Chapter 241: Dharma Treasure Sentience, Ready to Strike!

With this in mind, Wang Ping already knew how he would handle Lian Shengyue.

He stopped wasting time with her. Retracting his mana and dropping his divine powers, he allowed her Three Yang Combined Magnetic Pagoda to strike him head-on.

Boom!

The impact caught him right in the face, sending him flying backward. His mana and divine powers instantly fell into chaos as he let out a low wail.

"Ah, I'm dying..."

With that, Wang Ping voluntarily exited Dao Proving Mountain. He had no choice; if he didn't leave on his own, Lian Shengyue could not have killed him even with his defenses down.

His figure reappeared at the foot of Dao Proving Mountain. He felt a portion of the qi destiny he had gathered during his climb vanish into thin air, evidently claimed by Lian Shengyue. Before him, a stone stele rose from the ground, text rapidly surfacing on its face:

[State your request.]

Wang Ping immediately drew the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade and planted it heavily in the dirt. "This disciple wishes to raise the grade of this dharma treasure," he said quietly.

The text on the stele shifted.

[Which qi.]

He could even choose that?

Astonished, Wang Ping gained a much deeper appreciation for the mighty power of Dao Proving Mountain's master. Judging by this tone, could the mountain fulfill absolutely any request?

Dharma treasures were aligned with specific streams of qi; Wang Ping had known this for a long time. However, the vast majority of treasures produced by the Eight Trigrams Furnace fell under the Mysterious Halberd Revolving-Transformation Renewal Qi, simply because their predecessors were divine weapons of the Martial Dao, armaments forged through slaughter in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Their mystical properties stemmed from that exact origin.

Wang Ping had assumed Dao Proving Mountain could only strengthen a weapon's existing traits, but it appeared the mountain could imbue entirely new ones!

That changed everything.

The original mystical property of the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade, the Dharma Covenant, is certainly useful and has already been upgraded once, Wang Ping pondered, but its flaws are just as glaring.

In short, it lacked direct offensive power. Its strongest technique, the Heaven and Earth Single Slash, required three hundred and sixty strikes before it could take effect. If Wang Ping hadn't paired it with the Time-Stealing Thief, any opponent would sense something wrong and escape the effective range long before he finished swinging.

However, the Time-Stealing Thief wasn't invincible.

The higher the level of divine powers involved, the more cultivators possessed means to counter the secret art. In those situations, the inherently weak offense of the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade became glaringly obvious.

Back when his cultivation was low, he could use his Martial Dao to bridge the gap. But now that his cultivation had surged, his Martial Dao hadn't kept pace, and the widening disparity could no longer be covered.

As a result, Wang Ping found himself using the blade less and less.

So the qi I choose needs to significantly boost the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade's inherent might. Beyond just synergizing with my Martial Dao, it has to resonate with my cultivation. It can no longer just be a divine weapon of the Martial Dao; it has to become my true immortal dao dharma treasure.

It was not a difficult choice.

Given his previous experiences, he didn't need to hesitate to know which qi would best suit his current state while possessing tremendous power.

The Radiant Universal Illumination Six Harmonies Qi!

"Uniting Earth to Behold Fire. Only this qi perfectly complements both my mana and my divine powers, and the qi itself holds immense might."

Making up his mind, Wang Ping looked at the stone stele and stated his choice.

Rumble!

Instantly, Wang Ping saw a brilliant, multicolored cloud rise from the peak of Dao Proving Mountain. It shimmered with twenty-four distinct hues, breathtakingly beautiful in its perfection.

The radiant cloud cascaded from the heavens. As it descended, the other colors faded until nothing remained but a surging tide of golden-red light. It washed over the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade, causing the divine weapon to emit a continuous, rapturous ring.

Clang!

Amid the majestic, scorching glow, the blade let out a long, resonant cry. A long time passed before the ringing slowly subsided. The phenomena faded, revealing the form of the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade.

At first glance, it looked no different. The only changes were a dense layer of delicate phoenix patterns etched into the hilt, and a slight curve to the razor-sharp blade that vaguely resembled unfurling wings.

Wang Ping reached out. The treasured blade instantly responded, flashing into his grasp. Searing heat poured into his palm, as if he were holding a blazing sun rather than a blade. The phoenix patterns on the hilt lit up one by one, and liquid flames rippled across the steel.

"It truly earned the favor of heaven and earth's qi!"

This was how Dao Proving Mountain elevated dharma treasures. It didn't reforge them directly; instead, it consumed qi destiny to draw down the blessings of heaven and earth's qi.

It bestowed new mystical properties, seamlessly natural.

While it couldn't create something from nothing like the Eight Trigrams Furnace and required the expenditure of precious qi destiny, it was still an incredibly profound method.

Wang Ping gently stroked the treasured blade, growing more delighted as he looked at it. The blade hummed continuously in his grip. Connected to his mind, it conveyed a faint sense of deep, childlike affection.

The dharma treasure had gained sentience!

Although it was far from a true Spiritual Treasure, possessing a spirit meant it had the potential to eventually evolve into one. For Wang Ping, this was fantastic news.

As his divine sense flooded the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade and communicated with the newborn spirit, the weapon's newly acquired mystical properties imprinted into his mind.

The mystical property was named Resplendent Crow, and it possessed two divine effects.

First, if sheathed, it did nothing, but the moment it was drawn, a golden crow spewing a sun would manifest. A blinding, radiant glow would illuminate everything, making it nearly impossible to catch sight of the blade's true edge.

