Chapter 361: Am I Getting a New Mother?

Divine Weapon Courtyard, Xingtian Temple.

Before the temple doors, upturned eaves reached for the sky, and stars seemed to fall upon the roof tiles. A bronze mirror hung high, overlooking thousands of miles of rivers and mountains. This was Tianxing's dojo within the Divine Weapon Courtyard.

However, two figures rapidly descended upon the dojo, landing inside with lightning speed that left no time for reaction before immediately activating a formation to isolate the outside world. These were Ming You and Tianxing. Even though this was Tianxing's dojo, Ming You had rushed inside faster than the owner.

The formation's activation nearly shut Tianxing outside.

Yet, even with the formation's protection and the sanctuary of the Divine Weapon Courtyard, Ming You felt no sense of security. Instead, the crisis in his heart only intensified.

'Endlessly entangled...'

Looking around, the Grotto-Heaven seemed to have just experienced a downpour, the sky clearing after the rain. A rainbow hung high across the dome, carrying the lingering glow typical of a fading sun.

Further away, the rain clouds had yet to completely disperse.

Howling thunder wove through the clouds, shaking heaven and earth. It sounded as though someone was beating a celestial drum, or like the very heartbeat of the world, echoing constantly with heavy thuds.

"Ming You?"

On the other side, Tianxing looked over with a hint of confusion. He clearly did not share Ming You's feelings—which made sense, as he was a Qi Refining practitioner of the Divine Weapon Courtyard.

Ming You's expression was grave, his eyes lowered. This was why he hadn't returned to Bliss Immortal Peak or Sun and Moon Lake. Instead, he had followed Tianxing all the way into the Divine Weapon Courtyard. There were no prominent figures willing to protect him at Bliss Immortal Peak, and even if there were, they might not succeed. Only the Divine Weapon Courtyard offered a glimmer of hope!

'I refuse to believe it!'

Ming You took a deep breath. An auspicious cloud manifested above his head once more, within which three streaks of firelight flared alternately. They shifted between yin and yang, faintly condensing into a hexagram.

The Li Trigram!

Li meant adherence and beauty; the sun and moon clung to the heavens, while the myriad grains and plants clung to the earth. The double brightness adhered to what was right, thereby transforming the world. In essence, it carried the true meaning of dependence and attachment.

Just as fire required firewood, the sun, moon, and plants required heaven and earth.

This was also the profundity of the yin and yang transformations of fire qi. Though it appeared to illuminate the six directions with absolute yang and utmost rigidity, it secretly concealed a speck of yin. It needed to attach itself to something else in order to shine brightly.

This was the primary reason Ming You had entered the Divine Weapon Courtyard with Tianxing. To put it bluntly, he was surrendering. The Divine Weapon Courtyard had no reason to reject a Qi Refining practitioner poised to refine the Li Trigram. Moreover, the Divine Weapon Courtyard and the Immortal Prescription Courtyard had always been at odds, both loving to cause trouble for the other.

"Rumble!"

In the distance, the thunder boomed. It seemed to carry a distinct anger, yet it quickly receded, dissipating along with the rain clouds. The sense of crisis vanished with it.

However, the rainbow's glow did not fade.

On the contrary, it grew increasingly radiant and breathtakingly beautiful. Myriad colors flowed within that fading sunlight, ultimately reflecting in Ming You's eyes.

Then, the world fell utterly silent.

Ming You's breath caught in his throat, but he snapped back to reality an instant later. His divine sense fluctuated slightly as he sent a voice transmission: "True Person, what are your orders?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

A laugh rang out from within the rosy light.

Yet Ming You couldn't hear the slightest hint of amusement in it. Staring at the overwhelming radiance, he maintained his composure and continued respectfully, "True Person, you honor me too much."

"All I seek is the Li Trigram, merely a life of longevity and freedom. True Person, you are also a cultivator who seeks the Dao. I imagine you can understand."

"Of course I understand."

The voice from the light continued. "Relax, I haven't come to kill you... Xuanxiao might entertain the thought, but even he has no way to act inside the Divine Weapon Courtyard."

"Besides, the immortal might remains."

