Chapter 400: This is a Low-Tier Match!

Wang Ping felt ancient cultivators weren't entirely without merit. At the very least, their tradition of lower-tier practitioners treating their betters with absolute honesty was worth praising.

Soon, Wang Ping understood what had happened.

'The Xuanluo Temple operates under the jurisdiction of the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field. In this place, the Dao Field is generally supreme, with many Daoist temples serving as its vassals.'

'I suppose it's a way to huddle together for warmth.'

'After all, only Daoists and Dao Lords at the level of Dao Cultivation have the power to establish a Dao Field in the Star Grave Sand Sea and shelter the masses.'

'The gap between a Daoist and a qi refining practitioner is a bit like the one between a Corpse Dissolution Immortal and a Tribulation Transcending cultivator. Only a Dao Lord can rival a True Person of the orthodox immortal dao. I wonder if Mingyou could hold his own against an ancient Daoist if he came here?' Wang Ping mused, then looked up to survey his surroundings.

There was no sign of lantern light.

'Just as I thought. Even if I mention Mingyou's name here, he can't sense it. Is it because the heaven and earth qi in the Star Grave Sand Sea has been reduced to wreckage?'

Wang Ping thought with keen interest.

He was actually fascinated by the unique environment of the Star Grave Sand Sea. In terms of Dao theory, would there be any difference between these two types of heaven and earth qi?

He then resumed his soul-searching.

Throughout the entire process, the three cultivators of the Xuanluo Temple remained completely oblivious. They did not even sense that their thoughts had been frozen in place by Wang Ping.

'Hmm... The reason they are in such a miserable state is that they were ambushed by Daoist temples under the jurisdiction of three rival Dao Fields. In the end, the temple master, who was a qi nourishing practitioner, sacrificed himself to let these three escape with a supreme treasure. He instructed them to bring the treasure back to the Dao Field at all costs and never let it fall into outsider hands.'

Soon, Wang Ping finished reviewing all the memories and couldn't help but sigh again.

'The temple master dies suddenly, leaving them with a supreme treasure—this is absolute bait for anyone harboring malicious intentions. The immortal virtue of these ancient cultivators is truly far too pure.'

With that thought, Wang Ping pulled back and retreated.

From start to finish, he never spoke a word to the trio from the Xuanluo Temple. He simply vanished without a sound, and the murky light enveloping the area faded away.

"...Hmm?"

A second later, Luo Chang seemed to snap back to his senses. He frowned and looked around, but as if sensing something, he quickly regained his calm.

The Xuanluo Temple thus continued advancing through the sand sea, becoming increasingly battered. After a short while, another gleam of light emerged from the depths of the sand sea. Soon after, a cold-looking cultivator tore through the air and landed steadily in front of the Xuanluo Temple, saying in an indifferent tone:

"Halt!"

As his voice fell, the Xuanluo Temple immediately ground to a halt. The aloof cultivator strode directly into the temple as if there were no one else present and, without a second word, initiated a soul search.

His name was Xuanyuanzi, a qi nourishing practitioner under the Qingxiao Dao Field. The entire Wuwei Buyi Dao Field had been blockaded by the three rival factions, and he was in charge of overseeing this specific sector. Noticing an anomaly, he had immediately rushed over to investigate, only to stumble upon these uninvited guests.

Soon enough, Xuanyuanzi's expression shifted.

He looked visibly tempted. "Hmm? The Xuanluo Temple is carrying a supreme treasure... and they were told they absolutely must return it to the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field. Could it be a Spiritual Treasure?"

The Star Grave Sand Sea was not like the Immortal Gate.

The only spiritual material here was star sand. The environment was so harsh that if a Spiritual Treasure were left here for millions of years, its spirituality would completely dissipate, leaving it devoid of any mystical properties.

Therefore, what this place lacked most were various treasures.

A qi nourishing practitioner like him did not usually carry a Spiritual Treasure and had to make do with Magical Treasures. Only under special circumstances would the Dao Field bestow a Spiritual Treasure upon them.

Thus, upon learning that these three lower-tier cultivators of the Xuanluo Temple might actually be carrying a Spiritual Treasure, Xuanyuanzi was immediately tempted and stepped right up to the trio.

"Let me see..."

He prepared to gut the three of them right then and there to see where they had hidden the Spiritual Treasure. This was a massive stroke of fortune, one that might allow him to advance further within the Dao Field.

But right at this moment.

"Finally caught one."

A laugh suddenly rang out by Xuanyuanzi's ear.

Luo Chang, Luo Zhen, and Luo Wei—whose divine senses should have been completely frozen by him—raised their heads. At point-blank range, they flashed him a smile.

"Hmm???"

Oh no!

Xuanyuanzi instantly tried to pull back and retreat, but it was too late. From the eyes of Luo Chang, who was closest to him, a bone-white throwing knife suddenly shot out.

The blade was dazzling, but the hilt bore a pair of scarlet eyes. The pupils fired two beams of red light that stretched for thirty zhang, locking down Xuanyuanzi's sea of consciousness in a flash and rendering him completely immobile. The flying knife followed right behind, casually tracing a circle around Xuanyuanzi's neck.

"Thump!"

Xuanyuanzi's head was lopped clean off. His pupils shrank to pinpricks, and his soul roared within his sea of consciousness, but he could no longer unleash a single shred of mystical phenomena.

At the same time, the Xuanluo Temple trio finally released their auras.

One, two, three—without exception, all of them were qi nourishing practitioners at the exact same Realm as Xuanyuanzi. Where was their earlier air of despair?

"It's useless. Give up."

Luo Chang sneered. "We left the Dao Field and concealed our true selves using a heaven-deceiving art, fabricating fake souls and seas of consciousness just for this very moment."

