Chapter 413: The Truth Revealed, the Crux of the Life Tribulation!

Heaven as the chessboard, stars as the pieces. This was a method of magical combat that could only exist within a unique dead zone of the Cosmos like the Star Grave Sand Sea.

Once the two sides separated, Yi Xuangong explained it to Wang Ping:

"Each dao field possesses a special magical artifact called a Tomb Star, forged in imitation of the Grave Star at the center of the Star Grave Sand Sea."

"These Tomb Stars are highly unique in that they can guide the flow of the sea of star sand. Once enough of them completely lock down the area around a dao field, they can trigger the entire sea to pour backward, using its unparalleled might to drag the whole dao field into the Grave Star's capture range."

"It is a terrifying prospect."

Yi Xuangong's tone grew heavy. "To date, every dao field dragged into the Grave Star's capture range has eventually been devoured completely."

"Including the cultivators inside."

"Unless they flee beforehand, they will be buried alongside the dao field... But correspondingly, refining a Tomb Star also brings benefits to a dao field."

"It can reinforce the dao field's foundation within the Star Grave Sand Sea."

"Therefore, in these dao field battles, the attackers aim to surround the defenders with Tomb Stars, while the defenders try to devour as many Tomb Stars as quickly as possible."

"The attackers win by successfully besieging the dao field with Tomb Stars. The defenders win by devouring enough of the attackers' Tomb Stars to leave them with no way to continue... As for the offense and defense in between, each dao field sends out its people for one-on-one duels. This tests both personal strength and foundational reserves."

The former relied on the skills of the dao field's cultivators.

The latter depended on the quantity of Tomb Stars. With enough Tomb Stars, even if they fell short in strength, they could drag the enemy into a battle of attrition and simply exhaust them to death.

"This really is..."

Wang Ping listened patiently to Yi Xuangong's explanation and couldn't help but marvel inwardly. Ancient cultivators... they are so simple and honest. To think they actually follow rules like this.

If it were the Immortal Gate, there wouldn't be so many flashy, impractical formalities.

Usually, everyone would just swarm forward. They would either use numbers to overwhelm the few or use a higher Realm to crush those below. Who would openly declare their formations and play at one-on-one duels with you?

No wonder the ancient cultivators had been phased out.

Beside him, Yi Xuangong seemed to guess Wang Ping's thoughts and chuckled. "Although there are many rules, this is actually the result of numerous compromises."

"After all, we are all losers. We might hold grudges against one another, but now we have all become unorthodox factions. In essence, we are just huddling together for warmth. By fighting in this manner, even if it truly comes down to a dao field's destruction, at least its cultivators can find another path."

"It is considered leaving a way out."

"Otherwise, if we fought to the bitter end without any rules like the Immortal Gate does, we would probably wipe ourselves out before the Immortal Gate even had to intervene."

That made sense.

Wang Ping thought it over and paid it no more mind. He simply sat back and watched Yi Xuangong summon his people to set up the ritual altar, facing off against the three great dao fields across the Cosmos.

The two sides were even quite polite. They simultaneously wrote out contracts and ignited them with spiritual fire, reporting to their respective dao fields—letting the Daoists and Dao Monarchs within know that this magical combat would strictly adhere to the rules. Therefore, regardless of victory or defeat, they would accept the outcome and preserve the peace between them.

Truly.

Wang Ping observed from start to finish, finding it somewhat amusing. Before I came here, I heard the Star Grave Sand Sea was chaotic, far from the orderly state of the Immortal Gate.

Now it seems the Star Grave Sand Sea actually cares more about rules, while the Immortal Gate, which prides itself on order, is actually swarming with bandit cultivators.

...Oh, wait. That's not right.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing he had made a mistake. He actually shouldn't have used normal human logic to measure the Immortal Gate.

