Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
A flame symbol on the jade tablet lit up, indicating that Tang Jie had officially passed the Celestial Flame Arena's qualification test.
At this time, he was considered an official competitor, possessing the most basic of levels.
The Celestial Flame Arena did not have cultivation level divisions, only arena levels.
Passing the hundred-man melee conferred the most basic level of Celestial Flame Warrior.
Winning ten matches made one a Blood Hand, winning one hundred matches made one an Asura, and winning one thousand matches made one a God Killer.
Starting from Celestial Flame Warrior, one's appearance fees would officially start to rise.
For Warriors, the loser would get ten blackstone coins. The winner would obtain one hundred blackstone coins, which was doubled if they killed their opponent.
For Blood Hands, the loser got one hundred coins, and the winner would obtain one thousand, doubled for a kill.
Asuras got one thousand for losing and could get ten thousand for winning, doubled for a kill.
The God Killers got ten thousand for losing and one hundred thousand for winning, doubled for a kill.
And this was only the basic price. Fighters that were particularly popular could command higher prices.
In order to draw more people to participate in the arena, excluding the qualification match where the weak were slaughtered by the strong, the official matches allowed the loser the chance to survive by surrendering. But at the same time, it offered a high price to the winner for striking with lethality and not giving the loser the chance to concede. Through this method, it made the matches more exciting.
As passing the qualification match only gave ten blackstone coins, after passing, Tang Jie chose to directly take part in a Warrior match.
The Warrior match was the basic match, and it was mostly where Mortal Shedding cultivators gathered. Although the occasional Celestial Heart cultivator made their way in, it mostly consisted of newcomers who needed to work their way up from the bottom.
In his first Warrior bout, Tang Jie ran into a Nine Revolutions Hemos.
Tang Jie immediately used the Rainfrost Sword to obliterate them.
The opponents would be easy to deal with, but the stage felt a little small and restrictive.
But everything would be fine once he became a Blood Hand.
The size of the arena stage depended on the level. The higher the level, the larger the arena.
If a God Killer wanted to fight, a stage would have a radius of several kilometers, or why else would the arena cover such a vast area? If the individual stages were big, the overall arena couldn't be small.
As for the seats, those didn't actually take up much space.
Being able to seat ten million people didn't mean that the arena had to seat ten million people.
The door prices of ten thousand weren't something to shrug off, and seating just one thousand people meant revenue of ten million. It was almost impossible to make a loss.
While the arena was big, it was made through spell arts and cost barely anything. Other than the fees for God Killers, the largest expense was maintaining the formation.
One could say that this enterprise was quite profitable.
Tang Jie left with two hundred blackstone coins.
It wasn't that he couldn't keep fighting, but this arena was a place of no mercy and one could lose their life in a fight at any time. Even someone of divine might couldn't be so brazen as to take part in fight after after fight. While that would bring them attention and boost their value, it was also easy for them to be targeted, perhaps even ambushed from the shadows.
No one could win forever on the battlefield. Excessive arrogance was suicidal!
This was why very rarely did people fight many matches on the same day, participating in three at most.
Upon returning to the inn, Tang Jie immediately meditated and rested. As his hands began to form signs, black tendrils of energy appeared.
This was the Dao of Slaughter that he had comprehended.
He was participating in the arena both for resources and to use this chance to comprehend the Daos of Slaughter and Destruction.
Slaughter and Destruction were the two of the 12 Great Daos that Tang Jie had found the most difficult to comprehend. If it weren't for that Dao Will that He Changan had allowed him to comprehend, he might still be stuck. Even so, he only had a basic grasp, far from any great enlightenment, and even farther from entering the Dao.
One of the main reasons for this was that the Rosecloud Domain he came from was a world of order.
In a world of order, all was under the rule of law, and killing as one pleased was forbidden. Even cultivators were restrained.
But everything was different in the Blood River Domain.
Life here was worthless, and slaughter was king. In this bloody and cruel environment, comprehending Slaughter and Destruction was much easier.
This was precisely why Tang Jie was making good use of this opportunity, hoping to comprehend Slaughter and Destruction, perhaps even enter their Daos.
Of course, he had only just begun his path of Slaughter, and his understanding of it still remained at the most basic level, with limited progress.
He quickly awoke from his meditation. He knew that further meditation was useless without deeper understanding.
