Chapter 143: Gui Water Resides in the Earth, Magic Power Lies in Latent Concealment

Wang Ping retracted his six ears, his eyes sparkling with vitality.

Although [Sound Perception] provided no boost to his combat prowess, it was so exceptionally useful for gathering intelligence that anyone would dread it.

Just imagine: whatever you did, whatever shameful deeds you committed in private, whatever secrets you shared that should have been taken to the grave—whether spoken now, in the past, or potentially in the future—the six ears could hear it all. Who the hell wouldn't be paranoid knowing that?

"No wonder the Six-Eared Clan has fallen this far!"

Wang Ping asked himself honestly: if he were a major clan in the Royal Court, he would definitely suppress the six ears both openly and in secret. It would be best to eradicate such a troublesome group entirely.

[Sound Perception] was the six ears' greatest sin.

Possessing the ability to gather intelligence without the power to protect it had led to their current fate. At the end of the day, true strength was the foundation of everything.

With this thought, Wang Ping vanished on the spot.

He hadn't gone far, of course. Burrowing straight into the ground, he circulated his magic power to carve out a subterranean cave before sitting down cross-legged.

This was one of the wondrous uses of magic power.

Because he had chosen [Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi] during his [Borrowing Qi to Manifest Magic], his magic power took on a unique marvel while underground.

The most direct marvel was exactly what he was experiencing now: without deliberately shifting the earth's crust, he only needed to circulate his magic power for the earth to naturally provide him with a shelter. And while underground, his magic power received a home-field advantage, instantly gaining a thirty percent boost to both its sheer might and recovery speed.

"Gui Water in the earth acts as hidden currents and subterranean veins."

Water of Taiyin, subterranean water, deeply hidden and accumulated water—this was the conceptual manifestation of [Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi] when it fell into the real world.

"My magic power is born of this Qi."

"Naturally, it follows that my magic power also contains the concept of this Qi, rather than being just pure strength... Different Qi yields different magic power."

Wang Ping's gaze narrowed slightly.

The magic power in his dantian once again flooded his limbs and bones. A second later, his figure vanished in the blink of an eye, like ink erased from paper.

In reality, however, Wang Ping had never disappeared. He was still standing exactly where he was, merely using his magic power to conceal himself. Just like a dark current hidden beneath the earth, moving without a sound—this was the marvel of magic power. The [Taiyin Form-Refining Heaven-Ascending Talisman Scripture] also contained descriptions of this.

"Gui Water in the earth, magic power should enter Latent Concealment."

"Thus, the magic power born from resonating with [Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi] is known within the Immortal Gate as [Latent Concealment]. Its ancient name was [Immortal-Burying Land], and it is also called [Concealed Heavenly Mechanism]."

Names carried power.

For example, the Immortal Gate's Nine-Word Mantra: [Tribulation Transcending, Qi Refining, Cultivating Truth to Ascend to Immortality]. Every single word contained profound mysteries and was absolutely not chosen at random.

The names of magic power were the same.

"[Latent Concealment] is an abbreviated term summarizing all the profound properties of this magic power. The two ancient names are what truly detail its uses."

[Immortal-Burying Land] implied this method could bury one's immortal aura and veil their cultivation base, making it difficult for others to detect. [Concealed Heavenly Mechanism] meant it could obscure karma and fate.

"Unfortunately, it has its limits in the end."

Wang Ping circulated his magic power, attempting to conceal his own destiny as well. However, no matter how much magic power he poured in, the radiance of his destiny remained as bright and dazzling as ever.

"The method of Latent Concealment can mask my flow within [destiny], making it difficult for people to use divination to calculate exactly what I will do in the future or what I have done in the past. But I can't hide my fundamental self. Furthermore, if an opponent's magic power is stronger than mine, they can break through the veil of Latent Concealment."

Wang Ping didn't doubt this at all.

Among the twenty-four Qi of heaven and earth, since there was a magic power capable of latent concealment, there naturally had to be one capable of revelation. Wang Ping guessed that such a magic power corresponded to the position of the Fire element.

After all, the clash between water and fire had always been an absolute truth of the world.

'It's a pity. If I just had a complete text summarizing the [twenty-four Qi of heaven and earth], I'd be able to make much more accurate judgments.'

However, a moment's thought told him that such intelligence was absolutely considered top-tier Daoist lore within the Immortal Gate. It would never be committed to paper, but passed down purely by word of mouth.

