Aspiring to the Immortal Path

In the last stage of battle, white and black intermixed, the clashing energies blurring vision and even blocking out Divine Will. Thus, the cultivators above weren't able to see what was happening, only seeing a dark figure briefly emerging, and then all the ghosts disappearing. The ghost fog had also been cleared away, leaving behind a clean and empty hall.

Five high-tier Ghost Kings, two of them being elites, were gone, just like that. Tang Jie had had an even easier time passing the twelfth floor than the eleventh, leaving the cultivators dumbfounded.

After finishing off his last opponent, Tang Jie walked into the central fire basin, upon which he appeared before his audience of cultivators on the thirteenth floor.

The moment he appeared, he scanned the hall. All of the cultivators standing here were staring at him with shock in their eyes.

Not minding them, Tang Jie bowed to Yuan Tianzhong and said, "Tang Jie of Rosecloud greets Sect Master Yuan."

Yuan Tianzhong narrowed his eyes. "You've seen this old man?"

Tang Jie stood up and replied, "This is this one's first time entering the Great Sun Sect, so how could I be acquainted with Sect Master Yuan?"

"Then out of all the people here, how did you immediately recognize me as Yuan Tianzhong?" Yuan Tianzhong asked curiously.

Tang Jie had bowed to him without even an introduction, so he was slightly surprised.

"I see," Yuan Tianzhong said in realization, chuckling. "You truly are a very detail-minded young man. Right, you said that you were 'of Rosecloud'. Does that mean that you came from…"

"The Rosecloud Domain," Tang Jie firmly replied.

This immediately caused a stir of chatter.

Though Tang Jie had already said that he wasn't a native of this domain, they were still stunned to hear that claim made right in front of them.

But as they were all veterans here, instead of immediately launching into an interrogation, Yuan Tianzhong started to introduce Tang Jie to all the people present.

Other than the sect masters of the four sects, seven members of the Great Sun Sect's upper echelons and ten-some from the other three sects were also present. One could say that all the powerhouses of the Flame Yang Domain other than those in battle were present here.

They had come here to hold a meeting on how to resist the Nether Domain, during which Tang Jie happened to come by, which meant that he could get to know them all at once.

After the introductions, Yuan Tianzhong had a silk-cushioned stool brought over for Tang Jie to sit on. He then said, "How did Young Master Tang end up in my Flame Yang Domain? How did you get through the Domain Astral Winds?"

Tang Jie retold his journey.

But this time, he finally lied.

He didn't say that he had come with the Nether Domain army, instead using his experience in the Blood River Domain.

When he had been traveling through Blood River, the Flame Celestial Sovereign's pursuit had resulted in him randomly teleporting into the void. After several years of flying around, he finally came across the Verdant Cloud Domain. Tang Jie reused this story, instead saying that after the Flame Celestial Sovereign attacked the teleportation formation, he floated around in the void for seven to eight years before finding the Flame Yang Domain. As for how he got through the Astral Winds, he simply said that he relied on a divine treasure. It was just that the divine treasure had been destroyed as a result, so he could not use it to leave.

Since it was based on a real experience, it was a flawless lie, so even though the assembled cultivators questioned him in multiple ways, Tang Jie was able to cover all the angles. Everyone nodded, accepting his tale.

"I didn't think Young Master would have such a fantastical experience," Yuan Tianzhong sighed. "It's no wonder Young Master possesses so many strange arts."

Each domain had its own unique traits, and a mystical art in one domain might be perfectly ordinary in another.

Tang Jie replied, "No matter where I came from, I'm still a human. With the Flame Yang Domain in crisis, it is Tang Jie's duty to fight for humanity's survival, so even if I had to show everything I had, I endeavored to come here."

The cultivators nodded in unison, thinking to themselves, Since he's so willing to show off his abilities, he should be willing to teach that method of digesting medicines quickly and that method for consuming exotic fires. Right, and also that technique he used to kill all those ghosts at the end.

Yuan Tianzhong stroked his beard and smiled. "Wonderful, wonderful. Young Master Tang, you said that you ended up here because that Flame Celestial Sovereign damaged your teleportation formation. In other words, Young Master Tang knows how to lay down a teleportation formation?"

Tang Jie smiled back.