"The Soul-Fixing Profound Execution Knife has many limitations and only functions within a thirty-zhang radius of the Spiritual Treasure. However, once you step into that thirty-zhang range and fail to escape in time, death is guaranteed. You cannot even self-destruct... Fellow Daoist, you'd better just accept your fate."

Not to mention they had been plotting this for a long time, and it was three against one.

Plus a Spiritual Treasure.

Xuanyuanzi falling into their hands could hardly be called an injustice... Of course, to truly kill a qi nourishing practitioner, they still had to use Dao theory to finish the job.

However, Dao theory was very difficult to use.

After all, everyone cultivated a different type of qi. How could it be so easy to directly grasp the secrets of an opponent's Dao Foundation and shatter it with Dao theory?

Even though Xuanyuanzi was currently subdued, as long as he guarded his Dao Foundation closely and prevented Luo Chang's group from seeing through his secrets, he still had a sliver of hope to escape alive.

Luo Chang naturally knew this as well.

"Strike!"

He formed a hand seal, his aura surging before manifesting into seven long spikes as dark as the abyss. He drove them directly into the seven apertures of Xuanyuanzi's severed head.

"Boom!"

In an instant, Xuanyuanzi, who had been struggling violently, felt his divine sense turn incredibly heavy. A few breaths later, he went completely limp, sinking into dead silence.

Following that, Luo Chang retrieved a treasure box from his robes. He stored Xuanyuanzi's suppressed head and corpse inside, added several layers of seals, and then nodded in satisfaction. "Success. With a qi nourishing practitioner as the material, it will be enough to refine a batch of Profound Art Immortal-Felling Sand."

"Congratulations, Senior Brother."

Luo Zhen and Luo Wei both nodded, their faces lighting up with joy. The Profound Art Immortal-Felling Sand was an extremely lethal trump card of their Dao Field.

It required the bone dust of a qi nourishing practitioner as the base material and their soul and sea of consciousness as a sacrifice. Then, it had to be mixed with nine hundred and ninety-nine types of star sand from the Star Grave Sand Sea to be fully refined.

This sand was normally kept sealed in a box, completely inconspicuous. But once unleashed, it would streak across the sky like a brilliant rainbow. It perfectly countered a cultivator's physical form—a mere graze meant death, a single touch meant destruction. It carried a strand of Immortal-Felling Poison; if a person was tainted by even a single speck, it was completely incurable. They would inevitably perish and their Dao would vanish.

This was also the reason why the three had risked coming out to fish.

"The siege of the three major Dao Fields is imminent. In this moment of life and death, if we can refine the Profound Art Immortal-Felling Sand, it will definitely force those bandits to tread carefully."

"Speaking of which..."

Luo Chang's eyes flickered. "Junior Brother, Junior Sister, a scheme like this can only work once. Next time, the three major Dao Fields will be on guard, and we won't succeed."

"Since that's the case, we might as well maximize the benefits."

Hearing this, the other two seemed to realize something. "Senior Brother means..."

Luo Chang sneered.

"Wasn't there another qi nourishing practitioner who came by just now? While he was soul-searching our fake souls, I secretly planted a tracking mark on him."

"Senior Brother wants to kill him?"

Luo Wei furrowed her delicate brows. "No matter what, he is still a qi nourishing practitioner."

"Just a qi nourishing practitioner without a Dao Field backing him!"

Luo Chang shook his head. "I recognize the qi nourishing practitioners from every Dao Field, yet I didn't recognize him at all. It's highly likely he's some old fossil who just recently emerged from a secluded death retreat."

"Such people know very little about the current state of the Star Grave Sand Sea. They're ignorant and hopelessly naive, which makes them relatively easy to kill. Even taking a step back, he is entirely alone, while there are three of us. The worst-case scenario is that he escapes with his life. What is there to fear?"

"Do you really think he could turn the tables and kill us?"

By the end, Luo Chang couldn't help but laugh.

Beside him, Luo Wei and Luo Zhen also shook their heads. Turn the tables in a one-versus-three fight? Unless those qi refining practitioners from Biyang's came over, it was simply impossible.

"But there's no bad blood between us. To just kill him like this..." Luo Zhen was still somewhat hesitant.

"What a joke!"

Luo Chang shook his head in disdain.

"By killing one more qi nourishing practitioner, we can refine an additional box of Profound Art Immortal-Felling Sand. When the very survival of our Dao Field is at stake, how can you cling to such pedantic notions of morality?"

"Senior Brother is right."

The trio quickly reached a decision. Luo Chang then formed hand seals and chanted an incantation to sense the direction of that "qi nourishing practitioner," and they immediately set off in pursuit.

At the same time, in another corner of the Star Grave Sand Sea.

Wang Ping stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Suddenly sensing something, he glanced back toward where the Xuanluo Temple had been, shook his head, and lamented for the third time:

"These ancient cultivators... their immortal virtue is truly far too pure."

They didn't know how to lie at all.

That whole story about the temple master dying suddenly and leaving them with a supreme treasure... such a clumsy disguise and fabricated tale wouldn't even fool a true transmission disciple back at the Immortal Gate, much less a qi refining practitioner.

'They lied just for the sake of lying. To sell their identities as lower-tier cultivators, they concocted the story of a suddenly deceased temple master. To justify carrying a supreme treasure, the temple master was written as a qi nourishing practitioner. But if he was a qi nourishing practitioner, why sacrifice himself to protect three lower-tier cultivators? Why not just take the treasure and run off alone?'

It was far too fake.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping was absolutely certain:

'There's no mistake. This place... is a fucking low-tier match!'