Chapter 222: We Are on the Same Side

Wang Ping's scalp tingled with dread, and Kunyun wasn't faring any better.

'Ming... he isn't my helper!'

'Stepping in to stop the Grand Ancestor of Dashun—it was all fake! An act! Those two reached an agreement long ago and deliberately fought just to deceive me!'

At this realization, Kunyun was so furious he practically fumed.

He had leveraged the intelligence about You Xuexin being controlled to strike a deal with Mingyou, only to realize Mingyou had secretly known about it the entire time.

Mingyou was the one who had pushed for Uniting Earth to Behold Fire!

Some helper. He was clearly an enemy!

Mistaking an enemy for an ally was a fatal misjudgment. But with this revelation, an even graver question surfaced.

'Who is my helper?'

Destiny was fair. If the Grand Ancestor of Dashun, Mingyou, and that Ascetic Monk of the Brahma Nation were all his enemies, where was his helper?

Was it only his master?

'Impossible. There has to be another. I just haven't found the clues... No, it's not that I haven't found them. I was cleverly misled down the wrong path.'

Kunyun looked up at Wang Ping. In hindsight, this trap wasn't actually that complex. If he had simply talked to this man earlier and discussed the secret of Uniting Earth to Behold Fire, everything would have come to light, and he never would have made such a drastic miscalculation.

Yet he had missed it.

And not just once, but twice. The first time was at the Immortal Gate, and the second was within the Eight Trigrams Furnace. He had missed his chance twice in a row!

'Because the mastermind placed this pawn low enough.'

'My attention was entirely drawn to the obvious target, You Xuexin. I completely ignored him, which is why I was lured step by step toward the wrong clues.'

By the same logic, this pawn lacked the foresight and the high ground to see through the scheme. As a mere chess piece, he had been pushed along step by step to this very moment.

The two of them had perfectly missed each other.

It was a simple choice of pawn. By selecting the right person, the mastermind had effortlessly deflected their attention, turning an otherwise straightforward setup into a complex, fatal death trap!

In reality, however, both Kunyun and Wang Ping were essentially victims of this calculation. There was absolutely no irreconcilable conflict between them.

At most, it was an issue concerning a Destiny Pattern—something they could negotiate.

"...Fellow Daoist."

"...Senior Brother."

Wang Ping and Kunyun looked up, their eyes meeting. Then, they simultaneously let out a heartfelt sigh. "We're on the same side!"

A second later, Kunyun continued, "Ming... that guy plotted against me for one reason alone: extending his lifespan! He is about to die of old age, so everything he does is solely to survive."

Kunyun sighed again. "But I don't understand. What does his lifespan extension have to do with my life tribulation? Even if they are connected, he should be helping me. I already promised that I would use Dashun's national destiny to forge a lifespan-extending magical treasure for him. That should benefit him."

Hearing this, Wang Ping spoke up, "Actually, there's something I've been wondering about. Can a mere magical treasure really help a Qi Refining practitioner extend their lifespan?"

As far as he knew, magical treasures were meant for Tribulation Transcending cultivators.

"You are unaware of this, fellow Daoist,"

Kunyun explained. "Extending one's lifespan is snatching life from the heavens. By nature, it is a tier above all other matters. Therefore, a lifespan-extending magical treasure is effective even for a Qi Refining practitioner."

"If it were a lifespan-extending Spiritual Treasure, even a True Person would fight over it."

Wang Ping asked out of curiosity, "What about Tribulation Transcending cultivators, then? Do they use lifespan-extending magical artifacts?"

"Why would anyone in Tribulation Transcending extend their lifespan!"

Kunyun shook his head without hesitation. "Wasting perfectly good lifespan on a Tribulation Transcending cultivator—isn't that a sin? According to sect rules, that is punishable by execution!"

Wang Ping was speechless.

Alright, as expected of the Immortal Gate.

"Anyway, Mingyou's motive must be to extend his lifespan. I just can't figure out how killing me helps him achieve that... Do you have any clues, fellow Daoist?"

"This..."

Wang Ping frowned deeply. Kunyun cultivated wood qi, and Mingyou wanted to extend his lifespan... Wood qi and lifespan extension. There seemed to be a connection between the two.

What was it?

He couldn't remember. He knew for a fact that he had known something, but he had forgotten it. Perhaps that was the key to this whole mess.

'The Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron!'

Wang Ping knew very well that Lord Treasure Cauldron had erased that memory to protect him. Now, however, it seemed he had to recall it.

Meanwhile, Kunyun was studying Wang Ping, thinking to himself, 'Clearly, I can turn this man from an enemy into an ally. He is one of my helpers, and he has ties to the Brahma Nation... From this perspective, could he have a way to make the Ascetic Monk of the Brahma Nation turn coat and aid me?'

'It's not impossible.'

'After all, given that great cultivator's abilities, if he truly succeeds in extending his lifespan, the Ascetic Monks of the Brahma Nation definitely wouldn't want to see that happen. They would certainly try to stop him.'

'That way, I could pit the Brahma Nation Ascetic Monk against Mingyou.'

'Once my master's hands are freed, he can deal with the Grand Ancestor of Dashun.'

'Yes, that's it! Those are the true helpers and enemies! I hate that I miscalculated... And now, even if I reveal the truth, it's too late.'

Because the standoff had already taken shape.

Four great cultivators at the Qi Refining Tier were locked in combat. Even if they swapped opponents, it wouldn't change the outcome. He had figured it out too late.

