Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Three years went by.

In these three years, there were ten-some waves of demons from the Primordial Fog, but each one was crushed by the Rosecloud Domain.

The Rosecloud Domain was like a meat grinder, pulverizing any demon that entered its environs, offering up their lives to the world so that it could grow stronger.

Because of the Eight Ocean Mountains, many humans had experienced rapid growth in these last three years.

War had not caused this world to wither, only made the human cultivators stronger and more united.

Nowadays, whenever the Primordial Fog Calamity was mentioned, people would no longer pale at the thought.

What Primordial Fog Calamity? Wasn’t it just whenever the demons living in a barren world ran over to a flourishing one to plunder it? To be honest, what difference was there between it and barbarians raiding civilized empires?

In the end, everything was all the same, and this was just another war.

“Just another war”!

This was a simple and shallow statement, but it was through such shallow statements that people stopped fearing the Primordial Fog. Casting aside their fear, they diligently carried on with their lives, continuing to carry hope for the future.

The cultivators of Rosecloud thus gained a thriving homefront, and there was a constant stream of resources that allowed them to sustain the war.

Another good harvest.

The spirit grains billowed like golden waves.

Viewing from above, one could see thick waves of spiritual energy surging across the earth.

“In lands of death, Immortals thrive.”

A delicate young girl viewed this all from above, holding her hands behind her back.

A handsome youth stood next to her, commenting, “Where there is loss, so is there gain, and thus is the cycle of the world. This is the principle of Heaven, the Heavenly Dao. Thus, the Primordial Fog Calamities are when the chiliocosm is the most rich in spiritual energy, because of all the Returned Remnants.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “What do you know of the Heavenly Dao? This cycle of spiritual energy is only what we can see on the surface. Even someone as great as Father cannot see through the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao, so how could its truth be so shallow?”

“Father does not glimpse the Heavenly Dao. Father is the Heavenly Dao, and his Dao is not exactly that profound,” the youth replied with a shake of his head.

The girl revered her father like a god, so she paled at her younger brother’s words and sought to grab him by the ear. “The audacity! You dare to belittle Father!”

The youth saw her hand reaching over, and with a thought, he seemed to be on the other end of the world rather than right next to her. But the girl was also formidable, and with a snort, the surrounding space seemed to congeal, upon which her hand crossed that seemingly interminable distance, grabbed the youth’s ear, and twisted…

“Ah, ah, let go… Let go!” the youth stomped his feet and shouted. “Tang Zixi, don’t go too far! Dad said not long ago to not blindly believe in authority. No matter how illustrious a figure is, they are still not above questioning. Since ancient times, countless Titans have boldly sought to comprehend the Heavenly Dao and access new levels of power, which is itself a challenge to authority. In the past, there were only five realms and fourteen tiers, with True Immortals reigning Supreme. So why do we now have Gold Immortal and Saint Immortal? Because cultivators were not willing to remain at the feet of their predecessors and sought to achieve greater glories using them as their foundation. So what if I doubt his powers? So what if I’m not convinced? Only those with the courage to challenge Titans can achieve great things!”

Pa! The youth received a smack to the head.

But it was not Tang Zixi this time.

“Mother!” the siblings said in unison.

It was none other than Xu Miaoran who had arrived.

Rapping her son on the head, Xu Miaoran scolded, “All those clever words of yours, trying to reverse white and black, are nothing but sophistry. Having the courage to surpass one’s predecessors doesn’t mean not respecting them. Don’t mistake your willfulness for courage, nor does being able to speak boldly and brazenly mean you are brave, only that you are a fool!”

Tang Xuanyu spat out his tongue and lowered his head. “Your son understands his errors.”

He dared to argue with his sister, but not his mother. But his sister continued to twist his ear.

Xu Miaoran gazed at her children for a while before suddenly breaking into a smile. “Alright, Zixi, let him go. You’re both several centuries old, yet you still act like children.”

Only then did Tang Zixi let go.

Tang Xuanyu was dejected, not because of the scolding he had received from his mother, but because he had never once been able to beat his older sister. He thought that, having grown stronger from his travels, he should have surpassed her, but it seemed like his sister was progressing even faster. He asked, “Sister, you’re getting harder and harder to defend against. Just now, you were able to completely ignore my Endless Dimension. Did you reach Deification?”

Tang Zixi nodded. “A while ago, Mother personally used the Eight Ocean Mountains to give me a boost, and I successfully entered Deification.”

