Aspiring to the Immortal Path-Chapter 1019: Karma (1)

The thatched hut in the back mountain.

Yun Tianlan sat within the hut, his eyes closed in meditation.

After a long while, he said, "Mystic Moon, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

Mystic Moon, who was now the Sect Master of the Basking Moon Sect, bowed and replied, "While the Flame Celestial Sovereign might have left some things unsaid, everything he said was true. However, on a few key points, he might have left things out."

Yun Tianlan nodded in approval. "It is good that you were able to recognize this. Nine Splendors, your thoughts?"

The Nine Splendors True Lord, who was seated right after Mystic Moon, said, "The Flame Celestial Sovereign is under forced servitude, so there is no doubt that he harbors other intentions. But so long as Tang Jie has him under control, he wouldn't dare to do anything too out of line. What is more strange is that the Lord of the Blood River would suddenly give away information at a time like this."

Yun Tianlan raised an eyebrow. "You mean…"

Nine Splendors explained, "He was able to endure for all this time, so why did he suddenly stop? And he even said that unsealing the remains would place his own life at risk. This is giving away his own weakness! This is far too suspicious!"

Yun Tianlan smiled and nodded. "Very good. Tang Jie, what do you think?"

Tang Jie answered, "I think that everything the Lord of the Blood River said was true."

"Oh?" The other three turned to Tang Jie.

"Why?" Yun Tianlan asked.

"Because he still wants to win!" Tang Jie answered.

Everyone was taken aback and fell into deep thought.

Tang Jie explained, "If my guess is correct, the Lord of the Blood River actually already knows that the Flame Celestial Sovereign is my spy, and it was probably Hong Qianli himself who intentionally revealed it."

Everyone was stunned. Mystic Moon said, "How could this be? The Flame Celestial Sovereign swore an oath to not betray you."

"His oath was only to not betray me, to not reveal his identity of his own volition. But if his actions end up exposing him, that's no longer his problem! A few careless mistakes, some suggestive phrases, and some subtle signs of collusion, and Blood River should be able to see the problem so long as he's not an idiot."

Nine Splendors understood what he meant. "Thus, Blood River is able to see through it because Hong Qianli wanted him to. As an Immortal, he's unwilling to be a servant, and considering your past grudges and your past behavior, the Lord of the Blood River probably realized what happened."

Mystic Moon added, "Once you take the bait, they will start quietly working together."

The Heavenly Dao Oath prevented the Flame Celestial Sovereign from openly selling out Tang Jie, but this didn't stop him from having a mutual understanding with the Lord of the Blood River. Many conspiracies had come to be in this way. They could happen between the good or the evil, the petty and the great.

Tang Jie judged that the Flame Celestial Sovereign and the Lord of the Blood River had established a mutual understanding.

The Lord of the Blood River used this understanding to pass on information to Tang Jie.

This was the reason behind his confession.

He was setting up a trap to draw Tang Jie and company in to kill them.

Since he was laying bait, it was probably the real deal.

This was why Tang Jie thought he was telling the truth.

"Could those remains really possess some peerless power?" Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors exchanged looks.

Tang Jie shook his head. "This isn't something that can be found out through guessing. What we need to do now is discuss our response."

Everyone exchanged looks, and then Yun Tianlan pointed at Mystic Moon. "As the Sect Master, Mystic Moon, you should speak first."

"Yes," Mystic Moon replied. "Your disciple believes that since Blood River has already drawn out the path to us, it's essentially a challenge. In war, when the enemy issues a challenge, not accepting it is a sign of weakness, and cultivators seek to defy the heavens in search of greater power. To be scared away by that Blood River would risk us being seen as incompetent."

Yun Tianlan turned to Nine Splendors, who said, "Your disciple also believes we should take this fight. Tang Jie has already used the Wish Granting Spell to protect the Basking Moon Sect for ten thousand years. Fortune is on our side, and the will of the heavens cannot be stopped, so there is no reason to fear Blood River's scheme."

In blessing the Basking Moon Sect with ten thousand years of prosperity, the Wish Granting Spell had essentially placed an invincible shell over the Basking Moon Sect. So long as they weren't too reckless, dangers would be turned into fortune, which strengthened Nine Splendors' confidence.

Yun Tianlan nodded. Before he could look over at him, Tang Jie began to speak. "I also think we should fight. War is deception, fact mixed with fiction. Hong Qianli's betrayal and Blood River's discovery of his spying are all my speculation, with no evidence to back it up. If we ignore this information, we might avoid a trap, but we also might lose an opportunity. People are still dying every day in this war, and the sooner we handle Blood River and the others, the sooner we can pacify the situation and save more people from disaster."

