Make the Immortal Sect Great Again

Wang Ping didn’t have to wait long.

Barely half a shichen later, news arrived from [Fu]. After a familiar bout of spatial transposition, he found himself in the hall where [Yang] resided.

The moment Wang Ping appeared, he looked straight at the sand sculpture [Yang] had become, rushing over in a few large strides.

”Are you alright, Senior?” he asked with impassioned emotion.

The emotions he had been brewing for so long burst forth like a breached dam. It was partly an act, but it held genuine sincerity. After all, [Yang] had facilitated this great battle specifically for him.

Watching him, [Yang] felt quite gratified and smiled. ”It’s no big deal. My life force suffered a little bit of damage. In the future, I might just have to hand over the Heavenly Venerable True Mantra for half a shichen every three to five years to rest and nourish my life force. Otherwise, I’ll just run the risk of my life force collapsing and completely perishing, that’s all.”

He said it so casually!

This wasn’t [Yang] feigning nonchalance. He genuinely believed that, compared to the ultimate gains of this battle, this bit of loss was entirely acceptable.

A massive profit!

”Senior, rest assured and leave it to me,” Wang Ping said immediately, without the slightest hesitation. ”Please tell me the exact time. From now on, I will provide for you in your old age, and I will bear the Heavenly Venerable True Mantra in your stead.”

”Get lost.”

[Yang] waved his hand in annoyance. Old age? He was a Dao Monarch; he was still young! The concept of ’old’ didn’t even exist for him. He was in the prime of his fighting years!

On the other side, [Fu]’s figure also appeared. He smiled and said, ”Don’t underestimate him; he’s actually very strong. It’s not like there’s no hope of recovering his damaged life force. Besides, now that [Li] is gone, you alone can bear the Heavenly Venerable True Mantras for both me and [Dao]. There’s no need to make him risk his life anymore.”

”Hope of recovery?”

Wang Ping ignored the second half of [Fu]’s sentence and immediately asked, ”How exactly can he recover? Is there anything this junior can do?”

”Not anymore.”

[Yang] shook his head. ”You’ve already done your best... As for recovery, right now it remains a flower in the mirror or the moon in the water. Speaking of it would only be leaving oneself open to ridicule by experts.”

”He’s just saving face!”

[Fu] had always been straightforward. Hearing this, he immediately laughed and said, ”This guy is just worried that if he brags about it now and ultimately fails to break through, he’ll lose face.”

[Yang] was instantly flustered and exasperated.

On the other side, Wang Ping looked over with a face full of pleasant surprise. Break through? He was already a Dao Monarch. If he broke through again, was [Yang] going to become a Dao Lord?

”Don’t underestimate this guy,” [Fu] said with a smile, his tone relaxed. ”Aside from me, [Li], and [Dao], among the remaining five Dao Monarchs, he is the closest to the position of Dao Lord. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the ability to simultaneously bear two Heavenly Venerable True Mantras. He was considered quite a handful back in the day.”

”A handful... Ah.”

Wang Ping blanked for a moment, then quickly realized.

That’s right. Never mind that [Fu] and [Yang] acted like good brothers now; in reality, during their respective golden eras, these two had most likely been mortal enemies locked in a Dao struggle!

The kind that fought until the sky went dark.

To think even more sinisterly, the reason [Yang] ended up bearing a Heavenly Venerable True Mantra and falling into the Dao Tomb might have been because [Fu] personally and ruthlessly dealt the blow back then!

At the same time, [Fu] said with quite a bit of nostalgia, ”This guy’s Daoist tradition is called the [Way of Forgetting Words, Guarding the One, and Subduing the Heart]. It’s a very insidious thing.”

”Cough, cough, cough!”

[Yang] suddenly began to cough violently, looking exactly as if an old injury had flared up. However, [Fu] could tell it was fake with a single glance, so he completely ignored it.

”As the name implies, this tradition has three variations. [Forgetting Words] focuses outward; it can silence qi mechanisms and annihilate profundities, causing people to forget their divine powers out of thin air. [Guarding the One] focuses inward; it can firmly protect one’s life force and evade external tribulations. [Subduing the Heart] is the most ruthless; it can suppress the sea of consciousness and turn a living person into his puppet...”

”Also, you probably didn’t know.”

At this point, [Fu]’s tone was filled with malicious amusement. ”He actually originated from Water Qi, and what he cultivated was Earth Yin Water. He even collaborated with Mingxing in the past. Have you heard of the Yin Spirit?”

”Killing someone, enlightening their true spirit, and turning them into a puppet—doesn’t that sound familiar? He put a massive amount of effort into designing that dharma method back then...”

Wang Ping’s face filled with shock upon hearing this!

He turned his head to look, only to see [Yang]’s sand sculpture face covered in awkwardness. [Yang] couldn’t help but say in a low voice, ”Don’t say that. I withdrew from Water Qi many years ago...”

Good heavens!

So they really were one family!

”We really aren’t.”

Seeing that Wang Ping had entirely accepted [Fu]’s claims, [Yang] hurriedly explained, ”I merely provided a tiny bit of inspiration for the Yin Spirit method.”

”The final refinements and its subsequent flourishing were all done by Mingxing. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. I didn’t even manage to scrape any merit from it, so how can you say it’s related to me? [Fu] is deliberately smearing my name. Back then, I parted ways with Mingxing early on because our ideals didn’t align.”

”Where didn’t your ideals align?” [Fu] chimed in out of nowhere.

”...” [Yang] fell silent!

