Chapter 387: Good Brothers, Gathering Once More!

As Wang Ping's voice faded, Xianfu plunged into utter shock—not because of Wang Ping's so-called plan to trap and kill, but because of his previous sentence.

"You never obtained the Great Rebellion's inheritance?"

Xianfu stared with wide eyes.

Wang Ping tilted his head. "Is there a problem?"

It was a massive problem!

"So you mean to tell me that without obtaining the Great Rebellion's inheritance, you still managed to reach the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer in three years, set your sights on Qi Refining, and escape the hands of a True Person?"

"Who are you trying to fool?!"

Seeing Xianfu's utter disbelief, Wang Ping felt a bit helpless. "I really didn't. I reached my current cultivation entirely through my earth-shattering talent and hard sweat."

This Biyang's bastard was actually putting on airs!

Xianfu sneered, still entirely unconvinced. Assuming Wang Ping was just being stubborn, he simply changed the subject. "You're being a little too optimistic."

"No matter how you put it, the outside world sees you as a Corpse Dissolution Immortal now. No one at the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer would dare target you. Those interested in you are, without exception, Qi Refining practitioners. I know of two just off the top of my head: Jing Lang, who kicked you when you were down, and Faji."

"Faji?" Wang Ping frowned.

"A Qi Refining practitioner under Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang. The day you killed Dashun Taizu, he even used the Drum of Purging Vice and Quelling Turmoil to obstruct Kunyun."

Wang Ping finally understood.

"And besides those two?"

Xianfu shook his head. "Those are the only two with a True Person backing them. There are probably three or four others, though they won't be quite as bold."

"But regardless, these are all Qi Refining practitioners. If you want to trap and kill them, what will you use? I can tell you right now, thanks to you, those eight inner sect disciples who participated in the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle have passed their life tribulation and become Corpse Dissolution Immortals. I'm currently shielding them with national destiny inside Great Gan."

"If you want to use them, I can have them make a move."

"Oh? Really?"

Wang Ping's eyes immediately lit up at these words. This was a pleasant surprise. Eight Corpse Dissolution Immortals made for quite an impressive fighting force at first glance.

"Don't celebrate just yet. Corpse Dissolution Immortals are nowhere near enough."

Xianfu sighed. "Moreover, these inner sect disciples lack your profound foundation. You might be able to fight a Qi Refining practitioner as a Corpse Dissolution Immortal, but they certainly can't."

"Never mind Qi Refining practitioners, they couldn't even guarantee a win against Dashun Taizu. Don't be fooled by how quickly Dashun Taizu died; he actually possessed some genuine skill back in his day. Furthermore, he hailed from the Guanheng Realm, meaning his origins were incredibly esteemed. Merely bearing karmic merit would not have been enough for Qi Refining practitioners to treat him as a peer."

"If you only wanted to deal with a single Qi Refining practitioner..."

"...then by creating the right environment, having the eight of them join forces with you, and ensuring the enemy has no reinforcements and nowhere to flee, you might have a thirty percent chance of killing them."

"Even then, there's a chance one or two of you would be killed in retaliation."

"But you want to trap and kill a whole group of them..."

By the end, the look Xianfu gave Wang Ping completely changed. He couldn't help but ask: just who gave you the courage to attempt such a plan?

Wang Ping, however, couldn't care less. In fact, his smile only grew brighter.

"That works out perfectly."

"Putting eight Corpse Dissolution Immortals out in the open is neither too big nor too small of a display. It's the perfect bait. That way, those who are highly skilled and bold will leap straight into the trap."

Hearing this, Xianfu grew even more astonished.

Judging by that tone, even when offering eight Corpse Dissolution Immortals, they were actually nothing more than a smokescreen in Wang Ping's eyes. Just whose coattails had he grabbed onto?

"Could it be the Divine Transformation Realm?"

Xianfu couldn't help but ask, "Don't tell me you secured a promise from the True Monarch to have a Divine Transformation Realm Qi Refining practitioner step in directly to help you lay this trap?"

