Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The battle in the sky continued: Tang Jie versus Nine Disaster, and the Gigantes King versus Ancestor Lifeless and the Ancient Stellar Devil.

Though it was one versus two, the Gigantes King actually had the upper hand. Each one of his punches seemed unstoppable, able to punch through the domain itself, and these two Gold Immortals could barely protect themselves.

It wasn’t because they were too weak. The Gigantes King was just too strong!

How could an existence that could fight evenly with the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk and hold up the entire Gigantes race all on his own possibly be weak? In reality, before Tang Jie arrived, the Gigantes King had once gone one versus three, taking all three of the demons’ Gold Immortals. Although he had ultimately been defeated, it had still been an eye-opening battle for the demons.

This was why the demons weren’t too surprised that the Gigantes could suppress two Gold Immortals. But Ancestor Lifeless and the Ancient Stellar Devil were no weaklings, and the best the Gigantes King could do was hold them down.

But this kind of battle still wasn’t as compelling, as grandiose, as the battle between Tang Jie and Nine Disaster.

This was a battle that filled the sky and affected the entire domain, clearly on an entirely different level.

The Vermillion Bird, who was spectating the battle from a distance, suddenly muttered, “So strange.”

“What’s strange?” Yiyi turned to her.

“It seems to me that the Gigantes King hasn’t linked with the domain core.”

“Ah!” Yiyi also turned to the battlefield in surprise.

The Gigantes King battled valiantly against the two devils, awe-inspiring in his strength.

But Yiyi sensed a disharmony behind all that dominating presence.

It was the domain core.

Having spent a long time with another Gold Immortal—Tang Jie—Yiyi and the Vermillion Bird had gradually developed some understanding of domain cores. They were still far from being able to communicate with the core, but they were at least familiar with its energy signature.

But they couldn’t sense any of that energy signature on the Gigantes King.

What was going on?

They weren’t alone. Yun Tianlan and the other Immortals could also tell that there was a huge difference between Tang Jie and the Gigantes King. When using the core, Tang Jie’s power could be described as ethereal and majestic, while the Gigantes King’s power was powerful and domineering. When it came to density of power, the Gigantes King was undoubtedly superior. His power was so dense that it surpassed the caliber of a Gold Immortal. But when it came to the depth of this power, the Gigantes King was far inferior to Tang Jie and the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, only able to outmatch the likes of Ancestor Lifeless and the Ancient Stellar Devil.

He was the Domain Lord of Gigantes, yet he couldn’t control the domain core. At the same time, he was still able to match the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk. How could all this be explained?

They were all confused.

A voice suddenly spoke. “It’s not that he hasn’t been able to comprehend the domain core. He’s simply refined the core’s power into his body.”

Xu Miaoran.

Floating in the air, Xu Miaoran was also spectating the Gigantes King’s battle.

“Sister-in-law, what do you mean that he refined the domain core’s energy?” Yiyi shouted. “Is this a secret art of the Martial Lord?”

Xu Miaoran shook her head. “No, this definitely isn’t some secret art left by the Martial Lord. If my guess is right, this must be some secret art inherent to the Gigantes. If it was just the Martial Lord’s art, the best he could do was reach Tang Jie’s size as a body cultivator, certainly not achieve this terrifying level of strength. Refining the domain core, haha, it seems like Tang Jie guessed right. This Gigantes Domain has a problem, a big problem!”

Nobody knew what Tang Jie had guessed, but as long as Xu Miaoran didn’t say, they didn’t dare to ask.

But just because Xu Miaoran wasn’t saying anything didn’t mean that nobody else would.

A sharp-eyed Demon Lord who had been observing the humans this whole time laughed, “Hahahaha, as an ally of the Gigantes, you don’t know of their unique traits? Indeed, the Gigantes have a secret art that lets them refine the domain core! Gigantes King, why didn’t you tell them? Afraid of scaring the humans, hahahaha!”

“Hmph!” The Gigantes King grunted. “Chatterer.”

He threw out another punch.

At the moment, Ancestor Lifeless was enduring the Gigantes King’s Combat Emperor Strikes while the Ancient Stellar Devil was using the moment to attack, but the Gigantes King chose to ignore him and throw a punch at that talkative Demon Lord.

This Demon Lord was still at the True Immortal level, and as that punch thundered toward it, it hastily threw up thousands of barriers and activated more than a hundred kinds of movement techniques. But the Gigantes King’s space-shattering punch rendered all spatial movement arts ineffective. With nowhere to run and the barriers all shattering, the Demon Lord had no choice but to throw up a mouthful of blood and flee as a Divine Soul. Boom! His body splattered into pieces. His Divine Soul escaped and was able to reform his body, but he was so scared that he no longer spoke.

