Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The light was gone in a flash, but it was like a comet streaking across the dark canvas of the night, bringing hope to Tang Jie's heart.

At that moment, Tang Jie felt the withered Divine Soul in his avatar twitch, like someone noticing the fingers of a corpse trembling.

"It's glowing!" Yiyi shouted, pointing at the Dream Pearl Lady painting.

Startled, Tang Jie grabbed the painting.

He saw that the woman's figure had turned around a little, revealing half her face. The face was covered by a veil that obscured its features, but Tang Jie was entranced, just like when Mei Huaping had used it to subdue his mind.

But when his mind was entranced, Tang Jie sensed that his avatar's Divine Soul had stopped withering.

It was like something was protecting his avatar, ensuring that his soul didn't go out.

"The Dream Pearl Lady… the dream… So this is actually a painting that protects the Divine Soul," Tang Jie said in realization. He had always taken the painting as a tool to comprehend the Dao, not expecting that it could protect the Divine Soul. It was no wonder it entranced the consciousness. However, because most cultivators kept their souls tightly protected, they rarely had the chance to experience this effect, and as for Mei Huaping, he hadn't even reached Heart Demon, so he had never had the chance to uncover this secret. As a result, this function had remained undiscovered until now.

Holding the painting, Tang Jie felt excited.

He suddenly remembered something and took out the statue of the Pearl Lady from his Mustard Seed Bag.

After getting this statue from the Myriad Court fragment, he had never found a use for it. Despite its value as a treasure being unknown, he had kept it at his side all this time.

As he placed the statue in front of the painting, the light from the painting fell upon it, and the statue trembled.

A light erupted from the top of the statue's head, projecting the figure of a fairy-like woman with long and flowing sleeves. It was an enchanting sight that one would be reluctant to look away from. But there was clearly a man next to the woman, large and imposing like a mountain, his face tough and determined, radiating willpower and resolve. And Tang Jie was familiar with the face, as well as unsurprised to see it here.

The image of the woman was leaning against the man's chest as they twirled around in the pillar of light, revolving without end.

"So beautiful!" Yiyi muttered.

"So it was just a recorder," Tang Jie said in disappointment.

This statue had been stored together with the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill and the sheath of the Immeasurable Sword, so he had also taken it to be something of great value, but it turned out to be a recording art relic. However, it had a unique method of activation, requiring the energy of one of the people being recorded.

This must have been an extremely valuable keepsake for its owner.

Some treasures weren't valuable in and of themselves, instead being valuable and treasured because of the significance their owner placed on them.

The Pearl Lady statue was such a treasure.

Tang Jie couldn't help but sigh over the fact that he couldn't get what he wanted from the statue.

As the statue unleashed the pillar of light, Immortal Ji Yao's trembling voice came from the other side of the passage. "What happened? Brat, talk! Why do I sense something so familiar?"

She couldn't see what was on the other side, and her Demonic Will was suppressed, but she could still sense an extremely familiar energy.

Tang Jie looked at the Chaos Tower and muttered, "'The Pearl Lady'… 'Immortal Ji Yao'… Is it really a coincidence?"

(TN: Ji Yao "姬瑶" means "Concubine/Woman Pearl")

Yiyi also realized, and she said in shock, "It really does seem like they're related."

The two of them looked at each other and said in unison, "Could this be the arrangement of Fate?"

And then they laughed.

Tang Jie shook his head. "I like the result, but I don't like the explanation. I am the master of my own Fate. Nobody else can control me."

Immortal Ji Yao was still shouting, her tone vicious and not at all like some fairy, but Tang Jie paid it no mind.

He covered the avatar with the painting so that the last ember of soul fire didn't go out, and then he strode over to the Chaos Tower. "Luan Grass planted in the gardens of the royal court, a fairy in a dream ascending to the nine heavens, a sentimental keepsake recording a priceless memory stored away in a little tower, a fairyland across a lake, where two lovers would rather be happily married than be Immortal—how is it that the Pearl Lady ended up falling to the Primordial Fog and becoming a Demon Immortal!?"

"Aaagh!" A screech resounded through the heavens.

"Who!? Just who are you?!" Immortal Ji Yao howled.

Even though it was impossible to see her face, Tang Jie could easily imagine that her face was stricken with fear, anger, and confusion.

Softly sighing, Tang Jie said, "You were sealed here by the Immortal Emperor, so you probably don't know that the Court of Myriad Domains is no more, yes?"

"What did you say?" Immortal Ji Yao shuddered.

She had been imprisoned here for ten thousand years, so she truly knew nothing of the outside world.

In her view, the Court of Myriad Domains had been so prosperous and the Immortal Emperor so powerful that even if an eternal reign was impossible, ten thousand generations could easily be done. How had it perished so quickly?

"So you really didn't know." Tang Jie sighed. It seemed like she had been telling the truth. This really was an isolated small world of the Primordial Fog Domain.

"How did it perish?" Immortal Ji Yao barked.

"It was the work of one person… if I saw things correctly," Tang Jie replied.

