The clam woman gave a low shout, and the frozen surface of the lake instantly broke open, countless shards of ice flying into the air and shining in the sunlight.
At the same time, the lake waters surged upward, threatening to engulf that shuttle boat. As the wave battered the boat, the three passengers couldn’t stand steady.
Countless ice shards pelted the boat, but this shuttle boat was clearly a treasure, releasing a shield to fend them off. But the surging waters and ice shards were clearly starting to overwhelm it.
A hint of admiration appeared in Tang Jie’s eyes.
The clam woman lived up to her status as a Mind Opening fiend, her strength being on par with the Frost Fairy. Of the three students, one was at Mortal Shedding while the other two were at Spirit Sea. Despite outnumbering her three to one, they were no match for the clam woman, and they were clearly rather shocked at her power.
But the clam woman didn’t want to hurt anyone. When she saw that the three students were faltering, she waved her hand and stopped the attack, loudly saying, “Immortals, while this little sister is a fiend, she came upon a lucky opportunity and was able to gain intelligence early on, and she admires the human world and bears no ill against them. These three Immortals, please show some magnanimity and release this little sister.”
Though she had the advantage, she was asking them to release her, causing the three students to feel humiliated.
While she wanted to end things here, the three students felt ashamed. They had come with such force and momentum, so how could they go back in defeat? Moreover, since this clam fiend had taken semi-human form, she might have eaten some kind of natural treasure. If they could refine it, their strength would undoubtedly soar.
Upon hearing the clam’s words, the leader of the students failed to appreciate her kindness, taking out another item and throwing it down. This time, it was a silver sword, and it lengthened and expanded in the wind. The student pointed at it and said, “Fiendslayer Sword, go!”
The sword shot at the clam woman.
Surrounded by such a fierce aura, the sword clearly possessed extraordinary power. The clam woman hastily breathed out cold air to try and freeze the sword.
The freezing air was able to freeze the sword for a moment, but it quickly accelerated again, striking the clam woman and severely injuring her.
With her body wounded, she found it hard to keep up her spell arts, and the net came down and enclosed her.
The three students heartily laughed, one of them saying, “It’s still Senior Brother Zhang’s Fiendslayer Sword that’s more formidable!”
Their leader smugly said, “Naturally. I put a lot of time and effort into the Fiendslayer Sword, and it’s specifically meant to deal with fiends. A puny little fiend that just reached Mind Opening trying to show off in front of me? That’s no different from seeking death.”
In the net, the clam woman pleaded, “High Immortal, please spare me!”
But those three ignored her pleas, the leading student waving his hand. The Fiendslayer Sword returned to his hand, and he raised it high to deal the killing blow.
Down below, the Ayia saw this and began to shout.
Cai’er loudly said, “Truly shameless! She spared you, and you still strike at her!”
The clam woman had held the upper hand at first, and if she had not shown mercy, these three might not have had the chance to turn the tables.
Cai’er’s words struck right on their sore point, and the three of them cursed, one of them shouting, “Shut your mouth! A fiend was causing trouble, and we’ve come to righteously dispose of it! We’re removing a threat to the people! What do you understand?”
Wei Tianchong could no longer stand it. “I can’t take this anymore. I’ve never seen someone so shameless. She clearly spared them, but they still have the face to try and kill her. Tang Jie, don’t stop me. I’m going to teach these guys a lesson no matter what.”
Tang Jie casually said, “I’m not stopping you.”
Wei Tianchong froze and looked at Tang Jie. “Really? They’re from the Seven Absolutions Sect, you know.”
Tang Jie chuckled. “If you should intervene, you should intervene. Why worry so much?”
Wei Tianchong grinned. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear you say.”
He raised his head and flung out a large fireball.
The three of them clearly hadn’t expected there to be cultivators down below and were caught off guard. The shuttle boat was struck and the shield flashed. The three passengers were knocked about, one of them roaring, “Who dares to interfere with the business of the Seven Absolutions Sect?”
But since Wei Tianchong had already attacked, he wasn’t going to be polite. He flew up, clenching his fists and throwing up several more fireballs, which exploded with tremendous might.
Those three had to turn away from the clam woman. Their leader was the only Mortal Shedding Realm expert among them, and as he began to make hand signs, a majestic spiritual surge began to form.
At this time, one party was on the ground while the other was in the air, and the airborne party had the protection of the shuttle boat. This was the perfect time to cast a spell art, and a large spell art would undoubtedly slaughter any opposition.
But such a large spell art would probably catch the Ayia people, though it was clear that those three students did not care.
Tang Jie raised an eyebrow and said, “Shi Meng, go and save that clam fiend.”
As for himself, he pointed at a distant spot in the sky.
A bolt of air shot out, striking a point in the gathering spiritual surge. A moment later, the furious spiritual surge deflated like a popped balloon. Plooph! All of the spiritual light dissipated as that powerful spell art was easily undone.
Tang Jie had successfully broken this spell art by using the Dao of Insight. He had almost immediately found the weakness of this spell and applied pressure to it, causing it to crumble.
