The vortices surrounding the twelve invitations grew more and more intense.
Those cultivators who obtained the invitations tried to hide this fact, but the invitations let off a special wave that revealed their location.
This forced those cultivators to constantly move around to evade those people who were tracking that signal. Various running battles erupted in due course, drenching the lands of Rosecloud in blood.
As it was mostly peak Celestial Heart cultivators taking part in these battles, the death of each cultivator would result in large quantities of spiritual energy being released as Returned Remnants.
But this time, the situation was different.
The Forest of Trees in the southeast.
“Aaagh!” A scream tore through the air, and blood rained from the heavens.
A cultivator plunged from the sky.
A tall and imposing man flew over, reaching out and grabbing an invitation.
He flew off without looking at that fallen cultivator.
He naturally wouldn’t know that the cultivator’s corpse began to give off white streams of energy that drifted up into the clouds.
Even if he did know, he wouldn’t have cared. There was nothing strange about a cultivator turning into Returned Remnants on death, their lifetime of spiritual energy returning to the world. This dense spiritual energy would turn into a rain that would nourish this part of the world.
But unbeknownst to him, amid all this evaporating spiritual energy, a sliver of energy didn’t dissipate, traveling higher and higher into the heavens.
Far above the clouds, it traveled through the Astral Winds, before transforming into a star suspended in the sky.
Such incidents were taking place across Rosecloud. When a cultivator died over an invitation, a thread of spiritual light would be hung up in the sky.
The stars created through the killing surrounding a particular invitation would gather together.
As time passed and more stars appeared, they gradually took the form of twelve stellar vortices. Reflected in the mirrors, their light was concentrated into a single giant beam that illuminated Tang Jie.
Tang Jie was holding a mirror in his hand: the shattered Overflowing Heaven Mirror.
The mirror had been shattered into an unusable state in the battle with Flowing Wind, and only a small piece along the edge was intact.
As the beam of light created through the twelve stellar vortices concentrated on the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, the cracks on the mirror began to heal.
But anyone who thought he was doing all this to fix the mirror would be gravely mistaken.
Just as the Overflowing Heaven Mirror was slowly recovering, a new crack appeared on the mirror. This crack extended across half of the mirror, breaking the part that had just been repaired.
Tang Jie was completely unconcerned, continuing to bathe the mirror in starlight.
Thus, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror continued to be fixed and broken.
In this process of healing and breaking, the cracks on the Overflowing Heaven Mirror gradually formed a strange pattern. Extending from the center of the mirror were twelve lightning-like cracks. They spread across the surface of the mirror, dividing it into twelve seemingly equal parts.
Once this was done, something different finally happened with the Overflowing Heaven Mirror.
Numerous Dao Runes emerged from the mirror, mysterious and abstruse characters that exuded an immense and intimidating power before Tang Jie.
Tang Jie smiled.
Yes, this was his goal.
He didn’t want to repair the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. The mirror was unimportant. What was really important were its Great Dao Runes. Thus, he had been focusing only on restoring these Dao Runes, and through the fortune of those countless people, he had finally done it.
But for him, this was only the first step.
Tang Jie slapped the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, upon which the mirror split into twelve, each piece vanishing into one of the mirrors arrayed around him.
The twelve mirrors immediately erupted with light, and the scene displayed on them changed.
Other people could still see the original scene: people fighting, killing, fleeing, and chasing for the sake of the invitations.
But those proficient in the Dao of Fate could see the connections between every person in the mirror.
These connections had already been put through a filter.
Comprehending the Dao of Fate allowed one to see the entanglements of Fate. But there were millions of such entanglements, forming a vast and complicated web, and the real difficulty lay in unwinding the threads to get at what one wanted. Tang Jie had needed a hundred years once to sort through the Web of Fate, and even then, to follow threads back to their source took copious amounts of Fate power.
But at this moment, the Web of Fate in the twelve mirrors had become clear and simplified, all extraneous threads removed, leaving only the connections the observer deemed important.
For example, if one wanted to kill a person and wanted to know what factors would interfere with this goal, one would have to go searching through the target’s Web of Fate for those particular threads. Now, with a single thought, one could clear away all the irrelevant information and see only those necessary threads.
This was the world in Tang Jie’s eyes at this moment.
The connections between all things had become simple and easy to grasp.
Tang Jie could see the cause and effect to everything and thus change Fate.
He had been able to do this before, but never this easily.
He lightly waved his hand.
In a projection showing events on the southern seas, a cultivator was fleeing from ten-some other cultivators.
Just when it seemed like he wouldn’t escape, a savage sea beast emerged from the ocean and spat a torrent of water at his pursuers that sent them flying.
Just when the cultivators were about to restart their chase, countless fiends leaped out of the water and began to attack them, leaving them stunned and dumbfounded. As a result, they could only watch as their target used this opportunity to flee.
This was the power of the Dao of Fate, the ability to control all things and creatures. Tang Jie was able to do this before, but never like this, as easily as lifting a hand.
