Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Sensing the condition of Ice Phoenix’s body, Witchbone smiled in satisfaction.

He had paid much to save Ice Phoenix.

Although he had mostly done this to absorb energy from Ice Phoenix in return, deep down, he had developed some affection for her.

Witchbone was at the limits of his energy, and even with his Immortal-tier cultivation, he still felt exhausted.

Finally, Ice Phoenix had accumulated enough energy. At this time, based on the normal sequence, she would begin to realize her Divine Soul and create the Violet Palace, which was the most dangerous and troublesome part of the process.

But Witchbone saw Ice Phoenix’s Divine Soul be realized in a flash, and then a Violet Palace created with a boom.

No, not “created”, but “manifested”!

It already existed!

She had been at Violet Palace this whole time!

She had used some kind of secret art to conceal her cultivation such that not even the Scarlet Terra Ancestor had been able to see through it, and it was only now that she had officially revealed her power.

Witchbone’s mind buzzed in shock. He watched as her cultivation grew from Infant Tending all the way to Deification…

“You…” Witchbone tried to draw back his hand, but he found that he couldn’t.

A powerful force kept his hand on her back, and his energy continued to pour into Ice Phoenix’s body.

“NO!” Witchbone shouted.

But all he received was a cold and callous gaze from Ice Phoenix.

Witchbone finally realized that he had fallen for a trap.

For this insidious woman’s trap.

That had been no leak, but a trap designed for him by this woman.

There was a humming in the hall as a formation gradually revealed itself.

All of the energy that Witchbone had transferred to Ice Phoenix earlier had actually been entering this formation, and then the formation had transferred the energy to Ice Phoenix. At the same time, the formation also bound Witchbone so that he couldn’t leave.

“Whore, you won’t succeed!” Witchbone clenched his teeth and mustered all his energy to pull his arm away.

As an Immortal-level devil chief, even when he had drained most of his strength for Ice Phoenix’s sake, he still had his demonic arts and abilities.

But just when he was about to push Ice Phoenix away, he felt a pain in his body.

Witchbone was stunned.

He looked down and saw a golden light.

This light was coming from inside his body, shooting out from various parts and lighting him up like a golden idol, but the immense power imbued within them was tearing him apart.

The impurities!

They were wreaking havoc in Witchbone’s body, and Witchbone was incapable of expelling them.

“Someone, come quickly!” Witchbone angrily shouted, but his voice was blocked by the formation.

Witchbone despaired.

His energy was being absorbed by Ice Phoenix while that strange substance was obliterating his life force.

Witchbone could sense his life rapidly fading…

As his eyes began to lose focus, a graceful figure appeared before him.

It was Ice Phoenix.

Her cultivation level was rapidly rising, growing stronger and stronger. It soon broke through Deification and entered Soul Projection, ascending toward an even higher peak.

She began her ascension to Immortal Platform.

This wasn’t strange.

Ice Phoenix had originally been a Soul Projection cultivation, but without Tang Jie’s help, she couldn’t ascend to Immortal Platform.

But now, she had Witchbone’s energy to help her.

She had decided on this plan the moment she noticed that Witchbone was interested in her.

For power, for a one-step ascension to the heavens!

Ice Phoenix was all-in!

She made the gamble that Witchbone was willing to make this sacrifice for her, that Witchbone would fail to notice her trap, that nothing unexpected would happen…

And luckily for her, she had succeeded.

With Witchbone’s immense reserve of energy and her own accumulation of several centuries, Ice Phoenix was very confident that she could ascend to Immortal Platform—the entirety of a devil chief’s cultivation was comparable to a top-class Immortal medicine.

As the energy surged, Ice Phoenix’s aura grew stronger and stronger. Finally, in a mighty wave of energy, Ice Phoenix broke through the bottleneck that had shackled her for so many years, and the world before her changed.

She found her Divine Soul transcending her physical body and looking at the world from a higher and broader point of view.

From this perspective, the world seemed more two-dimensional, more detailed, and also more distant… Those cultivators and demons seemed like two groups of ants at war. From this high up, it all seemed irrelevant to her.

It was no wonder those cultivators who became Immortal Demons became so proud and cold, viewing the world with such indifference. All that they had gone to such trouble to gain seemed meaningless.

But after a brief moment, Ice Phoenix’s vision returned to normal.

Though she had attained Immortality, she still had the desires and emotions of a mortal, as well as the limits of a mortal. The Immortal of Immortal Platform was a fusion of Immortal and mortal. There was no such thing as an Immortal who had completely severed all their emotions, just like it was impossible to constantly maintain that Heavenly Dao perspective, overseeing all.

Perhaps that state is the final pursuit of Immortals, Ice Phoenix thought to herself.

After her ascension, Witchbone still had some energy left, so Ice Phoenix decided to grow stronger for a while before finally ending her session.

Killing an Immortal Platform cultivator and then converting their Returned Remnants to energy to grow stronger could only bring a Spirit Ring cultivator to Heart Demon. Through the Eight Ocean Mountains, one could go from Infant Tending to Deification. But Ice Phoenix’s method of direct absorption was enough to gain almost everything… There would not be the slightest waste.

This was precisely why Ice Phoenix was willing to take such a big risk! It was too worth it!

