Chapter 776: Astral Winds
Emerging from Freedom Hall, Tang Jie looked up at that vortex of fortune above him and smiled.
After thirty years of plowing the fields, it was finally time for harvest.
With this vortex of fortune, the Cloud Ancestor would have even better chances of reaching True Immortal.
Tang Jie hadn't forgotten Ji Qingfeng's lesson: It was always the person at the very top of the sect that would decide its status and size.
So long as the Earth Immortal did not fall, the Basking Moon Sect would never fall, and if the Earth Immortal had a breakthrough, it would have an overwhelming advantage over the other sects. In other words, only the Cloud Ancestor could help Tang Jie realize his goal.
Now that the blessing of fortune had taken form, it would only grow larger with time, blessing the Cloud Ancestor more and more. This together with the instruction from Immortal Ji Yao made breaking through into True Immortal only a matter of time.
I wonder if it will be in time for my duel with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, Tang Jie thought to himself.
Bong!
A bell rang out from the area behind Starsnatch Peak.
The Cloud Ancestor's voice drifted into Tang Jie's ears. "Come to my place."
Tang Jie flew toward the back mountain.
Whenever Ling Xiao went to see the Cloud Ancestor, he first had to burn incense and take a bath, after which he would walk his way toward the back mountain, not daring to neglect a single rule, but Tang Jie could just fly right over. He landed on the mountain and entered the garden, waving hello to the elderly child Mountain Shatter before entering the thatched house.
As he entered the room, the Cloud Ancestor opened his eyes and smiled at Tang Jie. "After thirty years of diligently ruling the country and plucking the Web of Fate, you really did manage to produce a vortex of fortune. Even this old man must admit he is impressed."
Tang Jie bowed. "This is simply a gesture of sincerity from this disciple. Martial Ancestor, please accept it."
The Cloud Ancestor nodded. "There is no gift in the world that could make me happier, but you have already given me two such generous gifts. How could I possibly thank you?"
Tang Jie kept his head down and said nothing.
The Cloud Ancestor smiled. "Let me take a guess. I suppose this should be about your charge at Deification, no?"
Although the Deification threshold was not as dangerous as the Violet Palace threshold, it was still not easy and required a long period of accumulation. If one hundred and fifty years were enough time, then Ming Yekong would have reached Deification long ago.
While the Deification threshold wasn't some impassable chasm, it also wasn't something that could be settled in one hundred and fifty years. Normally, it would take around five hundred years to accomplish.
Even though Tang Jie had a vast fortune in spirit coins, the higher one went, the better the quality of resources one required, so money became less and less useful. Thus, trying to move at three times the speed with just money wasn't very possible.
But Tang Jie knew that he was not without opportunities.
He smiled at the Cloud Ancestor.
The Cloud Ancestor asked, "What idea do you have in mind?"
"Godhead Palace, the Beast Refining Gate," Tang Jie replied.
The Cloud Ancestor raised an eyebrow and then lightly dropped it. "I see. So you plan to move against them?"
Tang Jie replied, "They tried to interfere with my ascension to Violet Palace. Although they were defeated and also raided by the Seven Absolutions Sect, strictly speaking, the Basking Moon Sect hasn't gotten its revenge yet."
The Cloud Ancestor stroked his beard and smiled. "I like it. So how do you plan to take revenge?"
"I plan to get the resources I need to reach Deification from them," Tang Jie answered.
The Cloud Ancestor was so surprised that he laughed. "You plan to strip Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate naked?"
"That won't be needed," Tang Jie replied. "The Divine Will Golden Body and Imperial Sky Stamp will be enough."
Hiss!
The Cloud Ancestor sucked in his breath.
The Divine Will Golden Body was Godhead Palace's foundational treasure, and the Imperial Sky Stamp was the Beast Refining Gate's number one Dao armament. These items were the lifebloods of their respective sects, and they would never let anyone take them away. If Tang Jie tried, the ancestors of the two sects would immediately respond and obliterate Tang Jie.
When the Seven Absolutions Sect raided Godhead Palace, they didn't even touch the Divine Will Golden Body, even sending people to protect it for fear that some fool might try to take it.
One could say that the wars between the six major sects were all limited wars conducted under the supervision of the six Earth Immortals. So long as the battles didn't go over the line, the Earth Immortals wouldn't intervene, so as to spur the growth of their disciples.
For them, a defeat was like letting a child fall on their face, a chance to temper the child. But taking the Divine Will Golden Body was kidnapping the child, which couldn't be tolerated at all.
Hearing this, the Cloud Ancestor finally understood what Tang Jie wanted. "You want me to do it?"
Tang Jie nodded.
The Cloud Ancestor immediately shook his head. "This is impossible. The six Immortals reached a tacit understanding long ago to not intervene in the struggles between sects. There are only two events that will make us take action: the survival of the sect is at stake, or else the Primordial Fog invades."
Tang Jie casually replied, "A tacit understanding is just that, an understanding. It's no contract, and even if it were, it can still be broken."
The Cloud Ancestor's eyes flashed. "What did you say?"
A junior dared to tell him to ignore the understanding among the six Immortals and take action? The audacity!
Tang Jie was unafraid. "Martial Ancestor, if you have the Divine Will Golden Body, True Immortal will be close at hand."
The Cloud Ancestor froze.
How could he know not of the wondrous uses of the Divine Will Golden Body? Godhead Palace's Earth Immortal couldn't get much from it because they had already spent too long in its influence, but for the Immortals of the other five major sects, the Divine Will Golden Body was a delicious cake that everyone wanted a piece of.
