“No!” Feng Buzhi yelled in shock and anger.

As he wailed in despair, the powerful storm of spell arts engulfed him, instantly turning him to dust.

But as his physical body was pulverized, a white crane phantom flew into the sky.

The storm raged for a few moments longer before stopping, and when it did, the mountain slope had disappeared. The surroundings flashed with seals that had stopped the damage from overflowing, and the survivors had been forced to retreat to another slope.

“He’s dead?” Xu Miaoran asked, hugging Yiyi.

In this entire battle, Xu Miaoran’s primary focus had been protecting Yiyi rather than dealing with the enemy. Thus, when the storm started, Xu Miaoran dug out the green rose.

When the green rose left the earth, it turned back into Yiyi, and even now, she was still sound asleep in Xu Miaoran’s embrace.

“The physical body is dead, but the fiend soul escaped… You can say he’s dead, but you can also say he’s not dead,” Tang Jie sighed as he watched that white light fly to the summit.

“‘The fiend soul escaped’? But wasn’t he yet to reach Soul Transformation?” Xu Miaoran said in surprise.

If one did not reach Soul Transformation, one’s life would still be bound to the physical body, and the death of the physical body would be the end of the soul.

Even at the Soul Transformation Period, it was still very difficult to shed the binds of the physical body and survive alone.

To this, Tang Jie indifferently said, “It’s clear that this person is an exception.”

Feng Buzhi had turned his fiends into avatars, creating phantoms using the fiend souls. This created a unique mode of existence.

For this reason, when his physical body died, the fiend soul persisted, allowing for reincarnation.

Of course, after reincarnation, Feng Buzhi was certain to be much weaker, but regardless, it was for certain that this avatar was not completely dead.

But this was a matter for the future. At least for now, the white Feng Buzhi would not be returning alive.

Tang Jie turned around to see Yun Danqi and the others staring at him.

All of them had been awed by that terrifying spell art storm.

Their souls had also been shaken.

It was only now that they realized how terrifying “Qiu Zheng” was.

Xian Shaoyu looked at Tang Jie in disbelief, looking at this “coward” that he had looked upon with disdain earlier.

It wasn’t just him. Even Yun Danqi and Shen Ningming were left dumbfounded.

Now that Tang Jie had been exposed, there was no need to keep up the act with the ghost guard, who moved to stand behind Tang Jie.

This action left Yun Danqi and the others feeling dizzy.

“You’re really Tang Jie?” Yun Danqi asked.

Tang Jie nodded, his face going back to normal.

Everyone gasped when they saw his face.

After a brief moment of shock, Yun Danqi shouted, “You’ve been dragging us down this whole time!”

“‘Dragging you down’?” Tang Jie harrumphed. “It’s true that Feng Buzhi was looking for me, but before he started attacking you guys, did he know that I was among you?”

Yun Danqi froze.

Just as Tang Jie had said, although Feng Buzhi had truly been looking for Tang Jie, this slaughter had had nothing to do with Tang Jie, for he hadn’t known that Tang Jie was here!

Tang Jie continued, “I concealed my identity because I didn’t want you guys to get involved. I just didn’t expect Feng Buzhi to be so ruthless, even killing people who weren’t his target.”

Yun Danqi grunted, “True. He’s a Heart Demon True Person, a mighty and illustrious figure. How could he possibly care for the lives of puny people like us? In his eyes, anyone below Celestial Heart is probably just an ant. But he probably didn’t expect that an ant would turn the tables on him.”

Yun Danqi’s eyes seethed with hatred.

Seeing this, Tang Jie suddenly had an idea.

He said, “Illustrious figures all had to start as puny people. So long as you’re willing to diligently cultivate, who can say that you won’t become an illustrious figure in the future? If you want to take revenge, then work hard and cultivate. One day, you can also become a Heart Demon True Person.”

Yun Danqi shook his head. “What right do I have to take revenge? I’m not even an official disciple in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. When Joymount Island was in trouble, I didn’t even have the right to seek help from the sect. All I could do was find some juniors that I was friends with, but they all lost their lives here…”

Saying this, Yun Danqi began to weep.

He was a Mortal Shedding cultivator, a person of great influence on the outside, but now, he was crying without regard to his pride. The others all mourned with him.

