Chapter 323: The Narrowing Gap

"The Immortal-Suppressing Execution Method should employ water and fire!"

Striking out in anger, Baohu triggered the Seven Hearts Linked Gourd resting in her palm. It instantly shifted colors—green for fire and cyan for water—unleashing both at once.

In an instant, blazing flames ignited across the vast earth, reducing it to scorched soil, while the boundless sky flooded with a watery glow like a vast ocean. The water and fire qi converged, clashing from above and below like the collision of yin and yang. Destructive ripples permeated the air, trapping Wang Ping in the center as his Martial Dao's Divine Intent instantly flared with a fatal premonition.

"Huu...!"

Facing this astonishing collision of water and fire, Wang Ping showed no intention of retreating. Instead, he surged forward and raised the twin maces in his hands.

Water-Fire Striking Profound Maces!

Though these maces were forged from Earth Yang Wood, their true value lay not in the wood element itself, but in their function as a medium. They possessed the profound ability to divide and suppress water and fire—a perfect countermeasure for this exact moment!

"Boom!"

Wang Ping struck out in both directions—his fire mace smashing into the scorched earth below, while his water mace swept toward the oceanic sky above. After two deafening explosions, he forcefully suppressed the monstrous torrent of water and fire!

This was not due to the profound mysteries of the Water-Fire Striking Profound Maces alone, but also Wang Ping's Immortal Physique. The unparalleled divine strength granted by Clasping Mountains and Leaping Seas gave him the capital to run rampant. Riding a streak of light, he charged straight through the colliding elements, appearing before Baohu in the blink of an eye to bring both maces crashing down!

"Clang! Clang—!"

However, Baohu's reaction remained a step ahead. Her emerald, square-pupiled eyes had long foreseen his strike, and the gourd in her hand already gleamed with a third color.

A yellow gourd—indestructible vajra!

"Bang!"

The first mace smashed down, erupting in a muffled boom against Baohu's forehead. Yet, it failed to shake her graceful figure in the slightest, merely sparking a shower of golden and fiery light.

This was the fire mace. The moment it struck, it unleashed a burst of searing solar flares. The radiant flames attempted to repeat their previous trick—just as they had bored into Xuxing's internal organs to severely wound him, they now sought to do the same to Baohu. However, faced with the indestructible blessing of the Spiritual Treasure, the solar flares couldn't find a single vulnerability to exploit.

As a result, they could only wash harmlessly over Baohu's body.

Wang Ping wasn't surprised by this sight. He swung his second mace down in a continuous assault. But this time, the previously composed Baohu couldn't help but frown.

A split second later, the gourd in her hand decisively changed color again.

A red gourd—Sumeru divine strength!

Almost simultaneously, Wang Ping's second mace effortlessly bypassed her indestructible defense, colliding with a slender finger that Baohu had raised to meet it.

"Bang!"

With this second muffled boom, Baohu lost her previous composure. The water mace was entirely different from the fire mace. Though it lacked the vicious solar flares, it wielded the power of penetrating currents to bypass defenses entirely. With her indestructible barrier rendered useless, she was forced to clash head-on with Wang Ping.

Immediately after, the two figures sprang apart.

Wang Ping was knocked back more than a dozen steps, only managing to steady himself by relying on the mighty power of Clasping Mountains and Leaping Seas. A wave of numbness washed over the webbing of his left hand where he gripped the mace.

On the other side, Baohu drifted backward seven or eight steps, looking as ethereal as an immortal. However, the tip of her finger suddenly split open, revealing a vibrant smear of crimson.

"..."

Baohu knitted her brows slightly at the sight. She brought the bloodstained fingertip to her lips and gently sucked on it a few times, erasing the lingering trace of her injury.

Then, she finally spoke in a slow, deliberate tone:

"When I attain Buddhahood, if the sentient beings in my realm do not obtain the Heavenly Eye and perceive the profound mysteries, down to seeing the hundreds of billions of nayutas of Buddha pure lands, I shall never accept true enlightenment."

A great vow!

Perhaps angered by Wang Ping, or perhaps unwilling to tolerate even the slightest further injury, Baohu had invoked the great vow she had held back until now!

In an instant, a golden manifestation rose from the ground. It was adorned with jewels, as perfect and full as the moon. Unlike any great vow's golden manifestation Wang Ping had seen before, the rest of its body held absolutely no divine characteristics; its transcendent and profound mysteries were concentrated entirely within its eyes.

