Chapter 157: Dao Proving Mountain

Dao Proving Mountain.

Though called a mountain, it didn't rest on the ground, nor did it even have the shape of one. It was merely a crescent-like arc of light spanning the vast dome of the sky like a heavenly rift.

Around this rift, layered illusions of earth, water, wind, and fire rotated in endless, magnificent displays of brilliant light. Beyond them hovered the various flying ships and palaces belonging to cultivators here to challenge Dao Proving Mountain. Others circled the periphery, setting up arrays of Round Light Mirrors.

This was the sight that greeted Wang Ping upon his arrival.

"These are...?"

Wang Ping's gaze immediately fell upon the Round Light Mirrors on the periphery, which covered Dao Proving Mountain from every conceivable angle.

"Oh, broadcasts."

Daoist Xuanhe glanced over, his tone casual. "They're from New Immortal Blessed Land, Liubo Blessed Land, and Myriad Colors Blessed Land."

"The Immortal Gate is vast. It governs countless realms filled with billions of independent cultivators, yet Dao Proving Mountain is only open within the Eight Immortal Peaks. Because the economic yield was too low, some people found ways to broadcast the mountain's rankings and battles so those independent cultivators could participate as well."

Wang Ping immediately understood.

After all, arguing over battles was a deep-rooted human flaw. Even though independent cultivators couldn't challenge Dao Proving Mountain themselves, they could still root for the ones they believed would succeed.

Not to mention—

"They can also place bets."

As their flying ship drew closer, Wang Ping quickly noticed the blessed land cultivators standing before the Round Light Mirrors, skillfully delivering the same repetitive sales pitches.

"Not betting is still gambling, because you're betting that you'll lose!"

"Remember, the money you lose gambling is just being temporarily held by the dealer. If you stop betting, you'll never get it back!"

"Place your bets! All bets are final!"

Wang Ping: "..."

Good lord, who said there was no such thing as the perfect crime?

Seeing this, Daoist Xuanhe smiled. "How about it? Want to give it a try? Since you have confidence in yourself, you could always bet on yourself."

Wang Ping shook his head. "I don't have money to bet."

"I'll lend it to you."

Daoist Xuanhe's expression grew even more amiable. "Bet boldly! I'll cover the stakes. The more you bet, the more you earn. You can just pay me back after you win."

Saying this, he reached into his robes and pulled out a string of brightly glowing coins. "This is the dharma currency universally used within the Immortal Gate. You need it for expenses everywhere in the sect. How much do you plan to borrow? Don't worry, your senior brother is quite wealthy. I won't overcharge you on interest."

"Just fifty percent, how about that?"

Daoist Xuanhe looked at Wang Ping with a beaming smile. "Of course, the prerequisite is that you must win. If you don't have the confidence to pull it off, then pretend I never said anything..."

"Nonsense."

Wang Ping nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Senior. Place a bet for me—three thousand coins. Bet that I can break You Xuexin's record."

"Good, you've got guts!"

Daoist Xuanhe immediately waved his hand. A full three thousand coins of dharma currency flew out, guided by spiritual sense into Myriad Colors Blessed Land before vanishing from sight.

"Many thanks, Senior Brother."

Wang Ping smiled and nodded in return.

How could he fail to see that Daoist Xuanhe had absolutely zero confidence in him? On the surface, the man was kindly lending him money, but in reality, it was a trap to get Wang Ping in debt.

'He's probably calculating that after I fail, the loan will become a bargaining chip. He'll force me to compromise step by step until I finally submit to his arrangements.'

But it all came down to the same thing.

Cultivators of the Immortal Gate ultimately spoke with their strength.

'I've seen Daoist Nun You's strength with my own eyes. Unless she's broken through to the Tribulation Transcending Second Layer and tempered her Divine Powers, I have at least an eighty percent chance of beating her!'

Looking at Wang Ping's calm expression, Daoist Xuanhe laughed inwardly.

