Chapter 8

When he woke up, Tang Jie found himself lying on the bed in the inner room.

He turned over and sat up, only to see Xu Muyang standing not far from him, writing at a desk.

Without turning around, Xu Muyang said, "Lie back down. Your Jade Gate has just opened, and your spirit platform is not yet stable. You need to consolidate it."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a talisman flew out and stuck to Tang Jie's body.

Only then did Tang Jie realize that his perception of the world had changed. Everything around him suddenly became clear, the colors were vivid, the air was fresh, and he felt an inexhaustible strength in his body.

"Xu Brother, are you saying I can cultivate immortality now?" Tang Jie asked with surprise and joy.

"From the perspective of your aptitude... yes."

"Great!" Tang Jie was so excited that he wanted to jump up, but just as he moved, the talisman on his body flashed, and he was immediately immobilized, lying back down.

"I told you not to move," Xu Muyang turned around, and with a few taps of his wolf-hair brush, streams of light appeared in the air, binding Tang Jie as if they were threads.

"Xu Brother, what is this..." Tang Jie asked, puzzled.

"Small Binding Spirit Technique. It can temporarily restrain the movement of your internal spiritual energy. Last night, your spiritual energy went berserk, causing significant damage to your meridians. You need to be nourished and adjusted before you can formally start cultivation. Rest well for the next two days. I've already taken leave for you at Anyang Prefecture," Xu Muyang said calmly.

At this point, Xu Muyang put down the wolf-hair brush, sat next to Tang Jie, and smiled, "Five turns of the Jade Gate, a medium aptitude, which is quite good. What's most commendable is that you broke through alone, showing remarkable perseverance."

Five turns of the Jade Gate meant that Tang Jie had opened five levels of his Jade Gate.

The Jade Gate and Spirit Platform are divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. Three turns or less are considered lower grade, and seven turns or more are considered upper grade.

Tang Jie's five turns of the Jade Gate were considered middle grade, not a genius, but certainly not a failure.

At this moment, Tang Jie recalled that last night, in a daze, he had followed Xu Muyang's guidance to guide the energy and break through the gate, and it seemed he had indeed opened five levels.

The pain of breaking through the gate was immense. Despite his adult willpower and remarkable perseverance, he had only managed to open five levels. When he reached the fifth level, he fainted, ultimately stopping at the fifth level of the Jade Gate.

"Unfortunately, my perseverance was not enough, and I couldn't persist," Tang Jie said with regret.

Xu Muyang laughed, "If your perseverance is not enough, no one in the world can do it. Breaking through the gate is not just about perseverance. The Jade Gate is a natural lock, but the degree of constraint varies from person to person. Some people have tightly closed gates, and even if they use spiritual energy to the point of bursting, they might not open a single one, as the amount of spiritual energy a mortal can contain is limited."

Breaking through the gate requires spiritual energy, and the amount a mortal can contain is limited. Therefore, the degree to which the gate opens depends not only on the breaker's perseverance but also on the tightness of the gate. Under the same force, the looser the gate, the more it opens.

Thus, breaking through the gate is a combination of innate aptitude and postnatal effort.

Tang Jie's innate aptitude was not excellent, but his willpower far exceeded that of ordinary people.

This allowed him to almost fully utilize his strength in breaking through the gate.

Many cultivators might have the aptitude to break through to the upper grade, but they often cry and shrink back due to the pain, wasting their spiritual energy and lowering their grade.

Due to various reasons such as aptitude and perseverance, very few cultivators can achieve an upper-grade Jade Gate. Most are middle or lower grade. Therefore, a five-turn Jade Gate, while sounding ordinary, is actually quite good among most cultivators.

After hearing Xu Muyang's explanation, Tang Jie was enlightened, and his regret diminished.

However, Xu Muyang nodded unsatisfactorily, "If it were someone else with a five-turn Jade Gate, I might think it's good, but you are different. You used a special gate-breaking technique created by the Jili Warlord for his reincarnation. If you could only reach this level, it's really hard to justify."