Even Wang Ping couldn’t help but feel a deep curiosity upon seeing this. [Yang] also knew he couldn’t hide it, so he had no choice but to say helplessly, ”I felt the Yin Spirit should use living people... Reforging the true spirits of the dead was too troublesome. Mingxing, however, felt that living people carried the risk of betrayal, and manipulating the dead was more absolute.”

By the end, [Yang] seemed to have completely given up and threw his hands in the air. ”Afterward, it proved that Mingxing was the one who was right. She became a True Monarch, while I was still dawdling away as a Dao Monarch. Later, after taking on the Heavenly Venerable True Mantra, I was plagued by the aura of twilight, leaving me with even less opportunity to cultivate. So, I’ve just been dawdling away until now.”

”Then what about Senior’s breakthrough?” Wang Ping continued to ask.

[Yang] hesitated to speak.

[Fu], however, had no such taboos and immediately said, ”We are using Zhaoxuan’s divine sense as the medicine, and [Dao] has already gone to refine it. If not for this, why do you think we captured that True Person Chiming alive?”

”It was precisely for the Zhaoxuan divine sense on his body.”

”Using a True Monarch’s divine sense as medicine to temper [Yang]’s Daoist tradition—as long as he can subdue Zhaoxuan’s divine sense, he has at least a thirty percent hope of becoming a Dao Lord!”

”...That’s how it is.”

[Yang] shook his head and sighed, feeling that the gentle and kind grand senior image he usually displayed in front of Wang Ping might have collapsed. He still cared very much about his image!

Especially that period in Water Qi, which he completely regarded as a dark history. In his era, Water Qi wasn’t yet the demonic path that everyone currently clamored to beat down.

However, Wang Ping didn’t care at all about such minor things like killing people to refine pills. His bottom line had always been rather flexible. Furthermore, True Monarch Zhaoxuan Jinming was an enemy, and showing mercy to an enemy was being cruel to oneself. Therefore, he didn’t feel there was anything wrong with this at all. Instead, he was more curious about another matter.

Wang Ping looked up at [Fu] and couldn’t help but ask, ”Are there any other Dao Monarchs who have a hope of advancing to Dao Lord? If you’re missing anything, this junior can also try to think of a way.”

He was very anxious!

Although when he spoke with [Li], he stated that the number of Dao Lords didn’t matter as long as they had them, in reality, who wouldn’t be happy to have more Dao Lords?

In Wang Ping’s view, the number of Dao Lords in the Dao Tomb was like bullets in a pistol. Paired with [Star Grave] and the Immortal Decree, this massive killer weapon, it was basically a guaranteed kill against whoever they shot at. But only having two was ultimately not enough. It was more than enough for deterrence, but the best-case scenario would just be mutual destruction.

But he wanted to win!

To this end, if one or two more Dao Lords could emerge from the remaining five Ancient Cultivator Dao Monarchs, it would be exceptionally good—both for the Ancient Cultivator Orthodoxy and for him.

”Aside from me...”

Hearing this, [Yang] thought for a moment, and only after a while did he say softly, ”It should be [Po]. He is a sword cultivator, and that lineage was also incredibly formidable back then.”

[Fu] also nodded slightly. ”It is indeed him.”

”A sword cultivator?” Wang Ping was somewhat curious.

”Don’t misunderstand,” [Yang] explained. ”It’s not that any cultivator who uses a sword is called a sword cultivator. There have been no true sword cultivators left in the world for a very long time.”

[Fu] also sighed with some lamentation and shook his head. ”It couldn’t be helped. The Daoist tradition and ideals of sword cultivators were too extreme. Breaking tribulations, breaking tribulations... they relied entirely on raw combat power to force their way through. However, life tribulations mostly involve upper-tier cultivators. How could they be broken with just personal combat power? As they kept breaking through, their own Daoist tradition withered away.”

[Po] was the most unique!

Among all the Heavenly Venerable True Mantras, only [Po]’s wasn’t eliminated by others. Instead, he brought his own Daoist tradition to wither, naturally eliminating himself.

”Including [Po] himself.”

”His greatest tribulation right now is the Heavenly Venerable True Mantra on his body. Whenever he can break and then rebuild, no longer bearing the Heavenly Venerable True Mantra, he will become a Dao Lord.”

”As for the others...”

[Fu] pondered for a moment and continued, ”If [Zai]’s transaction with the Human Emperor had gone smoothly back then, substituting the three calamities of Tribulation Transcending with his own Daoist tradition, he could also have become a Dao Lord. The rest, [Hua] and [Ze], are much the same. If you must put it into words, they are all just missing one condition to advance to Dao Lord.”

”However, compared to [Yang], their conditions are all rather harsh and difficult to achieve. Therefore, [Yang] is the one closest to becoming a Dao Lord.”

”You flatter me, you flatter me.” [Yang] waved his hand modestly.

Wang Ping, however, understood. That made sense. Which of the Ancient Cultivator Dao Monarchs who could bear a Heavenly Venerable True Mantra wasn’t an outstanding hero who had dominated their era? They definitely had true substance.

”You are incredible, Senior!”

With this thought in mind, Wang Ping immediately began to praise him to the high heavens.

Although [Yang] repeatedly stated that there was no need for further praise and that one should be low-key and modest, his sand sculpture face was beaming with joy, clearly enjoying it very much.

Seeing that the timing was just about right, Wang Ping suddenly shifted the conversation and said softly, ”Right, Senior. Since all you need is the True Monarch divine sense on True Person Chiming’s body, True Person Chiming is useless now, right? After killing him, can the corpse be left to this junior? It’s somewhat useful to me.”

A True Person’s corpse!