If that were true, Xianfu felt he would be incredibly jealous!

Even as the spiritual reincarnation of the True Monarch's Handwritten Manuscript, he didn't receive that kind of treatment. For the True Monarch to show that much care—even a biological mother wouldn't do more.

"Nothing like that,"

Wang Ping shook his head. "The True Monarch won't provide me with any assistance, and I have no intention of asking for it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to you for help, Senior Brother."

After all, this was his own private initiative.

Public and private matters had to be kept strictly separate. Since he was working under the True Monarch, Wang Ping felt he needed to maintain clear boundaries so the True Monarch wouldn't start viewing him as a burden.

Xianfu breathed a sigh of relief, though a moment later, his scalp prickled with dread. 'He doesn't have the True Monarch's help, yet he's still confident he can handle at least two Qi Refining practitioners... Could Mingyou and Tianxing be willing to step in? But both of them are on the verge of becoming True Persons; why would they be willing to offend a True Person right now?'

He just couldn't figure it out.

"Don't worry about the details, Senior Brother," Wang Ping continued upon seeing his expression. "In short, I plan to create a secret realm for this inheritance. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Hmm..."

Xianfu rubbed his hands together and stopped dwelling on it. This was Wang Ping's grudge, not his. In fact, it might even bring him certain benefits.

After all, that Saintess Xuanxiao was far too much of an eyesore.

Even after the incident with the Eight Trigrams Furnace, Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan still didn't look after him enough, never truly nurturing him as a core disciple.

The most direct evidence of this was merit.

He had yet to receive the merit bestowed by Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan. It was clear the True Person had other core disciples and was still hesitating, unwilling to be coerced by him over this.

How could he let that stand?

Therefore, he needed Saintess Xuanxiao and the Qi Refining practitioner Jing Lang dead. If he were the only capable subordinate left under the True Person's command, the True Person would naturally have no choice but to rely on him more.

At this thought, Xianfu's enthusiasm surged. He immediately suggested, "The most prominent feature of the Great Rebellion's inheritance secret realms is their absolute sturdiness. Take the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, for example. It can even trap a wisp of a True Person's will, and a Qi Refining practitioner can't shatter it. That sturdiness is the prerequisite for everything else."

"Otherwise, people would see through the fake at a glance."

"That's easily handled."

Wang Ping immediately pulled out five Spiritual Treasures: the Seven Hearts Linked Gourd, the World-Begging Alms Bowl, the Dragon Elephant, the Heavenly Martial Campaign Profound Armor, and the Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron.

"We can set up a grand formation and use these five Spiritual Treasures to anchor it. While it might not be able to trap a True Person's will, it will be virtually impossible for a Qi Refining practitioner to shatter it."

Xianfu was speechless. "..."

Staring at the five Spiritual Treasures laid out before him, radiating an aura so surging it made even him feel pressured, Xianfu couldn't help a sudden treacherous thought from springing into his mind:

'Why bother trapping Qi Refining practitioners?'

'If I just turn on him, kill this Biyang's bastard, and take all these Spiritual Treasures for myself, wouldn't the payoff be way bigger than killing Qi Refining practitioners? Plus, the risk is so much lower.'

After all, the Wang Ping standing before him was merely a wisp of divine sense.

"Huu!"

In the next second, Xianfu inhaled sharply, suppressing the greed in his heart—not because he and Wang Ping shared any profound bond of friendship.

It was primarily because doing so was too risky. The Heavenly Craft Cave Abode was fully under Wang Ping's control. Xianfu wasn't confident he could completely seal Wang Ping's consciousness the instant he struck, and if he gave Wang Ping even a sliver of time, the boy could easily expel him from the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode. Furthermore, any foundation of trust between them would instantly collapse.

Weighing the gains and losses, it simply wasn't worth it.

