Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 446: Passing Traveler

A blade flashed, and blood fountained.

The Godhead Palace disciple kneeling in front of Tang Jie held his throat and squeezed out, “Wh… why…”

He seemingly didn’t understand why Tang Jie wasn’t willing to spare him despite the fact that he had surrendered.

Wiping the blade on that disciple’s shoulder, Tang Jie casually replied, “Because this is your fate… It was your fate from the moment you joined Godhead Palace.”

“My… fate!” the disciple muttered before finally collapsing.

Ever since he had learned of the connection between Karma and Fate, Tang Jie seemed to have developed a tendency to use fate as the explanation for everything. It was as if this was the way to the Great Dao of Fate, a method for glimpsing a corner of that ethereal concept.

The rabbit fiend pursed its lips at Tang Jie’s words. “The Great Dao of Fate is profound and unfathomable. If just talking about it and killing people could get you to comprehend it, then that Great Dao would be just a little too simple. In truth, Fate is the fruit of Karma. Rather than desperately seeking out the Dao of Fate, it would be better to deepen your understanding of the Dao of Karma. Once you reach a certain level of understanding in Karma, you will naturally begin to slowly grasp the essence of Fate.”

Tang Jie was startled. “‘Fate is the fruit of Karma’?”

This was the first time he was hearing such a thing.

Of the Twelve Great Daos, some ran alongside each other while others required going step by step. Space and Time were two Daos that ran alongside each other while Karma and Fate were two Daos that required going step by step. But before this, Tang Jie had never truly grasped the difference between the two. It was only when Tutu spoke that Tang Jie finally understood.

He pondered the thought for a while before nodding. “It makes sense. It seems that my thought process was mistaken. Perhaps some Daos can’t be sought. Rather, they will come on their own with the passage of time and encounters. I was being too intentional, which only caused me to stray from the fundamentals.”

He looked at the rabbit fiend and sincerely said, “When I let you live, it was because I thought that your thousands of years of experience would be useful, but you never said anything. Today, I finally received some instruction from you. As a grandpa, you’ve been rather neglectful of your duties!”

The rabbit fiend was baffled, not understanding what he meant by “grandpa”. It could only awkwardly laugh and say, “In truth, my knowledge of the Twelve Great Daos is also limited. While I might be at Divine Division, this is thanks to my race’s natural talent. I can eventually reach that level just by living, which is why training it all back is so difficult.”

“Then were did you hear all this from?”

“From my clan’s young master, of course!” the rabbit fiend replied.

“Your clan’s young master was skilled in Karma and Fate?”

“Not exactly. His true expertise is in Life and Reincarnation. Perhaps because these two Daos are related to those two Daos, my young master also has some understanding of Karma and Fate.”

“I see.” Tang Jie nodded. “But no matter how thoroughly your young master comprehended Life and grasped Reincarnation, after such a long time, your young master is probably already dead.”

“That’s impossible!” The rabbit fiend jumped up high and shouted, “My young master is the Lord of Reincarnation, everlasting throughout the ages. He could never…”

Before it could finish, the rabbit fiend suddenly covered its mouth with its forelimbs, fear in its eyes.

Tang Jie gazed deeply at the rabbit fiend and softly said, “‘Lord of Reincarnation’…”

These words carried immense meaning.

Those who sought the Dao were divided into those who comprehended it, those who entered it, and those who controlled it, and how people comprehended Dao Wills changed the abilities they had.

A Lord was a master, above those three levels.

How mighty was a master of a Great Dao?

“Lord of Reincarnation”?

Consider the Martial Lord. He had dominated the myriad worlds while only controlling the Weapon Dao. He dared to call himself the Lord of All Weapons, and with one order from him, all weapons would shatter and become part of the Weapon Mantra.

And this was only a minor Dao!

The Dao of Reincarnation was a supreme Great Dao. What sort of person could master it?

As Tang Jie stared, the rabbit fiend trembled in fear and softly said, “I was exaggerating. My young master does not have this ability, having only entered the Dao. But across the many worlds, those who can control Daos are few and far between. They call themselves Lords, but it’s mostly empty bluster. But as my young master entered the Dao of Reincarnation, he can already control his own life. So long as he was not reborn in a barren land, even if he died, he could still retain his memories and be reborn again. Thus, he must still be living on this world.”

“Is that so?” Tang Jie coolly said. “Then you had best watch yourself. The Heavenly Dao has eyes, and if you boast too much… it will punish you with lightning!”

The rabbit fiend trembled in fright, raising its little forelimbs. “This Tutu swears on its life to never utter falsehoods again.”

Only then did Tang Jie let this cowardly little fellow go.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingdan had finished her job: looting the dead.

Bringing several Mustard Seed Bags up to Tang Jie, she threw some of them at Tang Jie. “These are yours.”

Tang Jie took them and put them away. Looking around, he said, “This is the only group we’ve run into today. It seems like there’s nobody else.”

“True. You killed them all.” Shen Qingdan smiled.

“What? Do you think I’m too bloodthirsty?” Tang Jie asked.

Shen Qingdan shook her head. “Since you killed them, they deserved to die.”

