“I swear, I swear an oath on my Heart Demon! I have no interest in marrying some young palace lord.”
“Yes, yes, I know that I’m going back on my word, but it’s because of that Stop Gate Banner! It’s very important to me!”
“Yes, I could get someone else to get it for me, but who? They have their own things that they want, but I don’t have anything to give them. Moreover, my Alarm Gate Banner is a secret that only a few people like Junyang and Tianchong know about.”
“…This truly is a problem. But the six major sects are sending their elites, and I’m just an ordinary student, and a servant student at that. The young palace master would have to be blind to take a liking to me.”
“No, I’m not saying that you’re blind at all. But, wait a second… Are you confessing that you like me?”
“Alright, you’re only concerned as a friend. But as a friend, I don’t think you have the right to object to me participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference, no?”
“You can’t say if she’s a good match or not. We’ve never even seen her before. This reason is a little too far-fetched.”
“…Let’s do this. I promise you that I’ll make sure that young palace master doesn’t like me, alright? I can wipe my nose in front of her, fart, make myself look like a beggar, and so on to make myself look bad.”
“A sex demon? That’s a little too much, yes?”
“Alright, only flirting.”
“What? You’ll come yourself? There’s no need for that, is there?”
“Alright. I want to see you!”
“I don’t have many message talismans, so let’s stop here.”
After sending off ten-some message talismans in one go, Tang Jie couldn’t help but shake his head and bitterly smile.
These talismans weren’t cheap, and he had essentially burned up nearly a thousand coins. At least when it came to conversing, Tang Jie acted like quite the bigshot.
After writing a letter, Tang Jie sat in the garden pavilion and proceeded to apparently do absolutely nothing.
In actuality, he was cultivating the Eye of Heaven.
In these last two years, there had been a reason besides the limits of his talent that had caused Tang Jie’s cultivation level to rise so slowly. This was that he had been devoting a lot of energy to researching the Eye of Heaven.
Or perhaps it was better to say that he was trying to understand the Dao of Insight.
With the Eye of Heaven, his silent surroundings suddenly became noisy.
Tang Jie saw the ants crawling along the ground, water dripping from the leaves of the plants he had just watered, a bug trying to drill into a spirit fruit he was growing—Tang Jie shot a burst of wind from his finger, knocking down this bug.
He could even see the grass slowly growing, feel their roots trying to dig into the earth as they greedily drank up the spiritual energy of the world.
Tang Jie had possessed this insight ability since half a year ago, when he had almost reached perfection with the Eye of Heaven.
From that point onward, he had started to get a clearer and clearer view of his surroundings. What had been blurry scenes at the start grew more and more distinct until he could now transcend the limits of time and observe everything.
Wang Poguan was right. Only at the end of the road could one find the Way.
But all of this was currently established on the fact that he was using the Eye of Heaven, and the greater the distance, the lower the clarity, and he couldn’t keep it up for very long.
This meant that Tang Jie was far from reaching the end of the road of Insight. But even so, the spell arts of ordinary students were already transparent in his eyes.
In truth, this was also somewhat related to the fact that the little fox had given him the Celestial Treasure Mantra to study. The ancestor of the Five Gods Faith had also rather deeply understood and comprehended Insight, and his own understanding had inspired Tang Jie.
It was precisely because of this mantra that Tang Jie learned that when one traveled far enough along the road of Insight, one would have to choose a path.
One choice was to have detailed all-around vision. Those versed in this path would never have to worry about being attacked from behind.
Another was to penetrate through all illusions. One’s eyes would only see the truth, making illusions and phantoms powerless, and even lies ineffective.
Another was to see the weaknesses of all things, including the weaknesses of spell arts and one’s opponents. Tang Jie had utilized this aspect to defeat Ye Tianshang.
Another was to observe and comprehend the intricacies of another party’s spell arts, allowing one to learn the spell arts of others to a certain extent. It functioned similarly to the Hawkeye spell, but one couldn’t learn solely by watching. One had to put in the search and rigorously study it.
These four paths of Insight all led in different directions, and so, even though they all belonged to the Dao of Insight, they manifested in completely different ways.
But as they all belonged to the same Great Dao, developing one did not mean forsaking the others. In truth, focusing on one would also improve the other three to some degree.
But you had to pick a main focus.
Tang Jie had not been able to decide on a path until now.
But once he had decided to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, he finally made up his mind.
All-around vision and never having to worry about sneak attacks? Tang Jie didn’t need it, for such incidents occurred far too infrequently. Moreover, Tang Jie was never someone who would easily let someone standing behind him ambush him.
Seeing through illusions and sensing lies? He didn’t need that either. The Eye of Heaven had the ability to see through illusions, and as for sensing lies, even without the help of the Dao of Insight, very few people could trick him and his rich well of experience. And white lies were fine. Besides, seeing into the hearts of others too well would make one see too much darkness, which would make one lose their sense of trust and forever live in the shadows. At times, people needed the ability to fool themselves.
As for duplicating spell arts, there was even less of a need for that. Spell arts required constant practice to gain proficiency. Just as the little fox had said, he could barely master the spell arts he already had, so why would he bother stealing the spell arts of others?
