watched, seeking an opportunity to repay his kindness. After all, it was Father who gave me my freedom, so if I could not repay his kindness, how could I avenge my grudge? After all, he’s the current Domain Lord of the Rosecloud Domain.”

Huangfu Meng mumbled, “You seem to have a clear line between kindness and grudges.”

“Father taught me all this,” Wang Yao chuckled. “I patiently waited, but then the heavens gave me a chance and let me save you two.”

Tang Xuanyu jumped up. “Hey, my life wasn’t saved by you. I jumped into that spatial fissure myself. If you hadn’t forcibly pulled me out, the two of us would have never come here. Even without you, I would have survived just fine.”

“But weren’t you heavily injured? Who do you think treated you?”

“That’s not the same thing. Without you, I could still recover. In the cultivator world, particularly for cultivators of our level, these injuries are no big deal at all.” Tang Xuanyu stubbornly refused to give ground. After all, the fate of the Rosecloud Domain was at stake.

Surprisingly, Wang Yao didn’t argue, nodding and saying, “Yes, I only helped you a little bit… Hmph, it’s not like you can say that I didn’t help at all, right?”

Helpless, Tang Xuanyu extended his pinky finger and said, “Just a tiny bit.”

Huangfu Meng inwardly chuckled. This peak Violet Palace True Lord actually had a rather childish air to him. This was truly a simple and honest soul.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yao clapped his hands and said, “We can work with that! I can just help you a little more, no? I owe my adoptive father a great kindness, but he has a profound cultivation and has no need for my help. But wouldn’t helping his son solve things?”

Tang Xuanyu was aghast. Only then did he recall that Wang Yao had spoken about granting a great blessing.

He had already been uninterested in this “great” blessing, and now he had even more reason to refuse.

He shouted, “I don’t want it!”

“That’s not up to you!” Wang Yao laughed. He seized Tang Xuanyu and Huangfu Meng and said, “As my future sister-in-law, you must be blessed as well. We White Tigers have always been generous. A drop of kindness will be returned with a wellspring.”

“Release me!” Tang Xuanyu cursed. “I don’t need your wellspring of generosity! All I care about is you not attacking the Rosecloud Domain.”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be a simple wellspring, but all the oceans in the world… Just the two of you will be enough,” Wang Yao cackled.

Huangfu Meng weakly said, “I’m now sure that you are a demon, because only a demon would act this way.”

Wang Yao heartily laughed. He waved his hand, opening an enormous spatial fissure behind him. Carrying Huangfu Meng and Tang Xuanyu, he strode into the fissure and vanished.

——————————————

The Hall of Divine Conference.

The stars twinkled, and Tang Jie sat alone in the center of them.

Every mote of starlight here was a crucial node of the Rosecloud Domain’s formation. As the Rosecloud Domain expanded, these nodes constantly moved around and increased in number.

This was a major challenge to Tang Jie’s formation and organizational abilities.

Fortunately, in the Dao of Formations, Tang Jie was an absolute genius.

Through his farsighted planning, the Rosecloud Domain went through heavenshaking transformations.

Alas, nobody except him could truly understand how this domain was changing.

There were some things that were simply beyond the description of words.

Even Tang Jie felt regret over being unable to share his joy.

At this moment, someone ran in.

In the Rosecloud Domain, there were few who could enter the Hall of Divine Conference without notice.

Tang Jie raised his head and smiled at the visitor.

“Zixi, what’s wrong?”

The visitor was Tang Zixi.

Tang Zixi bowed to her father and said, “Just now, I sensed my brother.”

“Oh?” Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. “You sensed him?”

Tang Zixi and her brother shared a unique mental connection, a secret that nobody besides Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran knew. But this mental connection was very shallow. There was no free flow of information like between Tang Jie and his avatar, and it was at times unstable. In short, it was unreliable.

Thus, when Tang Xuanyu went missing, Tang Jie didn’t try to find him through Tang Zixi, because he knew that it wouldn’t work.

But now, Tang Zixi had sensed her younger brother.

“Did he tell you anything?” Tang Jie asked.

Tang Zixi shook her head. “I can only sense his emotional state. He himself had no idea that his emotions had been sensed by me, so how could he send a message?”

“‘Emotions’…” After a moment of silence, Tang Jie asked, “What kind of emotions?”

Tang Zixi blushed.

After a while, she finally said, “He seems to be in a state of ecstasy…”

“‘Ecstasy’?”

Clenching her teeth, Tang Zixi replied, “It should be… the thing… between a man and woman…”

Her voice was as soft as the buzzing of a fly.

Tang Jie was startled.