Aspiring to the Immortal Path

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

Tang Jie had transformed two massive mountains into arms which he was using to fight the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, but he still had the spare focus to take note of the conversation.

When the Gigantes King heard this, his immense body finally trembled. “You knew?”

Tang Jie sighed.

“It’s nothing too surprising. The day I advanced to Boundless, I comprehended something important. The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel is really just a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao’s core. If you can refine the core of a domain, presumably you can also refine the core of the Heavenly Dao. This is why, when I saw the history of the Gigantes, I was almost erased by the power of the Heavenly Dao. You have to realize that not even the Dao-betraying of the Martial Lord had me directly erased.”

Refining the core of the Heavenly Dao!

Everyone was scared silly by Tang Jie’s words.

Even Queen Sinflower was stupefied.

She clearly knew why the Gigantes had declined, but she didn’t know that the Heavenly Dao had also been involved in the domain’s abandonment. Moreover, it seemed like this factor was the far more important one.

The Gigantes King was also dumbfounded, and in this moment, he took attacks from both Ancestor Lifeless and the Ancient Stellar Devil. But having refined the domain’s core energy into his body, he was so tough that he barely felt it.

As Tang Jie thrust a finger of one of his mountainous arms at the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, he casually remarked, “Of course, actually refining the Heavenly Dao’s core is no easy task. One probably has to cultivate to an extremely profound level to accomplish it, and perhaps one will only be able to refine a tiny bit. But what’s important isn’t how much you refine, but that you can refine it, and perhaps you already have.”

The Gigantes King sighed and fell silent.

The Gigantes had had countless heroes, and many of them were bold and audacious individuals. It wasn’t just the humans who sought to surpass the Heavenly Dao. Tens of thousands of years ago, in the time of Remote Antiquity, the Gigantes that ruled the universe had thought about it and put their plans into motion.

Now that he thought about it, more than one Gigantes Titan must have attempted to refine the Heavenly Dao’s core.

Of course, they couldn’t have refined much of the Heavenly Dao’s core.

With their refining ability and the depth of the Heavenly Dao’s core, it would be speaking highly of them to say that they had taken even one drop of water out of the ocean.

But this wasn’t important.

Sometimes, it wasn’t about how much, but about the nature of the substance!

It was not important to the Heavenly Dao how far the Gigantes were from refining the Heavenly Dao’s core. What was important was that the Heavenly Dao would not accept this!

The Heavenly Dao had no intelligence, but it could still feel.

Once or twice was nothing much, but as it kept happening and happening, it would start to remember.

Even insignificant mosquitoes could incur the wrath and frenzied pursuit of humans.

For the Heavenly Dao, the ability to refine domain cores was a threat, which only deepened the memory.

Thus, how could it let the Gigantes be?

If betraying the Dao was a rebel army and gathering all Twelve Great Daos was a powerful minister, the Gigantes refining the core was like the remnants of a previous dynasty sending assassins and raising an army! The hatred it felt toward them far exceeded the other two.

This had nothing to do with the actual threat they could present. Even if the present Gigantes were far less of a threat than Yu Cheng, the Martial Lord, and Tang Jie, at least these three were individuals, and Yu Cheng and Tang Jie hadn’t even attacked it yet. Thus, it could tolerate them and followed its rules.

Things were different when it came to the Gigantes.

It was an unconscious reaction, a conditional reflex. Whenever it came to the Gigantes, the will of the Heavenly Dao couldn’t help but grow furious and want to erase them.

This was why Tang Jie had almost been erased in the cave.

The only thing he didn’t understand was how the Gigantes had managed to survive.

Perhaps only the Gigantes King had the answer.

Clearly, he didn’t plan to tell.

He simply looked at Tang Jie and said, “Yes, my Gigantes have been abandoned by the domain and made an enemy of the Heavenly Dao. Tang Jie, if you want to, you can take your people and leave. Your interactions with the Gigantes are still shallow, and the Heavenly Dao might not punish you, giving you some hope of survival.”

Tang Jie’s canyon-like eyes narrowed. “You’re saying that after I leave, the Heavenly Dao will punish me? In other words, the Heavenly Dao won’t punish me while I’m in the Gigantes Domain? Is this why you Gigantes haven’t gone extinct? There is still some power in the Gigantes Domain, creating a shelter for you. This is why you say that the Gigantes can’t leave the Gigantes Domain and will die the moment they do. Because if they leave, the Heavenly Dao will erase you!”

The Gigantes King was stunned.

He hadn’t expected Tang Jie to deduce so much from his words.

Tang Jie continued, “No, that’s not correct. If that were the case, the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t have tried to erase me in the cave. Thus, it shouldn’t be a sheltering power, nor should there be any power that can stop the Heavenly Dao. What could it be, then?”

Tang Jie fell into deep thought, though while thinking, he was still responding to Nine Disaster’s attacks. Nine Disaster had remained silent, listening to the discussion and trying to see how much Tang Jie could guess.

A moment later, Tang Jie’s eyes brightened.

