Becoming an Earth Immortal!
This was a dream held by every Soul Projection cultivator, but it was the dream most difficult to realize.
Many cultivators were stopped cold at this point, dying with regret.
Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were late-phase Soul Projection cultivators, but this final step was a yawning chasm that they could never cross. In the end, they could only watch as the latecomer Tang Jie surpassed them.
Originally, this wasn’t a big deal. For the more talented and capable to appear in later generations and surpass the old was common in the cultivation world.
But the Violet Palace Sublimation Ceremony had given these cultivators who struggled at the threshold a ray of hope.
This ray of hope was Tang Jie. He had given everyone a chance, brought them some expectation of success. After all, if Tang Jie could make Soul Transformation cultivators reach Violet Palace, couldn’t he make Violet Palace cultivators reach Immortal Platform?
This question had been on their minds for some time, and finally, Yun Tianlan had asked it on behalf of everyone else.
Tang Jie was taken aback by Yun Tianlan’s question, and then he smiled. “I understand now. I’m sure that all of you must have had this question for some time, right?”
Ling Xiao coughed. “Tang Jie, I know that this isn’t something easy to do. Immortal Platform is far more difficult to reach than Violet Palace, and we won’t be surprised to hear that it’s not possible…”
Tang Jie answered, “I actually tried. While the situation isn’t as bad as you think, it’s also not that great.”
Everyone was startled, asking in unison, “What do you mean?”
Only Ling Xiao understood. “Are you saying that you can’t do it now, but you might be able to in the future?”
Tang Jie smiled and nodded. “Master is correct. Theoretically, the Wish Granting Spell should have no problem bringing someone to Immortal Platform, but it takes too much power, so much that it’s basically impossible, even if it’s one page per person. With my current Fate power, I’m still a distance away from helping Master and Martial Uncle succeed. But in the future, as the gap shrinks, it might become possible.”
Yun Tianlan immediately asked, “How long will it take?”
Currently, the only peak Soul Projection cultivators of the Basking Moon Sect were Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan. If they became Earth Immortals, they would provide a huge boost to the Basking Moon Sect’s prestige.
Tang Jie answered, “It’s hard to say. It’s dependent on two things. One is my own Dao power. The stronger I grow in the Dao of Fate, the greater my influence. But Daos most rely on comprehension, which has a limited relationship to time spent cultivating. Some people can go their entire lives without comprehending a Dao, while some people only need one or two days. Even though I’ve entered the Dao of Fate, if I want to go even further, I still have to abide by this principle. Unless the time has come, it will be difficult to progress. Of course, because I’ve already comprehended the Dao, if I spent several hundred years studying it, I would probably make some progress, but it would be very inefficient. This was how I managed to enter the Dao of Fate, but that took one hundred years. The second aspect depends on Master and Martial Uncle.”
Yun Tianlan understood. “You mean their distance from Immortal Platform?”
“Precisely.”
The Wish Granting Spell worked upon the original chances of success. The stronger one’s foundation, the greater one’s chances of reaching Immortal Platform, which would mean less Dao power required for the Wish Granting Spell. He had already confirmed this.
Thus, if they wanted to ensure ascension, the two would first have to increase their chances, which was more reliable than waiting for Tang Jie’s Fate Dao power to grow.
With a thousand years of cultivation behind them, Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan had long ago broken through the Heaven–Man Union phase and were on the steady road to success. If they didn’t have to divide their attention between cultivating and the various matters of the sect, they might have made even more progress.
Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan looked at each other, a plan forming in their minds.
Yun Tianlan clearly shared the same idea, nodding his head. “Over the years, the two of you have had to manage the sect, and while you have contributed so much, you delayed your cultivation as a result. It is now time to put down sect matters and focus on cultivation. In my view, the two of you should resign from your positions as Sect Master and Swordholder and hand off the tasks to Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors so that you can focus on cultivation.”
Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were delighted. “Many thanks, Ancestor!”
Authority was obtained so that one could better develop. When authority impeded one’s development, it became a burden that needed to be cast aside.
As for Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors, they were both still at Deification, so there was no need for them to consider Immortal Platform yet. Resources still had a lot of meaning for them, so taking up the positions of Sect Master and Swordholder would help them forward rather than hinder them and was exactly what they wanted. As for the others, only Ming Yekong was making the push to Deification, with the rest just having reached Infant Tending, so there was no point in thinking that far ahead.
Hearing that Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were resigning, Tang Jie said, “Since Master and Third Martial Uncle have both set aside sect affairs, you might as well come with me to the Blood River Domain. When war is imminent, the heavens will react, and the world will become gripped by great change, danger, and instability. If you are able to harness it to your benefit using Fate, you might be able to encounter some great fortune that will let you reach Immortal Platform.”