"The commotion this time was too massive. For a long while to come, most True Persons will seal themselves in their Cave Abodes, quietly chanting the Yellow Court scripture, and won't easily involve themselves in mortal affairs."

Hearing this, Ming You's expression didn't change in the slightest.

The rosy light flickered. After a brief pause, the voice resumed, "With your three qi perfected, your cultivation is complete, but you still lack a great deed."

"What do you mean, My Lord?"

"The Immortal-Fan Dao Contention."

The descending celestial voice gradually grew louder and more resonant.

"The Li Trigram lies in brightness and attachment. Using the lives of the Brahma Nation's monks as your great deed is both a righteous path and an act of attaching yourself to the Immortal Gate. It will benefit your cultivation."

At those words, Ming You suddenly laughed.

"Earlier, True Person set a trap to kill an arhat. Are you planning to shift your target from the Great Rebellion to the Brahma Nation, yet expecting me to charge the front lines for you?"

At this point, Ming You seemed to throw caution to the wind and spoke frankly. "During the previous plot involving the Eight Trigrams Furnace, True Person used me, my good disciple, Xianfu, and the Heaven-Stealing Thief... In the end, not a single chess piece refrained from rebelling. It's truly surprising that you still dare to use me now."

"There's nothing strange about it."

The voice within the rosy light remained perfectly calm. "Without using all of you, the board might not have been set properly. Borrowing the false to cultivate the true naturally requires seeking out the finest talents in the world."

"Since you are the finest talents in the world, you are naturally like wild horses, incredibly difficult to tame. Guarding against your betrayals was always part of the plan."

"And since I dare to use you again..."

"...I am naturally prepared for you to rebel once more. However, as I said, this benefits you as well. Cooperation brings mutual gain—this is the supreme principle of the Immortal Gate."

"Think it over carefully."

With those words, the radiant light gradually faded.

"..."

Ming You stood rooted to the spot, watching the distant glow completely vanish as the sun set. For a moment, he fell into silent contemplation.

...

The Taiping Sutra space.

Wang Ping lay paralyzed before the towering book, spread-eagled in the shape of the character 大 (big). His entire body exuded an aura of sluggishness that screamed, 'I've worked so hard, I deserve a break.'

A long time passed. Seeing that his time limit in the Taiping Sutra space was almost up and a restart was imminent, he finally stood up at a leisurely pace.

He then took stock of his two biggest rewards from this ordeal.

First was his great deed.

'Carefree Wandering!'

This was an unexpected surprise. He never imagined that, like the Heaven-Stealing Thief and Ming You, he could establish his own great deed while still in the Tribulation Transcending realm.

'They say Ming You underwent eight life tribulations before attaining a single great deed. It seems that while he has a lot of quantity, his quality is just average. I've only faced one life tribulation—and I didn't even truly overcome it. I bailed halfway, killed myself, and ran away—yet I've already achieved a great deed.'

What was Carefree Wandering?

Wang Ping sensed it for a moment, and realization quickly dawned on him: To ride the true nature of heaven and earth, harness the changes of the six cosmic breaths, and wander through the infinite—what then would one ever need to depend on?

'This is a great deed completely specialized in escape!'

As luck would have it, because he had narrowly escaped the True Person's trap by the skin of his teeth, this great deed actually held a faint connection to the Kan Trigram.

'Unfortunately... my cultivation level isn't high enough yet.'

Wang Ping furrowed his brow. If his cultivation advanced a step further, he might be able to fuse the hexagram, his great deed, and his destiny form into one, just like the Heaven-Stealing Thief.

Once he achieved that and paired it with a suitable Spiritual Treasure...

'I'll definitely be able to replicate the Heaven-Stealing Thief's feat! He fought the True Person's phantom and rivaled a Corpse Dissolution Immortal with only a Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivation!'

Just thinking about it got him a little excited.

Of course, even without the necessary cultivation in the Kan Trigram to link his great deed and destiny form right now, he could still merge it into his Divine Powers.

'The gentleman should hide his implements at the right time!'

Wang Ping opened his palm. Immediately, the murky hues of shimmering ripples and surging currents manifested, perfectly complementing the Carefree Wandering great deed.