Ice Phoenix’s cultivation rose all the way to the middle level of Earth Immortal before finally reaching its end. One could say that Ice Phoenix had perfectly inherited all of Witchbone’s power.

She turned to Witchbone, who was lying on the floor, completely unable to move.

“You…” he struggled out.

Ice Phoenix coldly said, “My utmost gratitude. Without your sacrifice, I would have never been able to reach this level. That damn Tang Jie was always limiting me, not helping me break through. But didn’t he miscalculate in the end? Hahaha, he didn’t expect this, did he? I was able to take all your energy and ascend to this level!”

Tang Jie truly hadn’t expected it.

He had thought that Ice Phoenix could reach half-step Immortal Platform at best, but Ice Phoenix had succeeded in one try and gotten even further past that.

“You… ‘Tang…'” Witchbone stammered.

“Correct. I worked together with a human. How else would I have had you dancing to my tune?” Ice Phoenix used a finger to raise Witchbone’s head by the chin as she chuckled.

Witchbone cried out in rage, “The ancestor… will avenge me… You… can’t escape.”

“The Scarlet Terra Ancestor?” Ice Phoenix snorted. “He probably can’t even look out for himself right now.”

Witchbone trembled in shock.

At this moment, a deafening boom came from outside.

It was the sound of a cannon.

It was the Godthunder Cannon installed on the war wagons!

And also a terrifying surge of spell arts.

“Listen!” Ice Phoenix laughed. “The battle has begun.”

Witchbone gritted his teeth. “You’re no match for the ancestor!”

“Idiot, how do you think Demon Lord Libido lost?” Ice Phoenix cackled. “He had his Lesser Demon Lords and several dozen devils joined together, but they were defeated by a single Tang Jie. Just who is the Scarlet Terra Ancestor, to compare to all that? Moreover, you’ve walked right into Tang Jie’s trap. ‘Crimson Luan Hidden Realm’? Complete nonsense. That’s his Yellow Court World! You’ve entered… Tang Jie’s small world!”

Ice Phoenix’s words shattered Witchbone’s hopes and cast him into the abyss of despair.

The Crimson Luan Hidden Realm was simply the Yellow Court World.

Tang Jie was the Domain Lord of the Yellow Court World, its Heavenly Dao, the highest existence. With a word, he could raise mountains or dry up seas. All things within the world were under his control.

In the past, the most he had used the small world for was to merge it with reality, but this had not been enough to fully display the powers of a Domain Lord. This was because pulling his targets into the small world was itself a challenging task.

But this time, Tang Jie had devised a ploy to have the enemy enter the Yellow Court World all on their own, which changed everything.

Because he was completely in control of this small world, his strength was enormously magnified. While it wasn’t so absurd as to obliterate the demon army with a single word, it was enough to make the demons experience true fear.

A battle was taking place in the Yellow Court World.

No, not a battle, but a massacre!

Tang Jie was a sky-scraping giant, towering over the world.

He stood in the very center of the Yellow Court World, and he could peer into any corner of the world.

No matter where the enemy was, however far away, he could send his will over, stirring up storms and controlling life and death.

The demons rushing in realized to their shock that there was a giant eye in the sky.

It was a cold and emotionless eye, viewing all things with the callous gaze of the Heavenly Dao.

And then that eye erupted with light.

Under this light, countless demons wailed and died.

They didn’t even see who their foe was before they were utterly purged.

And then a giant foot descended from the heavens, pulverizing countless demons under it, and then rising up to do it again!

They couldn’t see the owner of this foot, because everything above the foot was in the clouds.

Only those high-tier devils at Violet Palace or above could use their Demonic Wills to perceive that existence in the clouds, could fully comprehend the sort of despair-inducing power they were dealing with.

Most of the demons chose to act on their instinct and fight back.

The war wagons began to vent their rage, creating a dazzling array of light in the air.

The high-tier devils, devil chiefs, and Demon Lords united their powers. Even in this “other world”, they could still stir up storms.

Tang Jie’s holy form was gradually revealed. Under the storm of attacks, his true body seemed unbreakable, and there were many humans gathered around it, a mighty force that made the demons despair.

“Kill them all!” Tang Jie’s words ignited the fighting resolve of the humans, stirring up the passion and fervor in their blood.

With wild roars, the humans charged out like savage beasts.

Of course, with Tang Jie around, this battle was never going to be fair.

“In my world, I grant humans Immortality. When they are heavily injured, they will be summoned to the Hall of the Undying. This privilege will last until the war is over!

“In my world, I grant humans the power of protection. All defensive spell arts and Divine Connections will have their effects doubled!

“In my world, I grant humans the right to kill. All attacks against enemies will be doubled in strength, and all spell arts will have their cost halved!

“In my world, I strip the demons of the right to survive. In this world, the demons are a loathed race, and all native inhabitants of this world will attack demons.

“In my world, I strip the demons of the ability to protect themselves. In this world, the demons are a forsaken race, and all non-living substances of this world, including spiritual energy, the plants, and the dirt, refuse to be used by them!

“In my world, I strip the demons of the right to kill. Demons are a dispirited race, and all their attacks are weak and feeble, only able to be used at half their power!”

These pronouncements were like the edicts of the gods, the declarations of Fate, and all the demons trembled in fear.

At that moment, as the Scarlet Terra Ancestor gazed up at that majestic eye in the heavens, he finally realized something.

He realized that he was doomed.