Sighing, he stopped forcing it and proceeded to take out the statue of a woman.
This was the statue he had obtained from the underground palace. The woman depicted wore a veil obscuring her face, giving the statue an aura of mystery. Upon seeing the statue, Tang Jie immediately recognized it for what it was.
The Dream Pearl Lady.
Yes, the woman depicted by the statue was none other than the woman from the Dream Pearl Lady painting.
Compared to the painting, the statue was more three-dimensional, tactile, and also more mysterious. It quietly stood there, face veiled, one finger pointing at the heavens and one finger sweeping across the earth in a most profound gesture.
Tang Jie was confident that this item, as something placed together next to the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill, definitely had its own value. Alas, even though he had fiddled around with this statue many times in search of some mechanism, he had yet to uncover its mysteries.
As time went on, he developed a daily habit of inspecting this statue.
After inspecting the statue and finding nothing new, he put it back and then took out the sheath and hilt of the Immeasurable Sword. There had to be something unusual about these items for the Lord of the Blood River to value them so much.
While he was clueless about the statue, Tang Jie had some understanding of the Immeasurable Sword. Considering the Immeasurable Sword's powerful bloodsucking attribute and the Blood River Lord's focus and need for essence blood, Tang Jie guessed that the Immeasurable Sword was connected to this. Unfortunately, Tang Jie didn't know more than this, and after messing around with the sheath and hilt for a while to no avail, he gave up.
Starting from this day, Tang Jie embarked on his fighting career.
Slaughter was brutal and bloody, and even though Tang Jie tried to control it, just by living in this cruel world, many things would change against one's will.
After spending a long time immersed in the stench of death, flitting between the poles of life and death, Tang Jie finally reached enlightenment.
―――――――――――
"Life and death!"
With this cry…
Bzzzt!!!
Eyes flashed with light.
Those were profound and majestic eyes. In the world within those eyes, sun and moon interchanged; Yin and Yang shifted.
The sun rose and fell, the silver moon coming in and out.
Suddenly, for a brief moment, the sun and moon froze, both of them occupying the same world for a period of time.
The bridge of the nose was like a celestial bridge that divided the heavens, upon which the sun and moon were suspended.
Seated in front of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, Tang Jie's original body raised its head.
A moment later, the sun and moon transformed into a beam of light and flew into the air, where it transformed into a Dao Rune.
Tang Jie extended his hand, and the Dao Rune fell upon it and disappeared.
At the same time, Tang Jie saw a faint Dao Rune appear on his knuckle, as if it had been carved into his bone. This was the Dao Rune from before, but it had now manifested on Tang Jie's body.
Entering the Dao!
Yes, this was entering the Dao. It seemed simple, but the process was immense and complicated.
Only when one had comprehended a Dao Will deeply enough could one carve it into the bones.
Only when the Dao Runes were carved into the bones could one enter the Dao!
If comprehending the Dao was the process of one's mind entering the Dao, then entering the Dao was the body entering the Dao, and the manifestation of success was the Dao Body!
The Dao Rune being carved into his bones was a sign that Tang Jie had entered the Dao, and the power represented by this Dao was no longer simple comprehension, but a fusion with his flesh.
This was no easy task.
The tempering of the Dao Rune, from comprehending to using, from theory to practical execution, was a process of adapting the physical body to the Great Dao! And the Dao that Tang Jie was comprehending was one of the 12 Great Daos. Each Dao Rune encompassed countless profound principles.
The Dao of Yin Yang alone represented all dualistic things—Truth and Fiction, Reality and Illusion, Black and White, Yin and Yang, Heaven and Earth. Each pairing represented a different aspect, and to carve this Dao Rune into one's bones required understanding all of them to a certain level.
This was why carving a Dao Rune represented an immense challenge and trial. Even with the help of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, Tang Jie had always been stuck at that last step.
He hadn't expected that last insight to come from his avatar's killing spree in the arena. Through the comprehension of Life and Death, he had experienced a breakthrough, allowing the Dao of Yin Yang to move ahead of Insight and be the first to have a Dao Rune carved into his body.
This didn't mean that he was done entering the Dao. On the contrary, the process was just getting started.
Entering the Dao was a threshold, and it was also a process.
Dao Runes were infinite, principles as innumerable as the sands of a river.
One Dao Rune wasn't even enough to make a complete Dao Will.
