Chapter 301: A Thread of Life!

Almost at the exact moment the voice sounded.

To follow heaven and respond to the people, to issue mandates like a gentleman, the winds of the eight directions—all these coalesced into a trigram of two Yang lines above and one Yin line below, reflecting entirely in Wang Ping's eyes.

Xun Trigram!

The myriad profound visions finally condensed into a single ray of heavenly light that landed right in front of Wang Ping. Within that light stood a youth with a smile playing on his lips.

Unlike Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang, whom he had never met, and Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan, who always kept his back turned to him, this Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master openly revealed his true appearance the moment he arrived. It was as if he were not a high and mighty True Person, but a mere mortal.

More importantly, Wang Ping recognized that face.

It was none other than Tianqu.

In an instant, a perfectly timed look of shock surfaced on Wang Ping's face. As if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, he widened his eyes:

"This, this..."

Beneath that shocked facade, however, his thoughts ran increasingly deep.

'As expected.'

'Tianqu gave him this identity, and this Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master smoothly played along. They really did coordinate and plot this out in private long ago!'

A second later, the youth smiled. "There is no need to be surprised. It is perfectly normal that you do not remember. This dharma method was passed down to you by the me within the Tripod Cauldron. However, since carrying those memories out would touch upon karma and loosen the Ancient Qi of the Six Heavens, your memories had to be obscured to sever that karmic link."

Lies! Keep lying!

Wang Ping cursed violently in his heart, but he did not dare show the slightest hint of it on his face. Within his sea of consciousness, the still-enduring Spirit-Invoked Mingyou immediately sized up the youth for him.

'It really is the Xun Trigram.'

'It is not the Zhen Trigram. This kind of imagery cannot be faked... Does that mean he isn't an alternate guise of Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan, the one backing Xianfu?'

Wang Ping felt somewhat bitter.

To be honest, he would rather this Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master be the alternate guise of a True Person who had already entered the board. If that were the case, things would be a bit easier for him.

'I suppose such good fortune doesn't exist in this world.'

Sighing inwardly, Wang Ping did not dare act slow. With a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed deeply, showing not a single trace of slackness in his movements:

"I implore the True Person to save my life!"

He wanted to see exactly what this Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master—wearing Tianqu's face and adopting his identity—would ultimately say, and what his true goal was.

Immediately after, the youth spoke:

"There is no need for such formality. Rise."

Saying this, the youth actually reached out and helped Wang Ping to his feet. He sighed. "My condition was simply too poor earlier. Otherwise, I definitely could have helped you overturn the Divine Powers."

"This is my fault as well."

The youth shook his head:

"Alas, I was slumbering within my Cave Abode this entire time. Had the damage to the wood qi not awakened me, I fear I still would not know what was happening in the outside world."

"By the time I awoke, what was done was done. Little friend, you had already been branded with the identity of the Great Rebellion. With the Divine Powers locked onto you and Danyang keeping watch, I was truly powerless to turn the tides."

"Although I tried my hand at it, I unfortunately fell short at the final hurdle."

Hearing this, Wang Ping put on a look of sudden realization, but in his heart, he sneered in contempt.

'If I didn't have Spirit-Invoked Mingyou helping me break through the illusions, I might actually have believed that speech. These Biyang's bastards are simply too insidious...'

By now, he was absolutely certain that when the First Seat forged the Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor, the ensuing great battle that drew out the two True Persons was, in essence, just the two of them putting on a monkey show and fighting a rigged match. Instead, his subsequent slaughter into the Brahma Nation was what had truly exceeded the True Persons' expectations and fallen outside their layout.

"I beseech the True Person for guidance!"

Wang Ping kowtowed once more.

The youth's voice came again. "In truth, you have already grasped the method. It is the Heavenly Yin Metal. You must take the path of merging with Xin to transform into water in order to escape the Divine Powers."

Heavenly Yin Metal again, for fuck's sake!

This bunch of Biyang's bastards just wanted his Heavenly Yin Metal!

While cursing them fiercely in his mind, Wang Ping raised his head and asked with a face full of bewilderment, "But True Person, the Heavenly Yin Metal was completely eradicated long ago."

"I can assist you."

The youth smiled. "You are already in the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode. With my aid, you can travel to the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode. There are enough Heavenly Yin Metal spiritual materials there."

"However... not right now."

Speaking up to here, the youth suddenly shifted his tone. "After all, given your current state, even if you really acquired the Heavenly Yin Metal, you likely could not achieve merging with Xin to produce water."

Great, just great.

Hearing this, Wang Ping rejoiced internally. Truthfully, if the youth had just directly sent him to the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode, he really might have had a headache figuring out how to deal with the situation.

'If he has other requirements, it means he has other ideas—ideas different from Tianqu's. And to convince me to follow his script, he must provide sufficient reasons and leak more information... And within that information, there will definitely be flaws I can seize upon!'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping immediately focused his mind.

Spirit-Invoked Mingyou, give me strength!

A second later, the youth continued. "Merging with Xin to produce water is the union and transformation of Bing and Xin. It is Yang Fire merging with Yin Metal. However, the conditions for this are extremely harsh."

"Because within the Five Elements, Fire restrains Metal."

"If the conditions are not right, Fire and Metal will conflict, leaving no way to transform into water. That would result in mutually assured destruction. Not only would it offer no benefit to your cultivation, it would even cause you harm."

