Chapter 371: It Was This Water That Harmed Me

Inside the Gongshun Grotto-Heaven.

Wang Ping sat cross-legged. He wasn't in a hurry to leave; instead, he had Kunyun stay outside to stand guard while he settled at the core of the grotto-heaven.

He prepared to digest his gains.

Speaking of gains, he couldn't help but think of the hoard he had left behind in the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode before his transition in his previous life. Several Spiritual Treasures were among them!

‘It's a pity I can't retrieve them now.’

If nothing else, Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan would absolutely send people to strictly guard the Eight Trigrams Furnace. It would be too dangerous to rush over there right now.

‘Never mind.’

‘Right now, everyone in the Immortal Gate is calling for my head. Those Spiritual Treasures are far too conspicuous. Even if I got them back, I wouldn't dare use them. It's rare for me to feel this unburdened.’

After all, his "new mother" hadn't mistreated him in the slightest. She had given him a Spiritual Treasure too, and in terms of grade, it was far superior to any he had obtained before.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping immediately circulated his magic power. The Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring behind his head slowly turned. Impressively, the manifestations of three full streams of heavenly and earthly qi appeared within it. Various profound scenes—clouds and rain in the sky, subterranean spring veins, and bustling traffic—surfaced one after another. Heaven, Earth, and Man, the Three Powers, had all found their rightful places.

‘It's just like the Crown-Stroking Mountain.’

This kind of Spiritual Treasure was no longer bound to a single stream of heavenly and earthly qi. Instead, it merged three streams of qi, making it almost identical to a Qi Refining practitioner possessing all three!

One step further, and it would be a legendary True Treasure.

For example, the Crown-Stroking Mountain's three streams of qi were all pure Yang metal, endowing it with the profound mysteries of the Qian Trigram. The Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring was not lacking in the slightest compared to it.

"Also three streams of qi," Wang Ping murmured.

"Heavenly Yin Water, the Cloud Dragon Kowtows to Heaven and Distributes Rain Qi; Earthly Yin Water, the Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi; plus Human Yang Water, the Three Rivers Guild Profit Flow Market Qi."

"Heaven and Earth are two Yin, and Man occupies one Yang. This is precisely the Kan Trigram!"

In this day and age, such Spiritual Treasures were actually very hard to put together, if not almost impossible—because Spiritual Treasures couldn't reverse Yin and Yang.

Therefore, to complete a trigram, one needed the exact required path.

However, ever since the Great Rebellion's Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens, all four elements of metal, wood, fire, and earth had been damaged. Without the ability to reverse Yin and Yang, assembling a trigram was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

"The Qian Trigram is already considered a special case. Three Yangs converge, and the metal qi that was damaged was Heavenly Yin Metal, which has nothing to do with the Qian Trigram. That is why it wasn't affected."

But the other trigrams were in a miserable state.

There was no need to mention the Zhen Trigram and Xun Trigram corresponding to wood qi. Earth Yin Wood and Earth Yang Wood had both been eradicated. You couldn't even scrape together the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

The Li Trigram required two Yangs for Heaven and Earth, with Man occupying one Yin; as a result, the Earth Yang Fire was gone. The Kun Trigram required three Yins of earth for Heaven, Earth, and Man, yet Heavenly Yin Earth was missing. The Dui Trigram required Heaven to occupy one Yin, with Earth and Man as two Yangs, but Heavenly Yin Metal was entirely out of reach. Only the Gen Trigram had managed to survive the disaster.

"The Great Rebellion and water qi... far too ruthless!"

Thinking of this, Wang Ping couldn't help but shake his head.

"Of the Eight Trigrams for Spiritual Treasures, five are simply gone. It's the equivalent of severing the Spiritual Treasure progression paths for metal, wood, fire, and half of earth. It truly is ruthless to the extreme.

"No wonder water qi is called a demonic path.

"At most, only the Gen Trigram, Qian Trigram, and Kan Trigram still have some chance of survival.

"Among them, the Great Rebellion itself reveres earth qi, so the Gen Trigram is intimately tied to it. The Kan Trigram aligns with water qi, so naturally, it managed to escape."

"In that case..."

Wang Ping's heart stirred as a thought hit him. "The Divine Weapon Courtyard was still able to preserve the Qian Trigram. They actually have some real ability. No wonder they've been able to suppress the Immortal Prescription Courtyard all these years."

This too was a kind of Daoist attainment.

In the Immortal Gate, Dao conflicts seeped into nearly every corner, authentically reflecting in every detail of cultivation. This was exactly why Daoist attainment was so important.

With high Daoist attainment, one could look at the subtle changes in cultivation and see the Dao conflicts between True Persons behind them, or even the magical battles of True Monarchs. Often, one could make the correct judgment based on this—for instance, if Wang Ping had to choose right now between joining the Divine Weapon Courtyard or the Immortal Prescription Courtyard, he would undoubtedly choose the Divine Weapon Courtyard.

‘So that's why Mingyou is close to Tianxing?’

Wang Ping rubbed his chin.

His good master was an absolute shrewd fox with exceptionally high Daoist attainment. Their reason for throwing their lot in with the Divine Weapon Courtyard was perhaps because they had seen through this very point.

Right at that moment.

Boom!

A resonant chime echoed behind Wang Ping's head, coming from the Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring. Under its constant rotation, a streak of lightning finally gathered in the surroundings.

‘It's here...!’

Wang Ping's eyes flickered at the sight. He hurriedly formed a hand seal and commanded, "Deep are the Nine Lands of the Yellow Springs; the Netherworld opens the Ghost Gate."