He had been coveting this for a long time. If he could get his hands on it and let the [Taiping Sutra] settle it, what kind of profound mysteries would the generated scripture scroll have?

Just thinking about it made Wang Ping uncontrollably rub his hands together.

At the same time, he also felt a bit helpless in his heart. It couldn’t be helped; the [Taiping Sutra] was simply not powerful enough. As its father, he had to figure out a way to upgrade it.

”Alright... Wait, a True Person’s corpse?”

On the other side, having been flattered by Wang Ping so much that he almost blurted out an ’alright’, [Yang] snapped back to his senses and stared straight at Wang Ping. Wang Ping calmly met his gaze.

Immediately after, [Yang] turned his head and exchanged a brief glance with [Fu], both of them coming to an unspoken understanding. ’It’s probably that heavy treasure in his hands.’

This wasn’t a secret!

As early as his narrow escape in the [Eight Trigrams Furnace] to achieve [Free and Easy Wandering], the entire Immortal Gate knew that Wang Ping had a heavy treasure on him.

Moreover, they knew that this heavy treasure was related to his resurrection. The grade of the resurrection was incredibly high; not only could it make it impossible for True Persons to track, but the price must also be very low.

’So that’s how it is. It’s related to corpses?’

[Yang] pondered in his heart, but he didn’t care much. After all, resurrection had its limits. The absolute limit was the erasure by a True Monarch’s Pinnacle Station.

No matter how powerful the resurrection, if one’s existence was erased, it would still be meaningless. Wasn’t the Crown Prince of the Great Rebellion, who claimed to be immortal and indestructible, killed in exactly this way back then?

”...Alright.”

After a moment of silence, [Yang] nodded slightly. He didn’t expose the matter of the heavy treasure. Instead, he simply reached into his sleeve and pulled out a round sphere of light.

Inside the sphere of light, he could faintly see a Mokilin lying prostrate. Its life force was entirely severed, evidently having already been slain. Extremely thrilled, Wang Ping reached out to take it. However, even with a formation isolating it, he still felt an unprecedented weight. He could actually barely lift the tiny round sphere.

”Careful,” [Yang] said in a low voice. ”This is a True Person’s corpse. Without the formation isolating it, a cultivator like you would be instantly crushed to death by the leaking qi just by getting close.”

”Even for a cultivator with Ninth Layer Heaven Breaking combat power, their absolute limit is getting within three inches of the True Person. If they actually made contact, it would result in sudden death.”

”Is it that exaggerated?” Wang Ping raised an eyebrow.

”It is just that exaggerated.”

[Fu] also reminded him, ”If you want to use this corpse, you can only do so through the formation. If you can’t do that, then it’s best you give up.”

”Mhm... I’ll try.”

Seeing this, Wang Ping clenched his teeth. While staring intently at the round sphere in his hand, he called out to the [Taiping Sutra] in his heart. Could it put in some effort?

I’ve given you the opportunity, don’t fail to grasp it.

[Taiping Sutra], settle it for me!

The next second, [Fu] and [Yang] both froze simultaneously—not because they sensed something, but quite the opposite. They sensed absolutely nothing.

However, the Mokilin inside the formation vanished into thin air, like writing on paper erased by a rubber eraser. The entire process was understated to the absolute extreme. So much so that they hadn’t even processed it. By the time they reacted, the look in their eyes when they looked at Wang Ping again instantly underwent a complete change.

’This treasure... is quite high-level!’’It shouldn’t be a True Person’s treasure, but a True Monarch-level treasure. Considering his origins and background, could it be a contingency plan left by the Human Emperor in the [Eight Trigrams Furnace]?’

’It’s possible!’

Despite this, neither of them revealed any trace of greed. Instead, their hearts were filled with joy. A True Monarch’s treasure was good! Truly worthy of a cultivator with great destiny!

Ultimately, what they pursued was the revival of their Daoist tradition. Let alone a True Monarch’s treasure, even an immortal’s treasure held no meaning in this regard; it was merely a dead object. Compared to that, a cultivator who was genius enough and possessed world-shocking comprehension was the true hope to fulfill their long-cherished wish.

On the other side, Wang Ping’s mind sank into the [Taiping Sutra].

Where his gaze landed, a line of large text was starkly visible:

[Abnormal corpse detected.]

[Does the Book Master permit the containment of this corpse? Upon containment, this scripture scroll will unlock brand-new functions, while simultaneously massively upgrading the scroll’s original functions.]

”Holy shit?”

Looking at the words on the scripture scroll, Wang Ping was somewhat surprised because, rather than directly generating a scripture scroll, the [Taiping Sutra] had once again provided a special option.

The last time this special option appeared was after he and Chen Dragon teamed up to kill Kongzhi; containing Kongzhi’s corpse had opened the world coordinates of the Brahma Nation.

”Containment permitted!” Wang Ping nodded decisively. He didn’t actually care much about the so-called brand-new functions. The key point lay in the latter half: a massive upgrade to the scroll’s original functions.

Massive upgrade. Just how massive?

”Can you upgrade the resurrection mechanism to the point where even a True Monarch’s erasure can’t kill me? It’d be even better if I could reverse time a little bit.”

Wang Ping’s face was full of anticipation.

[Taiping Sutra], oh [Taiping Sutra], you have to try harder. Whether you continue being my son or go back to being my daddy all depends on this wave!

However, very soon, Wang Ping was disappointed.

Because after he finished speaking, the radiance on the [Taiping Sutra] began to throb violently, but no text ever appeared. It felt like it was—

”Loading a progress bar?”

