Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 833: A Moment of Levity

On the way back, Yuan Chenfei asked, "Right, is 'Tang Jie' your real name?"

"Indeed."

Yuan Chenfei thought it over before shaking his head. "I've never heard this name before."

Then he patted his chest and exhaled.

Tang Jie didn't get it. "What was all that about?"

Yuan Chenfei replied, "Oh, I was thinking: what if you were some demon that was sealed here? If you are, then letting you out would be a grave mistake. If you get out, it might be a disaster for the three sects, perhaps for all of the Vast Wilderness World. If that's the case, I should immediately fight you to the death!"

Tang Jie chuckled. "Kid, what gave you the impression that I couldn't leave this estate and needed you to bring me out?"

Yuan Chenfei looked at Tang Jie in shock.

Tang Jie sighed. "Think about it. If your home had a piece of land that was occupied by you three brothers…"

"We aren't brotherly sects."

Tang Jie waved his hand. "That's not important. Now imagine that you three families had a shared orchard– no, wait, a garden, one of those fancy sorts. Anyway, you guys didn't establish the garden, but since it had no owner, you guys always took it as your exclusive property and didn't let others touch it. Suddenly, one day, a guy came out of your garden, perhaps bringing with them the most valuable flowers. What would your three families think?"

Yuan Chenfei immediately said, "Someone is stealing from our garden."

"Right!" Tang Jie clapped his hands. "And then?"

"And then it would be a fight." Yuan Chenfei said in realization, "Then you would definitely be in danger."

Tang Jie gave him a sympathetic look. I'm not afraid of being killed by you. It's more that I don't want to kill you guys.

When it came to running away, with his Reflections of Floating Life, who did he have to be afraid of?

Looking at Tang Jie's expression, Yuan Chenfei seemed to understand. He muttered, "You're not an Earth Immortal, are you?"

Tang Jie shook his head.

Yuan Chenfei sighed in relief.

"But so long as they aren't an Earth Immortal, I can probably kill them," Tang Jie lightly added.

Yuan Chenfei jumped in fright.

The Herding Yang Sect and its two rival sects were only local minor sects, without a single Earth Immortal among them. In other words, nobody in the three sects was a match for Tang Jie.

Fortunately, this was a human and not a demon or fiend. Since he wasn't here to kill, Yuan Chenfei truly did need to bring him out of this estate safely.

Yuan Chenfei clenched his teeth and said, "If that's the case, then this one will definitely take you out of this estate. But…"

Yuan Chenfei hesitated. "I came alone."

Tang Jie laughed. "Who said that only a human could come out? As a cultivator, I can take on countless forms. That fiend could turn into a human, so why can't a human turn into a fiend?"

In a flash, Tang Jie transformed into a rooster like that chicken fiend and jumped into Yuan Chenfei's embrace. "Isn't this fine?"

He let out a loud cry, calling Yiyi and Ice Phoenix back.

Yuan Chenfei looked at the two roosters in his hands, utterly speechless.

One hour later, Yuan Chenfei had two hens as well.

He was unable to hold them all, so they had to follow behind him.

Curiously, while that chicken fiend tried to escape in various ways at first, after seeing Yiyi, he became reluctant to leave, particularly after Yiyi transformed.

The four chickens following in a line were a rather amusing sight.

This amusing sight lasted until they reached the entrance to the paradise.

This was a mystical place, and in the center of it was a large hole. Around this hole was a glistening light that seemed harmless, but in reality, it was brimming with a lethal sealing power. Tang Jie could tell at a glance that this was no simple light. An extremely powerful formation had been placed by the estate's master on the entrance, and one would need to be an Earth Immortal to break it, so it was no wonder the upper echelons of those three sects had been unable to enter. They also didn't dare to notify the bigger sects, so all they could do was secretly and slowly digest the contents of the Five Origins Paradise on their own.

Even with Tang Jie's current cultivation, breaking through the formation was impossible. Fortunately, he was on the other side of it, and there were no limits for leaving.

Yuan Chenfei flew toward the exit.

Tang Jie and the others followed.

Outside of the estate was a vast blue sky.

A large mountain protruded out of the landscape, its peak vanishing into the white clouds, its lower reaches covered in verdant forest. The Five Origins Paradise was located at the very bottom of this mountain, and before them was an immense plain that stretched to the horizon.

Three groups of people stood in front of the paradise, dressed the same as those who had entered. These were the three sects, the Herding Yang Sect in the middle and the Avatamsaka Temple and Verdant Goat Sect on the sides, everyone wearing rather nasty expressions.

This was because the twelve Heart Demon cultivators had all returned, but they had met unprecedented failure at the garden. The puppet at the garden had suddenly gotten much stronger, and even all of them together had been no match for it. The three sects failed one after the other, and in the end, they were driven out of the garden by the eighteen puppets, and the entire garden was closed, leaving them with nothing.

If those Heart Demon cultivators they had placed such high hopes on had come away with nothing, the lower disciples probably wouldn't do much better.

The early opening of the Five Origins Paradise had quickly turned into a farce.

In this situation, Yuan Chenfei coming out immediately drew laughter.

Someone said, "Who is this? He managed to subdue four chicken fiends, very interesting."

"But they're only fiends that have just reached Spirit Sensing."

"It seems to be an entire nest."

"Isn't this kid that genius Yuan Chenfei? I didn't think he would fall this far, using Spirit Sensing fiends to try and fill his quota."

Everyone chattered, none of them kindly.