As his words fell, the lightning finally condensed into a physical form alongside the rotation of the Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring. Immediately after, a figure stepped out from the lightning.

It was none other than Dashun Taizu!

However, compared to before, Dashun Taizu's face was now slack and dull. Clearly, his Divine Intent had been entirely stripped away, and he had completely lost the capacity for independent thought.

This was precisely one of the profound mysteries of the Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring.

The Yellow Springs!

This mystery was drawn from Earthly Yin Water, the Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi. Yet it was extremely special—it didn't focus on concealment, but rather on the other aspect of this qi.

Netherworld Communication!

‘Imprison the true spirit of a deceased cultivator, replicate the trajectory they left behind in destiny, then convert it out, refining it into a Yin Spirit to be drawn into the ring.’

‘Generally speaking, the closer it is to the cultivator's time of death—while their true spirit hasn't yet had time to reincarnate and their trajectory of destiny hasn't completely dissipated—the easier it is to use the Yellow Springs to turn them into a Yin Spirit. As for their cultivation base in life, at most seventy percent can be preserved, and at least around thirty percent.’

The one before his eyes was undoubtedly optimal.

Dashun Taizu had just died, and right on his heels, Wang Ping had activated the Yellow Springs. Nearly all of the maximum seventy percent of his cultivation base was preserved. As a Yin Spirit, he was absolutely perfect.

‘A refined Yin Spirit is absolutely loyal to me. They might appear able to think normally, acting just like a living person, but in truth, the conscious thoughts of their true spirit were stripped away long ago.’

Looking at Dashun Taizu, who had been transformed into a Yin Spirit, Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction.

In his eyes, the greatest utility of these Yin Spirits wasn't to throw them into magical battles with others, but to have them learn immensely powerful, mutually destructive trump cards.

And then unleash those cards the moment they met the enemy.

‘After all, as long as the Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring isn't shattered, these Yin Spirits don't fear death. Even if they die, they can be reconstituted after a period of time.’

Trading their lives for the opponent's was perfectly fitting.

And this was merely the profound mystery of one stream of heavenly and earthly qi within the Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring. It possessed two other similar mysteries, and they all complemented one another.

‘One of them is called Azure Sky, corresponding to Heavenly Yin Water, the Cloud Dragon Kowtows to Heaven and Distributes Rain Qi. It signifies water qi riding a dragon to ascend to the heavens, gaining the dragon's fortune and transforming into a divine entity so that it won't be suppressed by fire or earth. It's a Divine Power meant for escaping, and when combined with Free and Unfettered Wandering, it allows one to break free from perilous situations.’

‘At the same time, when water qi ascends to the sky and transforms into clouds and rain, it can bestow blessings upon all living things.’

‘Therefore, this profound mystery can also bless the Yin Spirits refined by the Yellow Springs. For instance, Dashun Taizu's Yin Spirit normally retained seventy percent of his cultivation from when he was alive.’

‘But if he receives the blessing of the Azure Sky, he could exert almost ninety percent of his living combat strength. This utilization rate is ridiculously high.’

As for the final path, it was named Profound Shop.

‘This profound mystery is derived from Human Yang Water, the Three Rivers Guild Profit Flow Market Qi... It's not unfamiliar. Its imagery revolves around commerce, trade, and the mundane affairs of the mortal realm.’

‘And under the rules of the Profound Shop, all Yin Spirits I've refined are tradable assets. I can use these Yin Spirits to purchase an enemy's Divine Powers, magic power, destiny form, and even Spiritual Treasures. I can also use them to buy my own life, using them as scapegoats to die in my place at a critical juncture.’

It could only be described as completely well-rounded.

In short, the Profound One Calamity-Crossing Ring was exactly this kind of Spiritual Treasure—seemingly ordinary, but the more kills one made and the more Yin Spirits one refined, the more terrifying it became.

Not to mention it also had the blessing of the Kan Trigram.

His current profound body—which obscured karma and concealed consequences, rendering it completely undetectable to outsiders—was the result of the Kan Trigram's blessing. It was a perfect match for murdering people and stealing their goods.

"It just doesn't sound very nice if spoken out loud. After all, imprisoning true spirits and turning them into utterly obedient puppets strips them of even the chance to reincarnate."

It was far too demonic.

At a glance, others might think he was the kind of ruthless, cruel villain who hid his face and tailed his enemies. It really damaged his upright and honorable image.

Alas, it was all this water qi that had harmed him.

...

"Replying to Master, there are no issues with this ancient scripture."

Looking at the ancient scripture Wang Ping handed over, the loyal Dashun Taizu Yin Spirit read it thoroughly and carefully before finally saying respectfully, "I didn't tamper with it when I was alive."

Yin Spirits really were incredibly useful!

Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction, though he couldn't help but feel it was a pity. A Corpse Dissolution Immortal was essentially just a mass of qi; he didn't even have a physical body. There was no way to tally and settle his physical remains after his death.

Otherwise, Wang Ping would have settled him into a scripture scroll first, and then refined him into a Yin Spirit to do his bidding. Only then would he have truly fulfilled his value as human livestock.

"Alright, you're dismissed."

With a thought, Dashun Taizu's Yin Spirit was immediately withdrawn back into the ring.

Immediately after, Wang Ping looked back down at the ancient scripture in his hands. It was the very same ancient qi-nurturing method that Dashun Taizu claimed could mend the broken Dao path of a Corpse Dissolution Immortal:

Nurturing Qi, Forgetting Words, and Guarding the One Scripture.