Chapter 261: Who Wants to Fight Me?

As his words fell, Wang Ping slashed with his blade.

Rolling blade qi tore through the vast sky, vanishing into the boundless, ethereal canopy and churning the winds and clouds. The lights dimmed, and Mingyou's gaze swiftly faded away.

It seemed there was nothing more to be said.

Immediately after, Wang Ping felt that when timing aligns, heaven and earth share the same strength. A historically magnificent exploit stepped out of the past and empowered his body.

Similar to when he fought Kunyun inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, a subtle resonance awoke within him. As long as he killed immortal gate cultivators in the future, the more he slew, the heavier his exploits would become, and the stronger this empowerment would be. All of this empowerment would become resources for his Martial Dao, aiding him in overthrowing Divine Powers.

'No, not just the Immortal Gate.'

Wang Ping narrowed his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in their depths. 'The Brahma Nation works too. Did the Great Rebellion wage a two-front war back then?'

This made him even more curious about that bygone history.

More importantly, based on this, a highly vicious plan took shape in his mind. Of course, he still lacked a few conditions to put it into action.

'No rush.'

'This exploit won't be that easy to grasp.'

Wang Ping lowered his gaze. As an exploit of the Great Rebellion, it certainly secured him the conditions to fight opponents in the same realm, but it also restricted him.

'For this battle, I can only defeat my enemies using my Martial Dao strength. I cannot use my Immortal Dao cultivation; otherwise, my Immortal Dao cultivation will also receive the empowerment of the Great Rebellion's exploits, and that would be disastrous... because the Origin-Governing Battle-Axe-Wielding Fate-Governing Qi belonging to the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart is inherently tied to the Great Rebellion.'

If it also received the empowerment, the effects would only be even greater than his Martial Dao.

'...It doesn't matter.'

Gathering his thoughts, Wang Ping didn't feel the slightest bit discouraged; instead, his fighting spirit soared. After all, the First Seat had already secured him this excellent opportunity, representing the absolute limit of what the Martial Dao could achieve.

How could he ask for more?

'Just leave the rest to me!'

With this thought, Wang Ping slowly stood up. He turned his gaze to the woman beside him and said softly, "Master, I'll be right back."

The woman didn't speak, only giving a slight nod.

A second later, sensing something, Wang Ping looked toward another corner of the sky. He saw streaks of light soaring past as the figures of Xianfu and Kunlun successively appeared.

"...Amazing."

Xianfu spoke first, his tone carrying no hostility. "The Martial Dao, the Martial Dao... if it truly manifests in this world, perhaps it really will become a grand path."

Wang Ping's expression was equally relaxed. He didn't treat Xianfu as an enemy for a simple reason: he was still the civil minister and state preceptor appointed by Xianfu, and the First Seat had also accepted the title of State-Protecting Peer Prince. As long as this relationship stood, the stronger they and the Martial Dao became, the more beneficial it would be for Xianfu.

'So that's why the First Seat accepted the title back then...'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping quietly glanced at the calm and composed First Seat beside him, once again marveling at her unreasonably heaven-defying intuition.

The next second, Xianfu raised a hand. A beam of light formed from spiritual sense shot forward, ultimately transforming into a jade slip that landed in Wang Ping's grasp.

"This contains intelligence on all Immortal Gate disciples below the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer."

As Xianfu's words fell, Wang Ping narrowed his eyes. Knowing oneself and one's enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles; the usefulness of this information to him right now went without saying.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Wang Ping didn't stand on ceremony and immediately stored the jade slip. Then, he sent a telepathic message: "Senior Brother, by helping me like this, aren't you afraid of standing in opposition to the Immortal Gate?"

"Just this? Not even close." Hearing this, Xianfu shook his head. "Junior Brother, you still don't understand the Immortal Gate well enough. The so-called Immortal Gate is merely a few immortal courtyards and immortal peaks. Meals still have to be eaten from separate pots. If that weren't the case, how could a sect traitor like the Heaven-Stealing Thief have lived to this day?"

"Or take Junior Brother Kunlun as another example."

"Back then, he openly and brazenly betrayed the sect, yet isn't he doing perfectly fine now? The Immortal Gate never squabbles over such superficial status."

"Only benefits are eternal."

Xianfu smiled slightly. "Junior Brother, your taking a step further benefits my cultivation. Therefore, you are my friend, as well as a friend of the Immortal Prescription Courtyard behind me."

"Moreover, not a single Qi Refining practitioner in the entire Immortal Gate will make things difficult for you. That day, that Qi Refining Great Cultivator used your and Kunyun's lives to extend the lifespans of all Qi Refining practitioners in the Immortal Gate. But now, he has dropped a rock on his own foot, inadvertently turning all those Qi Refining practitioners into your protective umbrella for this battle."

"However..."

At this point, Xianfu's voice grew slightly heavy. He looked toward the woman who had been standing silently beside Wang Ping. "This move has its advantages, but it also has its drawbacks."

"There is nothing new beneath the Immortal Gate."

"To lower cultivators like us, what you and the First Seat have done today is a matter of monumental proportions. Even in the eyes of Qi Refining Great Cultivators, it must be dealt with solemnly."

"But to True Persons, it's different."

His words falling, Xianfu's tone became incredibly certain. "Junior Brother, for you to have smoothly reached this step, it must be because a True Person has placed a piece on you."

"You shaking the Immortal Gate right now is simply because the True Person behind you wants to shake the Immortal Gate; it just happens to benefit you. ...Do not view yourself as too important."

This wasn't a warning.

Wang Ping understood in his heart that this was Xianfu's admonition, reminding him not to mistakenly believe he had truly overturned the Immortal Gate's chessboard, and definitely not to underestimate the Immortal Gate's mighty power.

