Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 381: Trade
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“Preferring money over life”?

Wang Juemie naturally didn’t believe these words.

Tang Jie saying this could only mean that he was confident he could escape Wang Juemie’s pursuit.

Wang Juemie narrowed his eyes and closely inspected Tang Jie as if he was trying to see what sort of trick Tang Jie was hiding. Finally, he nodded and said, “Fine. I can agree to that. But what if I don’t have another Undying Celestial Origin Pill on me?”

Wang Juemie would not carry around extras of this sort of pill unless he was on business.

“Then you can just mail one to me once I get back. I’m sure that you won’t shirk such a small debt,” Tang Jie casually replied.

Wang Juemie exploded in laughter. “And what if you die? Are you thinking about using the incomplete trade to bind me into not attacking you? But that’s true. If I owe you a debt and then kill you, I’ll become known for killing someone to get out of a debt.”

“If I die, you naturally don’t have to give anything,” Tang Jie indifferently said. “And if it’s killing for the sake of wealth, isn’t that what you’re doing right now? Thus, there’s no need to act like you’re someone who highly values your promises. Risking one’s life in battle and keeping one’s promises are two different things. It was exactly because the Stone Gate Sect trusted you too much that it ended up this way.”

Wang Juemie’s face darkened. “Such audacity! You have the guts to mock me? Then do you have the guts to be so certain that I’ll actually pay?”

Tang Jie breezily replied, “The Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect has a certain status to look out for. Resources worth more than one hundred million might be worth relinquishing one’s status and engaging in a little robbery, but eighty thousand spirit coins is not. Moreover, this debt is for the sake of saving your juniors, so the situation and affection are also in play. Thus, in the end, you can say that I trust in your status rather than your character.”

Wang Juemie was left speechless in anger. His face contorted into a smile of wrath as he said, “Good, good, Tang Jie! You’ve truly got a silver tongue. So then, what are you still waiting for? Why haven’t you let them go? So long as you can escape me, once I return to the Seven Absolutions Sect, I’ll order someone to deliver the Undying Celestial Origin Pill to you.”

“What’s the rush?” Tang Jie cast his gaze down at the ruined battlefield on the valley floor and the shattered wooden crates.

Tang Jie said, “I just woke up, so I’m not too clear on the situation. However, from the looks of it, did the Stone Gate Sect not actually bring the goods?”

Yiyi gave a rough summary of what had happened.

In truth, while Tang Jie had been unconscious, he had known what was going on this entire time. This was a result of his one soul shared between two bodies. When he lost control of one body, his soul would not lose consciousness. Instead, the existence of the other body allowed the soul to maintain consciousness and perceive what was going on in the outside world.

This was how Tang Jie could be immune to Yu Wanniang's intoxicating alcohol and interrogation spell art, and also why he could force himself out of unconsciousness and tell Wang Juemie to stop.

As for what was happening right now, he was just going through the motions.

After hearing Yiyi's summary, Tang Jie chuckled and said, "I guess these guys weren't completely stupid and knew to take some precautions. But this is good for me, as I have a chance to engage in a second trade with Great Brother Wang."

Wang Juemie's pupils constricted. "And what do you have that you can trade with me?"

"The goods, of course," Tang Jie lazily replied. "Great Brother Wang must have invested a lot into this venture to take the goods from the Stone Gate Sect. I'm sure that this Heaven Earth Spirit Isolation Formation, the Iron Wall Formation, and the outermost Bloodbane Formation must have cost a significant sum, and you're even paying out two Undying Celestial Origin Pills for your junior disciples. I'm sure you're very unwilling to see that the chickens have flown the coop after all that work, right?"

Wang Juemie snorted. "What about you? Didn't you have the same goal?"

"Correct. The difference is that I'm a Sageheart native. So long as the goods are in Sageheart, I don't have to worry about getting them back. But as for you, Great Brother, if you enter Sageheart, you had best be careful about any mishaps!" Tang Jie earnestly advised.

Yes, if he couldn't get the Stone Gate Sect's goods this time, he would still have a chance in the future, but Wang Juemie wouldn't get a second chance.

Wang Juemie glared at Tang Jie for a while before finally laughing and saying, "Fine. I'll listen to what you plan to trade that batch of goods to me for."

Tang Jie replied, "The Stone Gate Sect spread out their goods. I know of at least one hiding spot. There aren't a lot of goods hidden there, but they should be worth at least several hundred thousand to a million."

Wang Juemie was startled. "If you know exactly where it is, why didn't you go and get it?"

"I don't care about such a paltry amount," Tang Jie replied. "You can tell me yourself if you're interested. Relax; I don't want much."

