Chapter 134: Everyone Is Scheming!

In that instant, as the true spiritual root sank into his body, Wang Ping's mind settled into a state of absolute calm. He showed not the slightest hint of panic.

Admittedly, a true spiritual root was a good thing.

Only a cultivator possessing a true spiritual root could become a true transmission of the Immortal Gate. Furthermore, only a cultivator with a true spiritual root had any hope of advancing to the realm of a Qi Refining practitioner.

But so what?

'You think you can trade this thing for my Taiping Sutra?'

'Keep dreaming!'

Wang Ping's gaze remained tranquil. The outcome was exactly as he expected—the moment the true spiritual root entered his body, a bizarre and profound force descended upon him.

However, this profound force failed to find anything. The Taiping Sutra ignored it completely, entirely unmoved. In the end, the force returned empty-handed, falling back into the grasp of the Heaven-Stealing Thief. He raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting this result.

Despite this, Wang Ping didn't let his guard down.

Even though the Heaven-Stealing Thief had returned empty-handed, the outcome indirectly proved something else: the immense value of the Taiping Sutra.

"A true spiritual root isn't enough? Interesting."

The Heaven-Stealing Thief's expression quickly smoothed over. Wang Ping knew full well that if there were a next time, his opponent would deploy even more formidable methods.

However—

'If it were me, I wouldn't give myself a second chance.'

A second later, just as Wang Ping expected, the Heaven-Stealing Thief collected his thoughts. When he looked back, a stark flash of killing intent surfaced in his eyes.

But right at that moment.

"Crack!"

A distinct sound like shattering glass suddenly echoed within this timeline, which was supposed to contain only Wang Ping and the Heaven-Stealing Thief. The noise grew rapidly more intense.

Amidst the shattering, a faint yet calmly powerful whisper bled through.

"Divine Communion, Manifesting Divinity—"

Boom!

The barrier of time instantly exploded. Two timelines that should have run parallel were forcibly merged back onto their proper tracks, and the Time-Stealing Thief lost its effect.

Immediately after, Wang Ping saw a towering phantom of light barge between him and the Heaven-Stealing Thief. It was a person—a woman of peerless magnificence with hair like a cascading waterfall and robes as white as snow. Just by standing beside him, she acted like a high wall, completely blocking the Heaven-Stealing Thief's line of sight.

"—Before the seat of True Martial."

The woman stood there, an exquisite radiance glowing above her head. Without a word, she raised her hand and threw a punch, causing the Heaven-Stealing Thief's silhouette to abruptly blur.

More accurately, it was Chen Luoyan's silhouette.

Up until now, the Heaven-Stealing Thief had been appearing in the guise of Chen Luoyan. This time, however, that outer facade seemed to sustain damage.

"Still as hot-tempered as ever... Why bother? Even though I use these identities for myself, after wearing them for so long, one develops feelings for the people and the things involved. What's more, I haven't been in the Eight Trigrams Furnace for long. Every identity I use is one less I have. If I were truly killed by you just like this, it would be quite a blow to my accumulated merit."

As his voice faded, Chen Luoyan's silhouette vanished.

This time, the Heaven-Stealing Thief's true body finally emerged. He was still a man whose true face could not be seen clearly. He chuckled softly. "Your timing is a bit too perfect."

"Your intuition is as annoying as ever."

"Never mind. It's just a true spiritual root, useless to me anyway. I'll give it to him as an apology for this intrusion, and as a reward for saving Kunlun."

"But to be honest, my original target wasn't actually him."

With that said, the Heaven-Stealing Thief shifted his gaze.

Even though the woman completely blocked his line of sight, Wang Ping could still sense that the Heaven-Stealing Thief was looking right at him.

Immediately after, the Heaven-Stealing Thief's body began to distort. Then, a world-shaking boom erupted within the small inn room. The Heaven-Stealing Thief had detonated himself without a second thought! An explosive torrent of brilliant light instantly engulfed the entire room!

"Not good!"

On the other side, Daoist Xuanhe had freed up his hands by now. However, he gritted his teeth, not daring to run away. The reason was simple—the commotion was just too massive!