There was an ambiguity to these words that left Tang Jie startled.

Shen Qingdan appeared to also find them inappropriate, her face turning red as she fell silent.

In a rare sight, the mood became awkward.

After a few moments of silence, Tang Jie finally said, “Since there’s no one to kill, let’s head to the island.”

“To the island…” Shen Qingdan’s eyes flashed with disappointment.

Once they were on the island, it would no longer be a world with just the two of them—actually, this was already the case, but the ghost guard didn’t say anything, so it might as well not exist.

After some thought, Shen Qingdan shook her head. “You go. I’ll stay. That will save you some trouble.”

Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood. She was thinking about how things would get difficult to explain if they ran into Xu Miaoran.

Looking at Tang Jie’s face, Shen Qingdan chuckled. “Don’t think too highly of yourself. It’s not entirely because of you. I haven’t seen anyone from my Wandering Palace, so I need to search for them.”

“They also might have gone to the island.”

“Please help me take care of the people who went to the island,” Shen Qingdan casually said, throwing him a jade token. “With this item, you can order around the palace’s people. You said that the Beast Refining Gate sent three True Persons. You killed two of them, so there should still be one on the island. Although this friend of yours is also at Spirit Ring, it would still be better if you had more people to help out.”

She cast her gaze at the motionless ghost guard.

Although she called the ghost guard a “friend”, in these last few days, Shen Qingdan had realized that the ghost guard seemed more like Tang Jie’s servant. However, she kept those words to herself.

After she said a few more things to Tang Jie, the two of them finally parted.

As she watched Tang Jie leave, Shen Qingdan suddenly sighed, taking a few steps back and leaning against a tree.

As she gazed into the distance, her face seemed rather blank.

She had told Tang Jie that she was going to look for her own subordinates, but even she understood how silly that explanation was.

What method would be simpler and more convenient than going to the island?

In truth, she just wasn’t willing to be together with Tang Jie.

This was not because she hated him. It was the exact opposite, in fact.

Yes, Shen Qingdan found that she was starting to like Tang Jie.

Her arguments with Xu Miaoran and her invitation to Tang Jie had simply been a manifestation of a girl’s stubbornness, and there was no hint of affection. But at some point, her attitude toward Tang Jie began to change.

It had gone from hostility to earnestness, and then to a dispelling of distrust and fighting alongside each other. Her feelings toward Tang Jie began to subtly change, and a few short days had been enough to effect a world-shaking transformation in Shen Qingdan.

It was not a strong sensation at first, and she didn’t realize anything. But when she refused to abandon Tang Jie under Chang Baimei’s threats, she finally realized. When she saved Tang Jie afterward, it was more like she was following her true feelings rather than making some sort of righteous choice.

Shen Qingdan had still been able to deceive herself then, but as time passed, the sensation grew stronger and stronger.

After going through so many battles together, experiencing his formidable self-confidence, fearless courage, and intelligence that could see through everything, she finally understood that she liked this man.

That was exactly why she was so afraid!

No matter what, she could not accept that she had come to love a man, let alone a man she would have to share with another woman. This was exactly why she chose to withdraw the moment she realized this.

But she had still been hesitating, had been somewhat reluctant. In her heart, there was still a desire to spend a few more days with him before leaving, even though she knew that the longer she stayed, the more difficult it would be to let him go.

When Tang Jie said that he wanted to head to the island, she was suddenly enlightened, and she made up her mind to nip this affection in the bud.

In this aspect, she was like Xu Miaoran. They both had their pride, were both talented women who needed to maintain their dignity.

Gazing at that distant figure, Shen Qingdan’s eyes gradually hardened. “In the end, you are just a passing traveler in my life… I will forget you.”

Even though he didn’t know about all of Shen Qingdan’s complicated feelings, he could at least understand the meaning in her words.

He didn’t find this strange, for he himself had felt that bud of affection.

This was exactly why he had brought up heading to the island.

For him, Xu Miaoran was his true fated match. His heart had no space for anyone else.

Thus, just like how he had rejected Wei Die, he also chose to reject Shen Qingdan.

Life was all about rejecting and being rejected. The only difference was that some people were always being rejected and some people were always doing the rejecting.

Who in their life did not have a few passing travelers? Rather than clinging to lost affections like a fool, it would be better to leave without constraints. At least then, one would have beautiful memories to look back on.

He flew farther and farther away.

When he looked back, the distant scenes had already become a blur.

With a soft sigh, Tang Jie turned back his head and flew toward the island…

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Author’s Note: Let me tell all my friends very definitively that Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan won’t be together. The reasons are written in the book. In truth, when I wrote the character of Shen Qingdan, it was for this part of the story. Who in their life doesn’t have a few passing travelers? Who hasn’t had a few romances that didn’t result in anything? And who doesn’t have any affections that disappeared before they even had a chance to begin?

Shen Qingdan and Wei Die are all like that. Even An Rumeng and Ping Jingyue are included.

There are some romances that don’t need a result, only the process.

If you’re willing to try it out, then go ahead and have a taste, but if not, then you can also just end things.

It seems like the author has decided that only Xu Miaoran will be in Tang Jie’s heart.