On the way back, Wei Tianchong finally asked Tang Jie, “This mission is clearly targeting me. Tang Jie, are you really confident that you can help me get number one?”
“What? You don’t believe me?” Tang Jie asked back.
Wei Tianchong awkwardly scratched his head. “It’s not like that. It’s just that this foray into the formation won’t give us a chance to run into each other like with the Valley of No Return. We’re really going to be fighting on our own. Even with divine abilities, you’ll find it very difficult to help me…”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Tang Jie said, patting him on the shoulder. “While the Nine Palace Illusion Formation makes us fight all on our own, it doesn’t mean that we won’t have a chance to meet up.”
“Oh? What do you mean?” Shi Meng was also surprised. “Are you saying that we can somehow run into each other in the formation?”
Tang Jie nodded. “Correct, though the chances are tiny. Don’t ask so many questions right now. Go and have a good rest, and do some research on ways to deal with illusion formations. Leave everything else to me. I’ll tell you the exact details once the time has come.”
The others saw that he was certain, so they couldn’t help but believe that Tang Jie had a plan and left in peace.
It was only once they were gone that Tang Jie’s face finally darkened.
Only he knew that he actually had no idea how to handle Nan Baicheng’s mission. Nan Baicheng had isolated him from Wei Tianchong as much as humanly possible. In this situation, he could do very little for Wei Tianchong.
But he couldn’t say that.
If he said it, Wei Tianchong would lose his confidence, and giving up confidence meant giving up hope and giving up on victory.
Tang Jie could accept defeat, but he couldn’t accept giving up!
“Nan Baicheng…” He stood there and muttered this name, a flame burning in his eyes. “The more you don’t want me to succeed, the more I want to beat you. Separating us… but separating us isn’t enough!”
Tang Jie resolutely set off for Spirit Wonder Market.
Spirit Wonder Market was currently a hive of activity.
Now that the third mission had been announced, all the students had rushed over to buy various spell weapons and talismans that could see through or break formations. As everyone prepared for this final battle, the price of goods had also risen.
But Tang Jie didn’t buy any such things. On the contrary, he bought materials for illusion formations like Fantasy Grass and Bafflescent. No one was buying these materials, so their price wasn’t too unreasonable.
Once he spent all his money, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House.
As he put the materials into the formation diagram, he said, “Yiyi, come here and help your big brother. I might have to trouble you with something.”
“Do I have to pee again?” The obedient Yiyi could tell that Tang Jie was preparing some sort of formation.
“No…” After a pause, Tang Jie replied, “I need your blood this time.”
The next morning, the students headed for the Bounty Platform, where an Immortal ship from the sect was waiting for them.
The students boarded the ship just like last time, though there were no sneak attacks this time.
Once they boarded the ship, it set off for Wind Devil Island.
Wind Devil Island was a great distance away, and even an Immortal ship would need three days of flight to arrive. Fortunately, the Immortal ship was huge and had many cabins, so the students didn’t need to worry about not having a place to rest.
Unlike in the past, since everyone had to complete the mission on their own, there wasn’t as much of a mood of cooperation. Everyone was making their own plans, and things were rather awkward.
Some of the weaker students who were proficient in the Dao of Formations even dreamed that they had a chance of ascending to the heavens in one go.
For Wei Tianchong, these might have been the worst days of all.
This was because Tang Jie had yet to tell him how he was going to help in any way. Two days went by, but Tang Jie remained locked up in his room, refusing to come out. No matter how much Wei Tianchong pressed him, he only said that the time wasn’t right and to just keep waiting.
This made Wei Tianchong wonder if Tang Jie really didn’t have a way and was just buying time.
But when he thought about how Tang Jie had performed in the past, he ultimately told himself that he needed to trust Tang Jie.
Time quietly passed.
On the third day, the Immortal ship entered the Endless Sea Zone.
The Endless Sea Zone was located to the south of Sageheart and was incredibly vast, covering almost the entirety of the Rosecloud Domain.
Unlike Earth, the Rosecloud Domain wasn’t a sphere, but a half-sphere. Though the sea zone was an extension of the land zone, it had its own border.
The Domain Astral Winds.
This was a fact proved by countless Titans: the world had an end!
This left Tang Jie with many questions.
If he was still in his universe, then he shouldn’t have been on a half-sphere. If he was on the flat surface of this half-sphere, where was the other half?
