Chapter 388: Getting Ready to Max Out My Credit!

A moment later, the Heaven-Stealing Thief's divine sense descended upon the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode to personally oversee Wang Ping and Xianfu in building the heritage secret realm.

"Too foolish, too crude!"

Looking at the formation framework Xianfu had casually thrown together, the Heaven-Stealing Thief shook his head repeatedly. "Just having a formation isn't enough. It has to carry the style of the Great Rebellion."

With that, he brushed aside an array pattern and pointed. "Look at this. This is a brand-new formation pattern developed by Jiutian Immortal Peak just a century ago. Putting something like this in a Great Rebellion heritage ruin could only fool an idiot. Anyone with half an eye would instantly know something was fishy."

Seeing this, Wang Ping spread his hands toward Xianfu.

"See? Now that is what you call a professional."

Xianfu curled his lip and stepped aside. "Since Senior Brother Gan is an expert at this, I'll leave the task of building the secret realm in your hands."

"I'll provide the spiritual materials."

Xianfu spoke with complete confidence. Although he couldn't match Wang Ping's five Spiritual Treasures in the high-end department, he had no shortage of low- to mid-tier spiritual materials.

After all, he had the backing of the entire Great Gan nation. With a single imperial edict to scour the mountains and seas, what spiritual material couldn't be found? He could easily forge several Grotto-Heavens, so furnishing a single heritage secret realm was more than enough. Hearing this, the Heaven-Stealing Thief rolled up his sleeves, a long-lost look of excitement surfacing on his face.

Laying a death trap for Qi Refining practitioners.

Although there was no direct benefit in it for him, so long as someone was making a move against the Immortal Gate, he was more than happy to back them up. Why refuse when it was as easy as lifting a finger?

One had to admit, the Heaven-Stealing Thief was genuinely capable.

Even though it was merely a strand of divine sense, he commanded the space with effortless mastery. With every gesture, intricate formation patterns emerged, weaving seamlessly into the surrounding void.

As he worked, he did not forget to explain, "Building the secret realm inside the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode couldn't be more fitting, because this cave abode still retains the unique worldly characteristics of the Great Rebellion era."

Hearing this, Wang Ping asked curiously, "What characteristics?"

"Suppression!"

The Heaven-Stealing Thief glanced at Wang Ping and said flatly, "Back then, the Dani Great Ancestor was even revered as the Human Sovereign. Did you think that was just an empty title?"

"How is the character for immortal written? A person beside a mountain. Back then, ordinary mortals and countless lower-level cultivators bore the Immortal Gate upon their backs like a crushing mountain. The Dani Great Ancestor moved that mountain away, turning immortals back into mortals, and proclaimed himself the Human Sovereign. That was the Great Rebellion's most magnificent achievement. Unfortunately, it vanished right alongside the Dani Great Ancestor."

"In that era..."

"The Eight Trigrams Furnace wasn't the Eight Trigrams Furnace yet. It was the imperial star of the Great Rebellion, holding dominion over the center of the Ziwei Enclosure—and the world naturally suppressed all cultivators!"

Hearing this, Wang Ping chuckled with delight.

"That's great! If cultivators are suppressed, they'll be even easier to slaughter!"

"Keep dreaming."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief shook his head. "Only remnants remain. Its primary function is just being authentic enough to convince people that this is truly a secret realm of the Great Rebellion."

"Besides, since it's a secret realm, it can't be left empty. We need to put up some pavilions, halls, and towers, and their style has to match the Great Rebellion era."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief continued to work as he spoke.

A scripture pavilion, palace bedchambers, a Drill Ground, winding corridors, tea pavilions—in the blink of an eye, the secret realm took shape under his hands. At first glance, it looked remarkably authentic!

What surprised Wang Ping most was that these structures weren't mere empty shells. The Heaven-Stealing Thief even manifested over a hundred jade slips, transcribed various Qi Ingestion Methods onto them, stocked them in the scripture pavilion, and organized them neatly by their corresponding heaven and earth qi attributes.

"Don't bother looking. They're all empty."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief chuckled. "They're just for show. The names are real enough, but the contents are at best a few plausible-sounding prefaces."

Wang Ping's expression turned peculiar upon hearing this.

He and Xianfu exchanged a tacit glance.

'No doubt about it... People only rumor that I got the Great Rebellion's heritage, but this old bastard definitely has a genuine Great Rebellion legacy in his hands!'

Otherwise, he couldn't possibly know every detail so thoroughly.

After all, the Great Rebellion had fallen countless years ago. Who could possibly know the architectural nuances of that era? The Qi Refining practitioners of that time had long since aged and turned to ash.

'This isn't meant to fool Qi Refining practitioners.'

'This is meant to fool a True Person!'

After all, only a True Person would know the intricacies of the Great Rebellion era. The Heaven-Stealing Thief's obsession with such authentic recreation was clearly intended to mislead a True Person.

'Well... not a bad thing at all.' Wang Ping grinned. Strictly speaking, the Heaven-Stealing Thief had even resolved a lingering worry for him: if Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan happened to be watching from the shadows and saw straight through the trap, Wang Ping would have been in serious trouble.

Now, however, there was no need to worry.

"It's too new."

With that in mind, Wang Ping spoke up. "The Great Rebellion fell ages ago. My good master, making it so resplendent and pristine hardly makes it look like a forgotten ruin."

"We have to weather it a bit."

Before Wang Ping even finished, the Heaven-Stealing Thief slapped his forehead, silently lamenting that he had been out of practice for so long that he had grown careless in his haste.

The Great Rebellion secret realm in his possession truly was that magnificent, and force of habit had led him to recreate that same grandeur here. But his own secret realm was an exception; ordinary secret realms were nowhere near that caliber. Wang Ping was right—it needed to look aged.

