Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Tang Jie, you bastard!" Senior Sister Lu was inwardly seethed when she saw Tang Jie knock out Mu Yi. The sword in her hand erupted with light as she pointed it at Tang Jie.
But after the earlier lesson, she didn't let the sword leave her hand, instead unleashing a sweeping wave of energy.
Her name was Lu Xiaoyu, and she was perhaps the most talented female disciple in the Seven Absolutions Sect. She had actually always liked Mu Yi, and after Mu Yi had damaged his body while cultivating, she had silently watched over him, waiting until the day he returned to health.
This was precisely why she couldn't stand it when others attacked Mu Yi, even to just knock him out. In her fury, she used her strongest move, the Jade Pool Parting Sword.
"In the northwest is a jade pool, where even fish struggle to swim. The slender Sinwater Flower grows, and only lovers may cross."
In the northwest of Duskland was a lake called the Jade Pool. The waters of this lake were sinister and cold, such that feathers could not float on its surface and fish could not swim within it. In the Jade Pool grew a spiritual plant called the Sinwater Flower. As it grew in this water, it was difficult to pick. It was said that only people who truly loved each other could obtain this flower.
But in the Tianjing Era, there was a white-clothed Fairy Immortal who passed through this area. With her sword, she sliced through the Jade Pool, parting the waters and picking a Sinwater Flower.
This person was True Person Hong Yuan of the Seven Absolutions Sect, and Lu Xiaoyu was her disciple.
Of course, this was just a tale, and nobody knew if it was true or not. But there were witnesses to the power and speed of the Jade Pool Parting Sword.
The sword light Lu Xiaoyu had unleashed in rage engulfed Tang Jie, and even he wasn't able to dodge it.
Since he couldn't dodge, he wouldn't!
When Wang Juemie had decided to fight with three True Persons, Tang Jie's passion had been ignited. They were both body refiners, so how could Tang Jie be willing to lose out to another?
Yes, while he was just an avatar and didn't have as strong a body, it wouldn't be long before the original body emerged from the formation, and when that time came, there was no saying who would come out on top!
But even before that, Tang Jie didn't just have a strong body, but also a strong fighting style!
A body refiner charged through all opposition!
Tang Jie fearlessly faced down Lu Xiaoyu's intimidating sword light.
"Awooo!" he howled.
His aura of power seethed and inexplicably swelled a little more, and then Tang Jie swung his saber.
The Heartbreak Saber unleashed a powerful wave of energy, like a blade that could cleave open mountains. With a whoosh, it sliced through the Jade Pool Parting Sword.
"Don't even think about it!" Lu Xiaoyu cried out. She converted the divided sword light into two attacks and continued attacking Tang Jie. Tang Jie didn't try to dodge, instead punching, unleashing a powerful shockwave.
The sword light was stopped by the shockwave, and the remaining force that got through splashed harmlessly against his body.
Lu Xiaoyu couldn't but be shaken by the power of Tang Jie's constitution.
Tang Jie swung his saber again, but Lu Xiaoyu agilely dodged.
If Tang Jie was hard, Lu Xiaoyu was soft, and the two began to fight, alternating retreating and attacking.
Even Tang Jie couldn't help but admire Lu Xiaoyu's strength. Even in a head-on battle with him, she was clearly not hard-pressed.
As the two of them wrangled, the four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples exulted and prepared to offer their aid. But Lu Xiaoyu shouted, "Stay away! I can take care of him myself!"
Another sweeping belt of sword light slashed at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie bellowed and punched three times, stopping the sword light, but as the remnants of the attack struck him, he suddenly grimaced. His body flew back, and blood erupted from all over his body.
Somehow, this attack had managed to break Tang Jie's defenses and deal damage to almost every part of Tang Jie's body.
He was flabbergasted at the power of the attack.
Lu Xiaoyu snorted. "You think you can imitate my Great Brother? Not only do you not have his body, even if you did, you wouldn't be able to exhibit his strength! And even Great Brother wouldn't be able to remain unscathed in the face of my Pool Parting Sword!"