He had come here precisely to relay this information. He nodded and said, "Indeed. This is what Tang Jie came to tell all of you. If the Flame Yang Formation cannot hold off the Nether Domain invasion, then the Flame Yang Domain may have to ultimately rely on a teleportation formation to survive."

With a teleportation formation, they could link to Rosecloud, either inviting the cultivators of Rosecloud to assist in battle or retreating there.

This was why Tang Jie admitted from the start that he was a visitor from another domain, because he wanted to borrow the power of the natives to set up a teleportation formation and thus restore communications with them.

But nobody cheered at Tang Jie's proposal.

On the contrary, a grave look appeared on everyone's faces.

Nobody doubted Tang Jie's formation mastery, as anyone who could lay down a teleportation formation was undoubtedly a master. The problem was that things weren't that simple. A teleportation formation was a link to another world, and once this link was officially established, it was impossible to say what the consequences would be.

It had to be understood that humans were extremely aggressive, and the upper echelons of the Flame Yang Domain were not unfamiliar with cultivator wars. It also wouldn't be the first time the Flame Yang Domain had experienced a tiger coming in through the front door and a wolf coming in through the back.

If they asked for help from the Rosecloud Domain to drive off the ghosts, what about after that? Would the Flame Yang Domain still belong to the people of the Flame Yang Domain? Nobody could say.

Moreover, Tang Jie had already divulged that this was a world with an Earth Immortal, which meant that the Rosecloud Domain was stronger than Flame Yang. They had to be careful.

In some aspects, humans were even scarier than the Nether Domain!

Tang Jie didn't find this scene strange.

To be more precise, he had already considered all this.

He slowly said, "In truth, teleportation formations aren't as strong or convenient as everyone thinks. First of all, the teleportation formation needs to be protected, and if a single teleportation node is broken, it no longer functions."

Everyone naturally understood this, but it wasn't like there were no ways to solve this. The simple reality was that if the Rosecloud Domain sent out large numbers of experts in a sudden assault and seized control of the teleportation formation, they could easily make it their own. And if the Flame Yang Domain wanted to request reinforcements from the Rosecloud Domain, a large number of experts would have to be coming over.

Tang Jie continued, "Secondly, each teleportation comes at a high cost, so high that large-scale teleportation is practically impossible. Finally, different teleportation formations have different limits. The stronger the cultivator, the higher the level of teleportation formation required. If one wants a teleportation formation able to carry an Earth Immortal, the level would be so high and the resources needed so valuable… I estimate that all of the Flame Yang Domain's power wouldn't be enough to afford one."

He was being honest there. The teleportation formation Tang Jie had set up in the Verdant Cloud Domain hadn't been able to hold an Earth Immortal, and it wasn't until after gathering more resources and improving the formation that he had finally brought it over the line. The price he had paid for it would have been enough to set up a large-scale sect.

The Flame Yang Domain had its own formation experts, and they all nodded, indicating that Tang Jie wasn't lying.

Everyone realized that if they restricted the level of the teleportation formation to limit the cultivation level of the visitors and its consumption to limit the number, they could control the strength of the reinforcements, allowing them to maintain control of the formation and ensure the Flame Yang Domain's safety.

Although this would decrease the number of reinforcements, it would be much better this way.

Even so, Yuan Tianzhong and company didn't immediately make a decision. This was no small matter, and time was needed to deliberate.

Tang Jie was in no rush, saying, "Sect Master Yuan can take your time deciding. As for right now, I can take a look at the Flame Yang Formation. If the Flame Yang Formation can hold back the Nether Domain's ghost fog and ensure the safety of humanity, then we might not even need to go through all the effort of setting up a teleportation formation."

The cultivators all sounded off, "That's right!"

As Tang Jie had said, the Flame Yang Formation being able to protect the Flame Yang Domain was the ideal result.

Only Tang Jie himself knew that this was a Nine Nethers Feast of three times greater intensity than usual, so the Flame Yang Domain's chances of holding it off were minuscule. But this was exactly why he couldn't say it and had to do everything he could to strengthen the formation and buy time. Only then would they believe that he was selflessly helping them.

In truth, Tang Jie really had no thoughts about having the Rosecloud Domain invade this place. But he felt like he needed a teleportation formation to teleport some things, for he sensed that there was not much time left for him over on the Blood River side…