'This kid is full of confidence. Does he think he can let that crazy woman possess his body and fight for him? Naive. How could that possibly fool Dao Proving Mountain?'

That was a grotto-heaven forged by a Qi Refining practitioner.

It wasn't as if cultivators hadn't hired substitutes to fight for them in the past. Without exception, they had all been exposed. Absolutely no one could pull the wool over the mountain's eyes.

As for him winning with his own strength... that was even more impossible. No matter what, she was still a true transmission disciple. Even if this guy had been trained by that crazy woman, his methods were limited to the martial dao. He wasn't one of those Manifesting Divinity Great Grandmasters; he could only rely on divine weapons and magical artifacts. He would leave far too many openings in a magical duel.

Although it appeared he had also cultivated into a loose immortal.

But a loose immortal without a proper inheritance couldn't compare to a true disciple of the Immortal Gate at all. He probably didn't even know a handful of spells, let alone true dharma arts.

At this thought, Daoist Xuanhe's gaze shifted.

In an instant, a torrent of dharma currency—ten times the previous amount—poured out from his sleeve. Purposely obscuring the action, he quietly sent it slipping into another blessed land.

'I'll bet that Senior Sister You's record remains unbroken!'

Daoist Xuanhe plotted inwardly:

'Senior Sister You is a true transmission, after all. None of the disciples here can shake her record. Although the odds are a bit low, it's a guaranteed win.'

Moreover, as long as the bet was big enough, even small odds would yield a decent payout. At the very least, it would be enough to win back the three thousand dharma currency he'd just lent out.

Thinking this, Daoist Xuanhe glanced at Wang Ping again and mused, 'This way, I won't lose a single cent, and this guy will owe me three thousand dharma currency for nothing. With this karma between us, manipulating him in the future will be easy. I'll make sure he shares a portion of that top-grade fate with me!'

Although it wasn't very nice to scheme against an ally.

But apologies, this was how one survived in the Immortal Gate. The kid only had his own limited perspective to blame. Besides, one had to suffer a setback to learn a lesson.

Just consider it a lesson from a senior brother to his newly initiated junior!

...

Bypassing the blessed lands on the periphery, Daoist Xuanhe led Wang Ping toward Dao Proving Mountain and quickly arrived at an area isolated by magical power.

Stepping through the isolating barrier, Wang Ping immediately spotted three figures.

He also caught the sound of their conversation:

"Fairy Qixia, how many people do you think have a chance of breaking our records this time?"

The first to speak was a man in a red robe with crimson eyebrows. Just by looking at him, Wang Ping felt as if his sea of consciousness was about to ignite.

Responding to him was a stunningly beautiful female cultivator draped in radiant light. Every frown and smile she made carried a hazy quality, as if she might vanish in the next second. Her voice was melodious and pleasant. "For me, it should be Fairy Fengyuan. She's already very close to my record."

"Fairy Fengyuan... oh, Senior Brother Yun's dao companion."

The red-browed man sighed. "For me, it's most likely Xiaoxiang from the Heaven and Earth Pavilion. After all, he serves under a true transmission disciple; he's truly out of my league."

"You two have it easy."

The last person to speak was a bitter-faced young Daoist carrying a longsword on his back. "That Changyangzi is my martial uncle's apprentice."

"With him suppressing me, everyone knows Martial Uncle has a fine apprentice. Once Martial Uncle fails his life tribulation and dies, my share of the inheritance will shrink!"

"Then you really are the unluckiest, Yuhong."

"To be fair, that's true."

At this, the three of them sighed simultaneously. "We have to admit, there are a lot of outstanding talents among the outer sect disciples. They're stronger than our generation."

"The student surpasses the master."

"After thinking it over and over, all we can do is..."

Their voices trailed off as the three exchanged glances, ultimately reaching the exact same conclusion: "...find a chance to nip them in the bud!"

"Will we have a chance to strike?"

"Fairy Fengyuan will be rather difficult. After all, she's Senior Brother Yun's dao companion. If she really died, Senior Brother Yun would divine the culprit, and with our cultivation, we probably wouldn't be able to hide from him."

