Published at 26th of March 2024 1:22 am

Chapter 752: Appointment for a Duel

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"Father!" Xu Miaoran cried out in joy upon her father's intervention.

A little less than half of this happiness was because her father had come to save them in time. The majority was from the fact that her father had used "son-in-law", which meant that he had officially acknowledged Tang Jie and declared it to the world, thus indicating that anyone who offended Tang Jie would be offending him. Tang Jie might not have cared too much about this, though His master was Sect Master Ling Xiao, his status higher than Xu Guanghua's.

"'Son-in-law'? Xu Guanghua, he's a member of the Basking Moon Sect! He killed my disciple and even challenged me!" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign shouted in anger.

The clouds in the distance shifted into Xu Guanghua's form. "So you knew he was a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, but you were going to kill them? Are you trying to make another mortal enemy for my Horizon Ocean Pavilion? As for Sang Hongmei, when did Tang Jie ever kill her? In her own idiocy, she entered a death zone, so who can she blame but herself? Moreover, she kidnapped a disciple of this sect and stole from my daughter, so she deserved death regardless. I haven't even settled accounts with you over that, and you're trying to settle accounts with me? Jewel, don't go too far. Even if you're an Immortal Sovereign, you can't push me around as you please!"

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You want to make an enemy of me?"

Xu Guanghua grunted. "All I'm doing is protecting my daughter and son-in-law, and you call that making an enemy of you! Jewel, you really are getting more and more unreasonable. It's no wonder you had a disciple like Sang Hongmei. Let's fight! Even if we have to bring this fight all the way to Master, I'm not afraid!"

The two of them glanced at each other, and in that instant, they raised their hands and attacked each other.

"Enough!" a sharp bark interrupted.

The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign appeared between the two of them, raising her hands and taking the attacks of Xu Guanghua and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.

"Sect Master!" The two of them immediately bowed their heads.

Jade Emptiness snorted. After glancing at Tang Jie, she said, "You're both already so old, but it seems like you don't know the slightest bit of restraint. Fighting in front of the disciples, have you no respect for the rules? Do you want to let everyone know that my Horizon Ocean Pavilion is wracked with internal strife, two of its Violet Palace experts exchanging blows?"

Xu Guanghua and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign said nothing.

But at this moment, Tang Jie's voice rang out. "All the people of the world are bound to find out. They will find out that I, Tang Jie, have returned, and they will know that the Jewel Immortal Sovereign is using her public identity to avenge a private wrong, and they will also know that the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign is protecting Jewel and not being impartial!"

"What did you say?" Jade Emptiness angrily glared at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie fearlessly stared back. "Sect Master Jade Emptiness, I just arrived at your sect, and then your sect's Violet Palace expert tried to kill me. Fortunately, my father-in-law was there to save me. But rather than punishing the culprit, you blame both sides for having a fight, not even discussing who was right and who was wrong. How is that impartial in any way? I am the disciple of the Basking Moon Sect's master, so attacking me is essentially a declaration of war. I am sure that Sect Master understands this."

Jade Emptiness narrowed her eyes. "You are very bold."

Tang Jie casually replied, "Ah, so arguing with the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion requires boldness and not reason? The more you know."

"You!" The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was so angry that she was speechless. While she might have been immensely powerful, Tang Jie's charisma was on the Dao-Proving Saint Immortal level, and besides that, she was in the wrong. As a result, only a few sentences from Tang Jie were enough to silence her.

But Xu Guanghua rebuked, "Tang Jie, be quiet!"

He then said to the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign, "Senior Sister, please, calm yourself. Youths are always a little too energetic and bold."

"He's cultivated for more than a hundred years and can't be considered a youth anymore." The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign glanced at Tang Jie and suddenly laughed. "Tang Jie, you're right. I did not do a good job on this matter."

Everyone was stunned to see her openly admitting to her error.

Only Tang Jie was unsurprised.

Too many people had borne witness to this spectacle. Unless she killed everyone, it was impossible to keep it a secret. Just as Tang Jie had said, everyone was bound to know eventually. The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign could either choose to stubbornly persist or immediately correct her error.

As a person, one could perhaps choose to fight until the very end, but as the leader of a major sect, one could not let emotions guide one's actions. Rather, one had to choose the most beneficial option, to mollify conflicts, reduce troubles, and reduce all harmful influences.

The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was able to become the Sect Master not because she was the oldest disciple, but because she was the most mature, the one with the most restraint. This was why Tang Jie knew she would make this choice.

As expected, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign continued to profess her mistakes. "I was so focused on civility that I forgot about justice. I had given permission for the disciples of Basking Moon to stay in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and they have not done anything to harm the sect in this time. For Jewel to attack them in anger, unjustly using her power against the weak, is a grave mistake. Jewel, you are to immediately go to the Meditation Pavilion and think over your sins for ten years."

"But, Senior Sister, Tang Jie got my disciple killed. Or are we just going to forget that?" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign said. "She was doing this all for"

"Silence!" Jade Emptiness bellowed. "Her individual actions have nothing to do with the sect. She only has herself to blame. No one is allowed to start a fight over this matter from now on."

These last words made Tang Jie and Xu Guanghua frown and made the eyes of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign light up.

