Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Tang Jie knew that Jewel's finger strike was trouble.

He let out a howl and began to retreat, the Sovereign Blade in his hand transforming into a metal staff.

He swung the metal staff over and over, creating numerous energy barriers in front of him.

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign's finger gave chase, punching through each barrier.

Just like Tang Jie's earlier attack, even though the Jewel Immortal Sovereign wasn't moving, her finger seemed to ignore space and keep up with Tang Jie.

Tang Jie swung the staff faster and faster, releasing circular energy barriers that were swiftly shattered, unable to stop Jewel's finger as it drew closer and closer. Seeing that he couldn't stop it, Tang Jie suddenly put away the staff and threw out a furious punch.

Wreathed in immense power, his punch collided with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign's finger.

Jewel's finger froze, and then that jade-white finger trembled several times before finally dissolving into dust.

But Jewel didn't seem to feel it, lightly drawing her hand back.

She looked at her finger and softly said, "Excellent! An excellent body, and excellent strength!"

While she was saying these words, her lost finger had already regrown. In terms of recovery speed, she was on par with Tang Jie.

She raised her head and looked at Tang Jie. "No matter what happens after this, Tang Jie, you can be proud to have reached this level. You are the undisputed number one genius in the history of the Rosecloud Domain!"

To earn such praise from Jewel was a sign that she had confirmed that Tang Jie had the right to fight with her.

In terms of speed, Jewel had the advantage, and in terms of strength, Tang Jie was stronger.

But while each had their advantage in basic attributes, there were even higher levels that they needed to still compete over.

As the Jewel Immortal Sovereign finished, she turned a hand toward the air and thrust her palm upward.

Her attack was not aimed at Tang Jie, but at the fabric of space.

Her palm acted as if it was pressing into mud, leaving a clear impression on the sky.

As the spectators saw this, they murmured, "It's here—the Hand of Myriad Wonders."

The Hand of Myriad Wonders was one of the arts with which the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had achieved her fame.

That handprint in the sky began to move as if it was being controlled, and it started to form hand signs on its own.

All of the people from Horizon Ocean Pavilion were familiar with these movements, for they were the necessary steps to use the Blue Ocean Azure Sky Stamp.

The Hand of Myriad Wonders condensed a finger that thrust down at Tang Jie: the Karmic Cycle Finger.

This time, however, the Hand of Myriad Wonders didn't unleash one finger, but eighty-one!

Eighty-one illusory fingers appeared in the air, preparing to thrust at Tang Jie.

Jewel's fingers suddenly filled the sky.

Even Tang Jie couldn't help but be alarmed by so many Karmic Cycle Fingers.

He had heard that the greatest attribute of the Hand of Myriad Wonders was the ability to multiply all arts, which was useful in all sorts of ways. And now, he understood exactly what "multiply" meant.

In the face of all these Karmic Cycle Fingers, Tang Jie could only toughen up and deal with them.

Putting away his sword, he began to unleash punch after punch, more than a hundred of them.

Each punch had the power to shatter mountains, and those illusory fingers were blasted to pieces, the booms from the explosions deafening everyone's ears and making Heavenly Balance Mountain's formation flash repeatedly.

When the barrage of punches had ceased, Tang Jie was still standing, but there were three finger-sized holes in his chest.

It seemed that three fingers had gotten through his punches and pierced him.

Immense energy gathered at the wounds, but the Jewel Immortal Sovereign didn't give him the chance to heal, laughing, "This is only the beginning!"

The Hand of Myriad Wonders moved again.

Eighty-one Karmic Cycle Fingers appeared once more, but as Tang Jie prepared to fend them off once more, they changed.

The eighty-one fingers merged together into a single finger.

This single white finger filled the heavens.

Tang Jie suddenly recalled a scene from the past.

It was quite similar to that finger he had seen descending from the heavens in the Blood River Domain.

As he was thinking this, the giant finger thrust at Tang Jie.

Karmic Cycle Finger!

To be more precise, this was the 81 Karmic Cycle Fingers made into one!

This congregation of suprpower had turned the Karmic Cycle Finger into a Divine Connection, and even Tang Jie felt like he was in grave danger.

Of course, he wasn't without ways to deal with it. Any move from the Combat Emperor Catalog was sufficient to deal with it, but this was Tang Jie's strongest set of moves, and he wasn't willing to use them so casually.

As the finger descended, Tang Jie grew four arms from his back, and the Sovereign Blade turned from a staff into a saber of fire, which he swung at the finger.

The Ten Extinctions Blade!

Compared to the Ten Extinctions Blade of the past, this one was even more refined and solid, and when combined with Tang Jie's vast reserves of power, it was many times more powerful.

The saber wreathed in flames and the power of Destruction clashed with that finger in the heavens, unleashing a massive explosion.

The saber's light dimmed and the finger shattered, the shockwave sweeping out into the surroundings and being funneled upward, where it once more beca beam of energy that pierced the clouds and vanished into the Astral Winds.