It had only been a second, but Tang Jie had already considered countless possibilities.

“It’s not some obstructive power, but a power that conceals the Gigantes Domain from the perception of the Heavenly Dao so that it can’t perceive the Gigantes. But when I was in the cave and triggered that illusion, this illusion was not protected by that power, which is why the Heavenly Dao tried to erase me, and which is why the remnant power of the Martial Lord can protect you. Gigantes King, just what is it that’s protecting your people?”

The Gigantes King’s jaw dropped.

He wanted to say something, but the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk suddenly said, “Tang Jie, you’re talking too much. Focus on your battle with this old monk first!”

He thrust a giant hand at Tang Jie.

Seeing the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk suddenly intensify his assault, Tang Jie understood. “So you also knew! This is why you’ve been attacking only the Gigantes Domain for the last ten thousand years.”

The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk’s face turned savage. “He was right! You really are a big problem!”

“Who are you talking about?” Tang Jie asked.

The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk didn’t answer, but his aura surged, and chanting resounded through the heavens as various phenomena began to manifest. There was an ancient giant Buddha floating in the sky, its body blazing with black flames, its expression solemn and dignified. The face was clearly Nine Disaster’s, but it had the aura of a Buddha Ancestor.

The Western Heaven Buddha Ancestor was a Dao-proving Saint Immortal, the sovereign of the Buddha Kingdom, but at this moment, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk had equaled the Buddha Ancestor. He was the Buddha, and the Buddha was him.

Countless other Buddhas appeared, black flowers drifted down from the heavens, and various pagodas, dharmachakras, wooden fish, and other such Buddhist treasures appeared, casting their light over the world.

A Buddha Kingdom had appeared, but it was one of darkness.

The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk sat in the center of the Buddha Kingdom on his seven-petaled lotus platform, venerated as the Buddha Ancestor, and under him were countless Vidyarajas, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Vajras, and Arhats. Howling and glaring, they unleashed countless spell arts that blotted out the heavens.

Each one was real, each one was lethal.

Everyone paled at this sight.

This was the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk’s strongest move, the supreme demon art he had cultivated for ten thousand years.

Was the new Gold Immortal, Tang Jie, able to hold out?

Tang Jie chuckled.

The earth quaked.

That giant face in the earth disappeared, replaced by a blue-robed man striding through the clouds and into the void. He had revealed his true self, yet he seemed no less intimidating than the enormous existence that was Nine Disaster.

He gazed at the Dark Buddha Kingdom and opened his hands.

A darkness erupted from his palm.

The World Devourer!

The Immortal Art that Tang Jie had created was powerful enough, and by borrowing the core energy of the Heavenly Dao, it was even more absurdly powerful.

He threw it into the Dark Buddha Kingdom.

The black hole expanded, devouring and dragging to oblivion everything around it.

Nine Disaster grimaced and let out a shout, upon which all the Buddhas began to chant, and their powers surged into the black hole to neutralize it.

The World Devourer was quickly neutralized, but Tang Jie simply threw in another.

He kept throwing them in, and Nine Disaster’s Buddhas kept neutralizing them, the battle falling into a stalemate.

Nine Disaster’s scowl grew nastier and nastier.

Nobody was holding back at this point, and their battle had been carried out into the void. But Tang Jie’s energy seemed endless, and to Nine Disaster’s shock, he was just as proficient in using core energy as he was.

How could this be!?

The Gigantes King couldn’t use core energy because he had refined the domain core.

And he himself should have had a far deeper understanding of the Gigantes Domain. Over his four invasions in the last ten thousand years, he had spent around three-hundred-some years communing with the domain.

After three hundred years of communion, he could borrow just as much core energy as a guy who had just gotten here!

How could this be!?

For a Boundless Gold Immortal, taking three hundred years to commune with a domain core was practically miraculous speed.

And he even had help doing it.

What had let Tang Jie do it?

“This makes no sense!” Nine Disaster roared.

Tang Jie laughed. “Nine Disaster, you’re a genius, so how can you still not get it? You’re not the only one who can rapidly advance in this universe.”

Nine Disaster darkly said, “This isn’t the same thing at all. I attack the Gigantes and seek to destroy this domain because it is the will of the heavens. With the Heavenly Dao’s protection, it is only natural that I make such speedy progress. But who are you? A successor to the Martial Lord, the betrayer of the Heavenly Dao, so why is your connection to the core so profound!?”

Tang Jie laughed even harder. “A demon dares to say that they follow the will of the heavens! How amusing. Moreover, why does communicating with the core require going with the will of the heavens? I go against the heavens, and perhaps taking the opposite path is the key.”

As he spoke, his aura grew unstable.

Nine Disaster’s eyes brightened. “In the end, you can’t outlast this old monk, no?”

Tang Jie looked down at himself. “My foundation is a little shallow, but it’s fine. Today, I’ll let you know just how I managed to succeed while going against the heavens. Because… I am the Dao!”

As he spoke, a ring of light expanded under Tang Jie.

The Heavenly Dao Realm!