In the eyes of the Immortal Gate, these kinds of rules in the Star Grave Sand Sea are probably a collapse of rituals and ruin of music in some sense. After all, even magical combat is strictly one-on-one, and even sneak attacks and dirty tricks are severely restricted. How could anyone live like that? Let alone higher Realms crushing lower ones.

With the formalities concluded, both sides returned to their respective ritual altars.

Yi Xuangong first looked at the seven qi-ingesting practitioners around him and said loudly, "Fellow Daoists, the enemy will place their piece soon. Who is willing to take the vanguard?"

After speaking, he looked expectantly at Wang Ping.

Seeing this, Wang Ping frowned and immediately pulled the crowd in front of himself as a shield.

Yi Xuangong, "..."

After a brief silence, Feng, the only second-layer qi-ingesting practitioner present, stepped forward and said softly, "Senior Brother Yi, I can fight the first match."

"Good."

Yi Xuangong nodded slightly. "Take the dao field's Spiritual Treasure. You will be responsible for the first battle. You must draw first blood and blunt the enemy's momentum."

Rumble!

The next second, a streak of spiritual light from the opposing camp illuminated the Cosmos. A meteorite manifested and, like a stone thrown into a lake, smashed heavily into the sea of star sand.

This was none other than a Tomb Star. Within the celestial body stood a qi nurturing practitioner. His cultivation base wasn't high, only at the first layer; he was clearly just there to scout the way. Seeing this, Feng cheered inwardly. He couldn't wait as he flew out of the ritual altar and landed directly above that Tomb Star.

"So it is Fellow Daoist..."

As a second-layer qi-ingesting practitioner and the second-in-command of the dao field, Feng had quite a bit of fame. Seeing him, the qi nurturing practitioner inside the Tomb Star drastically changed his expression.

However, Feng was too lazy to waste words.

"Strike!"

He tossed a cloth bag-like Spiritual Treasure into the air. It hovered with its opening facing down. Immediately after, he released the qi phenomena around his body, and a massive gale suddenly whipped up within the Cosmos.

Whoosh!

In an instant, winds blew from all eight directions, manifesting thousands of streaks of azure light and jade brilliance. Like a sudden forest of trees, a blast of qi struck the qi nurturing practitioner dead center without the slightest deviation.

Heavenly Yin Wood, Tianqu Wind-Riding Soaring Qi!

In the Star Grave Sand Sea, all thirty types of heaven and earth qi were complete. Although they were all husks shed by the heaven and earth qi after the Immortal Dao's transformation, the profound mysteries they contained were not much different.

Hit by this streak of azure wind, the qi nurturing practitioner had no ability to fight back. His magical body exploded on the spot. He turned into a rainbow light and scrambled blindly out of the Tomb Star, fleeing back to his own camp. It was only because at this level of qi, one could not be killed without a clash of dao doctrines; otherwise, that single strike would have already decided life and death.

For a moment, energy fluctuated in both camps.

However, on the other side, Wang Ping had long stopped paying attention to the outcome of this magical combat. Instead, he focused his entire mind on the crossroads of destiny before him.

There were too many clues.

The resulting distracting thoughts were like a tangled mess, making it difficult for Wang Ping to find a starting point—that was, until a scripture scroll from the Taiping Sutra finished its cooldown.

The seventh scripture scroll, Golden Sea Desiccation!

Every time this scripture scroll purged his distracting thoughts, it would place a certain amount of pressure on his sea of consciousness, so it required time to buffer. Now, it had finally recovered.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping immediately activated the scripture scroll.

The familiar state of epiphany returned, and Wang Ping's thoughts regained their clarity. Looking again at the many clues he had gathered previously, he finally caught a thread:

I made a mistake.

From the very beginning, my line of thought had a massive error. I shouldn't have viewed everything that has happened so far as a True Monarch's scheme.

That idea was wrong.

Because fundamentally, this is actually my life tribulation. The True Monarchs are merely borrowing my life tribulation to place their pieces. My life tribulation is the chessboard for their schemes!

