Chapter 127: Martial Drill Platform

Upon the Martial Drill Platform.

Wang Ping waited with rapt attention. The woman's figure had disappeared at some unknown point, leaving only the burly man, the Ghost-God Blade, on the platform.

Unexpectedly, his opponent did not attack.

"Boy, you just broke through to the Grandmaster Rank, didn't you?"

The Ghost-God Blade spoke brashly. "To be sent here by that little wench means your talent is extremely high. There's a good chance you're stronger than I am."

"How long have you been practicing martial arts?"

Wang Ping was happy to chat for a bit, as it made collecting consciousness fragments easier. Thus, he asked curiously, "Are you alive? Or dead?"

The Ghost-God Blade frowned. "Don't answer a question with a question... Forget it. How about I answer one of yours, and you answer one of mine?"

Wang Ping nodded.

Immediately after, the Ghost-God Blade chuckled. "Of course I'm dead. It's just that the little wench is too formidable; she can perfectly replicate my Divine Intent, that's all."

"I see," Wang Ping said in sudden realization.

So the Ghost-God Blade before him was essentially still the woman, just using her Divine Intent to copy a dead man's consciousness... Why did it feel a bit like a split personality?

"Your turn."

The Ghost-God Blade urged, "How long have you been practicing martial arts?"

"Half a year," Wang Ping answered honestly.

"Whoa!"

Letting out a gasp of amazement, the Ghost-God Blade clicked his tongue in wonder. "A Grandmaster Rank in half a year. No wonder that little wench took a liking to you and specifically brought us out to act as your whetstone."

Hearing this, Wang Ping had to ask, "Why don't you refer to the First Seat by name?"

This was something he was quite curious about. Whether it was Chenlong or the Ghost-God Blade before him, neither had mentioned the woman's name.

A second later, the Ghost-God Blade narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. "It's not that I won't mention it, but that I've forgotten. I imagine it's not just me; everyone in the world has probably forgotten what she's called. At most, they use titles like Supreme Great Grandmaster Rank, Daoist Friend, or First Seat."

Wang Ping was stunned by these words.

"Why?"

"Because she needs to hide," the Ghost-God Blade laughed. "With her cultivation, do you think if the Heavens found her, they would let her do as she pleases?"

"The technique is quite ingenious."

"Back then, a cultivator from the Heavens specifically cast a spell for her. Only an exquisite heavenly art could block the Heavens' prying eyes."

"So that's how it is..."

Wang Ping instantly thought of the Heaven-Stealing Thief. Altering memories, making people forget things—wasn't this exactly that person's method?

"Shiing!"

The keen ring of a blade interrupted Wang Ping's thoughts.

In the brief moment Wang Ping was lost in thought and slightly distracted, the Ghost-God Blade moved. The pitch-black ghost-head saber was instantly at his neck!

Aside from the ring of the blade, ear-piercing shrieks echoed in Wang Ping's ears. Several fiends charged into his sea of consciousness, aiming to tear his spiritual sense to shreds.

"Die!"

Wang Ping looked up to see the Ghost-God Blade grinning savagely. Surging astral qi clung to the edge of the blade as it threatened to slice open Wang Ping's neck and decapitate him in a single stroke.

"Clang!"

Wang Ping did not move an inch, letting the blade strike his body. He even closed his eyes to sense it for a moment before giving a slight nod. "Not bad. It's reached several hundred times the speed of sound."

"It's just a bit insidious. You deliberately said all those things to shake my focus, all for this one strike?"

The Ghost-God Blade gave no response.

His single strike proving fruitless, his figure vanished from the spot. In an instant, he entered the supersonic realm. The saber split into ten thousand blades, resembling a pitch-black grinding stone.

Wang Ping stood in the center, caught in the crushing grind. Countless flashes of the blade scraped across his flesh like tidal waves, attempting to subject him to death by a thousand cuts. At the same time, fiends mixed within the assault invaded his sea of consciousness, casting illusions that made it impossible to distinguish the real blades from the fake ones swirling around him.

Fortunately, he didn't need to distinguish them.

Whether fiends or blade flashes, the attacks crashed against him like ocean waves against a reef. They could only burst into layers of spray, completely unable to shake him in the slightest.

'So I'm already this strong...'

At this level, the opponent wasn't even worth using Invoking Deities on.

Realizing this, Wang Ping couldn't be bothered to continue collecting consciousness fragments. He simply endured the Ghost-God Blade's countless slashes and slowly threw a punch.

In an instant, visible shockwaves exploded outward with Wang Ping's fist at the center, yet they were completely silent. The Ghost-God Blade couldn't react at all; he could only watch helplessly as the blade flashes he unleashed shattered inch by inch. He barely managed to raise the ghost-head saber in front of himself to block.

"Boom!"

A second later, the thunderous boom finally arrived. The ghost-head saber shattered, and Wang Ping's fist drove straight through, landing squarely between his opponent's eyebrows.

The entire process was an utter crushing defeat.

Crack!

With a sharp crack, bone and flesh went flying. The headless corpse of the Ghost-God Blade was sent flying backward before bursting apart in midair, dissolving into a sky full of flowing light.

...

Upon the Martial Drill Platform.

"Hahaha! I won!"

Chenlong's hearty laughter echoed out. Blood poured from him in streams, while on the other side lay a lifeless figure that had been bisected at the waist.

"First Seat, did you see that?"