'If I don't suppress this and just let it explode...'

'The Eight Trigrams Furnace will definitely resonate! Everyone will rush over to investigate. With that crazy woman here, nothing can be hidden, and I'll be dead meat!'

He had to stop it!

With this thought in mind, Daoist Xuanhe immediately formed hand seals. His magical power surged like floodwaters bursting a dam, manifesting spells between his fingers and swiftly combining them.

"Corpse-Still Dragon Manifestation!"

Gloom expanded once more, bringing all phenomena to a standstill. It forcibly suppressed the unparalleled might of the Heaven-Stealing Thief's self-detonation, freezing it in place within the room.

But when he looked back, Kunlun was already nowhere to be seen. He had taken advantage of the shockwave from the Heaven-Stealing Thief's self-detonation to flee. Only Xuanhe, the woman, and Wang Ping were left behind to take the blame as scapegoats. For a moment, Daoist Xuanhe was so furious he almost coughed up blood on the spot.

"What are you still standing there for?"

Daoist Xuanhe couldn't help but look at the woman. His Divine Powers couldn't suppress such a terrifying explosion forever. Where was his teammate? Where was his teammate?! Hurry up and help!

In the next second, the woman moved.

"Let me borrow this."

As she spoke, Wang Ping saw the woman suddenly turn around, thrust her hand directly into his chest, and astonishingly pull out the Dragon Head Guillotine!

Gripping the Dragon Head Guillotine, the woman moved with divine speed. The blade's gleam surged like a tide. In an instant, she slashed countless times into the brilliant light whipped up by the Heaven-Stealing Thief's self-detonation. Each strike carved deeply into the radiance. Finally, she turned the Dragon Head Guillotine sideways, activating the profound Art of War within it.

Dharma Covenant!

"Cease."

Her ethereal voice was like a spring breeze brushing across the earth, melting away the winter snow. Just like that, it entirely suppressed the unrivaled might of the Heaven-Stealing Thief's self-detonation.

However, the woman wasn't omnipotent. To suppress the explosion's shockwave, she had used every last bit of the Divine Intent she had poured into Wang Ping.

Therefore, inevitably, a flaw appeared in her protection over him.

And so—

"My good disciple, did you miss me?"

Before the voice even finished echoing, the void tore open, and another figure stepped through. It was a white-haired old man wearing an amiable, kindly smile.

It was Shouchong!

More precisely, it was the Heaven-Stealing Thief using Shouchong's identity. He had doubled back for a surprise attack, a single finger descending straight toward the center of Wang Ping's brow.

Faced with this, Wang Ping didn't hesitate at all.

'Taiping Sutra!!!'

Within the Great Peace Mortuary, the towering tome flipped open with a rustle. The long-cooled Outer Heavenly Demon shone brightly in response, on the verge of initiating the resurrection phase.

But right at that moment.

As a certain segment of stolen time returned at this exact moment, the brilliantly shining Outer Heavenly Demon instantly dimmed!

It was seven days of time!

Previously in Longxing County, the Heaven-Stealing Thief had stolen seven days of his time in one breath, causing the Outer Heavenly Demon that had just entered cooldown to recover instantly.

Now, those stolen seven days were returned to him. As a result, the already-cooled Outer Heavenly Demon re-entered its cooldown state! Clearly, this was a trump card the Heaven-Stealing Thief had designed long in advance to secure the final outcome once and for all!

—Fortunately, times had changed.

At this moment, Wang Ping felt incredibly thankful for his previous clear-headed decision. He hadn't used Kongzhi to generate the sixth scripture scroll, but had instead upgraded the Outer Heavenly Demon.

And the upgraded Outer Heavenly Demon could accumulate resurrection charges!

Therefore, even though the scripture scroll had re-entered its cooldown, the already accumulated resurrection charges wouldn't vanish. Amidst death, the radiance of life lit up once more.

Almost simultaneously, the Heaven-Stealing Thief's finger pierced through the center of Wang Ping's brow.

"Hm?"

After landing the blow, the Heaven-Stealing Thief didn't show the slightest joy. Instead, he let out a soft exclamation of surprise and frowned, seemingly noticing that something was off with Wang Ping.

