Aspiring to the Immortal Path
Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 676: Chasing the Culprit

Allspring Mountain was the third-tallest mountain in the Verdant Cloud Domain. It was located in the center of the Verdant Cloud Domain and had steep sides. Because of the spring that flowed eternally from the summit, streams of water came pouring down its sides, making for a splendid sight, hence its name.

This had once been a scenic sight of the human country, and even now that the fiends occupied it, the uncultured fiends sighed in praise.

But today, Allspring Mountain had encountered disaster.

When Tang Jie arrived, he saw that a small part of the western face of the mountain had collapsed.

Petals and withered green roses could be found at the foot of the mountain.

Upon seeing those petals and roses, Tang Jie knew that this was where Yiyi had fought.

His eyes roved across the ground while his Divine Will scanned the area. He was pushing all of his Insight and Divine Will to the limit in order to find Yiyi.

He was deeply conflicted. He wanted to find Yiyi, but he was afraid that what he would find was her corpse.

But in the end, Tang Jie found nothing at all.

This gave Tang Jie a tinge of hope. Yiyi had probably been captured.

According to Yiyi, she had been passing through a mountainous region when she had come under attack by a group of fiends, led by a middle-phase Transformation fiend. In a one-on-one, Yiyi wouldn't have feared this fiend, but the problem was that this fiend was followed by three early-phase Transformation fiends and several hundred minor fiends, and one of the early-phase Transformation fiends was particularly strong, on par with a middle-phase fiend. He was of rather high status, able to order around that middle-phase Transformation fiend. He was also seemingly the one who had given the order to capture Yiyi.

Yiyi was no match in these circumstances, so she could only run.

If this group of fiends had captured Yiyi, they had probably gone back to their base. But who were they, and where was their base?

The suddenness of the attack and the fact that almost an entire day had passed meant that these fiends were very difficult to track down, and as more time passed, the danger Yiyi was in escalated.

Thinking this, Tang Jie looked up and saw that the waterfalls of Allspring Mountain had disappeared, replaced by barren cliff face. And at the top of the cliff, the water had been frozen into a glacier, its chill still permeating the entire mountain, constantly freezing the water flowing out of the mountain.

He could see that some bladed weapon had severed a chunk of the mountain, leaving the shorn area as smooth as a mirror. Importantly, this wasn't the power of some spell art, but the act of a casually swung blade. Such a sharp saber technique was rare to see, even among late-phase Transformation fiends. There was no way Yiyi would have survived this kind of attack, but given that it had fallen on the mountain and didn't seem like an accident, it seemed that this move was meant to show off and intimidate.

As for that glacier, while the persistent freezing was formidable and required much more power than that blade, in terms of profundity, the blade far surpassed it.

Tang Jie pondered this scene, and then he suddenly roared.

This wild roar resounded through the heavens like rumbling thunder.

Tang Jie then threw out a small flag.

This flag expanded in the wind, revealing upon it the character "皇" (Emperor).

This was a famous Fiend Emperor Flag. It was a sign that a Fiend Emperor was summoning all fiends in the area at Mind Opening or above.

This was the summons of a Fiend Emperor, and any fiend that didn't obey would be considered treasonous.

Other than Space-type treasures, the most important thing Tang Jie had taken from Silver Eyes' treasury was this treasure that represented his status, and he always kept it on his person.

As the Fiend Emperor Flag rose, beasts began to howl from all around the Allspring Mountain region.

Tigers, wolves, foxes, cranes—everything nearby came rushing out of the wilderness and converged on the mountain.

These beasts came to Tang Jie's feet and prostrated.

They were led by a mountain goat fiend, holding a cane. He bowed to Tang Jie and said, "So it was Your Majesty, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. Your Majesty, please forgive us for not welcoming you. Your Majesty, for what you have summoned us?"

Tang Jie put away the flag and pointed at the cliff. "Anyone who saw the battle that took place here yesterday, step forward."

The fiends looked up at the cliff, and a scorpion fiend immediately said, "Your Majesty, this lowly one saw it. Some fiends truly did battle here yesterday."

Tang Jie swiftly asked, "Do you know who they were?"

The scorpion fiend replied, "This lowly one is too weak and did not dare to get close, so I couldn't see it too clearly."

"Useless!" Tang Jie brusquely said. "If you couldn't see it clearly, why did you even say anything? Does anyone else know? Or can anyone tell who the perpetrator was from that glacier on the cliff? I will richly reward anyone with information!"

An eagle fiend immediately said, "This lowly one also saw it. A group of fiends was chasing a girl, and that girl seemed to be a sprite."

"I'm asking about the pursuers!" Tang Jie's body seethed with murderous energy. This pack of idiots was on the verge of driving him crazy.

The eagle fiend kowtowed in fright. "I only saw a fiend wielding a long saber that was wreathed in lightning. With one swing, there was a flash of lightning, and then the side of the mountain came down."

