Chapter 399: Ancient Cultivators Are Truly Pure in Immortal Virtue

Star Grave Sand Sea.

Riding a dim light, Wang Ping descended from the void. The sensation enveloping his body—like being gently yet firmly grasped by a soft little hand—swiftly faded away.

Wang Ping was seventy percent sure this was definitely his True Monarch's hand.

After all, only a Supreme True Lord could snatch him away entirely unnoticed and silently deposit him in another corner of the Cosmic Deep Space.

"Phew!"

A second later, Wang Ping immediately altered his appearance. His already handsome face sharpened with masculine angles, transforming into the exact likeness of Kunyun. After all, his original face was quite famous by now, and heaven only knew if some immortal gate cultivator in the Star Grave Sand Sea might recognize him.

Most importantly, he had already spent his original face's credibility once.

If he kept running around with that face and bumped into any immortal gate cultivators, they wouldn't believe a single word he said. They might even turn and flee at the mere sight of him.

Therefore, using Kunyun's face was perfect.

For one, although Kunyun was also a Qi Refining practitioner, his profile wasn't actually that high. For another, even if he were recognized, Wang Ping could just shift the blame onto him afterward.

Furthermore, since he had severed all his previous troublesome karma and dumped it onto the clone created by his 'Forsaken by the World' destiny, his current self was completely clean.

He could start building up his credibility all over again!

At this thought, a wave of relief washed over Wang Ping. He leisurely took in his surroundings, but his brows soon furrowed as he looked at a streak of colored light beside him.

At first glance, the colored light was absolutely breathtaking, formless and immaterial. Yet, when Wang Ping observed it with his divine sense, he could see tiny grains of sand within it. A single grain might be nothing, but condensed into this colored light, it manifested a profound power that could shake one's divine sense and induce a deep lethargy in the soul.

And similar streaks of colored light were everywhere!

Looking out, this colored light covered nearly the entire starry sky. Like turbulent currents in an ocean, it constantly flowed toward a certain central area.

"No wonder it is called the Sand Sea."

Nor was this the only type of colored light. Depending on the region, the hue of the light varied, as did its mystical effects. Some targeted the soul, while others targeted the physical body.

Walking through this Sand Sea was like enduring death by a thousand cuts every waking moment. Only cultivators at the Qi Refining realm could stand firm here. As for Tribulation Transcending cultivators, unless they had reached peak mastery and wielded a suitable Spiritual Treasure to help them endure, they would essentially shatter upon contact!

More importantly, there was no sun here.

More accurately, there were no stars at all. Let alone stars, there weren't even planets. Everything had been pulverized into the trillions of grains of star sand forming the colored light.

It was an absolute death zone.

Deathly quiet, empty, and dark. The Star Grave Sand Sea possessed no soil to nurture life whatsoever. Even outsiders would find it incredibly difficult to survive here.

Then there was cultivation.

Wang Ping shifted his body uncomfortably, distinctly feeling that his connection to the qi of heaven and earth had grown somewhat sluggish in the Star Grave Sand Sea.

It was a very peculiar sensation of obstructed cultivation, as if the very nature of the qi of heaven and earth had undergone a bizarre mutation in this death zone.

Or rather—

The difference in vitality is far too huge.

Exactly. If the Immortal Gate's qi of heaven and earth was bursting with vitality like the rising sun, then the qi of heaven and earth in the Star Grave Sand Sea was utterly lifeless.

It even carried the stench of decay.

No wonder immortal gate Qi Refining practitioners almost never come here. This place has been completely abandoned by the orthodox Immortal Dao, reduced to an unorthodox fringe unrecognized by heaven and earth.

Wang Ping came to a faint realization: The Immortal Dao has undergone eight major upheavals. Those upheavals probably weren't just shifts in cultivation philosophies and lineages, but a total restructuring of the entire Cosmic Deep Space... After all, a clash of Daos leaves no room for mercy. It demands absolute extermination.

How does one completely wipe out a lineage?

The method couldn't be simpler: thoroughly sever and destroy their cultivation environment. Once their lineage loses its efficacy, it naturally dies out.

I get it now.

The qi of heaven and earth in the Star Grave Sand Sea isn't the same kind as the outside world's anymore. It's the wreckage severed and discarded during those past upheavals!

Just like a snake shedding its skin or a cicada molting its shell.

The Immortal Gate's qi of heaven and earth was the newborn snake or cicada, while the qi of heaven and earth here in the Star Grave Sand Sea was merely the discarded dregs—the rotting shell left behind.

So strictly speaking, connecting to the qi of heaven and earth here wouldn't just be useless to a Qi Refining practitioner, it would be actively harmful. As the saying goes, proximity to ink stains one black?

Wang Ping frowned.

If that were all, it wouldn't be a problem. But right now, he possessed the body of a Corpse Dissolution Immortal. Everything about him was attuned to the outside world's qi of heaven and earth; his aura was brimming with vitality.

He could barely scrape by if he masked it with his Divine Powers, but anyone truly capable would see at a glance that he wasn't a local ancient cultivator of the Star Grave Sand Sea. Given the malice these country bumpkins harbored toward the lords of the Immortal Gate, it would be perfectly normal for them to gang up on him. Things could get dangerous.

