The cultivators were all actually overestimating Tang Jie.
There were still about forty of them left, and no matter what, Tang Jie couldn’t possibly fight against forty Soul Projection cultivators at once, even if he were an Earth Immortal.
But the combination of Reflections of Floating Life and the Stellar Net Astral Demon Formation had done a lot to solve this problem.
The number one strength of Tang Jie’s Reflections of Floating Life was its ability to confuse truth and illusion, and its second strength was its ability to deal actual damage. Its weakness was that it was lacking in defense. But the formation allowed Tang Jie’s countless clones to protect themselves and unleash their power. If his clones used up all their spell art uses, they could come out and draw fire to cover the real Tang Jie. In the end, they were all the same person, able to communicate and collaborate with a single thought, achieving perfect teamwork.
The Stellar Net Astral Demon Formation also benefited.
In terms of power, this formation was actually above Reflections of Floating Life, the demonic energy it contained dense and lethal. But the formation couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe, couldn’t choose what method to attack with, and couldn’t combine its attacks, and some of its more powerful traps even needed special conditions to activate.
Reflections of Floating Life made up for these shortcomings. There was no need to distinguish between friend and foe, as all the friends were Tang Jie, sharing the same energy, and the clones could control the attack methods. Best of all was that those special traps, which were hard to trigger because cultivators were generally very cautious when it came to places they were unfamiliar with, could be triggered by his clones, who could play the part of terrible teammates.
It would be strange for these cultivators not to be on the back foot in this situation.
The Stellar Net Astral Demon Formation was vast and powerful while Reflections of Floating Life was nimble and flexible. The two made up for each other’s weaknesses and made their strengths even stronger. This was why he could fight against forty cultivators at once.
After Immortal Ji Yao’s “exile”, Tang Jie lost his source of violet energy, which meant that he could no longer strengthen the formation.
But many of his opponents this time were demon cultivators.
These demon cultivators couldn’t fertilize the Mountain River State Diagram’s world, but they were great for the Stellar Net Astral Demon Formation. Thus, Tang Jie had sent some clones to bring back the bodies of the demon cultivators to let the formation absorb them, and he was also now specifically targeting demon cultivators.
He used the Space and Time Daos to kill regular cultivators, and the Yin Yang and Five Elements Daos to bring doom to the demon cultivators.
Hiding in a sea of clones, Tang Jie would occasionally strike, and each time he did, he was bound to kill someone.
As the demon cultivators died, the demonic energy of the formation grew even denser, constantly creating new and more powerful traps.
The surviving cultivators were stunned by what they were seeing.
Shit, just who said he was out of power and unable to battle?
True, that eerie movement technique was no longer being used, but what was with this terrifying formation and army of clones?
After guerilla warfare, he had decided to reenact a siege battle, and what was next?
They didn’t know, but they would soon have their answer.
Another scream sounded out as Tang Jie cut down another cultivator, and the fear and shock within the hearts of the cultivators reached a breaking point.
Someone shouted, “Throw out all your treasures and detonate them! We can use the explosion to get out of this formation!”
These words finally exposed the weakness of the Infinite Palace.
Nothing was truly invincible, and even when Yin Yang and Five Elements Dao Arts were used together, the combination was still not flawless. The Infinite Palace defended against those on the outside and attacked those within, which meant that its internal defenses were actually far weaker than its external defenses. Once these cultivators detonated their treasures, they really did have a chance of getting out.
Thus, the moment Tang Jie heard this, he stopped attacking. “If you guys don’t detonate your treasures, I can give all of you an opportunity. Duel me, one on one, and anyone who can block one attack me from me, I will let go!”
What? Everyone was dumbfounded at Tang Jie’s suggestion.
Someone yelled, “Brat, what are you scheming now?”
Tang Jie answered, “I just don’t want the treasures I’m about to gain to be lost in detonation. So? All of us are at Soul Projection. One versus one, and anyone who can survive one attack from me will be let go.”
It was a tempting offer.
Although Tang Jie had revealed a formidable strength, one-versus-one and one-versus-many were very different. In the previous battles, Tang Jie had only been able to instantly kill the likes of Infant Tending and Deification cultivators. Soul Projection didn’t seem realistic for him, or else the battle wouldn’t have lasted until now.
To boost their confidence, Tang Jie added some spice. “I also won’t use this weapon.”
He put away the Sovereign Blade.
This set off an explosion.
All of the cultivators had borne witness to the sharpness of the Sovereign Blade. To be honest, without the unstoppable properties of the Sovereign Blade, even Infant Tending cultivators would have been hard to kill with a single blow.
The cultivators grew restless. If possible, who would be willing to give up the treasures they had worked so hard to obtain? Most importantly, detonation of the treasures didn’t guarantee that everyone would be able to escape. Given the strength of this “Hong Qianli”, many would die in the ensuing pursuit. Taking this gamble might be better, particularly as this person had clearly used his strongest moves and seemed incapable of using them again.