Wang Ping rubbed his chin. It seemed that leaping up to the level of a True Person’s corpse had made the [Taiping Sutra] a little too full, and it needed time to digest properly.

Immediately after, he waited for another moment, only to find that this progress bar clearly had no intention of finishing in one go. Thus, he could only temporarily exit the [Taiping Sutra] space first. As a result, he was met head-on by two large sand sculpture faces looking at him with keen anticipation.

”How is it? Are the effects good?” they asked softly.

”Uh... I still have to wait a bit.”

Wang Ping grinned. Things having reached this point, he didn’t pretend anymore. After all, although the [Taiping Sutra] had played a role in him reaching where he was today, it actually wasn’t that much. It was mostly relying on himself!

In fact, if necessary, he wouldn’t mind taking out the scripture scrolls of the [Taiping Sutra] to share a bit. It was just a pity that, at present, this thing only recognized him alone.

Right at this moment.

”Hahaha... It’s done!”

Suddenly, a figure appeared inside the hall. It was precisely [Dao], who had gone crazy during the previous great battle. He was laughing heartily as he walked into the hall.

”[Yang], call me daddy and I’ll give you the pill...”

The next second, a thoroughly arrogant [Dao] caught sight of Wang Ping.

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

In an instant, before Wang Ping could even react, the previously unkempt [Dao] reverted back to his former appearance of possessing the bearing of a transcendent being.

It happened so fast that Wang Ping even suspected he had just misheard, and that [Dao] wasn’t some foul-mouthed crazy old man at all, but a reliable grand senior.

Wang Ping hurriedly cupped his hands in a bow. Just as he reached out to take the pill box, however, he found it would not budge.

[Dao] cleared his throat, his manner now much more refined. ”Ahem... [Yang], your pill is ready.” He looked toward Wang Ping. ”I have also finished refining yours, my young friend,” he said, holding the pill box out.

”Many thanks, Senior!” Wang Ping said.

”Forget everything you just saw,” the old Daoist priest in front of him said with a smile.

”Ah?”

Hearing this, Wang Ping tilted his head with an innocent face and said blankly, ”This junior just arrived not long ago and hasn’t seen anything. What matter is Senior talking about?”

[Dao] nodded in satisfaction.

The child was teachable!

Only then did he release the pill box. Wang Ping took it in his hands and swept it with his divine sense, instantly seeing a constantly throbbing crimson pill inside.

”This is the [Crimson Light Qilin Heart Pill].”

[Dao] explained softly, ”Take it and use it for your clone. Pills refined from great demons of Fire Qi generally provide immense nourishment to a Great Dao.”

”The effects are even better when consumed by a path opener,” [Yang] spoke up from the side. ”After Fire Qi devours a Great Dao, it will undergo demonification. The more Great Daos it devours, and the stronger they are, the better the resulting demonic body will be.”

”Furthermore, it forms a brand-new demonic blood inheritance.”

”This kind of demonic blood, aside from the Fire Qi’s own Daoist tradition, also assimilates the Daoist traditions it has devoured. For an ordinary Great Dao, it is a supreme nourishing substance.”

[Dao] nodded upon hearing this.

”Take this fire qilin, for example.”

”Tracing it back to its source, that qilin ancestor was a Fire Qi True Monarch. He was also an incredibly formidable figure back in the day, the leader of the Fire Qi Dao before Zhaoxuan.”

”Taking advantage of several Dao struggles and transformations within the Immortal Dao, he followed that Fire Qi immortal and devoured five Great Daos consecutively. These perfectly corresponded with the mysteries of the Five Phases. Thus, it ultimately resulted in the demonic blood inheritance of the Five Elements Qilin. The fire qilin is merely one of them, corresponding to Fire Qi. Beyond that, there are many other variations.”

”That formidable?”

Wang Ping was first startled upon hearing this, but then felt somewhat puzzled. ”Since that’s the case, why didn’t that Fire Qi True Monarch appear this time? Did he perish?”

”Correct.”

[Fu] chuckled softly. ”That guy died a miserable death. When the Human Emperor established the Great Rebellion back then, he used him to establish his prestige first, personally slaying him.”

The Human Emperor again! Hm? Wait...

Thinking up to this point, Wang Ping suddenly blanked, then said in a low voice, ”Since it’s related to the Five Phases, could it be... that it’s also somewhat related to [Supreme Dao Lord Xuangong]?”

[Yang] nodded. ”That was also the general speculation at the time. Everyone believed that the qilin ancestor was taken by the Human Emperor, refined into a pill, and fed to Yi Shentong. That was why his [Five Phases] was able to grow so rapidly. You could say that the Human Emperor invested a great deal of effort into Yi Shentong.”

”At the time, he was the favorite right before the Human Emperor’s throne.”

”So that’s how it is...”

Wang Ping speculated in his heart. If that was the case, then this [Crimson Light Qilin Heart Pill] wouldn’t actually be of that much use to the dharma body path and the Long River of Memory.

After all, different arts specialized in different fields. The focus of the dharma body path was on the physical body and temporal transformations, and the same was true for the Long River of Memory. Neither had much to do with the fire qilin.

To unleash the pill’s might to its absolute limit, Wang Ping felt that the best choice should be the [Five Phases]! After all, the fire qilin itself contained the mysteries of the [Five Phases] fire. If used on the [Five Phases], perhaps it could truly and thoroughly convert a remnant of the cosmic qi!

Wang Ping remembered his own grand plan.

To use the [Five Phases] as a medium to individually modify the thirty remnants of cosmic qi within the [Star Grave Sand Sea], transforming them into thirty brand-new Daoist traditions.