If Tang Jie's shockwaves were like water, then the Jade Pool Parting Sword was the best sword technique for cutting through these waters. There had never been a body refiner that could resist this attack with just their body—not even Wang Juemie.
In the end, Tang Jie didn't understand the special attributes of the Jade Pool Parting Sword, which had caused him to suffer.
"Is that how it is?" Tang Jie propped himself up with his saber. This attack had been more powerful than he had expected, and he could barely stand.
Tang Jie had yet to sustain such a heavy blow in his cultivation career. He had never expected that it would be a female disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect who made him take a tumble.
He wasn't worried about his own life. Putting aside the fact that he hadn't killed anyone yet, while the two sects could quarrel against each other, they would not kill each other so easily. Moreover, he had many Seven Absolutions Sect disciples at his mercy, so if he stopped here because of his injuries, Lu Xiaoyu wouldn't necessarily hunt him down.
He looked at Lu Xiaoyu and said, "You say that even your Great Brother can't take this sword. Doesn't that mean that your Great Brother is no match for you?"
"How could that be?" Lu Xiaoyu pursed her lips. "Since I started cultivating, I have sparred against Great Brother 321 times, and I have never won a single time."
"But this sword of yours..."
"Nor has my sword ever missed," Lu Xiaoyu proudly replied. "Alas, while I have injured him, I have never been able to beat him. Great Brother's toughness is not something you can imagine. You people refine your body for a few years, thinking that you can dominate all with your bronze skin and iron bones. But you have no idea that what body refining requires foremost of all is the will, and also the ability to endure pain. For Great Brother, injuries are just part of the everyday routine. Every time he's hurt is the moment he can exhibit his power. Look..."
She pointed down to the valley.
Without the seven treasures, Wang Juemie continued to fight with the three True Persons, relying on his last bit of spiritual energy. The three True Persons used a variety of spell arts, battering Wang Juemie so badly that he hardly seemed like a human.
To tell the truth, with the remaining spiritual energy the three True Persons had, they would have killed numerous Mortal Shedding cultivators by now. But Wang Juemie was just unkillable, madly laughing in the storm of spell arts. The more severe his injuries were, the more savagely he fought. As he pushed through the raging waves, he somehow managed to force the three True Persons back, their faces turning ashen.
It appeared that if they couldn't kill Wang Juemie, they would be the ones dying. Liang Xingbang was even starting to beg for mercy.
Such bravery left even Tang Jie awed.
"You get it?" Lu Xiaoyu proudly said. "My Jade Pool Parting Sword can wound my Great Brother, but that only gets him more excited. But as for body refiners like you, once the defenses you're so confident in are broken, you have nothing left and fall over with one blow!"
Tang Jie slightly winced at these words. "Then how exactly does Great Brother refine his body?"
"Naturally, it's by fighting with his life on the line," a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple chimed in. "Whether it's the vault of heaven or the Yellow Springs, the coldest mountains or most blazing pools of lava, he fears nothing. The True Demon tramples freely through the world. My Great Brother has taken far more bitterness than you can possibly imagine!"
"So that's how you do it." Tang Jie understood.
He didn't know how Wang Juemie had refined his Indestructible True Demon Body, but he knew how to refine his Parting Classic body very well.
Some herbs, a bath of hot water, and he was done.
This method of improving his body was strong, but enduring pain and getting stronger through battle was basically impossible.
But was this the way of the Martial Lord?
It didn't look like it!
The Martial Lord made his name through battle. As a man who had left his name through the eons, how could his arts only require a bath to handle everything?
This realization made his mind tremble.
He somewhat understood that he had been mistaken on this matter.
The Parting Classic only made his body strong, but a tenacious will and enduring strength required training the body.
The Martial Lord hadn't given him a method for training, so he hadn't done it, believing that it wasn't needed.
But it was now clear that he was wrong.
As far back as his fight with Gu Changqing, he had noticed that his body, after being strengthened by the Parting Classic, would experience improvement after being put through combat. But the effects had been so minuscule that he had put the matter aside.
It now seemed that while the boost to strength had been small, the boost to willpower was immense.
In the end, he had neglected it.
