Chapter 269: Peerless Throughout the Ages, A Great Wind Rises!

Although he finally understood what had happened to Xuanlongzi, to Wang Ping's frustration, it brought no qualitative change to the outcome.

They remained mortal enemies locked in a life tribulation.

'Destiny is fair. Since it chose for Xuanlongzi and me to clash, that can only mean one thing: destiny considers us evenly matched.'

Wang Ping knew exactly why this was happening, yet a deep, bitter reluctance seized him. It meant all his efforts so far might have been in vain. Unfortunately, reality and destiny never shifted for a single person's will. More often than not, they only made a bad situation worse.

"My time is running out," Xuanlongzi said softly.

Hailing from the inner sect, he was an incredibly rare existence at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer. Without a spiritual root, cultivators like him were generally forced to walk the path of the Corpse Dissolution Immortal.

This path was far easier than Qi Refining.

He didn't have to worry about life tribulations or fret over life and death. In fact, once the secret method was mastered, he would have to actively seek death to shed his mortal coil and transform into an immortal.

Naturally, this applied to him as well. That was why he had claimed nearly half of the Heaven and Earth Pavilion's resources from Kunyun and leveraged his True Transmission status to obtain a secret corpse dissolution method. He had been preparing to cultivate it; to his despair, however, that great cultivator had forcefully triggered his life tribulation before he could succeed.

As a result, he was left with no other choice.

Originally, he harbored a fleeting hope of capturing Wang Ping without expending his remaining lifespan. Yet after striking out several times in a row, every attempt had ended in failure.

With things having reached this point, he could only make one final, desperate gamble.

"Fellow Daoist, forgive the offense."

As his words fell, Xuanlongzi's figure gradually dimmed. In its place came the sharp ringing of a sword, followed by a blade's edge slowly thrusting out from the void.

It was a flying sword.

In his youth, he had been proud and spirited, relying on his sword to cultivate. He had forged magic power at a young age, becoming the master of a blessed land and shining as the brightest star among independent cultivators.

In his middle age, he had made a massive gamble, betting his entire fortune on a single divine power. Heaven only knew how exhilarating it felt when he broke through, sweeping away all his lingering gloom.

In his withered and lonely twilight years, he had cultivated his destiny form. His four-thousand-year lifespan forced him to bury his master, his friends, and his disciples. He had gradually shifted from the favored genius of his clan to an old ancestor revered by all, watching the wrinkles multiply on his face, watching as his predestined time in this world crept to its end.

This sword was Xuanlongzi himself.

The Xuanlong Sword.

Like all inner sect disciples of the Immortal Gate, he had no inherited lineage and no spiritual root. Relying on nothing but himself, he had clawed and struggled his way to where he stood today.

Thus, if a mountain stood in his path, he would cleave it open; if an ocean blocked his way, he would sever it.

"'Hear the Dao in the morning and you may gladly die in the evening'—that is all complete nonsense. I have lived for four thousand years, and the older I get, the more terrified I am of dying." Xuanlongzi let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

He only had this one life. As it burned down to its absolute end, it was time to throw off a few sparks.

"Break!"

As the echoes of his final shout scattered, Xuanlongzi's figure vanished completely. An ultimate, piercing light burst outward as the flying sword aimed itself squarely at Wang Ping from afar.

'Hiss...!'

In an instant, not only Wang Ping, but even Quan Zhenhong, Xianfu, and Kunlun—who were all watching the battle from outside the Eight Trigrams Furnace—revealed expressions of surprise.

"He is cultivating the corpse dissolution method."

Highly experienced, Xianfu instantly saw through Xuanlongzi's intentions. "He wants to forcefully refine the corpse dissolution method right before his death. He intends to use Dousheng's power to undergo weapon dissolution and transform into an immortal."

"Will that actually work?"

"How could it possibly be that easy!"

Xianfu shook their head. The Great Dao was profound and unfathomable. In cultivation, if you couldn't do it, you couldn't do it. How could someone just casually break through like that?

If a cultivator put themselves in a life-and-death situation and suddenly gained enlightenment to break through, it didn't mean that hovering between life and death actually helped them comprehend the Great Dao. It only meant the cultivator had relatively good luck and solid comprehension. Even without a mortal crisis, they most likely would have broken through anyway.

