Tang Jie flew from Freedom Hall to the back mountain.

Upon reaching the Cloud Ancestor’s hut, he tidied up his clothes and stood before the door.

The Cloud Ancestor’s voice drifted out. “Come in.”

He pushed open the door and entered. Inside, the Cloud Ancestor was seated on a mat, and next to him was a woman with a delicate appearance: Lin Xin’s body, within which dwelled the soul of the Azure Dragon.

Apparently, he had arrived when the two were discussing the Dao.

Seeing this, Tang Jie smiled and said, “I pay my respects to Ancestor and to Senior Azure Dragon.”

The Azure Dragon rolled its eyes and looked away, ignoring him. Ever since it had entered this body, its soul had begun to resonate with it, and it had started to take on more feminine behaviors.

Tang Jie didn’t mind her, saying to the Cloud Ancestor, “Ancestor, this disciple has reached peak Infant Tending.”

Yun Tianlan opened his eyes and scanned Tang Jie’s body before nodding. “You truly have reached the peak. I didn’t think the Imperial Sky Stamp would be so useful in your hands.”

Tang Jie smiled. “But how has the Divine Will Golden Body helped Ancestor?”

Yun Tianlan glared at him. “You’re asking this because you’re worried over whether I can help you ascend, right?”

Tang Jie simply chuckled.

Although the charge at Deification wasn’t as dangerous as the charge at Violet Palace, the difficulty was immense. Moreover, if one failed, even if one managed to survive, the Divine Soul would be damaged, the repair process easily taking years.

Tang Jie had used fifteen years to reach the peak of Infant Tending and had only five years left. He essentially had no room for failure and had to succeed in one attempt.

That was why he had gone to the Cloud Ancestor.

This was exactly what the Cloud Ancestor had promised. Tang Jie had done so much for him, so he naturally had to protect his junior and ensure that he safely broke through into Deification.

For an Earth Immortal, protecting a junior was a minor trifle, but this sort of protection was extremely exhausting on them, so they did not do such things lightly.

If Tang Jie had not accomplished so much, gaining him the instruction of a Gold Immortal, blessing him with fortune, and getting him the Divine Will Golden Body, Yun Tianlan would not have agreed to this request.

Tang Jie naughtily smiled, but Yun Tianlan said nothing, simply waving his hand.

Tang Jie was suddenly surrounded by clouds, inside a palace in the sky rather than a thatched hut, Immortal cranes flitting to and fro while fairies smiled around him.

In this palace, he was like one of those mortal kings, looking down upon all living things, insufferably domineering.

For a moment, Tang Jie was dazzled by all these fantastical visions.

Fortunately, he had a firm mind and instantly realized what was going on, shouting, “Break!”

Under the Four-Nine True Words, the illusion was shattered. Yun Tianlan was still sitting in front of him, smiling.

Tang Jie was startled at first, and then he shouted in realization, “The Wave-Generating Illusion Ocean Divine Connection! Martial Ancestor has already entered True Immortal!”

The Wave-Generating Illusion Ocean was a powerful Divine Connection, but Yun Tianlan had never cultivated it before. Nevertheless, he had used it with great ease.

Gods were omnipotent.

A True Immortal’s limits were the limits of their imagination, their abilities surpassing the scope of spell arts and Divine Connections. Anything they had seen or thought of could be made real with a thought, which was why they were called supreme.

This was the power wielded by Supreme True Immortals, their thoughts becoming spell arts, shaping the world.

Thus were they called omnipotent!

At this level, cultivators battled on the fields of formless things like Great Daos and Divine Wills, not things with form like spell arts or Divine Connections.

That Yun Tianlan could pull Tang Jie into an illusion with just a thought was a sign of this.

But Yun Tianlan shook his head. “I have only had a glimpse of that realm, but I have yet to achieve it.”

Yun Tianlan had yet to achieve the final breakthrough, but after absorbing the Divine Will within the golden body, he had finally reached the peak of Earth Immortal, only half a step away from True Immortal. And thanks to the instruction from Immortal Ji Yao and the Azure Dragon, he had comprehended a little of the essence of True Immortal, unlocking some of the mysteries of the Divine Will, allowing him to instantly create an illusion. But since he had only had a glimpse, Tang Jie had been able to break out. Otherwise, a True Immortal was so powerful that even a Divine Connection they had never touched before would be able to lock up Tang Jie for some time.

“But you’re only a sliver away,” Tang Jie excitedly said.

The Basking Moon Sect was finally going to get a Supreme True Immortal.

The day Yun Tianlan broke through would be the day that the Basking Moon Sect dominated Rosecloud. The era of the six sects would be swept into the dustbin of history, replaced by the rule of one single hegemon.

This was something that every cultivator of the Basking Moon Sect dreamed. One could even say that reaching the summit, achieving the apex, was the meaning of human existence.

But the Azure Dragon snorted. “It’s only a sliver, but it’s as sturdy as the spatial barrier.”

Tang Jie’s face went stiff. Yes, the final step was not that easy to make.

Yun Tianlan smiled. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve benefited a lot thanks to you, and the blessing of fortune has allowed me to slowly grind away at this barrier. I’m already 70% of the way there, and I guarantee that I can achieve True Immortal in ten years.”

These words instilled Tang Jie with confidence.

But the Azure Dragon added, “But if you help him break into Deification, you will affect your own fortune. Without the protection of fortune, you will find it hard to advance for the next fifty years.”

The Azure Dragon held a deep grudge against Tang Jie and was willing to foil his plans whenever it had the opportunity, earning it an angry look from Tang Jie.

