Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 505

Chapter 505: The Long Skirmish

The farther one went inside, the greater the pressure became.

Tang Jie didn’t know how far he had walked, only that if the original pressure was like a haze, as he made his way deeper into the mountains, the pressure became more and more real, so distinct that even mortals would be able to sense it.

As he stepped on the thick layer of grass and mud, Tang Jie felt a heaviness on his body, almost like he was back in the Water Moon Paradise.

The bizarre power was like the air, present throughout the mountains.

Tang Jie tried to circulate his energy, and he could sense that his strength was being suppressed all the way down to the initial phase of Cognitive Creation.

And together with this ever-present pressure was an ever-present danger.

Thud!

A thin gray line shot past Tang Jie’s face and struck a nearby tree.

Gray and black decaying water flowed out of the tree, and the tree quickly rotted away.

“Graythread Snake venom.” Tang Jie glanced over and was immediately sure about what he had seen. This snake was extremely venomous and preferred to hide in bushes and shoot out its venom from there. Its venom was extremely strong and was directly connected to its cultivation level. Given how that single strike had completely rotted a tree, it was probably a Mind Opening Graythread Snake. This level of venom would leave Tang Jie in excruciating suffering if it didn’t kill him.

And this was only the perimeter region!

Tang Jie didn’t try to catch the Graythread Snake. This thing was famous for being an assassin among fiends. Once it failed its strike, it would immediately flee.

He shook his head and said, “Yiyi, be careful.”

“Mm!” Yiyi earnestly replied. She widened her eyes and carefully looked around, even though she couldn’t see anything. Without her ability to communicate with plants, this little girl was basically blind and deaf, unable to sense many things.

Yiyi hated this feeling. She looked at Tang Jie and said, “Can’t we fly? Being up in the sky would save us a lot of trouble.”

Tang Jie raised his head just in time to see an eagle fly overhead.

He muttered, “That will earn the Great Mountain’s rejection, even its aggression.”

“‘Aggression’?” Yiyi softly asked.

“Yes, ‘aggression’,” Tang Jie firmly replied. “Moreover, it’s only here that we have a chance to launch a counterattack.”

He said no more and continued to trudge onward.

While this place was dangerous, it wasn’t lethal. He could deal with the danger, so Nan Ningjiang’s group could also deal with it.

He had to keep going.

This was a chase, and it was a test of patience, perseverance, and courage.

Before the direct confrontation, they would first compete to see who dared to venture deeper.

The wretched environment of the Great Mountain would naturally eliminate some people, which was exactly what Tang Jie wanted.

But for Nan Ningjiang, this was within expectations, and he had prepared himself for it.

A group was approaching the edge of the forest.

They were led by some old men wearing woven rush raincoats and rattan hats, and holding bamboo canes. Behind them were a few young men in plain and simple clothes, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.

Farther behind them was Nan Ningjiang’s group.

At certain intervals, the young men would take white powder from their baskets and sprinkle it on the ground. They would then kneel and quietly pray. They were speaking in the local dialect, which was very difficult to understand.

“What are they saying?” Zhou Fanghua asked her fifth brother. The fifth brother was from the area, and though he wasn’t one of these mountain men, he understood the dialect better than the others.

“They are worshiping the mountain god and praying for his forgiveness,” the fifth brother replied. This is a custom the local mountain men have when they enter the mountains.”

“‘Mountain god’? They think there’s a god in these mountains?” Second Hawk Tian Zhong sneered. “Ridiculous! Don’t they know that cultivators are gods?”

Another Hawk commented, “That’s right. Gods aren’t made from worship, nor are they naturally produced by nature. They are created through the cultivation of us cultivators. But rather than worshiping the real gods, they choose to worship some mountain god. It’s a joke.”

Nan Ningjiang chuckled. “What’s the point in arguing with some ignorant locals? People always worship whatever it is they imagine. Once it becomes real, it’s not worth worshiping. It’s precisely because they don’t know what the god is that they worship. As for us, because we know that a god is simply another checkpoint on the path of Immortality—an inevitability, a pursuit, a direction—we do not worship gods. Even if there is a god in the Great Mountain, in our eyes, it would just be a rather strong creature.”

