Chapter 303: The Brahma Nation Enters the Game!

Great Shun, Jingyuan Pass.

The scenery shifted before Wang Ping as he stepped out of the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode. His expression remained tranquil as his gaze fell on the crowd waiting outside.

"Many thanks."

Wang Ping smiled faintly and cupped his hands to the Heaven-Stealing Thief in gratitude, though he had absolutely no intention of returning the Shamanic Disciple Token.

The Heaven-Stealing Thief paid this no mind. Instead, he gave a light chuckle and transmitted his voice, "Good disciple, it seems you've already met with that distinguished lord."

Oh?

Wang Ping's expression flickered at those words. He looked at the Heaven-Stealing Thief. Judging by that tone, had this old bastard also met the Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master?

Thinking about it, that made sense. The Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master's public guise was Tianqu, a qi-ingesting practitioner from the Great Rebellion and a former participant in Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens. If the Heaven-Stealing Thief planned to eradicate the Heavenly Craft Supreme Yang Nine Smeltings Qi once again, making contact with the other party was perfectly normal.

At this thought, a strange gleam suddenly flashed through Wang Ping's eyes.

That was simply... wonderful!

Following this train of thought, Wang Ping looked directly at the Heaven-Stealing Thief and replied via voice transmission, "You mean Senior Tianqu, right? Yes, I've just met him."

"That is good."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief nodded slightly, the smile on his face deepening. "Good disciple, it seems we will be fighting side by side once again. United, we both benefit."

"Indeed, indeed."

Wang Ping returned the smile, his heart surging with excitement. 'Looking at it this way, the Mysterious Wood Qi Daoist Master didn't bring out this Tianqu identity just to target me.'

'The Heaven-Stealing Thief is most likely one of his targets as well.'

'It makes sense. With a True Person laying out a grand scheme to cross two realms and strike down a lower-level cultivator—how could I be the only target? When fishing, the more bites, the better.'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping instantly felt much better.

Of course, he would never warn the Heaven-Stealing Thief. After all, he was still counting on this old bastard to help draw the True Person's fire.

With that in mind, Wang Ping cast another glance at the Heaven-Stealing Thief. His gaze was incredibly warm. To his surprise, the Heaven-Stealing Thief was inexplicably looking back at him. Although the man's face was blurred and his true features hidden, Wang Ping could feel that the other party's gaze was equally brimming with goodwill.

As if by prior agreement, the two exchanged a knowing smile.

Wang Ping then retracted his gaze and turned toward the flickering lantern light nearby. He saw that Mingyou was also observing him and the Heaven-Stealing Thief.

To be honest, Wang Ping was getting a little greedy.

Spirit-Invoked Mingyou was simply too useful. He was practically addicted to the ability, pondering how he could acquire another of Mingyou's personal belongings.

Naturally, Mingyou noticed such a burning gaze.

Soon after, a voice rang in Wang Ping's ears:

"What are you trying to do?"

Mingyou's tone was full of vigilance. He had already made up his mind that no matter what this little beast said this time, he would not agree. He had to firmly refuse him.

However, a second later, Wang Ping shook his head.

"...No, it's nothing."

Even leeks needed time to regrow after being harvested. Rushing things would only backfire. Wang Ping decided to take it slow.

'Asking for Observing Heaven and Earth Qi was justifiable, but if I ask for more of his personal items, even a fool would realize something was wrong. If he flatly refuses and seizes upon my weakness to snatch back the initiative, that won't do. I need to wait a bit. It would be best to wait until the Brahma Nation attacks...'

By then, he would have a proper excuse.

Right at that moment, Wang Ping suddenly felt a stir in his heart. His Divine Intent gave rise to an inexplicable premonition, and he abruptly lifted his head, looking toward the grasslands Beyond the Pass.

"Hm?"

Almost simultaneously, Mingyou, Tianxing, and even the Heaven-Stealing Thief all turned to look. Only Kunlun was a half-beat too slow; by the time he sensed the anomaly, it was already too late.

"Rumble!"

Above the distant grasslands, a boundless sea of churning clouds shimmered in illusory shades of gold, silver, and iron. Ultimately, they condensed into a single beam of heavenly light that crashed down from the firmament and into the fortress.