Tang Jie was just getting started.
In the end, Fate power’s control over events was limited to cause and effect. In other words, the Dao of Karma was also capable of doing this.
In fact, one could say that this was what the Dao of Karma was meant to do. The Dao of Fate was capable of doing things on an even higher level.
Gazing at the images on the twelve mirrors, Tang Jie suddenly laughed and announced, “Pass on my order! Anyone who finds this object for me can exchange it for a promise with me. So long as it is something that does not harm myself or the Basking Moon Sect, I can agree to do anything in my power for that person.”
Even without the Lunar Wheel, with his control over the Web of Fate, Tang Jie was able to transmit these words into everyone’s minds.
And the object that appeared in everyone’s minds was clearly the Open Gate Banner.
These words set off another storm.
It went without saying that a struggle over the Open Gate Banner was about to begin.
Tang Jie set this matter aside and took out twelve sheets of silver foil, twelve golden books, twelve yellow talismans, and twelve rolls of silk. Each was made of valuable spiritual materials and suffused with Fate Dao power. Tang Jie had made them while waiting all this time, and as he threw them into the twelve mirrors, the mirrors began to change and exude a solemn aura that was thick with Fate energy.
Tang Jie finally stopped, waiting in the hall and letting the storms beyond it rage.
On the Web of Fate, the conflicts continued, but meanwhile, Tang Jie’s plan was reaching its final phase.
All that was left was to wait…
For the ultimate moment of success.
Three months quickly passed.
The day of the Violet Palace Sublimation Ceremony finally arrived.
The conflicts over the twelve invitations had finally settled, and each had an owner.
The cultivators who brought the invitations to the Basking Moon Sect received the best treatment the sect could provide. And when they thought about how they would personally receive the Freedom Immortal Sovereign’s assistance in their breakthrough, their hearts leapt with joy.
Not long after they had been sent to their accommodations, a disciple delivered the invitations to the Freedom Palace.
He kneeled in front of the palace and announced, “As the Immortal Sovereign commanded, other than Wandering Palace Lord Shen’s, the invitations have all been collected. Immortal Sovereign, please receive them.”
The doors opened, and a gust of wind whisked away the invitations.
Tang Jie’s voice rang out. “Has everyone been settled down?”
“Everyone has been sent to their accommodations. Tomorrow morning at the Chen Hour (7–9am), they will make their attempts at Violet Palace. When the time comes, Immortal Sovereign, please grant them your protection.”
“Mm, when the time comes, they can start their breakthroughs without needing to wait for me.”
“Ah?” The disciple was taken aback. Without you, why would they do it? Didn’t they come here to ascend to Violet Palace because of your Peaceful Divine Abode Classic?
But then he realized: the Immortal Sovereign was a noble existence that could not be seen by just anybody. He would naturally provide his protection from the shadows, which was completely possible given his powers.
With this thought, he departed.
Tang Jie pointed, and twelve invitations flew out of the stack of 35. These were the twelve that caused so much chaos and strife, and they flew into their respective mirrors.
Like water into oil, the invitations caused the twelve mirrors to go through intense changes, twisting and writhing as they erupted with Fate energy. Fortunately, all of this was restricted in the palace, and the only one to sense it was Er Hu. Gazing in the direction of the Freedom Palace, he muttered, “What intense Fate power! It seems that Master’s Fate Dao Art is on the verge of completion.”
Within the Freedom Palace, the twelve mirrors began to settle down, each ultimately taking the form of a page.
The pages were completely transparent, like a layer of water, and through them, one could see all sorts of dazzling scenes that came from all across the Chiliocosm.
Tang Jie waved his hand, and the twelve pages fell into Tang Jie’s hand, forming into a thin book.
With this, Tang Jie exhaled. “It’s finally done.”
This sigh was packed with emotion.
Nobody knew how many resources and how much effort he had invested into this Fate Dao Art.
But if he could complete it, it would all be worth it.
As he looked at the book, he muttered, “Since it’s done, I should test it out.”
Tang Jie flipped to the first page and began to write.
“In tomorrow’s Violet Palace Sublimation Ceremony, all the Basking Moon Sect disciples will succeed in advancement, Shen Qingdan will succeed, and the rest will not die.”
Once he was done, the contents of the page dissolved into chaos, and Tang Jie’s Fate Dao power surged into the book. As this Dao power entered, the scene on the page gradually cleared, revealing Wei Tianchong and the others successfully reaching Violet Palace.
When the page had been entirely lit up, Tang Jie had been almost drained of Dao power. Even so, his face was all smiles. He tore off the page and threw it into the air, where it dissolved into countless motes of light. Meanwhile, the Web of Fate began to shift.
Satisfied, Tang Jie seated himself on his throne.
He said to himself, “While the Peaceful Divine Abode Classic is good, it only increases one’s chances by ten percent. It can’t compare to the absolute law of my Wish Granting Spell…”
Dao Art: Wish Granting Spell (Book), complete!