Thus, Tang Jie had chosen the third path.
The future path was bound to be covered in thorns, and this road gave him the best chance of overcoming people stronger than him.
With the Eye of Heaven working away, Tang Jie took in his surroundings. After some thought, he drew back his gaze and focused his vision and energy on a spider making a web. At this moment, the garden that had been rich with color slowly disappeared, and only that spider was left. It grew larger and larger until it occupied his entire field of vision.
In Tang Jie’s eyes, this spider was a behemoth, and he could even make out every hair on its legs. As Tang Jie observed its actions, he felt a faint hint of comprehension.
He could sense what the spider was going to do next, could see the liquid flowing through its body, could see the web faintly trembling. He also knew that if a bee were to crash into one particular spot, this seemingly sturdy web would instantly crumble.
This was the third path, the one of perceiving weaknesses.
Seizing this moment of insight, Tang Jie began to look around.
He saw flowers, trees, bugs, fish, birds in the sky, people on the road.
When he was tired, he would rest, and after rest, he would continue.
He spent three whole days observing everything in the world at maximum magnification.
Finally, he heard a soft “pa”.
He felt a sharp pain at his forehead.
It came so suddenly and fiercely that he dropped to his knees and groaned. Even his formidable constitution found it difficult to withstand this pain. He covered his forehead with his hands as his body trembled in pain.
But the pain left just as quickly as it had come.
A moment later, all the pain disappeared as if it had never existed. Only the sweat drenching his body told him that everything he had just experienced was real.
He put down his hands and saw blood.
He was bleeding.
Finding it rather strange, he went up to the pond and looked at his reflection.
There was a point of crimson on his forehead.
He wiped away the blood and found that his forehead was smooth and undamaged.
He was quite confused.
He once more activated the Eye of Heaven to observe himself in the water, but he didn’t see anything.
Hold on!
As he looked at his reflection, he felt like he could see something shifting around on his forehead.
But he couldn’t make out what it was.
Wait! Wait!
Tang Jie shook his head.
After some thought, he stopped the Eye of Heaven and closed his eyes.
He then discovered that he could still see everything in the water in his mind.
The only difference was that there was a vertical eye on his forehead.
And then it was gone in a flash!
“Tang Jie! Tang Jie! Open up!” Wei Tianchong ran over and hammered on the gate.
Creeak! The gate opened on its own.
Wei Tianchong strode in and saw Tang Jie seated in the pavilion, a copy of “Heart Language Writings” in his hand and his eyes tightly shut.
Wei Tianchong immediately burst out in laughter. “Tang Jie, when did you learn to act like a bad scholar, trying to read a book but getting so bored that you almost fall asleep?”
Tang Jie closed the book and opened his eyes to look at Wei Tianchong. Smiling, he said, “I’ve come upon a new understanding recently. I feel that only through the eyes that seek the martial through culture, the path that seeks art through understanding, can one comprehend principles and find the answers that one seeks, can one make sure that they do not grow arrogant through only martial prowess. Thus, in cultivation, there is no harm in reading a few books and comprehending their logic. After all, someone with only supreme martial strength is nothing more than a brute.”
“Pah, so complicated! As a cultivator, I only know to uphold the righteous and punish evil!”
“‘Uphold the righteous’? ‘Punish evil’?” Tang Jie scoffed. “But who decides what’s good and evil, right or wrong? Was Lin Lang good or evil? Is the Basking Moon Sect good or evil?”
“This…” Wei Tianchong was rendered speechless.
Tang Jie continued, “A principle that simple is no principle at all. Forget it. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. Right, so what mission did the True Person give you?”
“Mm. Senior Brother Nan had me come back and prepare to take part in the Immortal Fortune Conference.”
“The Immortal Fortune Conference? You’re participating too?” Tang Jie was startled.
“Yes. I’m True Person Changfeng’s disciple, and his venerable self said that it would be too humiliating if his disciple didn’t even have the right to take part…” Wei Tianchong repeated everything that Nan Baicheng had said.
“I see. That’s good. You’ve been cultivating for four years, so it’s about time you went out to see the world.”
“I wonder what that young palace master of the Wandering Palace looks like.” Wei Tianchong propped his head on his arms and began to daydream.
Tang Jie looked at the silly look on his face and shook his head. “You should think less about those trivial things. Hurry up and get ready. We’ll be heading off in a few days.”
“Huh?” Wei Tianchong was startled. “Isn’t there still three months? Why are we leaving now?”
“Don’t you think this is the perfect chance to broaden your horizons? I’ve already requested from the academy to set off on my own for the Celestial Mountains. Doesn’t it sound pretty good to take in the sights and get a feel for how the people live while making our way there?”
“That’s a pretty good idea!” Young Master Wei always supported playing around. But a moment later, his face fell. “No, I’m planning to make another puppet.”
“Buy the materials and make it while we’re on the road. Let’s have Shi Meng go too, so that you have someone to attend you.”
“Him? He’s not participating, so what is he going for?”
Tang Jie smiled. “He can’t participate, but does that mean he can’t spectate?”