Tang Jie's massive body was like a little house caught up in a tornado, spinning through the air.

The Ten Extinctions Blade had not been able to completely neutralize this terrifying attack, and the remaining power had punched a large hole in his body, reaching all the way to his bones. Its immense energy lingered, stopping Tang Jie's body from recovering. Another battle began in his body, his injuries recovering much more slowly than usual, and he was even weakened to a certain extent.

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign laughed. "Tang Jie, is this little trick enough to put you on your knees? Hurry up and show your real abilities!"

"You'll get to see them," Tang Jie said, clenching his teeth. Energy surged out of his body, swiftly healing those unhealing wounds.

Jewel grunted, "The Dao of Life… Tang Jie, you truly are a genius at comprehending the Dao, even comprehending the Dao of Life. But it seems like you're still only at the comprehending level in the Dao of Life. Breaking my Jade Purity Force with this Dao power, haha, you made this trade rather quickly!"

Jewel loudly laughed.

The Jade Purity Force was one of the three mantras of the Immortal Three Purities Mantra, a Divine Connection. This power could generate from itself and didn't consmuch other than sinitial soul power and spiritual energy, but Tang Jie's Dao power was made from consuming his lifespan, so he had paid far more than Jewel. Thus, she didn't mind that her attempt had been thwarted, even happily laughing.

In her view, she wanted as many such trades as possible.

With a wave of her hand, another Karmic Cycle Finger was unleashed.

This Hand of Myriad Wonders was a truly formidable ability, able to unleash Divine Connections of great power, in response to which Tang Jie could only gather his strength and defend. But while his Ten Extinctions Blade was formidable, it couldn't stop the Karmic Cycle Fingers from leaving him covered in wounds. The spectating cultivators couldn't help but frown at this.

One person said, "I have heard that the Freedom Celestial Sovereign has a peerless physical body and immense strength, but it doesn't seem like much to me. It can't even stop the Hand of Myriad Wonders, so how will he deal with the Immortal Sovereign's Three Purities Mantra, Immortal Essence, and suprDao Art?"

"No matter how strong the body is, it can't compete with the might of the world. As I've always said, the path of the body cultivator is only strong at the beginning, but the farther you go, the less capable it becomes. Now, Tang Jie's performance has proved my views," another cultivator smugly said. Because Tang Jie was at a disadvantage, he even directly used Tang Jie's name.

Another bystander said, "Yellow Dragon True Lord, I think you're saying this too soon. From what this old man knows, the path of the body cultivator is vast and profound. It seems to be focused on brute strength on the surface, but there is another world inside it, with its own mysteries and secrets. It is just that since ancient times, very few people have been able to get this far. Since the Freedom Celestial Sovereign has inherited the Martial Lord's legacy, perhaps he can excel on the path of the body cultivator? It's just that he's still too young and has yet to get that far."

The one speaking was Reverend Wuwang.

Their first meeting had been a positive one, so he had a good impression of Tang Jie and chose to speak on his behalf.

The Yellow Dragon True Lord wasn't on Horizon Ocean Pavilion's side, but he was always one who went with the flow, favoring the stronger side. Although he was a True Lord, he had a rather mediocre temperament, so now that Jewel had the upper hand, he immediately started to talk her up.

Glancing at Reverend Wuwang, he snorted and argued, "If he were really this powerful, he wouldn't have been pushed so far by the Immortal Sovereign."

Someone who favored Tang Jie couldn't help but say, "Perhaps he's showing weakness. After all, the Freedom Celestial Sovereign is well known for having numerous tricks and spell arts."

"Using up his lifespan just to show weakness? That's a little too much, isn't it?" the Yellow Dragon True Lord sharply retorted.

Everyone was speechless.

Yes, lifespan was truly too high of a price. In other words, Tang Jie was probably using his full strength. It was just that he was still being beaten up by Jewel, indicating that the gap between Deification and Soul Projection was so vast that not even Tang Jie could overcit easily.

Meanwhile, Jewel continued to send down one finger after another, her Hand of Myriad Wonders putting on a full display of its power.

It wasn't just the Hand of Myriad Wonders exerting pressure on Tang Jie. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign herself was continuing to attack.

The constant flood of attacks threatened to drown him.

Tang Jie was frequently in a situation where he blocked one attack only to get blasted by another.

What had seemed like an even match had turned one-sided, and the crowd gasped in disbelief. If this match weren't so important, someone might have even started throwing accusations that this fight had been fixed.

Jewel was extremely displeased by this. She was well aware that Tang Jie was far from reaching his bottom line, and there were still many trump cards he had yet to use. She shouted, "Tang Jie, what are you still waiting for? Where is your Infinite Palace, your Reflections of Floating Life? Use them against me!"

Tang Jie laughed. "Since the Immortal Sovereign wants to see it, then this one will do so."

He howled, and the blood that he had shed throughout this battle all turned into avatars. Thousands of Tang Jies attacked Jewel as soon as they appeared, the radiance of their attacks stealing light from the sun and shaking the world.