Chapter 349: Three Provinces in Turmoil and the Earth Overturned; the Four Seas Clarified and the Sky Suspended Upside Down!

The Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Above the dome, sparks plummeted from the void, turning the sky scarlet. The moment Xianfu's voice faded, he sped toward the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode and the Brahma Cultivators' Pure Land.

Despite his words, his thoughts had already drifted far away.

He was a True Monarch's Handwritten Manuscript that had developed clear spiritual intelligence and subsequently reincarnated as a human. In a sense, his roots were practically the same as Baohu's.

There was only one difference.

Baohu's birth had been an accident, a matter of karma.

His birth, however, was a deliberate act by the True Persons of the Immortal Prescription Courtyard—specifically to have him participate in the grand scheme of returning the human-yang wood to the sequence of heaven and earth.

He understood this clearly.

In fact, he had initially viewed it as a lucky chance. After all, this was a massive undertaking; as long as it succeeded, he was practically guaranteed to achieve Qi Refining.

He would also have hope of cultivating to become a True Person in the future.

It was precisely with this expectation that he had ultimately accepted the True Persons' arrangement, detaching his spark of spiritual light from the main body of the handwritten manuscript and choosing to reincarnate as a human.

Yet, it was exactly that reincarnation that gave him a completely different answer.

"Huu..."

Snapping back to reality, Xianfu exhaled softly. Deep within his sea of consciousness, something that had long been sealed away and never revealed suddenly surfaced.

It was an umbrella.

The canopy was pitch-black yet brimming with radiant light, as if a boundlessly vast ocean had settled upon it. The moment it leaped from his sea of consciousness, it instantly drew the gazes of the True Persons.

No wonder that exalted figure hid this item in my sea of consciousness back then, keeping it sealed until now. It seems they had already anticipated today's situation, he thought.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't the one resisting the True Persons right now.

Rather, it was that exalted figure hidden behind the scenes playing a game of chess against them. The True Persons' piece was the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode, and that exalted figure's piece was him!

In the next second, this black umbrella fell into the mortal realm and snapped open with a whoosh. In an instant, the canopy—originally only half a person's height—expanded wildly in the wind. In the blink of an eye, it completely covered the entire Eight Trigrams Furnace, causing the vast ocean atop the canopy to churn and rumble!

"The Heavenly Flood Profound Dao Umbrella?"

The twenty-four-colored radiant light rippled slightly as they recognized the Spiritual Treasure. "A Spiritual Treasure sunken within the Eight Trigrams Furnace, just like the Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron..."

"A miscalculation. To think they could dig this item out."

"Not good!"

In a flash, the True Persons understood exactly why this Spiritual Treasure had appeared here, yet they could only sigh at the vast ocean in frustration, lacking any method to resolve it.

Because they could not enter the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Separated by the chessboard, the players themselves could not come to blows; they could only compete using their pieces. And in this match over the Heavenly Yin Metal, they had undoubtedly lost a move.

Suddenly, as the umbrella canopy enshrouded the Eight Trigrams Furnace, changes birthed within heaven and earth. A brand new cosmic phenomenon was triggered by this Spiritual Treasure and manifested in the world. Striking dead center, it collided with the Heavenly Yin Metal phenomenon triggered by the Heavenly Severity Seasonal Kill Decree within the Brahma Cultivators' Pure Land.

Rumble!

The two did not bombard each other. On the contrary, they presented an imagery of yin and yang harmonizing, interacting with incomparable seamlessness.

At this moment, the entire Eight Trigrams Furnace was actually responding!

As far as the eye could see, the entire sky seemed to have been flipped upside down. The sea of clouds that had originally hung high above plummeted straight toward the earth like a shattered bright mirror, while the seawater flowed backward, transforming into an inverted waterfall that rushed toward the dome. Trillions of water droplets refracted infinite rainbows under the sunlight.

The sea and the sky shared a single color!

The same scene also occurred across the vast expanse of earth beneath the dome. Water veins that had originally flowed beneath the surface burst out of the mountains, merging into the fissures of the earth.

The originally dried-up riverbeds were once again filled with surging currents, yet they were not violent. There was no danger of bursting the levees; instead, they presented an eerie tranquility.