“Then do you think what they’re doing is useful?” Zhou Fanghua asked, pointing at the mountain guides with her chin.

Nan Ningjiang replied, “I don’t know. But what I do know is that they are the people that understand the Great Mountain the most in Nadir Hill.” He narrowed his eyes. “With them and us working together, we can delve farther and in a safer way than Tang Jie… Trying to use the terrain to kill us? Hmph! He’s going to find out how badly he’s been dreaming!”

The mountain men stood up after their prayer and continued through the mountain.

They didn’t go straight up the mountain path, instead taking a detour on the side.

“Little Five, can you ask them why we’re taking a detour?” Master Xuan Zhong asked.

The fifth brother shouted a few sentences at the mountain men, and then he replied, “They say that there are no paths in the Spirit Mountains. That so-called mountain path is a snake trail, and there’s a big snake up ahead. In the Spirit Mountains, the first lesson is to not walk formed paths.”

“Then tell them that they don’t need to be afraid of fiends with us around,” another person said with a laugh.

The fifth brother shouted a few more words and then shook his head. “No good. The second lesson is to not lightly spill blood in the mountains.”

“What? Don’t they often go hunting in these mountains?”

The fifth brother’s face stiffened. “Not to be spilled lightly! Killing an innocent snake just to pass through and killing in order to survive are different. And they also aren’t hunting. They just gather the corpses of dead fiends or some precious materials that they sell off.”

“‘Materials’?” Nan Ningjiang raised his head. “You’re saying that they know where to find precious materials in these mountains?”

“Of course,” the fifth brother replied. “They rely on this to survive. They understand these mountains and know which materials they can gather and which that they can’t. They sacrificed countless lives in order to learn all this.”

“There are also places where you can’t gather anything?” Zhou Fanghua curiously asked.

“Yes. Some places seem harmless but are actually brimming with danger,” the fifth brother explained. “If you end up gathering from the wrong place, you’ll end up in a lot of trouble.”

———————————————

Whoosh!

Tang Jie rapidly retreated as his saber flashed, cutting down that giant maw of a flower that was lunging at him.

The giant mouth flower dropped to the ground and instantly scrunched together into a strange face that let out a frenzied howl.

Countless flowers emerged from the ground, all of them opening up their mouths and howling. Soon after that, a large cloud of bees appeared in the distance, buzzing toward Tang Jie.

“Shit!” Tang Jie cursed and turned to run.

He had discovered some Violet Extreme Grass that had been growing for several hundred years and was planning to gather some to use as formation material. But to his surprise, before he had even gotten any of the grass, he had alarmed the man-eating flower next to it.

Tang Jie had never heard of these man-eating flowers and didn’t know what species they were, but they were shockingly fierce, and they could even summon bees. If he didn’t want to engage in a big battle within the mountains, he had to run.

He immediately fled, running very far and only stopping when the bees stopped chasing and flew back.

Stopping, Tang Jie looked around.

He was surrounded by forest.

Yiyi was rather shocked. “Where are we now?”

“I can’t tell,” Tang Jie said with a shake of his head.

It was already difficult to distinguish direction within the mountains, and after this frantic flight, he had become completely lost and no longer knew where he was.

“This is a problem,” Yiyi said, stroking her chin in a pensive manner.

“‘Problem’? I don’t think so.” Tang Jie smiled. “Don’t forget that it’s not us that have to find someone. As the side that’s being hunted, we can go on without knowing where we are so long as we don’t run into them. It’s the hunters who need to know their exact position so that they can know where I am.”

“Can they do it?”

“Of course. They have guides.” Tang Jie smiled.

“‘Guides’? In other words, they’re more familiar with the mountains than we are? Doesn’t that mean that you can’t rely on the Great Mountain to deal with your foes?”

Tang Jie chuckled. “It’s true that it won’t be easy, but who said those guides are all-powerful? Remember that this is the Spirit Mountains, the mountain range that changes the most. All experience here will be affected by time and terrain. It’s impossible for them to use experience as a replacement for everything. Moreover, experience is an accumulative process, and if we spend enough time here, we will also become experienced.”