Subconsciously, the cultivators were unwilling to believe that Tang Jie was so strong that he could instantly kill a peer, so they credited all his power to the Sovereign Blade.
A cultivator said, “First make a Heavenly Dao Oath.”
Tang Jie smiled. “Of course. But the rest of you also have to make an oath so that you don’t use this chance to escape.”
The cultivators looked at each other and agreed. “So long as you don’t try anything.”
Tang Jie firmly replied, “All will depend on one’s strength, not trickery.”
He made the Heavenly Dao Oath.
In truth, after comprehending the Dao of Fate, Tang Jie understood that a Heavenly Dao Oath was actually a Fate Oath. The oath used the Divine Soul as a channel to link the pact to the Web of Fate. Someone who broke the pact would receive the punishment from the Web of Fate. The so-called Heavenly Dao Oath was actually just something imagined up by everyone, and it actually had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao. This was something Tang Jie had realized as his comprehension of the Dao of Fate deepened.
In other words, with his current understanding of the Dao of Fate, the Heavenly Dao Oath had no binding effect on him—unless there really did exist a Heavenly Dao out there.
Even so, Tang Jie didn’t plan to break the oath. Fate was a web, so even breaking free of it would result in a backlash, just like a spider web couldn’t hold a person but could certainly get all over them. The Web of Fate was almost infinitely vast, and to use his comprehension of the Dao of Fate on this aspect was a waste, an extravagance.
Of course, the most important thing was that it wasn’t worth it.
Tang Jie was already sure that he could kill every cultivator here in one strike.
Once everyone had made their oath, the first cultivator came forward.
He looked at Tang Jie and growled, “This one is Yue Zhongshan. Please instruct me. I confess that you are very strong, and I am no match for you in normal circumstances. But you are exhausted from this long battle, unable to use your more powerful moves. I don’t believe that I can’t block one of your attacks.”
“If that’s what you think, then prepare yourself. You win if you can block this attack of mine and will be free to leave,” Tang Jie indifferently said.
A vertical eye opened on the center of his forehead, and a halo of light emerged beneath his feet.
“A Dao Realm!” the cultivators gasped.
“Another Dao Art! Who is this guy, that he can use three Dao Arts?”
Tang Jie had used Nearby Horizon, Split-Second Youth, the Infinite Palace, Reflections of Floating Life, Skyrend Swordfall, and the Ten Extinctions Blade, which totaled six Dao Arts, but these cultivators hadn’t been able to recognize all of them. Skyrend Swordfall and the Ten Extinctions Blade were not complete, so they hadn’t been recognized as Dao Arts. Split-Second Youth had been used together with Nearby Horizon, and nobody believed that Tang Jie could use two Dao Arts at once, so they mistook it for a single Dao Art. Reflections of Floating Life actually relied on the main body for its offensive power, so it was mistaken for a Divine Connection. The Infinite Palace had been judged to be a Dao Art, as it obviously belonged to the Dao of Five Elements.
Thus, they thought that Tang Jie had only two Dao Arts, with the Dao Realm of Insight being considered a third.
Still, this was enough to leave them reeling in shock.
In the Vast Wilderness Continent, entering a Dao was a little rare, but it was not abnormal. Entering two Daos, however, was enough to mark one as a genius, and anyone who could enter three was a super genius. As for four Daos, that was simply unheard of.
When Tang Jie released his Dao Realm, everyone grew nervous and then relaxed. They grew nervous because they thought that this was another Dao Art attack, but they relaxed because this proved that Tang Jie had no plans to rely on tricks.
The cultivator facing Tang Jie was taken aback. Despite his disbelief, he still shouted, “To be proficient in three Daos makes you an unparalleled genius. To exchange blows with such a man means that I can die without regrets. But it seems that this Dao Art of yours belongs to the Dao of Insight, and this Dao is not enough to kill me!”
Although he said that he would die without regrets, his last words betrayed his fear.
As he spoke, countless barriers had formed around him.
Tang Jie opened his Celestial Eye, casting a ray of divine light at the cultivator. At the same time, Tang Jie began to form hand signs, thirteen in all, after which he shouted, “Shake, Scatter, Part, Collapse, Go, Charge, Appear!”
As he spoke these seven words, they resounded in the cultivator’s mind like a ringing bell, and the barriers around him began to disperse. At the same time, Tang Jie’s Celestial Eye thoroughly scanned the cultivator.
“Found it!” Tang Jie barked, suddenly charging forward and thrusting out a finger.
This finger was aimed at the cultivator’s left armpit. There seemed to be nothing special about this finger, but when it touched the barriers, those barriers instantly shattered. The finger passed through all opposition and touched the cultivator’s body, erupting in a multicolored burst of energy that swallowed up that cultivator as he yowled in despair.
Drawing back his finger, Tang Jie declared, “Next.”