Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 304: Infinite Illusion Zone (2)

Tang Jie moved his face over and drank in the scent. There was still the faint aroma of grass mixed into it.

The illusion was so realistic that there had been a brief moment where he had even believed that he had transmigrated again.

But this had only been for a split second. As the soil fell, Tang Jie felt a faint hint of the illusion formation’s power in the soul. This energy extended into the distance, and Tang Jie used this to orient himself and start running.

As he sprinted through the great plains of the Infinite Illusion Zone, he would occasionally stop to grab some soil and feel the wind, after which he would keep running. He was like a man chasing the wind, running here and there.

But this illusion zone was not entirely deserted.

As he ran, a creature suddenly appeared in the distance. It was a giant black bear that bellowed at Tang Jie.

It was a wild roar, and the black bear instantly swelled in size, becoming as large as a mountain.

Given that it could grow as large as a small mountain, this fiend had to be at least peak Mind Opening, if not Transformation. Tang Jie would be doomed against a creature like this.

The giant bear glared at Tang Jie, and an enormous paw swept toward him.

Tang Jie simply laughed and ran straight at the paw.

He punched at that giant paw.

As his fist met the paw, there was a bang. The iron fist blasted through the giant paw, and the bear disappeared.

It turned out that this giant bear was an illusion creature.

But at that moment, Tang Jie suddenly grimaced and crossed his arms in front of him.

Another creature appeared on the plains.

A Netherred Wolf.

“Shit. I let you get an attack on me,” Tang Jie cursed.

There were wolves in the valley, so there were naturally wolves in the illusion zone. It was just that meeting was rare. But to his surprise, while this Netherred Wolf couldn’t break out of the formation, it was still quite capable of tracking him down by following the trail of spiritual disturbances.

They were actual living creatures of the valley, so they could naturally hurt Tang Jie. And because of the isolating effect of the formation, they were practically undetectable. Thus, it had managed to inflict a light wound on Tang Jie.

But Tang Jie swiftly charged, slamming the wolf to the ground with his right hand while his left hand plucked out the wolf’s eyeballs. Netherred Wolves could see through illusions, so their eyes were quite valuable, especially for cultivating his Eye of Heaven. Tang Jie was not willing to let this prize go.

After killing the wolf, Tang Jie threw its corpse aside and continued running.

Although he was running around, it wasn’t without purpose. Each sprint was actually meant to track the spiritual energy circuits, thus understanding how this formation ran and changed. His main purpose right now wasn’t solving the formation, only having a try at it.

It would be best if he could solve it, but if not, he could go back to the safe route and get through it that way.

After all, Godhead Palace wasn’t going to do anything to him until he breached the second formation wall, so why should he rush himself?

Thus, while he did intend to break the Infinite Illusion Zone, he was more in a learning mode. As he ran around, he focused on observing and comprehending what he was observing.

There was no telling how large the Infinite Illusion Zone was. If he took the correct path, he would need only a few moments to get out, but if he didn’t take that path, he could run for his entire life while making little progress.

But Tang Jie didn’t care.

He ran, studied, and observed from dawn to dusk… caring not at all about what the people outside the formation felt.

Deng Yuqing’s face was getting uglier and uglier.

Things had been out of control from the start, and Godhead Palace had considered many possibilities.

They had thought about Tang Jie trying to force his way through the formation and getting caught, thought about Tang Jie not coming at all, thought about Tang Jie bringing a Titan of the Basking Moon Sect with him… but they had never thought about Tang Jie going alone into the formation and proceeding to vanish without a trace.

It was a depressing development that they were powerless to change. It hadn’t been in their control from the beginning, and it still wasn’t in their control. Thus, even though their target was in the formation, Deng Yuqing still felt like there was not even the slightest hope of victory.

This vexed him all the more.

“This bastard—just what is he doing in the formation?” Duan Fourth was also angry, his face flushed scarlet. This was the result of him suppressing his blood energy. “Could he have died in the formation?”

Deng Yuqing frowned.

The illusion formation wasn’t a lethal one, and while many people had died within it, they had starved to death, not been killed.

Tang Jie had only been in there for a day, so he was a long way from starving to death.

