Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Ling Xiao's long sleeves wrapped around the falling heart and delivered it back into Tang Jie's body.

But Tang Jie didn't move, as if he wasn't concerned about his heart. All he did was dumbly stare at the sharp claw on his hand.

The claw transformed back into the Sovereign Blade and lay calmly and peacefully in his palm.

But Tang Jie could still keenly feel the sheer brutality, violence, and ruthlessness that had erupted from that sharp claw.

It was an indescribable feeling, a power that did not belong to the Sovereign Blade. Instead, the power it had displayed was that of Meng Guanshan's Demon Ape Nether Claw.

Simulation!

A word appeared in Tang Jie's mind.

It was not simple mimicry, but the simulation of a treasure from its very roots.

Wasn't this the Sovereign Blade's ability to simulate all weapons in the world?

It had been like a long-slumbering dragon, and as it returned to its original form, it let out a resounding ring, like it had released spent-up energy and was crying out in relief and joy.

In a flash, Tang Jie realized that the Sovereign Blade had only been able to do this because he had removed the Yin Yang sword spirit.

When the Sovereign Blade had contained the sword spirit, while it had possessed great lethality, its simulation ability had been suppressed. It was only in this battle that this ability was finally released, and the first thing it simulated was the Demon Ape Nether Claw of Meng Guanshan.

The Demon Ape Nether Claw was a powerful treasure Meng Guanshan had made by combining numerous precious materials with the hand bones of a Scarlet Eye Demon Ape. It was on par with Xiao Biehan's Sky-Parting Sword, and thanks to its strange heritage, it was able to exert even greater power.

That the Sovereign Blade could even simulate the ruthless nature of the Demon Ape Nether Claw indicated that its reputation was not false. The only reason it hadn't been able to do this in the past was that it had yet to fully mature, but now, it had revealed its glory for the first time.

While he rejoiced, Li Nanfei and Feng Muyuan had gone crazy.

"Get back the Imperial Sky Stamp!" the two of them howled as they rushed at Tang Jie.

"You should worry about yourselves first," Tang Jie said, putting the stamp away.

This item had influenced Meng Guanshan for many years and had long ago merged with him, taking orders from nobody else. It could not be loaned out to others like how the Godhead Aegis had been loaned to Zhan Wushang, so Li Nanfei was powerless to get it back. As Tang Jie put away the stamp, he almost vomited blood in anger. This loss of composure allowed Ji Qingfeng to give him a good strike of his Triflora Whip.

Without Meng Guanshan, the Beast Refining Gate's force had taken another blow, and their situation grew even worse.

The sight of the Beast Refining Gate's cultivators being slain enraged Li Nanfei. He howled, "Muyuan, get them out of here!"

In truth, the Beast Refining Gate had wanted to leave long ago, but they were being attacked by two sects and had speed experts like Ming Yekong on their tail, so running was easier said than done.

Feng Muyuan was taken aback by Li Nanfei's words, and then he realized, blurting out, "Senior Brother, you…"

"Hurry!" Li Nanfei shouted.

As he shouted, that Divine Division white elephant trumpeted mournfully and turned into a streak of white light, flying to Li Nanfei and disappearing into his body.

A gray energy began to rise from Li Nanfei's body.

This energy was thick with murderous intent and carried the tragic and heroic resolve to die.

The moment this gray energy appeared, Feng Muyuan shuddered, and grief appeared on his face. "Sect Master!"

"Go!" Li Nanfei shouted. "Starting from today, you are the master of the Beast Refining Gate!"

Feng Muyuan clenched his teeth and then howled, swiftly retreating. The Blue Sky Demon Wolf spat out a black cloud from its mouth, which swept up everyone, and then it followed.

Just when everyone was about to give chase, Tang Jie shouted, "Get back!"

He didn't know what sort of trick Li Nanfei was going to use, but in this critical moment, it went without saying that Li Nanfei was going to use spowerful move.

No matter what his final move was, it definitely wouldn't be easy to deal with, and it was bound to take its pound of flesh from them. In any case, the most important objective of obtaining the Imperial Sky Stamp had been achieved, and Tang Jie didn't want to take a risk by chasing after a defeated enemy, so he called for a retreat.

The cultivators from the Basking Moon Sect heeded his order. Even though Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan outranked him, they understood Tang Jie and trusted in his judgment. Moreover, they could also sense danger from Li Nanfei's posture, so they tried to get as far away from him as possible.

There were a few in the Seven Absolutions Sect who weren't willing to listen to Tang Jie, going after Feng Muyuan with a mind to make a nfor themselves.

The gray wave of lethal energy began to expand from Li Nanfei, carrying with it a terrifying power that sought to destroy all things. It swallowed up those cultivators like an ocean, and those Heart Demon and Soul Transformation cultivators were instantly turned to dust, their power strengthening the wave as it continued to expand.