Only Tang Jie snorted, “Useless thing.”

“What did you say?” Xian Shaoyu barged over and glared at Tang Jie. “If it wasn’t for Senior Sister…”

Bang!

Tang Jie kicked him away. “If it wasn’t for your senior sister, I would have beaten you two good-for-nothings black and blue, and then thrown you out of the island. It’s one thing if you can’t beat him, but I can’t believe you don’t even dare to try and take revenge! Does taking revenge need approval? All it requires is hatred! You have no ambition!”

Xian Shaoyu angrily shouted, “That’s easy for you to say! What are we going to use to take revenge? He’s a Heart Demon True Person!”

Tang Jie looked up at the sky. “Isn’t it simple? You just have to become a True Person yourself.”

Becoming a True Person?

This was Tang Jie’s answer.

Yun Danqi and Xian Shaoyu were dumbfounded.

After a while, Xian Shaoyu finally managed to say, “Are you joking?”

A Mortal Shedding cultivator would need at least one hundred years of hard cultivation to become a Celestial Heart cultivator.

Tang Jie casually replied, “A gentleman can wait one hundred years to take revenge. So long as you’re willing to put in the effort, the heavens will not stop your ascent.”

Tang Jie waved his hand, and two Mustard Seed Bags flew toward Yun and Xian.

Tang Jie said, “Cultivation requires resources, but looking at the two of you, you probably don’t have much. These two Mustard Seed Bags contain my spoils from killing members of the Beast Refining Gate. It’s a hodge-podge of things, but when you put all that stuff together, it’s worth quite a lot. It’s just that dealing with all of it is a bit of a hassle. I can’t be bothered, so you can have them. Once you sell those things off, you can use the proceeds to properly cultivate. So long as you’re strong enough, you have a chance of going from an outer disciple to a proper disciple. And so long as you keep advancing, you’ll eventually catch up to your foe.”

Yun Danqi squeezed out, “Going from outer disciple to disciple isn’t easy.”

Tang Jie gave Yun Danqi a look of disdain. “Someone who seeks to accomplish great things must understand how to use everything they have. Use your brain a little and think things over.”

Yun Danqi was startled, and then he looked at Xu Miaoran and realized something. He bowed to Xu Miaoran and said, “Paying respects to Senior Sister!”

Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes at Tang Jie and said, “Fine. I also carry some of the blame for all these deaths. Out of respect for how hard you tried to protect me, so long as you are strong enough, I will definitely help you become official disciples of Horizon Ocean.”

“Many thanks, Senior Sister!” Yun and Xian respectfully replied, inwardly rejoicing. But when they thought about how this opportunity had come in exchange for the deaths of three of their juniors, their hearts twisted in pain.

As the conversation continued, Yun and Xian realized that what came next wasn’t something they had any business interfering in, so they decided to take the bodies of their comrades and return.

As they were about to leave, Tang Jie suddenly said, “Wait a moment.”

Yun Danqi looked at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie suddenly thrust his finger at the centers of their foreheads. The two of them felt something enter their minds, and when they gave it a closer look, they found, much to their delight, that it was a profound cultivation mantra.

Tang Jie said, “If you cultivate this well, you will definitely achieve great things in the future. Remember: you can’t pass this on to anyone else.”

The two of them immediately replied, “Senior Brother Tang, thank you for granting us this mantra. I swear an oath on my Heart Demon that I will never speak a word of it to outsiders!”

After making this weighty promise, the two of them left with the remaining cultivators.

The only people left on the mountain were Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran.

Xu Miaoran looked at Tang Jie and smiled. “What sort of mantra did you give them?”

“The Ninedark Mantra, the parts concerning the Cloud Canopy and the Dark Lightning.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Xu Miaoran grunted.

With a part of the Ninedark Mantra serving as the foundation, paired with the gifted resources and Xu Miaoran’s care, these two had a bright feature. And hatred was the finest motivator, pushing them to grow stronger.

“I just wanted to help them out,” Tang Jie said with a smile.

Xu Miaoran snorted, “Don’t try that with me. You’re clearly aiming to damage my Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s relations with the Beast Refining Gate.”

“Am I?” Tang Jie appeared flabbergasted.

