Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The same night, Huang Yue sent over the outline of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection.

The outline was not a cultivation manual, but a theoretical primer for before one began cultivating a divine connection, a thorough treatise on the subject matter.

It was like how an engineer first had to learn mechanical theory, ideally then bringing together theory with practice. The Great Aspiration Divine Connection outline was the basic theory for the Great Aspiration, and the foundation of this theory concerned Aspirational Power.

Tang Jie had no interest in obtaining the Great Aspiration Divine Connection. The Basking Moon Sect had its own divine connections, and it wasn\'t as though the grass was always greener on the other side.

But he was very interested in Aspirational Power. This was very likely to help him take another step in understanding the laws of the world.

After reading the outline, Tang Jie finally understood what the Great Aspiration Divine Connection and Aspirational Power were about.

According to the description in the outline, Aspirational Power was actually another manifestation of substantialized Spirit Will.

Spirit Will substantialization was how Heart Demons came to be.

To put it simply, human thoughts gradually substantialized because of cultivation, becoming existences that were half-illusion and half-real. These could be divided into two categories: Divine Will and Demonic Will. The latter were Heart Demons.

Heart Demons rose from those evil thoughts and wills that could not be controlled, as well as past misgivings, and hidden desire. All of them would be triggered and assume physical form. By destroying them, one would overcome one\'s Heart Demons. If not destroyed, the Demonic Will would enter the body, either causing one to suffer energy corruption or transforming one into a demon.

Whether it was Divine Will or Demonic Will, they were all human thoughts given form due to cultivation, and they could only exist within cultivators.

But Aspirational Power was the opposite. It was a response by the world to human thoughts, so it was born from the world and existed within the world.

Shi Wunian used a simple analogy to describe this phenomenon: Aspirational Power was the world\'s Divine Will or Demonic Will.

It was hard to explain why this happened, and not even Shi Wunian understood. But he had found a way to use it.

His Great Aspiration Divine Connection was the best way he had found to use Aspirational Power.

"\'Aspirational Power is the world\'s Divine Will or Demonic Will\'…" Tang Jie chewed over this bit of theory, countless thoughts flashing in his mind.

He suddenly recalled the legends of the Spirit Mountains.

Godhead Palace had once invaded the Spirit Mountains, marching into the mountains and waving around their art relics, slaughtering its creatures, plucking its spirit grasses, and destroying everything.

The Great Mountain grew angry and imprisoned those bastard invaders.

And Godhead Palace\'s Immortal Platform Titan had intervened.

His palm shook the mountains, and even the Great Mountain was forced to bow its head.

If the Great Mountain truly does have spirituality, it must loathe Godhead Palace, yes?

I swore a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Palace… Those words once more emerged in Tang Jie\'s mind.

He vaguely felt this thought flying out of his head.

It flew out of this little building and into the Great Mountain.

And then he faintly sensed the will of the Great Mountain.

It was a grim and boundless will, ancient beyond measure, and it enveloped Tang Jie.

When Tang Jie\'s bloodthirsty will encountered this will, that will trembled, and then, like the hand of a giant, it wrapped Tang Jie\'s will in its embrace.

Yes, it embraced him!

It was a formless will, but Tang Jie felt the warmth of a father.

He was now completely sure that this was the will of the Great Mountain.

Everyone knew that the Great Mountain had a will, but nobody had ever interacted with it before.

But now, Tang Jie had.

It wasn\'t because of his courtesy toward the Great Mountain, nor was it because he cherished the creatures of the Great Mountain, nor was it because he had stayed here for a long time, or any such reason. It was all because they shared a common enemy: Godhead Palace!

In all those eons, the Great Spirit Mountain had never encountered any setback.

Except once!

Only once!

Godhead Palace!

That Immortal Platform Titan\'s boundless Immortal power had singlehandedly suppressed its immense worldly might, compelling it to yield and release the people of Godhead Palace, and from that point on, the Great Mountain lost any sense of goodwill toward Godhead Palace.

When Tang Jie battled with Godhead Palace, the Great Mountain had sensed his desires.

\'I swore a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Palace!\'

Those words resonated with the Great Mountain\'s heart.

And Tang Jie had not just made that aspiration, but carried it out. That was why the Great Mountain had sensed it, even reaching out to him.

And then…

He had received the Great Mountain\'s support.

This was Aspirational Power.

It was the power of the Great Mountain, the power of the world, an individual\'s desires merging with the desires of the world.

In this interaction with the Great Mountain, Tang Jie finally understood everything. He felt like he could feel the Great Mountain\'s kindness.

