A boundless sea of clouds stretched across all directions of heaven and earth. No sun or moon could be seen above, nor mountains or rivers below. The flying ship rested quietly in a corner of this cloud sea.
Right in the center of the cloud sea stood a person.
Dressed entirely in white, silver Daoist patterns were engraved on his handsome face. His hands formed the treasure vase seal. He was precisely that towering figure who had just stood in the starry sky.
Of course, by now Wang Ping had realized that the other party hadn’t actually stood in the starry sky. It was simply a divine ability capable of creating a grotto-heaven and capturing external objects—similar to “Universe in a Sleeve.” This merely created a visual illusion of towering in the cosmos when cast, strictly meant to bluff people.
Even so.
For this person to create such an otherworldly realm and even swallow a flying ship the size of a multi-story building, his divine ability was enough to make Wang Ping sigh in admiration.
The next second, the person slowly raised his head.
His features were delicate, even somewhat effeminate at first glance. Yet, his expression was unyielding and authoritative, shattering that feminine aura and making him appear increasingly cold and ruthless.
“So it’s Senior Brother Lin.”
You Xuexin seemed to recognize him, immediately chuckling softly. “Junior Sister is under Master’s decree to escort the 【Five Thieves’ Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformation Divine Talisman】 to Blissful Immortal Peak.”
“By stopping me here, aren’t you afraid Master will punish you?”
“Of course I’m afraid.”
The man surnamed Lin spoke in a calm tone, “However, as long as you die here within my 【Heaven in a Pot】, once the divine ability disperses, all evidence will vanish. Who could possibly know about this?”
“…What?”
You Xuexin was taken aback for a moment before smiling even brighter. “Oh, my apologies. I forgot that you’re only an inner sect disciple, Senior Brother, and lack immortal dao insight.”
“That makes sense. For a disciple like you, who couldn’t obtain a true legacy, it’s normal not to know what kind of divine ability Master possesses. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come out to play rogue cultivator.”
“Also, Senior Brother, this 【Heaven in a Pot】 of yours should be pieced together and condensed from the three spiritual arts: 【Pot Heaven】, 【Scene Shift】, and 【Formation Setting】, correct?” You Xuexin shook her head. “Although it barely counts as high-grade among lesser divine abilities, no matter how high-grade it is, it’s still just a lesser divine ability.”
“It is simply too weak.”
“Under Master’s tutelage, if any true disciple dared to condense a lesser divine ability to survive the Heavenly Tribulation, they would immediately be expelled and banished to the mortal realm to serve as a menial laborer.”
“…”
As her voice fell, although the man surnamed Lin didn’t respond, Wang Ping still noticed a flush of scarlet climbing up his cheeks. His body temperature had even risen.
Rumble!
Right at that moment, the surrounding sea of clouds abruptly surged and parted, revealing densely packed silhouettes. Completely surrounding the flying ship on all sides, there were no fewer than dozens of them.
These individuals held colorful large banners in their hands. As they waved them, they resonated with the sea of clouds, manifesting lifelike giant hands that pinned the flying ship firmly in place, making it difficult to maneuver. The secret talismanic scripts on the ship’s hull were also forcibly suppressed, losing their previous brilliance.
Immediately after, one of the ambushers raised his sleeve.
From under his sleeve emerged a miniature spiritual artifact, also shaped like a flying ship. Floating in the air, it greedily absorbed the spiritual power of the ambushers like a whale inhaling water.
The next second, the flying ship rapidly expanded in the wind.
Boom!
The flying ship, completely engorged with spiritual power, crashed down squarely onto the flying ship beneath You Xuexin’s feet with monstrous momentum. The two ships collided solidly.
A massive amount of secret talismanic scripts were completely shattered as a result.
The ambushers’ flying ship firmly wedged itself into You Xuexin’s flying ship, nearly piercing entirely through it. The deck now served as an unobstructed bridge.
“Everyone, charge with me!”
“Whoever snatches the 【Five Thieves’ Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformation Divine Talisman】, gets to keep it!”
Amidst the clamor, the ambushing rogue cultivators, all concealing their auras and covering their faces with spiritual arts, leaped across the deck bridge and boarded the flying ship.