Just as the name implied, the instant the blade was swung, it acted like a blazing sun that blinded the senses and divine perception. Opponents couldn't track the trajectory of the strike or gauge the distance of the blade. Wang Ping was extremely satisfied with this divine effect; it was perfect for sneak attacks, a flawless match for his personal preferences.

The second divine effect satisfied him even more.

It was the layer of liquid flames condensing across the blade. Looking closely, the flames shone clear gold on the outside and hid fiery crimson within. The two colors intertwined seamlessly, rippling like water.

Beneath that seemingly calm exterior hid truly destructive power.

Wang Ping clicked his tongue in wonder.

The Radiant Universal Illumination Six Harmonies Qi was heavenly yang fire, the physical manifestation of a rising sun suspended in the sky. This flame quite literally brought the essence of the morning sun down to the mortal realm.

With such fiery light coating its edge, very few things could block it. Once it struck an opponent, it would plant a seed of fire to burn away their life force.

"What an excellent treasure!"

With a thought, Wang Ping retracted the treasured blade. It transformed into a streak of searing light that sank into the space between his eyebrows. He cast one final look toward Dao Proving Mountain.

High on the mountaintop, rays of radiant light shot up for tens of thousands of zhang, splitting into twenty-four colors. It was as if the Twenty-Four Qi of heaven and earth had all been concentrated within that single glow.

...

"He's out! He's out!"

Outside Dao Proving Mountain, the moment Wang Ping materialized, countless streams of spiritual sense swept over him. A split second later, the clamor of the crowd abruptly fell dead silent.

Everyone stared. Dousheng—the true transmission disciple who had recently dominated the spotlight, hailed as the Immortal Gate's number one independent cultivator and the "strongest in the Tribulation Transcending Second Layer"—looked thoroughly wretched. His face was a sickly, ashen gray, and the qi destiny around his body had clearly taken a massive hit, a complete departure from the triumphant image they had expected.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

A moment later, light flickered over Dao Proving Mountain, and Lian Shengyue stepped out. Her appearance was a completely different story.

Her face was rosy, and she brimmed with abundant energy.

Her qi destiny had visibly surged by a massive margin. Comparing her state to the severely depleted Wang Ping beside her, the spectating crowd quickly did the math and pieced together what had happened.

"Senior Brother Dousheng lost!"

"Fuck! My money!"

"Hahaha, I knew he was a fraud! So much for being a true transmission disciple—he's just an independent cultivator at his core!"

"Rigged! It's absolutely rigged! They're both disciples of the same Qi Refining practitioner! They planned this out to scam us!"

In an instant, the gazes directed at Wang Ping exploded with emotions: shock, disappointment, disdain, and the fury of people who had just lost their money.

Only one person in the crowd wore a look of bewilderment.

He lost!?

Xuanci's pupils shrank, entirely unable to process the result. Are you kidding me? A genuine master of a Major Divine Ability actually lost to someone with ordinary divine powers?

If this wasn't a rigged match, what was?

Xuanci was so furious that his hands were shaking.

To think that after being eliminated, he had gone straight to the Gambling Blessed Land and doubled his bet on Wang Ping, certain the man would make it to the nine hundred and ninety-ninth floor... The Immortal Gate was far too corrupt!

The next second, Lian Shengyue drifted gracefully to one of the Gambling Blessed Lands. She exchanged a few words with the manager before accepting a Hundred Treasures Pouch. As she floated back, Wang Ping took one look and instantly knew the pouch had to be stuffed with incense dharma coins.

"Forgive the display, Senior Brother," she said.

Seeing Wang Ping looking, Lian Shengyue softly added, "To cultivate my divine power, I exhausted almost all my savings. I had to use this opportunity to make a small fortune."

She had bet on herself to win?

Wang Ping raised an eyebrow but didn't take offense. Instead, he flashed an amiable smile. "I understand. This is all a testament to your own skill, Junior Sister Lian."

"You flatter me."

Lian Shengyue waved her hand to isolate them from outside perception, then reached into her Hundred Treasures Pouch, retrieved a round Incense Ingot, and slipped it to him.

"Thank you for your hard work this time, Senior Brother."

"I need to return to closed-door cultivation to digest what I've gained. Take this ingot as payment for your trouble, Senior Brother. I suspect I'll continue to need your support in the future."

Wang Ping accepted the ingot and casually weighed it in his palm, his gaze deepening. She had casually handed over an Incense Ingot?

A single ingot was equivalent to ten thousand incense dharma coins!

Just how much had she made off this?

She had dragged him into a rigged match, harvested a massive chunk of his qi destiny, and raked in an absolute fortune in dharma coins—yet she only gave him a single ingot in return. Did she expect him to be grateful?

My money!

Wang Ping watched Lian Shengyue summon a streak of light and disappear into the distance. Wearing a thoroughly dejected expression, he summoned his own streak of light and departed—only to find a secluded spot and conceal his figure.

Following that, he reached into his robes and pulled out a mask.

It was a ghost mask. The moment Wang Ping pressed it over his face, his silhouette blurred and warped. His aura was completely masked, making him look like a different person.

It was the Robber Cultivator Ghost Mask he had obtained from Kunyun's avatar in Dao Proving Mountain.

A second later, he shot into the sky in a streak of light, racing in the direction Lian Shengyue had taken.