Yes, after nearly half a year of fruitless communication, Tang Jie had finally successfully communicated with the Great Mountain, all thanks to his hatred for Godhead Palace.

Perhaps this was the power of hatred. People often spoke of the power of love, but in reality, the power of hatred was usually greater than the power of love.

Tang Jie\'s will was "embraced" by the Great Mountain, and a moment later, he felt power flowing into him. This was an indescribable power that was being converted into energy and entering his body through this formless will. In that moment, Tang Jie felt like he had endless power, and then this power overflowed, spreading out into his surroundings and forming a ring of light. The ring then erupted upward, engulfing him, and Tang Jie felt a soft and gentle sensation as if he had returned to his mother\'s womb.

But that light was still expanding outward, only stopping when it reached the limits of his Spirit Will.

"This is… a Spirit Ring?" Tang Jie was startled.

What was going on?

Before he could react, he saw countless wisps of smoke rise up in front of him, letting out piercing howls as they turned into savage creatures and charged at him.

"Heart Demons…" Tang Jie took in a deep breath.

This wasn\'t the first time he had experienced something like this. In the Water Moon Paradise, he had been attacked by a Heart Demon, via a special experience the Basking Moon Sect had prepared for its juniors so that they could experience the Heart Demon Period early. This way, they would have more experience for the real thing and could get through it more easily. At the same time, it was also the method by which the Wisdom Sword, a method for dealing with Heart Demons, was passed down.

Tang Jie had never imagined that he would get a preview of the Heart Demon Period twice.

As he saw the Heart Demons, his fingertip instinctively shone with light. With a wave of his hand, the Heart Demons were vanquished.

Wield the Wisdom Sword to slay Heart Demons!

But there were seemingly more Heart Demons here than in the Water Moon Paradise, and it seemed like there was no end to them. They rushed at Tang Jie ceaselessly, and there were so many that Tang Jie began to wonder where all these Demonic Wills had come from. Had his act of stealing candy from a neighbor as a child even turned into a Demonic Will to attack him?

When he felt his arms and legs going weak from all the killing, there was an explosion of light, and he saw the Heart Demons retreat.

He saw a boy sound asleep on the peak of the Great Mountain. From his appearance, that boy was none other than himself.

A formless will wrapped around the boy Tang Jie, a gentle breeze caressing him like the gentle hand of a mother.

The boy Tang Jie sweetly smiled.

"Soul Transformation…" Tang Jie muttered.

The world grew hazy, and the sky darkened.

He saw the boy grow up, a boundless divinity upon his face.

He grew older and larger, so large that even the mountain couldn\'t hold him anymore. Only the entire world could serve as his home.

"Violet Palace…" Tang Jie gasped.

Finally, the world shifted again, and Tang Jie was unable to see what came next.

As Tang Jie shivered, he realized that his mind had returned to his body, and he was still lying in that peaceful little room.

All that had happened just now seemed like a dream.

But Tang Jie knew that it was no dream.

Just now, the will of the Great Mountain had guided him through the process from Celestial Heart all the way to Violet Palace, allowing him to experience the various sensations and truly understand what Spirit Ring meant, what Heart Demon meant, what Soul Transformation meant, and even what Violet Palace meant.

But there had been nothing about the experience of reaching Celestial Heart.

Why had this phase alone been skipped?

No, that was wrong. It hadn\'t been skipped!

"To use my heart to experience the heart of the heavens, to use my will to sense the will of the heavens… \'Observing the will of the heavens\'," Tang Jie mumbled.

He suddenly understood.

Wasn\'t what he had experienced none other than the process of observing the will of the heavens?

Observing the will was the method by which one excavated one\'s gift, after which one could condense the manifestation.

The will of the heavens was not so easily observed, and for other people, this would always be a hazy experience, as if there was always a piece of gauze covering them. But Tang Jie saw everything clearly.

This was partially because this part of the world had embraced him, and also because his Insight ability had improved.

This was thanks to help from the Great Mountain, a consequence of its guidance. Moreover, it had been so helpful that Tang Jie could be said to have taken a huge stride in the Dao of Insight, landing only half a step away from entering the Dao.

At this stage, Tang Jie could now see everything clearly.

In other words, he no longer needed to worry about observing the will of the heavens. He could now clearly experience the will of the heavens, so he now only needed to condense the manifestation.

Besides that, that power that had surged into his body had been guided by the will of the Great Mountain and had greatly improved his strength.

Although Tang Jie had already been at the peak of Mortal Shedding, he had only barely hit this level. In normal circumstances, he would have needed three to five years of accumulation and reinforcement before he would reach the ideal moment to charge at Celestial Heart.