“‘If we spend enough time here’?” Yiyi looked at Tang Jie in surprise.

“Yes, this is going to be a long battle. I certainly have no plans on dealing with my opponents in only a few days,” Tang Jie profoundly said.

He turned around and began to head deeper into the mountains.

Just as Tang Jie said, this battle with Godhead Palace would be a chase where both sides would be trading blows. Anyone that lacked patience and tried to resolve problems in a short amount of time would be bound to fail.

Patience was the key in this clash. The person who was able to restrain themselves for longer had the higher chance of emerging victorious.

Interestingly, Tang Jie and Nan Ningjiang were both talented in this aspect.

Nan Ningjiang seemed to have made ample preparations. No matter how Tang Jie hid himself, he would be like a professional hunting dog, tenaciously following. It was impossible for Tang Jie’s tracks in the mountain to be hidden for long, and each time they were found, Nan Ningjiang got a little closer.

There was one time where Nan Ningjiang’s group was only several hundred meters away from Tang Jie. In the dark forest, Tang Jie used the Celestial Eye to detect Nan Ningjiang’s group first, allowing him to escape in time.

In truth, this had already become his most important tool in avoiding Nan Ningjiang. With the stone canvas, he didn’t need to worry about Divine Will searches, and when it came to long-distance sight, no one in Godhead Palace could match him.

Of course, Tang Jie knew that he could only maintain this advantage for a while. It wouldn’t be long before Nan Ningjiang realized the problem and would call over some new expert to cover for this flaw. This was also Nan Ningjiang’s greatest advantage. He had immediate access to whatever talent he required.

Meanwhile, the news began to spread that Tang Jie was imprisoned in the Spirit Mountains.

Countless sects of Nadir Hill began to converge on the Spirit Mountains.

Some of them came for the huge bounty, some came to take revenge for the friends that Tang Jie had killed, and some of them were the victims themselves, like the True Persons of the Peerless Sword Pavilion.

Numerous cultivators gathered from all around.

But Tang Jie continued to wander about the mountains as usual.

The Spirit Mountains were huge, huge enough to live in for some time. Even if he didn’t head inward, Tang Jie could still live as he pleased. And as he spent his days residing in the mountains, he slowly developed a deeper understanding of the Great Mountain.

He gradually familiarized himself with the area, learning what places the annoying fiends frequented, which materials had traps around them, and where the secret mountain paths were. Most importantly, he came to understand what could be done within the Great Mountain and what could not.

He learned quickly, the knowledge that the mountain men had needed centuries and countless lives to learn taking him only several dozen days to grasp.

This wasn’t strange.

He was a cultivator.

The lessons the mountain men needed to use their lives to learn, he could learn with a drop of blood and an insignificant wound. As for time, that was even less a problem. The mountain men sought to survive the mountains only as long as needed to make a profit, but Tang Jie’s goal was long-term survival. Thus, the mountain men would give up on exploring after getting something that they could sell, but Tang Jie would not.

This made Tang Jie’s learning progress much faster than anyone could imagine. Every day, he was progressing and understanding.

Just as Tang Jie said, if he spent long enough here, he would naturally get experience.

Of course, experience came from lessons.

One time, Tang Jie saw an Ice Epiphyllum growing next to a small pond, a real spirit medicine. But when he went to get it, a pack of Ice Pythons emerged from the pond. These were all peak Mind Opening Ice Pythons, only a step away from Transformation, even more powerful thanks to the pressure of the Great Mountain. Tang Jie had choice but to turn tail and run.

There was another time where Tang Jie had just been walking around when the ground suddenly gave way and he fell into a cave. Inside were countless spiders who produced firm and sticky spider webs. Even with Tang Jie’s peak Mortal Shedding constitution, he found them very hard to tear off. Fortunately, the golden blade was their bane. On that day, Tang Jie finally made an exception and killed more than a hundred of those spider fiends. Fortunately, the Great Mountain seemingly wasn’t angered by this.