"One person? Who could be so mighty that they could destroy the Court of Myriad Domains? It's impossible!" Immortal Ji Yao shouted.

"His name was the Martial Lord."

"'The Martial Lord'? Who's that?" To his surprise, Immortal Ji Yao didn't know this name.

Only then did Tang Jie remember that "Martial Lord" was a title given by those who came after. Those of the same generation of the Martial Lord probably didn't know of it. He explained, "A man of overbearing aura, proficient in the Weapon Dao. With a single shout, he could shatter all weapons into golden grains…"

Tang Jie noticed that there was still no reaction from Immortal Ji Yao, so he added, "Right, he was a body cultivator who was also proficient in illusions, able to create numerous illusions at once."

"What?" There was finally a reaction. "What did he look like? What was his name?"

"I don't know his name, but his image was left in a statue, together with a fairy… If you recognize this statue, perhaps you will know who he is." As Tang Jie spoke, he lifted the statue and walked closer to the Chaos Tower.

The closer he was, the better Immortal Ji Yao was able to sense the energy of the statue.

Her voice turned shrill. "Give that to me!"

Tang Jie threw the statue into the Primordial Fog passage.

A few moments later, Immortal Ji Yao's voice rang out. "Li Jiuyang, it really is you. You bastard, I suffered so much because of you. You… you actually… AAAAAH!!!"

(EN: It appears that the 'Ninedark' (九黎) portion of the Martial Lord's title comes from a rearrangement of his name, Li Jiuyang (黎九阳).)

Immortal Ji Yao's words failed her, dissolving into a scream that shook the heavens and the earth, even jolting that Immortal talisman.

When she had finally finished screaming, she began to sob. It was clear that she had lost her composure.

After a while, Immortal Ji Yao finally calmed down. "Tang Jie, you said that he singlehandedly destroyed the Court of Myriad Domains?"

"Yes."

"But this just isn't possible. I know very well how strong Jiuyang was. He was truly very strong, but not strong enough to destroy the Myriad Court all by himself. The Immortal Emperor alone could have crushed him! And also, how do you know that he was the one who did it?"

Tang Jie described how he had obtained the Martial Mirror and viewed the scene within it.

(TN: This scene can be found in Chapter 71.)

Immortal Ji Yao fell silent.

After a while, she said, "Based on your description, what you saw in the Martial Mirror really was the Court of Myriad Domains. Those four figures as radiant as the sun were probably the Four Sages of the Myriad Court, its Four Gold Immortals. But Li Jiuyang was only a little stronger than most True Immortals. Since when was he able to contend against four Gold Immortals and shatter the court? And what of Yu Cheng? Where was he?"

"Presumably, his strength soared by leaps and bounds after he was separated from Senior. And this junior can now understand why the Martial Lord would shatter the Myriad Court. In the end, he was enraged over the loss of his love. As for the Immortal Emperor, this junior saw no sign of him. Perhaps he had fallen in battle. In any case, there has been no news of him since then, and it seems like the Martial Lord himself died in that battle."

Immortal Ji Yao sobbed, "He really… for me… He did so much, and I never knew. I was even wondering why he hadn't come to save me! Jiuyang…"

She once more began to sob uncontrollably, falling into manic and uncontrolled weeping. She didn't seem at all like that elegant Pearl Lady who had ascended to the heavens, and instead, the violet energy of Primordial Fog poured out of the passage. But Tang Jie already knew that this woman was a demon, so he didn't find this strange. All he could do was sigh over how far the Martial Lord's woman had fallen.

Finally, Immortal Ji Yao stopped crying. "In other words, you're his chosen successor? Then after I… left behind this statue, how did you get it?"ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ No(ᴠ)ᴇlFire.nᴇt

"When the Myriad Court shattered, its fragments fell over all the domains. One of them fell into the Rosecloud Domain, and this junior had the opportunity to enter that fragment, where he came across this statue, whereupon I guessed that you had a relationship with the Martial Lord. I just didn't expect…"

"You didn't expect to meet me here, and that I had already turned into a demon, right?" Immortal Ji Yao coldly said.

Tang Jie said nothing.

Immortal Ji Yao loudly laughed, laughter streaked with pain and misery.

Even Shentu Yuan's group, far off in the distance, had to cover their ears. Besides that, this conversation had made them realize Tang Jie's origins.

This guy wasn't even from the Verdant Cloud Domain! And it seemed like his inheritance had a major connection to this demon.

The four of them shared a look and then anxiously looked at Tang Jie. Their meaning was clear: regardless of her past or what sort of ancestor she was, right now, this woman was a demon.

Demons didn't think according to common sense, and a deep relationship was no guarantee that she would return a favor with kindness.

People who had turned into demons were normally deranged, drifting between sanity and madness. Just Immortal Ji Yao's manic reaction alone was a sign that her mind wasn't normal.

If Tang Jie let her go because of his connection to the Martial Lord, he might end up hurting himself.

Tang Jie nodded to indicate that he understood.