Chapter 360: Heaven and Earth Cannot Bind Him, a Body of Clouds and Water in the Six Directions!

"Dead. He doesn't even have a chance to resurrect..."

Deep within the twenty-four-colored radiant light, Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang stood with his hands clasped behind his back. When he looked toward the Eight Trigrams Furnace again, not a trace of contempt remained in his eyes.

There was only profound dread.

What was a True Person?

One who had cultivated to the ultimate truth, imperishable through countless tribulations and unworn by endless ages. From then on, they were completely distinct from the false constructs of the mortal world. Even in death, they had a great chance of returning from the flow of time.

There was a time when a True Person was even regarded as the endpoint of cultivation, the very end of the Great Dao—yet an Arhat, an entity fully comparable to a True Person, had just perished inexplicably. Furthermore, the ultimate truth cultivated over his lifetime had been severed away. He didn't even have a chance to return from death!

It went even further than that.

That blade had not only erased Arhat Shengle, but also all the karma associated with him, along with every trace he had ever left in this world.

In other words, aside from existences at the level of a True Person, any cultivator below that Realm—no matter how high their cultivation—would forget all memories related to Arhat Shengle.

What was even more terrifying was that no one understood what had just happened.

If Arhat Shengle's death could have allowed them to clearly see the profound mysteries contained within the Immortal Decree and identify which lineage it belonged to, then he wouldn't have died in vain.

But as it stood, no one had seen a thing.

Or rather, they had seen it, but failed to understand it.

This result was undoubtedly not what Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang—nor the various True Persons of the Immortal Gate and the Arhats and Bodhisattvas of the Brahma Nation—wanted to see. It was even further from what they had anticipated.

'The might of an immortal remains as imposing as ever.'

Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang sighed inwardly, knowing that after this incident, the many restless True Persons would likely lie low for quite some time.

Fortunately, he had already obtained the greatest benefit.

Boom!

A resonant rumble echoed from the unseen void, reverberating between the Gen Trigram and the Xun Trigram. Faintly, it seemed to reflect and harmonize with some ultimate entity of the Great Dao.

Mountain Wind Gu.

In an instant, Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang's qi aura surged wildly!

'Wind blowing beneath the mountain creates the chaos of Gu. Facing such a situation, one can only eliminate the abuses and quell the chaos, manifesting virtue, to have any hope of ascending to the ultimate Dao position of Mountain Wind Gu.

'However, to the Immortal Gate and the Cosmic Deep Space, the Great Rebellion that seeks to extinguish the qi of heaven and earth is certainly a Gu chaos. But is the Brahma Nation, which established its own independent sect, not exactly the same?'

This was the piece he had won back on the chessboard.

All his arrangements targeting the Great Rebellion had ended in failure. Thus, he had settled for the next best thing: indirectly killing an Arhat, which also slightly bolstered his own providence.

'It's a pity. If I had shattered the providence of the Great Rebellion Exploits and heavily damaged the Human Yang Earth, the Origin-Governing Battle-Axe-Wielding Fate-Governing Qi, I would definitely be able to directly ascend to Mountain Wind Gu right now. A mere Arhat—and one killed indirectly rather than by my own hand—falls far too short... Oh well, I will just have to wait for the next opportunity.'

In this grand scheme, he hadn't lost, but he hadn't won either.

More than half of the blame for this outcome rested squarely on the pawns he had chosen. Mingyou, Kunyun, Xianfu, the Heaven-Stealing Thief... they were all absolute 'geniuses.'

Of course, there was also the most critical individual.

The true culprit who had caused his near-certain victory to crumble at the last moment.

...

Rumble!

Mingyou fled out of the Eight Trigrams Furnace in an incredibly wretched state. The auspicious clouds above his head were filled with rampaging blade lights, and his face was etched with the lingering fear of surviving a deadly calamity.

Fortunately, the Heaven's Will Profound Blade had shown mercy. Although his injuries were severe, there was still room for recovery; his foundation hadn't been genuinely damaged. At the very least, he was ten thousand times better off than Arhat Shengle... At this thought, he didn't dare to linger any longer. With a flash of his figure, he vanished into the depths of the Cosmos.

Seeing this, Tianxing fled as well without a second word.

Anyway, the Earth Yang Fire had already been eradicated, and the Human Yin Earth had returned. The state of the world wouldn't change in the short term, so he wasn't in a hurry to immediately cultivate to the True Person realm.

First, he would follow Mingyou and figure things out later!

After all, this guy was full of dirty tricks. Following him couldn't go wrong!

That being said, before fleeing, both Mingyou and Tianxing couldn't suppress the urge to cast an imperceptible glance in a certain direction.

Splash...

Torrential rain poured down. At this moment, the environmental authority of water qi in heaven and earth was forcibly reversed, ultimately transforming into a massive downpour that swept across the entire Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Xianfu had already descended from the sky vault and was standing in the pouring rain.

The majestic national destiny of the new "Great Gan" dynasty surged around him. Bearing the identity of the Great Rebellion and the Great Rebellion Exploits, his qi aura had skyrocketed several times over compared to before.

Yet, there was not a trace of joy on his face.

At the Immortal Gate, above the dim radiance condensed by heavy layers of water qi, Kunyun stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surrounded by thousands of arcs of lightning. His eyes stared fixedly in a certain direction.

He was equally silent.

And in some extremely hidden place, the Heaven-Stealing Thief also woke from his daze. Recalling his memories, he then carefully peeked toward the present world.

Still, utter silence remained.

Without exception, all their gazes fell upon the figure currently located within the Dao Proving Mountain, sitting alone in the deepest depths of the twenty-four-colored radiant light.

