A large palace stood on the mountain, and while it seemed rather impressive and large, it was decorated rather simply. There was no large-scale development around the mountain, with the members of the sect almost all concentrated on the single mountain. There were numerous people on the mountain, with countless small buildings built on the slope, and one face of the mountain bearing numerous caves. It was packed with cultivators to the maximum.
To the north of the mountain, a giant wall served as a barrier. This wall was around a thousand feet tall and was made from the extremely rare Astratite. Each block of Astratite was as big as a millstone and covered in formation lines.
Tang Jie could tell that this was a sect-protecting formation. When the Star Radiant Gate arrived here, it had to start from the beginning. In losing their base of ten thousand years, they had lost not only the resources but even basic things like the defensive formation. Thus, they had to rebuild from the most basic of things. The defensive formation would decide whether the sect lived or died, so building one could easily take hundreds of years, and it wasn’t strange at all to see that they were still in the middle of construction. But protective formations usually had their basic structures established first and then were slowly filled in over time so that they could still be used in the early stages.
The Star Radiant Gate was clearly not opting for this style of construction. This was a long-term project that would be completely useless until it was completed.
After some thought, Tang Jie realized what was going on.
“The Primordial Fog Calamity! This formation is meant to protect against the Primordial Fog Calamity!” Tang Jie cried out in realization.
The Star Radiant Gate was established near the Demon Abyss, so when the Primordial Fog Calamity erupted, it would be one of the first to be attacked.
The Star Radiant Gate must have had a terrible time if they had fallen all the way from a rear sect to a frontline sect. But they still had to survive, and this formation was one of their methods.
Tang Jie realized that the Star Radiant Gate being here was probably no coincidence.
The disciples of the Star Radiant Gate saw someone landing and shouted, “Who dares to barge into my Star Radiant Gate?”
But there was a slight tinge of fear in their voices, none of the dignity of a former country-level sect.
Tang Jie sternly said, “Your ancestor’s good friend Tang Jie has come to pay a visit.”
Everyone exhaled in relief when they saw that it was a friend and not an enemy.
A moment later, Huang Wuji’s voice came from the palace. “Young Friend Tang Jie, you’re finally here. Come inside. I didn’t think that you would reach Immortal Platform after only two-hundred-some years. Congratulations.”
Tang Jie shot over to the palace.
Huang Wuji was seated within, and while he was still an Earth Immortal, he was much less easygoing, and sorrow and worry covered his face.
Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed. “I pay my respects to the Reverend. This one had quite a difficult time finding you.”
Huang Wuji grimaced. “There’s nothing to find here. This old man is an inauspicious figure, with everyone around me suffering misfortune. There was no need to go through the trouble.”
“You were abandoned by Fate?” Tang Jie understood what he meant. “Was it the work of the Heaven’s Equal Sect?”
“You guessed it.” Huang Wuji helplessly nodded. “Who else could it be?”
Through Huang Wuji’s tale, Tang Jie learned that after they split up at the Myriad Court, Huang Wuji continued his travels. He traveled for another one hundred years, during which the Star Radiant Gate was fine and well. But one day, Huang Wuji had the feeling that his opportunity at a breakthrough could only be found on the Vast Wilderness Continent, so he returned to the Star Radiant Gate.
Upon his return, the Star Radiant Gate began to run into problem after problem.
While Huang Wuji didn’t think much of it at first, he gradually began to realize that the situation wasn’t right.
“I realized that this might not be a coincidence, that someone had used the Dao of Fate against me.”
“The Heaven’s Equal Sect,” Tang Jie indifferently said. In all of the Vast Wilderness Continent, this sect was undoubtedly the master of the Dao of Fate.
“Precisely.” Huang Wuji nodded.
“In the end, I burdened you,” Tang Jie sighed.
Huang Wuji firmly replied, “Young Friend, that’s not right at all. Back then, the Heaven’s Equal Sect and Stellar Net Gate were being far too tyrannical, seeking to take the treasure for themselves and clear out any rivals, not taking into consideration any other cultivators. We killed them because we were forced to, striking back out of anger. I won’t hear this talk of you burdening me.”
Tang Jie bowed. “If Reverend does not wish to blame me, I will accept it. But what confuses me is that if they knew that you were connected to that incident in the court, why did they only use this method on you?”
Huang Wuji answered, “I also considered this question, and I feel that there are a few possible reasons. The first is that the Heaven’s Equal Sect doesn’t have any evidence. It goes without saying that they used the Dao of Fate to find me. But while the Dao of Fate has always been so unfathomable and bizarre in this way, it’s also why it’s so incomprehensible. It’s not like you can just perform a divination and immediately accuse someone as being a criminal, right? If that were really the case, shouldn’t we have those of the Dao of Fate run the world? Thus, while the Dao of Fate’s divinations have always been correct, it has never been appropriate to use it as a tool of governance. As the ruler of the south, the Heaven’s Equal Sect operates according to the laws it set down, and they can’t break the laws they themselves established, and since they had no solid evidence, they couldn’t do much to me directly.”