Tang Zixi had only entered Violet Palace twenty-some years ago, and hearing that she had reached Deification had Tang Xuanyu stomping his feet in indignation. “Mother is biased! The last time I requested to use the Eight Ocean Mountains, I was rejected.”

Xu Miaoran snorted, “You can only blame yourself for not having enough contributions.”

After the battle with the Scarlet Terra Ancestor, Tang Jie had established a set of rules for the usage of the Eight Ocean Mountains. These rules were based on the contribution systems used by sects. A cultivator would accumulate merit by killing enemies on the battlefield and could exchange this merit for rewards, and receiving energy from the Eight Ocean Mountains was the most popular choice. For this purpose, Tang Jie had set up a secondary formation for the Eight Ocean Mountains that served to store Immortal energy.

Everyone had a part to play in the war against the demons, and the Tang siblings were no exception. Tang Zixi had recently gathered enough merit to exchange for the Eight Ocean Mountains, thus reaching Deification.

Xu Miaoran added, “Moreover, you have a restless personality, not like your calm and steady sister, so rising too quickly might unbalance your mind. It’s better to wait.”

“‘Wait’… ‘Wait’ for how long? It’s been several months now without any demons,” Tang Xuanyu grumbled.

The Rosecloud Domain had gone a little less than half a year without a demon invasion.

While other domains feared the demons, the people here looked forward to it. The cultivators all hoped for numerous demons to rush in so that they could be killed and exchanged for resources. One time, demons charged in only to find the humans greeting them with a smile, making them think that they had entered a world of madmen.

“Until your father finishes ascending,” Xu Miaoran replied.

“‘Ascending’?” The siblings were taken aback, and then they shouted in glee, “Father is finally ascending!”

After three years of waiting, Tang Jie had finally stabilized his cultivation and was beginning his ascension to Gold Immortal.

This was also why Xu Miaoran had summoned her children.

She wanted them to experience Tang Jie’s ascension from nearby so that they could comprehend cores.

Boom!

A beam of light shot up from the distance, rising up past the Astral Wind layer and drilling down into the bowels of the earth.

And then the light began to spread outward, like moonlight, or the clouds, or a hurricane, or the waves, covering the entire Rosecloud Domain. At that moment, everyone could sense Tang Jie’s will.

Not because of the formation, but through his own power, Tang Jie’s will covered the world.

“This is…” the siblings called out in shock. Through Tang Xuanyu’s Endless Dimension, the siblings were able to immediately figure out the range of this power.

Could a Gold Immortal’s power really cover an entire domain?

A Supreme True Immortal’s Divine Will could only cover a range of five thousand kilometers, after which it would weaken. A Supreme True Immortal attacking a Violet Palace True Lord more than five thousand kilometers away would be easily blocked, and if it was far enough, even a Celestial Heart True Person would be able to defend themself.

But a Boundless Gold Immortal could spread their power over an entire domain!

It was no wonder it was said that one needed to be a Gold Immortal to become a Domain Lord. At this moment, Tang Jie’s power in the Rosecloud Domain was comparable to that in his own small world.

“Comprehend the core and link to the domain,” Xu Miaoran muttered.

She was of a higher cultivation level than the siblings and was able to comprehend the most from Tang Jie’s ascension.

Tang Jie was able to achieve this feat because he had linked with the domain core, not because of his own strength.

It was only by borrowing this power that Tang Jie could reach every corner of the world.

But Xu Miaoran saw this light quickly begin to retreat.

After reaching its limits, this world-spanning light began to fall back to the core.

“He can’t maintain it for long,” Xu Miaoran sighed.

Attaining Gold Immortal only meant comprehending the core. The Gold Immortal was still limited in the power they could use. Truly grasping this power required reaching Saint Immortal.

Even so, one could already see the terrifying might of a Gold Immortal.

It had to be understood that being able to link to the world meant that one could use all of the world’s energy.

If a Gold Immortal went crazy, the damage they could do to a world and its inhabitants was unimaginable.

For example, if Tang Jie attacked right now, even Yun Tianlan and all the other Immortals put together might not be able to stop him. Even if they managed to, they would end up suffering devastating losses.

“Fortunately, we now have our own Boundless Gold Immortal,” Xu Miaoran muttered.

The beam of light dissipated.

Tang Jie strode out.

Crossing the void in a few steps, he arrived at the side of his family. This was no Dao Art, simply a manifestation of a Boundless Gold Immortal’s immense power.

Gazing at his wife and children, Tang Jie said, “I understand now.”

“‘Understand’ what?”

“Our future path.”