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So there really were people watching from outside of the blessed land? Tang Jie mentally remarked in surprise. He quickly thought back, trying to remember whether he had done something that could have exposed him.

Fortunately, he had been cautious enough and acted with restraint. It now appeared that while his actions had drawn shock and surprise, incidents like using the Mindseizer to befuddle Lan Yu and the Weapon Mantra to shatter the art relic all had other plausible explanations. The former had the Four-Nine True Word Mantra while the latter had simple brute strength. This wasn’t enough for someone to think that something was wrong, right? Was it not allowed to suddenly explode with hidden potential?

On the contrary, so quickly reaching Mortal Shedding was the bigger shock, particularly because he had done it without the guidance of a teacher. In truth, it was even more unbelievable than the shattering of Lan Yu’s weapon.

This point was Tang Jie’s least worry. After all, no matter how much attention was paid to him, he couldn’t possibly be linked to Tang Jie and He Chong in the faraway Nine Executions Immortal Formation. All that could be said was that Tang Jie had been amply prepared and possessed astounding talent.

After organizing his thoughts and confirming that he hadn’t done anything without a plausible explanation, he finally sighed in relief.

Ignoring the people outside, Tang Jie drew his gaze back and saw a small sword flying out from the horizon.

This was the messenger sword used specifically by the Basking Moon Sect. The blade had no edge, it was small and nimble, and the seals upon it were all designed for flight.

As the small sword flew close, Tang Jie grabbed it and removed the letter that was tied to it. He saw that it was Ye Tianshang who had written it. It turned out that he had seen the rainbow light that came from Tang Jie’s charge, and was asking if a treasure had appeared.

As everyone was storing the treasures, it had been some time since a rainbow light had appeared over the blessed land, and any that did appear would be gone in an instant. The rainbow light from Tang Jie’s charge at Mortal Shedding had lasted for quite a while, so there were naturally people who asked what was going on, if someone was trying to use this chance to run off with a treasure.

As for a charge at Mortal Shedding, the thought hadn’t even entered their minds. It was simply too absurd given the time that had passed, and no one had ever seen a scene like this during the Mortal Shedding process.

Reading the letter from Ye Tianshang, Tang Jie thought about it before replying, “It’s nothing. Let’s meet up and talk in person.”

He threw out the small sword, having it go back the way it had come.

Since he had reached Mortal Shedding, he naturally didn’t need to waste any more time.

In a clearing on the eastern end of the blessed land, Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang were having a spar. Nearby, the other Basking Moon Sect students were sitting around and cheering.

Wei Tianchong was the most energetic. “Hit him! Hit him! Hit him! Great Brother, good job! Kill that turtle Ye Tianshang!”

In the True Inheritor struggle, in the first mission, Ye Tianshang had had him running around willy-nilly, and Wei Tianchong still felt resentful about it. Peng Yaolong used his steely fist like a hammer, pushing Ye Tianshang back, and Wei Tianchong cried out in excitement.

Ye Tianshang coldly laughed. “You think it’s that easy? Out of my way!”

The Sandstream Sword sent a wave of light at Peng Yaolong, but Peng Yaolong charged at it with a roar, his fist radiating energy. As fist met sword energy, there was an explosion of light.

This was Peng Yaolong using the Energy-Blood Simulflow Art. This overlapping allowed him to erupt with greater power that dissipated the sword wave with a single strike, the shockwave sending Ye Tianshang flying with some blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. At this moment, another sword suddenly appeared in Ye Tianshang’s left hand.

The Profound Yin Sword.

He slashed the Profound Yin Sword against the ground, and in an eruption of light, a frigid energy engulfed the area. Besides that, a sharp sword phantom sliced at Peng Yaolong’s arm, cutting open a wound.

Physically, Peng Yaolong was actually somewhat stronger than Ye Tianshang, but Tang Jie had passed to Ye Tianshang the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools Art, which had faster and more obvious results. Ye Tianshang had been diligently cultivating this art as of late, and his strength had soared. Together with his new sword art relic boosting his strength even more, he was able to fight evenly against Peng Yaolong.

Ye Tianshang landed, and when he saw that he had injured Peng Yaolong, he laughed and said, “It’s a shame that this Profound Yin Sword doesn’t mesh with my cultivation mantra, so I can’t use it too well and can only do something like this once in a while. Otherwise, you definitely would have lost.”

“Tsk.” Peng Yaolong scowled. “You’ve missed your chance. Don’t even dream about beating me in the future.”

He had already reached a minor level of attainment in the Energy-Blood Simulflow and was already seeing some small boosts to his strength. In a few more days, he would be able to fully express this strength, and his every move would be brimming with power. No matter how fast Ye Tianshang’s sword was, one punch would be enough to blast them away.

As the two were having a war of words, a shining sword flew out of the horizon.

Ye Tianshang grabbed it and then gleefully said, “Tang Jie is coming.”

“He’s finally willing to show himself?” Peng Yaolong joyfully said.

