Chapter 264: Old Dog, Next!

"This... this..." Shuntianzi's eyes widened. As he watched the armored strongmen get swatted away by Wang Ping to fall from the sky like dumplings, his scalp went numb.

With over a million armored strongmen forming a killing array, overseen by him—a cultivator of the Profound Firmament Governance-Bestowing Talisman-Wielding Qi—and bolstered by Divine Powers, they had been virtually unstoppable. He had even killed cultivators with Major Divine Abilities before. Yet, the scene unfolding before him shattered his imagination.

No magical power. No profound mysteries.

All he could see was the absolute purest violence. A single strike had nearly shattered his great array. What would happen if his true body took such a blow?

"Is he still a Mortal!?"

In a split second, Shuntianzi retreated decisively without hesitation, only to see the thousand-zhang giant turn around, its eyes like the sun and moon locking onto him.

Immediately after, a voice boomed like thunder:

"What? Which part of me doesn't look like a Mortal?"

'Which part of you looks human at all?!'

Shuntianzi cursed furiously in his heart, but his hands didn't slow. He immediately formed a hand seal and pointed. The surrounding banners shook, and all the armored strongmen instantly swarmed together.

Following that, a Divine Power rose from his palm:

Fate-Suppressing Edict!

"In times of sudden crisis, suppression must fall!"

As the incantation echoed and the majestic light of the Divine Power swept outward, the horde of armored strongmen instantly transformed into a profound black mountain of clouds. It hung high in the firmament before crashing down toward Wang Ping.

Wang Ping's expression didn't change at the sight. A portion of the thousands of arms behind him instantly diverted to brace against the mountain of clouds in midair. The arms fractured inch by inch, sending flesh and blood flying. Yet, under the empowerment of the Perfected Person state, the shattered flesh regenerated even faster than it tore apart.

Seeing this, Shuntianzi didn't stop.

He condensed one cloud mountain after another, continuing to press them down upon Wang Ping. At the same time, he pulled a Profound Yellow Precious Pearl from his robes.

"Bind!"

The pearl flew across the sky and merged into the cloud mountains, instantly multiplying the pressure crushing Wang Ping. The speed of his flesh tearing apart suddenly caught up to his regeneration rate.

"Thank goodness... he's just a brute after all."

Seeing Wang Ping seemingly pinned down, Shuntianzi finally let out a breath of relief. His panic faded. With a flick of his sleeve, he took out another magical treasure.

It was a giant, archaic bronze bell. Its surface was vividly engraved with scenes of mountains, rivers, the sun, and the moon. Shuntianzi gathered his magical power and poured it all into the artifact in one breath, illuminating the engravings on the bell one by one. He then hoisted it high, aiming the bell's mouth straight at Wang Ping from afar.

"Fellow Daoist Dousheng, I will send you to your end!"

The moment his words fell, Shuntianzi solidified his hand seal and slammed his palm against the giant bronze bell. Billowing magical power instantly transformed into a soul-shattering, spirit-rending chime.

"Clang!!!"

This was his trump card. First, suppress the enemy with the array, then strike directly at their soul. If the enemy wavered for even a split second, the array would seize the momentum to crush them completely.

It would grind them into dust right then and there.

Normally, he could only rely on ordinary curse-killing arts to attack the soul. But this time, having received Dashun Taizu's approval to use any treasure within the grotto-heaven as he pleased, he had specifically borrowed this Great Profound Inaudible Bell. A single toll from it could make even a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer lose their senses for a fraction of a second!

'I've won...'

That thought flashed through Shuntianzi's mind, but in the very next second, his intuition flared. He snapped his head up and heard a humming noise.

No, he didn't hear it.

He felt it.

"Buzz..."

A high-frequency hum spread rapidly in all directions, centering on the thousand-zhang giant that Wang Ping's physical body had become. Wherever the sound passed, the cloud mountains violently disintegrated!

"What is that?"

Shuntianzi was completely stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening. Moreover, the man had just been hit by his Great Profound Inaudible Bell—why was he completely fine?

'Could it be that Martial Dao Spiritual Treasure... can it resist soul manipulation?!'

'Damn it, I chose the wrong method!'

Sudden realization dawned on Shuntianzi, but it was too late. He watched as the towering cloud mountains were forcefully lifted into the air, before detonating for a second time!

The shattered clouds reverted into countless armored strongmen, revealing Wang Ping's figure. His hands were clasped in a seal, his appearance solemn and majestic. At this moment, crackling lightning surged out of nowhere across his towering, thousand-zhang body. The hum Shuntianzi had just heard was the exact sound of this electricity churning.

This was a magnetic field.

A Mortal's physical body, the machinations of life, the internal organs, the torso and limbs—every single part generated bio-electricity, constructing a biological magnetic field.

An ordinary person's biological magnetic field was extremely weak.

But Wang Ping was different. Boosted by the profound mystery of the Perfected Person state, he could perfectly control his own biological magnetic field and even magnify it tens of thousands of times over.

At this moment, what Wang Ping unleashed was none other than the ultimate technique of Daoist Tianxin, the Martial Dao Great Grandmaster of the Qingtian Cult. It was the cult's foundational martial art: casting the Five Thunder Art to construct a personal biological magnetic field, then using it to link with the magnetic field of heaven and earth, forcing the two into a synchronized resonance.