“You dare to say you aren’t?” Xu Miaoran placed her hands on her hips. “You think I can’t see it? These two hate the Beast Refining Gate down to their bones. Alas, they’re outer disciples, so no matter how much hatred they have, it can’t influence the relation between the two sects. This is exactly why Feng Buzhi dared to be so ruthless with them. But if they become True Persons, they’ll have the power to influence things.”

“But it’s only influence,” Tang Jie said, spreading out his arms. “In the face of the common good, a single person will find it very hard to change anything.”

“Then what about a Celestial Chief? Or perhaps even a True Lord?”

Tang Jie grinned. “I’m not so capable as to produce a Celestial Chief or a True Lord.”

“But you have the ability to help every person who holds a grudge against the Beast Refining Gate or Godhead Palace, right? So long as you sow enough seeds, some of them will eventually sprout.”

Tang Jie laughed. “Dear, you’re starting to understand me more and more.”

This term of endearment made Xu Miaoran blush, and she kicked Tang Jie and said, “Who’s your dear, you shameless lecher! With that vulgar mouth of yours, you must be a sex fiend. There’s no telling how many young maidens you’ve hurt. This girl will slay this demon for the sake of the people!”

Tang Jie dodged to the side, and Xu Miaoran gave chase. The two of them were soon laughing and giggling as they ran around.

As they were playing, a lazy voice said, “So noisy… so noisy!”

The two of them turned their heads and saw Yiyi raising up her little white arms as she stretched. Her drowsy eyes were still closed, and her mouth was open in a yawn.

“Yiyi!” the two shouted in unison.

Xu Miaoran rushed over and hugged Yiyi, looking at her in concern.

During their time together, Xu Miaoran had come to adore Yiyi.

Xu Miaoran’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Upper-grade Mind Opening!”

Yiyi had gone all the way from lower-grade Mind Opening to upper-grade Mind Opening.

Even Tang Jie jumped in surprise.

It wasn’t strange to rise in power after eating so many plants, but to skip an entire grade was even more rare than someone beating a person above their level.

At this point, Tang Jie couldn’t help but ask, “Just how many plants did she eat?”

Xu Miaoran replied, “A lot… She was eating for two days straight.”

“Exactly how much?”

Xu Miaoran thought the answer over. “If we were to go by meals, then she probably ate enough to feed a family for ten years.”

“……”

Yiyi finally opened her eyes. She spotted Tang Jie, and a smile bloomed on her little face. Rushing over, she shouted, “Big Brother, you’re finally here! I had a dream just now where a lot of people were fighting. The sky was half-black and half-white, and it seemed very fun. I also dreamed that you were there.”

It turned out that this little girl had sensed them fighting.

Tang Jie chuckled. “Yet you didn’t do anything.”

“But I did,” Yiyi replied.

“What?” Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were startled.

Yiyi very seriously nodded. “Mm, Yiyi did something, but it was to deal with you rather than help you.”

“‘Deal with us’? How?” Tang Jie asked.

Yiyi scratched her head and thought about it. “I can’t remember too clearly. It seemed like some voice was shouting at me, and then, while I was all confused, I just did what he said. I made a lot of vines to grab people and put them in my belly… like this.”

Yiyi grabbed at the ground, and a fissure appeared, countless black vines emerging and flailing in the air like tentacles. There was even a faint roar coming from the fissure.

This roar shook one to the core and made one shiver.

Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran looked at each other and shouted in unison, “Black Sin!”

—————————————————

The white crane phantom flew through the clouds and arrived at a place not far from the summit.

The black Feng Buzhi looked up at the white crane phantom and took out that white lotus platform.

The white crane phantom circled in the air before landing on the platform and turning into a statue of a white crane.

The black Feng Buzhi lightly sighed as he looked at the white crane statue. “I was careless.”

Helian Hu said, “Seventh Master, your…”

“I lost a physical body,” Feng Buzhi flatly said.

Only those who knew him well understood that the calmer Feng Buzhi was, the angrier he was. At present, Feng Buzhi utterly loathed Tang Jie.

The Beast Refining Gate disciples behind him were all stunned.

Tang Jie had even defeated Feng Buzhi?

What would they do now?