Mahakala's Triple City-Slaying Arrow!

This was the same technique Bukong had unleashed against Mingyou earlier. It borrowed the karmic merit of a Bodhisattva from the Brahma Nation to magnify the destructive power of the spell.

The moment it descended, the entirety of Jingyuan Pass activated on its own. Every inscribed line on the city walls flared with golden fire, swiftly weaving into a grand array. They materialized into towering golden-armored guards, clad in heavy armor and wielding halberds and shields, who charged head-on to meet that beam of heavenly light. A sound like shattering glass exploded through the air.

"Clang—!"

The heavenly light scattered, streaking across the walls of Jingyuan Pass like fiery serpents, incinerating the grand array and whittling away its magical light, until two figures stepped out from within the fortress.

Almost at the exact same moment, high in the sky over the distant grasslands.

"Amitabha!"

Following the Buddhist chant, the sea of clouds parted in two. The three figures of Zhongjian, Suoze, and Nurong emerged, and as if by prior agreement, they all lunged straight toward Kunlun's direction with killing intent.

The three Brahma Cultivators rushed in right on each other's heels, exceedingly impatient, yet not a single one dared to clash with Wang Ping. Every profound technique was aimed squarely at Kunlun.

Kunlun: "..."

What was the meaning of this? Did they think he was weak? Did they want to pick the easiest target first?

For a moment, Kunlun almost laughed out of sheer anger. True, he couldn't compare to Kunyun, who ranked fifth among the True Transmissions, nor could he match Xianfu. Right now, he couldn't even compare to Wang Ping.

But that didn't mean he was weak! It was just that his competitors were far too monstrous! Setting everything else aside, even if he couldn't beat those freaks, couldn't he handle a few Brahma Cultivators? In a one-on-one fight, he was absolutely confident of victory. Against two, he still had a good chance. Even against three, if he dragged it into a prolonged battle of attrition, he wasn't the least bit afraid!

With that thought, his figure immediately faded away.

Rigid Flame Furnace!

His destiny form fully manifested as a towering, majestic treasure furnace abruptly appeared high in the firmament. Rigid flame roared within the furnace, instantly dyeing the heavens and earth in golden red. He had actually chosen to meet them head-on.

Faced with this strike, Suoze and Nurong eagerly rushed ahead of each other.

The former flipped open a bound tome, immediately sucking massive amounts of flame light into its pages. The latter loosened her monk robes, conjuring an illusion of boundless, exquisite beauty.

Only Zhongjian was left standing in place with a bitter expression.

This was because Wang Ping had already anticipated his movement and blocked his path, smiling. "Fellow Daoist, we have met before. You once helped Wu Chi purge a fire seed."

Wang Ping's laughter was clear and bright, but his heart was incredibly vigilant. The reason was simple: through the feedback from his phantom earlier, he knew these Brahma Cultivators should all bear the fire seeds he had planted on them. Yet right now, as his divine sense swept over them, he found that all of those seeds were gone. Evidently, they had already been purged by someone.

'There's another expert.'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping suddenly lost all interest in conversing with Zhongjian, even though he originally intended to probe the Brahma Nation's stance on the schemes laid out by the Immortal Gate's True Persons.

However, the way he saw it, there was a high probability Zhongjian knew absolutely nothing.

After all—

"You are simply too weak."

The indifferent voice closed in from afar. By the time Zhongjian heard it, his divine sense was already smothered by an endless expanse of golden fire, from which a peerless divine blade rose like the morning sun!

Zhongjian was nearly frightened out of his wits.

After all, during his previous skirmish with the phantom of the fire seed, he had personally witnessed the overwhelmingly immense might of the Heavenly Martial Conquering the Profound First Blade. How could he possibly muster any courage to fight it?

"Roar!!!"

In that split second, Zhongjian didn't dare show the slightest bit of arrogance. He directly invoked his great vow, transforming with a sudden shake to manifest a dharma body with two arms and three eyes.

Very quickly, however, a hint of pleasant surprise blossomed in his heart. He noticed that Wang Ping's blade strike was different from the one he had seen the phantom use; it lacked that aura of absolute, inescapable destruction. His originally terrified heart instantly settled down, and his mind began to race:

'That blade technique from before probably isn't something he can just use casually.'