They were a pair of abyssal eyes.

The pupils were a brilliant gold, as if millions of Buddhist lights had been condensed within them. Yet they were also as clear as mirrors, perfectly reflecting Wang Ping and the entirety of the surrounding world.

Heavenly Eye Universal Sight Vow.

This great vow was a perfect match for the Deep Blue Eyes Phase that Baohu had painstakingly cultivated. The golden manifestation didn't attack; it simply stared directly at Wang Ping.

Wang Ping inhaled sharply.

In that instant, his intuition screamed that something was terribly wrong. Though he didn't know exactly what would happen, being watched by this great vow's golden manifestation was extremely dangerous!

In a flash, he summoned a precious orb.

Profound Nether Pearl!

As soon as this Earth-yin water artifact appeared, it rippled with a murky, dark light. Wang Ping's figure sank into it, dissipating without a trace like drifting clouds and flowing water.

But a second later, Baohu acted as though she had anticipated this all along. Empowered by the red and yellow gourds—combining Sumeru divine strength and indestructible vajra defense—she flickered and locked onto a specific location. She raised her palm like a blade and chopped straight down. Instantly, an endless expanse of murky light exploded from the void, exposing Wang Ping's hidden figure.

"...Hmm?"

This precise strike from Baohu clearly exceeded Wang Ping's expectations. His figure was instantly smashed out of the sky, plummeting deep into the grasslands below.

Immediately, the earth's crust cracked open!

Even with Jingyuan Pass right next to them locking down the earth veins, the ground for a hundred miles in every direction shook violently from the sheer force of Wang Ping's crash.

In the distance, the eight inner sect disciples and the group of Brahma Cultivators couldn't help but hold their breath. Following an unspoken agreement, both groups hurriedly backed further away from the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Baohu showed absolutely no intention of stopping. At some unknown point, she had unhooked the second Spiritual Treasure tied at her waist, the Secret Traces Vajra Pestle. Sanskrit runes lit up across the pestle one by one as she raised it high above her head and swung it down at Wang Ping with all her might.

"Boom!"

Endless Buddhist light instantly illuminated the grasslands and pierced deep into the earth's crust, rippling out to affect Jingyuan Pass, which anchored the earth veins. The entire fortress city rumbled violently!

Up on the fortress walls, Kunlun maintained the array formations while his scalp tingled with fear. He knew full well that if he had been the one down there, he would already be dead.

And what about Wang Ping?

Was he still alive?

Soon, everyone had their answer.

Before the Buddhist light could scatter, streaks of clear qi rose upward, inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy. The Time-Stealing Thief erased nine breaths of time, and in the blink of an eye, his figure rematerialized.

Nine Breaths Qi Ingestion!

Wang Ping reappeared, wreaths of smoke still drifting from his body. With every breath, he continuously absorbed the world's spiritual qi, bit by bit reconstructing his shattered physical form.

The profound mysteries of this golden qi Immortal Physique, derived from the Grand White Traversing the Heavens Tome, were truly extraordinary. He could gather his form or disperse into qi, transforming at will. Even when facing unpredictable attacks, he could boldly sever his losses and escape. No matter how grievous the injury, he could rapidly recover just by inhaling and exhaling the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

Seeing this, the gloom in Baohu's eyes deepened.

She hadn't expected that even after resorting to the Secret Traces Vajra Pestle, her full-powered strike would still fail to completely obliterate Wang Ping's clone.

His progress is simply too fast...

Was this the pawn of a True Person?

Great opportunities lay within the crucible of life and death, and being a pawn came with its own advantages. This had always been the cultivation philosophy of the Immortal Gate, but someone like Wang Ping remained an extreme rarity.

At that thought, Baohu once again raised the Vajra Pestle in her hand.

Parting her lips, she softly chanted:

"Om, Vajrapani, Hum!"

This secret dharma mantra from beneath the Bodhisattva's seat was the true incantation required to activate the inherited Spiritual Treasure, the Secret Traces Vajra Pestle. In that moment, its power aggressively slammed into the world.

Instantly, the Sanskrit runes carved into the Vajra Pestle detached themselves one by one. They manifested into wide-eyed, furious Vajra dharma protectors, wielding sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, with blazing fires burning upon their backs. Chanting the Scripture of Human Deliverance to disrupt his divine consciousness, they brandished their weapons and charged to kill Wang Ping.