He hadn’t seen Tang Jie since entering the Langya Blessed Land. He had been planning to help Tang Jie out during this competition, not expecting this kid to leave behind a few orders before running off to cultivate.

While the blessed land was rich in resources, and cultivating here was several times more efficient than cultivating outside, how much could one really benefit from cultivating here for twenty-some days? Moreover, everyone would be making the same amount of progress. While you were cultivating, others were cultivating as well, and when one considered talent, those with lower talent would not benefit as much as those with high talent. Thus, Peng Yaolong cared little about such a last-minute way of doing things.

But since everyone else supported Tang Jie’s idea, Peng Yaolong couldn’t just go out on his own, so he had joined the others.

Everyone else grew excited once they heard that Tang Jie was coming, Wei Tianchong saying, “He’s finally coming. I wonder how much progress he’s made in his cultivation.”

“How much progress could he have made?” a student retorted. “It was only twenty-some days. Even if the blessed land’s spiritual energy is so concentrated that you can get five days’ worth of cultivation in a single day, that’s only three months of hard cultivation. With his aptitude, he wouldn’t even be able to make it to the middle of Spirit Sea.”

“Qing Yuan, aren’t you looking down on him?” another student jokingly asked.

“Of course not. I admire Tang Jie’s combat power a lot, but cultivation isn’t something you can do in a day. I’m just being realistic. When it comes to cultivation, he’s ultimately still the weakest,” the student called Qing Yuan swiftly replied.

“Exactly. I would even wager that no matter how hard he cultivates, he can’t be faster than Shaoming,” Long Dao added. He had never had a good impression of Tang Jie and always took the opportunity to insult him. Qi Shaoming had been in Spirit Sea for nearly a year and was currently in the middle stage of Spirit Sea. He had benefited greatly from his time cultivating in the blessed land and had almost reached the late stage. Among all the Spirit Platform Realm students participating, his cultivation level was the highest.

But surprisingly, Qi Shaoming, who was standing all alone beneath a big tree, holding his sword, coldly replied, “There’s no guarantee of that.”

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“Hm? Shaoming, what do you mean by that?” Long Dao said in surprise.

Qi Shaoming replied, “I know Tang Jie. He never does anything meaningless. He would only decide to do such a thing if he stood to make the greatest gain. While all of us have improved while cultivating in this time, I would bet that no one has improved more than he has.”

Long Dao sneered, “What? Qi Shaoming, you’re an illustrious nine-cycle-Jade-Gate genius. Are you saying that you would lose out to a five-cycle Jade Gate when it comes to cultivation?”

Qi Shaoming replied, “I don’t feel bad about losing to Tang Jie. At least I’m not losing to you.”

“You!” Long Dao was speechless with anger.

He wanted to say more when Qi Shaoming added, “Just now, a rainbow light shot up from the fish lip rock, and then Tang Jie said that he was rejoining us. I wouldn’t believe it if you said that these two had no connection.”

Everyone shared a glance, clearly noticing the implication behind these words.

As they were looking at each other, a figure flew toward them. Who could this be except Tang Jie?

“He’s flying over?” Ye Tianshang was the first to understand the significance of this action. His eyes bulged out as he said, “He couldn’t have… no…”

He was so shocked that he couldn’t finish, but everyone already understood what he meant.

Mortal Shedding!

Tang Jie had shed his mortality!

This was too unbelievable.

Long Dao glared. “No, this isn’t possible! He couldn’t have done it so quickly! He must have gotten close before flying.”

Everyone looked at him in disdain, Peng Yaolong even snorting, “Idiot, the messenger sword only just arrived, and then Tang Jie came. Who can actually run that fast?”

Long Dao’s mind was left buzzing by these words.

Yes, the messenger sword had just arrived, and now Tang Jie was here. That could only mean that Tang Jie had followed the flying sword. He would never be able to do this unless he had reached Mortal Shedding.

Tang Jie had really shed his mortality.

But how could he have done it so quickly?

Let alone him, even Qi Shaoming and Wei Tianchong were looking at the distant figure of Tang Jie in shock. While Qi Shaoming had mentally prepared himself for this, he was still utterly stunned by the fact that Tang Jie had gone from the early stage of Spirit Sea all the way to the Mortal Shedding Realm in the span of twenty-some days.

This went against all common sense.

Tang Jie flew over, landing nearby and saluting them. “Tang Jie pays respects to his senior brothers.”

“Tang Jie, you’ve shed your mortality?” Peng Yaolong shouted.

Even though they had already guessed it, Peng Yaolong still decided to ask.

Tang Jie nodded. “Mm. Thanks to the blessed land, I was fortunate enough to shed my mortality.”

Everyone was in an uproar over these words.

“Wonderful!” All of them cheered, and Wei Tianchong even rushed up and hugged him. Only Long Dao and the two students he was on pretty good terms with had dour looks, upset by this news.

