Chapter 374: Battle Royale

In Cosmic Deep Space, Wang Ping raced among the stars.

He had already pushed his condition to its absolute peak. Just like the Heaven-Stealing Thief of old, he had fused karmic merit, destiny form, and trigram into a single whole.

Add to that the Xuanyi Calamity-Crossing Ring, a perfectly suited Spiritual Treasure...

To put it bluntly, even facing Dashun Taizu himself, he had a seventy percent chance of winning a head-on clash without relying on tricks or deception!

This was already combat power on the level of a Corpse Dissolution Immortal.

Yet even so, facing the figure clinging relentlessly behind him—always a hairsbreadth from pulling him back under the shroud of his magic power—Wang Ping felt immense pressure.

'How is he this fast?'

Looking across the void, he and Shasheng were like two meteors chasing each other through the Cosmos, one leading, one following, the gap between their flight speeds not even a split second.

This was truly incredible. Earlier, when Wang Ping had fled with Dashun Taizu, Saintess Xuanxiao, Saint Child Hanguang, and the two Qi Refining practitioners backing them had joined forces, yet none could catch him while he was empowered by Carefree Wandering. In terms of escape speed, he was undoubtedly at the Qi Refining level.

Yet Shasheng had caught up.

Although the monk was still slightly slower, it was only by a hairsbreadth. In an endurance contest of magic power, Wang Ping would inevitably be the one to lose.

Yet on the other side, Shasheng's astonishment far exceeded Wang Ping's.

'I actually can't catch him?'

Wang Ping did not understand the profound mysteries of Brahma dharma, assuming Shasheng was keeping pace purely through his own flight speed. In reality, Shasheng had already invoked a karmic merit.

Divine Stride!

The cultivation of an Ascetic Monk of the Brahma Nation was governed by the "Four Marks and Six Merits." Only by cultivating four of the thirty-two marks and all six karmic merits of a living buddha...

...could an Ascetic Monk advance to become an arhat.

As an Ascetic Monk under the Master of Secret Traces, he had walked the path for many years and had already attained two marks and five merits. Divine Stride was one of them.

Also known as the Body of Free Will, it granted the power to manifest anywhere at will, free and unhindered. It was inherently a merit that bolstered a cultivator's flight speed. Empowered by it, Shasheng had expected to overtake Wang Ping and seize him immediately—and in fact, he almost had at the very start.

Yet strangely...

The closer he drew to Wang Ping and the greater the threat he posed, the faster Wang Ping became. The result was that he remained perpetually a hairsbreadth away from catching his quarry.

"The Kan Trigram..."

With Shasheng's attainment, he naturally understood the principle behind Wang Ping speeding up as danger mounted. Yet there was nothing he could do about it except lament inwardly:

Damn it, water qi is simply too overpowered.

Fortunately, he was in no hurry. Wang Ping was pressed so hard that he could not change direction at all. The path back to the Immortal Gate had been completely cut off; no matter how he fled, it was in vain.

Wang Ping was equally aware of this, but to his frustration, he had no way to reverse the situation. Throughout the flight, he had already tried invoking Carefree Wandering, attempting to use the profound ability of letting his body follow his heart to teleport directly back toward the Gongshun Grotto-Heaven.

This was the pinnacle application of Carefree Wandering.

Ignoring distance entirely, so long as he visualized his destination in his mind, he could teleport in a single instant from anywhere to that envisioned place.

Yet that very technique failed him now. Or rather, even when he unleashed it, it felt as if he had struck a wall of solid iron, unable to break through. Shasheng had clearly employed some unknown means to keep him locked in this life-and-death chase.

This was indeed the case.

Every time Wang Ping attempted to let his body follow his heart and escape to safety, a magical light resembling a spinning Treasure Wheel would flare in the monk's eyes.

Heavenly Eye!

Framing heaven and earth within his gaze, he could illuminate every form and color in the world. Relying on this very merit, Shasheng cast a technique that bound Wang Ping strictly within his sight.

This was tantamount to a sealing art, preventing Wang Ping from vanishing from his field of vision. Unable to slip away, he had no choice but to stay locked in this dragging contest of speed.

A pursuit worthy of being called a battle royale naturally drew the attention of many.

"Who is being hunted?"

"An Ascetic Monk from the Brahma Nation is making a move. The one being chased... an immortal cultivator? Tribulation Transcending Third Layer... Hiss! Which immortal realm's Dao Child is this?"

"They've chased him all the way to the Taiwei Enclosure."

"You've got to be kidding. A dignified Dao Child, chased all the way out here by a Brahma Cultivator?"

"Judging by his aura, it seems to be water qi."

"Oh, then it's no wonder..."

Even as he sprinted for his life, Wang Ping did not forget to cast Sound Perception, manifesting six ears to rapidly catch the voices of past and present and determine his location.

Thanks to this, he soon had his answer:

'The Taiwei Enclosure... Sure enough, I'm no longer in the Ziwei Enclosure ruled by the Immortal Gate. Otherwise, they wouldn't just sit by and watch me get hunted down like this.'

Wang Ping felt helpless. Although he had learned the layout of Cosmic Deep Space's Three Enclosures from Kunyun, he had only grasped the broad strokes. The true Cosmic Deep Space was boundless; without the cultivation of a Qi Refining practitioner, it was impossible to know its full expanse. This created an acutely awkward problem:

'I don't know the way!'

He might be flying at blinding speed, but he had no idea whether he was fleeing toward the Immortal Gate or throwing himself straight into the net of the Brahma Nation.

'No, I have to find a way.'

Wang Ping's thoughts raced, and he swiftly made a judgment: 'By common sense, whichever route this bald donkey blocked off must be the way out.'

