Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 843: Star Radiant Gate

"What is this?" Yiyi curiously asked.

And then she found that even her talking had gotten slower.

It was just three words, but they came out of her mouth one by one. Her mind and body had become unsynchronized, and everything around her slowed down.

She looked at Tang Jie in shock as he made his way over.

He was just casually strolling over, but to Yiyi, it appeared as if he had moved instantly to her side.

She then saw Tang Jie open his mouth as if he was speaking, but the sound was condensed into shrill noise in her ears, so Yiyi could only guess that Tang Jie was calling out her name.

Staring at Tang Jie, she struggled out, "Big… Bro…ther… Let… me… go…"

She could already tell that this was Tang Jie's ability, so she shouted loudly.

Tang Jie chuckled and waved his hand again, upon which Yiyi felt like she had returned to reality.

"Big Brother, what ability did you use just now?" Yiyi asked Tang Jie in alarm.

Tang Jie smiled. "It was nothing. I just slowed the flow of Time around you."

The Dao of Time let one revisit the past and peer into the future, but it also allowed changing the flow of Time, making it faster or slower.

Just now, Yiyi had been experiencing a slowed flow of time.

"I see. Isn't this like the Eternity Sarcophagus?" Yiyi exclaimed.

Yes, this was the function of the Eternity Sarcophagus.

But the Eternity Sarcophagus could only be used on the objects within it, whereas Tang Jie could designate any target, making it much more flexible. However, the Eternity Sarcophagus's effect was constant, whereas Tang Jie's effect lasted for only an instant, which made it much less effective.

The delayed attack was Tang Jie's first drop of water, Origin Return was the second drop, and the Dao Standard within the Eternity Sarcophagus was the third drop.

It was this third drop of water that had helped Tang Jie enter the Dao of Time.

Yiyi excitedly said, "Oh, that's great! Big Brother has grasped another Dao Art."

In truth, what Tang Jie had used just now was far from being a true Dao Art. It was just a little trick using the small amount of Time power he had gathered after entering the Dao of Time.

But now that he had entered the Dao of Time, the rest was only a matter of Time.

Taking stock, Tang Jie had grasped the Insight Dao Realm, had two minor Dao Arts in the Skyrend Swordfall and Ten Extinctions Blade, and had three full Dao Arts: the Reflections of Floating Life, the Infinite Palace, and Law Speaking.

Now, his Time Dao was also starting to show progress, which meant that Tang Jie had gained proficiency in using half of the Twelve Great Daos.

This was a very significant event.

Understanding, using, grasping.

These were the three phases of the Great Dao.

Comprehending was understanding, entering was using, and controlling was grasping.

Tang Jie had comprehended twelve Daos and entered seven Daos, which meant that he had officially crossed the halfway point on this journey.

No one person had ever comprehended so many Great Daos and developed them this much before.

The Black Tortoise, even after countless reincarnations, had only comprehended the Twelve Great Daos and not experienced a breakthrough in them.

Even the Immortal Emperor had only controlled four Daos.

Although Tang Jie had yet to reach the Dao-controlling level, his current progress was already unprecedented.

Thinking back on it, Tang Jie was himself amazed.

He had easily broken through what other cultivators considered high and impassable walls, a feat he now found hard to believe.

Nearby, Ice Phoenix was also amazed.

As someone who had been with Immortal Ji Yao for many years, she was keenly aware of how difficult the Daos were.

A Boundless Gold Immortal like Immortal Ji Yao, one of the most formidable foes in the world, only controlled a single Dao.

The Great Daos were profound and unfathomable.

How could Tang Jie so easily comprehend such mysterious concepts?

Despite her surprise, she coldly snorted, "What's so amazing about it? The Great Daos are immensely profound, and they get more difficult the farther you travel on them. Better to control a single Dao rather than learn all twelve. You must understand that everything is but an ant to a Dao controller."

Tang Jie wasn't provoked by this comment at all. Smiling, he said, "Oh? From the sound of it, you seem to understand quite a lot about controlling Daos. It just so happens that I entered the Dao of Yin Yang quite some time ago, and have accumulated more than a thousand Dao Runes. Right now, when I cultivate it, all I do is add on more Dao Runes, but there's no qualitative change. Do you have any pointers on how to proceed?"

Ice Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Even if I knew, why would I tell you? I'm your pri…"

She was going to say that she was his prisoner, but then she remembered that Tang Jie had released her and that she was the one who had insisted on following him, so she couldn't bring herself to say it. Thus, after a pause, she glared at Tang Jie and said, "I just don't want to tell you!"

She was anticipating Tang Jie trying to persuade her so that she could have something to act proud about, but Tang Jie simply chuckled and said, "If you don't want to tell me, then don't."

Ice Phoenix felt rather disappointed to not get the answer she wanted, and she found Tang Jie even more despicable and annoying.

