Aspiring to the Immortal Path
Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 660: The Dao of the Martial Lord

Upon entering the Astral Wind layer, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor felt a terrifying power assailing him from all sides, comparable in ferocity to an attack from one of his peers.

Worst of all was that there could be no evading these attacks. While in the Astral Winds, he had to resist this kind of attack at every moment.

Fortunately, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had come prepared, taking on his original form before going in. His original body was extremely tough, and on top of that, he also used the Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra. This mantra had been developed by a powerful fiend Titan and had wondrous effects. After attaining Mind Opening, Silver Eyes had inadvertently come across this mantra, which was what had allowed him to reach his current level.

In truth, fiends never had an easy time cultivating. The arts and mantras they possessed had always been few in number, so most fiends relied on their innate talent to cultivate, with very few of them actually developing a systematic mantra. This was why, even though the fiends of the Verdant Cloud Domain outnumbered the humans by several times, their high-end combat forces were always equal to the humans, three to three. It was only one hundred years ago, when two more Fiend Emperors emerged, that the balance was finally broken. Alas, the Heavenly Dao Oath meant that these emperors were not allowed to intervene.

The Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra put a light golden radiance around the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, which repulsed the Astral Winds blowing on his body.

Although the Astral Winds of the Verdant Cloud Domain required a Violet Palace cultivator to be at the Deification Period to pass through, that was only to completely pass through it. It didn't mean that a cultivator of a lower tier would die on contact. To be weaker meant that one wouldn't be able to last for as long, and it would naturally be suicidal for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor to attempt to pass entirely through the vast Astral Wind layer. But staying in the Astral Winds for a little while was no problem.

As he fended off the Astral Winds, he focused his eyes. His Divine Will was greatly reduced in this place, so he had to rely on his physical eyes. As the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, he naturally had eyes with special powers. As he focused his vision, he saw that Tang Jie was still flying through the Astral Winds.

He was flying upward.

Such audacity!

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor snorted. His silver eyes flashed, and a storm began to form.

As the storm formed in his eyes, Tang Jie felt something strange happening around him. The Astral Winds stopped flowing, instead gathering into a ball as if they were gathering strength.

Realizing that something was wrong, he hastened his ascent, but the surrounding Astral Winds had already begun to spiral around him. The Astral Winds were already vicious, and as they began to rotate, they grew even stronger. Tang Jie felt like his body was being put through a meat grinder, the Astral Winds shaving off layer after layer of flesh.

He was aghast. This fiend really was a divinely powerful being, able to even harness the Astral Winds.

Down below, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor laughed. "Tang Jie, you tried to use the Astral Winds as a cover, so I'll have you die within them!"

His hundred legs began to move, traversing the empty space as if it was solid ground, and he drew closer and closer to Tang Jie. Meanwhile, the vortex of Astral Wind drew tighter and tighter, tearing away at him while also binding him.

Tang Jie knew that this was trouble. When it came to Astral Wind resistance, he was naturally superior to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, but in actual strength, he was still weaker. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had ample strength to kill him before his time in the Astral Winds ran out.

Thus, this battle was all about surviving until the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor reached his breaking point.

If the previous slaying of Silver Eyes was a test of his instantaneous offensive power, this was now a test of Tang Jie's defensive ability.

A moment later, Tang Jie erupted with all his strength, pushing back the restraining Astral Winds. The moment the restraints loosened, he activated the Chaoswind Step to leave the area. At the same time, the giant centipede barged in, biting down on empty space.

Seeing that Tang Jie had escaped, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor raised his head and hissed at Tang Jie.

The Astral Winds spiraled again, forming countless walls that pressed toward Tang Jie.

Tang Jie bellowed and threw out punch after punch, and those walls were torn apart before they could get close. But more Astral Wind walls continued to rush in.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chortled. "Let me see how long you can last!"

Waving his one hundred feet, he rushed up to Tang Jie and opened his mouth, unleashing a large cloud of mist. This mist mixed with the Astral Winds and swept toward Tang Jie.

This was the real power of a Fiend Emperor, able to open up the heavens with a simple action. The Astral Winds howled out with a power that could make the world tremble.

Tang Jie barely held out against this flood, but he was slowly reaching his limit.

While he was resistant to Astral Winds, this was not without limit. At most, because of the Parting Classic, he was able to last for a little longer than Silver Eyes. But right now, thanks to Silver Eyes' heavenly power, the Astral Winds were multiplying in power, and the time Tang Jie could last was shrinking.

If this continued, he would fall before the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor reached his limit.

Sure enough, the power of a Divine Division Titan was not so easily overcome. Even though Tang Jie had tried so hard, creating a miracle unprecedented in history was not easy. To kill one of Silver Eyes' lives was already amazing enough, but keeping this victory until the very end would be very difficult.

Tang Jie continued to struggle against the howling Astral Winds.

Human and fiend suffered within these harsh winds, but neither of them wanted to back down.

Even the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was flabbergasted at how long Tang Jie could last. As expected, there was a reason he had dared to charge into the Astral Winds.

Alas, in the end, he had underestimated the abilities of a Divine Division fiend. While he might have been inferior to Tang Jie in terms of defense, he had many times Tang Jie's offensive power.

"DIEEE!" Silver Eyes howled, the wind growing even stronger.

The concentrated winds squeezed at Tang Jie like airtight walls. Tang Jie threw up blood as his bones were dislocated, the winds penetrating into his organs and cells, the slivers of Destruction power ending any hope he had of recovery.

Tang Jie knew that this Astral Wind was imbued with Destruction energy.

The Astral Winds were born from the Dao of the world and had the ability to destroy all things, so it was natural that they belonged to the Dao of Destruction.

