Chapter 257: First Seat? Mother!

Inside the Saber-Washing Pool.

Wang Ping's eyes were shut tight. In a flash, he envisioned the celestial blade that had been sunk at the bottom of the pool suddenly erupting, slashing straight toward him.

This strike did not land in reality.

It was purely a clash of Divine Intent. That peerless celestial blade, capable of slaying immortals and gods alike, hacked directly at his consciousness, entirely bypassing the boundaries of dharma power and Divine Powers.

"Clang!"

The next second, Wang Ping snapped his eyes open. He was dazed and vacant, his vision plunged into darkness until a single spark of fire finally illuminated his consciousness.

The Purple-Azure Tushita Fire!

This spiritual flame, taken from the Qingtian Cult, had become his lifeline. It allowed his shattered mind to recover within its fiery glow.

'That was close. I almost died!'

Coming back to his senses, cold sweat beaded on Wang Ping's forehead. It wouldn't have been a simple death—having his consciousness annihilated would have left him a vegetable for the rest of his life!

This was the blade intent of the Heaven's Will Profound Blade. Although only a single wisp of blade qi was present, lacking its true immense power, the intent itself had not diminished in the slightest. In fact, due to the Corpse Liberation Ground suppressing it for thousands of years and constantly feeding it weapons to sharpen it, the might of this sliver of intent had grown increasingly terrifying!

"So that's how it is."

Wang Ping understood now. This was why the First Seat had taken him to the Qingtian Cult to obtain the Purple-Azure Tushita Fire before bringing him to the Corpse Liberation Ground.

'With my Divine Intent alone, I can't withstand the slash of that blade intent.'

'Only with the Purple-Azure Tushita Fire tempering my Divine Intent can I face the blade intent and survive—breaking before rebuilding, and using it to elevate my own intent.'

'This is what the First Seat wanted me to take from the Corpse Liberation Ground.'

Under the sharpening grind of the celestial blade, he would either successfully forge a resolute Divine Intent that could not be swayed or disturbed by any distraction, or he would die here in the Corpse Liberation Ground!

At this thought, Wang Ping's eyes shone brilliantly.

The next second, he plunged his consciousness back into the Saber-Washing Pool. He laid eyes on that supreme celestial blade once more as he unleashed his Mind Monkey Divine Intent to the absolute limit.

"Boom!"

Instantly, his vision dimmed. Wang Ping's Divine Intent was shattered to pieces once again. In his daze, he even heard a faint, utterly disdainful snort.

[Too weak!]

Opening his eyes, Wang Ping swayed on his feet but did not fall. Instead, he grew even more exhilarated. "I'm improving. My Divine Intent is elevating!"

Every time it was shattered by the blade intent and reforged by the Purple-Azure Tushita Fire, his Divine Intent became sturdier. This tangible progress made him instantly cast aside the terror of lingering between life and death and the phantom pain of being slashed apart. He threw those thoughts to the wind and stepped back into the Saber-Washing Pool.

[Too weak!]

[Too weak!]

[Too weak!]

The second time, the third time, the fourth time... Wang Ping regained his senses faster with each attempt, growing more decisive every time as he continuously faced the slashes of the blade intent head-on.

During this process, epiphanies blossomed in his mind:

'I understand what the First Seat meant!'

'Civilization-Manifesting Ultimate-Founding Qi? She doesn't care about the so-called qi of heaven and earth at all, because from start to finish, she wasn't cultivating the Qi Ingestion Method!'

She was practicing the Martial Dao!

And in the Martial Dao, Divine Intent is the foundation!

'My previous path was always skewed. As Chenlong put it, I had strayed onto the right track. I actually focused all my efforts on how to upgrade the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade.'

Thinking back on it now, the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade was the divine weapon he had forged when he broke through to the Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank. In theory, it should have evolved in tandem with the advancement of his Martial Dao. But in the end? He had actually relied on Dao Proving Mountain to empower it with qi destiny just to grant it a profound edge.

'In my hands, the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade is no longer even a divine weapon.'

"It's turned into a dharma treasure."

"I practiced the Martial Dao for so long, yet in the end, it turned into refining dharma treasures. In reality, in the Martial Dao founded by the First Seat, Divine Intent is the root of everything."

It is the Divine Intent that drives the weapon to improve.

'The path the First Seat wants to walk is an entirely new one, a path of Divine Intent. It is not Qi Refining, nor is it the Qi Ingestion Method—it is the pure Martial Dao!'

Wang Ping strode forward.

He was actively walking toward that wisp of blade qi at the bottom of the pool!

"Clang! Clang!"

Almost simultaneously, the Saber-Washing Pool rioted. The blade qi seemed to sense Wang Ping's actions. Feeling offended, it grew even more ferocious.

[Courting death!]

Wang Ping's consciousness plunged into darkness once again. This time, he saw his Mind Monkey Divine Intent, which he had painstakingly drawn out since he began practicing martial arts.

However, facing the slashing blade intent, peeled of its skin and stripped to its bones, this Mind Monkey Divine Intent fractured inch by inch and collapsed layer by layer. It gradually lost its original form, only to be reborn in the tempering blaze of the Purple-Azure Tushita Fire. With every cycle of this process, the Mind Monkey Divine Intent condensed significantly.

Gradually, Wang Ping himself forgot about time.

All his attention fell upon the transformation of the Mind Monkey Divine Intent, watching it condense and compress until it finally turned into a perfectly round, dazzlingly bright stone.

'Returning to simplicity and truth.'

These words naturally sprang into Wang Ping's mind. His Divine Intent had reached a point where it could advance no further. Only a final moment of enlightened clarity remained before he could completely shed his mortal shell and transform.

