Chapter 332: From Beginning to End, the Only One!

Once the collapse began, it could no longer be stopped.

In Wang Ping's hands, the Water-Fire Striking Profound Maces—originally only at the Magical Treasure level—had received the blessing of the Dragon Elephant, now impressively displaying the might of a Spiritual Treasure.

He wielded the dual maces simultaneously: one embodied the Heavenly Dragon, the other the Sacred Elephant. The former augmented the water mystery of the Water-Fire Striking Profound Maces, bypassing all obstacles to pierce the True Person's phantom's defenses. The latter boosted Wang Ping's physical strength, working in tandem with Clasping Mountains and Leaping Seas to unleash a divine might capable of plucking stars and moving moons.

All of this power poured down upon the True Person's phantom.

Wang Ping vaguely heard a thunderous explosion echoing from within the True Person's phantom, as if a star were slowly disintegrating.

This was no exaggeration.

In truth, if they were not currently inside the Unified Mind Hall, where the true body of the Spiritual Treasure bore the brunt of the impact, Wang Ping's strike could genuinely have shattered a small star!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Distinct cracks rapidly surfaced, spreading downward from the True Person's phantom's face. A bloody scent steamed upward before the body finally collapsed, scattering in a burst of crimson.

And so, radiant light filled the sky.

Wang Ping stared blankly. In the distance, Xianfu also looked utterly shocked. Only the Heaven-Stealing Thief seemed to have expected this; though astonished, he remained relatively composed.

It was him...

Looking at the sky full of swirling radiant colors, everything finally clicked into place for Wang Ping. He completely understood the true nature of the grand scheme behind everything he had experienced up to this point.

I was wrong. I was entirely wrong.

Before this, he had assumed that Heavenly Craft, Tianshuang, Tianqu, and the other two qi-ingesting practitioners of the Great Rebellion inside the Cauldron Interior Grotto-Heaven had secretly colluded with the three True Persons of the Immortal Gate.

He had thought they betrayed the Great Rebellion.

He had believed they awakened because Xianfu borrowed the national destiny of Great Shun to channel a True Person's mighty power of the Changes of Void and Reality, rousing them from their slumber.

However, he was wrong.

The real Heavenly Craft, Tianshuang, and the other three qi-ingesting practitioners of the Great Rebellion are probably long dead, leaving absolutely no consciousness behind, Wang Ping suddenly realized.

The Changes of Void and Reality didn't wake up the qi-ingesting practitioners of the Great Rebellion; it fabricated their consciousness out of thin air. The mysterious wood True Person was playing multiple roles... So Heavenly Craft is him, Tianshuang is him, all the qi-ingesting practitioners are him, and the mysterious wood True Person is also him! They are all the exact same person!

They weren't secretly colluding.

Instead, from the very beginning, it had been just one person playing multiple roles, guiding him step by step, tightly controlling every angle, all to force Wang Ping into submitting to his will.

Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang!

"Huu..."

A second later, a heavy sigh echoed from the exploding radiant light. Tinged with both emotion and helplessness, a voice said, "I originally wanted to wait until the very end."

"I suppose this is the drawback of cultivating the true through the false. With so many of them, there are bound to be a few stunning exceptions."

"Impressive."

Before the voice even faded, Wang Ping watched the radiant light rapidly flow backward, pulling away from him before condensing a short distance away into a mangled silhouette.

No, it could no longer be called a human silhouette.

Its head, right arm, and half its torso had completely caved in from Wang Ping's mace strike, turning into bloody mush devoid of any human shape.

It didn't stop there.

Under the convergence of the Dragon Elephant, the Spiritual Treasure Wang Ping had just obtained birthed a scorching, brilliant flame. Paired with the sun-flame light of the Water-Fire Striking Profound Maces, this fire had already penetrated deep into the phantom's body. It wove through the bloody mush, pierced its internal organs, and continuously incinerated its form.

"The Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron, the Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor, the Dragon Elephant..."

The True Person's phantom's eye twitched.

Although he had said before that beneath the Qi Refining realm, a Spiritual Treasure's quality mattered more than quantity, Wang Ping simply had too many... Three Spiritual Treasures! His fortune was truly soaring!

The next second, Wang Ping moved.

He tossed all distracting thoughts of shock and astonishment to the back of his mind. After all, this combat opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, a critically important moment for a decisive victory.

He doesn't have a Spiritual Treasure, but I do, and I have three of them!

No matter how high the True Person's phantom's cultivation was or how vast its mysteries were, they were not enough to erase this disadvantage. Facing Wang Ping's relentless pursuit, he had no choice but to retreat!

Of course, he was also putting his full effort into sensing the Eradicating Chaos and Restoring Order Drum, attempting to re-establish his connection with the Spiritual Treasure and recall it. However, the Heaven-Stealing Thief and Xianfu struck again at that exact moment, forcefully severing his connection and buying Wang Ping crucial time.

"Die!"

Wang Ping clenched his jaw. He swung the second mace, then the third, his arms whirling like a fierce gale. Regardless of whatever eight directional winds or attempts to follow heaven and respond to the people the enemy used, he shattered them all with a single mace strike.

Thus, he could only retreat again!