This was not merely the might of a Spiritual Treasure, but rather the lingering mighty power left behind by True Monarch Shui fully empowering it. This was what caused such a grand-scale anomaly! And because the entity truly displaying the profound mysteries was the Spiritual Treasure and not the True Monarch themselves, it bypassed the restrictions of the Eight Trigrams Furnace!

Looking out, the three provinces were in turmoil, the earth overturned.

Everywhere one looked, the four seas were clarified and the sky hung upside down!

"This is..."

Down below, Wang Ping observed this scene. As he was now an orthodox water qi cultivator, he naturally recognized at a glance the cosmic phenomenon that had caused all of this.

The Origin-Containing Great Waves of the Vast Sea.

Earth-yang water!

"In the five elements, metal gives birth to water. Yin and yang generate each other, and the three powers of heaven and earth harmonize... According to the mutual generation and restraint of cosmic phenomena, the Heavenly Yin Metal undoubtedly replenishes the earth-yang water."

In normal times, this would undoubtedly be advantageous.

However, today was different.

At this very moment, the Heavenly Yin Metal was the crucial key for the True Persons to draw the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode out into the world. If it was taken to generate earth-yang water here, there wouldn't be enough left for the other side!

At this thought, Wang Ping experienced a sudden flash of insight.

So that was it. This is consuming the Heavenly Yin Metal phenomenon of the Heavenly Severity Seasonal Kill Decree, transferring it all to generate earth-yang water, leaving it naturally powerless to trigger the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode... Under normal circumstances, this method would be useless, because the Heavenly Severity Seasonal Kill Decree itself is also a Spiritual Treasure.

Only right now, things were different!

First, the Heavenly Yin Metal represented by the Heavenly Severity Seasonal Kill Decree was fundamentally something that had already been eradicated; it was water without a source. The earth-yang water, however, was manifesting in the present world.

The two were not on the same level to begin with. The latter was supported by the qi of heaven and earth, while the former not only lacked this support but also had to consume itself to trigger the cosmic phenomena.

Second, and most importantly:

"Right now is exactly the era of the Water Governing Authority!"

The cosmic environment that the True Persons had deliberately shaped had now resulted in them dropping a rock on their own feet, unexpectedly used against them by True Monarch Shui!

Thinking up to this point, Wang Ping's heart was filled with clarity: "Although Heavenly Yin Metal can generate earth-yang water, under the authority of water qi, the earth-yang water becomes too heavy. Instead, there is a risk of the water draining the metal qi. As the saying goes: metal is the mother of water, and water is the child of metal. When the child prospers, the mother wanes. If metal suffers the disaster of drowning, how could it not perish!"

Soon, the anomalies in heaven and earth responded to Wang Ping's realization.

Splash! Splash!

Under the influence of the surging water qi, the originally bright pale-white light rapidly dimmed, and that Heavenly Severity Seasonal Kill Decree sank directly into the vast ocean.

There, it lost all its luster.

The originally incomparably magnificent Heavenly Yin Metal phenomenon, which had almost dragged the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode down into the mortal realm, was washed completely clean by the water qi in the blink of an eye!

Only a single glimmer of light remained in the mortal realm, barely keeping the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode from completely hiding away—and that glimmer of light fell right onto Wang Ping.

In an instant, Wang Ping became the target of everyone's attention.

Xianfu looked at him, and the many True Persons and Qi Refining practitioners from beyond the heavens also cast their gazes over.

At the same time, he lowered his head and looked at a crystal-clear jade pendant in his hand—this was exactly the Heavenly Yin Metal that Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang had given him earlier.

No wonder.

In this instant, Wang Ping understood the true meaning of Xianfu's previous words. He wants me to shake off the identity of the Great Rebellion and walk this path of merging Xin to see water. He wants me to destroy the final wisp of Heavenly Yin Metal in this world, simultaneously transforming my water qi to further bolster the imagery of the Water Governing Authority!

Only in this way can the possibility of the Heavenly Frost Cave Abode appearing in the world be eliminated!

Of course, this was also beneficial to himself. After all, he was now a water qi cultivator. Once the water qi was transformed, his cultivation base would inevitably see massive growth.

