Chapter 406: The Innate Wuji Palm!

"Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang?"

Wang Ping voiced his guess the moment it crossed his mind. The shadow appeared unmoved, but internally, he was so profoundly shocked he nearly lost his focus.

Because Wang Ping had guessed right.

But the question was, how on earth had this water-qi Dao Child figured it out? Did he have a heavenly eye? Or did all water-qi cultivators think this way?

That momentary shock caused the shadow to hesitate for half a beat. Controlled by Wang Ping, Chu Tianqiu's Yin-spirit had already circulated his magic power to its peak. The Pot of Profound Obscurity blotted out the sky, firmly pinning the shadow in place. Then, exploiting how earthly-yin earth suppressed earthly-yin water, Wang Ping continuously stripped away the divine powers and magic power clinging to him.

However, Wang Ping quickly noticed something was wrong.

The Calamity of the Lost Dao had not activated. The shadow had clearly fallen under his control and was in dire peril; the Calamity of the Lost Dao should have been usable by now.

Yet that was not the case.

The next second, Wang Ping watched the shadow's body instantly petrify into an earthen shell before a phantom floated effortlessly away.

With that escape, the shadow easily shook off the suction of the Pot of Profound Obscurity and all the divine powers previously locked onto him. The earthen shell left behind collapsed into scattered mud, while the shadow soared away like a leaping dragon, breaking free of Wang Ping's suppression.

Hibernating Dragon's Slumber!

Seeing this, a strange look flashed across Wang Ping's face, but his movements did not slow in the slightest. The Profound One's Calamity-Crossing Ring spun behind his head, and another figure stepped out.

It was Jing Lang's Yin-spirit.

He took the Pot of Profound Obscurity from Chu Tianqiu's Yin-spirit and mobilized the qi of heaven and earth, bringing forth the Human Yin Wood. The Adapting to Changes and Yielding for Wholeness Qi transformed.

This qi adapted to whatever it encountered. As long as there was a medium, it could shift into any of the Twenty-Four Qi. Right now, it turned into earthly-yin earth—the Nine Marshes Profound Obscurity Demon-Suppressing Qi—joining forces with Chu Tianqiu. Two streams of earthly-yin earth surged simultaneously, grasping at the shadow that had already fled high into the vault of heaven.

"Hiss...!"

Witnessing this, the shadow gnashed his teeth. He didn't use the Hibernating Dragon's Slumber to dodge again. Instead, he spun around and drew a talisman from his sleeve.

He immediately opened his mouth and spat out a cluster of spiritual fire.

The roaring flames ignited the talisman. Like the midday sun giving birth to the dawn, a twenty-four-colored glow instantly illuminated the world, breathtakingly beautiful.

Soon after, the radiance coalesced into a second shadow. Their auras were completely indistinguishable, making it look as though he had truly split into two people. One charged straight at Wang Ping, while the other continued to flee. The one rushing Wang Ping shattered the moment it collided with the divine powers.

'It's a celestial-yang earth talisman.'

Wang Ping knew exactly what it was. Celestial-yang earth, the Sun-Dwelling Mysterious Rainbow Inconstant Qi. It excelled at conjuring phantom bodies by exploiting the mutually generative shifts of sunlight and clouds.

'It seems I was right.'

By now, Wang Ping was certain that this shadow was a direct subordinate under Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang, and one with a higher status than the Holy Son Hanguang he had encountered before.

He then glanced toward Yi Xuangong, the sect master of the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field in the distance. With the cooperation of that third-layer qi-ingesting practitioner, stopping the shadow completely would be a simple task.

Yet the sect master remained completely passive.

Despite the shadow's appearance and the undeniable revelation of his identity as a qi refining practitioner—which had already caused a commotion among the other qi-ingesting practitioners in the dao field—the sect master ignored it.

Even with the shadow on the verge of escaping the dao field, Yi Xuangong showed no intention of striking.

This naturally surprised Wang Ping. While Yi Xuangong hadn't attacked the shadow, he hadn't tried to stop Wang Ping, either.

Was he refusing to help either side?