Thus, Tang Jie had been in no rush and had simply been preparing for that moment.

But the power from the will of the Great Mountain had brought him to the true apex of the Mortal Shedding Realm. It could be said that if he wanted to go any higher from here, his only choice was advancing into the Celestial Heart Realm.

Not even in his dreams had Tang Jie imagined that simply reading the outline of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection would bring him such benefits. He was so excited that he wanted to throw his head back and roar.

He looked outside and saw a ray of light peeking through.

While it seemed that his interaction with the will of the Great Mountain had only taken an instant, it had really taken an entire night.

Happy, he was about to go out when he suddenly realized that his body didn\'t feel right.

He felt his face and then felt his body, and he determined that all of his injuries were healed.

After a momentary daze, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and punched his own face…

―――――――――――――――――

When he woke up again, Tang Jie saw that Nan Ningjiang was standing in his room.

He was standing in front of the bookshelf, reading one of Qian Yingchen\'s books. When he saw that Tang Jie had awoken, Nan Ningjiang smiled and said, "What happened? Your injuries were recovering yesterday, so why did they suddenly get worse?"

"I accidentally fell on my face while sleeping," Tang Jie squeezed out.

It was difficult to reproduce his injuries, so he could only toughen up and make his wounds even worse.

Nan Ningjiang bitterly smiled and shook his head. "You\'re really something else."

He put the book back and said, "Right, I\'ve done what you requested."

Tang Jie knew that he was referring to the sharing of responsibility, so he hastily struggled to rise. "Many thanks, Brother Nan."

After this, he naturally began to refer to Nan Ningjiang as "Brother Nan".

"No need," Nan Ningjiang said. "But I need your help with something."

"Please speak."

"Feng Buzhi was slain in battle, so I would like the Beast Refining Gate to send more people to help. We don\'t have the Spirit-Boiling Powder anymore, so I need the Beast Refining Gate\'s hunting dogs to help us track down Tang Jie."

Tang Jie looked confused. "Tang Jie knows how to deal with hunting dogs, so this probably won\'t be effective. And don\'t we have Chief He? With his venerable self present, why do we need hunting dogs?"

Nan Ningjiang bitterly smiled. "If he can evade hunting dogs, he can naturally evade Chief He. But no matter what medicines he uses to wipe out his scent, this isn\'t a long-term plan. As the days drag on, he will reveal his weakness. The problem is that while I\'m willing to use hunting dogs until they\'re worn down to nothing, I would not dare to treat King Canis like that."

Tang Jie couldn\'t help but smile. "Alright. Once my injuries have improved a little, I will write a letter asking for reinforcements. If Brother Nan requires it, I can also send Brother Nan some hunting dogs."

"Really? That would be great." Nan Ningjiang was delighted.

The Beast Refining Gate\'s hunting dogs made tracking easy, and they were exactly what the Hawk Hall needed. But they were difficult to raise, and the Beast Refining Gate did not give them out easily. Nan Ningjiang was naturally happy to see Tang Jie being so generous.

Tang Jie casually said, "If Brother Nan likes it, perhaps I could even give more."

Oh? Nan Ningjiang could tell that there was another message here. "What does Brother Qian mean by this?"

Tang Jie said, "In hunting down Tang Jie, one dog will be useful, as will ten or one hundred. In battle, one might die, as could ten or one hundred. If Brother Nan wants, actually…"

He didn\'t go on, but Nan Ningjiang already understood what he meant.

He was talking about embezzlement!

Nan Ningjiang narrowed his eyes. "Brother Qian, as the future young lord of the Beast Refining Gate, these words really don\'t suit you."

"A young lord is still a human who needs resources to cultivate. How can one become a young lord if one does not understand how to seize opportunities?"

"But an opportunity can turn into a trap if you\'re careless. It will be a major incident if you\'re caught."

"That\'s why we have to be more clever about it. As a disciple, it\'s not proper for me to use the resources acquired from the Beast Refining Gate, but if I use them to aid Godhead Palace, then you\'re the one who decides how to use them. As for what comes out of Godhead Palace, you\'re not in a position to use them, but if you use them to aid the Beast Refining Gate, then I will have say over them…"

Nan Ningjiang\'s eyes brightened. "Interesting."

Tang Jie\'s proposal was to have him and Nan Ningjiang exchange the support that came from their respective sects.

Inside collusion was always the most practical and most difficult-to-detect method of embezzlement. These two power-holders from different sects could exchange benefits through a series of exchanges, and even if they were detected, it would be difficult to find evidence or investigate.

