Thorned vines slithered closer like snakes.

Wang Juemie’s eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets as he bellowed, “You dare!”

This bellow concentrated all of his power, reverberating through the valley like a lion’s roar. Yiyi trembled all over, and the vines stiffened in the air.

Wang Juemie charged over to Yiyi as quickly as he could. Whether or not he could make it in time, he couldn’t just sit back and watch as Yiyi killed his juniors, particularly the juniors he cherished the most. If Yiyi dared to hurt them, he swore that he would tear her into pieces!

At this moment, the trembling Tang Jie suddenly opened his eyes. “You had best… stop!”

Yiyi and Wang Juemie both froze.

“Big Brother!” Yiyi cried out in delight.

Wang Juemie stared hard at Tang Jie, shouting, “Tang Jie, you had better not feign death. Tell us: did I feed you poison or not?”

“Talk about it… later,” Tang Jie squeezed out, and then his eyes rolled over as he fainted again. But this time, he was no longer convulsing.

Now that he had spoken, Yiyi and Wang Juemie didn’t dare to act recklessly, so they opted to just wait for him.

After a long time…

Finally, Tang Jie’s body twitched.

He opened his eyes and exhaled, “So painful… so good…”

“Big Brother, you’re finally okay.” Yiyi hugged Tang Jie’s neck and wept.

Tang Jie weakly replied, “Yes, I’m finally okay. I really didn’t expect this medicine to be so fierce. It almost killed me. If not for my Nine… my secret art, I really might have died there. But fortunately, I managed to benefit immensely…”

Wang Juemie had given him the real deal, but unexpectedly, Tang Jie had hardly been able to endure its medicinal power.

It was hard to blame him. It had to be understood that the Undying Celestial Origin Pill was an extremely domineering restorative medicine. A normal person couldn’t endure its power, and even Wang Juemie could only withstand three per year. After taking one, his body would be bursting with energy for some time afterward, his recovery speed increased. This medicine wasn’t just fierce, but also long-lasting.

Wang Juemie had dared to give it to Tang Jie entirely because the constitution Tang Jie had displayed indicated that he could endure the medicinal power of the Undying Celestial Origin Pill.

But he hadn’t thought about how he might have been different from Tang Jie.

Tang Jie’s greatest problem was that his body refining had been too safe.

When Wang Juemie had refined his body, he had run up a mountain every day while carrying weight and had his body beaten with staves. He would recover using medicine and then continue the process, cultivating every day until every part of his body was sporting wounds. Even broken hands and feet were commonplace. To sum it up, it was a flesh wound every day, a broken bone every month, and walking on the line between life and death every year.

This method of refining had involved eating numerous kinds of restorative medicine, which endowed him with the ability to resist the tyrannical power of the Undying Celestial Origin Pill.

Tang Jie didn't have this kind of experience.

Wang Juemie didn't know that Tang Jie's body refining had come so easily. He felt that if Tang Jie had been able to reach this point, even if he was inferior to himself and might suffer some more pain from the medicine, he would still be capable of digesting the pill.

Little did he know that this was the fiercest restorative Tang Jie had taken in his life, and it had almost broken him.

He had survived not because he was strong enough or lucky enough, but because of the Ninedark Mantra!

Four years of cultivation had allowed Tang Jie to reach minor attainment in the Ninedark Mantra.

The greatest attribute of this mantra was its ability to boost all aspects of a cultivator.

To put it more bluntly, it was an art that seemed to be made for improving all passive abilities. Cultivating would allow one to add attribute points, boost critical damage, increase HP, and so on. With each additional level one grasped, this boost would get a little stronger.

The Ninedark Mantra had a special effect called the Hundred Calamities Passage.

The Hundred Calamities Passage had the ability to stimulate all of a body's potential to protect one's life upon receiving a heavy injury. Not only could it save a dying person's life, it could also boost one's strength. So long as one's body wasn't obliterated or potential completely drained, one wouldn't die.

And Tang Jie had plenty of potential.

The Parting Classic's body refinement was a dual process. The first used herbs to boost the body and the second required tempering through training. But the Martial Mirror had not left behind a method of tempering.

Perhaps the Martial Lord had found tempering to be an extremely simple matter. One just needed to fight or put the body through arduous training as Wang Juemie had. What was needed wasn't some particular method, but tenacious persistence. Thus, there was simply no need to leave behind a particular method for tempering.

Nobody could have expected Tang Jie to receive the Parting Classic and only do as it said, only adding to his potential and not tempering it. And the occasional tough battle could only stimulate a limited amount of potential.

Now, the rush of medicinal power from the Undying Celestial Origin Pill had activated the Hundred Calamities Passage, which had made Tang Jie's potential explode.

The Undying Celestial Origin Pill was a powerful restorative, and Tang Jie had possessed enormous potential, and when all this was combined with the effect of the Hundred Calamities Passage, it created a miraculous opportunity…

"So you're saying that the medicine made you stronger?

" Yiyi felt like she understood what Tang Jie was saying.

"Mm.

" Tang Jie nodded. He softly said to Yiyi,

"I've already reached Jewel minor attainment.

"

Minor attainment in the Jewel Body? Yiyi was stunned.

In the last few years, while Tang Jie's body had seen some improvement, it had actually remained at the Wood Body. He had appeared so formidable because the Hundred Refinement Tier of Mortal Shedding refined the body, so the combined result made it seem like he was at the Jewel Body. But in essence, he was only one tier higher than ordinary cultivators, though this was enough to overcome the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples.

Now, however, he had truly obtained the Jewel Body. When put together with the effects of his Mortal Shedding body refining, he was essentially at the high tier of the Jewel Body, back to the level the original Tang Jie had reached four years ago.

