Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Nobody had expected Tang Jie to accomplish killing a peer cultivator seemingly without using any kind of powerful ability. For a moment, nobody dared to come forward.

Tang Jie smiled. "If nobody comes up, I'll have to choose someone."

He pointed at a nearby demon cultivator. "You're up."

Alarmed, the demon cultivator wanted to back away, but he found that everyone was staring at him. They had all sworn an oath, so backing out was no longer an option. The demon cultivator could only steel his resolve, declaring, "I am protected by Golden Silkworm Armor that can stand up to all manner of divine weapons. I'm not afraid of you!"

He flew forth, golden armor appearing on his body. This Golden Silkworm Armor released a golden aura that completely covered the demon cultivator, and the cultivator applied various barriers on top of it.

Tang Jie's face hardened up as he focused his vision on the demon cultivator, his Celestial Eye once more releasing its divine light.

For these bouts, he was relying on the combination of his Celestial Eye and Law Speaking.

This could be considered a combination of Wisdom and Truth Dao Arts.

The Celestial Eye had many functions, like seeing through illusions, but its most useful one was that of finding weaknesses, which was the direction Tang Jie had chosen to develop his Insight in.

But this was the most difficult path—not in terms of cultivation, but rather in terms of targets. The higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the fewer weaknesses they had and the harder they were to discover. For example, when facing Godhead Palace's ancestor, he hadn't even been able to stand straight, let alone find a weakness.

Searching for weaknesses was primarily something the strong could do against the weak, but why look for weaknesses when you could overwhelm with strength?

Thus, over the years, Tang Jie had had little reason to use this ability of the Celestial Eye.

But with Law Speaking, everything changed.

What made Law Speaking so different from his other Dao Arts was its completeness.

It had complete coverage of all abilities!

All things bowed to the Dao of Truth, and his every word was law!

To put it simply, there were only things that it did poorly, not things that it couldn't do.

With Law Speaking, his words could embody every art in the world through the Dao of Truth. In a sense, he had touched the level of True Immortals, who could manifest their arts through the natural world, though the basis of this ability was different.

The seven-word mantra Tang Jie had chanted through Law Speaking was a sort of brute force mantra that forcibly expanded an opponent's weakness. The soul was shaken, the divinity was scattered, the energy departed, the will collapsed, the Primal Divinity was expelled, control of the body was stripped away, and then one final charge with the mind completed the mantra, revealing the weakness so that his finger could deliver the finishing blow!

This one finger was actually a lethal strike created through the power of two Dao Arts.

The combination of Split-Second Youth and Nearby Horizon was a peerless killing technique for guerrilla warfare, the combination of the Infinite Palace and Reflections of Floating Life was a formidable move for a siege battle, and the combination of the Celestial Eye and Law Speaking was the best combination for a duel. Whichever kind of opponent he faced, Tang Jie could find their weakness and slay them in a single strike.

As that demon cultivator's armor shone, Tang Jie shouted seven more words: "Move, Truth, Sharpness, Power, Alarm, Appear, Break!"

He had changed up the words of his mantra.

The armor was stronger than a barrier, but it was still not without weakness. Unlike a cultivator, it could not adapt to a changing situation, so its weaknesses were easy to detect but hard to break.

Tang Jie sought to Move the light of the armor, to use Truth to enhance his vision, and Sharpness and Power to boost his attack. His previous mantra had been more focused on weakening his opponent while this one strengthened himself.

Finally, he Alarmed the soul and made the weakness Appear so that he could Break it in one strike!

Different enemies required different tactics, which was where Law Speaking showed its use.

The light from his center eye intensified, and a lethal light began to gather on his fingertip as he thrust it at the demon cultivator.

The finger pierced through the armor as if it were the finest sword, and then the scene from before replayed, the barriers breaking and body shattering.

The only difference was that Tang Jie gained a new suit of armor.

But Tang Jie found that it was only a lower-grade divine treasure, so he took out the Sovereign Blade and destroyed the armor, causing the cultivators present to swoon.

Just who is this person? He doesn't even want divine treasures, taking them just so he can destroy them!

You could just wear it yourself!

What they didn't know was that Tang Jie didn't need armor, as his original body was a body cultivator. Body cultivators grew stronger the more they were wounded in battle, and injuries stimulated them rather than hurting them. This was why Tang Jie didn't use armor.

After shattering that Golden Silkworm Armor, Tang Jie said, "Next."

The cultivators were speechless, horrified by the power he had displayed.

They simply looked at each other, none of them daring to step forward.