Chenlong said in an exhilarating tone, "The River-Sinking Sword, the previous city lord of Guanchao City! I fell by his hand before, but fighting him again today, he is no longer my match!"

The River-Sinking Sword was a martial expert of the Great Grandmaster Rank from roughly forty years ago.

At the time, the First Seat had not yet widely spread the method of Manifesting Divinity, so compared to a modern Great Grandmaster Rank, the River-Sinking Sword's strength was undoubtedly far inferior.

Even so, the River-Sinking Sword's Divine Intent cultivation had previously remained far ahead of his own. The result of his several past challenges had been crushing defeats. Yet in this rematch, the two had been evenly matched. In the end, relying on a bit of luck, he had cleaved the man in half with a single strike to secure his victory.

And the River-Sinking Sword was a watershed mark.

"To be able to defeat this person, even if it was a narrow victory, proves that my foundation is solid. In my current attempt to break through the Manifesting Divinity bottleneck and advance to the Great Grandmaster Rank, I have at least a thirty percent chance of success."

'I really am a genius!'

Originally, Chenlong hadn't been in much of a rush, but after witnessing Wang Ping's genuinely terrifying martial arts progression speed, a sense of urgency had inevitably sprouted in his heart.

He held no hope of surpassing Wang Ping.

But at the very least, he couldn't let that little brat advance to the Great Grandmaster Rank before him. Otherwise, he feared he'd only be fit to sit at the same table as Xugou in the future.

"Rumble!"

A second later, the Martial Drill Platform trembled. Chenlong looked toward the far side of the high platform, where three statues stood. One of them was currently collapsing.

Immediately after, a statue bearing his exact likeness rose from the ground to take its place.

"Not bad, not bad."

Chenlong stroked his beard with a smile, feeling quite pleased with himself. "From now on, I am the gatekeeper of the Divine Communion trial. I suppose this can serve as an example for that boy."

This wasn't his first time at the Martial Drill Platform, so he naturally understood its mysteries. The entire high platform appeared to be a single entity, but it was actually divided into four spatial layers. The first three corresponded to the three stages of the Grandmaster Rank Realm: Seeing Divinity, Divine Communion, and Manifesting Divinity. Each spatial layer had a gatekeeper holding the line.

Defeating a gatekeeper meant one's foundation was deep enough and advancement was hopeful.

At the same time, it would leave a statue on the Martial Drill Platform to serve as the new gatekeeper.

For example, having defeated the River-Sinking Sword, the gatekeeper of the Divine Communion trial, he would now become the gatekeeper of this stage, leaving his mark for future generations to admire and learn from.

As for the final spatial layer, it was crammed full of extraordinary people and Loose Immortals, primarily serving to help one master methods of fighting extraordinary people.

Right at that moment.

"Boom!"

At the loud crash, Chenlong looked over. In the distance on the high platform, another of the three statues suddenly collapsed, replaced by a new statue.

Looking at its appearance, it was none other than Wang Ping.

"Did he... break through the Seeing Divinity trial?"

Chenlong blinked. "That's to be expected, I suppose. After all, he's fully mastered the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong, the Martial God Pictorial Record, and the Sacred Lord of Five Weapons."

With such a foundation, he was indeed invincible among Seeing-Divinity Grandmasters.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Chenlong sensed something. He turned around, only to see a figure slowly materializing within his spatial layer of the Martial Drill Platform.

The newcomer's vitality surged like a dragon, and he held a long saber in his hand.

Chenlong stared blankly.

"It's that boy?"

The figure entering his vision was Wang Ping, looking completely relaxed as he dragged his blade along. This sight instantly snapped the previously nonchalant Chenlong to full attention.

'That makes sense. This boy reached Divine Communion the moment he broke through. It's only natural he'd come to challenge the Divine Communion trial...'

Chenlong couldn't help but rub his fists together in anticipation.

Generally speaking, challengers were randomly assigned opponents, fighting their way up from the weak to the strong until they finally met the gatekeeper.

Of course, there were always unlucky bastards who were matched with the gatekeeper right from the start. They could only blame their own destiny for not being tough enough and their luck for being insufficient.

Naturally, the current situation had nothing to do with that. After all, the First Seat was personally overseeing this. It was highly likely that the First Seat wanted to suppress this stinking brat's arrogance, so she had specifically assigned him to the newest gatekeeper—Chenlong himself—to let him learn that beyond people there are people, beyond heavens there are heavens.

Under normal circumstances, the gatekeepers were actually simulated by the First Seat using her Divine Intent.

This time, however, the First Seat hadn't done that. Instead, she had pulled him directly into the Martial Drill Platform and delivered Wang Ping right in front of him.

'It seems the First Seat still cares for me.'

'She's deliberately giving me a chance to beat him to a pulp.'

Ever since this boy borrowed the Divine Armor, he had acted as if he intended to wear it for as long as humanly possible. Chenlong had been suppressing his frustration over that for a long time.

This was the perfect opportunity to vent his anger!

Just as Chenlong was pondering the best way to teach Wang Ping a harsh lesson, the ring of a blade suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Shiing—"

The melodious hum of the blade arrived late.

This was because long before it arrived, Chenlong's consciousness had plunged into darkness. By the time light resurfaced and filled his vision, he was already back in the real-world courtyard.

It felt as though he had merely blinked.

Yet the victor had already been decided.

In that instant, Chenlong felt like he was dreaming. His heart pounded wildly, and his blood rushed to his head. His entire face turned visibly red, its temperature rising drastically.

'I got fucking one-shot!?'