If he wasn’t in the same universe, then why could he still see the sun, stars, and moon in the sky?
Where exactly were they?
In what sort of state did they exist?
Tang Jie was completely clueless about all these things. Even in class, the teachers had not given any answers on these things.
All Tang Jie knew was that the stars and moon were all beyond the Astral Winds.
The Astral Winds were the boundary of this world!
The Immortal ship flew across the ocean, and the students all went onto deck to get a rare sight of the raging waves together with the restless sea of clouds.
Tang Jie gradually focused his thoughts. Turning around, he headed into Wei Tianchong’s room.
Wei Tianchong was in the middle of ordering the puppet to serve him tea, though it wasn’t because Shi Meng wasn’t there to attend upon him, as he was sitting on the side and keeping him company. Wei Tianchong was training his precise control over the puppet.
Tang Jie felt very comforted by this sight.
In the past, in the face of this dire problem, might Wei Tianchong have already given up?
He truly had matured a lot in the battle of the Valley of No Return, becoming much more thoughtful.
As Tang Jie came in, Wei Tianchong said in delight, “Tang Jie, you’re finally here. Have you come to tell me what I need to do?”
He was so excited that he lost control of the puppet, causing it to drop the cup.
Tang Jie reached out and placed his hand below the cup, smoothly raising his hand and catching it. Smiling, he said, “You must remain calm in the case of any major event. Young Master, whether it’s good news or grievous news, even if the sky is falling, you must keep your heart as cold as ice.”
“Yes, I understand.” Wei Tianchong earnestly nodded.
But a moment later, he still walked over and said, “We’re about to reach Wind Devil Island, so shouldn’t you be telling me how you plan to get me first place? I’ve been so restless these last two days that I can hardly eat or even focus on cultivating.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted you to experience,” Tang Jie said. “I haven’t told you this entire time because what I wanted you to experience first of all is this sort of suffering.”
“‘Experience suffering’?” Wei Tianchong was startled.
“Correct!” Tang Jie replied, “The Nine Palace Illusion Formation is an illusion formation, and when dealing with illusion formations, one must start with the heart. To break the illusion formation, you must first focus your mind! Your nature is too restless and can be easily taken advantage of by the illusion formation. I’m not just saying that your heart should be as cool as ice and that you should remain unflustered even if the sky is falling purely as life advice.”
Wei Tianchong’s face turned cold. “I understand!”
“Good.” Tang Jie sat down and said, “I will now tell you the plan.”
The Nine Palace Illusion Formation was a massive illusion formation that had the Nine Palace Heart Ring as its core. The Ocean Heart was a treasure similar to the Heavenly Dao Stele, and it served as the node around which the entire formation turned. Entering the Nine Palace Heart Ring meant that one had succeeded in breaking through the formation.
But the formation was not exactly closely linked to the Nine Palace Heart Ring. In reality, there was a road between the two, one that wasn’t too long: the Devil Crushing Path.
Strictly speaking, the Devil Crushing Path wasn’t a part of the Nine Palace Illusion Formation, only an access path. It was like the steps one took to get through a front door, and in itself, it had little meaning.
Entering the Devil Crushing Path could be considered a successful breakthrough on its own. The Devil Crushing Path was just incidental and was barely worth mentioning.
The problem was that the Devil Crushing Path was the only road in.
All the students that emerged from the formation would have to go through this road…
“In other words, while the students might have a hard time running into each other in the formation, once they’re through the formation and on the Devil Crushing Path, then students still have a chance to interact with each other before entering the Nine Palace Heart Ring?” Shi Meng understood what Tang Jie was getting at.
“Correct!” Tang Jie confirmed. “But the chances of interaction are extremely low.”
The students were bound to come out of the formation at different times, and no one would wait for other students after reaching the Devil Crushing Path. Thus, meeting on the Devil Crushing Path was only theoretically possible. Realistically, the chances were extremely low.
Tang Jie continued, “The True Inheritor missions test a student’s overall ability. There must exist a chance for students to fight against each other. Not even Nan Baicheng could do anything to change that. But where there’s fighting, there’s collusion. Thus, to prevent me from helping the young master, he has to minimize interaction as much as possible. That’s the point of the Devil Crushing Path… With this road, he satisfies both ‘students might be able to fight against each other’ and ‘minimize the ability for students to help each other’.”