"Furthermore, since I cultivate the method of Latent Concealment..."

"...then if I want to step into the Dao through Qi Refining in the future, I can only take the path corresponding to [Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi]. The vast majority of other Qi will reject me."

Especially Fire-element Qi.

"But there are no absolutes. [Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi] is just the Qi of Gui Water in the Earth position. It also has corresponding Qi in the Heaven and Man positions."

"Even though they are all Gui Water, their manifested traits differ across the three primal forces. Still, since their roots are all Gui Water, there must be some method that allows me to jump between these three primal forces and refine other Qi. It's just that the success rate might vary..."

Wang Ping raised his hand, magic power flowing between his fingers.

"Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and the Ten Heavenly Stems, divided among the three primal forces... My earlier observation was indeed correct. Based on this arrangement, theoretically, there should be thirty paths of Qi."

Yet in reality, there were only [Twenty-Four Qi].

A full six paths were missing.

"Be that as it may, I have absolutely no clue which six are missing... Moreover, up until now, I only recognize a single path of Qi."

Wang Ping couldn't help but smile bitterly.

There was nothing he could do. The Immortal Gate practically guarded this knowledge to the death. A cultivation method could be handed out casually, but when it came to anything regarding Qi, not a single word was written down.

Take the method of Latent Concealment, for instance. It was clearly detailed in the [Taiyin Form-Refining Heaven-Ascending Talisman Scripture], yet the text simply refused to mention where this magic power came from or which Qi it corresponded to... Looking back on it now, if it hadn't been for his immense stroke of luck during the trip to Iron City Mountain, he probably still wouldn't have refined magic power to this day!

"No wonder going from a Loose Immortal to the outer sect is considered a leap to the heavens."

They called it a single step, but the difficulty was truly akin to scaling the heavens. Talent and background were both indispensable; lacking either meant falling and being smashed to pieces, with no chance to ever rise again.

"Spells, magic power, and heaven and earth Qi."

"An independent cultivator attains a spell, a Tribulation Transcending cultivator attains a method, and a Qi Refining cultivator attains a Dao."

"Every step is an uncrossable chasm."

In a daze, Wang Ping felt as if he could see a road to the heavens standing right before him. It was a chain of intricately linked steps, fitting together so perfectly that he could even appreciate its aesthetic beauty.

However, more than half of this very path of ascension for cultivators remained hidden in darkness to him, deliberately cut off by the Immortal Gate.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping gnashed his teeth in hatred.

"Damn it, a bunch of insects!"

How could anyone cultivate immortality properly like this? No wonder the Immortal Gate was declining day by day, with so many cultivators embezzling from within, reselling the Immortal Gate's assets, and undermining its foundations.

It seems I'll have to take matters into my own hands!

Of course, given his current lack of strength, limited funds, and nonexistent background, Wang Ping was merely talking big. After all, when it came to dreams, one had to think big.

As for right now—

"Let's set a small goal first: become a True Transmission of the Immortal Gate."

He was confident that once he became a True Transmission, certain intelligence related to the [Twenty-Four Qi] would unlock for him. Otherwise, how could he be worthy of the title True Transmission?

"The immortal path is long and arduous. Compared to that..."

Wang Ping closed his eyes. Opening them a moment later, he flipped his hand, and the Dragon Head Guillotine abruptly appeared. His magic power receded, and the true astral qi of his Grandmaster Rank swiftly surfaced.

"...practicing martial arts is much simpler!"

With this thought, Wang Ping's true astral qi instantly roared out. At the same time, his Divine Intent circulated and the Mind Monkey leaped. Like billowing flames, a raging fire ignited in his palm.

True astral qi as the furnace, Divine Intent as the fire.

A second later, he tossed the Dragon Head Guillotine inside to temper it. During this process, Wang Ping recalled the words spoken by the First Seat.

"My saber arts..."

Previously, on the [Martial Drill Platform], he had displayed his ultimate strike. By draining all his stamina, he delivered a slash capable of instantly killing a Loose Immortal.

In terms of power, it wasn't inferior to Daoist Nun You's [Sword Art]. However, [Sword Art] was nothing more than a basic attack for Daoist Nun You, something she could execute casually. He, on the other hand, only had the strength for a single strike. The gap between them remained massive. It was precisely to fill this flaw that he had traveled to [Iron City Mountain] to seek a compensatory method.