However, there were exceptions.

"Qi Refining Entering the Dao requires a sufficient foundation in one's Daoist practice. But the Method of Corpse Liberation is different. Its requirements are extremely low, making a breakthrough on the brink of life and death not entirely impossible."

There was still a chance.

A moment later, Xianfu looked toward Wang Ping and let out a long sigh. "What a pity for Junior Brother Dousheng. This was originally an excellent opportunity."

Meanwhile.

Facing the rapidly approaching destiny form of the Xuanlong Sword, Wang Ping let out a long breath. A profoundly heavy radiance slowly surfaced around his body, projecting outward.

Colors shifted within the light as mystical scenes alternated. There were pavilions and towers, bustling carriages and horses, noble scholars, and the black-headed commoners. Finally, all these images condensed into a quaint, miniature elixir furnace that dropped into Wang Ping's hand. It spun rapidly; if one looked closely, they could even see the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers within it.

The Eight Trigrams Furnace!

Faced with Xuanlongzi—a genuine expert at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer—unleashing his destiny form, Wang Ping was left with no choice. Ultimately, he opted to activate the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart.

Integration of Immortal and Martial!

Today, after Xianfu's two and a half years of administration, the various deities governed by the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart covered the entirety of Great Shun. The divine power had reached its absolute pinnacle.

Therefore, the moment he summoned this divine power, he felt as if the entire Eight Trigrams Furnace was resonating with him. In an instant, the divine power inverted and the furnace lid flipped open. Heaven and earth were entirely drawn into the furnace, and Xuanlongzi was no exception. Wang Ping closely followed, leaving only the Exquisite Elixir Furnace hovering in place.

Clang—!

The flying sword that Xuanlongzi had transformed into immediately vibrated. This destiny form appeared to be flawless gold and jade on the outside, but it was actually ruined and rotting on the inside. It simply couldn't sustain a prolonged, bitter battle.

Because of this, Xuanlongzi entertained no other thoughts.

All of his magic power and every single one of his divine abilities poured out at this exact moment, transforming into a single point of piercing light upon his destiny form flying sword as it slashed forward with everything it had.

Answering him was an indifferent, low chant:

"Subduing Immortals and Demons."

These brief words voiced the profound mystery of the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart, and they slammed down onto Xuanlongzi's body with the weight of three massive mountains.

For a moment, even though Xuanlongzi cultivated human yang water—water qi—he still found it difficult to endure. Layers of profound mysteries were forcefully stripped away from his body. This divine power was heavy to the extreme and as stable as Mount Tai. Although it was only a divine power, its quality was not the slightest bit inferior to his destiny form!

Even so, what Xuanlongzi cultivated was water qi after all.

Thus, as time passed, he eventually managed to pry against the suppression crushing him. In a few breaths at most, he would be able to break free and escape.

However, how could Wang Ping give him that chance?

"Divine Communion, Manifesting Divinity—"

On the other side, Wang Ping had already firmly gripped the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade. The Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor on his body similarly lit up inch by inch, tracing out an expanse of boundless splendor.

True Martial!

"—Great Sage Conquering Heaven!"

The Mind Monkey, amplified by the Spiritual Treasure, emerged once again. The Manifesting Divinity form nearly overlapped completely with Wang Ping, obscuring his human shape and rendering him like a newly risen, blazing sun.

A second profound mystery followed closely behind: the Kindling Flame!

This time, the inherited divine intent Wang Ping called upon was the ultimate technique of the King of Linjiang, a Martial Dao Great Grandmaster of Guanchao City. It was also a martial art that Guanchao City had passed down for a thousand years.

'The Vast Sea Turns to Void!'

This was a life-risking martial art meant for desperate combat. It instantly drained all of one's physical stamina, true astral energy, and blood qi—much like a vast sea emptying out entirely. If left unused, fine; but once unleashed, it would inevitably decide life and death!

In an instant, the miniature Eight Trigrams Furnace formed by the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart buzzed and trembled. The vast heaven and earth of the divine power seemed to collapse onto the edge of his blade. Finally, following the direction of the blade's light, he delivered a gentle slash. Leaving behind a thin thread of heavenly light, it cleaved right into Xuanlongzi's destiny form.

"Ahhh..."