That didn’t mean that only Tang Jie was capable of this.
Since ancient times, when those above dealt with those below, the great Titans could often dispel spell arts with a snap of their fingers.
But those Titans had relied on their centuries of cultivation, experience, and sheer power, whereas Tang Jie had accomplished this through his understanding of the Dao.
Even so, this was also because that student had not cultivated properly. This Seven Absolutions Sect student had clearly only reached Mortal Shedding not too long ago and didn’t have a firm grasp of the art, so he cast it very slowly. He was like a child tracing words, and Tang jie could clearly see every stroke he made. This was what allowed him to easily find the weakness. Someone else, even someone of Zhang Qinan’s level, would have made it much harder for Tang Jie to break the art.
Regardless, the confident way in which he had undone the art truly shook his opponent.
“This… How is this possible?” The Seven Absolutions Sect student was stunned to the maximum. He had suffered a small backlash from the failure to cast the art, but the mental blow was even greater.
If he could break an art with a wave of his hand, was this guy a Celestial Heart character?
When he saw Tang Jie standing there with his hands behind his back, acting like a transcendent master, the student grew frightened and did not dare to attack again. He shouted, “This lowly one did not know that Senior was here. Please forgive this lowly one for offending you.”
While the Seven Absolutions Sect was the ruling power, distant waters could not slake a nearby thirst. This student might have been proud, but he wasn’t so naive as to believe that the name of the Seven Absolutions Sect could solve everything. Thus, when he saw that his opponent was different from the rest, he immediately became respectful.
Tang Jie was also startled by these words.
He had only dispelled the art to test his ability to use the Dao of Insight in battle. He hadn’t expected it to be enough to make this student think of him as a senior. Although he looked young, cultivators often had face-changing spells, and only looking at the face really wasn’t enough to pass judgment. Thus, it was hard to blame the student for making this mistake.
Since this person had taken him for someone that he was not, he decided to simply not explain. He loudly said, “The heavens reward the virtuous. In my view, while this clam woman might be a fiend, she has a kind nature and has not committed any atrocities. What need is there for you to be so vicious to her? I think it would be best if you put this matter aside.”
The three students did not dare to object, saying, “Since Senior has spoken, we will let this little fiend go.”
Wei Tianchong was quite amazed by the sight, wondering to himself, When did Tang Jie become a senior? But he had matured over the last two years, so he didn’t shout out this question, nor did he keep shooting fireballs.
The three of them pointed down, and the net opened and returned to its owner.
The magic tools of the Seven Absolutions Sect were quite amazing, all of them having the ability to return to their owners. The three students saluted Tang Jie before leaving, not daring to pause for even a moment.
The Ayia saw the three of them leaving and cheered.
Cai’er looked at Tang Jie and said, “I did not know that the three of you were cultivators. Please, forgive me for my disrespect.”
Tang Jie quickly said, “Miss Cai’er is too polite. I’m no lofty senior, only a little student. The true master is over there.”
Tang Jie pointed in the air, but Wei Tianchong had already descended. He loudly said, “How boring. I just got started and they already ran off.”
He had been planning to exhibit some of his divine might and teach them a lesson, but to his surprise, Tang Jie’s single move had scared them off.
Tang Jie replied, “This is the territory of the Seven Absolutions Sect, so it’s best if we don’t offend anybody we don’t have to.”
In Tang Jie’s view, scaring them off was better than killing them and drawing over someone even stronger.
Regardless, their actions immediately made the Ayia look at them differently. They surrounded the pair and prostrated in thanks, calling them seniors, Immortals, masters, Immortal Masters, and other such terms. Tang Jie didn’t mind, but Wei Tianchong had never experienced this treatment before. Surrounded by people who were praising him, he felt like life was wonderful and couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh.
Alas, Tang Jie didn’t know how to read the room, and after saying a few words, he had everyone disperse.
He looked over at the clam woman, whose injuries were improving under Shi Meng’s spells. She gracefully walked over and bowed to Tang Jie, her clam shell slightly opening like two wings. She said in a delicate voice, “Young Master, thank you for upholding justice and lending a hand. This little clam will remember Senior’s kindness for the rest of her life.”
“I just happened to be passing by,” Tang Jie replied. “But you need to be careful. As a fiend, you should be cautious and living in seclusion. While you have kind intentions in condensing spirit to create rain and bless the people, you create a large disturbance in doing so. How could this not attract greedy looks from others?”
It was no coincidence that those Seven Absolutions Sect students had appeared here. They must have heard about the offerings being made to the lake.
Thus, the clam woman had mostly brought this on herself.
She thought that she would be fine since she was a good person, not realizing how laughable this mindset was, like people who believed that justice was invincible, love was all-conquering, and power of the people was unrivaled…
While this fiend had human intellect, she was ultimately lacking in experience and thought about the world too simply.
This was precisely why Tang Jie had bluntly pointed out her mistakes so that she could be aware of them.
