Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 421: Deep Sea

The battle in the sky continued.

The last bean soldiers crazily attacked the Beast Refining Gate disciples, not giving them a chance to give chase. No matter how the disciples tried, they couldn’t break through that blockade.

At this moment, numerous sword rays shot out from the distance, accurately striking those bean soldiers, one of them even piercing through a Beast Refining Gate disciple without hurting him in the slightest.

In a flash, the bean soldiers had been eliminated. At this moment, a figure elegantly flew out: a middle-aged man carrying a longsword.

All of the Beast Refining Gate disciples bowed to him. “Paying respects to the Heavenly Sword True Person.”

This man’s name was Chang Mingxin, and he was one of the three True Persons tasked with searching for the Beast Garden.

This person was an unusual sort, for rather than refining beasts, he was skilled in sword arts, cultivating his Heaven Sword spell to a divine level. He was a classic example of a sword cultivator.

Though rare, such a person wasn’t strange. The six major sects had existed for one thousand years and had collected talents from all the world, so they possessed countless techniques and spells, nor did they ever restrict their disciples to any particular path. Thus, there were always a few people who chose a different path.

For example, while the Seven Absolutions Sect was good in pills, talismans, formations, and tools, Wang Juemie didn’t specialize in any of the four. And while Tang Jie was a Basking Moon Sect disciple, with his skill in formations, he would have been very high-ranked in the Seven Absolutions Sect.

The same was true for Chang Mingxin. He had only cultivated the first level of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra and had only a single refined beast. But his sword techniques were exceptionally sharp, and even in Horizon Ocean Pavilion or the Basking Moon Sect, which had the strongest sword cultivators, he would be an outstanding individual.

His expertise was in precise attacks over an extremely long distance, and it was said that he was able to attack essentially anything in his field of vision.

This was a little exaggerated, but if it was the ability to to attack anything in a normal person’s field of vision, then it was true.

Thus, although he was only a Spirit Ring Tier True Person, Chang Mingxin was much stronger than the likes of Shi Jingzhai and Yu Wanniang.

The moment Chang Mingxin appeared, all the disciples bowed.

Chang Mingxin waved his hand and said, “Forget it. There is no need for courtesy in these exceptional times.”

He cast his gaze toward the sea below.

There was no sign of Tang Jie amidst the waves, and even with Chang Mingxin’s superb vision, he could only see a hundred meters into the water.

He snorted. “Tang Jie has gone into the sea. While the waters can obstruct our vision and hide his energy, they will also slow him down a lot. His speed will be much slower than if he were flying, so he couldn’t have gone too far in this little time. All of you, set down a Heaven-Earth Net over the area so that he can’t escape!”

“Yes!” all the disciples said in unison.

More Beast Refining Gate disciples were arriving on the scene, and under Chang Mingxin’s command, a net began to spread outward from the point that Tang Jie had dived into the ocean. Some Beast Refining Gate disciples also began to capture sea fiends, refining them so that they could be used against Tang Jie.

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After splashing into the water, Tang Jie immediately began to swim down.

When that sword ray arrived, Tang Jie knew that the Heavenly Sword True Person had arrived. After his conversation with Lin Baicang, he had gained a rough understanding of his pursuers.

Thus, after realizing that Chang Mingxin had arrived, Tang Jie had immediately given up the fight and fled into the sea. That was the only way he could escape Chang Mingxin’s attacks.

As he entered the water, Tang Jie took out an item.

A clam pearl.

It was the very same clam pearl he had received from the clam woman he had saved while on the road to the Immortal Fortune Conference. Tang Jie had not used it this whole time, not expecting it to be so useful today.

A moment later, the water around Tang Jie parted, forming an isolated space around him. All of the sea water stopped half a meter away from Tang Jie.

Amusingly, this didn’t stop fish from coming in.

A few fish would swim through the screen, flop to the bottom of the space, and then go back into the water once they hit the bottom, after which they would wave their tails and swim away.

This created a rather curious sight next to Tang Jie. A fish would swim next to him, fall through the air, and then go back into the water without creating a single splash.

It was like a weightless space, with fish “flying” around.

But the disadvantage of this pearl was that Tang Jie could neither swim nor fly in this situation.

He could only let himself sink until he hit the bottom of the ocean, where he could then walk.

This was a rare experience for Tang Jie. He first took a look around his surroundings and then started walking toward Joymount Island—he had determined the direction before diving.

The bottom of the sea was cold and dark, but it wasn’t lonely.

Even though there was no light, with the power of Insight and the faint light of the clam pearl, Tang Jie could still see the various kinds of fish swimming past him.