Great danger was also life. Tang Jie had gotten to Immortal Platform over the graves of quite a few Earth Immortals. And now that a great war was about to fall on the Blood River Domain, it was possible for Tang Jie to create opportunity out of danger. In truth, Tang Jie didn’t want just Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan to reach Immortal Platform. He wanted the same for Xu Miaoran and Yiyi. As the saying went, when one person achieved the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascended to heaven. Advancing all by oneself on the long Immortal path was too lonely, and if Tang Jie had the power, he wanted to bring along his companions.
The Wish Granting Book still had eight pages. Tang Jie hoped that it could create at least eight Earth Immortals, and it seemed four were already reserved.
With the discussion over, the handing-off process began. Three days later, Yun Tianlan used the Lunar Wheel to announce the transition in power. There was much discussion about the resignations of Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan, with some conspiracy theorists thinking that this was an internal purge of the Basking Moon Sect, the old falling out of power. The more clear-minded realized that this was a sign that the Basking Moon Sect was seeking even more development, that it wanted to upgrade the Violet Palace Sublimation Ceremony to an Immortal Ascension Ceremony.
Regardless of what the masses thought, the people at the center of this vortex had already left the Rosecloud Domain and arrived at the Blood River Domain.
This world was much the same as Tang Jie had left it, but the visitor had changed. On his first visit, he had been a fugitive on the run, but now he was performing reconnaissance for a conquest.
As Xiao Biehan emerged from the diagram, he looked up at the crimson clouds and asked, “This is the Blood River Domain? Do you know where we are?”
Tang Jie shook his head. “Once Miaoran’s store came under suspicion, it became closely watched. In order to not be discovered, I adjusted the coordinates. However, the slightest adjustment to a domain-crossing teleportation can result in a large error, so I can’t be sure if we arrived at the place I wanted. But this isn’t a problem, as we happen to have a local boss of the Blood River Domain with us.”
He let out the Flame Celestial Sovereign.
The Flame Celestial Sovereign sighed upon seeing his old haunt, but alas, Tang Jie wouldn’t give him much time to be sentimental. He flew into the air, and after some investigation, he said, “This is the southeastern region of Blood River, the territory of the humans.”
Tang Jie smiled.
Blood River consisted of seven regions, with fiends occupying four, demons two, and humans only one. And the southeastern human region was exactly where Tang Jie had tried to go. The Flame Celestial Sovereign’s confirmation had him sighing in relief.
“It seems you already have a plan,” Ling Xiao said.
Tang Jie nodded. “We’re also humans, so we naturally have the greatest advantage if we mingle with fellow humans. Moreover, in this cultivator war, relying on the Rosecloud Domain alone would be too exhausting. It would be best if we could have some allies in the Blood River Domain. The humans have always been the weakest party in the Blood River Domain. If we try, we could possibly recruit them, which would make our work much easier. Moreover, war is all about having a pretext. Once we contact the humans here and have them invite us in, we could charge in with the excuse of rescuing the humans from peril, and righteousness will be on our side. The world favors the righteous and scorns those who defy it, so we would also have the favor of Fate. In addition, with the help of the native humans, we could also gain a greater understanding of the Blood River Domain’s internal affairs and more easily discover anything that could threaten Immortal Platform cultivators.”
Ling Xiao and the others nodded in agreement.
Recruiting the humans gave them both an ally, vital information, and a pretext, so there was no better option. As for after the war, like the Star Radiant Gate, given the vast lands of the Blood River Domain, there was no lack of space to give away. The only ones suffering would be the fiends and demons. Considering that they were hostile to humans anyway, they could be killed without the slightest sense of guilt.
Ling Xiao praised, “While you don’t have any impressive military accomplishments, you already have a mind for military strategy. It’s no wonder you were able to achieve so much success.”
Xiao Biehan said, “This is an excellent plan, but how exactly will we carry it out?”
“It’s simple. We provoke the existing hatred between the two sides,” Tang Jie answered.
And there were plenty of ways to do that.
There was deep-seated resentment between the three races. It was just that the humans had always been the weakest, so they had retreated to their corner in the southeast and avoided any conflict that they could.
The arrival of Tang Jie’s group was going to change all this.
Tang Jie’s plan was to have everyone split up and then bully any fiends or demons they encountered, making them so angry that they would counterattack. It wouldn’t be long before the fiends and demons would be enraged and come together against the humans.
At that time, the Rosecloud Domain would have an opportunity to come forward.
Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, Xu Miaoran, and Yiyi were tasked with this. With their strength, so long as they didn’t linger in any one place for too long, they could freely travel across this world.
As for Tang Jie, he had something more important to do.
He was going to mingle with the humans.