When he first charged into the Astral Winds, Tang Jie had felt the existence of Destruction energy, and while he had tried to study it once, he had failed.

The Astral Winds were no Myriad Immortals Cauldron. They were violent and unreasonable, giving nobody a chance to study them.

As this Destruction energy entered his body, a gray layer started to cover his body.

This Destruction power was death energy, a power that represented death.

This was one of the reasons Astral Winds were so frightening. Tang Jie had once been assailed by this death energy, and at the time, he had not been able to undo it. It was just that when he left the Astral Wind layer, the Destruction power ceased flowing in, so his Dao of Life was able to expel the remnants and begin the healing process. But now, it was coming back with even greater ferocity, and it was impossible for him to use the same solution.

Thus, the scene from before began to replay.

As the grayness spread, Tang Jie's flesh began to peel off, and his life force was callously devoured. Though he bellowed and roared, there was no stopping the encroachment of death upon his body. As he desperately struggled, golden ripples radiated from his body.

"A Great Dao Realm?" Silver Eyes was rather surprised, and then he heartily laughed. "I didn't think you would even have a Great Dao Realm! But so what? It's only a supportive realm with no combat power. As expected, a frantic patient will try to find a cure in anything!"

But this truly was the case. No matter how Tang Jie struggled, he couldn't break free of the restraints that Silver Eyes had placed on him. The golden light flashed, but it brought him no succor, blood pouring from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose in a horrifying sight.

His struggles gradually began to weaken.

The grayness of death had almost completely engulfed him, and Tang Jie looked almost like a corpse.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor exhaled. "So you still died? Damn little bastard, you made me use up my Deathless Heaven Pearl. But I guess getting a small world in return was worth it."

As he reached out to grab Tang Jie's corpse, Tang Jie suddenly moved.

Alarmed, Silver Eyes saw Tang Jie opening his eyes and looking at him.

He was smiling!

He said, "I understand."

Huh?

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was flabbergasted.

'Understand' what?

Tang Jie casually went on, "The Dao of the Martial Lord is to advance despite facing tens of millions, an attitude that bravely charges forward and never speaks of defeat, to always be attacking no matter what. Isn't it ridiculous? I was actually defending this whole time, trying to stall. It's no wonder I was suppressed by you…"

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor narrowed his eyes.

The gray energy began to retreat like the dawning sun was driving away the darkness of the night.

Tang Jie looked at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and roared, "The Dao of the Martial Lord is to be aggressive, to hone oneself, to march into death's arms and come out alive!"

As he roared, a majestic power began to surge out of his body.

The light of life was reignited within Tang Jie's body, endless vitality restoring his withered form.

Every cell of his body began to erupt with a formidable power.

This energy had been hidden within Tang Jie's body for far too long. In the earlier battle, a little bit of it had burst out, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. It was only now that it was fully unleashed.

Under this majestic force, the Astral Wind walls created by the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor were blown to smithereens.

With a single punch, Tang Jie scattered all of the Astral Winds around him.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor dumbly stared, and then he shrieked, "This is impossible! Did you break through?"

"'Break through'?" Tang Jie examined his fist and shook his head. "No, this isn't a breakthrough. I'm just using my real power!"

He threw another punch, this time at Silver Eyes' face.

"No!" Silver Eyes shouted and leapt up.

He didn't dare to underestimate such a powerful punch. He instantly assumed human form, the Thousand Hands appearing and blurring as they formed countless signs before forming a massive sign and thrusting at the air.

This was a spell art requiring signs from a Divine Division fiend, so it had to be enormously powerful.

The howling blast from Tang Jie's punch rammed into the sphere formed by the Thousand Hands, and the resultant shockwave blasted away the surrounding Astral Winds.

A dazzling human figure appeared behind the head of Silver Eyes. It raised a hand and bellowed, "Imperial Ember Lotus!"

A golden lotus bloomed in the space between the two.

A wave of light surged out, slamming into Tang Jie and sending him flying back, vomiting blood as his flesh and skin cracked apart.

"As I said, a Celestial Heart stands no chance of defeating Divine Division!" Silver Eyes snarled. "Such a thing has never happened before in the Great Stellar Chiliocosm! Die!"

The Thousand Hands opened once more, merging together into a giant golden hand that flew forward.

Even though Tang Jie's strength had swelled under this pressure, a Fiend Emperor was still a Fiend Emperor, not something a simple eruption of hidden potential could deal with. It had managed to shrink the gap, but it had not brought them even.

But Tang Jie felt no fear.

The Dao of the Martial Lord encompassed a lot of things, but fear definitely wasn't among them.

Even if he died, he would die while attacking, die while confident and arrogant!

Standing in the air, Tang Jie took out the Herding Yang Pearl and glanced at it. It was covered in cracks.

He knew that if he used it this time, he probably wouldn't be able to use it again, but he still swallowed it. Raising his hands, he produced the Sovereign Blade and Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe, bringing them together to form the Nine Extinctions Blade.

Tang Jie declared, "All precedents have a day when they are broken. Today, I will bring an end to this legend!"

He swung the long saber at Silver Eyes.

This strike contained all his power.

He no longer planned on wearing out Silver Eyes with the Astral Winds. He would simply charge forward, recklessly and boldly!

"One strike of the Nine Extinctions Blade can't kill me!" Silver Eyes snarled.

His Thousand Hands opened to meet the saber.

Tang Jie replied, his eyes like beads of ice, "I didn't say this was Nine Extinctions… Ten Extinctions Blade!"

A gray energy appeared on the hilt and wrapped around the entire blade.

The blade sliced forward!