Tang Jie nodded. “Indeed, the Dao of Fate is not a proper form of evidence.”
Huang Wuji continued, “Another important factor was that they themselves weren’t sure. While I don’t understand Fate, I know that the Dao of Fate is everchanging. Even if it offers some indicator, it’s hard for it to give exact details, preferring the ambiguous over the definite.”
But Huang Wuji had guessed incorrectly. The circumstances he had described did exist, but that was mostly the result of someone who had not entered the Dao to a sufficient depth. At a certain depth, the result would become much more clear. However, while he was wrong, the resulting answer had been correct. Tang Jie had been present when they killed the two Earth Immortals, and Tang Jie, as someone who had comprehended Fate, had long ago used the power of Fate to conceal the truth. Thus, even when someone stronger in the Dao of Fate attempted to divine the truth, they received only an ambiguous result.
It had been such a problem finding Tang Jie despite having his image for precisely this reason. And for Huang Wuji, whose appearance wasn’t known to the two sects, it was even more difficult to be sure.
Without any evidence and unable to completely confirm if Huang Wuji was connected, the Heaven’s Equal Sect acted furtively, manipulating Fate.
This alone was not enough to ruin the Star Radiant Gate.
Alas, perhaps the Star Radiant Gate had rotten luck, or perhaps this was the inevitable result of being abandoned by Fate. One day, an elder of the Star Radiant Gate left on a mission. Knowing that the Star Radiant Gate had been faring poorly as of late, he had been particularly careful and brought a Dao armament with him. On his way back, he ran into a great fiend, and in their battle, he needed to use that Dao armament to kill that fiend.
He had no idea that the Dao armament he had used was the jade ruler Huang Wuji had obtained from the Court of Myriad Domains.
After the two had killed the two Earth Immortals, they had each taken a pseudo–Dao armament. Tang Jie had taken the Thunderclap Hammer, which he had then given to the Basking Moon Sect, while Huang Wuji had received the Measure Heaven Ruler. Huang Wuji had ordered that this item was not to be used, but time had gradually diluted the strength of his order. It had been more than a hundred years, and the ancestor had yet to emerge from seclusion, so wouldn’t it be a waste to just leave a Dao armament lying there unused?
This was why that Star Radiant Gate elder had taken out the Measure Heaven Ruler.
The moment it was used, the Heaven’s Equal Sect detected its signal.
Suspicion instantly turned into confirmation, which gave them many more tools.
“Not long after that, an Earth Immortal from the Heaven’s Equal Sect arrived. I fought with him but was ultimately defeated. However, that man didn’t kill me, simply taking the Measure Heaven Ruler and leaving.”
“He didn’t kill you? Why?”
Huang Wuji shook his head. “I don’t know. The reason he gave was that he was preserving strength for the fight against the Primordial Fog Calamity, but who would believe that nonsense? I was heavily injured at the time, and not long afterward, the White Bone Gate attacked. Not only did they bring the powerful treasures of the sect, there were also mysterious experts observing from the shadows. I knew that the Heaven’s Equal Sect was most likely supporting them and the sect’s territory was lost, so I decided to withdraw and preserve the strength of the Star Radiant Gate. But not long after that, I received a decree from the Heaven’s Equal Sect saying that since my Star Radiant Gate had lost its base, a new location had been selected for us.”
“Which was this place?”
“Correct.” Huang Wuji bitterly smiled. “They placed us here near the Demon Abyss so that we could serve as cannon fodder against the Primordial Fog Calamity. In this way, the Heaven’s Equal Sect could exterminate us without any objections.”
“But they would have to wait until the Primordial Fog Calamity to eliminate you,” Tang Jie indifferently said.
“Young Friend, what do you mean?” Huang Wuji said in surprise.
“It’s nothing. I just think that the Heaven’s Equal Sect is very patient. If it were me, I wouldn’t choose such a time-wasting method,” Tang Jie replied. “Even if I didn’t want to leave behind any evidence, there are faster ways of getting rid of a sect. For example, I could just arrange for a few more sects like the White Bone Gate, and then everything would be cleaned up.”
Huang Wuji trembled. “You’re saying that they have another plan? What would make them go to so much trouble?”
Tang Jie stood up and looked outside the palace.
A grave look appeared on his face. “Why? It’s me, of course. An excellent scheme, and such patience! I must express my admiration for your patience.”
As Tang Jie spoke, there was a boom of thunder in the distance.
A storm raged, and dark clouds surged.
A light golden hand suddenly plunged out of the clouds, reaching for Tang Jie.