Truth be told, previously this was just drawing a pie in the sky.

Even though he had obtained the Great Rebellion’s Heavenly Firmament Five Thunders Daoist Orthodoxy, connected it to the [Five Phases], and accelerated the conversion progress by charging fees through [Bright Light City], the actual progress was still far from enough.

Right now, however, Wang Ping truly saw hope. The conversion effect of a Seventh Layer Heaven Breaking fire qilin would inevitably far surpass all the Qi Refining practitioners from before!

Thinking of this, Wang Ping grew somewhat impatient, wanting to immediately head to the [Heavenly Craft Cave Abode] and deliver this pill into the hands of his second clone.

’No rush, endure it a bit longer.’

Wang Ping took a deep breath, suppressing the boiling thoughts in his heart, and calmly said, ”The great battle has only just ended. Running around indiscriminately is too conspicuous.”

”Let’s wait a period of time first.”

Hearing these words, the trio of [Dao], [Fu], and [Yang] silently exchanged glances once again, all of them seeing satisfaction and praise in each other’s eyes.

Good kid!

Sometimes, success didn’t solely require methods, cultivation, or connections. One also had to be able to endure. Being able to endure and think things through clearly was equally a kind of ability.

To be able to hold back at a time like this, in the face of a visible increase in cultivation—he would succeed in whatever he did in the future. At the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about him throwing his life away for nothing due to impulsive actions down the line. As the common saying went, as long as the green mountains remain, there’s no fear of running out of firewood. Everyone actually understood this principle.

But how many could truly accomplish it?

It was very difficult!

”Then we will wait,” [Dao] smiled. ”It’s best to wait patiently for three to five months before you set off. Just in case, I will personally escort you.”

”Then many thanks to Senior.” Wang Ping cupped his hands.

Immediately after, the three Ancient Cultivators left one after another. [Yang] also prepared to enter seclusion to refine True Monarch Zhaoxuan Jinming’s divine sense and use it to assault the Dao Lord position.

As for Wang Ping, although he temporarily couldn’t go to the [Heavenly Craft Cave Abode] to convert the pill into cultivation, it wasn’t as if he had nothing to do. He immediately changed directions and quickly found Tianhou, who was currently curled up in a ball, shivering, and even wagging its tail. He immediately called out cordially, ”Senior Tianhou?”

”...Yipe!”

Tianhou suddenly shuddered, wagging its tail even more diligently, until the eyes beneath those dog paws saw that it was only Wang Ping. Only then did it breathe a sigh of relief.

”It’s you, kid. What do you want?”

With only Wang Ping, a Third Layer Heaven Breaking cultivator, left and no Dao Monarchs accompanying him, Tianhou instantly put on a haughty air again, completely uncaring about its earlier fawning.

After all, as a born spiritual beast, its moral standards were quite different from humans. In its eyes, wagging its tail at the strong was not a shameful thing at all.

How many beasts wanted to wag their tails but didn’t even have the chance!

”I’ve come to ask Senior a few matters.”

”Get lost!”

Tianhou looked at him with utter disdain. It was an Eighth Layer Heaven Breaking fierce beast! Wanting to ask questions—and expecting it to answer whatever was asked—did this guy really treat it like a dog to be trained?

”Is that so.”

Seeing this, Wang Ping sighed helplessly. ”Alright then. I’ll head back right now and tell the Ancient Cultivator lords that Senior is unwilling to cooperate, and that this beast absolutely cannot be kept...”

As his voice fell, Wang Ping turned to leave. As a result, the moment he turned his head, he found that Tianhou had already shrunk its body and was squatting in front of him like a pug. It wagged its tail obsequiously, even rubbing its head against his trouser leg, and said with an apologetic smile, ”It’s a misunderstanding. I was just joking with you just now.”

”Senior...”

Before Wang Ping could finish, Tianhou waved a paw. ”What Senior? That’s too distant. Just call me Little Hou. That’s how Master used to call me in the past.”

Wang Ping shook his head.

”On the path of cultivation, the accomplished are teachers. Senior has achieved Eighth Layer Heaven Breaking, and this junior holds reverence in his heart. How could I address you casually? It’s better to call you Senior.”

Tianhou: ”...”

This kid really knew how to fucking sweet-talk!

For a time, the lingering feelings of grievance hidden in Tianhou’s heart dissipated quite a bit. It straightforwardly said, ”Ask away. I will try my best to tell you everything I know.”

”Many thanks, Senior!”

Wang Ping put on a full display of respect. After all, this thing primarily dealt in emotional value and cost him no money. As long as it could be exchanged for benefits, he didn’t mind doing it as much as needed.

”May I ask Senior, what exactly is the situation inside the [Heaven Defiance Palace]?”

Although he had spent some time in the [Heaven Defiance Palace], it wasn’t long enough. It was completely insufficient for him to thoroughly search the entire [Heaven Defiance Palace].

After all, this Great Rebellion ruin was simply too vast. Moreover, many places had restrictions and dangers, so one couldn’t run around recklessly. So far, he had only been to the [Directorate of Water Works] and the [Heavenly Armory], both due to the pull of karma. As for the rest of the places, let alone going there, he hadn’t even dared to look.

”Well, about this...”

Hearing this, Tianhou thought for a moment and said softly, ”As for specific details, if you ask me, I’m certainly not clear on them. I can only tell you about what I saw and heard back in the day.”

”That’s enough!”

Wang Ping said solemnly, ”I ask Senior to clarify my doubts.”

Such a formal attitude actually made Tianhou feel a little uncomfortable. Naturally, its tone lost some of its perfunctoriness and gained a few degrees of seriousness.