Wang Ping's thoughts raced, and he immediately changed his mind. Truthfully, he had originally assumed Yi Xuangong was allied with the shadow, so he hadn't genuinely planned to capture his foe. His goal had merely been to force the man into the open. But now that Yi Xuangong had revealed his true stance, an idea struck Wang Ping.

'Perfect. I have to reveal a bit of my capabilities eventually anyway.'

With that thought, Wang Ping stood firm in his spot. He looked up at the shadow, which had already fled the dao field and was shooting straight into the outer heavens. Suddenly, his Daoist robes fluttered without any wind.

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, the profound illusion behind Wang Ping's head spun at an unprecedented speed. Endless, murky light gradually condensed into an auspicious cloud that billowed outward.

Between heaven and earth, clouds rose and water fell as spring rain began to drip.

Blue Heavens!

This divine power had two effects. First, it could aid Wang Ping's escape. Second, it could elevate the combat prowess of his Yin-spirits, pushing them infinitely close to the state they had enjoyed in life.

Behind him, five Yin-spirits had already taken their places: Chu Tianqiu, Fairy Supo, Tianhan, Jing Lang, and Faji. The first four similarly circulated their magic power and manifested auspicious clouds. For a time, the four-colored lights of earthly-yin earth, celestial-yang gold, celestial-yang water, and Human Yin Wood cycled together.

As for the last one, Faji.

Wang Ping used Faji's primary cultivation of celestial-yang earth as the foundation, then drew his own earthly-yin water magic power toward it. The radiances clashed, ultimately conjuring a solitary spark of fire.

Wu and Gui merge to form fire!

When yang-earth and yin-water combined, they could birth fire. Wang Ping had performed this technique countless times in the past; executing it now was effortless.

With the supplementation of fire-qi, combined with the other four Yin-spirits, the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth were complete. A five-colored brilliance finally coalesced within the auspicious cloud. Following the guidance of Wang Ping's divine sense, it abruptly unfurled, spreading wide like five fingers, and reached toward the Cosmic Deep Space beyond the sky!

"Boom!"

Instantly, the world darkened above all the qi-ingesting practitioners in the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field. Their divine senses trembled, and they completely lost their connection to heaven and earth!

Looking up, all they could see was a colossal hand blotting out the sun and sky.

Its palm lines were distinct, as orderly as rivers and mountain ranges. It spanned the vault of heaven, tearing through the clouds and breaking the sky in a mighty, unstoppable advance!

"This... What is this...!?"

Such an upheaval naturally triggered the senses of the shadow, who had thought he was already free. When he looked back, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Was this still the work of a human?!

The sky-covering hand in his vision was still expanding. At first, it was as broad as the rivers and mountains. A moment later, it was large enough to pluck the stars and snatch the moon.

'How is this possible!?'

This completely defied everything the shadow understood about cultivation. How could different types of the world's qi be blended together so flawlessly? Wouldn't they clash?

Driven by shock, he blurted out, "Soul Formation Daoist friend, w-wait..."

Wang Ping turned a deaf ear to his plea, continuing to push the colossal hand forward. The qi of the five elements howled. In a flash of lightning, he caught the shadow squarely in his palm.

'The Innate Wuji Palm!'

Boom!

The stars themselves seemed to shake. Wang Ping's palm struck the shadow and the auspicious cloud above his head, instantly collapsing them. Most of the enemy's divine powers were shattered in the blow.

Such a massive commotion wasn't only witnessed by the qi-ingesting practitioners inside the dao field. Even those outside swept their divine senses over to observe. Sensing the boundless, chaotic riot of the world's qi and seeing that sky-blotting hand large enough to grasp the moon and stars, they were all struck with astonishment.

"Where did this great cultivator come from?"

Outside the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field, three figures successively appeared. Though not as utterly bewildered as the others, grim expressions weighed down their faces.

Their cultivations were all at the Qi Nurturing Second Layer. They were the leaders of the three great dao fields besieging the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field, which was why they dared to observe the battle from so close.

"The one who got caught seems to be a qi refining practitioner."

"One of Biyang's people?"