Thus, entering the Dao was just like cultivation. Just like how cultivators needed a long process to gather up spiritual energy, drop by drop, Dao Runes needed to be carved one by one. While carving a single Dao Rune was considered to be entering the Dao, it was only at the most basic level. It was worlds away from greater attainment in entering the Dao.
The Dao of Yin Yang's rune had been carved, and now came the process of endless completion.
Just like how a Spirit Spring turned into a Spirit Lake and then a Spirit Sea, Dao Runes required more and more as one moved through the stages. The first Dao Rune was the most difficult to carve, but while one would grow more proficient with the process, one would also need to carve more and more Dao Runes. It was only when the entirety of the Great Dao of Yin Yang had been carved into the body that one could be said to have a complete Dao Body and have reached greater attainment in entering the Dao.
But it was easier said than done.
Thankfully, he had the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, which, through the infinite might of the Titans of the Court of Myriad Domains, had the entirety of the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements carved onto its surface.
Even like this, copying all the Dao Wills onto his body would take hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
But this was fine. Tang Jie had time.
One who cultivated the Parting Classic was always lacking in resources and rich with time.
The only pity was that the original body entering the Dao had nothing to do with the avatar.
Comprehending the Dao was a process of knowing and understanding. As one soul sharing two bodies, Tang Jie could comprehend the Dao with one body and have the other body also comprehend the Dao. But entering the Dao involved the physical body. While the original body could experience entering the Dao, the avatar could not enjoy any of it.
Of course, the avatar was able to completely grasp the process of comprehending and tempering the Dao Will through the original body, so the avatar could repeat the process, though the complex and time-consuming nature of the process was unavoidable.
This was like how Cang Qingfeng understood all the spell arts he had previously learned but still had to cultivate them all over again with each rebirth. Of course, because he was already familiar with them, he could avoid all the pitfalls and cultivate them more efficiently.
Still, this was something to be envious of. For two bodies to benefit from a single insight was extremely rare, even in the Great Stellar Chiliocosm.
This was the case not because Tang Jie had created an avatar, but because Tang Jie had gotten this physical avatar so early and had used it as a substitute for himself in the world. The original body had relied on the Martial Lord's resources to cultivate, but the avatar had to rely on itself to improve, and it was only through countless experiences that it had managed to reach its current state.
Even a Violet Palace avatar would have limited power when it was newborn. If it went out and about and ran into a mishap, it would be done for.
This was exactly why an avatar like Tang Jie's, which was created at an early time and raised to this stage, was almost unique.
But the avatar was currently busy on the killing fields, focusing entirely on comprehending Slaughter and Destruction, with no time to temper Yin Yang. Right now, each side was busy with their own work, and the original body had managed to get ahead and enter the Dao first thanks to the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.
Once Tang Jie succeeded in entering the Dao, he opened his eyes and looked at Xu Miaoran.
Xu Miaoran immediately felt dizzy upon looking into his eyes, as if countless worlds had flitted past her, but she almost instantly regained her composure. After a momentary daze, she realized and asked, "You succeeded?"
Tang Jie nodded. "I managed to complete it once."
"Wonderful!" Xu Miaoran jumped up and ran toward Tang Jie.
Entering the Dao for the first time was the most difficult, but when one succeeded, it would mean that one had made it past a dividing line and had entered a new world. Although Tang Jie was just a babbling babe in this world, his future contained infinite potential.
Hugging Tang Jie by the neck, Xu Miaoran asked, "Do you feel more powerful anywhere?"
Tang Jie chuckled. "It's only one Dao Rune, so what power could it give me? But it did allow me to see what direction I should go in. I think I will be able to do a lot in the future."
"'Do' what?"
"So much, so much," Tang Jie profoundly answered. "First of all…"
Tang Jie suddenly thrust his palm at the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.
The Myriad Immortals Cauldron flew up, brilliantly radiating light in the air, and then it shrank until it fell into Tang Jie's hand.
"You can use the Myriad Immortals Cauldron?" Xu Miaoran was delighted and stunned.
"Far from it. A single Dao Rune is only enough to draw out the Great Dao in the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and resonate with it, which is barely enough to put it away. As for using it in battle…" Tang Jie shook his head. "I need to either rise to Violet Palace or carve one thousand Dao Runes."