He had spent so long using his brain to deal with enemies that he had forgotten that the power of the fist was on many occasions more direct and more effective!
He suddenly laughed. "Yes! I should have realized it long ago, but I failed to see it. Lady Lu, thank you for your guidance."
"What? You still have the strength to fight?" Lu Xiaoyu snorted.
"Why can't I try?" Tang Jie smiled.
He took out an item from his Mustard Seed Bag.
A messenger talisman.
Lu Xiaoyu and the others paled at the sight of this object.
They had long ago realized that Tang Jie couldn't possibly have come alone, that he must have a back-up plan, but they were still alarmed when they saw proof of it.
But to their surprise, Tang Jie threw it away.
Lu Xiaoyu and the others were left dumbfounded.
Tang Jie said, "In the past, I had too many plans, too many back-ups. But if you overcalculate things, you lose your courage. This is why I actually realized long ago that I wasn't a proper body refiner. I only refined my body because I had that kind of art. But today, I want to change my style... Only in dire straits can one be reborn. This being the case, I'll cast aside all my paths of retreat and fight a proper battle."
He looked at Lu Xiaoyu and yelled, "A refreshing battle!"
This roar dizzied Lu Xiaoyu. When Tang Jie threw away the talisman and talked about having a refreshing battle, she felt like she could see Wang Juemie.
"Raaa!" Tang Jie bellowed.
That surge of power reemerged.
It was the same forcefield, the same power, but the attitude of the person using it had completely changed. This was a subtle difference that only people familiar with the sensation could feel.
Lu Xiaoyu saw the look in Tang Jie's eyes: tough, confident, resolved!
Exuding a reckless aura.
This was something he hadn't had before. No matter how Tang Jie had exerted his strength in the past, his aura had only come from his strength, not his convictions. But now, she saw it.
"Great Brother..." Lu Xiaoyu couldn't help but blurt out.
"Come on!" Tang Jie shouted.
He threw away the Heartbreak Saber and punched at Lu Xiaoyu.
Lu Xiaoyu swung her sword in response. It was the same sword light, but it couldn't stop Tang Jie's attack. The sword light was sent sweeping back at her, sending her flying and unleashing a powerful shockwave.
Tang Jie could feel his power soaring with this punch. A moment later, he felt more strength beginning to spread through his body, and he knew that the latent strength that had been hidden in his body for so many years had finally been aroused.
He punched again, liberally unleashing the strength in his body, expressing his potential to the maximum.
"Aagh!" Lu Xiaoyu shouted as she raised her sword to block. At the same time, she said, "Hurry up and help!"
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She finally knew to ask for assistance.
The four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples came forward in unison, but Tang Jie didn't care in the slightest. What he was facing right now was no longer his opponents, but himself.
He squeezed himself as hard as he could, unleashing all his power.
He punched with his left, with his right, as much as he liked.
His power swept out in a raging torrent.
It was such a refreshing feeling that Tang Jie threw his head back and roared. He finally understood why Wang Juemie didn't like to use weapons in combat.
There was only the fist!
Only one's own fists could fully express this kind of power, and only then could one attain this ecstasy!
"Raaa!" Tang Jie bellowed again.
This roar resounded like a tiger's through the mountain forest, making the entire valley quake.
Even Wang Juemie was startled.
He looked up and saw Tang Jie fighting against five, and his eyes flashed with pleasant surprise. "It seems I've found one of my kind! Tang Jie, you're pretty good... not bad at all! Haha, haha, haha!"
His three laughs revealed his indescribable excitement.
Originally, after learning that Tang Jie was engaged to the young palace lord, he had grown furious and sought an opportunity to kill Tang Jie.
But upon noticing Tang Jie's change in attitude, he felt delight at finally finding a rival, even losing a little of the desire to kill him. But he felt that Tang Jie was still a little weak, so why not wait? Or what if he helped him get stronger and then killed him?
But he quickly squashed that idea. While Wang Juemie was crazy and bold, he wasn't an idiot.
He gave Tang Jie a vicious glare and proceeded to ignore him.
While he had been thinking to himself, the three True Person had been so startled that none of them had dared to attack him.