"This man's magic power encompasses all five elements. It isn't Yi Xuangong. Strange. Since when did the Wuwei Buyi Dao Field gain such a powerful cultivator?"

While the bystanders were merely surprised and still had the leisure to probe and observe, the shadow trapped beneath that massive hand felt nothing but absolute terror.

'What kind of joke is this...'

He gritted his teeth and wildly darted about, yet he couldn't escape the center of the palm. All he could do was watch helplessly as the five sky-blotting fingers slowly closed around him.

However, right at that life-and-death moment, he seemed to spot a lifeline. His panicked thoughts instantly settled. Immediately after, he ignited the light of a Great Deed once more.

Hibernating Dragon's Slumber!

In that instant, he repeated his old trick, leaving behind an earthen shell as his true body broke free. He fled toward the heavens, completely bypassing the numerous restraints of the giant hand.

Seeing this, the shadow was just about to sigh in relief.

The very next second, a soft chuckle abruptly echoed by his ear:

"A dragon slumbering deep within the earth is called a hibernating dragon. When the earth splits, the slumbering dragon wakes, and so the flying dragon ascends to the heavens... This bears some resemblance to my Carefree Wandering."

Both were evasion-type divine powers.

However, his Carefree Wandering held far greater authority in this domain, allowing him to leave as he pleased. The Hibernating Dragon's Slumber clearly suffered from relatively strict limitations.

The booming rumble of a drum echoed in tandem with Wang Ping's voice, shaking the Cosmos. It was the Drum of Purging Vice and Quelling Turmoil. Two drumsticks leaped up in that moment, smashing violently onto the drumhead. A magnificent burst of light exploded outward. Without the slightest deviation, it struck the half-escaped shadow in the blink of an eye.

"This Great Deed is called the Hibernating Dragon's Slumber. 'Hibernating dragon' comes first, but the crux lies in the word 'slumber.' When the earth splits, the slumbering dragon wakes, and thus the flying dragon ascends—it grants the power to escape. But once the slumbering dragon awakens, it cannot return to its sleep in short order. Therefore, this Great Deed can only be used once within a specific time frame."

"I can guess its origin."

"This Great Deed must have been born in Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang's early years when his cultivation was still weak. He likely used a feigned death technique to escape a trap set by a True Person..."

"Am I right?"

Though phrased as a question, his tone was absolute. Exposing the foundational roots of the Hibernating Dragon's Slumber Great Deed right on the spot caused the shadow's escape momentum to instantly grind to a halt!

For an ordinary Great Deed, such an exposure would be meaningless—after all, Great Deeds were meant to be known by all. But the Hibernating Dragon's Slumber was different. This Great Deed was rooted in 'feigning death to escape.' If the 'feigned death' failed and was discovered, the 'escape' would naturally become a mere illusion.

This was the proper way to counter a Great Deed.

Every Great Deed was a major event that had left its mark on destiny. It required a cause, a process, and a result to manifest its power.

As a result, these Great Deeds also possessed corresponding weaknesses.

Some feared being exposed, while others crumbled when facing someone stronger. Some had incredibly harsh conditions. As long as one found the crucial flaw, a Great Deed was never truly invincible.

Of course, the more difficult a Great Deed was to accomplish, the fewer flaws it had. Wang Ping's Carefree Wandering, for instance, had virtually no exploitable weaknesses; it could only be overpowered by absolute brute strength. In comparison, the Hibernating Dragon's Slumber was clearly a tier lower, and its greatest fear was being exposed.

Now that its foundation had been laid bare, the power of the Great Deed instantly plummeted.

With the feigned death ruined, all hope of escape was lost!

"Boom!"

The final drumbeat fell, plunging the shadow right back into the earthen shell he had just shed. He felt as though he had been dropped into an ice cave. Darkness completely engulfed his sea of consciousness.

He could no longer sense the Hibernating Dragon's Slumber.

'I'm doomed!'

That final thought flashed through his darkening sea of consciousness. Immediately after, the sky-blotting hand snatched the shadow up, dragging him all the way back from the outer heavens and into the dao field!