[Great Strength].

With the boost from this spell, his stamina no longer had a limit. Thus, he could turn his ultimate strike into a basic attack, just like Daoist Nun You's.

However—

"Is this enough?"

Wang Ping thought back to his battle with Kongzhi, and his gaze suddenly brightened. "How could the martial Dao be such an inconvenient thing? My saber arts can be even stronger!"

For example, [Time-Stealing Thief].

"Under the ultimate strike, my speed will climb to its absolute peak. And now that I have magic power, my [Time-Stealing Thief] can steal even more time."

"Moreover, the sheer power that [Time-Stealing Thief] can withstand has increased. I no longer need to lower my output. In that case, simply by combining the two slightly, I can unleash ten, a hundred, or even hundreds of slashes in a split second, using [Time-Stealing Thief] to directly obtain the result of the strikes connecting!"

To an outsider, these would be invisible slashes.

"Furthermore, after striking, I can activate the [Dharma Covenant] and issue commands to the target, forcefully binding them before continuing my onslaught of slashes."

"Not to mention, with my current [Dharma Covenant], the very act of swinging my saber carves traces into heaven and earth. Hacking down with hundreds of strikes will be enough to issue commands to heaven and earth themselves."

For instance, commanding heaven and earth to execute the target.

Just like what he had done at Iron City Mountain. Except, that time at Iron City Mountain, he had been trying to slaughter an entire sect, which required hundreds of thousands of slashes to successfully trigger.

But to kill a single person, a few hundred slashes were more than enough.

Absolute control paired with a guaranteed kill.

"This is... my saber art!"

What's that? Aside from swinging the saber, the rest is entirely reliant on spells and divine weapons?

Never mind that!

It went back to the same saying: if you have spells and divine weapons but don't use them, relying purely on martial arts, how could you be someone of the Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank? A saber art that can slay enemies is a good saber art!

"Rumble!"

Almost simultaneously, the roaring fire in Wang Ping's hands suddenly surged. Within the blazing light, a brand-new execution blade emerged, no longer bearing the appearance of the Dragon Head Guillotine.

It was only at this moment that the weapon known as the Dragon Head Guillotine was truly branded with Wang Ping's unique mark. It was no longer a divine weapon of the former dynasty, nor was it merely a piece of the [Three Azure Sky Guillotine Sabers]. Instead, it had been reborn, becoming Wang Ping's own divine weapon, achieving near-perfect resonance with his true astral qi and Divine Intent.

"With this, it's time to give you a new name."

Wang Ping gently stroked the blade's edge, feeling the sharpness emanating from it. If he hadn't protected his body with [Qi Restriction] to render himself invulnerable to blades and spears, his flesh would have surely been sliced open.

And this was the blade's edge without being driven by any external force.

If it were further empowered by Grandmaster Rank true astral qi, Wang Ping had no doubt that even [Qi Restriction] would be absolutely incapable of stopping the sharpness of this divine blade!

"From now on, I'll call you... the [Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade]!"

Wang Ping laughed heartily.

Although cultivating immortality was his primary direction for the future, he didn't intend to give up the martial Dao either. Instead, he planned to use it as a protective measure on his path of immortal cultivation.

Since that was the case, it naturally had to prioritize battling to victory.

"Everything is ready!"

Putting away the [Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade], Wang Ping stood up with an invigorated expression. This was his first time organizing his abilities since he started concurrently cultivating both the immortal and martial paths and achieving success in both.

Combining the immortal and martial paths really had potential!

"Next... it's time to get down to business."

Thinking of this, Wang Ping slowly pressed down on his right eyelid. Then, forming hand seals, he circulated [Soul Pursuing] and plucked out two weak souls from within.

They were the very two Brahma Cultivators whom he had previously ambushed and, after they were completely drained of energy, snatched directly from the [Brahma Nation] across space... Looking at them, and then recalling the intelligence he had overheard earlier—that some Brahma Cultivators were planning to raid the [Eight Trigrams Furnace] and even hunt down the furnace-watching disciple, Daoist Xuanhe—Wang Ping's thoughts grew increasingly clear.

'This is... my opportunity.'

An utterly insane plan suddenly sprang to mind.

If it failed, he would undoubtedly die without a burial place. But if it succeeded, he might just have a chance to become a True Transmission of the Immortal Gate with a perfectly clean background!