'This man is deeply calculating. He must have guessed that there are others holding the line behind me, so he is holding back his strength. If that's the case, I might just be able to stall him for a bit...'

Rumble!

In the very next second, all of Zhongjian's schemes were completely shattered by an overwhelmingly mighty force. His darting eyeballs nearly leaped out of their sockets.

In a flash, his dharma body, forged from his great vow, became covered in cracks like shattered porcelain. The two arms he raised to block Wang Ping's blade outright exploded, blasting into scattering clusters of black fire. It was as if what struck him wasn't a blade's edge, but a star plummeting from Cosmic Deep Space!

'Immortal Physique? Ah?'

Zhongjian coughed up blood as he was sent flying backward. He never could have imagined that even without the Heavenly Martial Conquering the Profound First Blade, he still couldn't take a single move from Wang Ping.

This was fucking Tribulation Transcending Second Layer?

"W-Wait..."

Wang Ping couldn't even be bothered to listen to Zhongjian's words. After shattering all of the monk's defenses with a single slash, he flickered right in front of him.

Immediately after, Zhongjian felt a chilling sensation in his chest. At some unknown point, Wang Ping had gently pressed his long, slender hand against his body.

Beneath that fair-skinned palm, blue veins violently bulged out. Terrifying Blood Qi True Gang frantically rotated, shooting out arcs of lightning and generating a magnetic field before erupting outward:

Kindling Flame!

Great Law of the Azure Sky, one million heavens of magnetic field rotation!

Tathagata Divine Palm, Clasping Mountains and Leaping Seas!

"Rumble!"

He exerted force and thrust his palm out. A mountain-like, golden palm print erupted from Wang Ping's hand, crashing squarely and with boundless, peerless might into Zhongjian's dharma body.

In an instant, Zhongjian's dharma body—already littered with cracks from the blade—completely detonated. His limbs, muscles, bones, and flesh were all pierced and pulverized by the impact. He subsequently transformed into a streak of black fire and shot up toward the sky, desperately trying to escape. However, he was firmly locked in place by the palm print, ultimately plummeting from the heavens straight into the grasslands with a thunderous crash!

"Amitabha your fucking mother..."

Nurong and Suoze, who were initially engaging Kunlun, snapped their heads back and witnessed this scene. Their scalps immediately went numb as cold sweat dripped down.

Mother of god, he lost just like that?

Even if the opponent had a Spiritual Treasure, Zhongjian was still from the Arhat Seats! How could he fail to endure even a single palm strike? At least Wu Chi had managed to exchange a few blows!

On the other side, Wang Ping didn't pause for even a fraction of a second.

After blasting Zhongjian down with a single palm, he seamlessly switched his circulating martial arts. With a mere thought and a raised brow, an endless aura of piercing sharpness surged forth.

Pre-Heaven Body-Breaking Formless Weapon Qi!

The ultimate technique of the Tomb Guardian of the Corpse Liberation Ground—one of the four great martial Grandmasters of the current age—was unleashed at this moment. The formless qi manifested into an infinite arsenal of weapons. Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds were all fully materialized.

"Clang—!"

Ten thousand weapons rang out in a long chorus as they screamed downward, shaking the earth and sky with resounding metallic clangs. They directly locked onto the grasslands below and the battered Zhongjian, who hadn't even had time to stand up.

At this critical, life-or-death moment, Zhongjian finally couldn't hold back anymore:

"Senior Sister, save me!"

Before his voice could even fade, a streak of purple light appeared on the horizon. It casually swept across the sky full of falling divine weapons, and in a split second, the firmament was swept completely clear.

Seeing this, Wang Ping instantly narrowed his eyes.

He shifted his gaze and quickly locked onto the direction the purple light had flown from. Soon, he saw an exquisitely beautiful, charming nun with azure, square-pupiled eyes.

"This poor nun is Baohu."

The nun held a purple gourd in her hand. She gently plugged the mouth of the gourd and smiled. "By the Dharma decree of the monks, I have come specifically to save you, Almsgiver, and help you escape this bitter sea."