But it wasn’t like the illusion zone was completely without danger. While the danger wasn’t great… in short, it was hard to say.

Fortunately, at this moment, a voice rejected this notion: “No, he’s still alive.”

Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing were shaken, and they immediately got on their knees. “Paying respects to True Person He!”

A person came flying out of the sky, instantly appearing in front of the pair. It was none other than He Chong.

He Chong looked down for a brief moment before sighing. “I was only a little late, and things ended up like this! The spiritual energy within the Infinite Illusion Zone is in turmoil, meaning that somebody is causing trouble inside. Thus, he should be fine.”

He Chong understood formations the most in Godhead Palace, so he could ascertain the situation within the formation at a glance.

“Then, Master He, what do you think that kid is doing inside?” Deng Yuqing cautiously asked.

He Chong grunted, “It seems to me like he wants to ignore the safe path and solve the illusion formation on his own.”

“‘Solve the illusion formation on his own’? How is that possible?” Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth blurted out in unison.

Deng Yuqing added, “This is a formation from High Antiquity, something that countless Immortal Platform Titans have failed to solve. Why does he think he can solve it?”

Ten Direction Valley had stood for eons. If it were that easy to solve, it wouldn’t have been around for Tang Jie to solve it.

“Perhaps he feels that it would be a better choice to try and solve the formation while still in a situation where he can back out,” He Chong said with a chuckle. He understood formations, and so he could guess at his mindset, and he really had managed to divine Tang Jie’s intentions.

Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth seemed to get it.

Duan Fourth sneered, “In other words, he needs to ram his head into the wall until it’s bloody, realizing that a High Antiquity formation isn’t something an ignorant nobody like him can break, before coming out?”

“Probably.” Deng Yuqing nodded.

“Then how long do we have to wait?” Duan Fourth raged.

“Who knows? It will depend on how stubborn he is… Forget it. We’ve already waited this long, so waiting longer is no big deal,” He Chong casually said.

Duan Fourth said, “True Person is right. If that’s the case, I think that the latest he will come out of the formation is tomorrow morning.”

“Why tomorrow?” Deng Yuqing asked.

Duan Fourth smiled. “Brother Deng, you don’t spend much time here, so you don’t know. In reality, the true dangers of this Infinite Illusion Zone are at night. That kid probably thinks he’s fine so long as he’s inside the Infinite Illusion Zone, but he’s forgotten that this is an illusion zone that has existed for eons, so it can’t be compared to those ordinary illusion formations. Once he’s suffered through the night, he’ll naturally want to leave.”

Night fell.

A moon rose in the illusion zone.

Tang Jie continued to make his way through the plains, but his speed was much slower.

There was a gust of wind, and Tang Jie felt a chill at the back of his neck.

He quickly turned around and punched behind him.

Where there had once been nothing, a white phantom appeared, letting out a soul-shaking shriek.

Tang Jie glared at that white phantom, opened his mouth, and angrily roared in response.

While roaring, he used the Blood Refining Spirit spell, blood energy surging into a lethal sea of blood. The white phantom was struck by this wave of blood and instantly dissipated into several motes of spiritual light.

Tang Jie took in a deep breath and continued his cautious advance.

This was not the first ghost that Tang Jie had run into.

Tang Jie had run into his first ghost as soon as dusk had fallen, and as the night deepened, more and more ghosts appeared.

In the pitch-black night, the beautiful sights of daytime were gone, and a sinister ghostly energy creeped through the world.

The Infinite Illusion Zone originally didn’t have any ghosts.

Illusion formations were illusion formations. Their goal was to impede the enemy, not kill them.

But sometimes, for various reasons, in the process of carrying out its functions, a new effect would be achieved.

Just like how someone imprisoned in the illusion formation for too long would starve to death.

Such was the case with the Infinite Illusion Zone.

This was a rare illusion formation that had existed for thousands of years. It was only because of it that people found out what happened to an illusion formation that existed for so long.

Ghosts!

Over the thousands of years, countless people had died, bound within the formation. As their souls did not dissipate after death, the chances that they became ghosts greatly increased.

