Chapter 334: Water Is Still Too Noble!

Heavenly Craft Cave Abode.

The Heaven-Stealing Thief and Xianfu had both left. Wang Ping sat on the profound throne at the hub of the heavenly mansion, thumbing a smooth, crystal-clear jade pendant.

Heavenly Yin Metal.

Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang had retrieved this very pendant from the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode and sent it to him across space, right before the water-qi True Monarch intervened.

Now, jade pendant in hand, the words of the True Person's phantom echoed in Wang Ping's mind again. The phrasing might have been blunt, but the logic held true. Even though Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang was currently his enemy, the man had been right about one thing: an unequal partnership was never a partnership.

‘Now I control the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode.’

‘In theory, I really do have the qualifications to negotiate with him now. Or rather, it was because I kept breaking through dead ends that I finally earned this right.’

But what about the water-qi side?

From start to finish, he had possessed no capital to partner with that entity. He had merely accepted the other party's help, not even knowing their name.

"...Hmph."

Suddenly, Wang Ping smiled.

"I've been truly foolish. Why agonize over this?" he said. "With the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode in hand, even if negotiations fail this time, can't I just try again later?"

There was absolutely no need to lock himself into a single choice right now. He could easily maintain a cordial relationship with the water-qi True Monarch while simultaneously using the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode to negotiate terms and extort benefits from Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang. He could even play both sides against the middle, establishing a balance to maximize his own gains!

Thinking of this, Wang Ping felt much more relaxed.

Stowing away the Heavenly Yin Metal, he stopped fretting over the matter. Instead, he gathered light in his hands. Soon, two Major Divine Abilities surfaced in his palms.

Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart.

The gentleman should hide his implements at the right time.

Two Major Divine Abilities coexisting within a single body—and as the mutually countering elements of earth and water, at that—should have instantly caused any other cultivator to explode.

Yet in Wang Ping's hands, these two abilities had achieved a harmonious interplay of Yin and Yang. Earth rested upon water while water flowed beneath earth, projecting an aura of absolute perfection.

Wang Ping's gaze then fell upon ‘the gentleman should hide his implements at the right time.’ As the opportune moment had arrived, this Major Divine Ability—tailor-made for him by the water-qi True Monarch—emerged from concealment. Information about it finally surfaced in Wang Ping's mind, revealing layers of profound mysteries.

"Good, what an excellent divine ability..."

With that thought, Wang Ping abruptly stood up. A point of rippling light appeared between his brows and rapidly spread across his entire body, causing his whole figure to immediately blur.

He looked like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water.

"The gentleman hides his implements upon his person to await the heavenly timing. However, this also holds variations of inner and outer, the mysteries of surface and core. Its application rests entirely in the mind, depending solely on the cultivator's will."

"Hiding the implement outside the body can obscure karma, veil destiny, and cloak one's years."

"It renders you imperceptible to those above, and unknowable to those below."

This was exactly the method Wang Ping had used to conceal his divine abilities and hide his karmic memories right under the True Person's nose. It also held extraordinary might when used by a lesser cultivator to strike above their Realm.

Of course, there were no unbreakable divine abilities in this world. This kind of concealment wasn't entirely without a counter; one still had to be careful when encountering an opposing, mutually restraining heaven and earth qi.

Wang Ping stroked his chin, calculating inwardly.

‘Once the concealment is seen through and the hidden state is broken, there's no way to use this profound mystery again for a short time. This point is especially critical.’

‘Of course, this is because hiding the implement outside the body subjects it to external interference, making it difficult to control. Hiding the implement inside the body doesn't have this problem.’

"Hiding the implement inside the body can conceal injuries, evade disasters and tribulations, and subdue profound methods."

"It renders methods unable to bind you, and your Dao impossible to extinguish."

Just as the name implied, the method of hiding the implement inside the body focused on the self, evading disasters and avoiding tribulations. No matter how fierce external forces were, they would not shake Wang Ping's own profound mysteries.

And that wasn't all.

"The gentleman hides his implements upon his person not to keep them hidden forever, but to await the right timing. Someday, they must be shown to the world. That is the key to this divine ability."

After ‘hiding the implement upon the person,’ came ‘seeing the dragon in the field.’

‘Just as the Heaven-Stealing Thief said, when that water-qi True Monarch designed this divine ability, he must have incorporated some of the profound mysteries of the Qian Trigram.’

Seeing the dragon in the field, it is advantageous to meet the great man.

As the phrase suggested, ‘seeing the dragon in the field’ allowed Wang Ping to borrow the authority of a "great man" after lifting his concealment, thereby amplifying his own profound mysteries.

So who was this great man?

‘It's absurd. This great man isn't a great man to me, but to the water-qi True Monarch who designed this Major Divine Ability...’

It was destiny!

To that water-qi True Monarch, only the immortal who pioneered destiny could be called a great man. Therefore, what was being borrowed was the profound mystery of destiny itself!

Using concealment and deception to guide destiny and manufacture a desired outcome—then, once the dust settled and the truth was revealed, one could use ‘seeing the dragon in the field’ to borrow the power of destiny, temporarily transforming that entire process into a usable achievement.

"This is... a profound mystery meant for setting up schemes."

It was incredibly unique.

Wang Ping had never seen such a divine ability before. To activate ‘seeing the dragon in the field,’ one had to undergo a considerable period of preparation beforehand.

"Using the profound mystery of ‘the gentleman hiding his implements’ to lay a scheme and guide a specific event into occurring, then transforming it into ‘seeing the dragon in the field’ after the deed is done to refine it into an achievement."