The two of them were enlightened, and Wei Tianchong grumbled, “No wonder he chose Wind Devil Island as the testing ground. Given Tang Jie’s strength, even if he’s the first to emerge from the formation, so long as I haven’t come out, he can’t help me. And if he wants to find us in the formation, it’s so difficult that he’ll just be wasting time. If another student gets onto the Devil Crushing Path, he’ll only be able to watch!”
“Correct. That’s exactly it!” Tang Jie replied. “Nan Baicheng has made up his mind to not give me a single chance to help you by isolating me outside. It doesn’t even matter to him if I get the spot. It’s all fine so long as it’s not you.”
Wei Tianchong felt a tinge of bitterness. In truth, he knew that he lacked ability and that no one viewed him positively, but being so targeted hurt his pride and left him extremely sad.
He looked at Tang Jie and gritted his teeth. “If it’s really no good, Tang Jie, you should go ahead and take the spot from the third mission. I know that you’re doing this for me, but it seems like those above don’t like me. You getting it is better than anyone else.”
Tang Jie shook his head. “If I wanted to become a True Inheritor, I would have already taken it instead of going through all that effort. They might not be optimistic about your chances, but I am.”
You’re optimistic about my chances?
Wei Tianchong was flabbergasted.
Tang Jie placed a hand on Wei Tianchong’s shoulder and said, “What’s wrong? You don’t believe me? As master and servant, we’ve pushed through so many challenges together. How could we fail at the final stretch? Relax. I’ll definitely make you a True Inheritor. Not only am I going to make you a True Inheritor, I intend to let everyone know that the young master of the Wei Clan is no piece of trash. One day, you will become a bigshot whose name is known throughout the heavens!”
Wei Tianchong was utterly stunned by his words, blankly staring at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie smiled. “Believe in me, and believe in yourself.”
Wei Tianchong breathed in. “Okay! I’ll listen to you this one time, so tell me: what should I do?”
“It’s very simple. Just do your best to get through. You can leave the others to me,” Tang Jie answered.
“‘Leave the others to you’?” Wei Tianchong was startled, and then he realized, jumping up and pointing a trembling finger at Tang Jie. “Tang Jie, you… you aren’t thinking about… stopping them all on your own?”
“That’s the only solution,” Tang Jie casually replied. “If you don’t want to disappoint me, do your best to get through and don’t make me wait for too long.”
Being the fastest to get through the formation and then sealing off the Devil Crushing Path, permitting no one else to go through.
This was Tang Jie’s solution.
But it was easier said than done.
Shi Meng shouted, “You can’t possibly do it. No one can go one versus one thousand, not even if you were at Mortal Shedding.”
“There’s no guarantee of that,” Tang Jie breezily replied. “Did you forget about the battle with the Frost Fairy in the Valley of No Return?”
In the Valley of No Return, the Frost Fairy had fought against more than a thousand students, but this hadn’t been because she was so strong that she could ignore numbers. It was because she had utilized the terrain well and used her illusion formation to divide the students and prevent them from combining their powers.
If Tang Jie could get to the Devil Crushing Path first and use the terrain properly, he stood a fighting chance.
“But the Frost Fairy was a Mind Opening sprite, whereas you’re still at the Spirit Lake Tier. If all the students work together, you won’t be able to stop them!” Wei Tianchong shook his head. “This isn’t the Student Forest. They won’t show mercy.”
“That’s why I need you to work hard, Young Master… The faster you get out, the fewer opponents I’ll have to face and the less time I’ll have to hold out. If you don’t want me to hold out against one thousand, then get out as fast as you can!” Tang Jie firmly said.
He raised a finger and said, “One hundred! Young Master, through your own power, you have to be in the first one hundred to get out no matter what. You can leave everyone ahead of you to me. So long as Tang Jie still stands, they can’t even think about getting through the Devil Crushing Path.”
Wei Tianchong was stunned at how forcefully Tang Jie was speaking.
After a long while, he finally said, “Tang Jie, be at ease. No matter what, I will be in the first one hundred to charge out of the illusion formation!”
Tang Jie smiled in satisfaction.
Besides tempering his focus, he had waited this long to tell Wei Tianchong to rush straight on through without thinking.
If he had too much time to think about things, he would grow overly cautious and lose his ferocity.
As the three of them spoke, the ship came to a stop with a boom.
They had arrived at Wind Devil Island.