These ghosts weren’t anything to worry about initially, but as time passed, their numbers grew, and through feeding on each other, they grew stronger. After thousands of years, they had become vicious and terrifying beings.

This was not what the creator of the formation had sought, but they were an inevitable part of the process, like by-products in a factory, rust on metal, leftovers from a meal, or trash in a city. People didn’t like them, but they existed nevertheless.

And after thousands of years of existence, the Infinite Illusion Zone had accumulated a pile of trash as high as a mountain, almost filling it to the bursting!

They hid away during the day, but when night fell, they started to move.

When first trying to break the formation, Godhead Palace had gotten a taste of this. Quite a few cultivators hadn’t starved to death in the formation but had instead died to the ghosts. It was only when they understood what was going on and stopped going into the formation at night that they were able to avoid these ghosts.

After the safe route had been made, the Fierce Ghosts, Malicious Spirits, and Ghost Kings began to escape the formation through the crack. While the formation ceased to have powerful ghosts, there was still an endless number of ordinary ghosts.

Though they were ordinary in strength, their eeriness was incomparable. Ghosts were always the most incomprehensible existences of the world, and illusion zones were also famed for their unfathomable and bizarre natures. When these two were combined, they pushed the bizarreness to the maximum. The ghosts in the formation seized upon the fact that this was a world made of spiritual energy to break free of their restraints and possess anything.

Thus, in the illusion zone, whether it was a gust of wind, a flower, or a leaf, there could be a ghost there, and that was exactly what made the Infinite Illusion Zone so terrifying at night. There was simply no defending against it all!

Moreover, as these ghosts were born within the formation, they were completely unaffected by it. They attacked and retreated like the wind and were extremely difficult to kill. Alas, they were simply too unintelligent and innately fierce, so they refused to be tamed. Otherwise, one could simply catch a ghost to get through the formation.

For all these various reasons, even Godhead Palace was helpless against them. After killing some and realizing that they were endless and the effort would cost too much, they gave up.

In the end, no one liked picking up trash.

But this trash now presented a huge problem for Tang Jie.

An endless number of ghosts flitted about this plain, attacking him in countless unexpected ways while being completely indistinguishable from the surroundings.

Worst of all was that Tang Jie truthfully lacked a way of killing ghosts.

It was difficult to kill ghosts, which lacked physical bodies, through ordinary means. As Tang Jie had planned to spend a long time here, he hadn’t brought anything except the Azure Light Sword. After all, he couldn’t bring back out anything he brought in.

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The Blood Refining Spirit spell actually countered the ghosts, the powerful blood energy exterminating them. The problem was that Blood Refining Spirit used excessive amounts of blood energy, and even with Tang Jie’s constitution, he was starting to tire out. He could only use this to protect himself, not kill ghosts.

Even so, He Chong and the others would have certainly been shocked to see all this.

It had to be understood that even the people of Godhead Palace could only light torches and defend when assailed by countless ghosts. Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued to advance.

He chased the wind, chased the spiritual energy, tirelessly advancing. His body glowed with a bloody light that prevented the ghosts from getting close. All they could do was circle around him and shriek.

Sometimes, they would do something more.

For example, a rock would suddenly jump up and open up a mouth to attack Tang Jie. Or maybe a few stalks of grass would wind together and float into the air. And sometimes, a ghost would manifest in the wind, revealing their horrifying face. But these ghosts were done for, for anyone who dared to block Tang Jie’s path would have their existence obliterated by a Blood Refining Spirit punch from Tang Jie.

The seething blood energy was like a lantern in the night, both instilling fear in the ghosts and drawing them in. Once the Blood Refining Spirit spell could no longer be kept up, the cultivator who possessed this formidable blood energy would serve as the finest food for the ghosts.

As a result, more and more ghosts gathered around Tang Jie, and the shrieking and wailing intensified. So many ghosts had gathered around him that even a Netherred Wolf came to see what was going on.

Unfortunately, it was possessed by a ghost and became a means of attacking Tang Jie, for which Tang Jie punched it into meat paste.

But with all these ghosts gathering around him, Tang Jie found it difficult to advance. Some of the powerful ghosts were even using their ghost energy to create ill winds to impede Tang Jie.