"Retreat!" Ji Qingfeng shouted, his voice turning shrill.

He didn't even have tto wince over the loss of his men. As he swiftly retreated, he threw out powerful waves of energy to stop the advance of this lethal wave, his sect's True Lords and the Basking Moon Sect's True Lords joining him.

But this lethal wave was built on the sacrifices of Li Nanfei and his white elephant, the sum total of their life force and energy. Even the Violet Palace experts of two sects couldn't stop it. On the contrary, it continued to grow stronger and stronger.

Waves sloshed out of this lethal ocean, and while tsunamis were nothing to cultivators, the waves of this ocean of death made one want to sigh in helplessness.

Tang Jie's body erupted in light as he activated the Infinite Palace to protect everyone.

The waves of death slammed into the Infinite Palace, and beams of sword energy swept across the complex, blasting apart its pavilions and towers, bringing them crashing to the ground.

Tang Jie was forced back as if he had been struck by lightning.

Tang Jie had once been able to resist eleven fingers from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign using the Infinite Palace, but now, Li Nanfei, who wasn't a Celestial Sovereign and was on the scultivation level as Jewel, had broken through his strongest defensive art in one blow, and this was after Tang Jie had spent one hundred years strengthening it. His heart was filled with shock, and at this moment, he understood that a Soul Projection cultivator going all-out was truly something to be feared, and that there was still a vast gap between him and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. But this understanding didn't make him afraid, only motivated him even more.

Meanwhile, the resistance from Ling Xiao and the other True Lords suddenly magnified. Evidently, they had realized how scary Li Nanfei's attack was and were getting serious.

Ling Xiao used his Limitless True Astral Barrier, Xiao Biehan used one of his rare protective arts, and the Seven Absolutions Sect's cultivators took out various treasures, one of them being the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures, the Dao power within them enclosing everyone in a hazy halo of light.

In the face of so many powerful defenses, the flood of death was finally stopped.

Upon seeing that his lethal ocean could advance no further, Li Nanfei despaired, a hint of helplessness on his face. "In the end, I couldn't kill a single one! Damn it!"

He let out a frenzied roar.

This roar shook the heavens and left everyone's ears buzzing.

But all the cultivators present simply watched him in silence.

A few moments later, the roar stopped.

Li Nanfei looked at them all and suddenly laughed. "Two thousand years ago, my Beast Refining Gate went back on its word, and though it managed to keep its place in the six major sects because of it, it also formed a grudge with the Basking Moon Sect. We have fought against each other as enemies since then, but now, there is finally an outcome. Even so, no one in my Beast Refining Gate will feel remorse over that decision. The Immortal path is unfathomably long, and to reach its summit, one must occasionally step across the bones of others. This is the case for my Beast Refining Gate, for Godhead Palace, for the Basking Moon Sect, and for the Seven Absolutions Sect. There is no good and evil on the Immortal path, only victory and defeat. Congratulations. This time, you won."

As he finished his words, his body crumbled away, dust in the wind.

The surging wave of death receded, leaving behind a vast spiritual energy that fell upon the world as spirit rain.

In the future, this place was bound to beca blessed land.

Tang Jie felt like this was a great pity, but seeing how quiet Ji Qingfeng and the others were, he knew that they had been moved by Li Nanfei's words and ultimately chose to stay silent.

Xiao Biehan also found it a pity. Gazing at the now-distant Feng Muyuan, he grumbled, "A pity, sof them managed to escape."

"It's fine," Ling Xiao said. "Li Nanfei and Meng Guanshan are dead, and we got what we wanted. A few rats escaping isn't a big deal."

Ji Qingfeng added, "After such a major wound, even if the Beast Refining Gate isn't forced to retreat to its homeland like Godhead Palace, it will definitely fall from being a major sect. From now on, there will be only four major sects in Rosecloud. Sect Master Ling Xiao, if you are willing, we can continue to be friends."

"Of course," Ling Xiao replied.

After this campaign, the structure of the Rosecloud Domain had gone from six sects ruling over all to four sects vying for supremacy, and both the Basking Moon Sect and Seven Absolutions Sect had richly benefited from this battle.

The Seven Absolutions Sect had obtained numerous resources and most of the territory of Nadir Hill, and the Basking Moon Sect had also gotten what it wanted.

Both sects were bound to grow much stronger in the future, but nobody would know who would be laughing last until the very end.

After engaging in a few polite words, both sects went their separate ways.

As Ling Xiao watched the Seven Absolutions Sect leave, he exhaled and said, "This matter is settled. Tang Jie, what's your plan next?"

"What other plans can there be? We've gotten what we were fighting for, so now we digest. It's tto see who can ascend first: the Cloud Ancestor or one of the other ancestors," Tang Jie replied with a smile.