Yun Tianlan chuckled. "I agree that we should fight. Whether in mortal wars or cultivator wars, it is always the strong who have won. Deception and surprise can win a temporary advantage, but not a long-term one. My Rosecloud Domain has all the momentum on its side, so it should crush the enemy with this momentum, rolling through whatever scheme the enemy might have!"

He waved his hand, and a gale blew over a distant mountain, wiping half of it away without the slightest resistance, the mountain simply dissolving into nothing.

Compared to Tang Jie, Yun Tianlan's thought process was very simple and domineering. In truth, this was how an Immortal should think. No matter what they faced, they just needed to crush it with pure strength.

The four leaders of the Basking Moon Sect had decided on their plan.

However, they had to wait for additional information from the Flame Celestial Sovereign, as well as make some of their own preparations. After all, they couldn't send everyone out for fear that the enemy would strike back at their base. Thus, there was still some time until the actual execution of the plan.

Tang Jie planned to use this time to make a breakthrough so that he could better meet the challenges of this battle.

Returning to the Hall of Divine Conference, he threw out a fire talisman, its destination Xu Miaoran. While he wasn't around, Xu Miaoran would be handling things in the Hall of Divine Conference. Given her wisdom and talent and the overall stability of the situation, she could hold this post with no problem.

Tang Jie then sent a message to the Flame Celestial Sovereign that he would be cultivating deeper in the hall.

While cultivating the World Descender Mantra in this time, Tang Jie's True God grew more and more mature, reaching the level of Illuminated Primordial Chaos. His True God had started off stronger than average, and after this upgrade, it was absurdly strong. With one thought, he could conjure up a storm of arts.

Although one could thoughtcast from Violet Palace onward, at this level, the effects were clearly different. With the power of Tang Jie's True God, another True Lord would find that the entire world was no longer under their control, that their thoughtcasting was nothing more than a joke. And as Tang Jie's True God continued to mature, this sort of aura would strengthen, such that Tang Jie had no choice but to restrain his energy, or else anyone within fifty kilometers of him would find it hard to survive.

However, what Tang Jie wanted to upgrade this time wasn't his True God, but his Dao Will.

Of the Twelve Great Daos, he had attained success in ten. The only two that didn't have a Dao Art were Karma and Reincarnation.

Though there was no Dao Art, he had entered these Daos, so getting a Dao Art was only a matter of time.

Of these two, he had more runes of the Dao of Karma, and he was on the verge of success.

Thus, Tang Jie needed to condense more Karma Dao Runes to form his Dao Art.

The Dao of Karma was the earliest Great Dao that Tang Jie had comprehended, but he had somehow ended up entering Fate before Karma.

Although Fate was much more encompassing than Karma, Karma had its own unique properties.

Fate was all about complexity, while Karma was simplicity.

Fate was a vast and profound web, and in the Sea of Fate, the secrets of the heavens were eternally obscured in fog. Karma was a line, with all being preordained. Planting a melon seed would produce a melon, and planting a bean seed would produce a bean.

Thus, Fate was like a Dao armament, valuable and difficult to use. Karma was a divine treasure, usable so long as one had reached the right level of cultivation.

Tang Jie had paid far too much to enter Fate, so it was understandable that he had ignored Karma. Now that he put his attention into it, with his solid foundations, he progressed much faster than expected.

Rune after rune appeared in his body, forming complex images that symbolized the fundamental laws of the world. They weaved and shifted within his body before finally branding themselves in its depths, leaving behind an indelible mark.

With each Dao Rune, Tang Jie deepened his understanding and gained greater Dao power.

Once he hit a certain threshold of runes and Dao power, the Dao Art would be formed.

Today, the Hall of Divine Conference was as usual.

Xu Miaoran sat in the center of the hall, countless twinkling stars forming a vast map before her. Xu Miaoran's hand were constantly moving around, expanding the points of starlight to observe the battlefield and issuing orders according to the situation.

She couldn't know what was happening kilometers away with a single glance, so she put all her energy onto the battlefield rather than cultivating, examining everything in close detail so that problems could be resolved before they got worse. Under her command, the battlefield was even more stable than when Tang Jie had been present, with Xu Miaoran playing a large part in this.

As she was issuing orders, Xu Miaoran suddenly felt something happening behind her.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

She paused and turned around, upon which she saw a pillar of clouds rising up from the rear of the hall.

In the clouds was a divine prismatic light that engulfed the entire hall in its splendor.

Something flew out, buoyed upward by the sea of light, exuding a radiance suffused with a supreme Dao Will.