Wang Ping's thoughts raced. While having Spirit-Invoked Mingyou analyze this, he kowtowed and asked:

"Dare I ask the True Person, what are the specific conditions?"

"Two."

The youth held up two fingers. "The first is external. The spiritual qi environment of heaven and earth must reach a level where water qi dominates. Only then can the transformation into water succeed."

"The second is internal. The Yang Fire and Yin Metal used for the union cannot be too strong... You actually meet this requirement. Your Yang Fire was originally born from the union of Gui and Wu, so its foundation is unstable. As for the Yin Metal, you are using Heavenly Yin Metal, which is an already eradicated qi—a source without roots. Combining them will pose no hindrance."

Finishing his explanation, the youth smiled faintly:

"Therefore, strictly speaking, the only issue you need to resolve is an environment where water qi dominates heaven and earth. Once that is handled, you can attempt to use the Heavenly Yin Metal."

Wang Ping: "..."

It was all true.

According to Spirit-Invoked Mingyou's feedback, everything the youth said perfectly aligned with Daoist theory. There wasn't a single falsehood, leaving him with no way to find any critical flaws.

He had to ask more.

With this in mind, Wang Ping had no choice but to continue asking, "May I ask the True Person, how should an environment dominated by water qi be created? This junior is truly ignorant of such things."

"Hmm..."

Hearing this, the youth pondered for a moment before speaking in a low voice. "I have two methods here. The first is to find a Water Qi True Person to lend you a hand."

"Ah?" Wang Ping's mouth opened slightly. He pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Not you."

The youth laughed. "Your master, the First Seat of the Martial Dao, Lian Ruzhao. She completely outplayed Danyang. Though her physical body died, her spirit escaped like a cicada shedding its shell."

"Afterward, it was not as if Danyang did not try tracking her down, but he found absolutely nothing. She could not possibly have pulled that off on her own. The only one capable of hiding her so well that even Danyang couldn't find a single trace would be a Water Qi True Person. So, if you can get in touch with her, you might be able to find a clue."

Have me contact the First Seat?

I suspect you just want to use me as bait to fish her out!

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Ping sighed, his face a picture of bitterness. "Ma... My master did not leave me any method of contact. I am completely helpless here."

Hearing this, the youth also shook his head:

"What a pity. Then you can only wait."

"...Wait?"

"Correct," the youth said softly. "Wait until the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle concludes."

"By now, this Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle has become a chessboard for the True Persons of various factions. Moreover, there are also some minor plots from Qi Refining practitioners mixed into it."

"Everyone is scheming."

"Invisibly, this actually aligns with a strand of water qi—Human-Yin Water, named the Nine Palaces Subtlety-Gauging Mechanism-Discerning Qi." The youth's voice gradually became abstruse.

"This qi governs strategy and focuses on covert, secret affairs. The grander and more hidden the factions' schemes are, the easier it is to trigger a resonance with this water qi. Once the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle ends and everyone's plots surface to reveal the full truth, the Human-Yin Water will flourish immensely. It will be more than enough to form an environment dominated by water qi."

"So it is like this..."

Wang Ping lowered his eyes. Right before Spirit-Invoked Mingyou could hold on no longer and dissipated, it provided the answer: this explanation was also correct. The youth was not lying to him.

It was all the truth.

However, when all these truths were strung together, they constructed a massive lie: that his only chance to break the deadlock was to wait for the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle to end.

'Fake!'

For a moment, Wang Ping was seized by boundless excitement:

'He is explicitly and implicitly telling me to wait patiently for the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle to end. He is using the promise of breaking the deadlock as bait to placate me, keeping me from flipping the board like I did before.'

Why would a grand True Person need to do such a thing?

There was only one answer:

'Someone isn't ready!'

'Whether it is the one before me, Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan, or Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang—at least one of their layouts is incomplete!'

They needed time. They were worried that he would act recklessly during this window and throw the chessboard into further chaos, which was why they used this method to try and pacify him.

A flaw had appeared!

'The Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle—this is my chance! I absolutely cannot just sit here and wait dryly for it to end. I must take the initiative to strike and find a way to cause another massive uproar in the meantime!'

When the time came, whoever jumped out to stop him would be the party that wasn't ready!

Wang Ping kept his eyes lowered, but his gaze grew brighter and brighter:

'Whoever isn't ready is the one likely to compromise. If they don't want others to reap the benefits, they will have to negotiate with me—just like Mingyou right now.'

'This way, the initiative will be in my hands!'

If handled well, not only could he destroy this current situation of the three True Persons conspiring together, but he also had a significant chance of pulling one True Person over to back him up.

Moreover—

'Before this, I voluntarily obscured a segment of my memory. For me to go to such lengths, there is an extremely high probability that it also involved a True Person's layout.'

'As for that obscured memory, I set it up in advance so that it would only unseal automatically when encountering related people or events. I have already met two True Persons now, and the memory has yet to unseal. That Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang is even less likely to help me. So, if nothing unexpected happens...'

A fourth!

That was right. This Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle very likely had a fourth True Person participating in it—and one who stood on his side, untainted by collusion with the others.

Therefore, in the most perfect scenario, there would be at least two True Persons standing on his side!

A three-on-zero would turn into a two-on-two.

A thread of life was born from this!