He naturally knew this as well. Even after exhausting the foundations of the Martial Dao, with the First Seat's meticulous planning, the empowerment of the Great Rebellion Exploits, and even acquiring a Spiritual Treasure armor, he had only managed to overturn Mingyou's chessboard. He had merely struggled to carve out a thread of life for himself, gaining an opportunity to fight for fairness.

"The world is like a game of chess, the universe unpredictable."

Wang Ping lowered his gaze, his heart completely unstirred by Xianfu's advice. Given how far things had come, he had already comprehended his true heart and naturally wouldn't waver again.

Even if a True Person had played a piece, so what?

The things he needed to do wouldn't change. As long as this matter still stemmed from his true heart, there was no need for confusion. He just needed to give it his all.

Seeing this, Xianfu took a step back.

On the other side, Kunlun similarly made way with an impassive expression, but the gaze he fixed on Wang Ping at this moment was somewhat complex, as if he were seeing the silhouette of another person.

'Senior Brother Gan...'

Almost simultaneously, a hazy projection of light appeared within Kunlun's sea of consciousness. The Heaven-Stealing Thief's eyes shone brightly as he also earnestly sized up Wang Ping's figure.

"Which one do you think it is?"

"I don't know."

As he spoke, a rare touch of uncertainty bled into the Heaven-Stealing Thief's tone. "There are quite a few True Persons who have conflicts with Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang."

"Perhaps it's just a casual move."

"Xianfu is right. For that crazy woman to achieve this step, there must be a True Person's mighty power covering up for her behind the scenes, preventing her from being exposed early."

"Otherwise, Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang would have definitely calculated the causes and consequences long ago, then informed that Qi Refining Great Cultivator to either find a way to stop it or exploit it. But looking at it now, that Qi Refining Great Cultivator was clearly utterly unprepared for this, which shows that Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang was blinded as well."

"Perhaps it is a True Person of Water qi."

Watching Wang Ping, the Heaven-Stealing Thief quietly voiced his speculation: "Maybe a True Person saw an opportunity and wants to borrow his hands to test the waters."

"Test who?"

"Test the Great Rebellion!"

The Heaven-Stealing Thief's tone gradually turned cold. "Exploits actually have a time limit too. Once their mastermind perishes, the exploits will gradually collapse as well."

"The Great Rebellion is different, however. The Great Rebellion Exploits have been preserved far too perfectly. Long ages have passed, and heaven knows how many generations of Qi Refining practitioners have come and gone, yet the Great Rebellion Exploits remain. This is actually abnormal. Therefore, among the higher-ups of the Immortal Gate, it isn't as if True Persons and True Monarchs haven't discussed it."

"Discussed what?" Kunlun's pupils shrank abruptly.

"Discussed... whether the Great Rebellion still hasn't perished." The Heaven-Stealing Thief said faintly. "Whether they used some bizarre method to preserve themselves?"

"The proof lies with those black-headed commoners in the Eight Trigrams Furnace. They've been killed so many times, yet they can still resurrect time and time again. Did you think no True Monarch has investigated them closely?"

"It's just that they didn't find anything."

"Because of this, no one knows the truth, but everyone wants to."

"Just keep watching."

At this point, a hint of anticipation laced the Heaven-Stealing Thief's voice. "Since a piece has been moved, the chess player won't be able to stay hidden much longer."

...

Wang Ping left Guanchao City.

High in the sky, fierce winds roared like dragons, battering his body. In the vast and boundless world, he walked alone, stepping forward one pace at a time toward the apex of the firmament.

How high was the sky?

With every step he took, Wang Ping's Divine Intent condensed a fraction more, and the radiant glow of his armor brightened a sliver. It matched the rhythm of his breathing, making him increasingly powerful.

The Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor.

This unprecedented Martial Dao Spiritual Treasure possessed five types of profound empowerments. The first was named Perfected Person, which granted him absolute control over his flesh and blood, allowing him to alter his physical form at will. In this state, he no longer had any fatal weaknesses; even if his head exploded, he could still survive.

The second was named Kindling Flame.

As the name implied, Wang Ping could use this profound mystery to flawlessly execute the Divine Intent martial arts of the four Great Grandmasters of the current era, simply because this was their inheritance to begin with.

The third was named Tyrant Will.

It wasn't just his physical body that wore the armor, but his very mind. With the protection of this profound mystery, Wang Ping's mind and soul could not be swayed or influenced by any external force.

The fourth was named Conquering the Profound. Bolstered by this profound mystery, every time he defeated an immortal gate cultivator who practiced a Qi Refining method, he would develop a resistance against their corresponding cosmic qi. As this accumulated, that particular cosmic qi would eventually be entirely unable to harm him.

The final profound mystery was named True Martial.

The function of this profound mystery was incredibly straightforward: it amplified Wang Ping's Manifesting Divinity Divine Shape as a cultivator of the Great Grandmaster Rank, maximizing his Divine Intent.

At the end of the sky, Wang Ping came to a halt.

Standing here, he could already see the boundless starry void beyond the heavens, the bright stars symbolizing the Immortal Gate, and that Floating Furnace Immortal Blade.

He could sense that a multitude of spiritual senses were already converging upon him from all corners of the Immortal Gate, carrying shock, suspicion, and scrutiny.

"It's about time."

With every passing second, his Martial Dao aura was being elevated to new heights by the Great Rebellion's immortal-slaying exploits, continuously growing stronger. Therefore, avoiding battle was impossible.

The only way to stop this escalation was to defeat him head-on in the same realm, recreating the Great Rebellion's defeat from back then to cut off the exploit's empowerment.

Thus, Wang Ping tilted his head back, looked up at the heavens, and spoke softly:

"Who wants to fight me?"