”The entire [Heaven Defiance Palace] is actually His Majesty the Human Emperor’s fairyland. Moving outward from His Majesty’s bedchamber, it can roughly be divided into seven rings. Each ring represents a vital functional institution of the Great Rebellion. For example, the outermost seventh ring is the stationed location of the [Five Thunders Divine Firmament Office].”

”...The outermost?” Wang Ping was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. ”The [Five Thunders Divine Firmament Office] is a True Monarch’s Daoist tradition, right? They can be considered the Human Emperor’s right and left hands, so why would they be placed in the outermost ring?”

”What’s so strange about that?”

Tianhou curled its lips. ”What the Great Rebellion divided was authority, not cultivation. The [Five Thunders Divine Firmament Office] oversaw all immortal affairs. The number of times they went out on field missions was the highest in the Great Rebellion.”

”Placing them on the periphery made it the most convenient for going in and out. If they were placed in the inner rings, their constant coming and going every day would cause a huge ruckus, which would instead be detrimental to the stable situation of the Great Rebellion.”

This... actually made a lot of sense!

Wang Ping nodded, while also realizing a certain point. So, after all his exploring in the [Heaven Defiance Palace], he had actually just been spinning around the outermost seventh ring?

”Then what about the [Heavenly Armory]?”

Wang Ping asked curiously, ”Is this also in the seventh ring?”

”Where else?” Tianhou asked rhetorically. ”It’s just a warehouse; it doesn’t hold any authority. The fact that it could even be placed in the [Heaven Defiance Palace] already showed that His Majesty valued it enough.”

That made sense too.

Wang Ping nodded. After all, the [Heavenly Armory], strictly speaking, was just an oversized doghouse. For the Great Rebellion, with its massive family and immense wealth, it might truly have been a trivial matter.

”Woof!” Tianhou barked, somewhat suspecting that this black-hearted human cultivator before it was silently cursing it. ”Do you still want to listen or not? If you do, then don’t interrupt indiscriminately.”

”Senior, please continue,” Wang Ping hurriedly cupped his hands in apology.

Only then did Tianhou continue, ”Past the seventh ring, the institution in the sixth ring is the [Imperial Guard Garrison Department]. They are the Human Emperor’s Imperial Guard, responsible for maintaining the stability of the fairyland.”

”The Imperial Guard?” Wang Ping couldn’t help but say, ”How strong were they?”

”Very strong!”

Speaking of this, Tianhou’s expression turned quite serious. ”As long as one was selected for the Imperial Guard, even the weakest new recruit possessed combat power of at least Seventh Layer Heaven Breaking!”

”Then what about the strongest?”

”Ninth Layer Heaven Breaking!” Tianhou’s eyes carried a trace of reverence. ”Those were all veterans in the Imperial Guard. All veterans possessed Ninth Layer Heaven Breaking combat power without exception!”

Wang Ping blinked upon hearing this. ”That’s it?”

”No True Person imperial guards?”

Tianhou was somewhat speechless. What an ignorant junior!

”What kind of grand figures are True Persons? How could they possibly serve as your guards? Even if they were willing... there aren’t that many True Persons anyway. Do you think they are Chinese cabbages?”

”Are they?”

Wang Ping blinked. ”We just slaughtered one. It’s not all that rare.”

Tianhou: ”...”

To be honest, it kind of wanted to curse him out.

However, considering that this bunch of lunatics had just driven off a True Monarch and killed a True Person, it decided to be the bigger dog and not bicker with them.

”In short, the Imperial Guard is terrifying.” Tianhou emphasized its tone. ”You have to understand, the number of Imperial Guards was maintained at the scale of a thousand year-round. Think about it: the weakest were Seventh Layer Heaven Breaking, the strongest were Ninth Layer Heaven Breaking, a full thousand people! If they formed an array on top of that, absolutely no one below a True Person would be their opponent!”

”Even if it were a True Person...”

At this point, Tianhou blinked. ”I heard that the Imperial Guard Commander could borrow the Human Emperor’s mysteries to achieve Tenth Layer Heaven Breaking combat power for a short period of time.”

What was Tenth Layer Heaven Breaking?

True Person combat power!

Hearing this, Wang Ping finally had some concept. A thousand-man scale of qi-ingesting practitioners, with the weakest being Seventh Layer Heaven Breaking... It felt far more exaggerated than the current Immortal Gate.

However, considering that during that era, Qi Refining and qi-ingesting practitioners basically lived long and remained in the world, raising their combat power was nowhere near as difficult as it was now, so it was understandable, right?

”Then what about the fifth ring?”

”The fifth ring is the [Profound Resonance Five Ministers Court].” Tianhou replied, ”Reaching here basically means approaching the nexus of the Great Rebellion. It was also the gathering place for civil officials.”

”The Five Ministers Court consisted of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Court of Imperial Entertainments, the Court of Judicature and Revision, the Court of State Ceremonial, and the Court of the Imperial Stud. When meeting the Human Emperor, the masters of each court could all be addressed as ’My Lord Minister’.”

”They were considered high officials!”

Profound Resonance Five Ministers Court, the gathering place of the Great Rebellion’s civil officials... It seemed this was related to the head of the Great Rebellion’s civil officials, [True Monarch Xuanhua Sacred Merit], who cultivated the [Mountain-Water Youthful Folly].

Wang Ping pondered in his heart.

Tianhou continued speaking, ”Going further in, the fourth ring was called the [Armillary Inspectorate]. It was established by His Majesty to observe the torrents of [destiny].”

”The Inspectorate Master was said to be a Dao Monarch, but his true name is unknown.”