As a result of encountering those spider fiends, Tang Jie gained a large pile of spider thread. This was an extremely rare material that could be used to craft art-relic-tier Immortal-Binding Rope, Gold Silk Robes, Incense Bags, and other such things.

The worst time was when Tang Jie had to deal with a monkey fiend. That monkey was very temperamental, and when it failed to immediately win the battle, it started to howl and roar, making a huge ruckus. Worst of all was that the Godhead Palace group was nearby.

If Tang Jie hadn’t been so perceptive and fled ahead of time, he might have been discovered by Godhead Palace.

In this manner, Tang Jie experienced various dangers.

Although Tang Jie and Nan Ningjiang had never officially met, both of them had a deep impression of each other.

They left their own footprints all across the mountains. Tang Jie would be standing on a large stone at one moment, and a few moments later, Nan Ningjiang would appear next to it, his brow furrowed in thought.

The Spirit-Boiling Powder meant that Godhead Palace would never lose Tang Jie’s position, and the Celestial Eye meant that Tang Jie would be able to sense the danger early and flee.

The two of them were locked in an invisible clash, a battle with no smoke or fire.

This was a battle of reconnaissance. Neither side had spilled a drop of blood, but there had been countless close calls.

Regrettably, the two sides weren’t even aware of these close calls.

Nan Ningjiang wouldn’t know how many times he had brushed shoulders with Tang Jie, nor would Tang Jie realize just how many excellent opportunities he had missed.

Both sides were newcomers to this sort of mountain warfare, and they made their fair share of mistakes.

They were also gaining experience and rapidly maturing. Tang Jie was using his own advantages to constantly progress, and Nan Ningjiang was greedily drinking up the lessons of the mountain men, for he knew that it wouldn’t be long before these mountain men were no longer useful.

The skirmishing phase would eventually end. Tang Jie could avoid the pursuit of Godhead Palace a hundred times, but he couldn’t do it forever.

Nan Ningjiang was in no rush.

He knew that if Tang Jie were discovered once, he was doomed. As the hunted, he had countless advantages, but he had one fatal disadvantage: he couldn’t lose even once.

So Nan Ningjiang was very patient.

They were like a pack of cats slowly searching the mountains for a single mouse.

It was soon three months into the hunt.

In these three months, Tang Jie’s traces could be seen all around the blockaded region. As Nan Ningjiang had expected, Tang Jie didn’t attempt to leave the blockaded region or venture deeper in, continuing to move around the area.

In the eyes of others, Tang Jie was doing this because it was pointless to run away, so it was better to use the terrain to weaken the effects of the Spirit-Boiling Powder. After all, while the Spirit-Boiling Powder indicated his position, it couldn’t be constantly used and couldn’t give his exact location if there was no map.

But Nan Ningjiang knew that this was not Tang Jie’s objective at all.

He was staying here to familiarize himself with this place, grasp this place, control this place, and then… use this place.

He wanted to stage a counterattack, not to run!

Just like how Tang Jie knew what Nan Ningjiang was thinking, Nan Ningjiang knew what Tang Jie was thinking.

The two of them had never met, yet they clearly knew what each other was thinking.

The depths of the Great Mountain.

On the slope of a small mountain.

A field of bean sprouts was growing.

No one knew that these bean sprouts had been planted three months ago.

No one knew what these things meant.

When Tang Jie found out that the fiends of the Spirit Mountains weren’t affected by the Great Mountain, he knew where his chances of victory lay.

This was the true meaning behind all his stalling.

For this purpose, he had endured for three months and engaged in a long skirmish with Godhead Palace.

On this day, Tang Jie once more appeared at this field of bean sprouts.

He gazed at the numerous beans and smiled in satisfaction.

Once these beans ripened, Tang Jie knew that this skirmish would finally come to an end. After enduring that most excruciating period, Tang Jie could finally make his counterattack.

He lightly held a bean as he muttered, “What comes next will all depend on you guys.”

On this day, several people appeared outside the mountain range.

They entered the Spirit Mountains from various directions and disappeared into the forest.