In the forest clearing, the battle was about to be decided.
When Tang Jie had begun to truly exert his might, Lu Xiaoyu's group finally began to falter.
With fear in her eyes, she shouted, "Tang Jie, you're not Great Brother. If you aren't trained in this, squeezing your body like this will only kill you!"
Training was a gradual process, and even Wang Juemie hadn't been able to play with his life from day one.
For Tang Jie to erupt with this much power meant that he was squeezing his body to the utmost. The refreshing feeling he was feeling was simply an attempt of the body to protect itself, like how someone freezing to death would feel hot right before their death.
If Tang Jie kept this up, he would ultimately tire himself to death.
But Tang Jie didn't care.
He laughed, "So what? You were right. A body refiner needs a powerful will and the ability to endure pain to succeed, but that is not all. One must not fear pain, and one must not fear death! Only by daring to battle against death can one emerge victorious in battle. Today, I have already made up my mind to be a fool for once, a madman, and if I'm going to be crazy, I'll go all the way. Only when craziness gets a result can I rest easy. In the worst case, I'll just die. Only a heroic and vigorous death can display true valor!"
His words were artificial and pretentious, yet they sounded awe-inspiring and righteous.
They were artificial and pretentious because this Tang Jie was actually an avatar. Its death would only mean the death of the avatar, and the original body would be unharmed. This was exactly why he was willing to take this gamble.
But this wasn't completely free. If the avatar were destroyed, Tang Jie would suffer an enormous loss. After all, without this body, Tang Jie's teleportation formation plan would completely fail, and his original body would be stuck among those mountains.
A thousand years of imprisonment and the threat of a True Person meant that Tang Jie was still in danger.
This was exactly why he could stimulate his courage and persistence.
But as he was lying, he had planted a seed of karma in his heart. The existence of the original body was the only flaw in his valor. If someone were to point it out, his aura would inevitably collapse.
The problem with that was that no one knew about it!
When Lu Xiaoyu heard these words, her soul almost left her body.
Tang Jie was like a tiger down from the mountain, the force of his punches so great that they couldn't even raise their heads.
Even a talented girl like Lu Xiaoyu could not hold out against his berserk assault.
"Great Brother... Great Brother," she muttered, as if another Wang Juemie had appeared in front of her.
"Go!" Tang Jie rushed out as he bellowed, throwing out another punch. It was like his strength was inexhaustible.
At that moment, there were no art relics, no spell arts. Strength was all that mattered, the only eternal principle!
Boom!
Lu Xiaoyu was sent flying once more.
This time, she didn't get back up, collapsing to the ground.
She blankly stared at the sky, apparently in disbelief that she had lost in this way.
The other four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples looked at each other, and then the art relics dropped from their hands.
At this point in the battle, they had actually used up all their spiritual energy and physical energy. Tang Jie's final outburst in particular had pushed them to the brink. It was just that none of them had dared to retreat while Lu Xiaoyu was still fighting.
Now that their senior sister had lost, they finally had a reason to concede.
A moment later, numerous vines emerged, sweeping up Lu Xiaoyu and the four remaining Seven Absolutions Sect disciples.
A small flower sprouted, resplendently blooming. Yiyi's face appeared on the flower. She chuckled and turned into human form. She rushed at Tang Jie and shouted, "Big Brother, you won!"
Tang Jie's body swayed, and then he weakly dropped to the ground.
"Big Brother!" Yiyi jumped in fright.
Tang Jie chuckled. "I'm fine. I'm just exhausted... I'll leave the rest... to you guys... Follow the plan... I need to get some sleep."
He closed his eyes.
Not even Tang Jie knew if he would be able to wake up from this slumber, but Tang Jie was willing.
It was his fortune to meet a strong enemy that could spur his growth!
On the other end of the world, within the formation.
The meditating original Tang Jie opened his eyes.
He stood up and looked at his copper skin and bulging muscles, and he felt the power running through his veins.
Diamond Body!
He strode out, shouting to the distant mountains within the formation, "He Chong, I challenge you!"
"I challenge you!"
"I challenge you!"
"I challenge you!"
His voice endlessly echoed through the world.
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