Seeing this, Wang Ping was utterly fearless.

"You want to contest strength with my Martial Dao?"

As his words fell, his body dissolved once more, transforming into a sky full of clear qi and Martial Dao divine astral energy. These energies rapidly reorganized, surprisingly manifesting into countless silhouettes of light.

Looking closely, one could see towering Tathagata palm prints, a boundless Azure Sky magnetic field, a vast expanse of formless weapon qi, and the sweeping currents of a boundless ocean striking out one after another.

Tathagata Divine Palm, Great Law of the Azure Sky, Innate Body-Piercing Formless Weapon Qi, and the Boundless Ocean's Illusory Void... he unleashed the ultimate techniques of all Four Great Grandmasters. These arts violently collided with the Vajra dharma protectors summoned by Baohu. Amidst the chaos, the water and fire twin maces darted back and forth, striking out to reinforce any spot where his defenses weakened.

For a time, they were actually locked in a perfect stalemate!

That was, until a brilliant ray of Buddhist light flared.

Looking toward the source, it was the Vajra Pestle held high above Baohu's head. At that moment, it seemed to have finally finished accumulating power, and she hurled it heavily in Wang Ping's direction.

"Boom!"

This throw was by no means ordinary. Baohu's emerald eyes burned brightly; she had seemingly already foreseen the future path of Wang Ping's escape, and the Vajra protectors formed by the Sanskrit runes had locked down the surrounding space.

Therefore, even though Wang Ping had sensed the danger, his intuition told him that there was nowhere to hide. No matter how he tried to flee, this strike would inevitably hit its mark!

"Good, good, good..."

With that thought, Wang Ping abruptly condensed his Divine Intent. All the martial arts manifestations born from his dispersed body instantaneously collapsed, and from within the churning clear qi, a single figure suddenly leaped out.

It was a monkey, burning as fiercely as the scorching sun.

"Divine Communion, Manifesting Divinity—"

Ten thousand martial arts ultimately coalesced into a heaven-spanning divine iron staff. The monkey hoisted it high and, wrapping the force of heaven and earth around it, ferociously smashed it upward against the falling Vajra Pestle!

Great Sage Conquering Heaven!

Rumble—!

This was their third head-on clash since the battle began, yet it remained an even match. The Vajra Pestle was knocked flying, while the Mind Monkey's Divine Intent crashed into the grasslands like a falling meteor.

It then disintegrated once more, transforming into mist that blanketed the plains. However, it still refused to scatter. Instead, the mist continued to inhale the spiritual qi of the world, rapidly drawing toward a central point to reconstruct Wang Ping's physical form bit by bit. Witnessing this scene, a slightly pale-faced Baohu didn't dare hesitate for even a fraction of a second.

The profound mysteries she had been accumulating for so long finally surged upward:

"I observe ultimate freedom; there is no other, there is no self."

Behind her, the great vow's golden manifestation—which had patiently sat in silence without attacking since its appearance, fixing its gaze solely on Wang Ping—finally moved.

It closed its eyes.

With just that single action, the sense of crisis in Wang Ping's heart spiked to its absolute peak. In every direction, a boundless darkness suddenly emerged, surging directly toward him!

It felt as though, simply because the entity had closed its eyes and stopped observing, he and the entire surrounding world were going to have all traces of their existence erased alongside it!

Vast swathes of clear qi were instantly devoured by the darkness. This qi was a part of Wang Ping's body, temporarily converted into formless energy by the Nine Breaths Qi Ingestion. Yet even in this state, he could not evade this bizarre, erasing power. He could only watch helplessly as his body was systematically annihilated.

"Impressive skills..."

Wang Ping praised softly, entirely devoid of fear. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Fellow Daoist Baohu, it seems you have exhausted your tricks! Your profound mysteries end right here!"

A gap in strength still existed between them.

However, compared to before, it was now merely a hair's breadth. Moreover, Baohu had already used her trump card. Her myriad Divine Powers and profound mysteries no longer held any secrets from him.

The same could not be said for him.

If I can just take one more step forward, the victory will be mine. I might even be able to kill her!

What's that? Did I lose just now?

What a joke! The one who lost was merely a clone. What does that have to do with my main body?

Or rather, the fact that she had to go all out just to narrowly defeat my clone means that, without a doubt, I am the true winner!