Within his body, the three landscapes, eight sections, and twenty-four gods of the human form were all illuminated and completely transparent. He had reached the very state Chenlong had been in prior to his breakthrough.

He was only one opportunity away from reaching the Manifesting Divinity Great Grandmaster Rank!

"Boom!"

Another collision occurred. Yet this time, Wang Ping's Divine Intent was not shattered. The blade intent struck the resilient stone, erupting with the ringing resonance of a great bronze bell.

[...I suppose you are a bit tough to crack.]

Wang Ping opened his eyes again, his gaze piercing and cold. This time, he didn't need the Purple-Azure Tushita Fire to recover—he had regained his clarity relying solely on his own Divine Intent!

"Phew..."

Standing in place, Wang Ping didn't re-enter the Saber-Washing Pool. Instead, he let out a deep breath, his exhaustion finally surging out in a wave.

How long had it been?

Wang Ping channeled his spiritual sense, counted on his fingers, and finally understood. "Since I left the Capital and began traveling the world, it's actually been two and a half years?"

This was the first time he had dedicated himself to a single task for so long. Two and a half years of practice had brought his Martial Dao right to the threshold of a breakthrough.

In the Corpse Liberation Ground alone, he had spent several months grinding his Divine Intent in the Saber-Washing Pool round the clock without sleep. Anyone else would have dropped dead doing this. Only because he was a cultivator who truly didn't need sleep was he able to hold on until now.

"I can go down the mountain now."

Wang Ping took one last look at the blade qi of the Heaven's Will Profound Blade in the pool. It had returned to a state of dead silence, seemingly having lost interest in him.

"Thank you, Senior."

With those words, he turned and headed down the mountain.

Halfway down, Wang Ping spotted a figure seemingly staking out the area. The person looked somewhat familiar, and upon seeing him, actually took the initiative to step forward.

"Congratulations, Brother Wang, on acquiring another divine weapon!"

Ji Wuhen cupped his hands in greeting, his tone filled with envy.

"You are..."

Wang Ping looked at the familiar face, his expression pausing as he fell into thought. It took him a good while to recall the name and title of the person before him:

"Ji Ba?"

"It's Ji Wuhen, the Hegemon Spear!"

Ji Wuhen instantly lost his composure, correcting him in exasperation. But after doing so, he stood rooted to the spot, momentarily at a loss for words.

Thinking of their previous encounter, he felt both admiration and helplessness toward Wang Ping. He admired Wang Ping's martial talent and Grandmaster Rank strength, but felt helpless that the man had nearly lured away his own divine weapon. The emotions in his heart were thoroughly mixed. After all, compared to one's own failure, the success of others was always harder to stomach.

More importantly, he could feel it.

Even though the Wang Ping before him was incredibly easygoing and even joked around with him, his own Divine Intent and intuition were constantly blaring warning sirens in his mind.

Very dangerous... extremely dangerous!

The two of them seemed to be standing together, chatting casually with no distinction in status, but in reality, a tragic, insurmountable wall had already formed between them.

"Brother Ji, I still have important matters to attend to. Farewell."

"...Until we meet again."

Watching Wang Ping's departing figure, the carefree, drunken, and dreamy mindset Ji Wuhen had held onto in Jiangnan finally settled, replaced by a touch of resolve.

'We fought side by side once, so we could barely be called friends. If things keep going like this, I'm afraid I won't even have the right to stand in front of him next time.'

Ji Wuhen had his pride. At this thought, his mind instantly recalled the place that had allowed him to rise to prominence overnight and obtain a massive stroke of fortune.

'I'm going into secluded death cultivation!'

'It's just braving that place one more time! If I don't reach the Grandmaster Rank this time, I won't come out!' Ji Wuhen gritted his teeth and immediately turned to leave as well.

...

Outside the Corpse Liberation Ground, at the foot of the mountain.

Just as Wang Ping had seen when he ascended the mountain months ago, the woman, pale and flawless as porcelain, still stood there, as if she had never left.

Upon seeing Wang Ping, the woman broke into a smile.

"Well done."

Wang Ping shook his head. "It's all thanks to Master's nurturing. Your disciple merely endured it for a few months. Given such an opportunity, anyone else could have achieved the same."

"There is no need to belittle yourself," the woman replied, shaking her head. "That celestial blade, even if it is just its blade intent, can be called peerless. Being able to endure it is an achievement in itself. Otherwise, with so many years passing in the Corpse Liberation Ground, it would have cultivated countless grandmasters by now. Why would it only be passed down to a single heir per generation over the course of millennia?"

"Master praises me too highly." Wang Ping lowered his eyes.

"Not at all... let's go."

The woman patted his shoulder and continued, "Our final stop is Guanchao City on the Eastern Sea Coast. It houses the largest forging furnace in the world today."

"The Spiritual Treasure fragments from Shenlong Temple, the Sixteen-Foot Golden Buddha, the Purple-Azure Tushita Fire from the Qingtian Cult, and the Divine Intent tempered in the Corpse Liberation Ground—all the materials have been gathered."

"I will forge for you a Heavenly Work Spiritual Treasure!"

Rumble!

In an instant, thunder crackled across the sky as dark clouds gathered densely, as if heaven and earth had sensed it. Wang Ping looked up at the woman in sheer astonishment.

A Heavenly Work Spiritual Treasure!?

Was she serious...? Even after all this time, Wang Ping already held immense respect for the First Seat, yet in this moment, he was still deeply moved by the woman.

Especially when he compared her to his other two "masters," Wang Ping actually felt that calling the woman "Master" wasn't respectful enough.

He should be calling her "Mother"!

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