Wang Ping.

The figure of the immortal wielding the blade, coupled with the absolute death of an Arhat, had completely ended this grand scheme that used the Eight Trigrams Furnace as a board and all living beings as chess pieces.

However, when the tide receded and all the profound mysteries successively dispersed, Wang Ping alone fell into the depths of the Dao Proving Mountain. Losing the protection of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, he stood right under the watchful eyes of the True Persons, yet not a single one was willing to protect him. Even the water qi didn't make a sound.

'He's done for.'

No matter who it was, anyone seeing this scene would only have this single thought. A Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivator and a True Person were like a frog at the bottom of a well compared to the bright moon in the sky.

The gap was even wider than that.

Soon after, a heavenly voice drifted down from the radiant light:

"Little friend, I've told you before... when the grand scheme ends, having lost your identity as the Great Rebellion, you hold no value to be protected. To anyone, you are merely a discarded pawn."

"You truly walked down the wrong path."

Wang Ping raised his head in response.

Crack!

He didn't speak, but a crisp, explosive cracking sound suddenly rang out from the center of his brow. It then rapidly spread toward his limbs, his bones, and throughout the inside and outside of his entire body.

"Hm?"

Seeing this scene, a disdainful sneer immediately echoed from within the twenty-four-colored light. Did a Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivator really think he could commit suicide right in front of him?

Never mind whether you could manage to have your soul reincarnate and flee right under my nose—for a mere Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivator to want to commit suicide in front of me was a whimsical fantasy in itself. From the moment you stood before me, your life and death were no longer yours to decide.

"Little friend, why in such a hurry to leave?"

As the voice fell, the twenty-four-colored light instantly enveloped Wang Ping in its center, preparing to use the transformation of reality and illusion to directly erase all the injuries on his body.

However, the next second.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Not only did the shattering sounds show no sign of stopping, they intensified. The fire of life within Wang Ping's body rapidly moved toward extinction at this moment.

The eighth scripture scroll, fate makes fools of people.

One failure to achieve one's wishes, in exchange for one wish fulfilled.

Right when he initiated his life tribulation, he made a wish, hoping to successfully cross the life tribulation. However, as it stood now, he had undoubtedly failed.

Fortunately, during the process of undergoing his life tribulation, with True Persons, Arhats, and finally even an Immortal Decree appearing, he had accumulated a massive amount of fortune.

And this time, Wang Ping poured all this fortune into a single wish.

To seek only a swift death.

Thus, the mighty power from the Taiping Sutra descended from the void without a single trace, making it impossible to impede, and began erasing all his vitality.

In that instant, the emotion in Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang's eyes shifted from disdain to curiosity, then to solemnity, and finally into intense shock. He could only watch as his guaranteed prize—Wang Ping, who was already trapped within his profound spell—slipped right through his fingers bit by bit!

And to his disbelief, he couldn't stop him from leaving!

"You..."

Sensing the surging shock within the radiant light, Wang Ping let out a long breath and finally revealed his most exhilarating smile since the battle began:

"Senior, no need to see me out."

Boom!

As his voice fell, Wang Ping's figure completely shattered. His soul dissipated along with it, dissolving into heaven and earth. The radiant light rolled back over itself, yet it failed to lock down even a single shred of his true spirit.

'He escaped...?'

In an instant, the radiant light that had been surging like waves froze in place. Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan also turned to look in surprise.

Not just him, but Xianfu, Kunyun, the Heaven-Stealing Thief, Mingyou, Tianxing... everyone who had previously believed Wang Ping was dead without a doubt widened their eyes in shock.

"...Pfft."

Someone, who knows who, suddenly let out a chuckle.

Inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the rain cleared and the sky brightened.

In that moment, the torrent of destiny surfaced in every corner of the Cosmic Deep Space, compelling all cultivators who could sense it to look up.

'He really escaped!'

Seeing this, Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang actually burst into laughter. "He didn't cross his life tribulation, yet he forcefully reincarnated and escaped, evading his certain death.

"By hastily initiating his life tribulation during this grand scheme, he was originally doomed to die without a doubt. Yet against all odds, he managed to reincarnate and escape. Because of this, his life tribulation has been delayed. And when he returns from reincarnation, he won't be facing such a massive spectacle like today; the difficulty of his life tribulation will definitely plummet.

"From a certain-death ending, he actually forged a path of survival."

The most brilliant part was that, beneath the grand scheme of all the True Persons, he, the most critical piece deciding victory or defeat, had actually retreated completely unscathed right out of a True Person's hands.

This practically constituted an exploit!

"I've actually become a foil for a lowly cultivator's exploit!"

Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang's laughter grew louder and more resonant. He had to admit, although he had lost a tremendous amount of face this time, his horizons had also been greatly broadened.

"What great skill!"

For a moment, he couldn't suppress a quiet sigh of admiration:

"It is I who have lost another piece!"

As his voice fell, a bright light manifested within the torrent of destiny, even drawing out a hexagram image. Two yin lines sandwiching a central yang line—it was precisely the Kan Trigram!

Water flows on without end; this is Kan, the doubled danger.

The hexagram image merged with the bright light, tracing a trajectory before ultimately transforming into a very real exploit, engraved into heaven and earth by destiny:

Heaven and earth cannot bind him, a body of clouds and water in the six directions.

First experiencing his lifespan being plundered by wood qi and locked down by Divine Powers, then enduring the Great Rebellion Exploits and facing a True Person directly. Danger upon danger flowed toward him in endless succession, yet he severed all karma and calmly fled.

A Kun fish hidden in the abyss takes flight and transforms into a Peng.

This was what was known as:

Carefree Wandering!