Xianfu actually cherished this trust—something exceedingly rare within the Immortal Gate. A mere five Spiritual Treasures weren't quite enough to make him grit his teeth and throw it all away.

With his mind settled, Xianfu regained his composure and said in a deep voice, "The logic is sound."

"But I'm not good at deploying formations. Are you?"

Wang Ping shook his head, then asked with a puzzled look, "Didn't you say one of the eight inner sect disciples was proficient in formations? Can't we just use him?"

"A Corpse Dissolution Immortal isn't enough,"

Xianfu said helplessly. "Moreover, he's just an inner sect disciple. Without True Transmission status, he might not have even seen a Spiritual Treasure in his entire life, let alone know how to use one to anchor a formation."

"Besides, formations have very little to do with cultivation base and everything to do with innate talent and mastery... If it were Senior Brother Gan, on the other hand, he would certainly have the necessary skill."

Senior Brother Gan?

Wang Ping froze for a moment before snapping back to reality. Gan Wujiu, the Heaven-Stealing Thief! Of course! How could he have forgotten about that wicked, scheming old geezer?

"I'll contact him right now!"

This time, it was Xianfu's turn to be surprised. "You can actually contact him?"

Of course he could.

Inside the Zhaoming Realm, Wang Ping's main body shifted his thoughts and immediately turned his focus toward the talismans corresponding to the Five Thieves Stealing Heaven Method bobbing in the depths of his soul sea.

The Life-Stealing Thief, the Time-Stealing Thief, the Merit-Stealing Thief, and the Object-Stealing Thief—he was only missing the God-Stealing Thief talisman to achieve perfection. Wang Ping gathered them together, letting them resonate with one another. Finally, he focused them all onto the Merit-Stealing Thief, using it to call out to the Heaven-Stealing Thief's identity, reaching out through a mystical sensory connection.

...

Cosmic Deep Space, in an unknown location.

"Hm?"

Amidst drifting green smoke, a man whose true face was entirely obscured abruptly opened his eyes, a flicker of surprise washing through his gaze.

"It's that guy..."

With a mere thought, the Heaven-Stealing Thief's consciousness crossed an infinite distance, traveling through the Five Thieves Stealing Heaven Method to manifest directly inside Wang Ping's soul sea.

Seeing him arrive, Wang Ping immediately bared his teeth in a smile.

I knew it!

This Five Thieves Stealing Heaven Method was no benevolent gift. Although it could defend against soul-searching, it was effectively a backdoor into his soul sea left wide open for the Heaven-Stealing Thief.

As long as the Heaven-Stealing Thief wanted to, he could use it to manifest at any time!

Naturally, the Heaven-Stealing Thief wouldn't dare use this method recklessly. Because he could only project his divine sense, the slightest misstep could easily land him in a trap.

Just like right now—Wang Ping was heavily guarded by a massive array of Dharma talismans. If Wang Ping harbored any malicious intent, this wisp of divine sense would undoubtedly perish without a trace.

"My good disciple, did you miss your master?"

Looking at Wang Ping, the corner of the Heaven-Stealing Thief's eye twitched slightly. He couldn't shake the feeling that the look in Wang Ping's eyes harbored ill intentions. This little bastard really had grown capable.

In the next second, Wang Ping's face lit up with a joyous smile, and he said in a gentle tone, "I really did miss you, my good master."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief instantly went on high alert.

What does he want?

Using that kind of address... he definitely wants something from me!

Thinking of this, the Heaven-Stealing Thief immediately prepared to retreat. "My good disciple, your master still has important matters to attend to. My main body cannot leave, so I won't be able to help you with anything..."

"I have a plan."

Seeing this, Wang Ping stopped beating around the bush and laid it out flatly. "If it succeeds, I can trap and kill at least one Qi Refining practitioner. My good master, are you interested in lending a hand?"

"...Oh?"

The Heaven-Stealing Thief's retreating motion ground to a sudden halt.

"What plan? Give me the details."