At that thought, he glanced at Wang Ping again.

'The brat catches on quick.'

The next moment, the Heaven-Stealing Thief began modifying the structures. In addition to aging the surfaces, he deliberately collapsed several of the outermost halls.

It created the convincing look of ruins left behind in the wake of a catastrophic battle.

"How about throwing in a few corpses?" Wang Ping suggested.

"No need."

This time, the Heaven-Stealing Thief shook his head. "You can't fake something like that. It's better left empty. As long as everything else is authentic enough, they'll fill in the blanks themselves."

Several hours slipped by as strands of the Heaven-Stealing Thief's divine sense exhausted themselves and were replaced in continuous relays, until the construction of the secret realm was finally finished.

"From the outside alone, not even a True Person could spot a flaw! So long as no True Person projects their divine gaze inside to probe, our cover will never be blown."

Surveying his handiwork, the Heaven-Stealing Thief nodded with satisfaction.

"That shouldn't be a problem."

Wang Ping chuckled. "We'll place the secret realm inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Then I'll brave the Heaven's Will Profound Blade and charge straight inside. A True Person definitely wouldn't dare follow."

"It'll also make me look desperate."

"After all, if I'm willing to endure the Heaven's Will Profound Blade just to get into the secret realm, it proves there must be something extraordinary inside—the perfect bait to lure our targets into the trap."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief nodded in thorough agreement.

Only Xianfu, standing to the side, couldn't help lamenting inwardly: 'One is an Immortal Gate apostate, and the other is a water qi devil. Truly wicked—everyone from Biyang is black to the core.'

With that thought in mind, he spoke up:

"If we're doing this, it's best to give the Heaven's Will Profound Blade advance notice so it plays along. Once you enter the secret realm, it should deliberately hold back. That way, we can create the impression that anyone inside the secret realm is safe from attack, which will dispel any hesitation among those Qi Refining practitioners."

Hearing this, the Heaven-Stealing Thief frowned.

"That won't work. The Heaven's Will Profound Blade upholds the Immortal Decree. At most, it can only bend the rules within manageable boundaries. It will never agree to a condition like that."

"It will!"

Xianfu grinned. "As long as I channel the Great Gan State Fortune and drape it over the secret realm, shielding it under the national destiny wouldn't count as breaking the rules, would it?"

"Well..."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief's eyes instantly brightened. "If so, it's workable! If we negotiate with the Heaven's Will Profound Blade, it will most likely agree!"

"Once the targets enter the realm, we'll have the blade gather its power on the spot. As soon as they gather together, we'll trigger the entire secret realm to collapse and disintegrate. While the spatial turbulence is raging, the fully charged Heaven's Will Profound Blade will slash down... At the very least, it'll leave them crippled, and with any luck, it might even take their lives!"

"Aren't we being a little cruel here?"

Wang Ping felt a touch of concern. Coordinating an inside-outside strike with the Heaven's Will Profound Blade and having Xianfu cloak it with the Great Gan State Fortune—wouldn't that invite even bigger trouble?

"Cruel?" The Heaven-Stealing Thief turned to look at Xianfu as well.

Xianfu shook his head. "Not at all. Don't worry. Using the Great Gan State Fortune for this will only enhance the status and merit of my Great Rebellion identity."

"It will only help when the entire court ascends in the future."

"When it comes to continuing the wood qi path and furthering his own cultivation, no matter how immense the trouble, Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan will surely shoulder it all for me."

Good lord.

For Daoist Master Xuanxiao Yingyuan to have a subordinate like you—so considerate of his Dao path that you wouldn't hesitate to turn the entire world against him—it truly was his great blessing.

Only then did Wang Ping feel at ease.

"Then let's make it even more ruthless!"

"Letting the secret realm simply collapse is still too gentle. Let's just detonate it outright, along with the Spiritual Treasures anchoring the array." With that, Wang Ping promptly brought out two Spiritual Treasures.

The World-Begging Alms Bowl and the Dragon Elephant.

Both of these Spiritual Treasures belonged to the domain of the Brahma Nation and were like untamable wild dogs. The only reason he had managed to utilize the Dragon Elephant before was entirely thanks to the Ever-Suppressing Six Harmonies Cauldron.

Once freed from that suppression, both Spiritual Treasures obstinately refused to cooperate.

Fortunately, at this stage, he had no need for surplus Spiritual Treasures anyway.

Since they wouldn't obey, blowing them up for a greater haul was far better. If he could harvest the Yin spirits of a few Qi Refining practitioners in the process, it would be a tremendous profit.

"Hiss...!"

As Wang Ping's words landed, both the Heaven-Stealing Thief and Xianfu stared in wide-eyed disbelief. Detonate a Spiritual Treasure? What kind of unhinged spendthrift even thought of something like that?!

Those were Spiritual Treasures!

Sentient treasures, practically living beings in their own right—the Qi Refining practitioners of the artifact world! If you don't want treasures like this, you could just give them to me! Detonating them like this is sheer, unadulterated squandering of heaven's gifts!

Wang Ping, however, had made up his mind.

He had stolen them anyway and couldn't even use them, so why obsess over it? You had to give to get; the more you sacrificed, the greater the ultimate prize!

Since he had already decided this would be his final score before leaving for the Grave Star Sand Sea, Wang Ping fully intended to go all out—slaughtering the goose and draining the pond dry.

'It just so happens that it's also time to max out my credit.'

At this point, most people probably suspected that Dao Child Xuanyi was Wang Ping anyway. He might as well drop the act and use Wang Ping's identity to pull off a truly monstrous score!