Chapter 347: The Earth Yang Fire Extinguishes, The True Persons Enter the World!

'There seems to be a lot of room to operate with this scripture scroll.'

His consciousness withdrawing from the Taiping Sutra, Wang Ping sat back upon his profound seat in the Heavenly Mansion, a mix of joy and doubt leaving him deep in thought.

Materials that the Taiping Sutra could convert into scripture scrolls fell into five qualities: ordinary worldly items, earthly essences, heaven-nurtured divine splendors, cosmic marvels, and singular genuine artifacts. In tallying the rewards for Baohu this time, he had pushed his luck to the absolute limit, restricting the scripture scroll's scope to earthly essences.

He only managed it because the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode was vast enough.

Out in the open world, precisely locating a spiritual material that qualified as an earthly essence while also surpassing his previous scripture scroll would have been no easy feat.

'I'm running out of usable materials.'

Wang Ping rubbed his temples. He had pushed it to the limit this time; to open another blank scripture scroll in the future, he would need spiritual materials on the level of heaven-nurtured divine splendors.

Within the Immortal Gate, that meant spiritual items at the Qi Refining Tier.

'I need to start using them sparingly.'

Reining in his thoughts, Wang Ping waved a hand. Three streams of spiritual light rose into the air, two of which were the Spiritual Treasures left behind after Baohu's death:

The Seven Hearts Linked Gourd.

The World-Begging Alms Bowl.

Aside from those two, there was also the Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron, which she had previously stored away using the World-Begging Alms Bowl. The moment it appeared, it practically glued itself to Wang Ping.

"Human, it was so dark in there! So scary!"

The Treasure Cauldron landed beside him, rubbing its hard exterior affectionately against Wang Ping's face like a puppy licking its master.

"This broken basin! I'm going to suppress it!"

Clearly, the Treasure Cauldron was a little spooked—or rather, furious. After all, it was usually the one suppressing others. Since when did anyone else get to suppress it?

It felt like it had lost immense face!

"Lord Treasure Cauldron, calm down." Wang Ping reached out to comfort the cauldron before asking expectantly, "Could you help me refine these two Spiritual Treasures as well?"

At those words, the Seven Hearts Linked Gourd and the World-Begging Alms Bowl instantly began vibrating in obvious resistance. This time, the Treasure Cauldron did not readily agree. Instead, it sounded somewhat troubled: "I can, but if you want them to recognize you as their master, you'll have to release the dragon and elephant from before."

"I can only suppress one of them and force it to submit."

"I see..."

Wang Ping pondered this, not in any rush. One was good enough. Even if he couldn't refine three Spiritual Treasures in one breath, he could always just rotate their usage in the future.

The result would be roughly the same!

With that in mind, Wang Ping immediately used his authority as the master of the Heavenly Mansion to carve out a specific space for these Spiritual Treasures, tucking them safely away.

'Speaking of which, the greatest harvest this time wasn't actually the Spiritual Treasures. It was this Cave Abode—a safe house that even a True Person cannot interfere with!'

Considering the earth-shattering upheaval bound to follow, even though he could commit suicide and reincarnate again, he couldn't take his belongings with him. Thus, a secure vault to store his assets was crucial; it ensured he wouldn't have to start from scratch upon rebirth.

At that thought, Wang Ping even stripped off his Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor and stored it inside the Heavenly Craft Mansion. After all, according to his calculations:

'I probably won't need to fight anymore.'

His personal battlefield had ended the moment he killed Baohu.

With a flash, Wang Ping's figure vanished, reappearing deep within the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode. Looking out, he beheld the dying sun.

The Heavenly Craft Supreme Yang Nine Smeltings Qi.

The Earth Yang Fire.

Beneath the fading sun stood a slightly blurred figure. It was the Heaven-Stealing Thief. Sensing Wang Ping's arrival, he turned to look at him.

"Congratulations, my good disciple," the Heaven-Stealing Thief chuckled softly.

"In the entirety of the Brahma Nation, only those serving directly under a Bodhisattva can be considered true cultivators. For a fellow Daoist to slay one using Divine Powers... it is truly remarkable."

His tone was casual, yet it belied immense confidence. With a single sentence, he had reduced ninety-nine percent of the Brahma Nation's cultivators to worthless trash. It was only at this moment that Wang Ping caught a glimpse of the demeanor of this immortal descendant, the former number one among the Immortal Gate's true transmissions. This was a different kind of respect.

'He's being forced to bare his fangs at me.'

In the past, the Heaven-Stealing Thief had always treated Wang Ping with an air of effortless, careless ease, secure in his absolute superiority.

Things were different now.

This time, facing a Wang Ping at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer, he had no choice but to adopt a solemn stance. His attitude had subtly shifted as a result.

"Good master, you praise me too highly."

Wang Ping flashed a grin.

Hearing this, the Heaven-Stealing Thief instantly grew wary. "Save that routine for someone else. 'Good master'? You've taken on three masters so far in your cultivation journey."

How could he not see right through this little bastard? It was 'good master' when he needed something, and 'Heaven-Stealing Thief' when he didn't. The moment he opened his mouth like that, he definitely wanted a favor!

"I'm not giving you the Crown-Stroking Mountain."

"...What kind of person do you take me for, master? I have no interest in Spiritual Treasures." Wang Ping's eye twitched slightly as he quickly pivoted from his prepared speech:

"I just want to ask about one thing."

"Oh?"