That chicken fiend was furious. I'm Transformation, not Spirit Sensing!

But all of his fiend power had been sealed by Tang Jie, and he was unable to show off his power and could only resentfully roll his eyes.

The elder from the Herding Yang Sect paled. Shooting a glare at Yuan Chenfei, he said, "What did you bring back?"

Yuan Chenfei stepped forward and respectfully opened his Mustard Seed Bag, pouring out the contents.

The contents left everyone dazzled.

"Carryblue Grass, Woodcherry Flower, Snow Incense, Ten Step Grass… How is there so much?"

"And they're all more than a hundred years old."

"This kid must have gone into the depths of the Rainbow Meadow to get this much."

"As expected of a genius!"

Derision had instantly turned into praise.

Yuan Chenfei continued to keep his head down, deaf to both scorn and praise.

The sect master of the Herding Yang Sect was elated, hugging Yuan Chenfei and shouting, "Great! Brilliant! You've done a wonderful job. You must have been through a lot to get all this. This time, you will definitely be richly rewarded. Come, come; stand behind me."

"Many thanks, Sect Master!" Yuan Chenfei moved behind the sect master.

Tang Jie could see that this sect master was only at the Infant Tending Tier. While he was weaker than Tang Jie, in the Rosecloud Domain, this would be enough to get a sect into the middle ranks, though he didn't know if that was the same here.

Meanwhile, the other disciples began to return, Senior Brother Du among them.

Senior Brother Du was in a wretched state, heavily injured and having lost his Mustard Seed Bag. Tang Jie had taken that Mustard Seed Bag from him when sending him back to the battle, and then he had spent the rest of his time being chased around. Put simply, he hadn't brought anything back.

Yuan Chenfei looked at Senior Brother Du, wanting to say something, but he ultimately shut his mouth.

"What? You still plan to let him go?" Tang Jie transmitted his thoughts into Yuan Chenfei's mind, much to his consternation. "Don't be surprised. This is Divine Soul communication. You just need to think of the answer."

Yuan Chenfei replied, "I still want to give him one more chance. Moreover, if I report this to the sect master, how will I explain you? Rather than tell a lie, it's better to not mention it at all."

Tang Jie chuckled. "I worry that welcoming a tiger might only end up with the tiger clawing you back."

And then he fell silent.

A few moments later, the Five Origins Estate Paradise began to close.

As the hole healed, a waterfall spewed forth. If people hadn't been going in and out moments before, one would never believe that the entrance to a hidden estate would be here. It was wondrously concealed, and it was easy to see how the three sects had managed to keep it a secret for so long.

Once everyone had returned, the Herding Yang Sect Master once more effusively praised Yuan Chenfei.

Senior Brother Du was envious and resentful of the excellent treatment Yuan Chenfei received, but he couldn't find Tang Jie, so he secretly wondered where that man had gone.

Three sects each went back to their bases.

Worried about Tang Jie, Yuan Chenfei flew to the rear of the group and then found an excuse to leave for a moment.

Once they were at a scenic spot, Tang Jie laughed and assumed his original form, with Yiyi and Ice Phoenix following.

Looking at Yuan Chenfei's nervous face, Tang Jie guessed at what he was thinking and smiled. "What? Are you worried that I'll suddenly kill you now that I've taken my true form?"

Yuan Chenfei scratched his head in embarrassment. "A little."

"Do you feel better about it now?"

"Mm!" Yuan Chenfei earnestly nodded. Since Tang Jie hadn't killed him once they had left the group, hadn't "revealed his true self", he could naturally relax. "It's just that I still don't understand. Who are you? How did you appear in the Five Origins Paradise? And why did you help me?"

"This…" After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "To put it simply, I took a liking to you, so I decided to help you out."

"What if I want the complicated answer?"

"This would be rather long. In truth, since I was young, I've always wanted some hero to descend from the heavens and grant me power, but alas, it never happened, and I had to work hard and fight to get this far. Then, one day, I suddenly realized that if I couldn't get some hero to bless me, being the hero wasn't bad either. Messing around and playing around sometimes isn't too bad."

Tang Jie sighed. "There are some things that you will only understand after you've experienced them. While getting treasures makes you happy, giving away treasures has its own pleasures. And after many years of nothing but cultivating or killing, a little leisure, a little selflessness, a little giving back, a little kindness, is even more hard to come by. The path of cultivation is very long, so there's nothing wrong with playing around once or twice. As for now, my moment of levity has passed, so it's time to go!"

Tang Jie waved his sleeve as he spoke.

Yuan Chenfei saw that he was about to leave and anxiously said, "You still didn't tell me how you got into the paradise."

"This?" Tang Jie laughed. "Young man, sometimes, it's better for you not to know. Just think of me as some thief who snuck in. Now come here and let me give you something nice."

He gave some of the treasures he had gotten from the Ghost Fog Region to Yuan Chenfei.

These were rather ordinary treasures in Tang Jie's eyes, but they were extremely valuable to Yuan Chenfei, and his eyes widened. "Nine Son Rings, the Mother-Son Arrows, the Golden Wall Umbrella, the Moon-Inviting Water Lotus! How do you have so many treasures?"

Tang Jie chuckled. "Mm, everyone should get a share of nice things. Have I finally convinced you now?"

Yuan Chenfei looked at the treasures for a long while before reluctantly looking away.

He solemnly looked at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie didn't understand his expression, so he asked. Yuan Chenfei replied.

"These are all the sect's treasure! They have to be offered to the sect, not kept for oneself!"