Feng Buzhi said, “Do not worry. Although this battle went poorly, I have an understanding of Tang Jie’s strength now. If he comes again, he will die. Our current priority is to complete the Wolf Lord’s mission and prepare to welcome him.”

“Yes!” Everyone turned serious.

They looked up at the summit, which was extremely close now.

Feng Buzhi muttered, “It’s the last stretch, so we might as well force our way through!”

He waved his sleeve, and a black bear phantom appeared behind him.

Feng Buzhi waved his hand again, and then a black bear clone emerged from the black bear phantom.

The moment the black bear clone appeared, it charged up the mountain.

It didn’t get very far before a powerful gale engulfed it.

The moment the black bear was swept up in the gale, countless blades of wind instantly sliced it into tiny pieces.

But Feng Buzhi was able to use this opportunity to identify the seal’s weakness. With a light push of his palm, he destroyed the seal. The gale stopped, and Feng Buzhi’s black bear clone was gone.

Feng Buzhi didn’t mind at all. With a wave of his hand, the black bear phantom produced another clone that charged forward.

This was the illusion clone spell art that Feng Buzhi had stolen from Tang Jie. To be more precise, he had modified his phantom form after studying the ghost guard’s illusion clone.

As he had just learned it, Feng Buzhi couldn’t produce 36 clones like the ghost guard, but even just one was of great help to Feng Buzhi.

As the phantom was created from a fiend soul, he couldn’t afford for it to be damaged. Thus, before this, Feng Buzhi could not test the seals with his own body.

But the clones produced by the phantom only consumed spiritual energy. So long as he had enough spiritual energy, it didn’t matter how many of them he lost.

The black bear clones attacked ceaselessly, and Feng Buzhi’s group made rapid progress to the summit.

They were already very close to the summit, and with this charge, they needed only a little while to arrive.

When Feng Buzhi saw that crimson cave at the summit, he became excited. “We’re finally here!”

He turned his head and shouted, “Hu’er!”

“This disciple is present!” Helian Hu took out a scroll and handed it to Feng Buzhi.

Feng Buzhi grabbed it and threw it into the air.

The scroll unrolled and landed on the ground, where it exploded with light.

This was none other than a formation diagram, an extremely high-grade formation diagram with a formation carved into it.

As this formation diagram landed, the formation activated, a beam of light rising to the heavens. It was a teleportation formation!

This formation was being used to teleport the Beast Refining Gate’s Blue Wolf True Lord, Feng Muyuan.

As a True Lord of Beast Refining Gate, Feng Muyuan was constantly being watched, so he naturally couldn’t run all the way to Joymount Island and wait around as Feng Buzhi had done.

First of all, this was unbefitting of his status, and secondly, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was not going to let the True Lord of another sect wander around its territory.

Thus, the Blue Wolf True Lord was still playing the part of a guest at Horizon Ocean Pavilion, instead giving Feng Buzhi a formation diagram.

So long as Feng Buzhi was able to bring the formation diagram to the core, he could summon the Blue Wolf True Lord, who would then suppress the divine source and take back the Beast Garden.

Feng Buzhi activated the formation.

The beam of light shot high into the air and rammed into the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation.

The Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation was the hidden realm’s external foundation. Like a giant net, it sealed off the hidden realm and made it a stand-alone world.

If the teleportation formation wanted to link up with Feng Muyuan on Great Wind Island, it first had to break through or gain permission to pass through the formation.

Feng Buzhi’s teleportation formation was clearly of the tyrannical type, showing no intent to compromise.

Thus, like a giant cudgel, the beam of light pounded away at the barrier.

Giant ripples appeared in the sky.

A dazzling rainbow of lights lit up the heavens.

Under the fierce impacts from the pillar of light, the barrier created by the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation began to falter. Flashing streaks of rainbow light, like brilliant flames, flickered in and out of existence.

If this continued, it would not be long before the teleportation formation destroyed this hidden realm and the Blue Wolf True Lord’s divinity descended upon this land.

At this time, three people charged out of the blood cave and attacked Feng Buzhi. These were none other than the three Transformation great fiends.

Feng Buzhi is only the mid-boss! The real enemy is on the way! And can anyone here beat a True Lord?