"Who is the Jili Warlord? Is he a great person?" Tang Jie asked curiously.

To his surprise, Xu Muyang's face darkened, "The Jili Warlord is a great being, surpassing the Immortal Platform and roaming freely through the myriad worlds. In his lifetime, even mentioning his name would invoke his presence. People fear his power and only call him the Warlord, not daring to use his name. Even though he has fallen now, you, a mere mortal, should not question him."

Tang Jie's expression changed, and he respectfully replied, "Yes, I understand my mistake."

Seeing his humility, Xu Muyang was satisfied, "It's not your fault. After all, you are just starting in the immortal world and don't understand many things. I'll teach you some important things about the immortal world over the next two days."

Tang Jie was delighted, thinking that Xu Muyang was about to formally take him as a disciple, and hurriedly said, "Yes, Master."

To his surprise, Xu Muyang waved his hand, "Don't call me Master. I won't take you as a disciple."

Tang Jie was stunned, and Xu Muyang continued, "You don't need to be disappointed. I'm not taking you as a disciple for your own good. First, I am being pursued, and although I have temporarily avoided them, my enemies will eventually catch up. If I take you as a disciple, it will only drag you down. Second, you are from Wuxin Country, which is under the jurisdiction of the Xiyue Sect. Without the Xiyue Sect's permission, it would be improper for me to take a Wuxin citizen as a disciple. Third, I come from the Xu family, and all my knowledge is a family legacy, which cannot be easily passed on to non-relatives. Fourth, the Xiyue Sect is one of the six major sects of Qixia, far superior to the Xu family in terms of heritage and legacy. It would be better for you to join the Xiyue Sect."

Tang Jie didn't expect that there were so many rules for immortals taking disciples, and now he understood why Xu Muyang had been reluctant to take him before.

Xu Muyang continued, "However, we have met, and there is a connection between us. Although I can't take you as a disciple, I can still teach you some things. Once my injuries heal, I'll take you to Wanquan City and help you enter the Xiyue Academy, which is under the Xiyue Sect, to settle this karmic connection."

Hearing this, Tang Jie knew it was impossible to become Xu Muyang's disciple and could only nod, "Thank you, Brother Xu!"

Xu Muyang laughed, "Since you recognize me as your brother, I can't let you not know who I am. Let me start by telling you about the immortal world."

Xu Muyang was born into the Xu family of Moqiu, one of the four major immortal families in Moqiu, ranked fourth. Xu Muyang was the third son of the family head, Xu Huaili, with an older brother and sister and a younger sister. Born into a prestigious family, Xu Muyang was considered to have been born with a silver spoon.

Compared to his siblings, Xu Muyang was a prodigy, breaking through the gate at nine years old and opening seven levels, once considered the next family head by the family head.

However, Xu Muyang soon disappointed his father.

Xu Muyang had no interest in the Xu family's strongest techniques, such as the Seven Illusions of the Sky and the Void Scripture, but was instead obsessed with array formations and the evolution of the Yi number.

In the immortal world, there are four auxiliary paths: alchemy, talismans, arrays, and artifacts. Each is extremely important, but none can command the respect of higher cultivators.

Strength is auxiliary, and status is also auxiliary.

In a team, you can't do without a healer, but how many healers can be the leader?

Healers are at least auxiliary, but alchemists are more like logistics.

Who can command a battlefield with a logistics officer?

The immortal world is a place where strength is king. Even if you have a unique elixir, if you anger me, I can still kill you with a single strike!

Therefore, while cultivators with strong auxiliary and logistical abilities are respected, they can never gain real authority.

The Xu family, being a peak existence in Moqiu, has many array masters, alchemists, talisman masters, and artifact masters, so there's no need for the future family head to personally master these skills.

Thus, while the paths of alchemy, talismans, arrays, and artifacts are not bad, they are at best "good jobs" for common cultivators, not the pursuit of a major family's heir.

Therefore, Xu Huaili was quite angry with Xu Muyang's "lack of focus," but Xu Muyang remained unrepentant.