Hiding one's implements externally meant concealing karma, obscuring fate, and covering up one's years. However, with the enhancement of Carefree Wandering, this divine ability underwent a dramatic transformation. It was no longer just about concealment, but an even higher level of escape. He could remain untainted by karma, untouched by fate, and completely unbound by space and time!

"Whoa!" Wang Ping's eyes lit up.

Simply put, if he had possessed this divine ability and great deed back when his skills were locked away and he carried the identity of the Great Rebellion, none of that later mess would have happened.

He could have just unleashed a single Carefree Wandering to easily sever his ties with the Great Rebellion and leave at his leisure. Absolutely no karma would have been able to anchor itself to him!

Aside from that, there was the aspect of space and time.

"Whoosh!"

With a mere thought, Wang Ping's figure suddenly blurred. He returned to normal a moment later, a curious gleam in his eyes.

He had just traveled back to three seconds in the past.

This was the application of Carefree Wandering that felt the most exploitable to him: being unbound by space and time, allowing him to roam freely through the past, present, and future!

Of course, whether traveling to the past or venturing into the future, the energy drain was immense. With his current magical power and divine abilities, going all out would only let him regress his entire body by a few seconds. But what if he abandoned his physical form and only sent a thread of divine sense into the past or future? Could that extend the duration?

Thoroughly excited, Wang Ping tested Carefree Wandering a few more times. He only stopped when his magical power was almost depleted, turning his attention to his other reward.

True Martial Holy Physique.

"After my Martial Dao reached perfection, it resonated with my body and refined all the Immortal Physiques into a martial spiritual body. Yet, it also retained all the profundities of the Immortal Physiques."

"Beyond even that, there's a profundity entirely unique to the Martial Dao..."

While sensing the changes in his flesh, Wang Ping suddenly frowned.

"...Hm? Fire qi?"

His original martial blood and qi, despite blazing like a brilliant flame, had remained incredibly pure at its core. But now, he could actually sense fire qi mixed within his own blood and qi.

In a flash, Wang Ping understood the real reason his Martial Dao had reached perfection. 'It's the human yang fire! The First Seat borrowed the imagery of the Civilization-Manifesting Ultimate-Founding Qi. That was the only way she could hit that exact window, perfect my Martial Dao, and assist me from afar. But doing so probably didn't benefit her own cultivation at all...'

Sigh, mommy sacrificed too much for me!

Thinking of this, Wang Ping's heart swelled with emotion as he silently made a vow: 'Don't worry, Mom. Once my cultivation is successful, I will definitely show you proper filial piety!'

Right then, the towering book before him suddenly flipped open with a rustle. It forced Wang Ping to snap out of his reverie and look at the scripture scroll, which seemed to be urging him on.

[Current Identity: Count Gongcheng (vermilion robe)]

[Current Luck: 3,420 (Immortal Gate True Transmission)]

[Consume luck to exchange for a new identity?]

Evidently, the Outer Heavenly Demon scroll, which hadn't been used in quite some time, was acting incredibly eager. Furthermore, all his recent exploits had amassed a massive amount of luck.

He recalled that during his last rebirth, his luck was only a measly few hundred.

Now, it had multiplied nearly tenfold!

Doing the math, he had enough to upgrade once more, elevating his identity from a vermilion robe to a purple minister. If there was any issue, it was about this identity—

'It won't still be inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, will it?'

Wang Ping frowned deeply. Prior to this, the Outer Heavenly Demon's identity exchange only worked inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace. When placed in the Immortal Gate, he was only ever given the status of an independent cultivator.

Would it be different this time?

A second later, Wang Ping watched as the light illuminating the word [Yes] on the scripture scroll's prompt—[Consume luck to exchange for a new identity?]—glowed just a bit brighter.

"..."

Oh? Is my old man pulling strings again?

Wang Ping grinned, instantly tossing aside his doubts. "Yes!"

In an instant, radiant light swirled around the scripture scroll. It didn't even bother displaying the usual lottery wheel; it simply processed everything in the background and spat out a new identity on the page:

[Dao Child of Xuanyi (Purple Minister)]

...Hm?

Staring at this brand-new identity, Wang Ping suddenly froze. A Dao Child... Am I getting a new mother?