This wind revolved around Tang Jie, grinding away at his blood energy.

Even He Chong and Deng Yuqing managed to sense what was going on.

As the fog within the valley roiled, different sorts of sounds emerged, mixed with the faint shrieks of ghosts.

“A night parade of ghosts?” He Chong said in shock. “What’s going on?”

Deng Yuqing’s face shifted. “What is this kid doing in the formation that created a parade of ghosts? Does he have something on him that can lure ghosts?”

Duan Fourth coldly said, “Ghosts feed on Yang energy. This person must be rich in blood energy, drawing numerous ghosts to him.”

Deng Yuqing nodded. “Yes, Tang Jie is a body refiner and possesses a formidable physical body, but this is far more formidable than we anticipated. Your average blood energy can’t stimulate so many ghosts into following him. Could it be…”

He Chong coldly picked up where he left off. “The Martial Lord… Back then, I thought that the Martial Mirror was hiding a secret, and it seems like I was right. The Martial Lord had a body that could withstand a hundred battles. Only someone who has inherited his Immortal Art could display such ability.”

This could be considered getting the answer right by accident.

The outflow of blood energy due to the Blood Refining Spirit spell was what had drawn over so many ghosts. Of course, without the formidable body conferred by the Parting Classic, Tang Jie could never have kept up the Blood Refining Spirit for this long.

It was the combination of the two that had created this scene, and it had allowed He Chong to mistakenly develop some correct conclusions.

Alas, no matter what he speculated, it was of no help to the current situation.

Numerous ghosts had gathered in the formation, and Tang Jie had inadvertently walked into dangerous territory. Even if he wanted to now go back to the safe route and get out, he might not have enough time.

“Shit; this is a problem. This brat better not die in there,” Deng Yuqing said, clenching his fist.

Duan Fourth snorted, “So what if he dies? Ghosts only feast on flesh and blood, not metal. At worst, we just need to send people into the formation to find the Martial Mirror.”

“The problem is that the plan to have Tang Jie open the way for us will have failed,” Deng Yuqing said.

“There’s nothing to be done about that,” He Chong sighed. “It doesn’t seem like Tang Jie will be able to escape the ghosts. He’s an idiot, recklessly thinking that he can break a High Antiquity formation all on his own. It’s really… Huh? What’s that?”

As he was cursing, the situation down in the valley suddenly changed.

A giant storm took form in the valley, rotating within the valley like a tornado.

Large amounts of fog poured out of the valley entrance, scattering the Godhead Palace disciples that were guarding it.

The storm continued, and only when it got several hundred meters away from the valley entrance did it draw back. At this time, the storm took the form of a giant man in the middle of the valley.

As it was the middle of the night, it was only possible to see that this giant was wearing a veiled hat.

“Tang… Tang Jiye?” Deng Yuqing called out.

The appearance of the fog giant was clearly that of the Tang Jiye who had entered the valley. That giant veiled hat was both comical and surprising.

As if it could hear Deng Yuqing, the fog giant raised its head and revealed a blurry face that showed a hint of youth.

“You… Shao… Feng…” Deng Yuqing squeezed out.

The giant’s face was clearly that of You Shaofeng.

The giant smiled. Suddenly, it thrust a finger at the summit, the giant fingertip aiming at the group gathered on the mountain.

He Chong let out a strange shout and brought his hands together, quickly forming signs before thrusting out his hands to create a giant finger that flew toward the giant.

The two fingers collided.

He Chong groaned and took a step back, and the fog giant dissolved back into the fog it had come from. The storm howled back into the valley while the giant disappeared. Everything went back to normal.

After blocking the attack, He Chong cried out in shock, “He’s taken control of the Infinite Illusion Zone!”

“How is that possible?” Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth simultaneously yelled.

This was a High Antiquity formation that even Immortal Platform Titans had failed to solve. Suddenly, a single person had inconceivably taken control of it. This was completely beyond their expectations.

Down below in Ten Direction Valley, You Shaofeng’s face appeared, speaking in Tang Jie’s cold voice. “I see… sure enough… fortunately… haha, haha, Godhead Palace, you were wrong from the very start… Fortune is sometimes a trap, setting you off on the wrong path…”