Tang Jie said, "Then I'll choose again… You."

The person he picked this time was a cultivator of the Heaven's Equal Sect.

The Heaven's Equal Sect cultivator knew he couldn't avoid this fight, and stepped forward. He thought to himself, This person's attacks are too lethal, so relying only on defense isn't good enough. It seems I'll have to try to attack first. After all, it's only one move. So long as I can get through one move, it's fine.

He took out his treasure, a bejeweled tree. This tree grew from the center of his left palm, swiftly growing and sending giant branches at Tang Jie.

A savage look appeared on the cultivator's face as he thought, It took me three hundred years to make this Law Jewel Tree. It's incredibly powerful, able to drag anyone into the Jewel Tree World the moment they get careless. Even with all your powers, you can't ignore it. Let's see how you try to kill me while dealing with it!

As the jewel tree attacked, the cultivator cast numerous barriers on himself. However, because he had to divert some of his energy to offense, his defenses were clearly weaker than the two who had come before him.

As those tentacle-like branches reached toward him, Tang Jie snorted. "This one's easy. Swift, Fire, Wind, Move, Control, Appear, Break!"

With another seven-word mantra, he flicked his fingers, sending out the Deicide Flame. Due to its strength, Tang Jie had always found it difficult to control the Deicide Flame, but the massive progress he had made in the Dao of Fire through his battle with the Flame Celestial Sovereign and the power of Law Speaking finally allowed him to use it. But his level of control was still low, and his opponent could dodge it if he put in the effort. However, he had to both defend and attack at the same time, which left him no energy to spare to avoid the flame, which made Tang Jie a bit more bold.

The Deicide Flame instantly set the jewel tree aflame, and the tree began to scream. It was an actual living being, crying out in frenzied fear. The Pale Cloud Flame followed, the two flames combining to burn away the tree. As the tree wailed, Tang Jie's finger pierced through the flames and struck the cultivator's weakness, killing him.

The tree was still screaming, so Tang Jie thrust out a palm, extinguishing its soul. He took back the Deicide Flame and Pale Cloud Flame and then threw the corpse of the cultivator and the jewel tree into the diagram, making no attempt to hide the presence of his small world. Yiyi took the tree and absorbed it to grow stronger.

The cultivators were stunned once more, and now that they had witnessed Tang Jie's full power, they lost all courage and confidence, some of them even shouting to run.

But they had barely made it a few steps when there was a boom of thunder.

A pack of dark clouds appeared, flashing with lightning, and then a massive lightning bolt condensed into a spear and struck a fleeing cultivator.

Whoosh!

The lightning spear passed through the cultivator like it was an illusion.

The cultivator froze for a few moments, and then his body erupted with lightning. He howled as lightning crackled around his body, which swelled up and up until it finally exploded.

Tang Jie felt a massive thunderstorm forming and instinctively raised his barrier, and then a massive shockwave sent him flying. Just the aftershocks from this explosion were difficult for him to endure, and even the Infinite Palace was blown to pieces!

Tang Jie was dumbfounded.

"Heaven's wrath! It's the wrath of the heavens!" someone shouted.

Tang Jie understood now.

Yes, the wrath of the heavens!

It was the punishment for breaking the Heavenly Dao Oath!

But wasn't the Heavenly Dao Oath simply an Oath of Fate?

Because it was an Oath of Fate, breaking the oath would result in a gradual punishment, usually affecting one's cultivation or mental state. People were so sure of the Heavenly Dao Oath's effectiveness because there had been countless incidents proving its effects.

But today, breaking the oath had resulted in a most direct manifestation of wrath, which Tang Jie had never heard of before.

Tang Jie focused his vision.

He saw several dozen indistinct threads extending from each person up into the sky and into the distance, himself included.

Even with his vision, Tang Jie found it difficult to make out these threads.

But as he looked at the thread tied to himself, he suddenly hardened his resolve and shouted, "Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength!"

Using "Strength" seven times in a row, he pushed his Celestial Eye to the limit, and his will began to travel up that thread.

As his will advanced, his vision pierced through the veil.

At that moment, he pierced through countless dimensions, transcending all existences and shattering the fabric of space.

And then he saw that light deep in the void that the thread led to.

It was a majestic object, a golden brilliance that was impossible to look at directly. Beneath, a giant pendulum swung, the ticking of a clock resounding in his heart.

The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!

Tang Jie was stunned.

This was his first time experiencing the enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel when not advancing to the next cultivation realm.

The Heavenly Dao Oath!