This was the unity of heaven and humanity.

"Great Law of the Azure Sky!"

Wang Ping raised his eyes. The lightning around him vanished, replaced by an unprecedented sense of omnipotence, as if heaven and earth were one with him.

This was the highest state of the Great Law of the Azure Sky: replacing the heart of heaven with one's own heart. It was also the realm that Daoist Tianxin had spent half his life and entirely exhausted his Divine Intent to reach.

However, empowered by the profound mystery of the Kindling Flame, Wang Ping directly co-opted this state. Combined with the Perfected Person state's reinforcement of his physical flesh and blood, even if their realms were identical and the mechanics the same, Wang Ping—whose sheer attributes were completely off the charts—could unleash a vastly more majestic power.

'The Great Law of the Azure Sky divides its levels by the heavens.'

'At his peak, Senior Tianxin could unleash the might of about a hundred thousand heavens. His magnetic field integrated the entirety of the Ganzhou Circuit, essentially making him the heaven of the Ganzhou Circuit.'

'As for me...'

Wang Ping slowly curled his lips into a grin.

In the next second, he moved.

And moving right along with him was the Eight Trigrams Furnace. He had temporarily co-opted a portion of the magnetic field from this magnificent celestial body!

'One million heavens, fucking spin for me!'

And so, all sounds fell silent, and heaven and earth lost their color.

Whether it was the million armored strongmen, or magical treasures like the Ten Thousand Chariots Armored Banner and the Great Profound Inaudible Bell—all of them vanished in the blink of an eye.

They simply disappeared, as if they had never existed.

The array silently shattered as well, revealing the sight of the Cosmic Deep Space. In the distance, Wang Ping's thousand-zhang physical body collapsed back down, revealing his true form.

The only things left standing were a dumbfounded Shuntianzi and Wang Ping, whose robes fluttered in the wind. The two became the only colors left in this world. It happened so fast that all the cultivators secretly observing this battle—those who lacked a deep understanding of the Martial Dao—had absolutely no idea what had just transpired.

Except within the Gongshun Grotto-Heaven.

"Rumble!"

Reverberating thunder faintly echoed out. It sounded like someone was bellowing in rage, yet they didn't dare to actually step out of the realm. They could only stare fixedly at Wang Ping from across the grotto-heaven.

Crack, crack, crack...

Only then did the sound of shattering glass finally echo out. It was faint but clearly audible, instantly drawing the attention of all the observing spiritual senses.

"It's Shuntianzi..."

"He's dead? He died just like that?!"

"Are you kidding me? I only followed along because I saw Dao Proving Mountain suddenly migrate... Who is that? Is there a riot at the Eight Trigrams Furnace too?"

At this moment, countless immortal gate cultivators widened their eyes, dazed as if in a dream, before their stupor finally morphed into profound shock.

A second later, glaring abnormalities finally appeared on Shuntianzi's body. Dense, web-like cracks spread across his face, his arms, and everywhere else. Furthermore, identical cracks surfaced on the Ten Thousand Chariots Armored Banner, the Great Profound Inaudible Bell, and the other magical treasures in his hands.

And then, they detonated!

The Divine Powers dimmed, and magical power dissipated. Flowing light rolled across the entire sky, nearly forming iridescent clouds. It was devastatingly beautiful, yet it merely served as a backdrop for the armored youth hovering in the air.

His hands hung by his sides as he slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

He had no magical power and no Divine Powers. No matter how one looked at him, he was nothing more than a Mortal. Yet, standing there high in the sky, he was more terrifying than any Divine Power.

For a time, not a single spiritual sense dared to approach him. They only circled warily in his vicinity.

However, Wang Ping had no mind to pay attention to them. His eyes were closed, his entire focus sinking into the Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor clinging to his body.

Within it, a profound mystery was illuminated—

Conquering the Profound!

By defeating Shuntianzi in a head-on clash, this profound mystery was activated. From this day forward, he could counter a portion of the Profound Firmament Governance-Bestowing Talisman-Wielding Qi's influence!

The most direct experience of this was deep within his sea of consciousness. The impact of the imperial edict left behind by Xianfu—anointing him the Nation-Founding, Fortune-Assisting, Sincere and Upright State Preceptor—had weakened.

'A sovereign who is no sovereign, and a subject who is no subject.'

'In the past, with this edict in place, I would have automatically been a head shorter when facing Xianfu. But now, I finally have the capital to be a traitorous minister.'

This was certainly an unexpected delight.

Aside from that, there was the feedback from his Great Rebellion Exploits. Following Shuntianzi's death, Wang Ping clearly felt his Mind Monkey Divine Intent riot at this very moment.

"Rumble!"

The mountainous weight of the Divine Powers pressing down on him seemed to loosen for a brief second.

'It's working... but it's still not enough.'

Of course. How could killing just one be enough? He had to kill a second, a third... He had to kill until rivers of blood flowed and the wails of the grief-stricken filled the plains. Only then could it be called an exploit!

At some unknown point, the Cosmic Deep Space was illuminated once again.

Under the blazing radiant lights, Wang Ping once again felt that gaze looking down upon him. He immediately raised his head, the corners of his mouth curling into a blood-soaked smile.

"Old dog, this one didn't pack enough punch."

"Next."