"What about Xiaoxiang... No, he's backed by a true transmission."

"Let's stick with Changyangzi..."

Wang Ping listened to the conversation dumbfounded, fully experiencing the true culture of the Immortal Gate, until Daoist Xuanhe coughed beside him.

"Ahem!"

In a flash, all three turned around. The blazing radiant might of their Divine Powers illuminated the world, only to rapidly retract in the very next second, transforming back into a gentle breeze.

"Oh, it's just Xuanhe."

Daoist Chimei smiled. "We were just joking around. As inner sect disciples, how could we possibly bully our juniors like that?"

"I understand."

Daoist Xuanhe replied with an equally bright smile.

Immediately after, the female cultivator with the Daoist title 'Qixia' asked softly, "Xuanhe, why aren't you watching the Eight Trigrams Furnace? What brings you to Dao Proving Mountain?"

"Could it be you've made some progress and want to challenge the mountain?"

Daoist Xuanhe shook his head. "What kind of progress could a furnace-watching disciple make? I mainly brought one of my firewood-adding disciples here to see the world."

"A firewood-adding disciple?"

Hearing this, the three Tribulation Transcending Second Layer inner sect disciples immediately shifted their gazes to Wang Ping, who stood behind Daoist Xuanhe with a placid expression.

Daoist Chimei was the first to frown.

"He has a Human Firewood background from the Eight Trigrams Furnace? Fellow Daoist Xuanhe, I don't mean to criticize you, but while you may have been Human Firewood in the past, things are different now."

"You can't engage in nepotism and promote Human Firewood."

Fairy Qixia also nodded. "That's exactly right. Otherwise, wouldn't the immortal peak eventually be swarming with Human Firewood?"

Daoist Yuhong chimed in, "How improper!"

"Are you trying to create a Human Firewood faction, Fellow Daoist Xuanhe?"

Daoist Xuanhe didn't mind their words and waved his hand. "The three of you are joking. I really just brought him to broaden his horizons, lest he remain ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth."

With that, he beckoned with his hand.

They had originally been some distance from Dao Proving Mountain, but with a flash of light, they landed right at its entrance.

The appearance of four inner sect disciples—cultivators of Divine Powers—immediately set off a wave of uproar among the outer sect disciples surrounding Dao Proving Mountain.

"Senior Brother Xuanhe?"

Suddenly, a surprised gasp rang out from the crowd. Soon after, a refined man dressed in azure robes flew over rapidly on a streak of light.

"Xiaoxiang greets Senior Brother Xuanhe."

"It's you..."

Daoist Xuanhe narrowed his eyes slightly. As a fellow member of the Heaven and Earth Pavilion, he naturally recognized Xiaoxiang. Even Xiaoxiang's flying sword had been purchased through his smuggling.

From the looks of it, was he all alone?

As a disciple of the Immortal Gate, how could he be so careless? Running around everywhere without having tempered his Divine Powers—wasn't he afraid of being caught by bandit cultivators who would murder him and steal his goods?

"Senior Brother Xuanhe..."

Without waiting for Xiaoxiang to finish, Daoist Xuanhe decisively waved his hand. "I'm not discussing official business today. I'm here on a private matter, so keep your presumptuous requests to yourself."

"...A private matter?" Xiaoxiang furrowed his brow.

"Exactly." Daoist Xuanhe stepped aside, revealing Wang Ping. "This time, I mainly came to let this firewood-adding disciple of mine see the world."

A firewood-adding disciple... from the Eight Trigrams Furnace?

Daoist Xuanhe hadn't deliberately lowered his voice, so his words were immediately picked up by the attentive cultivators nearby. Instantly, dozens—even hundreds—of gazes landed on Wang Ping.

Xiaoxiang couldn't help but furrow his brow as well.

Coming from a Human Firewood background meant it wasn't easy to enter the outer sect.

In that case, was this an independent cultivator???