By that logic, the path to survival lay behind him. Shasheng pursued him so relentlessly that every possibility of turning back was cut off, leaving him no room to wheel around.

'Fine... time to risk it!'

The next instant, Wang Ping invoked Carefree Wandering once more. This time, however, instead of escaping through space, he leaped directly free of the shackles of time.

His true body traveled to the past!

In a flash, Wang Ping's surroundings transformed completely. His magic power plummeted, but his body instantly reappeared at the position he had crossed three seconds earlier.

Looking ahead, he saw his "past" self still fleeing at full speed, with Shasheng hot on his heels, their streaks of light gradually fading into the distance.

"Phew...!"

In that fleeting instant, Wang Ping dared not delay. He immediately drove the gentleman should hide his implements at the right time to its absolute limit to conceal himself, then moved to reverse course and head back the way he came.

Yet the moment he turned around, he saw a monk walking straight toward him—none other than Shasheng!

In that split second, Wang Ping did not even have the chance to react. An overwhelming surge of profound power blasted into his sea of consciousness, freezing him in his tracks.

Heart-Reading!

Heart linked to heart, shaking his sea of consciousness.

Caught completely off guard, Wang Ping was struck full force, exposing a fatal opening.

Instantly, the Kan Trigram resonated. Mortal peril turned into a surging tide that washed through his sea of consciousness, rapidly jolting him back to his senses.

'Just like me... he has a way to travel through time!'

The realization struck Wang Ping instantly.

When his true body traveled three seconds into the past, Shasheng must have noticed and deployed a similar karmic merit to jump back to an even earlier moment.

Only then could he intercept him out of thin air.

At that realization, Wang Ping immediately moved to leap through time once more to evade Shasheng's incoming finishing strike, but his vision suddenly went dark.

Immediately after, Wang Ping discovered that his temporal leap had failed. Shasheng stood like a dam violently severing the river of time, leaving him no way to cross past into the "past." If he forced the technique, he would only smash himself to death right in front of him.

Fate Perception!

'Damn it...'

His Divine Intent sounded a frantic alarm. Ahead of him, Shasheng had already raised both palms, forming a seal with each and striking out.

"Six Roots Purifying Mantra."

The six-syllable mantra, reinforced by the hand seals, detonated in Wang Ping's ears. Every single word was like the tolling of a great bell, turning into radiant waves of light that sank into his body.

Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind.

Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought.

These were the Six Roots. Under the power of Shasheng's incantation, he plunged instantly into a state of purified six roots, his every perception of the outside world wiped clean!

Right after, the Secret Traces Vajra Pestle—which had hovered quietly above Shasheng's head all this time—finally surged into the air. Manifesting immense weight, it crashed down upon Wang Ping, threatening to suppress all his magic power and Divine Powers, and seal away his very destiny form!

From beginning to end, Shasheng had never intended to kill Wang Ping.

He wanted him alive.

That was the only reason Wang Ping had managed to drag out the pursuit for so long; holding back out of caution, Shasheng had refrained from unleashing his most lethal methods.

Even at this moment, Whether it was the Six Roots Purifying Mantra or the suppression of the Secret Traces Vajra Pestle, both were aimed solely at subduing him, with no intent to kill.

Just to be certain, Shasheng tossed up the prayer beads in his hand. They transformed into stars brimming with Buddhist light, swiftly erecting an array centered around Wang Ping.

'That should settle it...'

Yet in the very instant that thought crossed Shasheng's mind...

Wang Ping, who should have been stripped of all sensation and left helpless by the Six Roots Purifying Mantra, abruptly opened his eyes.

All of this was thanks to a pulsating pill within his belly.

The Yielding for Wholeness Life-Preserving Pill!

This pill, which he had extorted from Dao Child Heng Xu of the Guanheng Realm with Kunyun's help, worked a life-saving miracle at this critical juncture!

"Adapt to changes, yield for wholeness to preserve life!"

The divine pill spun, absorbing all the power of the Six Roots Purifying Mantra. Then it fractured, releasing an even higher order of profound energy!

Responding to his water qi magic power, the pill's potency transformed into an immensely yang and resolute gold qi, sketching out the pure white moonlight of a clear autumn.

Clear Autumn Austere White Qi.

Heavenly Yang Gold!

Gold begets water, yin and yang pair, Heaven and Earth Harmony—this very qi birthed earthly yin water!

Propelled by such immense pill power, Wang Ping's magic power and Divine Powers, previously suppressed by the Secret Traces Vajra Pestle, surged violently, shattering the lockdown with a roar!

Taking advantage of the surge from the divine pill, Wang Ping dared not hesitate. He poured all of his magic power into Carefree Wandering, driving the merit while visualizing the Gongshun Grotto-Heaven in his mind, intending to shatter the restriction of Shasheng's Heavenly Eye and break free to safety once and for all.

Yet right at that moment...

"Rumble!"

In an instant, the Yielding for Wholeness Life-Preserving Pill—whose profound power had been steadily mounting within him—suddenly withered, as if it had suffered a crushing blow.

'What!?'

Wang Ping's pupils contracted. Looking toward the source of the divine pill's resonance, he instantly locked onto a figure lurking in the distance, secretly interfering.

It was a Qi Refining practitioner.

Above his head churned an auspicious cloud corresponding to Human Yin Wood: Adapting to Changes and Yielding for Wholeness Qi! The Yielding for Wholeness Life-Preserving Pill fell under the direct dominion of this very qi.

'It's the one by Saintess Xuanxiao's side, the one who fought Kunyun earlier. His name was Jing Lang? I knew it... He actually dared to kick me while I'm down!'