They had strange and varied appearances, some that Tang Jie had never seen before, some that Tang Jie had never even heard about before, and some that Tang Jie hadn’t even imagined before.

There was a fish with the face of a horse and fins like feet, allowing it to swim through the sea like it was walking. There was also a fish that gave off light, covered in beautiful blue lines that would turn on and off. There was also a fish that Tang Jie recognized called the bat ray. It had the appearance of a large bat, and as it flapped its large wings and moved across the ocean bottom, it appeared to be flying.

A clumsy tigerhead shark swam out of the distance.

Its forehead wrinkles formed the “王” (king) character, telling everyone that it had the grace of a king and that everyone should back away.

It seemed to be interested in Tang Jie, a kind of creature it had never seen before. It swam over, stuck half its head into the space surrounding Tang Jie, and opened its mouth.

Tang Jie calmly extended his hand and grabbed the shark’s mouth so that it couldn’t close it again.

Tang Jie stuck his head inside the shark’s mouth to see how its insides were constructed, and then he drew his head back and stared into the shark’s eyes.

He released his grip, and the shark bit down on his hand.

Its teeth broke.

Tang Jie stroked its forehead and kindly smiled.

The tigerhead shark finally felt helpless fear and the pain of defeat, so it swung its tail and swam away.

There were creatures stronger than this.

A king cuttlefish that had become a fiend and didn’t know what was good for it came looking for Tang Jie. This guy was huge, like a building at the bottom of the ocean. As Tang Jie passed by it, one of its python-like tentacles wrapped around Tang Jie, and the tentacle even had a mouth full of sharp teeth. It was truly like some horrific monster that had crawled out of the ocean.

But this enormous sea monster was as weak as an infant in Tang Jie’s eyes.

Tang Jie was able to instantly tell that, despite this guy’s size, it was only a middle-grade Spirit Sensing fiend.

He grabbed that giant tentacle and threw the cuttlefish out.

It was perfect for scouting ahead.

As the cuttlefish flew out, a light came down from above and sliced through the king cuttlefish’s body like it was made of butter, instantly dyeing the ocean waters red.

Tang Jie narrowed his eyes when he saw this.

So they really had put down a net over the entire area?

He slowed down and drew close to where the cuttlefish had been killed. His eyes roved around the seabed and finally discovered some wriggling seaworms.

These seaworms crawled across the seabed like little caterpillars. Their color was so close to that of the sand that it was difficult to make them out. But what was most important was that these seaworms flashed with a special marking light that indicated that they were being controlled by cultivators.

Fortunately, the seaworms couldn’t see and only sensed what was going on around them through vibrations. So long as one proceeded slowly and didn’t make too much of a stir, the people above wouldn’t be able to sense anything.

With this thought in mind, Tang Jie cautiously advanced.

As he was walking along, Tang Jie saw a sea turtle sinking down from the surface. A rock had been tied to it so that it couldn’t escape its downward trajectory no matter how much it swam.

The turtle spun around in panic, sticking out its head, and its dark green eyes just so happened to land on Tang Jie’s body.

As this thought flashed through Tang Jie’s mind, he jumped backward.

A sword ray sliced through the water and struck Tang Jie’s previous position.

Tang Jie turned his head and left. A few moments later, a team of cultivators entered the water. Their leader was a Cognitive Creation cultivator, and behind him were six others.

The leader looked around and pointed inward. The seven people began to go in the direction Tang Jie had retreated.

There were seven other teams like this in this region of the ocean. Like sharks, they swam around, seeking out Tang Jie. And even farther out, the Beast Refining Gate cultivators were using various methods to create a blockade and monitor the perimeter.

The Heaven Sword True Person occupied the middle, attacking any location where there was suspicious activity.

This time, his support would not come too late.

Without the chaos from needing to give chase, all of the Beast Refining Gate disciples began to form up, and the disciples of the Murder Hall even began to take up battle formation. The powers unique to a major sect were starting to make themselves manifest.

Their searching method was extremely disciplined, and there was no rush to find Tang Jie. They combed every inch of the sea floor for Tang Jie.

Let alone a Nine Revolutions cultivator like Tang Jie, even a True Person wouldn’t dare to say that they could escape from their meticulous pursuit.

As they chased, they also captured sea creatures, using the special Soul Possession Eye spell of the Beast Refining Gate to expand their vision using these creatures.

The Soul Possession Eye could only be used on nine ordinary creatures at once, though they could be switched out. For this reason, most of the Beast Refining Gate disciples chose to capture faster creatures like arrowfish. But the disadvantage of this sort of fish was that they would swim around randomly and weren’t receptive to the control of the cultivator.

