Chapter 173: Having a Cheat is Badass

Boom!

Daoist Nun You's body was sliced open by the blade light once again. This time, however, the wound was far more severe. Instead of merely being bifurcated at the waist, she exploded directly into a mist of blood and gore.

Yet in the very next second, a resplendent divine light emerged where her physical body had shattered. Binding the flesh and blood together, it flickered like a raging fire sweeping through the air. Wherever it passed, the exploded flesh rapidly converged, gathering and reforming until a bare body manifested once more within the divine light.

Daoist Nun You had actually completely restored herself!

Even so, her eyes were slightly glazed, and her ears rang incessantly. Her mind wandered beyond the heavens; it seemed she still had not recovered from Wang Ping's saber strike.

This was simply because she was not a martial artist.

If she had achieved the Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank, she would have been able to see an ethereal, fiery-red violent ape wielding a piece of Divine Treasure Iron, pressing down upon her sea of consciousness.

The Divine Intent of the Mind Monkey, and the sea-calming divine treasure!

At this moment, Daoist Nun You's thoughts were completely suppressed by Wang Ping's Divine Intent, making it difficult for her mind to operate. That was until a streak of sword light vaulted up within her sea of consciousness.

Wang Ping saw it clearly. It was a Sword Pellet, exhaling sword qi as it bounded about. Each strand of sword qi resembled dragons and snakes darting around the Sword Pellet.

These strands of sword qi remained still until they moved, but when they did, they unleashed a world-shaking force. Emerging from the depths of Daoist Nun You's sea of consciousness, they instantly converged into a single stream and shattered Wang Ping's Mind Monkey Divine Intent, allowing Daoist Nun You's consciousness to resume functioning. Capitalizing on the victory, the sword qi chased after him, shooting straight for Wang Ping's neck!

‘This is... a magical treasure!’

In that lightning-fast moment, Wang Ping did not hesitate in the slightest. He retracted his saber and retreated, simultaneously pulling out the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag. His figure instantly vanished into the fluttering banner.

Boom!

In an instant, over a hundred thousand demonic heads charged out of the flag's surface, blotting out the sky. They met Daoist Nun You's slashing sword light head-on, producing an earth-shattering collision.

“This is... my flag?”

Daoist Nun You regained her senses. Looking at the overwhelming swarm of demonic heads before her, her eyes widened instantly. She had not expected to ever see this treacherous treasure flag again.

What angered her even more was that when this treasure flag had been in her hands, it had backlashed against its master twice and nearly gotten her killed. Yet now that it had fallen into Wang Ping's hands, it was brimming with vigor. Even the Sword Pellet magical treasure bestowed upon her by her master, Mingyou, was actually showing faint signs of faltering before it.

Clang, clang!

The Sword Pellet whistled, darting left and right within the swarm of demonic heads. However, for every inch it advanced, tens of thousands of demonic heads lunged forward to tear and bite at the surrounding sword qi.

Although the vast majority of those demonic heads were pulverized by the sword qi...

...the demonic heads were utterly fearless of death, and there were always some that succeeded. After a few cycles, the originally formidable sword qi was forcefully eaten away until only wispy threads remained.

Seeing this, Daoist Nun You's heart ached terribly. She hurriedly summoned a Red Gourd, then reached out and beckoned, retracting the Sword Pellet back inside.

She had originally thought this would be a mutually destructive outcome, since the demonic heads had also been decimated by more than half. Yet, when she looked back, she saw the damaged swarm of demonic heads roll across the pitch-black surface of the flag and automatically split apart. Within a few breaths, a fully intact swarm of 129,600 demonic heads roared out once again!

“This...”

Daoist Nun You's expression darkened at the sight, her thoughts racing. ‘It's his magical power. Stemming from the Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi, it already has an excellent affinity with demonic heads.’

‘Thus, it intensified the profundity of this treasure.’

‘Not good...’

Even so, she had no route of retreat now and could only fight to the bitter end. Resolutely circulating her magical power, she transformed it into a profound light that blended black and white into a single color.