The mountain goat fiend grew pensive. "A flash of lightning from a single swing… it sounds like…"

"'Like'?" Tang Jie prompted.

The goat replied, "This one does not dare to be certain. I just feel that it is rather like the methods of the Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor."

'The Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor'?

Tang Jie was startled.

He naturally knew about the Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor, a Divine Division great fiend who had started as a Thunder Serpent. His Thunder Blade was converted from the horn on the top of his head and was extremely sharp, and he was the number one saber expert among the Five Fiend Emperors. Although the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor also used a saber, he primarily used the wills on the saber to suppress all, which had little connection to his saber technique.

The Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor's saber could have easily cut down a part of the mountain, and Yiyi had come from the east, so she had to pass through the Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor's empire. Even so, Tang Jie knew that the pursuer couldn't be the Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor, or else Yiyi would never have been able to escape capture for almost an entire day.

The goat also seemed to realize this, shaking his head and saying, "Nobody could escape from the Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor, so it shouldn't have been him."

Tang Jie asked, "Who else besides him could use this saber?"

The goat replied, "The Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor has a son known as the Little Thunder Emperor. He can also use it."

"Yes, yes, the Little Thunder Emperor could do it," the other fiends clamored in agreement.

Another fiend shouted, "The Little Thunder Emperor has a general at his side, a thousand-year-old Ice Goblin with supreme control of frost and ice. They could easily freeze up these mountain streams."

Tang Jie swiftly asked, "Is that Ice Goblin at the middle phase of Transformation, and is the Little Thunder Emperor at the early phase of Transformation?"

"Precisely!" all the fiends said in unison.

Tang Jie now understood. It had probably been that Little Thunder Emperor who had taken Yiyi away.

"Do you know what sort of person this Little Thunder Emperor is?" Tang Jie asked.

The goat grimaced and hesitantly said, "The Little Thunder Emperor is the only son of the Thunder Blade Fiend Emperor, and he's always been spoiled. As for his personality, it's said… he's rather free-spirited, delighting in pleasure… Whenever he gets together… you know, with a woman… bad news spreads."

While the goat's hesitation made his sentence very fragmentary, Tang Jie understood completely what he was trying to say.

It wasn't that Yiyi's identity had been discovered, but that some lecherous little prince had taken a liking to her.

Daring to try something with my Yiyi? Tang Jie's eyes seethed with killing intent.

A majestic energy erupted from his body, his tyrannical pressure causing all of the fiends to prostrate and tremble in fear as they pled for mercy.

Drawing back his aura, Tang Jie barked, "Where does the Little Thunder Emperor live?"

The goat stammered out, "I've heard that he's been appointed to Ji Province's Celestial Saber City as the Blossom King."

Tang Jie laughed. "A puny early-phase Transformation fiend dares to call himself a king? Since Lei Yuelong (Thunder Leaping Dragon) seems to be an incompetent teacher, I'll teach his son in his place!"

He immediately flew off to Ji Province.

After one day, he arrived at Celestial Saber City.

Floating above the city, Tang Jie barked, "Lei Biao (Thunder Whirlwind), you trash, get out here right now!"

This roar threw Celestial Saber City into an uproar.

An ignorant fool shouted in anger, "Who is so audacious as to cause trouble in Celestial Saber City!?"

But the moment he saw Tang Jie's face, he dropped to his knees in fear.

Others were even so impulsive as to attack first and ask questions later.

As spell arts shot into the sky, they revealed Tang Jie's scowling face.

Tang Jie simply grunted, "The audacity!"

He drew a finger across his back, causing blood to splash out.

Countless drops of blood turned into hands that seemed to emerge from Tang Jie's back.

Tang Jie was using Reflections of Floating Life to imitate Silver Eyes' Thousand Hands.

Thousand Faces wasn't restricted to only the human form. One of the most important reasons Tang Jie had created this Dao Art was that it could help him keep up his disguise on the battlefield. Of course, this disguise could never deceive another Fiend Emperor, or even a fiend king, but it was perfectly fine to deceive those weak minor fiends who were already cowed by the majesty of a Fiend Emperor.

As the Thousand Hands appeared, they fired off streams of spiritual energy, forming an immense spiritual pressure that made it seem like arts were being cast with a thought. In reality, Tang Jie was using the Thousand Hands as a cover to release his own energy and split it off into countless different streams.

Countless palms descended from the sky, crashing into the city and blasting giant handprints into the earth. As buildings crumbled, birds and beasts scattered, and countless minor fiends were crushed to death before they even realized what was going on.

Some of the more quick-witted fiends took to the air, but before they could do anything, the Thousand Hands behind Tang Jie threw out punches.

While it was still his own strength behind the Thousand Hands, with each punch being much weaker than usual, it was still enough to send these fiends flying, or simply explode the weaker ones.

There was a flash of lightning on the horizon, and an enraged voice roared, "Who dares to cause trouble in front of this king?"

Without even looking, Tang Jie swung around a palm, slapping that newcomer to the ground right as they were rising up.