At almost the same time, his voice rang in Wang Ping's ears. "Little friend, if you are helping Gan Wujiu eradicate the Earth Yang Fire, does that mean you no longer wish to walk the path of Heavenly Yin Metal?"

Wang Ping did not answer.

Boom!

Another mace crashed down, forcing the True Person's phantom back once more. He felt a bit helpless. It wasn't that his strength was lacking; it was simply that his opponent had no regard for martial honor, relying entirely on the profound power of Spiritual Treasures.

"Since you are cooperating with Gan Wujiu, you must have seen the bigger picture... It is true that breaking through using Heavenly Yin Metal will inevitably damage your Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart and the Great Rebellion's intent, but the damage falls on the Great Rebellion. What does that have to do with you? You can indeed use it to break through to the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer."

Wang Ping scoffed inwardly.

Spirit-Invoked Mingyou had already explained this to him previously. Right now, it was actively turning over thoughts within his sea of consciousness, analyzing the truth and falsehood of the True Person's phantom's words.

He certainly knew that Heavenly Yin Metal could help him break through.

But the price of breaking through was the shattering of the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart, damaging his divine power. Even if he broke through, the quality of the destiny form he condensed would definitely not be high.

Furthermore, as long as the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart still existed, he would remain bound to the Great Rebellion. He might even become bound deeper due to the breakthrough.

This Biyang's bastard is probably planning to use me a second time! After I use Heavenly Yin Metal to break through to the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer, he'll likely repeat his old tricks and set up a new scheme, continuing to dangle Qi Refining like bait to force me into working for him... Given the conduct of the Immortal Gate's True Persons, this is highly probable!

At this thought, Wang Ping swung his dual maces even faster.

"It seems you have some misunderstandings about me."

While struggling to parry the blows, the True Person's phantom continued, "I am not afraid to tell you: after you break through to the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer using Heavenly Yin Metal, I planned to recruit you and incorporate you into the Heavenly Yang Earth doctrinal lineage."

Heavenly Yang Earth, the Sun-Dwelling Profound Rainbow Lacks Certainty!

"Once you cultivate your destiny form and your divine power is damaged, if you switch your path and pursue Qi Refining with Heavenly Yang Earth, I could then bring your Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart under my control as well."

"By doing so, the portion of the intent and mysteries originally belonging to the Great Rebellion, to Human Yang Earth, and to the Origin-Governing Battle-Axe-Wielding Fate-Governing Qi would become my own."

"Since it concerns the Dao path, I will not deceive you."

At almost the same time, Spirit-Invoked Mingyou provided an answer within Wang Ping's sea of consciousness: it was indeed true. At the very least, this specific planned path contained no falsehoods.

Wang Ping, however, turned a deaf ear.

"You talk too much nonsense!"

Boom!

Closing the distance to press the attack, Wang Ping brought his dual maces crashing down again. He finally smashed the True Person's phantom's relatively intact remaining half, along with its radiant light, into absolute smithereens.

Immediately following that, the dissipating radiant light swirled back around while Xun Wind blew, seemingly attempting to reconstruct its physical form once more. Yet Wang Ping didn't hesitate in the slightest. He brought his mace down directly overhead, completely shattering the gathering radiant light and tearing apart the Xun Wind. It felt as if a certain lock had snapped open.

"Crack..."

Did I win?

Even now, the True Person's fading words still echoed in Wang Ping's ears: "No matter what Water gave you, it could not possibly be better than what I can offer."

"I shall give you the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode. You will take charge of it and can decide whether or not the Ancient Qi of the Six Heavens reveals itself to the world. What I seek is precisely the liberation of the Ancient Qi of the Six Heavens. Because of this, you would have leverage over me... This is the true foundation of cooperation. But as for Water, do you possess the conditions to cooperate with him?"

"What he can give you, he naturally can also take back."

"Since you hold nothing that can threaten him, there is naturally no possibility of cooperation. You will merely go from being my pawn to being his pawn."

"Look out for yourself."

As his voice faded, the surrounding heaven and earth trembled.

Wang Ping was incredibly familiar with this. After the phantom shattered, the seal connected to it naturally disintegrated as well, allowing the victor to immediately take its place.

Soon after, everyone returned to reality.

The magical battle against the phantom had entirely taken place within the shifts of divine consciousness. Once outside, everything turned to nothingness. At most, a sliver of divine consciousness would be lost; the true body would not suffer real damage.

"Buzz!"

In a flash, the profound throne at the central hub of the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode shook violently. It began to sway, its energy signature impressively forming a connection with Wang Ping.

"It worked...!"

Seeing this, the Heaven-Stealing Thief instantly revealed an expression of wild ecstasy. Beside him, Xianfu also let out a long breath, displaying a hint of relief.

Only Wang Ping pursed his lips.

The words the True Person's phantom had said to him right before dissipating still echoed in his ears. Yet, at the same time, a brilliant radiance gradually lit up within his sea of consciousness.

Soon after, memories flooded in!

Memories regarding the third qualitative change of his magic power, the images he had seen during the Hidden Dragon Meridian Circulation Netherworld Communication, and all his previous enlightenment surged into his mind.

Emerging alongside them was a flawless, perfect divine power, possessing an ultimate and supreme aura.

The gentleman should hide his implements at the right time.

The time had come!