In the past, Nan Ningjiang didn\'t have this opportunity.

But now, Tang Jie had given him the opportunity.

Nan Ningjiang was pensive as he looked at Tang Jie, finally saying, "But we need an objective. Just trading resources won\'t be convincing."

"Naturally, which is why this will be a mutual exchange," Tang Jie said. "If we want support, the support has to be in what the other party lacks."

Tang Jie had no interest in the resources that he could just steal.

Only resources that couldn\'t be stolen, like the outline of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection, were worth pursuing.

Moreover, only this kind of resource could be used with the excuse of "strengthening cooperation through mutual exchange".

Nan Ningjiang nodded. "Brother Qian is right. Tang Jie is cunning, and to catch this beast, we will need our two sects to sincerely work together and mutually assist each other. Since the Beast Refining Gate is willing to grant my Godhead Palace hunting dogs…"

"Also a juvenile pair each of Jade-Eye Divine Hawks and Heavenfeather Kites, as well as the methods to raise them," Tang Jie added.

Nan Ningjiang was startled. These two birds were fiends even more valuable than the hunting dogs, and Qian Yingchen was handing them over? Since it was only two pairs of juveniles, this naturally meant that they were for Nan Ningjiang alone.

Nan Ningjiang nodded in understanding. "What does Brother Qian need?"

After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "Tang Jie is far stronger than I anticipated. In my battle with him, I simply wasn\'t a match…"

Flames of hatred blazed in his eyes—to tell the truth, this wasn\'t difficult. He just needed to glare really hard.

Clenching his fists, Tang Jie viciously said, "I need to be stronger. If there\'s a cultivation resource that can increase my power, I want it!"

Nan Ningjiang sighed. "Tang Jie is strong enough to be invincible against anyone at the Mortal Shedding Realm or below. You are currently at peak Mortal Shedding, so unless you can reach Celestial Heart, it\'s basically impossible for you to defeat Tang Jie."

"Celestial Heart…" Tang Jie\'s eyes gleamed.

And then he sighed. "The charge at Celestial Heart is easier said than done, Both observing the will and condensing the manifestation are as difficult as ascending to the heavens. At my current level of cultivation, I\'ve only just finished observing the will. I am still far away from condensing the manifestation."

"Oh? Brother Qian has already observed the will?" Nan Ningjiang was both shocked and delighted. "Then aren\'t you only half a step away from advancing to Celestial Heart?"

"Half a step might as well be a world away. I\'m sure Brother Nan understands how difficult condensing the manifestation is more than I do."

"That\'s true," Nan Ningjiang sighed. "I needed twenty years to accomplish this step."

Nan Ningjiang hadn\'t had any spirit medicines during the charge to Celestial Heart, relying on himself to slowly make his way up. The process had been full of hardships and trials, and even danger.

For this reason, he was well aware of how difficult the path of the impoverished cultivator was.

Huge time investments, missing out on the ideal moments, squeezing oneself so that one could just barely ascend, even using harmful medicines to overdraft on one\'s potential, causing one\'s path to narrow… All cultivators experienced this kind of thing. The only difference was their frequency.

Tang Jie casually said, "You think things are different for prodigies? You think that we can get spirit medicines for free? If it were that easy, why would Tang Jie be running around Nadir Hill trying to steal a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill? And why would I be scheming here? If I could get any resource I wanted, do you really think Tang Jie would be any match for me? Even prodigies can\'t eat for free! This is the rule of the six major sects. How could it change for a single person?"

Nan Ningjiang nodded in agreement to all this.

Yes, the six major sects had a rule that even prodigies had to use contribution points to get resources rather than getting what they wanted through their connections. After all, the latter method might not end up nurturing any talents, instead bearing the risk of turning a genius into a good-for-nothing.

But for the geniuses, this tempering experience wore away too much at their patience.

This "Qian Yingchen" had clearly lost his patience.

Looking at "Qian Yingchen", Nan Ningjiang said, "I know what you need. It just so happens that I switched out the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill Tang Jie was trying to steal back at Celestial Flower Pavilion. I still have it, so I will gift it to you to prove that the relationship between my Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate is mended. At the same time, it is a show of appreciation to the Beast Refining Gate for being willing to help us deal with Tang Jie, and it is also a generous gift to the Beast Refining Gate… Nobody will be able to object."

"Qian Yingchen" hoarsely chuckled. "If so, then I must thank Brother Nan."

"This one wishes Brother Qian swift success in reaching Celestial Heart!"

The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill had, after many twists and turns, returned to Tang Jie\'s hands in this incredible fashion.