With the Open Gate Banner in hand, Tang Jie took out the seven other banners, and the moment all eight were brought together, something was triggered within them.
The eight banners began to hum in resonance and gave off the radiance of joy and delight, as if they were old friends who were being united at long last.
Tang Jie released his grip, and the eight banners spiraled up into the air and unfurled themselves, transforming into pillars of light shining with Dao Runes.
They really were a Dao armament!
The flashing Dao Runes were like butterflies dancing in the air, exuding an enchanting light as they spun around.
An ancient energy lingered around the banners, making them seem even more majestic and venerable.
Gazing up at the Eight Gates Banners, Tang Jie could feel the Dao of Formations within them. Yes, the Eight Gates Banners belonged to the Dao of Formations, which was under the Dao of Truth.
When Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Truth, he had managed to comprehend some of the Dao of Formations. But when forming his Dao Art, he had ultimately still chosen the Four-Nine True Word Mantra to merge with it, creating Law Speaking. This was mainly because he had lacked combat Dao Arts at the time.
Such a treasure of the Formation Dao ending up in his hands had essentially made up for all his past regrets. As he basked in its energy, he slowly began to unravel a few mysteries that had plagued him for many years.
The sealing formation he had laid down was the Shadow Spirit Condensation formation, which absorbed the Yin energy of the Nether Domain as its source of power.
Because of his master, Xu Muyang, Tang Jie had always followed the path of nature, adapting his formations to their surroundings. Since this place was rich in Yin energy, he would use it as energy, and this also served to better conceal it. In terms of craftsmanship and creativity, he wasn’t at all inferior to the person who had laid the previous formation.
But in terms of grandeur, the Underflame River had been far more impressive. It was also slightly inferior in terms of power, and the occasional ghost would be able to get through.
He noticed the difference the moment he applied the Eight Gates Banners. He found that the banners gave him the ability to control aspects of the formation. For example, he could choose to strengthen the sealing effect or the concealment effect, but he couldn’t strengthen its defense. This was because he had stripped the formation of all defensive ability when laying it down.
Tang Jie immediately realized that this was the Dao-enhancing function of the Eight Gates Banners. If he chose to boost one certain aspect, this aspect would be raised to the level of a Dao and be unalterable.
But on the other hand, it only worked on one aspect, not on all aspects.
Still, this made the Eight Gates Banners extremely powerful. For example, if an extremely strong defensive formation like the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation had its defenses enhanced to the Dao level, it would be basically invincible, imprisoning anyone that entered. And if a Slaughter formation were boosted to the Dao level, every attack made by the formation would be suffused with the Slaughter Dao. How scary was that?
Satisfied, Tang Jie laughed and called back the Eight Gates Banners.
He finally had a Dao armament that could hugely boost his combat power.
While he had many Dao armaments, none of them boosted his combat power. The crown was good, but he had given it to Yiyi, and the bell he had given to Xu Miaoran. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron and Eternity Sarcophagus had both been placed in the Yellow Court World to become part of that world’s foundation. This left him with the Imperial Sky Stamp, but this could only boost his cultivation, not his combat power. The Eight Gates Banners finally filled in this weakness, and made for a terrifying combination with the Sovereign Blade and Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.
Excited, Tang Jie headed back to the Zephyr Mountains.
The moment he returned to the Freedom Palace, Yun Tianlan’s voice rang out. “Tang Jie, pay me a visit!”
Tang Jie didn’t dare to ignore the ancestor’s call, and he headed straight for the back mountain.
Arriving at the thatched hut, Tang Jie went straight in.
He sat down in front of Yun Tianlan and asked, “Ancestor, for what reason have you summoned me?”
The meditating Yun Tianlan opened his eyes and smiled. “You did very well. I can sense that the fortunes of the Basking Moon Sect have swelled, its potential becoming limitless. We can now go ten thousand years without a single worry. I presume that this is the work of your Fate Dao Art. But what sort of Dao Art is it?” Ɽά
Tang Jie offered the Wish Granting Book.