‘Matchmaking!’

This was her magical power. In ancient times, it was called Central Rectitude Pivot, or Heaven and Earth Harmony. Originating from the Mid-Heaven Orthodox Origin Blended Harmony Qi, it possessed the profundity to harmonize myriad phenomena.

Following that, Daoist Nun You did not even stop to think. Her ten fingers fluttered like butterflies, forming hand seals and chanting incantations. Her magical power poured out like a burst dam, and she crazily unleashed spells as if they cost nothing, lighting up one brilliant hue after another. These lights circled and layered themselves atop the profound light at her fingertips.

Sword Art, Spirit Dispatching, Scenery Shifting.

Body Immobilization, Qi Restriction, Light Generation.

These six spells originally had their own individual profundities and could not be combined to form a Divine Power. Yet, at this very moment, they were forcefully fused together by Daoist Nun You's Matchmaking magical power!

Within Dao Proving Mountain, her imprinted avatar had only fused Sword Art and Spirit Dispatching together because her skills had only reached that level when she left the imprint.

But the current her was fully capable of fusing all six spells into one!

Having reached this point, Daoist Nun You cast aside all distracting thoughts. Holding the Red Gourd in her hand, she gently tapped her fingertip's profound light onto the bounding Sword Pellet.

At the same time, she chanted the incantation:

“Please turn around, precious treasure.”

As her words fell, endless sword qi immediately surfaced, piercing the void and echoing through heaven and earth. Following the direction of her pointed fingers, it ruthlessly slashed toward the center of Wang Ping's brow!

This was an art uniquely hers. Earlier, when facing the Minor Divine Ability Heaven Within the Pot, she had relied on this exact art to stand her ground against it.

“Taiyi Light-Splitting Parting-Joining Sword Qi!”

This sword qi had completely exceeded the scope of a spell. Its precision was incredibly high; it resembled a Divine Power yet was not quite one. Daoist Nun You had poured nearly all her magical power into this strike!

Sweeping a glance outward, the demonic heads blotted out the sun, converging into a heaven-spanning muddy torrent. Daoist Nun You, however, merged her body with the sword light, cleaving through the waves the entire way. No matter how the demonic heads crashed against her, her radiance did not diminish in the slightest. She quickly locked onto Wang Ping, who was hiding at the very back, and arrived before him in the blink of an eye.

Immediately after, the sword light made a light, drifting turn.

Swish!

Wang Ping's eyes widened. Without any strength to resist, a bloody line instantly split across his head. It tumbled off his neck, and his soul dissipated right along with it.

She had won!

Seeing this scene, Daoist Nun You let out a long breath of relief. However, she quickly realized something was wrong—the flag's master was dead, so why had the demonic heads not dispersed?

She soon found the answer to her confusion. Right behind her, a perfectly ordinary-looking demonic head suddenly pulled out a perfectly ordinary long saber and stabbed it straight into her back. Immediately following that, like a bloody maw, it crazily devoured her life force and vital essence!

Life-Stealing Thief!

On top of that, the surrounding demonic heads acted like starving wolves that had caught the scent of blood. They pounced madly, further nibbling away at her already meager magical power.

Seeing this, Daoist Nun You's heart was left with nothing but bewilderment.

‘How is this possible...?’

The Taiyi Light-Splitting Parting-Joining Sword Qi was her ultimate kill technique. Its might was so great it could even allow her to fight above her level and contend with non-lethal Minor Divine Abilities.

The target locked on by this art could not possibly be wrong. She was one hundred percent certain that the person she had slashed just now was absolutely Wang Ping himself. It was not a disguised demonic head, nor was it a body double... But since that was the case, who was this Wang Ping currently stabbing a saber through her chest?

Could it be a resurrection method?

No, resurrection methods also had differences in tiers. To resurrect after being killed by the Taiyi Light-Splitting Parting-Joining Sword Qi, it had to be a resurrection at the level of Divine Powers.