Meaning, he isn't making me do this for free.

It's both a request and a bribe... But by the same token, if I merge Xin to see water, it means I have to completely destroy the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart.

Which were the pros, and which were the cons?

At this moment, Wang Ping's thoughts raced at lightning speed. Many ideas and his dao foundation operated in sync, yet a swath of twenty-four-colored radiant light slowly reflected in the depths of his eyes.

All his memories froze at the instant he had slain the True Person's phantom avatar and seized control of the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode earlier. A voice rang in his ears once more: "Little friend, do not make a mistake you will regret."

Those simple words immediately revealed many hidden truths to him.

That was right. Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang wanted him to use the Heavenly Yin Metal to walk the path of merging Xin to see water, but the premise of doing so was that he bore the identity of the Great Rebellion.

Once he circulated the water qi and broke free from the identity of the Great Rebellion, he would be ruining the True Persons' grand scheme and losing his greatest protective umbrella. Under those circumstances, could he withstand the True Persons' retaliation? Or did he naively think that because True Persons stood high above, they wouldn't stoop to taking revenge on a lower-realm cultivator?

How could that be possible!

Wang Ping did not hold even a shred of expectation for this group of True Persons from Biyang's faction. Without a doubt, their favorite people to take revenge on are probably lower-realm cultivators!

This was a threat!

Thinking of this, Wang Ping couldn't help but lower his eyelids.

So that was how it was...

At this very moment, however, he wasn't pondering the threat from the True Person or weighing the pros and cons. Instead, he couldn't help but think of Kunlun, who had just died.

This was destiny. This was the dao left behind by the Great Rebellion, the dao that Kunlun had been willing to pay with his life to prove.

To make the high-and-mighty True Persons lower their heads.

That was right. For Wang Ping, he actually didn't need to destroy the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart at all; he just needed to bring the jade pendant into the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode.

The result would be the same.

Rather, the current Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang had already taken step after step back for him. He had even surrendered control of the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode.

A second later, the voice echoed beside Wang Ping's ear again: "I can take one more step back."

"You first shed your identity as the Great Rebellion, then take the Heavenly Yin Metal into the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode. From then on, all karma between us will be wiped clean, and whatever happens next will have nothing to do with you."

"But do not destroy the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart."

Wang Ping knew that this was the other party's ultimatum. Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang had drawn his bottom line: preserve the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart.

It made sense when he thought about it.

After all, this was his key to stripping away Human Yang Earth through Origin-Governing Battle-Axe-Wielding Fate-Governing, and then supplementing his own celestial-yang earth through Sun-Dwelling Mysterious Rainbow Inconstant.

And under the heavens, apart from him, there might not be a second person capable of mastering these Divine Powers.

Therefore, destroying the Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart was equivalent to completely tearing up all pretenses with the other party. Even though he still controlled the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode and could use it to threaten a True Person, how could a dignified True Person allow themselves to be threatened?

Could he defend against their myriad methods?

Looking at it from this angle, refusing to compromise brought nothing but harm without a single sliver of benefit. If he compromised, he would save face and keep room for future negotiations.

So here came the question.

Negotiate what?

Even if he chose to compromise with Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang and successfully survived this calamity, what could he possibly negotiate with this True Person in the future?

Negotiate how to make the Earth Yang Fire reappear in the world? Negotiate how to pull up the Great Rebellion's legacy bit by bit, so the True Persons could restore their lofty supremacy?

To destroy the results Kunlun had sacrificed his life to obtain?

In the next second, the twenty-four-colored radiant light faded from Wang Ping's eyes, and the True Person's voice rapidly receded. Then, Wang Ping slowly raised his head.

"Hahaha."

For a moment, he actually couldn't help but laugh out loud.

That was right; from the very beginning, there had been nothing to negotiate.

Meanwhile, in the Cosmic Deep Space far beyond the heavens, the twenty-four-colored radiant light violently trembled, dropping a celestial voice: "Little friend, you have truly chosen the wrong path."

"Senior must be joking."

Wang Ping responded calmly, "What wrong path? There is only the path I choose. Even if this path is wrong, to me, it is still right!"