But not everyone was afraid of those punches.

In the distance, a female Demon Lord, Queen Sinflower, said with a laugh, “Gigantes King, do you really think you can silence us all with your fists? The Gigantes refining the domain core stopped being a secret long ago. But the humans are too biased against the Primordial Fog Domain and have never believed our words. If they knew the truth, they would never have been willing to help you!”

What!?

These words made the hearts of the humans shiver.

What sort of amazing thing was refining a domain core, that the Gigantes King would be so determined to keep it a secret, and for this Demon Lord to say such a thing!?

“Raaa!” The Gigantes King punched out in fury.

Queen Sinflower didn’t even try to dodge, but the area around her instantly turned into an ocean, and while the punch managed to stir up enormous waves, it failed to injure Queen Sinflower. In the ocean, a black lotus blossom slowly bloomed, and in the center of it sat Queen Sinflower, laughing, “You can’t kill me, Gigantes King, so why even bother?”

Queen Sinflower was the strongest of the Primordial Fog True Immortals, and she was an expert in undying arts. Although it wasn’t to the level where she could defeat Gold Immortals, it was said that some of the more average Gold Immortals were unable to kill her.

The Gigantes King naturally wasn’t the average Gold Immortal, but killing Queen Sinflower in one blow was still an impossible task.

“Shut your mouth!” the Gigantes King roared, and punched again.

But the Ancient Stellar Devil and Ancestor Lifeless came forward, robbing him of any further chance to attack.

Huang Wuji said, “Just what is it, Queen Sinflower? Speak directly!”

Queen Sinflower rolled her eyes at Huang Wuji. “Wouldn’t I lose face if I complied with your orders?”

So she fell silent instead.

Demons had strange personalities, always acting according to their natures. Saying it would clearly only benefit the demons, but she suddenly became willful and refused, which left everyone speechless.

Thankfully, not all demons were like her.

A giant black dragon said, “Sinflower, could you stop being so small-minded? Ah, I’ll just tell you instead.”

The Black Dragon Demon Lord was one of the strongest True Immortals under Nine Disaster.

Queen Sinflower glared. “Who asked you? These humans are real idiots. They know about domain core refining, yet they still don’t understand how monstrous the crime the Gigantes committed was. It’s not like they don’t have a Gold Immortal. Did nobody tell them what the core represents?”

What did the core represent?

Everyone froze.

Tang Jie truly had told them, but the thought hadn’t occurred to them.

Queen Sinflower’s words made everyone recall.

Yun Tianlan said, “It represents the will of the domain. Refining the domain core—could it be…”

Yun Tianlan suddenly shivered and said no more.

Queen Sinflower laughed. “You finally get it. Refining the domain core is devouring the will of the domain. And devouring the will of the domain is the same as trying to kill it and will incur the domain’s resistance!”

Xu Miaoran was also shocked, blurting out, “That’s why the Gigantes Domain broke apart! It was the resistance of the domain!”

The Gigantes walked a completely different path from that of the cultivators of the present age.

They didn’t communicate with the domain and borrow the power of the core, but simply relied on their incredible gifts to forcibly refine the domain core! The Gigantes of Remote Antiquity had been the strongest race in the universe precisely because they had the ability to refine domain cores. To be more precise, they had been the first to develop the tier of Boundless Gold Immortal. The humans had simply followed in their footsteps and developed a new cultivation style, approaching the matter from a different angle.

Comparing the two, the Gigantes method clearly damaged the domain. After all, one borrowed power while the other refined, taking and never returning.

And in the glorious age of Remote Antiquity, there had been many Gigantes who had attained Boundless, so one could easily imagine the damage they had done to their domain.

Whether it was the intentional revenge of the domain will or a natural reaction to the core being damaged, the Gigantes Domain started to reach its limit, just like how not treasuring the environment would lead the environment to be ruined.

It started to fragment!

The largest domain in the universe began to shed parts, degenerating to its current state.

One could say that the Gigantes had been utterly abandoned.

They had been abandoned by their own domain!

Even so, the Gigantes kept to their path.

They had no other choice.

This was their innate gift. Nobody else could learn, and they couldn’t throw it away.

If they didn’t cultivate, they would be devoured and killed by the other races. If they did cultivate, then even if the Gigantes Domain abandoned them, at least they could survive.

Not refining meant dying immediately, while refining meant that they could buy time and die slowly.

This was the difference!

The tragedy of the Gigantes was one with no hope of redemption.

Everyone finally started to understand why the Gigantes had fallen.

“But if that’s all, why keep it a secret?” Yiyi asked.

“Because–”

“Because it wasn’t just the domain that abandoned them, but the Heavenly Dao.”

Another voice interrupted Queen Sinflower before she could answer.