Wang Ping couldn't be clearer on the effects of an achievement. Previously, merely bearing the achievement of the Great Rebellion striking an immortal had forced the Immortal Gate to send people to fight him within the same Realm. And that was only someone else's achievement! If it were his own, it would massively bolster a cultivator's divine abilities.

Take the Heaven-Stealing Thief, for example.

If his destiny form, the Usurper Immortal, only possessed cultivation and Dao attainment without a matching achievement, it would absolutely be incapable of such terrible might.

And Wang Ping knew better than anyone just how hard it was to forge an achievement.

Which of the Great Rebellion's achievements wasn't a heaven-defying feat whose influence still lingered today? The Heaven-Stealing Thief's own achievement was equally massive.

After all, a so-called achievement was simply the trajectory a cultivator left behind within destiny.

Yet right now, ‘seeing the dragon in the field’ told Wang Ping that no matter how small the event, it could be transformed into a temporary achievement.

‘Not only that, if the action taken already left an achievement in the world, one could find a way to draw it in and temporarily claim that achievement for their own use!’

‘This is simply too favored by destiny.’

Wang Ping clicked his tongue in wonder.

"What is this? Just because the torrent of destiny looks like water, it can also be influenced by water qi? Damn it! That's too absurd."

Noble. Far too noble!

"Phew...!"

By now, Wang Ping was getting impatient, yet he still forcefully suppressed the excitement of wanting to break through immediately. He stood up from the profound throne and walked to another part of the Cave Abode.

There, a blazing sun hung in midair, surrounded by profound scenery. Heaven and earth acted as the furnace, Yin and Yang as the charcoal, and creation as the artisan. Layer upon layer shifted, slowly dimming. A terrifying profound mystery that reversed time permeated the space, reenacting the Great Rebellion's extermination of qi from years ago.

The next second, a voice echoed from within the sun.

"Junior Brother Dousheng."

Heavy layers of light condensed, projecting Kunlun's figure. "Thanks to your help, Junior Brother, I'll be able to completely eradicate this heaven and earth qi in three months."

"Senior Brother Kunlun..."

Wang Ping's gaze sharpened, discerning the price Kunlun was paying for this act. He was somewhat baffled. "Sacrificing your life, just to eradicate a single strand of heaven and earth qi?"

It was outrageous.

Was this still the Immortal Gate?

Could it be a trap? Supposedly eradicating the Earth Yang Fire on the surface, but secretly harboring another scheme entirely... The thought naturally crept into Wang Ping's mind.

But the person doing this was Kunlun.

It should be fine.

"Hahaha."

Seemingly reading Wang Ping's inner conflict, Kunlun suddenly laughed. "You must find it strange, Junior Brother, why I would harbor such rebellious thoughts."

"Funnily enough, it's because of Senior Brother."

Kunlun said leisurely, "I come from a noble background. My father is a Corpse Dissolution Immortal who had me in his later years, so he spoiled me rotten. Thinking back, I even used Spiritual Treasures for my first birthday drawing ceremony."

"After all, my father is a Corpse Dissolution Immortal governed by the Heavenly Craft Supreme Yang Nine Smeltings Qi. He naturally excels at artifact refinement and gathering spiritual materials. To be blunt, even a true transmission disciple under the tutelage of a Qi Refining practitioner probably wouldn't get as many resources from their master as I received from my father."

"Because of that, I was never actually passionate about cultivation."

"The only ones who could surpass me in resources were likely the direct bloodline descendants of True Persons and True Monarchs." Kunlun's tone held a touch of nostalgia.

"Yet that sort of life was quite boring. For a time, I felt like a chosen child of heaven, capable of achieving anything."

"Until Senior Brother appeared."

At this, Kunlun chuckled. "I saw a lot in him, including how Master brought him in from the mortal dust."

"At first, whenever I teased him, he fell for it every time. But then I watched him struggle as a Mortal, fighting tooth and nail to slowly become a proper true transmission disciple. He even surpassed me and my endless resources. Even when I cultivated desperately, I could barely keep pace with him."

"After that, I understood."

His voice falling, Kunlun lowered his eyes and looked at Wang Ping. "Mortals also possess the ability to ascend to immortality. It is just that before doing so, their opportunities are far too scarce."

"Junior Brother... isn't the same true for you?"

"Ever since then, I've been thinking. With my level of skill, I might not survive my life tribulation. Even if I somehow made it through by sheer luck, my path on the Dao would likely end right there."

"Compared to true geniuses, I really am mediocre."

"Ten thousand years later, I'll be nothing but a handful of yellow earth."

"So I felt I should do something. I need to leave my own trajectory upon destiny, so I won't have lived this life in vain."

Kunlun detailed the journey of his heart in a low voice.

He wasn't just speaking to Wang Ping; he was speaking to himself. Like a sharp divine blade, every word he spoke severed his wavering, stray thoughts.

"Senior Brother Gan aims high, wishing to enact the deeds of the Great Rebellion once more."

"Senior Brother Kunyun possesses a resolute Dao heart, pushing forward even knowing it's impossible."

"And you, Junior Brother, survive in the cracks of the True Person's schemes. Today, you even hold great hope of breaking through... All of your destinies will shine brilliantly in the future."

"I am different."

Having said his piece, Kunlun showed no more hesitation. He was entirely resolute.

"For someone as untalented and shallow in the Dao as I am, my time to shine is probably right now."