'If I had known earlier that Ming... that guy and the Grand Ancestor of Dashun were in cahoots, I could have used Dousheng to contact the Brahma Nation Ascetic Monk in advance. Then, I could have set a trap with my master and directly ambushed that guy from Biyang outside the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Once that was done, we could have dealt with the Grand Ancestor of Dashun.'

If that had happened, his life tribulation would have been largely resolved.

But now, it was impossible.

After all, if his master and the Brahma Nation Ascetic Monk went to gang up on Mingyou right now, no one would be left to keep the Grand Ancestor of Dashun in check. In that scenario, he would absolutely be at Dashun's mercy.

'Then again, I'm already at their mercy...'

After all, his two so-called helpers were currently busy fighting each other. Mingyou and the Grand Ancestor of Dashun were just putting on a show. If they really wanted to kill him, it would take no more than the blink of an eye.

He couldn't even send a telepathic message to warn his master.

Because the Grand Ancestor of Dashun was inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, and Mingyou was the closest one outside. As a mere cultivator at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer, his transmission would definitely be intercepted by them.

'I brought this upon myself...!'

Kunyun let out a bitter laugh at the thought.

The more he analyzed the situation, the more he hated his previous misjudgment. He wished he could be reborn months in the past just to slap his past self to death.

Unfortunately, even the Immortal Gate possessed no supreme treasure capable of reversing time.

At most, they could rewind time in a localized area. Reversing the time of the entire Immortal Gate and the Cosmic Deep Space was impossible—it involved far too many almighty figures.

Among them were even true immortals.

Likely, not even an immortal would dare attempt such a thing. Unless there was only one immortal left in the world, anyone who tried it was practically asking for death.

Was there any other way?

'At this point, what can I do to turn the tables?'

Kunyun didn't give up. Although a life tribulation had a very low margin for error, as long as he didn't mess up as badly as the Heaven-Stealing Thief, a single misstep wouldn't necessarily mean instant failure.

There had to be a turning point!

But where was it?

Meanwhile, Wang Ping was pondering a very serious question: 'Given how things are, should I just kill myself and restart with a new identity?'

If he knew there were tigers on the mountain, he simply wouldn't go to the mountain.

In the current situation, he had obviously fallen into a massive trap. As a pawn, he would surely pay a heavy price regardless of success or failure.

In that case, he might as well run away.

The various talismans in his sea of consciousness could mostly cancel each other out. As for his newly cultivated divine power, the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart, Wang Ping cut away all his hesitation. Since Uniting Earth to Behold Fire was problematic, this Major Divine Ability might be flawed as well. That being the case, no matter how powerful it was, he couldn't keep it!

He might as well scrap it all!

Wang Ping possessed the resolve of a warrior cutting off a poisoned wrist. He had been reluctant to part with the Major Divine Ability he had worked so hard to cultivate, but now, he had to sever his tail to survive.

"Rumble!"

At that moment, the spiritual consciousness space created by the Great Dream Penetrating Vision Wondrous Technique seemed to collide with an external force. The sound of shattering grew louder and louder.

A second later, the space shattered.

Their two streams of divine sense returned to their bodies. Only a split second had passed in reality, yet Kunyun and Wang Ping instantly absorbed the information they had gained from their conversation.

For a moment, both of their expressions shifted slightly.

'Bastards!'

Furious, Wang Ping immediately dispersed the true form of his Mind Monkey. With a mere thought, he tried to shatter the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart, fully intending to commit suicide and move on to his next life.

The result, however, made his heart sink.

'I can't... shatter it?!'

No matter how hard he tried to destroy the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart, this Major Divine Ability had already been completely ignited. It restored itself just as fast as he could shatter it.

Wang Ping instantly realized what was happening.

With the blessing of Kunlun's Solar Radiance Crow destiny form, combined with the Wood and Fire Governance pushed by the Grand Ancestor of Dashun, the fire qi had already surged to its absolute peak.

Add to that the amplification of Gui water magic power by Turbid Earth and Darkened Heavens.

Water and fire mutually reinforced each other, acting like a set of shackles locked tightly on both the top and bottom. They firmly bound the Wu earth Major Divine Ability caught in the middle, leaving it completely immobilized and unbreakable.

'A solid block! It truly is an impenetrable block!'

For the first time, Wang Ping experienced what it meant to have absolutely no control over his own body. He no longer wanted to increase his cultivation, but his cultivation kept growing continuously!

Every passing minute and second, under the influence of Uniting Earth to Behold Fire, the Wu earth Major Divine Ability of the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart was pushed higher by the Bing fire properties of the Solar Radiance Crow. At the same time, his cultivation surged with the tide. He had completely lost all autonomy over the process—he couldn't reject it even if he wanted to!

'I can't commit suicide now.'

Wang Ping thought helplessly:

'If I carry the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart with me, even if I kill myself and restart, a Qi Refining practitioner could find me with a simple divination. That would just invite even greater trouble.'

In other words, he could only wait.

He had to wait for Kunyun's life tribulation to end, wait for everyone to stop paying attention to him, and wait for Kunlun to take back the Solar Radiance Crow. Only when the divine power was no longer locked up could he finally restart.

Even life and death were completely out of his control!

What frustrated him the most was that he had countless curses bottled up right now, but he didn't even have the courage to mentally swear at Mingyou, terrified that the other party might sense it.

In the end, all he could do was grit his teeth and mutter internally, 'This Biyang...'

Bastard!!!