He was a prodigy, and as he progressed in cultivation, he truly shone in the path of array formations, quickly becoming the top array master in Moqiu. His cultivation level, however, was just a byproduct of his grandfather's pressure and his need to create high-level arrays.

For most cultivators, reaching the Heaven Heart realm might be their greatest goal, but for Xu Muyang, it was just a byproduct.

However, this also meant that his actual combat strength among Heaven Heart realm cultivators was not outstanding.

Despite his growing array skills, his status in the family declined.

The old family head finally gave up on him and let him focus on array formations. After being neglected by the Xu family, Xu Muyang did not lose heart but continued to research arrays, his skills growing day by day, and his reputation spreading throughout the Qixia world.

It was during this time that Xu Muyang received a very special invitation, which led to his severe injuries and his wandering life.

Xu Muyang did not specify what the invitation was, but from the context, Tang Jie could guess it was related to the Jili Warlord.

"That period of being neglected was the most carefree time of my life. Many people felt sorry for me losing my position as heir, but I never wanted to inherit the Xu family... I wasn't suited for it," Xu Muyang said reflectively. "Managing a large family is not easy. Sometimes you have to pay a high price. I didn't want to lose those things... to avoid losing, I was willing not to gain."

"To avoid losing, you were willing not to gain..." Tang Jie pondered these words, "Does that mean to gain, you must also lose?"

"Yes!" Xu Muyang replied, "You are different from me. You are someone who can lose to gain. I confirmed this when I learned you were from Xiaohexi Village. With 138 people in Xiaohexi Village dead, you could still deceive me. If you weren't naturally heartless, you must have absolute self-control. Do you know that these traits can bring you great danger?"

"Danger?" Tang Jie was puzzled.

"Yes, the Heart Demon Tribulation!" Xu Muyang explained the Heart Demon Tribulation to Tang Jie.

This was the first time Tang Jie heard about the Heart Demon Tribulation, and he finally understood why he had been able to deceive Xu Muyang so easily.

"As cultivators progress, they gradually develop a sense of their true self. From the moment the true self appears, all actions that go against it are imprinted on the true self. When the Heart Demon Tribulation comes, each thought becomes a demon, leading to the Heart Demon Tribulation."

"So, the worse a person is, the better they can pass the Heart Demon Tribulation? The lower the moral底线, the less likely they are to feel guilty, and the easier it is to pass the Heart Demon Tribulation?" Tang Jie was shocked.

"Exactly. The ruthless can last a thousand years. Unscrupulous, impatient, and quick to kill... the path of immortality is dangerous, as you can see."

"Does that mean the immortal world is ruled by wolves and tigers?"

"Not necessarily. Chaos leads to order, for oneself and others. Heartless people may have great strength, but no one likes them. Not only do orthodox cultivators dislike them, but even their own kind won't like each other. They are like lions and tigers, hard to gather because they don't trust each other."

"True, even villains need to mix with good people to have a future. If the whole world were villains, villains would have no future," Tang Jie laughed.

Abandoning one's moral底线may lead to quick success, but it doesn't win hearts. The immortal world, though cruel, has its order and cannot tolerate such harm.

Moreover, falling into depravity is a habit, and once you start, it's hard to turn back.

It's like enjoying killing.

When you kill, you don't violate your true self, but when you don't kill, you do.

This means you must continue to kill—leading to your own destruction.

Therefore, being a bad person for life is actually harder than being a good person.

"That's why I asked if you felt guilty about deceiving me. If you act without a moral底线, you will face the wrath of heaven and people. Although it's a small matter, if it continues, it will accumulate and become significant. So, ask yourself, if I never found out about your deception, would you feel guilty in the future? If so, how much?"

Tang Jie thought seriously, repeatedly questioning his heart.

After a while, he raised his head and answered, "In the future, I will act with restraint, but in this matter, although I deceived Brother Xu, I won't feel guilty. This didn't cross my moral底线, and I have not violated my true self!"

Xu Muyang was stunned.

He looked at Tang Jie and finally said, "This moral底线... is really quite low."