Therefore, the direction of his thoughts shouldn't be about what the True Monarchs were thinking, but how his own life tribulation would develop, and how the True Monarchs would profit from it!

Take right now, for example. My life tribulation has reached a crossroads: save the dao field, or sit back and watch it be destroyed. Forget about the True Monarchs. The key is that since these two choices have appeared in my life tribulation, it means one of these options will bring me closer to my destined death.

Which one?

If I sit back and watch the dao field be destroyed, the Dao Monarch can immediately walk the path of Earth Fire Mingyi and convert his cultivation to become a True Monarch. But if that happens, what will become of me?

Wang Ping's thoughts grew brighter:

According to my previous deductions, even if he takes the path of Earth Fire Mingyi, the Dao Monarch will probably still go to kill the Master of Secret Traces. That point remains unchanged.

So if the Dao Monarch took the Earth Fire Mingyi path to become a True Monarch, he could immediately team up with the True Monarch of the dual Water and Fire qi to kill the Master of Secret Traces... Then, as a pawn, wouldn't his own mission be complete? Everyone would be happy, his life tribulation would be passed, and he could easily push for Qi Refining?

Are you kidding me!

If a life tribulation were that easy to survive, how could it even be called a life tribulation? Wang Ping was one hundred percent certain that this route would highly likely just get him killed faster!

Then what about the other path?

If I choose to save the dao field and make the Dao Monarch take the path of Water Fire Jiji...

Then in the short term, there won't actually be much of a change. Because the Dao Monarch's strength will still be slightly lacking, he at least won't be able to immediately run off to kill the Master of Secret Traces.

And if Earth Fire Mingyi will only get me killed faster, then according to the fair principles of destiny, this path should let me live a little longer.

Wang Ping finally sorted it all out.

The only difference in whether to save the dao field lay in whether he helped the Xuangong Supreme Dao Monarch immediately become a True Monarch and then instantly go to kill the Master of Secret Traces.

And this had become his life tribulation.

So... when the Master of Secret Traces is killed directly concerns my life and death.

An immediate kill meant his immediate death.

A delayed kill meant his delayed death.

Not only that, but if I want to save the dao field, merely relying on my Corpse Dissolution Immortal cultivation isn't enough. I have to go a step further and become a true Qi Refining practitioner.

Thinking back to what the Xuangong Supreme Dao Monarch had said to him earlier, Wang Ping suddenly felt absolute clarity in his heart.

He wanted me to break through to Qi Refining... No, not just him. The True Monarch of the dual Water and Fire qi as well. They both provided a path for me to reach Qi Refining ahead of time!

Why?

In a flash of lightning, Wang Ping already thought of the answer:

"Heaven Defiance Palace!"

Previously in the Zhaoming Realm, the Fire Qi Dao Child Mingjing had told him that the key to trapping and killing the Master of Secret Traces lay with the Heaven Defiance Palace.

Yet this former imperial palace of the Great Rebellion, this greatest of ruins, only allowed cultivators below Qi Refining to enter.

I understand now.

Wang Ping's mind became completely transparent:

If I am still a Corpse Dissolution Immortal, I can still revert to Tribulation Transcending. At the critical moment, I could hide inside the Heaven Defiance Palace, and the True Persons and True Monarchs wouldn't be able to pursue me inside.

But if I reach Qi Refining, I won't be able to hide inside.

Why would there be such a shift? Why were they trying to prevent him from hiding in the Heaven Defiance Palace?

There was only one answer.

Openly, it was said that the Xuangong Supreme Dao Monarch held a bait that could force the Master of Secret Traces to act, thereby creating an opportunity to trap and kill him.

It was a lie.

The Xuangong Supreme Dao Monarch didn't hold any bait at all.

The bait... is me!

And as the bait, I am practically guaranteed to die! Therefore, when they go to kill the Master of Secret Traces will determine exactly when I die from it!