Yiyi knew very well how much money it took to bring a Wood Body to a Jewel Body. In the last few years, for the sake of making the teleportation formation a little earlier, Tang Jie had spent tons of money on cultivating the Parting Classic, but unexpectedly, he had suddenly achieved it in one day.

"That's not all. I've reached greater attainment in Hundred Refinement. I'm almost ready to rise to Nine Revolutions.

" Tang Jie smiled.

"Really? That's wonderful!

" Yiyi's eyes sparkled.

The blessings had come so suddenly that it was almost hard to look at them directly.

The little girl couldn't help but blurt out,

"Is there anything else?

"

"Oh, if I had to say that there was something, it feels like I'll be able to use more of my body's abilities.

"

"'Use more abilities'?

"

"Yes, this is actually the most worthwhile.

" Tang Jie looked at the distant figure of Wang Juemie.

"This guy… if you said that he had one hundred points of energy, then he's able to express two hundred, or even three hundred, but for me, it's already pretty good to use all the power I have… I'm talking about normally.

"

Battles like the one Tang Jie had had with Lu Xiaoyu and company were considered abnormal, and in such states, he could express 200% of his power.

But as a consequence, he could faint or even die.

But Wang Juemie could use 200% of his power normally without side effects, so there was simply no comparison to be had.

Of course, this was strictly a boost to the physical body and had no effect on spell arts. But as it concerned spell arts related to the physical body like Energy-Blood Simulfow and Blood Refining Spirit, it would affect them to different degrees.

"So formidable…

" Yiyi looked in disbelief at Wang Juemie.

"So what about you right now, Big Brother?

"

Tang Jie scratched his head.

"Going all-out before gave me a little experience, and when combined with the effects of the medicine, mm, I should be able to get 120%… It should be easier to make progress at the start.

"

Yiyi's face sank.

"It doesn't feel like a lot of progress to me.

"

"…

" Tang Jie was speechless. Silly girl, do you know how much blood and tears Wang Juemie had to put out to reach his present level?

If he hadn't had the Undying Celestial Origin Pill, his own potential, and the Hundred Calamities Passage all working together, he would have never been able to achieve such a heaven-defying effect.

It had to be understood that this sort of ability to express strength was a proportional boost. No matter what level Tang Jie reached in the future, he would always have an extra 20% boost to his strength.

As for Wang Juemie, he was clearly at a state of a permanent 100% boost.

Simply terrifying!

If this weren't the case, he would have never dared to challenge three Celestial Hearts. Lan Yu didn't even have the right to hold his shoes.

As for Tang Jie himself, while he had once felt like his original body could have a battle with Wang Juemie, he had now completely given up on the idea.

In terms of physical constitution, the original body's Diamond Body was perhaps only a little lacking compared to Wang Juemie, but in terms of tempering, the gap was enormous.

If the two of them really got into a fight, his original body would be beaten by Wang Juemie into a pig.

In truth, before this, Tang Jie had already lost once.

Lost to He Chong!

In terms of cultivation realm, the Martial Lord's five refined body levels corresponded to the five realms of cultivation. The Diamond Body was comparable to the Celestial Heart Realm.

In terms of cultivation tiers, Tang Jie's Diamond Body couldn't compare to He Chong, but when it came to cultivation realms, one was a body refiner and the other cultivated spell arts, so they were about even.

This was precisely why, stimulated by Wang Juemie, Tang Jie had chosen to challenge He Chong.

But reality had proven that he was gravely mistaken. He didn't even have the right to challenge him. If he didn't have Duplication to save his life, he might not have even been able to escape.

He Chong had already been stronger than those three True Persons, and he had no spiritual isolation formation restraining him. Meanwhile, Tang Jie had never really used the strength of his refined body before.

One had lost while the other had gained, and the original body was sent running for the hills by He Chong, and he truly experienced the suppression that came from an entire cultivation level in difference.

But Tang Jie was not discouraged.

Although he had lost this battle, he had seen some hope for the future—he could escape alive from a battle with a True Person!

What could be more important than this? As time passed, Tang Jie would only get stronger and stronger.

So long as he progressed faster than his enemies, he would ultimately bring all of them down!

As he spoke with Yiyi, Wang Juemie snorted and said,

"Have you finished chatting yet? He's not dead, so you can consider letting my people go now, right? I've already shown my sincerity. So long as you let my people go, I swear that I will let you leave for two hours. As for that pill, it's for free.

"

The sixteen disciples that Tang Jie had captured were all still awake, but the vines had bound them up and drained them of spiritual energy, and branches had been stuffed into their mouths. They could hear and see, but they couldn't say a word.

Looks of shame appeared in their eyes as they listened to Wang Juemie's words.

Their Great Brother had gone against three Celestial Hearts and won while they had gone sixteen versus Tang Jie and been utterly defeated. Such a difference was truly humiliating. And this wasn't even considering the heavy price their Great Brother was paying to save them.

But to their surprise, Tang Jie looked at Wang Juemie and said,

"What about a different condition? I don't need you to let me go. I just need you to give me another Undying Celestial Origin Pill.

"

Wang Juemie was stunned.

"What do you think an Undying Celestial Origin Pill is? Just one costs seventy to eighty thousand spirit coins. You think it's that easy to get something of such high value?

"

Tang Jie smugly replied,

"That's why I only asked for one. If it's eighty thousand per pill, then if I get two for sixteen students, it's ten thousand per person. Disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect, this price isn't excessive at all.

"

Wang Juemie's eyes chilled.

"Then what about your life?

"

Tang Jie coldly answered,

"Come and take it if you have the skill. I prefer money over my life!

"