But the other party was not a Divine Powers cultivator!

She could not figure it out.

Unfortunately, she no longer had the focus to keep thinking. Under the pincer attack of the Life-Stealing Thief and the demonic heads, her already flimsy resistance became even more powerless.

“I... refuse to accept this...”

Daoist Nun You grit her teeth. To her, this was a completely unprovoked disaster. When it came down to it, she did not even understand why the man in front of her was targeting her in the first place.

“I am a true transmission disciple. I was on the verge of mastering Divine Powers. I still have a long immortal path ahead of me...”

“Stop caring about those empty titles,” Wang Ping said casually. “After this battle, your proudest achievement will be the fact that you managed to survive in my hands.”

After all, he was not someone who often left survivors.

After saying this, Wang Ping used his hands and feet right then and there to thoroughly wring out the very last bit of Daoist Nun You's life force and vital essence, making her pass out before finally pulling out his long saber.

Even while unconscious, the extraction of the saber still caused Daoist Nun You's delicate body to violently tremble. She let out a muffled groan, and her taut body completely went limp.

“Captured!”

Seeing this, Wang Ping finally let out a long sigh of relief. However, just in case, he viciously stabbed Daoist Nun You a few more times, making her whimper continuously.

Only after ensuring that this venomous woman—whom he had been keeping an eye on for a long time—truly lacked any power to resist, did Wang Ping finally collapse into a sitting position on the ground. He painfully rubbed his temples, his mind recalling that life-claiming sword light from just a moment ago... He had to admit, that move had somewhat exceeded his expectations.

‘An art akin to a Divine Power.’

Wang Ping reviewed the fight in his mind, feeling a newfound respect for Daoist Nun You.

‘To be able to combine the essence of magical power with spells... It's much stronger than my Nine Mysterious Demon-Subduing Transformations. Sure enough, I cannot underestimate any Immortal Gate true transmission disciple.’

Of course, he was still the one standing at the end.

As for why Daoist Nun You's certain-kill sword strike had ultimately missed... it was actually quite simple. In that moment, Wang Ping had used the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King to act as a body double.

‘Unlike other body doubles, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King is a product I constructed after resurrecting it with the Taiping Sutra. Essentially, it is me. Whether it is its qi signature or fluctuations, it is identical to my main body. Using it to substitute for a calamity can completely pass off the fake as real. It is utterly impossible to see through.’

Of course, even if he had not fooled her, it would not have mattered.

After all, the Taiping Sutra still had many resurrection charges left. At worst, he would just burn one chance, resurrect on the spot, and still be able to pull off that same sneak attack.

‘Looking at it this way, if I did not have the Taiping Sutra—if I did not have a cheat—I really would not be a match for this venomous woman. The gap in talent and resources is simply too massive.’

‘Too bad for her, I do have a cheat.’

After all, since I have a cheat, why wouldn't I use it? Stepping out to cultivate immortality, what talent? What resources? It's all illusory! The key is whether or not you have a cheat!

If you're unhappy about it, go get a cheat yourself!

Wang Ping felt smug for a while, venting the tension from the recent life-and-death struggle. Only then did he relax his mind and look toward the unconscious Daoist Nun You.

“First Seat, you can send me out now.”

“...”

The woman turned a deaf ear.

Wang Ping blanked for a moment when he saw this, but he quickly realized the issue. He hurriedly put on an apologetic smile and said, “Master, please go to the trouble of sending your disciple out.”

As his words fell, heaven and earth spun once more. Wang Ping blinked, and the Martial Drill Platform vanished, replaced by the scenery of Daoist Nun You's Cave Abode.

“I can begin.”

Looking at Daoist Nun You lying on the ground, entirely limp and naked, Wang Ping impatiently rubbed his hands together before gently placing them upon her.

Immediately after, his sea of consciousness burst with brilliant light.

Void Joy Non-Dual Guardian Consort Talisman!

‘Refine for me!’