Before Wang Juemie could say anything, the bound-up Mu Yi's eyes suddenly widened, and he desperately shook his head at him, indicating that he shouldn't accept the deal.

But he had barely begun to move when Yiyi cottoned on to what he was doing and had the vines turn his body around so that he was facing inward. Looking up at the image in the sky, Wang Juemie could only see Mu Yi's struggling back. Everyone else was making a similar movement, so he just treated it as an ordinary struggle and paid it no mind.

Wang Juemie thought over the proposition and finally nodded. "I truly do have some interest, so what do you want?"

While there might not have been many goods, they held great meaning for Wang Juemie, as they indicated that he had completed the deal. This meant that their operation had not made a loss and had perhaps even made a small profit.

Breaking even was a mentality, and it was human nature. When it came to making huge profits and breaking even, people would often choose to break even first before seeking profit. Even a person like Wang Juemie wasn't willing to see two years of planning come to nothing.

In comparison, seeking profit and failing would lead to huge expenses instead of huge profits. After all, there were always times when a deal fell through. So long as one didn't lose one's capital, one could continue to seek out chances to make a deal.

Hearing Wang Juemie's agreement, Tang Jie happily smiled. "It's nothing. I simply want to borrow the Profound Heaven Treatise for a little bit, and I also want the View Gate Banner. Right, don't tell me that you don't have the Profound Heaven Treatise. I know you carry it with you."

"'The Profound Heaven Treatise'? 'The View Gate Banner'?" Wang Juemie was aghast. "How did you know?"

Tang Jie harrumphed. "Whether it's the Spirit Isolation Formation, the Iron Wall Formation, or the Bloodbane Formation, none of them is a small formation. And these three great formations are all linked together so that their effects stack on top of each other. Wang Juemie, don't say that I'm looking down on you, but while you have domineering strength, there's not a single one among you and your fellow disciples capable of going this far. Perhaps someone of Mu Yi's talent and intelligence has a chance, but alas, his true skill is in refining pills, not laying down formations! Thus, there must be some secret behind your ability to lay down these formations and hide them so well. It's not at all hard for me to guess at the existence of the Profound Heaven Treatise and the View Gate Banner."

Tang Jie had been able to discover the formation in the nameless valley because his geographical analysis had shown that this was the ideal point for an ambush. With a goal in mind, finding a formation became much simpler. If he had not known beforehand, blindly looking around the mountains for a possible hidden formation wasn't that easy.

Moreover, the concealment level of the formation had been very high, but a lack of skill on the part of the formation-layer had led to a few flaws.

Even so, Tang Jie had needed to use his own understanding of formations and the Dao of Insight to find these suspicious points.

After he saw that three formations had been stacked atop each other, Tang Jie had determined that there was no way he could do such a thing at his current level of ability. After all, each one of these three formations exceeded Grade 5, which required one to be at the Celestial Heart Realm to grasp them. And that wasn't even considering the stacking and concealment.

Judging by his previous interaction with them, Wang Juemie's subordinates might have had formation experts among them, but they weren't stronger than he was. If these were formations that even he couldn't lay down, then they shouldn't have been able to, either. This was why Tang Jie had deduced the existence of the Profound Heaven Treatise and the View Gate Banner.

The Profound Heaven Treatise was a formation treatise of the Seven Absolutions Sect which recorded the various kinds of formations the Seven Absolutions Sect had developed over the years, with countless formation masters having put down what they had learned on its pages. Apparently, Xu Muyang had once requested from the Seven Absolutions Sect to read the Profound Heaven Treatise for two hours and experienced a massive increase in his formation understanding because of it.

Compared to the Profound Heaven Treatise, Xu Muyang's formation treatise was sorely lacking. After all, Xu Muyang's treatise contained the understanding of only a single master while the Profound Heaven Treatise was the accumulated knowledge of countless masters.

Besides that, the Profound Heaven Treatise was itself a top-class art relic that had aided in the creation of a formation and an increase in the grade of the formation. Wang Juemie's group owed their ability to lay down Grade 5 formations primarily to this object. But Tang Jie had no interest in the art relic. He was more interested in the formation knowledge recorded in the art relic.

As for the View Gate Banner, that was just a stab in the dark from Tang Jie.

The View Gate Banner's primary attribute was concealment, and its greatest ability was to hide formations. He saw that the three great formations were exceptionally well hidden, and since the Profound Heaven Treatise had no particular effect for concealing a formation, he decided to test the waters. To his surprise, it really had been due to this treasure.

Tang Jie said, "What do you think? A million in resources in return for a chance to read and the View Gate Banner. It's a very generous price, and I can swear an oath that I won't transmit the knowledge to others."