Wang Ping watched, utterly dumbfounded.
To hell with it! They’re a cosmic-level cultivation faction, yet their method of fighting is still the most basic form of boarding a ship… Is this the so-called ‘the Great Dao is simple’?
At the same time, You Xuexin also reacted.
“Courting death!”
Before her voice even fell, the Daoist nun’s figure vanished from the flying ship. Heaven and earth bloomed with brilliant light, leaving only a red-skinned gourd and an earth-shattering sword cry in her place.
Initially, it was merely a single thread of heavenly light originating from an unknown source and landing on the horizon. Even the sword cry sounded as faint as a hallucination.
Yet, as time ticked by and the heavenly light approached, it evolved into a tide of light that submerged all phenomena, and the sword cry grew increasingly deafening.
Then, the tide rose and fell.
The heavenly light easily swept across the flying ship. It felt as if a gentle wave was washing over, or as if it were merely the cold reflection cast by the edge of a swinging sword.
Just one single strike.
In the next instant, wherever the heavenly light passed, the heads of the rogue cultivators flew into the air. Blood sprayed out, sword cries pierced the heavens, and layers of brilliant, mesmerizing light erupted.
“It’s 【Sword Arts】!”
In an instant, the rogue cultivators who charged onto the flying ship first were nearly entirely wiped out by You Xuexin’s single strike. Those lucky enough to survive plummeted off the flying ship like birds with broken wings.
Yet, the sword light didn’t stop there. It continued to rise vigorously, reversing its course into the sky like a howling tide, speeding straight toward the man surnamed Lin. Finally, it detonated at the dome of the sky into thousands of radiant colors. At first glance, it was breathtakingly beautiful and magnificent, without a hint of killing intent.
Only when truly close could one see it clearly.
Every shift in color contained an earth-shattering collision, which in turn compressed the air, forming visible shockwaves that displaced everything in their path.
The hyper-compressed air appeared somewhat murky.
Consequently, as it raged and surged outwards, even the sky turned a hazy gray. What was even more terrifying was that the entire process was practically silent.
Or rather, the sound of the collision had already exceeded the range that mortal flesh could capture.
The outer edge of the boiling shockwaves was still expanding, but the interior had exhausted its force and began to collapse inward. As the two converged, an imposing mushroom cloud manifested.
Wang Ping had no doubt that if this mushroom cloud hadn’t occurred high in the dome of the sky, but instead landed in a bustling mortal city, thousands upon thousands of people would have perished!
Let alone mortals.
When the displaced shockwaves plummeted down and struck the flying ship, everyone except You Xuexin—who stood perfectly stable—was staggered, sending the rogue cultivators tumbling in all directions.
The surrounding sea of clouds was swept completely clear.
For thousands of miles around, the sky instantly cleared, revealing the vast, boundless mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas beneath the clouds—a pristine natural landscape.
Inside the 【Six Desires Heavenly Demon Banner】, Wang Ping was shocked beyond words.
Such mighty power was practically equivalent to a nuclear explosion.
And this was merely a spiritual art!
What shocked him even more was that as the mushroom cloud gradually dispersed, the man surnamed Lin, who had taken such an earth-shattering blow head-on, revealed his figure.
—Unscathed!
With his large sleeves fluttering and hair neatly tied in a crown, You Xuexin’s peerlessly powerful strike hadn’t even lifted a corner of his clothes. It was as if it hadn’t hit him at all!
On the other side, You Xuexin was also somewhat surprised.
“Hoho… It seems Senior Brother’s divine ability isn’t entirely useless.”
The man surnamed Lin chuckled coldly, “Junior Sister shouldn’t waste any more spiritual power. Now that you’ve fallen into Heaven in a Pot, how could you possibly reach an otherworldly person like me?”
His Divine Ability, 【Heaven in a Pot】.
Although You Xuexin dismissed it as if it were worthless, the fact that it ranked as a divine ability—even just a lesser divine ability—meant it had its merits.