Peng Yaolong came up and also gave Tang Jie a hug. “Good job! While reaching Mortal Shedding in a year and a half can’t be considered an academy record, no one with a five-cycle Jade Gate has ever been faster. What’s even more incredible is that you did it in the middle of the competition. This boost in combat power will increase our chances of winning this contest.”

Tang Jie smiled. “Godhead and Beast Refining have already lost, and the combination of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion shouldn’t be able to beat us and the Thousand Passions Sect, right? Even without me, I think everyone is strong enough to win the day.”

“An extra bit of strength is still an extra bit of hope,” Ye Tianshang chuckled. “It’s no wonder you insisted on cultivating here. You probably planned all this out, right? Be honest! Was this all because of the blessed land quotas we gave you?”

Tang Jie laughed and confessed, “I was fortunate enough to know some methods for processing spirit plants and absorbing their energy in the field, so it would be a great pity if I didn’t use them.”

“So there really was something going on!” Ye Tianshang gave Tang Jie a light punch. “You were keeping this treasure all to yourself and not telling us.”

Tang Jie helplessly said, “I can teach you anything except that! If I do, the teachers will probably tear me apart.”

The academy’s rules treated personal acts as being based on one’s own fortune, but casually teaching this technique would be violating the taboo, so while Tang Jie could do it himself, he couldn’t teach others. Fortunately, everyone understood this, and once they understood how he had improved himself, they praised his good fortune in obtaining this sort of method. Even the pitiful Long Dao, the son of a True Person, didn’t know of this method for processing spirit plants.

Having not seen Tang Jie for twenty-some days, everyone was now happy and laughing, and Tang Jie got a chance to understand what had happened in the blessed land in these twenty-some days.

After the battle on the first day, things didn’t end up as calm as Tang Jie had anticipated.

While Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate had withdrawn, there were still a few of them who weren’t willing to leave the blessed land and wanted to try for a miracle. And after beating these two sects, the two remaining sect alliances switched from collaborators to competitors. The members of the four sects didn’t dare to split up, so they each occupied their own corner of the blessed land. Basking Moon was in the east, Thousand Passions in the north, Horizon Ocean in the west, and Seven Absolutions in the south. They were positioned such that they could each go to the aid of their ally.

There had been a few clashes between the two sides as they tested each other’s strength. In most of them, the Basking Moon

/Thousand Passions alliance had come out ahead. But as they weren’t in a rush to leave the blessed land, Peng Yaolong and the others hadn’t killed anyone.

“Have the ten treasures all come out? Do we know if the Stop Gate Banner ended up with anyone?” Tang Jie asked.

Qi Shaoming replied, “Not sure. The ten treasures should have all appeared, but we can’t be sure about the details, as everyone is very careful and no one has taken it out. Thus, other than the fact that Lin Wang has the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup, we don’t know how many treasures have appeared or who has them.”

“Lin Wang still hasn’t left?” Tang Jie asked in surprise.

Everyone laughed. “His Seven Absolutions Sect has only nine people in all, so one person gone makes them that much weaker. How could he dare to leave? But that’s perfect for us, as it gives us an opportunity.”

The rules set by the Wandering Palace stated that when students had held a treasure for twelve hours, they could leave, thus confirming their spot as part of the top ten. They could stay in the blessed land instead, but this would mean that the treasure could be stolen.

Of note was that a treasure stolen in this situation was not subject to the twelve-hour time restriction. This was because it already had an owner, and when it was stolen, it was no longer an objective of the competition, but a possession being taken from a contestant. This was also why the person who stole it would not be considered part of the top ten.

Thus, if Lin Wang didn’t leave, everyone could try to take the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup from him. Of course, the top ten spot belonging to the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup had already been assigned to Lin Wang, and nothing could change that. Even killing him would only mean that the top ten would become the top nine.

“Then how many do we have?” Tang Jie asked.

“Two,” Peng Yaolong replied. “I’m protecting one, and we haven’t decided about the other one. Are you interested in it, Tang Jie?”

Tang Jie shook his head. “I’m only interested in the Stop Gate Banner. You guys can decide how to handle it.”

“But we don’t even know who has the Stop Gate Banner,” a student said.

“This is very simple,” Tang Jie chuckled. “Just take out the treasure.”

“‘Take out the treasure’?” Peng Yaolong’s eyes flashed. “You mean… start the war?”

Tang Jie grinned. “Yes, start the war!”

For Tang Jie, as he was in Mortal Shedding now, there was no point in delaying any longer. As the stronger side, he naturally wanted to be proactive in seeking out the decisive battle.

Peng Yaolong erupted in laughter. “I was waiting for you to say that.”

Peng Yaolong was already sick of these days. If not for the fact that the one cultivating was Tang Jie, and that Tang Jie had done him a favor by giving him that art, Peng Yaolong would have already rallied everyone into an attack.

All of the Basking Moon Sect students grew excited, and as they were about to reveal their treasures, a beam of rainbow light shot up from the distance.

The rainbow light came from the south, penetrating into the heavens like a spear.

Everyone understood what this meant:

Seeking out a decisive battle!