"Your resurrection doesn't require a thought to activate. It's automatic. The Divine-Stealing Thief couldn't stop you from using it. Moreover... wasn't seven days the time limit for your resurrection?"

But soon, his brow smoothed out again, and he sighed.

"It seems we'll be having a third meeting after all."

With that said, the Heaven-Stealing Thief took a step back, ceasing his attacks.

"Until we meet again, my good disciple."

In the next instant, the timeline created by the Time-Stealing Thief shattered once more. The Heaven-Stealing Thief vanished, and the woman walked in, her expression completely composed.

"First Seat..."

Wang Ping pressed a hand to his brow, feeling the agonizing pain of his shattered sea of consciousness. He had been stabbed clean through by the Heaven-Stealing Thief. It was an incurable, fatal wound.

Yet, far from feeling any fear, Wang Ping's eyes lit up brilliantly. The words the woman had spoken earlier surfaced in his mind, flashing through his head like a spark of inspiration.

'An opportunity for cooperation... I understand now!'

In a flash, Wang Ping had organized his thoughts. He then turned his head and looked at Daoist Xuanhe, who was standing not far away with an ugly expression.

"Senior Xuanhe, we can cooperate now!"

Wang Ping spoke rapidly. "I exchanged destiny and true spiritual roots with Ye Chao. Theoretically, the current me is exactly the same as the previous Ye Chao!"

"Don't you just want Ye Chao's destiny?"

"I can die right here and give you the destiny you want, but I have conditions too... Don't worry, I won't really die. I can still resurrect."

"Three months!"

"Wait for me for three months. I'll resurrect within three months. When the time comes, you and I can discuss the details of our cooperation, and how to carve up my destiny."

"Oh right, and the true spiritual root!"

"If you want it, that's open for negotiation too!"

Xuanhe turned a deaf ear to Wang Ping's words. His Divine Power, the Corpse-Still Dragon Manifestation, surfaced once again. He was going to freeze the woman first, then forcibly snatch Wang Ping's corpse.

One could only say that Daoist Xuanhe truly lived up to being an inner sect disciple of the Immortal Gate. His train of thought was exactly the same as Wang Ping's had been back then—Cooperation? Your corpse is right in front of me, and your destiny and true spiritual root are at my fingertips. What's there to negotiate? That's foolish! If I snatch it, all of this will be mine anyway!

Fortunately, this was also within Wang Ping's expectations.

'Taiping Sutra, settle my corpse!'

Along with this final thought, Wang Ping's consciousness sank into darkness. However, at almost the exact same time, a supreme, profound force wrapped around his dead flesh.

"Swish!"

Daoist Xuanhe's palm swiped through empty air, and his face froze—Wang Ping's corpse had vanished into thin air right under his nose!

Only the Dragon Divine Armor and the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag were left to crash heavily to the ground.

What was going on?

At this moment, Daoist Xuanhe's heart was filled with nothing but questions and helplessness. After all, without the corpse, the destiny and true spiritual root he needed were also gone.

Unless Wang Ping could truly resurrect and return just as he had claimed.

Moreover, he didn't know if it was just an illusion, but he couldn't shake the feeling that during the massive battle just now, everyone else had been pulling crazy maneuvers, while he was the only one being led around by the nose...

'Regardless, at this point, my only option is to cooperate with these martial artists.'

Thinking of this, Daoist Xuanhe couldn't help but turn his head to look at the woman. Her expression was as leisurely as ever, and she even tilted her head innocently as she met his gaze.

'Is this crazy woman's intuition really that accurate?'

The woman, who had just bent down to gather the Dragon Divine Armor and the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag, abruptly raised her eyes and looked over. "Did you just curse me again?"

Daoist Xuanhe decisively changed the subject.

"Once this person resurrects, bring him to see me at Book Mountain."

"We'll discuss the matter of cooperation when the time comes."

With that said, he truly didn't want to stay in this wretched place for a single second longer. He immediately rode a streak of escaping light, departing the Eight Trigrams Furnace and returning to the Immortal Gate.