As for the Imperial Sky Stamp, it was a Dao armament of the Beast Refining Gate in the Dao of Life, emphasizing fusion. It was more used for increasing a cultivator's strength, and its use in battle was secondary. Meng Guanshan had achieved his half-fiend body through this stamp, and it was so powerful that he could even be fearless in the face of Xiao Biehan's God-Conquering Merak Sword.
If he could get his hands on it, it would be of huge help in his ascension.
The Cloud Ancestor thought about it but ultimately shook his head. "No, it's no good. That Ye Yun is extremely strong, and I have no chance of winning against him. Let alone getting our hands on the Divine Will Golden Body, we'll end up making ourselves laughingstocks of the world instead. Even if we really get it, we will be criticized by everyone in the world, which will stain my heart. Then, even with all the resources in the world, I will lose my way and be unable to overcome my mental block."
He closed his eyes.
"Then let's change the method. What if Ye Yun attacked us? Can I request the Cloud Ancestor's protection then?"
"So long as you aren't doing anything outrageous, he won't attack you."
"Then what if we weren't doing anything outrageous, just a simple accident, yet it made Ye Yun break the rules first?"
The Cloud Ancestor paused, and then his eyes opened again. "If he breaks the rules first, then this old man might have to intervene."
Tang Jie smiled. "If that's the case, then on the day my Basking Moon Sect takes revenge, I would request the ancestor's protection."
The Cloud Ancestor nodded. "Very well. So long as you don't break the rules with your actions, if that old man dares to attack, I will protect you all."
Such a promise from the Cloud Ancestor was very hard to come by. In normal circumstances, he would never concern himself with the affairs of the sect.
"Of course." Tang Jie laughed.
"Do you plan to get the Imperial Sky Stamp the same way?"
"This child has his ways." Tang Jie smiled.
The Cloud Ancestor didn't ask any more, only saying, "When do you plan to start?"
"There's no rush. Let's wait a hundred years first," Tang Jie replied. "After a hundred years, the fortune blessing will make it so that even if Martial Ancestor hasn't broken through into True Immortal, your cultivation level will have greatly risen so that you can win against Ye Yun, even if you can't kill him."
The Cloud Ancestor chuckled. "Since you've already thought of everything, then why are we still chattering away? Go now."
He waved his hand, dismissing him.
As Tang Jie was about to leave, the Cloud Ancestor abruptly said, "Right, after a few days, you should take a trip to the Verdant Cloud Domain."
"This disciple understands." He bowed and left.
After exiting the room, Tang Jie took to the sky. Mountain Shatter glanced at him and muttered, "The brat's getting more and more impolite."
He lowered his head and continued to tend to the flowers.
Tang Jie flew straight up, higher and higher, until he finally arrived at the green Astral Winds.
The Domain Astral Winds were actually green, and it was only the reflected sunlight that made them so colorful. When one actually got close, they no longer seemed as impressive.
But to those within them, the immense pressure from the Astral Winds was all too real, and all too dangerous.
Even just standing outside the Astral Wind region, Tang Jie could still feel that terrifying power that could destroy, even from the faintest wisps of wind.
The power of Destruction contained in these Astral Winds was countless times stronger than those of the Verdant Cloud Domain.
Standing in the clouds, Tang Jie drew closer to the Astral Winds, and as he did, the Astral Winds grew ever stronger. Tang Jie's flesh began to sear and burn, dry up and shatter, before turning into ash.
But each time, a strange energy would emerge from Tang Jie's body, nourishing and healing him, allowing him to recover much faster than before. And as time went on, the energy itself began to grow stronger. Tang Jie was using this method to temper his body.
While Tang Jie had been busy ruling for the last thirty years, he hadn't completely neglected his cultivation.
But he didn't have much time, so he sought efficiency over all, and tempering his body through the Astral Winds seemed like the best option.
Tempering the body through the Parting Classic had always come in two steps: nurturing the body by absorbing medicinal power through herbal baths, and tempering the body through beating and honing.
Before this, Tang Jie had done more nurturing than tempering, which had left him with a strong body that lacked explosive power, and when it came to the Dao of the Martial Lord, the body was always in an explosive state.
For the likes of the Martial Lord and Wang Juemie, exploding with 200% of the body's strength came as naturally as breathing, and they could control and sustain this explosion of power. But Tang Jie's explosion of power came passively, and he could get only around 150% and sustain it for only a brief period.
Such a gap meant that Wang Juemie naturally overcame Tang Jie in strength.
It wasn't overwhelming because Wang Juemie was actually stronger, but because he could use more of his power.
Upon realizing this, Tang Jie started to focus more on tempering.
There was no better way of tempering himself than using the Astral Winds.
Thirty years of tirelessly enduring the torment of the Astral Winds required tremendous willpower and perseverance. Even someone as strong as Tang Jie wanted to stop because it was just too painful, but the pressure from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign compelled him to keep going. As for Wang Juemie, who could keep honing himself for one hundred years, one could only say that he was a freak, and it was no wonder the Seven Absolutions Sect appreciated him so.
But Tang Jie was confident that his thirty years of tempering could shrink that gap by a large margin. If they were to fight again, he could overwhelm Wang Juemie in strength alone.
After tempering himself for two hours, Tang Jie withdrew from the Astral Winds to the perimeter.
In a flash of light, Yiyi, the Mother Cloud combat puppet, and Tutu appeared, all of them with grave and solemn expressions.
Tang Jie sat cross-legged on Tutu, and a small person appeared over his head in a flash of light.
The Primal Infant had left the body!
Tang Jie was letting out his Primal Infant in the Astral Wind region!
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