For instance, just now. By being inside 【Heaven in a Pot】, You Xuexin had effectively become a figure within a painting he created. No matter how powerful the spiritual arts the figure in the painting unleashed, how could she possibly harm the painter? The two were no longer in the same dimension; even touching him was an extravagant hope.
However, seeing the rogue cultivators scrambling like frightened rats made the man surnamed Lin’s expression turn a bit ugly.
“A bunch of useless trash!”
The original plan wasn’t like this. It was supposed to be that after he and You Xuexin were locked in combat, the rogue cultivators would then launch a concentrated assault on the flying ship to drain her energy.
However, facts proved that the so-called rogue cultivators were essentially just a ragtag mob.
They were not an organized, disciplined, official syndicate. They were merely temporarily cobbled together due to a shared goal.
Thus, blinded by greed, it was completely normal for some not to follow orders.
“Forget it, I didn’t rely on them anyway.”
The man surnamed Lin looked back at You Xuexin and smiled. “Furthermore, my 【Heaven in a Pot】 has more tricks than just this. Underestimating it will cost you dearly.”
As he spoke, he abruptly spread his palms open.
His hands extended, mimicking the shape of holding a bouquet, and then slowly began to close together. During this process, the entirety of 【Heaven in a Pot】 underwent a visible, massive transformation.
The world was being folded.
You Xuexin looked up, only to see that the ground beneath her feet was acting like a piece of paper being slowly folded. Both sides elevated, wrapping her within.
To the man surnamed Lin, everything inside 【Heaven in a Pot】 was nothing more than an unrolled painting. He could fold it however he pleased, entirely according to his will. Yet, to You Xuexin, the figure within the painting, everything was real. The mountains, rivers, and streams contained not a single trace of falsehood!
“To you, I am the Heavens! The Heavens in a pot!”
As the ground folded, You Xuexin instantly became the lowest point of the entire world. The mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas of the whole world were toppling down toward her.
This was not something human power could stop!
Wang Ping had originally thought You Xuexin’s nuclear-explosion-like sword strike was exaggerated enough, yet the methods the man surnamed Lin was displaying right now truly opened his eyes.
This was, in the truest sense, picking up a continent to smash someone!
So this is a divine ability?
At the same time, You Xuexin’s expression grew exceptionally solemn. No matter how much she looked down on the man surnamed Lin, she had to admit that he was indeed stronger at this very moment.
The best way to counter a divine ability is to use a divine ability of the same caliber.
Using pure spiritual arts against a divine ability is like pitting water against ice; there is an absolute qualitative gap. No matter how strong the spiritual art, its effectiveness will be drastically reduced.
But since it’s only a lesser divine ability… It might not be entirely impossible.
Thinking of this, You Xuexin exhaled a long breath of turbid air. She then formed her fingers into a sword and held it upright before her chest. Bright light danced at her fingertips, subsequently spreading outward.
“【Scene Shift】!”
Wherever the bright light passed, distance collapsed. The mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas that were on the verge of crashing down and burying her instantly froze in midair.
However, this was merely a visual effect. In reality, they were still plummeting, and their speed of descent was even accelerating. It was just that the distance between them and You Xuexin had been stretched infinitely, forming an insurmountable chasm, thus presenting this peculiar phenomenon akin to being perfectly still.
Moreover, this was only temporary.
Crack! Crack, crack!
As time went on, crisp shattering sounds began to ring out from the light of the 【Scene Shift】 You Xuexin had cast. This spiritual art could no longer bear the burden.
Because the space it was altering right now wasn’t the normal space of the outside world, but the space within 【Heaven in a Pot】. Under the suppression of a divine ability against a spiritual art, the effect of this alteration was massively reduced while its consumption sharply increased. The fact that she could hold on even for a brief moment already spoke to You Xuexin’s extremely high proficiency.
“Junior Sister, why put up a desperate fight?”
Brimming with confidence, the man surnamed Lin clasped his hands together, acting as if You Xuexin was nothing more than an ant pinned in his palm, and further accelerated the folding of the earth.
Seeing this, You Xuexin showed no fear at all. Instead, she shook her head.
“An inner sect disciple will always be an inner sect disciple.”