Clear shattering sounds spread across the Xuanlong Sword. Endless streams of light burst out from the cracks like a mighty flood breaking through a dam.

'It hurts... it hurts so much...'

In this split second, Xuanlongzi's consciousness unexpectedly opened up and relaxed. He felt no sense of loss and no despair, as if he had returned to those years when he was growing old.

Back when he was young, he had thought a thousand years was a very long time.

But now, he wished he could split a single breath into two halves to make it last longer.

His long lifespan, which he had once taken such pride in, had turned into a bone-scraping steel knife during the time his body decayed like rotting wood, subjecting him to a lingering death by a thousand cuts, day by agonizing day.

'I beg the Great Cultivator for mercy...'

Suddenly, Xuanlongzi's thoughts surged with a sudden burst of vitality, like the terminal lucidity before death. He was like a candle about to burn out, blazing with one last spark of fire in its final moment:

'Let me see... tomorrow's sunrise... just one more look!'

No one answered.

This was merely the final lingering thought of a dying man. Yet, at this exact moment, a magnificent, blazing sun truly rose within Xuanlongzi's consciousness.

'It's you... thank you.'

Everything vanished in a flash.

No one heard Xuanlongzi's final sigh, nor did anyone care. In reality, all that could be seen was a waterfall of light crashing down from the sky. Aside from that, there was not the slightest sound.

"He's dead... and he didn't die from his lifespan running out."

"He was slain. Slain in a direct clash!"

In the distance, Kunlun's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. Even Xianfu wore a solemn expression, though a hint of pleasant surprise hid in the depths of their eyes.

Even if the one who died was just an inner sect disciple—and one whose destined time was already up—he was ultimately still at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer and had genuinely manifested his own destiny form at the very end.

The difference between the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer and the Tribulation Transcending Second Layer was like the gap between heaven and earth. Under normal circumstances, even if Xuanlongzi only had one breath left, that single breath would have been enough to blow a Major Divine Ability True Transmission disciple to death. Yet, despite this massive gap, Wang Ping had still won! Furthermore, by all appearances, it was an overwhelming victory!

"The last person to accomplish such a feat was Senior Brother Gan."

Xianfu shook their head. "And that was over three thousand years ago. If you look even further back, you'd have to go to Great Cultivator Mingyou from six thousand years ago."

"Peerless throughout the ages. Truly, nothing less."

Even looking across the span of ten thousand ages, he was still the third person to ever do it!

Of course, compared to all of this, what truly excited Xianfu was the fact that as Xuanlongzi died, the Great Rebellion Exploits on Wang Ping's body responded accordingly.

Rumble!

His Martial Dao blood qi and Manifesting Divinity form spiked significantly once more. Correspondingly, however, the atmospheric phenomena of the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart began to multiply exponentially as well.

In contrast, not only did Wang Ping fail to throw off this locked divine power, he became even more bound by it, rendering him unable to break free. From this perspective, Mingyou had already succeeded—or rather, from the very moment Xuanlongzi stepped onto the battlefield and made his move, this outcome was already destined.

If Wang Ping won, the divine power's phenomena would grow and lock him down.

If he lost, his Great Rebellion Exploits would be thwarted, and he would still be locked down.

As for Wang Ping, whether it was the enlightenment of his true heart, his breakthrough in the Martial Dao, or the successive fierce battles from before—all of it amounted to nothing more than a futile struggle.

Just as Mingyou had said earlier: he had overestimated his own strength!

This was the ending Mingyou was already certain of, the ending Xianfu had guessed at, and the ending the Heaven-Stealing Thief was eagerly anticipating. What happened to Wang Ping—what happened to a mere chess piece—did not matter.

What mattered was what happened after that.

'Mingyou made their move, and Dousheng failed to break the lockdown of the divine power. This is equivalent to the second mysterious True Person's scheme failing. This chess piece is already dead.'

'Since that's the case, will he make a move?'

Soon, everyone saw the answer.

Inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, Wang Ping looked up at the sky.

Entering his vision were the three lines of heaven, earth, and humanity—two yang lines and one yin line—constructing a magnificent trigram image. Following closely behind it was a fierce, endlessly surging gale that nurtured all living things.

The Xun Trigram.

A great wind suddenly rose!