Only then did the Heaven-Stealing Thief glance over. "Let's hear it."

Wang Ping paused before continuing. "Extinguishing the Earth Yang Fire is a foregone conclusion. However, good master, how do you plan to handle the human Nether Earth?"

Back when he had compared notes with Tianxing and Mingyou, he had learned that the Heaven-Stealing Thief's goals in cooperating with those two were twofold: first, to extinguish the Earth Yang Fire; and second, to ruin the legacy of Great Shun, forcing the former human Nether Earth—which now sat in the cosmic sequence as the Mid-Heaven Orthodox Origin Blended Harmony Qi—to revert to its place within the Three Talents human position.

"You used the Dao Proving Mountain to coordinate these two matters."

"My cultivation was shallow back then, so I didn't notice anything amiss."

Wang Ping looked at the Heaven-Stealing Thief and said in a deep voice:

"But looking at it now, both of these actions are actually mending the former legacy of the Great Rebellion, directly conflicting with Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang's plans."

"If that is the case, good master... how did you dare to communicate through the Dao Proving Mountain? What's even more absurd is that your cooperation actually succeeded."

"Why did Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang tolerate you?"

As his words fell, Wang Ping saw what looked like a smile form on the Heaven-Stealing Thief's blurred face. "What, my good disciple, do you think we colluded?"

Wang Ping's gaze was calm.

"Regardless, Heaven-Stealing Thief, I need a reasonable explanation."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief shook his head.

"It's actually quite simple."

"Because the True Person didn't want to put all his eggs in one basket. Plus, certain risks are safer when kept right under his nose."

What did that mean?

Wang Ping frowned slightly, quickly catching on. "You mean... you are the pawns Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang prepared to replace me?"

This actually made a lot of sense, and it addressed a doubt Wang Ping had harbored for a long time: wouldn't tying the True Person's meticulously laid grand scheme to a single pawn make it far too fragile? It seemed Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang had prepared a backup plan after all.

Which brought up the next question.

"What is it?" Wang Ping fixed his eyes on the Heaven-Stealing Thief. "Good master, what method does the True Person plan to use to have you replace me?"

"I don't know."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief shook his head decisively. "Good disciple, you overestimate me. I am just a lowly cultivator. How could I possibly ascertain a True Person's thoughts?"

"Catching even a slight glimpse is already an achievement."

"Then I won't ask about that."

Wang Ping changed the subject. "You succeeded in extinguishing the Earth Yang Fire, good master. But what about the human Nether Earth? As things stand, that looks completely hopeless."

Because returning the human Nether Earth to the cosmic sequence was the legacy of Great Shun.

To force it back to the Three Talents human position, Great Shun had to be destroyed. The dynasty had to fall. But now that the sword duel was won, how could Great Shun possibly collapse?

Hearing this, the immortal descendant turned around and gazed at the fading sun in the distance, his voice quiet. "Good disciple, you have misunderstood this matter."

"I don't need to do a single thing regarding the human Nether Earth."

"Because that is the one thing that is practically destined to happen."

...

The blazing sun gradually extinguished.

The rolling golden fire seemed to lose its fuel, dying out bit by bit. The brightly lit palace grew dim, and a figure tumbled out of the flames.

It was Kunlun.

His entire reserve of magical power, Divine Powers, and even his destiny form had completely burned away. The unimaginably abundant lifespan within his body had been scorched down to nothing.

Even though he still maintained the appearance of a youth with a face free of a single wrinkle, he exuded a staggering sense of old age in this moment. It was a stark reminder that he was no longer a boy, but a cultivator who had undergone multiple reincarnations and lived for two or three thousand years.

A second later, he suddenly spoke up.

"Senior Brother Gan, I'll go on ahead."

Kunlun turned around, merely sweeping his gaze over the Heaven-Stealing Thief. They had worked together for years; many things could be conveyed in just a single sentence.

Thus, he focused primarily on Wang Ping.

"Junior Brother Dousheng, don't die."

"And my senior brother, he shouldn't be dead either..." he chuckled softly. "Mm, here in the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, I don't need to hide it anymore."

"It's a pity I won't get to see him one last time."

"I'll have to rely on you to pass on a message, Junior Brother."

At this point, Kunlun's eyes glazed over. He seemed to truly become an old man on his deathbed, his every breath carrying a suffocating stench of decay.

"Please congratulate my senior brother for me on proving the Dao of Qi Refining and leaping over the dragon gate."

"However... I am no weaker than him."

It was only at this moment that Kunlun's eyes snapped wide open, bright light surging in their depths as if he had returned to his spirited, energetic youth.

"Today, I too prove my Dao!"

With those words, his breathing slowed to a halt.

Having spoken his final sentence, Kunlun let out his last breath and naturally passed away. Because he had reached the end of his natural lifespan, no miraculous arts could save him.

Vanishing alongside him was the Earth Yang Fire.

"Fellow Daoist, it is time for you to leave."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief's tone was calm, devoid of any emotion. "My true body is not here. You'll have to rely on yourselves for what comes next."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Wang Ping turned and opened the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode once again. As far as the eye could see, the sky was violently tearing apart.

Sparks plummeted from the heavens, painting the sky a bloody crimson.

Faintly illuminated in the heavens were several towering figures. They looked down upon the mortal dust with an eternal, indifferent gaze, as if quietly waiting for something.

The Earth Yang Fire extinguished; the True Persons entered the world!

"Phew!"

Without hesitating, Wang Ping took a large stride out.