Meanwhile, Tang Jie began to look for a place to rest.

The price to enter the Dao of Time had been rather great—five hundred years of lifespan in a single go. This was about as much time as he had spent cultivating, and his hair had begun to gray. But at least this meant that he didn't have to use Thousand Faces on himself.

After cleaning himself up a little, Tang Jie once more set off with Yiyi and Ice Phoenix.

They ended up traveling for a little less than half a year.

In this time, Tang Jie truly experienced the Vast Wilderness, passing through various countries and encountering all sorts of incidents, with no small number of misunderstandings and embarrassing situations. After all this, they finally arrived at the West Bull Divine State.

After half a year in the Vast Wilderness Continent, Tang Jie was no longer so blind. He knew that the West Bull Divine State was home to nine countries, with the country of Hanhai being the largest. It was ruled by the Celestial Splendor Sect, which had a True Immortal ancestor, so it was the lord of the West Bull Divine State.

Of the remaining eight countries, Reverend Yellow Heaven's Star Radiant Gate was the sect that ruled over the country of Shangyuan.

Tang Jie made his way there.

The West Bull Divine State was shaped like a giant bull, and it was said that it was born from the Returned Remnants of a divine bull. As a legend, it was naturally an exaggeration, but it was true that the West Bull Divine State was rich in resources.

Shangyuan (Upper Head) was located at the head of the bull, hence its name.

This was a vast country, many times bigger than Sageheart. The Star Radiant Gate had existed in this region for ten thousand years, so it possessed deep foundations and unfathomable strength.

Tang Jie started to be careful to not cause any trouble here. And Ice Phoenix had also become very tactful after Tang Jie had almost abandoned her once, so everything went smoothly.

On this day, Tang Jie and company finally arrived at the main base of the Star Radiant Gate.

This sect was located on a majestic mountain range with soaring peaks, befitting its status.

According to custom, Tang Jie presented his visitation card upon arrival.

He had no status in the Vast Wilderness Continent, but while wandering for half a year, he had developed one as a cultivator of the Firebright Divine State's Firebird Sect. This sect truly did exist, but it had already declined to a minor sect. On his travels, Tang Jie had saved the life of its head and gained this status in return.

"The Firebird Sect's Tang Jie seeks an audience with Ancestor Yellow Heaven?" The disciple guarding the gate searched his memories and concluded that this sect was not one of the two-hundred-some major sects of the southern continent, so he looked at Tang Jie with scorn.

Some obscure disciple from a nameless sect was seeking an audience with their ancestor?

He proudly replied, "Be off with you. An ancestor of this sect is not someone the likes of you can see as you wish."

Tang Jie sighed, knowing that he wouldn't get through unless he showed some of his ability. "Tang Jie seeks an audience with him over a problem. Please, accept this humble expression of my kindness."

Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and a white lotus bloomed from the ground.

In a flash, this white lotus had grown to the height of an adult man, upon which it bloomed, layer after layer of petals unfolding seemingly endlessly. Only after 9999 layers had bloomed was the jade ruyi art relic in the center of the lotus revealed.

The disciple reached out, and the jade ruyi fell into his hands, radiating a gentle light. The disciple immediately felt his spiritual energy traveling through it, without the slightest inhibition. He pointed it at the air, and a blast of green energy shot out from the ruyi.

The disciple immediately understood that this was a rare treasure that could unleash a spell art. While this treasure wasn't too powerful, it was extremely flexible, able to be used by almost anyone. Even if he didn't want it, he could still sell it at an extremely high price.

For this person to produce a lotus with a thought and casually gift an art relic, they had to be a person of immense power. That disciple immediately changed his attitude, saying, "Sir, please forgive me for my earlier disrespect. However…"

He grimaced.

"What? Is this still no good?" Tang Jie slightly frowned. Wasn't this person being too greedy? Did simply reporting to his superiors cost a divine treasure?

The disciple knew that he was misunderstanding and hastily explained. "It's not that. It is simply that this sect's ancestor is traveling abroad and has yet to return."

"What?" Tang Jie was taken aback.

————————————

Author's Note: An additional explanation.

Dao Realms are not Dao Arts.

Dao Arts manifest themselves like spell arts, but they use Dao power, allowing them to do what spell arts can't. Thus, the specialty of Dao Arts is that their existence doesn't need any theory to back them up, "making the impossible possible".

But the specialty of Dao Realms is in authority, which is to say that when it comes to similar kinds of spell arts, the Great Dao takes precedence, obscuring all. Thus, in the Dao of Wisdom, rather than comprehending a Dao Art, Tang Jie is choosing to constantly improve his Dao Realm, seeking this sort of absolute authority. Through the absolute authority of the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie is able to constantly develop new Dao Arts.

You could say that the Dao Realm of Insight is the foundation for Tang Jie's other Great Daos.

As a price, this Dao has no art.