Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Once Tang Jie learned about the unique use of incense, he began to enthusiastically research it.

He didn't know if the cultivators of the past had ever made this discovery, but even if any had, there couldn't have been many. After all, the requirements to discover this use of incense were far too high. One had to be at peak Soul Projection, proficient in the Dao of Fate, and able to split off one's mind into many parts.

Tang Jie felt like a whole new world of cultivation had opened up for him. He sensed that as he absorbed more incense, his Fate power was growing stronger and stronger, as was his Heaven–Man Union.

As this union grew stronger, Tang Jie felt like he was the sky, he was the land, he was the ruler of all things, able to create earthquakes with a single thought. Tang Jie knew that this was a natural result of his Primal Infant's Deification. This was no illusion, but his soul filling the world, experiencing all that the world did. The day this sensation reached its maximum limit, it would mean he had reached the end of the process.

He would then have to think about charging to a higher level, achieving true transcendence and becoming a God.

But this process was all about accumulation, and Tang Jie estimated that it would take at least two hundred years. It was no wonder becoming an Immortal was so difficult. And this was only the first and most simple step!

And because he sought a region that was three times as large as normal, he would need three times as long to get through this easiest step. And while he could use preparations to lower the difficulty in other parts, he had nothing that could lower the time he needed for accumulation.

But Tang Jie really couldn't wait six hundred years.

At this speed, by the time he became a Yang God, the Primordial Fog Calamity would have already passed.

"I have to speed things up," Tang Jie muttered one day after ending a cultivation session.

Xu Miaoran replied, "Husband, there's no need to be in such a rush. Reaching Immortal Platform can't be done all at once. Cultivators can easily use a thousand years to attain Immortality. You've chosen to expand the region you cover, which is bound to make things even more difficult. You're still young, having only cultivated some four hundred years, and you have plenty of time…"

Tang Jie shook his head. "I don't have that much time at all. When the Flame Celestial Sovereign was chasing me, I consumed too much lifespan to revive my original body. I might not have even six hundred years left."

Xu Miaoran was startled. "How could this be? That big serpent…"

"I managed to recover a lot thanks to that snake, but the dangerous situation outside meant that I put most of the energy into cultivation. Moreover, lifespan and life are two different things. Some things are easy to use up but difficult to recover. I've been through numerous battles in my time, and I've drawn on my potential lifespan more than once to heal my injuries. How could this come without a price?"

Xu Miaoran was stunned.

Had Tang Jie paid such a heavy price to come this far? Alas, she had known nothing about this and hadn't been able to help at all. Whenever the battle grew difficult, she would retreat to the side so as to avoid holding Tang Jie back, never even realizing that Tang Jie had drawn on too much of his lifespan.

Her eyes immediately grew wet with tears.

Tang Jie knew what she was concerned about. Hugging her, he said, "You're already several hundred years old, but you still cry at the drop of a hat. Isn't that a little embarrassing? Besides, aren't I perfectly fine? Six hundred years isn't long, but it's also not short. So long as I'm prepared enough, there's still hope of reaching Immortal Platform. So long as I become an Immortal, lifespan won't be a problem anymore."

Becoming an Immortal was totally shedding mortality and escaping the cycle of the Five Elements, and one's lifespan would greatly increase. After all, if the dead could come back to life, longevity was even easily more achieved.

This was why there were so many Immortal Platform experts despite the difficulty in achieving it—there were far too many old ones that had accumulated over the years.

"You speak of achieving Earth Immortal in six hundred years so easily, as if you sell manuals just for that purpose," Xu Miaoran said, wiping her tears. "Others can't do it even if they devote their all to it, but you say that you want to do it fast and with three times the difficulty!"

Xu Miaoran's voice had turned shrill by the end.

If Tang Jie had told her this earlier, she would have never agreed to him taking a region three times the normal size.

But in this matter, Tang Jie was actually innocent.

Lifespan was very unpredictable and not as easy to calculate as it seemed. It depended on many factors that could change at any time, so it was difficult to measure it unless one was approaching their end.

Tang Jie only found out because of his progress in the Dao of Fate, where he learned that his lifespan had been affected more than he had thought.

She grabbed Tang Jie's hand. "If it's really no good, let's give up on the original plan."

Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "At this point, the Heaven–Man Union region is fixed. If I give up, not only would I have to do it all over again, I would also have to give up on all the time and energy I've already invested. Besides, what happens if I give up? Do you really think that will be enough?"

Xu Miaoran was startled. "Then what do we do?"

Her face was panicked as if Tang Jie was going to die right now rather than in six hundred years.

Tang Jie patted her hand and soothed, "You're already so old, so why is it still so easy for you to panic? In truth, I do have a means of shortening the time, but it's a little risky, and I only have a concept of it right now. I have to do some experiments before I know if it will actually work."

"No matter what method it is, it's fine if it can save your life!" Yiyi couldn't help but shout.

Tang Jie's face twitched. They were really treating him like someone about to die.

But when facing down their stares, Tang Jie could only nod. "If that's the case, then I'll try. After all the investment I put in, it's about time I got some return."

He began to slowly unroll a diagram.