Thus, they also needed creatures that didn’t move around much, like seaworms and turtles, to lock down specific areas.

The approach of the group of seven cultivators caused the fish to flee in fright.

Of course, it wasn’t every fish that knew to escape.

A shark swam past one of the searchers and then curiously examined this cultivator with large eyes. It didn’t choose to attack, which fortunately made the cultivator ignore it. It wasn’t that it lacked speed, but that it was too large and would consume more energy from the person using the Soul Possession Eye.

A massive king clam the size of a house lay on the sea floor. It opened its shell slightly, releasing a string of bubbles, treating these newcomers as if they didn’t exist.

The seven people quickly swam out of the area.

They didn’t swim very far before the Beast Refining Gate disciple at the very back heard a clack.

Turning his head, he saw that king clam slowly open its shell, water rushing out.

That Beast Refining Gate disciple was shocked, and then he was delighted.

A clam fiend had a chance of producing a clam pearl, which was a treasure that could fend off fire and water. And clam fiends were mostly beautiful women, which were very welcome in Immortal marketplaces.

That disciple wanted to capture this clam fiend, so he drew closer to the clam shell. As he drew close, a hand suddenly reached out of the clam, grabbed him, and pulled him inside. The disciple wanted to cry out in surprise, but the moment he opened his mouth, water rushed in. Unable to make a sound, he was dragged into the clam.

The clam shell closed.

The giant shell trembled a few times and then became still.

The group of Beast Refining Gate disciples took a while to notice that one of their number was missing. By the time they came back to the area to search, Tang Jie had already left for another area.

There was a large field of coral here.

Tang Jie moved toward the coral like a fish and then passed through the large openings between the coral.

A crested fish hiding in a pile of rocks jerked upward in fright, its giant, hammer-like crest smashing into a coral reef and knocking a large hole in it. And then this strange and powerful fish swam off in panic.

But before it could swim very far, Tang Jie grabbed it.

Tang Jie examined its strange appearance and large body, and then he grabbed a piece of coral, staring at the fish as he used the Duplication spell.

Duplication made the coral gradually turn into the crested fish.

Tang Jie threw aside the real fish, and then he hid himself in a pile of sand while the crested fish laid itself on the sea floor, perfectly concealing Tang Jie’s position.

In order to not be discovered, Tang Jie put away the clam pearl.

The last bit of light disappeared, and the ocean waters embraced Tang Jie. Now, Tang Jie was truly one with the ocean.

He began to slowly swim, the sea water making his wounds exceptionally painful. All Tang Jie could do was use spiritual energy to cover his wounds so that he could buy time to heal.

The inability to breathe wasn’t a problem.

Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators were no longer mere mortals.

Mortals needed to breathe in oxygen, but cultivators only needed to breathe in spiritual energy. Thus, being at the bottom of the sea might affect the ability to gather spiritual energy, but there was no problem with simply surviving.

All around Tang Jie was darkness, but he knew that countless people were approaching him in this darkness.

He continued to retreat, his eyes remaining calm, collected, and fearless.

A few moments later, a team of Beast Refining Gate disciples arrived.

They stopped above the coral reef, their leader taking out a pearl to illuminate the area, his eyes roving around. When he saw an area that the light didn’t illuminate, he would order people to go and look. It was a very thorough search.

When the search turned up nothing, the leader put away the pearl and waved his hand, the team following him in swimming away.

When the last Beast Refining Gate disciple passed that crested fish, he didn’t notice a figure slowly rising up behind him.

Tang Jie held the golden thread and moved to get it around that disciple’s neck.

As they were at the bottom of the sea, all motions were slowed, including Tang Jie’s.

Perhaps it was the agitation of the water that made the disciple realize that something was wrong, or perhaps it was just intuition, but that disciple turned his head.

Their eyes met, and a look of immense fear appeared on the disciple’s face.

Tang Jie lunged, pushing that golden thread up to the disciple’s neck.

The disciple instinctively tried to grasp the golden thread and push it away, but that golden thread sliced through his palm, cutting off his finger and then moving on to his mouth.

And then his face was sliced in half.

Blood mixed with brains spread out in the water, like ink on paper.

Severed hands futilely grabbed skyward while the body with only half a head left slowly dropped to the sea floor.

Taking the disciple’s Mustard Seed Bag and identity token, Tang Jie glanced at the rest of the team, which had yet to notice anything wrong, and then swam in the other direction.

Don’t listen to any small red crabs with Jamaican accents when they tell you that life is better under the sea. The Beast Refining Gate disciples would definitely disagree.