Yun Tianlan was taken aback. “A Dao armament?”
But it didn’t feel quite right, as it gave off Tang Jie’s energy signature, indicating that he was the only one who could use it. Of course, a cultivator’s weapon normally had various seals that ensured that they were the only one who could use it.
The problem was that when Yun Tianlan held this book, he could feel a strong sense of rejection, even intimidation. If Yun Tianlan continued to hold it, he felt like he would immediately be cursed by Fate and plagued by disaster for the rest of his life. This was not something any seal could accomplish. He hastily put the book down.
“This is your Dao Art?” Yun Tianlan blurted out in realization.
Tang Jie nodded and explained how he had fused the Overflowing Heaven Mirror with the Fate Dao to create it, to which Yun Tianlan clicked his tongue in admiration.
Tang Jie had always been an unconventional thinker.
In retrospect, Tang Jie’s truly powerful moves were almost all self-created. Other than the Martial Lord’s legacy, he had developed all his own Dao Arts and Divine Connections, using the techniques of various sects only as a reference.
This was why Tang Jie had been able to remain so strong. So great were his moves that if he were to take one and write it into a book, it would be on par with the Violet Jade Mantra or the Divine Firmament Sword Classic.
After expressing his praise, Yun Tianlan said, “The Basking Moon Sect is truly fortunate to have you. With your Wish Granting Spell and ten thousand years of accumulation, the Basking Moon Sect can truly rise to the next level, possessing boundless potential. But for the same reason, Tang Jie, don’t you think the Rosecloud Domain is too small?”
Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood what Yun Tianlan meant.
In terms of area, the Rosecloud Domain was one of the smaller domains of the Chiliocosm, not even comparable to one of the states of Vast Wilderness. And size was not to be underestimated. Only a large world could accommodate a large structure. The reason the Rosecloud Domain had only been able to produce a single True Immortal over the eons, other than the Primordial Fog Calamity, was its lacking world structure.
Why had Tang Jie needed to kill so many Earth Immortals and True Lords to fill the Yellow Court World? To boost the structure of his world. Even then, his Yellow Court World was barely able to nurture a single Earth Immortal, and he alone had greatly drained it. It would be ages until it could bring up a second Earth Immortal.
So the size of a world was important.
Tang Jie had used the Wish Granting Spell to ensure ten thousand years of prosperity for the Basking Moon Sect, and if all went as expected, ten thousand years of accumulated resources would be enough to create numerous Earth Immortals. But creating a second True Immortal? Unless Tang Jie once more used the Dao of Fate to gather fortune, it would be extremely difficult.
Yun Tianlan had called for him to discuss precisely this issue.
“The structure of the Rosecloud Domain is too small,” Yun Tianlan said. “What you have done is add another wall around the Rosecloud Domain, protecting this world, defending it. But if the Basking Moon Sect wants to grow stronger, we must not only have the strength to protect ourselves, but also the strength to go on the attack.”
“‘The strength to go on the attack’?” Tang Jie froze, and then he whispered, “Ancestor, what do you mean?”
“Attack and obtain more worlds!” Yun Tianlan answered.
As he had suspected!
Tang Jie was enlightened.
The path of Immortality was endless, so every step meant a more distant future, a higher ambition. Now that Tang Jie had protected the Basking Moon Sect with his Dao Art, Yun Tianlan had become even more ambitious. The Basking Moon Sect wanted to grow stronger, and he wanted an opportunity to break into Gold Immortal. This made Yun Tianlan extremely proactive about finding opportunities to expand.
More worlds meant more development, both for the sect and the individual!
Understanding what Yun Tianlan meant, Tang Jie replied, “That means a cultivator war.”
“War is a necessary part of expansion,” Yun Tianlan answered.