”The third ring is the [Heaven-Defying Main Hall]. That was where His Majesty held daily court and discussed affairs with the myriad officials. The second ring is the [Human Emperor’s Bedchamber], His Majesty’s cultivation grounds.”

At this point, a somewhat sleazy ’hehe’ expression suddenly appeared on Tianhou’s dog face. ”That also includes the empress, the princesses, the princes, and so on. They were all in that area. Put bluntly, it was the Human Emperor’s harem. The female dogs there were so pretty, so white and tender. I used to sneak in often...”

”Slurp!”

As its voice fell, Tianhou seemed to recall some wonderful memories, even slurping its drool. Seeing this, Wang Ping instantly backed away in disgust. Ugh, what a lecherous fiend.

Wang disdained to associate with such trash!

”Wait, there’s only a second ring? What about the first ring?”

”Oh, the first ring...”

Tianhou thought for a moment and shook its head. ”I haven’t been there. I only know it was called the [Imperial Ancestral Temple]. Ordinarily, even the Imperial Guard couldn’t enter. Only the Human Emperor could go there.”

”Moreover... I’ve realized that you don’t seem to have a clear understanding of the Great Rebellion’s might back in its day.” Suddenly, a degree of arrogance entered Tianhou’s tone. ”From ancient times to the present, no Daoist tradition can compare with the Great Rebellion. The Great Rebellion’s brilliance was epoch-making for the entire Cosmos.”

”Hm...” Wang Ping narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

Was it really that exaggerated?

Seeing his expression, Tianhou grinned. ”Let me give you the simplest example... You should know how many True Monarchs the Great Rebellion had in total by now, right?”

”At least three.”

Wang Ping nodded. ”The Human Emperor himself, [Heavenly Banner Pardoning True Monarch] and [True Monarch Xuanhua Sacred Merit] as his civil and martial right and left hands. There might also be other hidden ones...”

”There were no others!” Tianhou interrupted. ”That was all of them. The Great Rebellion at that time, including the Human Emperor, only had three True Monarchs. There were absolutely no hidden mysterious existences.”

Wang Ping blanked upon hearing this.

That few?

This was his first reaction: that’s right, that was too few! If it were in the past, he might have felt that three True Monarchs were a lot, simply unimaginably powerful.

However, now, after witnessing the great battle between the Ancient Cultivators and the Immortal Gate with his own eyes, his mindset had completely changed. Three True Monarchs? That was merely on the same level as Fire Qi. They could only rival a single branch of the Immortal Gate’s Five Phases traditions. How could they possibly contend against the entire Immortal Gate, or even the Brahma Nation added on top of that?

”You understand now, right?”

Tianhou laughed. ”His Majesty was a miracle! He was a person unprecedented from ancient times to the present! In the Great Rebellion back then, the authority personally conferred by His Majesty was actually akin to the Pinnacle Station of Heaven and Earth!”

”...What?” Wang Ping instantly widened his eyes.

”Literally.”

Tianhou emphasized its tone. ”Starting from the [Profound Resonance Five Ministers Court], the five court masters—the five lords personally appointed by His Majesty—all possessed the might of True Monarchs!”

”That includes the Inspectorate Master of the [Armillary Inspectorate]. Although he was a Dao Monarch, when acting under the position of [Armillary Inspectorate Master], he could similarly rival a True Monarch.”

”Beyond that, there were also the five Hall Masters of the [Five Thunders Divine Firmament Office], and the [Master of Ceremonies] who presided over court in the [Heaven-Defying Main Hall]. Perhaps their cultivations were only at the True Person realm, but upholding their official authority, they all had the might of a True Monarch! Do the math: if you add them all up, how many True Monarchs did the Great Rebellion have in total?”

Wang Ping instantly widened his eyes.

Fifteen!

That’s right! Including the three orthodox True Monarchs, those Great Rebellion authoritative positions Tianhou mentioned added up to twelve. Together, that made fifteen True Monarchs!

”That’s it, fifteen... If they had this number, then it is perfectly logical and reasonable that the Great Rebellion could simultaneously oppose the Immortal Gate and the Brahma Nation on its own.”

Even the Great Rebellion’s defeat and downfall could be explained.

After all, if it had been fifteen True Monarchs of orthodox origins, then just like the Immortal Gate and the Brahma Nation, unless immortals descended to the world, they would absolutely never face defeat and downfall.

However, the Great Rebellion was not like that. Twelve True Monarchs based on the Great Rebellion’s authority—perhaps their mighty power didn’t lack the slightest bit, but there was definitely some kind of fatal flaw in their foundations. Perhaps the Immortal Gate and the Brahma Nation seized upon this flaw, causing the once-sun-at-high-noon Great Rebellion to instantly collapse and be annihilated from the mortal world.

But regardless.

The Human Emperor, who single-handedly founded the Great Rebellion and established its brilliance, absolutely lived up to his reputation. Twelve True Monarchs... how did he do it?

’The secrets of the [Heaven Defiance Palace]... I’m afraid they have only revealed the tip of the iceberg thus far!’

Truth be told, previously he had always believed that since every Daoist tradition of the Immortal Gate was participating and going all out, the [Heaven Defiance Palace] was certainly beyond saving.

However, now, he had changed his mind. It really wasn’t a certainty!

’After all, from the Great Rebellion’s demise, tossing and turning for tens of thousands of years until now, the [Heaven Defiance Palace] has actually only lost an [Incense-Draped Hall] that could be considered a heavyweight.’