“Senior Brother, today I will teach you a lesson. It’s not only divine ability that can combine different spiritual arts. As long as one’s comprehension is high enough, they can achieve something similar!”
With that, she locked her hand seals and chanted an edict:
“Divine light quickly manifest, shelter the perfected one!”
In an instant, a brilliant light spontaneously bloomed in her palm, dancing like a roaring fire. In the blink of an eye, it leaped into the surrounding light of 【Scene Shift】.
With just this single leap, it instantly stabilized the previously tottering 【Scene Shift】!
“The 【Radiance Manifestation】 art?”
Seeing this, the man surnamed Lin frowned. “Protective divine light. I didn’t expect you to have mastered this spiritual art as well. However, it’s useless. It’s nothing more than stalling for time…”
You Xuexin didn’t reply; instead, her hand seal shifted:
“Proclaim to all dharmas, let it be heard by all!”
Upon chanting this edict, 【Scene Shift】 and 【Radiance Manifestation】, which already mutually complemented and benefited each other, acted as if a catalyst had been thrown into them. Their bright light blazed even more fiercely!
At this moment, the man surnamed Lin’s expression finally changed.
“Spiritual arts invoking the Divine… You’ve also learned 【Divine Invocation】!?”
If the previous addition of 【Radiance Manifestation】 merely temporarily stabilized You Xuexin’s situation, then right now, it had completely deadlocked the battle!
“I must thank you for that, Senior Brother.”
You Xuexin’s laughter rang out like silver bells. “If Senior Brother wasn’t devoid of ambition, ruining your own prospects by condensing a lesser divine ability so early on, how could I have possibly held on until now?”
She wasn’t anxious at all.
Although divine ability possessed immense power, they also consumed a tremendous amount of energy. Since 【Heaven in a Pot】 had limited offensive methods, as long as she stayed firmly on the defensive, she would be as stable as Mount Tai.
What was more, she still had a trump card.
You Xuexin calculated silently: The man surnamed Lin has survived the Heavenly Tribulation after all. Even though his foundation falls far short of mine, in a battle of pure spiritual power, he still holds a slight edge over me.
But it doesn’t matter. I don’t need to fight him to the bitter end. I just need to endure until both sides are completely drained of energy, or even mutually wounded. Then, I can unleash the 【Six Desires Heavenly Demon Banner】 to turn defeat into victory. When the time comes, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King will swarm out with hundreds of demons, and everything will be perfect.
At this thought, You Xuexin’s eyes flickered slightly.
“Hmm?”
Inside her sleeve, she noticed that the 【Six Desires Heavenly Demon Banner】 she treasured so dearly and kept carefully hidden was now trembling slightly, seeming a bit impatient.
Is this… the spiritual artifact developing sentience?
You Xuexin sensed it for a moment, and a look of pleasant surprise abruptly surfaced in her eyes: Could it be that because I used a living person for artifact forging, it actually caused the spiritual artifact to develop sentience?
This was a massive boon!
Legend says that once a spiritual artifact gains sentience, not only will refining it yield twice the result with half the effort, but its future prospects are boundless. It might even possess a sliver of a chance to achieve the status of a Spirit Treasure in the future!
What was a Spirit Treasure?
It was a treasure that only a “Qi Refiner” could wield with ease. Even within the Divine Weapon Institute, they were rarely produced; perhaps one might be forged every few hundred years.
I actually forged such a peerless treasure on my very first attempt?
Could it be that I actually have a great talent for artifact forging?
If that was true, then choosing to join Blissful Immortal Peak back then was truly a massive loss. I should have gone to the Divine Weapon Institute; perhaps the sky and sea would have been even broader for me there!
Meanwhile, inside the 【Six Desires Heavenly Demon Banner】.
Why hasn’t this poisonous woman let me out yet?
While concealing his consciousness, Wang Ping secretly catalyzed the instincts of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King, conveying an eagerness for battle while continuously accumulating power.
The opportunity is right now.
Wang Ping calmed his mind and focused his energy. The moment this poisonous woman releases the restrictions on the banner and lets me out, I will immediately turn on her and show her a massive surprise!