Tang Jie hesitated. “But there is a longstanding rule among the myriad domains that there is to be no fighting between domains, as this would weaken the overall fighting strength and present an opening that the fiends and demons of the Primordial Fog Domain could take advantage of.”
Yun Tianlan scoffed. “Those became empty words long ago. If it really held true, then you wouldn’t have had to so carefully hide away the teleportation formation in the Five Origins Estate. They talk about uniting against the Primordial Fog, but when have the cultivators of the positive plane ever truly come together? Moreover, while the Primordial Fog is strong, for the positive plane, it is ultimately no more than a temporary event. This isn’t their world, so no matter how much they gain, they still have to leave in the end. The only difference is how much damage they deal to the positive plane. Meanwhile, the conflicts within the positive are eternal. This is why working together is something that’s only talked about. There are many times when we have to be more on guard against the cultivators of the positive plane than Primordial Fog!”
Tang Jie had nothing to say, because Yun Tianlan was right. The fiends and demons of the Primordial Fog, no matter how strong, would eventually retreat, while the fellow cultivators of their plane would continue to take and steal. For this reason, while the cries of unification were constant, war had always existed. Tang Jie knew this, which was why he had been so careful and not given the Vast Wilderness any opportunity.
Yun Tianlan said, “Over the eons, the Vast Wilderness Continent has invaded countless worlds around it. How do you think it managed to flourish to that state? Not only that, they joined all those worlds to theirs, taking both resources and territory!”
“‘Joining worlds’?” Tang Jie said in alarm. “You’re saying…”
“Correct!” Yun Tianlan confirmed. “It’s merging two worlds together, turning small worlds into a large world. You really think the Vast Wilderness Continent started off that big?”
Tang Jie said, “I heard that there were originally only two worlds, the Stellar Net and the Primordial Fog. Later on…”
“Later on, the Stellar Net shattered, turning into countless worlds scattered across the void, with Vast Wilderness being the largest. Is that what you heard?” Yun Tianlan grinned. “Nothing more than a conqueror hiding the truth, making up an impressive excuse. The positive plane has existed for more than a million years. We don’t even know what happened ten thousand years ago, so how can we know how the universe began? And the truth is no longer important. What’s important is that the rules are always used to bind those below. In the past, the Rosecloud Domain was ruled by six major sects, and none of them was powerful enough to unite everything, so we could only follow the rule. But times have changed. Since you’ve used your supreme Fate Dao Art to protect this lowly sect, why shouldn’t we use this opportunity to fight for more?”
Tang Jie slightly frowned. “The Wish Granting Spell will protect the Basking Moon Sect, but a Fate Dao Art is not invincible. If we adjust our course, our fortunes will change with it. Someone else skilled in the Dao of Fate might be able to use Dao against Dao and break my Wish Granting Spell. Moreover, the Vast Wilderness Continent swallowing up other small domains is one thing, but my Rosecloud Domain doing the same is another matter entirely. Just because they can do it doesn’t mean that we can.”
Yun Tianlan could hear that he was unwilling to fight, and he didn’t try to push the matter. “You were born in Rosecloud, so wherever you go, Rosecloud will be your foundation, your home. You are proficient in the Dao of Fate, so you should know that a person’s fortune is usually strongest in their own home.”
This was true. Unless one was blessed by the heavens, one would always find one’s fortune to be strongest in one’s home, finding it easier to do things there.
But while this difference was more evident on somebody else, it didn’t matter much to Tang Jie. With his fortune, cultivation, and intelligence, he could turn misfortune to fortune wherever he went.
Thus, these words didn’t have too much of an effect on him.
But Yun Tianlan’s next words almost made him jump to his feet.
He said, “I’ve heard that your Yellow Court World has hit a bottleneck? I suppose you’ve found that there just aren’t enough resources to continue development, no? But if you were able to merge another world, all your problems would cease to be.”
Tang Jie’s mind trembled.
He swiftly said, “How do we do it?”