This problem had to be solved.

There has to be a way to handle this—or at least, a way for me to handle this. Otherwise, why would the True Monarch just dump me in this hellhole without doing anything to prepare me?

Wang Ping fell into deep thought.

A moment later, his eyes lit up. He opened his hand, and a beam of light rose from his palm, glowing in tandem with the torrent of destiny.

The Complete Virtue Talisman!

This mark of merit symbolized his recognition by the torrent of destiny. With its enhancement, although Wang Ping lacked the title of Qi Refining, he possessed its reality.

Simply put, heaven and earth hadn't allowed such an absurdly powerful Corpse Dissolution Immortal to exist, so it had specially granted him the status of an honorary Qi Refining practitioner.

Enhanced by this merit, he commanded the obedience of the qi of heaven and earth. Although he was a Corpse Dissolution Immortal, he didn't need to rely on the qi of heaven and earth; instead, he wielded the same absolute authority over it as a Qi Refining practitioner. And this merit wasn't solely effective on the Immortal Gate's qi of heaven and earth.

It really works...!

A second later, Wang Ping formed a connection with the subterranean yin water of the Star Grave Sand Sea—the Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi. A look of pleasant surprise lit up his eyes.

Instantly, every trace of his out-of-place aura was swept away. His aura shifted, and no matter how one looked at him, he now seemed exactly like a native ancient cultivator.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Wang Ping's mind stirred.

He looked over to see that in another corner of the Star Grave Sand Sea, deep within layers of colored light, an intensely damaged palace artifact was tearing through the void toward him.

...

Inside the Xuanluo Temple.

Three Daoists—two men and one woman—sat facing each other. Not only were their auras withered, but all three were wounded, their faces etched with despair.

"A calamity... truly a calamity."

The leading male Daoist let out a heavy sigh. "Junior Brother Luo Zhen, Junior Sister Luo Wei. Now that things have come to this, with our temple destroyed, where are we supposed to go?"

"Senior Brother Luo Chang, why give in to despair?"

The other male Daoist, Luo Zhen, gritted his teeth and forced a spirited tone. "We cultivate under the jurisdiction of the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field. We are subjects of the Dao Lord."

"This time, the three factions of Qingxiao, Yuanhua, and Jiunan clearly went back on their word. They picked up Biyang's Immortal Gate methods and permitted their subordinate temples to ambush our Xuanluo Temple, bringing about this disaster. As long as we can reach the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field, everything will be fine."

"The Wuwei Buyi Dao Field... Sigh."

Hearing this, the female cultivator Luo Wei just shook her head. "It's been so many years. The upper sect has long since fallen into decline, and that lord is famous for ignoring outside affairs."

"Especially in recent years."

"Rumor has it that something went wrong with that lord's cultivation and he's on the verge of falling."

"If that weren't the case, how could those three dao fields—factions backed only by ordinary Daoists—dare to provoke us? They must be certain that lord is in a weakened state..."

"Impossible!"

Luo Zhen decisively shook his head. "That is a Dao Lord! An eternal, indestructible existence! He survived so many grand conflicts without being killed, so how could he just die out of nowhere?"

He refused to believe it!

Not only did he refuse to believe it, but in truth, Luo Wei and Luo Chang didn't believe it either. Even those entities currently moving against the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field still harbored doubts of their own.

That was why there were so many probing attacks.

Yet, a single grain of sand from the sweeping eras was a crushing mountain when it fell upon lower-tier cultivators. This grand gambit between dao fields had brought total annihilation upon the Xuanluo Temple.

"Sigh. I don't know if this journey to the dao field will end in blessing or disaster."

Finishing his thought, Luo Chang let out a helpless sigh. "It's just a pity that we're carrying a supreme treasure. The temple master ordered us to deliver it to the dao field before he died. If it is lost on the way..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Boom!

Instantly, the three felt the Xuanluo Temple they were flying in violently shudder. Their faces filled with terror as they looked out, only to see the Cosmic Deep Space itself seemingly crashing down upon them.

All they could see was a swath of obscure light spreading out like five fingers, snatching the entire temple into its palm. It scrutinized them closely, peering down at everything inside.

Gasp!

Luo Chang held his breath, panic overtaking his features. "Such Divine Powers, capable of plucking the stars and seizing the moon... It's an Almighty of the qi-nourishing and qi-ingesting realms! Could it be pursuers from those three factions?"

"This is bad!"

Yet, none of them noticed the young man in dark robes who had appeared out of thin air right behind them, quietly sizing them up.

After a moment of silence, Wang Ping shook his head.

Ancient cultivators are truly so innocent in their immortal virtue.

Boom!

His majestic divine sense roared out. Wang Ping had absolutely zero interest in chatting with the three of them; he directly blasted into their seas of consciousness and began rummaging through their memories.

After all, these ancient cultivators didn't have the Five Thieves Stealing Heaven Method guarding their seas of consciousness. Against a higher-tier cultivator like him, they were virtually defenseless. He could scour their minds however he pleased.