And the [Incense-Draped Hall], as part of the [Five Thunders Divine Firmament Office], according to Tianhou’s words, was merely placed in the outermost seventh ring of the [Heaven Defiance Palace]!

There were still six rings standing immovable as mountains.

Even right now, the restrictions of the [Heaven Defiance Palace] hadn’t been fully broken open. The so-called entry permitted for Qi Refining practitioners was actually restricted entirely to the outer regions.

Based on Tianhou’s classifications, Wang Ping looked again and only then realized that the current active range of the Immortal Gate’s Qi Refining practitioners was roughly around the seventh ring. As for the deeper regions, they could still only be entered by Tribulation Transcending cultivators. From this, it was evident that breaking the restrictions was probably not something that could be achieved overnight.

’No wonder the life tribulation has only just begun and is still brewing.’

Realization dawned in Wang Ping’s heart, and a sense of urgency immediately welled up. He had originally thought that this great battle of the Ancient Cultivators was already very exaggerated. Looking at it now, I’m afraid it was still a small scene!

The big one hasn’t even arrived yet!

...

Afterwards, Wang Ping asked Tianhou a few more details, but Tianhou’s active range back in the day was really just the sixth and seventh rings, with the occasional sneaking into the harem.

Therefore, there wasn’t much more he could ask. Seeing that no more intel could be squeezed out of Tianhou, Wang Ping finally let the dog go. He casually found a hall within the Dao Tomb and immediately entered meditation to regulate his breath.

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, nearly a month passed.

On this day, Wang Ping suddenly opened his eyes, waking from his meditation. Afterwards, his consciousness sank into the [Taiping Sutra], looking toward the text on the scripture scroll.

The progress bar had finished loading!

Where his gaze landed, he saw that on the [Outer Heavenly Demon] scripture scroll, both gateways—whether it was the [Immortal Gate] or the [Eight Trigrams Furnace]—had undergone new changes.

To put it simply, as gateways, many runes that Wang Ping didn’t recognize appeared on their doorframes. Yet, the profound mysteries contained within them inexplicably gave him a sense of familiarity; it was the feeling of ”time.” Immediately after, a massive amount of knowledge flowed into his mind from the scripture scroll.

”Hiss...!”

Suddenly, Wang Ping sucked in a breath of cold air, understanding the changes after the [Outer Heavenly Demon] upgraded. To his disappointment, the resurrection effect hadn’t changed.

It was still exchanging resurrection for an identity, still accumulating one resurrection charge every seven days up to a maximum of seven, and the strength of the resurrection could still potentially be erased by a True Monarch.

However, one thing had changed.

Prior to this, the [Outer Heavenly Demon]’s resurrection had been carried out based on the two dimensions of location and identity. It was basically changing worlds plus changing identities.

This time, an additional dimension had been added: [Time].

”In other words... from now on, my resurrection is no longer limited to the current point in time. Instead, I can resurrect in the past, or even travel to the future!”

Wang Ping abruptly widened his eyes, but quickly realized:

”No, that’s not right. There are still limits...”

It wasn’t that he could go to just any point in time. It was limited to the points in time contained by the [Outer Heavenly Demon], which was to say, True Person Chiming’s timeline!

’From True Person Chiming’s birth to his cultivation and rise, limited by my cultivation, the furthest I can choose is the time when he was still at the Qi Refining Second Layer. I cannot choose anything higher... As for identity, I am directly substituting his. This is actually an excellent cover.’

Wang Ping’s mind became increasingly clear.

Traversing time, replacing True Person Chiming’s identity, experiencing True Person Chiming’s life, and experiencing his merit—what kind of opportunity was this for a lower-tier cultivator?

’Strictly speaking, though, this kind of time-reversal is actually meaningless against existences at the True Person level. I cannot use this to alter True Person Chiming’s past.’

Because he was merely a ”false entity.”

How could a mortal false entity shake an immortal truth? Even if he traversed to the past and directly committed suicide, when he returned, all of it would merely turn into false bubbles.

’Unless one day I also become a True Person and forge supreme immortal truth. At that time, using this method to alter True Person Chiming’s past, I might be able to truly, in the most literal sense, kill a True Person who coexists with heaven and earth... I’m afraid this is already a mighty power at the immortal level!’

Wang Ping felt somewhat shocked.

One had to know, even a Supreme True Monarch, who could easily kill a True Person, couldn’t possibly thoroughly erase a True Person’s existence from the passage of time.

Yet in the future, he had hope of accomplishing it!

’An excellent upgrade!’

Wang Ping’s heart was filled with boundless excitement. ’Furthermore, after I traverse, the [Outer Heavenly Demon] will give me guidance, pointing out how to alter the target True Person’s past.’

’And if I follow the guidance and successfully alter the past, even if everything is just an illusion, it will trigger an immortal truth resonance at the True Person level. In this process, the [Outer Heavenly Demon] will collect a portion of the immortal truth fluctuation’s profound mysteries for me, converting a portion of my gains into reality.’

To give an example.

If he traversed to the past and obtained a resource, then as long as he successfully altered the past, he could convert that resource from illusion to reality upon his return.

To put it simply, after rebirth, he would no longer be entirely empty-handed; he could bring things with him!

’It’s a bit like the scripture scroll issuing tasks, and I receive rewards after completing them... Of course, fundamentally, it’s still using this to steal a True Person’s power for cultivation.’

Thinking up to this point, a smile finally gradually crept onto Wang Ping’s face.

Good! Very good! It wasn’t in vain that your father worked so hard to get a True Person’s corpse to give you more points. [Taiping Sutra], oh [Taiping Sutra], you finally look a bit like a real cheat!