Just then, a stream of spiritual sense from You Xuexin surged into the banner. To Wang Ping’s surprise, however, the intention behind this spiritual sense was to pacify and suppress.
“Don’t be impatient.”
“The man surnamed Lin is still in good condition. Even if I release you now, it’s unlikely to secure a decisive victory. Hold on a little longer; it’s not time to act yet.”
Wang Ping: “…”
The next second, the space inside the banner suddenly rippled. Out of nowhere, a mangled, bloody corpse plummeted down, its majestic life force and primal qi not yet dispersed.
This… is this for me?
Wang Ping blanked for a second. However, the 【Thief of Life】 in his sea of consciousness burst into brilliant light. The corpse before him instantly transformed into a delectable feast in his eyes.
So hungry, so hungry, so hungry!
Since it’s delivered to my doorstep, I’d be a fool not to take it!
This time, Wang Ping hesitated for only a split second before decisively pouncing on it. Pressing his palm against the corpse, he activated the 【Thief of Life】 and began to gorge himself.
In no time, he devoured the corpse’s life force and primal qi cleanly, reducing it to flying ash that scattered away. A soul drifted up from the spot, only to be torn apart and eaten by the demons surrounding him.
He truly ate every last scrap, leaving absolutely nothing behind. Simultaneously, the eerie hunger in his heart was alleviated considerably.
However, a new problem arose.
I am now an artifact spirit. Aside from satisfying this hunger, this life force and primal qi are basically useless to me.
Yet Wang Ping quickly found a solution.
He closed his eyes and rapidly concentrated his consciousness. He then felt a dizzying spin, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he was already back in the 【Morgue】 space.
This was a very subtle loophole.
Under normal circumstances, I can only enter the 【Morgue】 space when activating a scripture scroll. Usually, I have no way to freely enter or exit.
However, my current situation is special.
Because I am strictly a dead person right now, I can activate 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】 at any time, which means I can freely enter and exit the 【Morgue】 space!
This was an enormous advantage.
Because the 【Morgue】 space didn’t just contain a single book. The vacant area was extremely large, perfectly suited for storing other items—such as life force and primal qi.
“Condense!”
Wang Ping activated the 【Thief of Life】, and the life force and primal qi he had just stolen from the corpse surged out in a swarm. They subsequently solidified into pills that spilled onto the ground.
Counting them, there were exactly twelve pills.
Every single pill was equivalent to the miraculous elixirs and divine medicines he had consumed in his previous life—in fact, their effects were even better. After all, these were boundless, all-encompassing supplements.
After finishing all this, he shifted his consciousness and returned to reality.
Then he saw a second corpse plummeting from the sky.
This time, Wang Ping didn’t even hesitate. He grabbed the corpse right then and there, refined it instantly, and continued transporting the spoils to the 【Morgue】 space.
“Incredible!”
Outside, You Xuexin, still locked in a struggle with the man surnamed Lin, wore an expression of pure, pleasant surprise: I had only just thrown the corpse in and hadn’t even catalyzed the spiritual artifact to refine it.
And it actively refined the corpse on its own!
Is this the capability of a spiritual artifact after developing sentience? In doing so, who knows how much of my spiritual sense and spiritual power it has saved. What a treasure, indeed a peerless treasure!
You Xuexin’s thoughts surged with immense excitement.
With such a spiritual artifact in hand, why should I worry about not winning this battle?
Before this, she only intended to use the 【Six Desires Heavenly Demon Banner】 as a trump card to force a clear victor against the man surnamed Lin, thereby driving away this group of rogue cultivators.
But now, she had changed her mind.
Just deciding a victor wasn’t enough.
She was going to use this trump card to decide life and death!
Good steel must be used on the blade’s edge. Using it too early will allow that surnamed Lin the remaining strength to flee. I must wait until he doesn’t even have the energy to escape before unleashing it.
When that time comes, I will refine his corpse into a Banner Slave. Using a lesser divine ability cultivator as resource material might even elevate the grade of the spiritual artifact again.
You Xuexin fantasized beautifully.