More than a million in resources purely for the sake of reading the Profound Heaven Treatise truly was an expensive rental fee. Even the formation masters who had sought to read the text before had never offered so much. Tang Jie was much more generous than his seniors, at least when it came to the first offer. As for the View Gate Banner, that was just an add-on.

Wang Juemie had to confess that Tang Jie was truly bold. Smiling, he said, "Junior Brother Tang also seems to be thirsty for knowledge, but are you not afraid of the Basking Moon Sect rebuking you for handing me a million in resources?"

Tang Jie indifferently replied, "If I didn't have the courage to bear the consequences for my pursuits, how could I be considered 'thirsty for knowledge'?"

"Good, good!" Wang Juemie laughed. "If that's the case, then I agree to your proposal. But the rules of the Seven Absolutions Sect decree that you can only look, not record. You have only two hours to see how much you can memorize."

"I can refrain from recording, but I want six hours."

"I need to chase the three Stone Gate elders. I don't have the time to waste on you."

"If you were really able to catch them, would you be wasting time talking here with me? Celestial Hearts are Celestial Hearts. Once they're free, they're dragons that will return to the ocean. In this time that we were talking, they would have already returned to Sageheart."

Wang Juemie took in a deep breath. Without another word, he waved his hand, and two items flew out of the distance and into the forest: a jade ruyi scepter and a small banner.

Tang Jie received the items. Inspecting the banner, he confirmed that it was the View Gate Banner and put it away. He then took the ruyi and inserted spiritual energy. Just like the art transmission in Heaven One Pavilion, the ruyi projected a screen which was covered with numerous words and various diagrams.

Tang Jie looked at the contents, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he muttered, "That's it… This is what I want."

The Nine Executions Immortal Formation!

The original Tang Jie, who was resting from the recent battle, suddenly raised his head and roared like a tiger, "Paper? Brush? Damn it; how can I copy without paper? How?"

Tang Jie looked around.

In this world, there was any kind of resource he could ask for, except man-made objects like paper.

Tang Jie suddenly noticed that a mountain face across from him had a particularly smooth surface.

His eyes brightened, and he shot over and stroked the wall with his finger, digging out a deep groove. And then Tang Jie began to write.

Since he had no paper, he would use the wall as paper and his body as the brush, recording the Profound Heaven Treatise here. Perhaps he could even leave it behind for future generations!

Meanwhile, in the nameless valley.

Avatar Tang Jie was still reading.

Wang Juemie said, "Can you tell me where the goods are now?"

Tang Jie replied without raising his head, "Senior Brother Wang, have you not thought about what those three old farts would do if you had come to sincerely make a trade but they couldn't take out any goods?"

Wang Juemie was startled. "What did you say?"

"A back-up plan has to think about every possibility and come up with a method that doesn't leave one in a dead end. That's why it can be called a back-up plan!" Tang Jie pointed at the stones on the ground. "The Deep Earth True Person's disguises are pretty good. Open it up for a pleasant surprise."

Bang!

A stone cracked apart.

A piece of Goldite was revealed beneath the thick stone layer.

Upon seeing this, rather than rejoicing, Wang Juemie felt his heart turn to ice.

He angrily glared at Tang Jie. "Tang Jie, you bastard! You used the goods here to fool me!"

He suddenly understood why Tang Jie had done things this way. Although Wang Juemie hadn't been able to tell that the stones were hiding goods, Mu Yi definitely would have.

In other words, there was no way this matter would have been kept hidden from Wang Juemie.

As these objects were covered in stone, it was basically certain that they were hiding Goldite. This was because the quality of Icestone Bamboo would be affected if it were covered in stone, and Crystallized Sandworms were small and could be carried in Mustard Seed Bags. And in order to avoid discovery, the stone layers had been particularly thick, meaning that the amount of Goldite was much smaller than expected.

This batch of goods suffered a plunge in both quality and amount, so Tang Jie was able to easily estimate that it was only worth about one million.

Although Tang Jie had made meticulous preparations, these preparations had cost quite the heavy investment, so rather than wasting these preparations to battle to the death with Wang Juemie over this one million in resources, it was better to save this money and sell the goods to Wang Juemie for finished products—the Profound Heaven Treatise was something that one usually couldn't even read even if one had the money.

This was precisely why Tang Jie had generously used them to make a trade with Wang Juemie.

Continuing to stare at the Profound Heaven Treatise, Tang Jie casually said, "You asked me how I was going to explain things to the Basking Moon Sect? You now have your answer.

"This disciple was incompetent, and though he desired to kill the bandits, he was helpless to fight back, leading one million in resources to fall into enemy hands. This disciple is willing to accept the punishment for this sin! But… the sect must give out everything that this disciple deserves for the rest of the resources I'm handing over, and not one coin less!"