Fortunately, Yun Tianlan was unaffected, chuckling, “It’s only fifty years. Kindness should be repaid in turn. Without this child, I probably would have never had this chance. Since that’s the case, I can’t possibly wrong him for my own selfishness. Fifty years will go by in the blink of an eye, but if he misses out on this opportunity to enter Deification, he will ultimately die to Jewel, which will leave me disturbed and restless.”

With a wave of his sleeve, he sent the Azure Dragon back into the Eternity Sarcophagus to be sealed once more.

Yun Tianlan would always let it out once every few years to discuss the Dao with it, but it would never be allowed to remain outside, so as to avoid the dragon soul reawakening its power and bringing everyone trouble. Thus, even though it had been two hundred years since Tang Jie had brought back the Azure Dragon, the Azure Dragon had only experienced around a month of time and was still far away from recovering its strength.

Once the Azure Dragon had been resealed, Tang Jie asked, “Right, Martial Ancestor, has the Azure Dragon shown any strange signs lately?”

Yun Tianlan shook his head. “All is normal, and I have detected nothing strange.”

Tang Jie grunted.

Yun Tianlan understood what he was thinking. “What? You still think that Immortal Ji Yao is up to something?”

Tang Jie shook his head. “For some reason, I feel like this matter is rather suspicious. While she was lovers with the Martial Lord, that’s ultimately a part of the past, not the present. Immortal Ji Yao has already fallen into demonhood, so I don’t believe that she doesn’t want to get out. It’s precisely because she’s behaving so casually that I have these doubts. The Eternity Sarcophagus is a Dao armament, yet she gifted it to me. This only makes me more uneasy.” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Tang Jie shook his head. “I hope that I’m just being paranoid.”

After all, Immortal Ji Yao was his master’s wife, so such speculations were very disrespectful.

After reaching Violet Palace, Tang Jie had come to care a lot more about etiquette and ritual, no longer acting as if they didn’t exist, and he became much more unwilling to assign wicked motives to others, so he quickly put the thought to the side.

From this day forward, Yun Tianlan began to prepare Tang Jie for the charge to Deification.

In truth, the Basking Moon Sect had begun preparing for this long beforehand, and Yun Tianlan primarily instructed Tang Jie in terms of mantras.

Three years passed by in all this preparation.

In these three years, Tang Jie adjusted his mindset to its optimal state.

Only when Yun Tianlan thought that he was ready did he decide to begin his attempt.

On this day, the summit of Starsnatch Peak.

Tang Jie was seated high above, and down below, countless Basking Moon disciples looked up and watched.

Tang Jie had become a banner for the Basking Moon Sect, and his every move and action was being watched. Moreover, this attempt at Deification was the fastest in the history of the Rosecloud Domain, only one hundred and fifty years having passed between Infant Tending and Deification. Thus, even the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Thousand Passions Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had sent people to observe.

The latter received particular attention, basically everyone except Xu Miaoran being kept under close watch for fear that they might try to sow chaos in Tang Jie’s ascension.

The people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion scoffed at the idea, knowing that this was the worst time to cause trouble. On the contrary, even a fool could see that if the Basking Moon Sect was being so open about Tang Jie’s ascension, they wanted Horizon Ocean Pavilion to cause trouble.

The reason was very simple. The chances of ascending to Deification were usually very low, and Tang Jie might be no different. Considering that his battle with Jewel was in three years, if he failed, he wouldn’t get a second chance. And if the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion caused trouble, the Basking Moon Sect could push the blame onto them and rightfully refuse to honor the duel. And in the eyes of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, even if Tang Jie did succeed, there was still an entire tier between him and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. Their only fear was not that he would succeed, but that he would refuse to fight.

This was why the people sent by Horizon Ocean Pavilion to observe had been repeatedly told not to cause trouble so as to avoid giving Tang Jie any excuses.

In any case, Tang Jie’s charge at Deification took place before a vast audience.

Tang Jie was still, as if in meditation.

Someone curiously asked, “Why hasn’t he started yet?”

A cultivator who understood the secrets of Deification replied, “He’s already started.”

The crowd was confused.

Another cultivator explained, “At Violet Palace and above, all changes take place on the Primal Infant. A clash of Divine Souls is dangerous and unpredictable, but they are hard to see unless they willingly show themselves. Don’t be fooled by the composed figure of the Freedom Celestial Sovereign. Within the body, his Primal Infant within the Violet Palace is probably already in battle against the heavens, seeking to evolve.”

“Then doesn’t that mean we can’t see anything?” a cultivator dejectedly said.

If everything took place in the body, then there was no show to see.

“No rush, no rush. Although the charge to Deification takes place in the body, the Divine Will is connected to the world, so occasionally, internal changes are projected outside,” a knowledgeable cultivator said. He pointed into the distance. “Everyone, look over there.”

The crowd looked over to a distant part of the sky. Clouds had suddenly emerged here, quickly gathering into a dense and intimidating mass.

A person could be made out within the clouds, with a form and appearance similar to Tang Jie’s.

Even the most dimwitted cultivator who saw this understood that this was a manifestation of Tang Jie’s Primal Infant in the outside world.

His Primal Infant was still in the Violet Palace and had not exited the body, but the connection to the world had projected its image onto the world, making it seem like a majestic figure in the sky. It was rather similar to the Divine Will avatar of the Guangfa Godhead.

But the Guangfa Godhead’s Divine Will avatar had had far more power and presence than Tang Jie’s mere illusion, such was the vast difference between them.

Of course, this was solely a difference in Divine Wills.

Once the projection appeared, the crowd began to chatter.

Everyone understood that Tang Jie’s attempt at Deification had begun.

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