Xu Miaoran did some calculations. One Dao Rune had taken Tang Jie nearly three months, so one thousand would take probably one to two hundred years. As for Violet Palace, that was even less possible. Even the greatest of geniuses needed at least two hundred years to attain Violet Palace. In the end, there was no hope of using the Myriad Immortals Cauldron for the time being.
"A pity," Xu Miaoran resentfully sighed. "Such a fine treasure, but we can't use it."
"If you want to use treasures, you don't need to rely on this thing at all. This is enough." Tang Jie punched, and through the Weapon Mantra, a building collapsed, and a large golden grain flew over to Tang Jie. Meanwhile, a giant mountain cleaver had appeared in Tang Jie's hand, flashing golden.
The golden grain flew to the mountain cleaver, and after flashing for a few moments, it merged into the cleaver and made it a little larger.
The resplendent underground palace was now in disarray, at least a third of the palaces having vanished under Tang Jie's steely fist. With the power of the Weapon Mantra, Tang Jie was able to dismantle things much more efficiently, dismantling at least ten buildings a day.
"I'll leave some to sell, and the rest will be refined into golden grains," Tang Jie said. "I already know how to proceed. I'll make one puppet that doesn't need to be replaced, and then a few sets of armor, and the rest will be made into weapons."
Mother Cloud Metal Essence was extremely tough, and while weapons made from it might be dull and heavy, it was ideal for making defensive tools. Tang Jie had long ago made up his mind to use the golden grains to make a few suits of decent armor.
"What do you want so many weapons for? Can you even use them all?" Xu Miaoran asked, looking at that mountain cleaver. Tang Jie's original body originally had a long-handled warhammer, but after getting He Changan's Desolate Heavens Halberd and then making this mountain cleaver from the golden grains, he now had three weapons.
Tang Jie took out the Herding Yang Pearl and replied, "Of course. This is still far from enough."
"……"
―――――――――――――
The scarlet plains.
A group of people were kneeling on the ground.
They belonged to a demon tribe that lived on the scarlet plains. Although it was only a small tribe, every member of this tribe was strong and fierce. The strongest of them could even knock over a primal beast with one hand.
But the strongest warrior of this tribe was currently lying on the ground, his head cracked open.
A Hemos stood on his corpse.
To be more precise, it was the Blood River Lord's avatar.
He held up a hand, which glowed with a crimson light, and the image of Tang Jie appeared within it.
"I'll ask again! Who has seen this person?! I will spare the life of anyone who talks!"
The demons looked at each other and shook their heads.
Upon seeing the terrifying and powerful methods of the Blood River Lord, they had given up on any thought of resistance.
Seeing that nobody knew, the Lord of the Blood River sighed.
He waved his hand, issuing a blood fog, and each drop of blood became a sharp needle, whistling the dirge of death as they instantly pierced through the more than one hundred members of the tribe.
Blood flowed out from their bodies, turning into a blood fog.
The Lord of the Blood River breathed in, drawing the blood fog into his body.
Through slaughter, he worked to calm his anger.
It was hard to blame him for being angry.
He had originally been tracking the blood gem, but he had barely gotten halfway to the destination when the energy signal from the blood gem disappeared.
The moment the Flesh Millstone ground down the blood gem, it also destroyed the power of the Blood River contained in it, preventing the Blood River Lord from using it as a tracking device. The thought of his essence blood being refined by that scoundrel had the Blood River Lord fuming.
Only he could steal essence blood from others, yet this brat had stolen from him!
The Lord of the Blood River instantly lost control of his seething rage, and threw his head back and roared, "Bastard! I'll definitely find you!"
This roar resounded through the world, and even Tang Jie in the faraway City of Freedom sensed it, instinctively turning to the scarlet plains.
At the same time, in the depths of the Blood River.
A black skeleton drifted on the raging Blood River, bobbing up and down as if it had no weight. Finally, it was pushed onto the shore.
It lay there motionless.
When night fell, a Blood Fiend emerged from the Blood River. The greedy, voracious, and dumb Blood Fiend went up to the black skeleton and examined those bones covered in teeth marks, attempting to scrape off any lingering flesh on the bones with its claws.
It tore off that little morsel of dead flesh and put it in its mouth.
This action obscured its vision, so it didn't see the points of light shining in the skeleton's eye sockets.
The lights fell on that Blood Fiend, and the black skeleton slowly opened its mouth.
Sharp and cold light twinkled on the tips of its teeth.
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