"Starting a fight over this matter is no longer allowed? Then if I were to find another reason, Sect Master would not object, yes?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign turned to Tang Jie. "Tang Jie, I recall you once telling a disciple of the Four Seas Hall to relay to me that you were willing to fight this sovereign, no?"

Tang Jie coldly snorted. "I said that I would fight with you, but now isn't that time."

"Then how long must I wait? Ten thousand years?" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign sharply said.

"Of course not." Tang Jie coldly smiled. "I got here in less than two hundred years, so I only need another two hundred years at most to be able to defeat you."

Jade Emptiness was startled by these words, Xu Guanghua frowned, and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign laughed like she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Tang Jie, you think that because you can ascend three realms in two hundred years, you can ascend another realm in the same amount of time? You're too naive! The path of cultivation only grows more difficult the more you travel it. Toward the end, each step is as difficult as ascending to the heavens, and many people get stuck for the rest of their lives. Going from Soul Transformation to Violet Palace alone has felled countless heroes. It's not something a little cultivator like you can imagine. Two hundred years? Hongmei was at Soul Transformation for 480 years, but she was never able to cross that threshold. You really think you will be able to fight me after two hundred years?"

Tang Jie coldly replied, "I only said that I would fight you in two hundred years. When did I ever say that I was going to reach Soul Projection in that time? I don't need to get that far to defeat you. Deification is enough."

"Absurd! Putting aside the vast difference in tiers, even Deification can't be done in two hundred years!" Xu Guanghua barked. "Tang Jie, how many heads do you have, that you dare to be so rude? Take back your words and immediately apologize to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign."

The Jewel Immortal Sovereign replied, "Xu Guanghua, there's no need to try and give him advice with your scoldings. Words spoken are like water spilled, with no taking them back. This sovereign can wait two hundred years, so I can grant this time to you, Tang Jie. When the time comes, we will have a fair battle, and when I kill you, even Ling Xiao won't be able to say anything."

Tang Jie smirked. "You 'grant' me two hundred years? Jewel Immortal Sovereign, while you have your experience and power, I have my potential. You might be very strong now, but in my eyes, that's only for the moment. You think that you're granting me two hundred years, but I think that I'm the one giving you these two hundred years. You're right to say that the Violet Palace threshold is a massive barrier to overcome, but it's precisely because it's such an imposing barrier that what decides whether one can overcome it isn't time, but the self. If you aren't able enough, you could be given ten thousand years and still not overcome it, but if you are able, you could do it in a few days."

Jewel said in shock, "Are you saying you're going to make the charge at Violet Palace soon?"

Tang Jie raised a finger. "I've yet to reach the peak of Soul Transformation, and my Divine Soul has been injured and can't cultivate for forty years, so I can't make that charge just yet. But once I'm healed, I need only ten years to do it. I will reach Violet Palace within ten years! The remaining 150 years will be used for reaching Deification."

"I will reach Violet Palace in ten years!"

In the Violet Leaf Pagoda, Cai Junyang laughed as he put an arm around Tang Jie's shoulders. "As expected of you, Tang Jie, so bold and heroic!"

"It's heroic, yes, but reaching Violet Palace isn't child's play," Wei Tianchong worriedly said. "That's a life-or-death trial, and numerous people can go their entire lives without overcoming it. Don't go dying at the Violet Palace threshold before you can even fight the Jewel Immortal Sovereign."

The others nodded in agreement. Besides Cai Junyang, nobody thought highly of Tang Jie's chances, with Xu Miaoran being the only one who was smiling.

"Hey, Young Lady, have you lost your mind?" Hong Yuan pushed Xu Miaoran. "When things are like this, how can you be in the mood to smile?"

Xu Miaoran replied, "Why shouldn't I smile? I know how terrifying the Jewel Immortal Sovereign is, but I still believe in Tang Jie, and I believe that he would never do something he wasn't sure of. Rather than worrying about this and that, it would be better to just believe that Tang Jie can create a miracle so that you can live out these two hundred years in peace."

"'A miracle'," Hong Yuan mumbled. "Rather than hoping for a miracle, it would be better to put your hopes on the venerable master."

The venerable master she was referring to was naturally Xu Guanghua.

Tang Jie having a duel with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was worrying enough, and then there was the fact that this guy had admitted to his soul needing forty years to recover, meaning he only had 160 years to cultivate. Xu Guanghua had been so angry that he had turned and left without saying a word.

Before this, he had never paid too much attention to his son-in-law, and just when he had finally acknowledged him, this kid decided to court death.

In truth, with Tang Jie's current achievements, so long as he didn't court death, he could have steadily advanced, and in one thousand years, he could be a proper Celestial Sovereign. But he insisted on courting death, leaving Xu Guanghua with nothing to say.

Since the duel was already set, Xu Guanghua could do nothing but stalk away in rage. Even so, he still had someone deliver a Nine Splendors Morning Dew Pill. While this pill couldn't help in advancing to Violet Palace, if one failed to condense the Violet Palace, the pill could protect the Divine Soul, increasing one's chances of survival.

Thus, one could see that despite his anger and dissatisfaction, Xu Guanghua still understood how to have some hope and confidence in his son-in-law.

While others were worried, Tang Jie knew that reaching Violet Palace really posed no difficulty to him at all.

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