Chapter 159: Daoist Xuanhe: Nothing Will Go Wrong, Right?

"What do you mean?"

Seeing Xiaoxiang looking as though he had just swallowed a fly, Daoist Xuanhe was momentarily taken aback. He immediately realized the crux of the matter and sent a telepathic message:

"You ran into Dousheng?"

In all fairness, even though he looked down on Xiaoxiang and felt the man was far beneath him, Xiaoxiang was still a heavily groomed talent in the Heaven and Earth Pavilion.

Could that Mortal actually beat him?

"How many moves?"

Daoist Xuanhe continued, "How many moves did you exchange? A hundred? Two hundred? What methods did he use? You must have gone all out at the end, right?"

Xiaoxiang: "..."

Watching Xiaoxiang's face grow redder as his temperature seemed to rise, Daoist Xuanhe shook his head inwardly. This was exactly why he felt Xiaoxiang was inferior to him.

He actually still cared about his pride.

"Spit it out!"

Under Daoist Xuanhe's repeated urging, Xiaoxiang could only grit his teeth and squeeze out a sentence. "Barely... you could say we exchanged one move."

"One move!?"

Daoist Xuanhe was even more surprised. "You used the Thousand Towering Peaks Demon-Subduing Qi for Borrowing Qi to Manifest Magic, and you've even comprehended the core of magic power. Yet you only fought for a single move?"

Hearing this, Xiaoxiang's face burned even hotter, and a surge of sheer frustration welled up within him.

Because the word 'fought' wasn't exactly accurate.

After all, you make a move, I make a move—that's a fight.

But he hadn't even had time to launch an attack before he was instantly killed in a single strike. Strictly speaking, one could only say he had used his neck to 'fight' Wang Ping's attack for one move...

'Bastard!'

Sensing that his magic power was a fraction weaker than before, Xiaoxiang couldn't help but curse inwardly. This was a clear sign that his qi destiny had been seized by the victor.

The strong prey on the weak. This was the iron rule of the Immortal Gate.

Even now, Xiaoxiang was gripped by lingering fear. A phantom pain still throbbed at his neck; he hadn't even seen how his opponent won.

After all, his magic power was drawn from the Thousand Towering Peaks Demon-Subduing Qi. It was of the Yang Earth element, grounded on the earth with the imagery of a mountain. The essence of his magic power was named Mountain-Suppressing, known in ancient times as the Demon-Subduing Order, and also called the Immortal-Stabilizing Art. Among all methods, it was hailed as number one in suppression, and its defensive capabilities were equally outstanding.

Yet magic power of this caliber...

Facing that Junior Brother Dousheng, it had been like paper—pierced through with a single poke... Thinking of this, the anger in Xiaoxiang's heart suddenly subsided considerably.

Because a realization abruptly hit him:

'Senior Brother Xuanhe shouldn't have lied to me. Which means... an independent cultivator who came out of the Eight Trigrams Furnace as Human Firewood really did instantly kill me in one move.'

This was no ordinary independent cultivator.

Either he was a true genius! Someone with the aptitude for True Transmission!

Or he had obtained some heaven-defying inheritance. Rumor had it that the Eight Trigrams Furnace was steeped in secrets to begin with, so it wasn't impossible for some heaven-defying legacy to be hidden in there.

Of course, regardless of which it was, he couldn't afford to offend the man.

'However... if it's the former, then so be it. But if it's the latter... an Immortal Dao inheritance... If I tell Senior Brother Kunyun, perhaps Senior Brother Kunyun might be interested?'

On the other side, the shift in Xiaoxiang's attitude made Daoist Xuanhe's eye twitch as he realized something was wrong. 'Don't tell me this brat couldn't even survive a single move... Is the disciple groomed by that crazy woman really this formidable? Oh no, I was too hasty. Surely he can't actually break Senior Sister You's imprint, can he?'

At the thought of this, Daoist Xuanhe felt his heart skip a beat.

He had invested a full 30,000 dharma currency, betting almost his entire net worth on Wang Ping failing the challenge. He had only put 3,000 on Wang Ping succeeding.

And those 3,000 had even nominally been borrowed by Wang Ping.

If Wang Ping actually won the bet, out of the dharma currency earned back, Xuanhe could at most recover his 3,000 principal. If he were a bit shameless, he might charge fifty percent interest on top of it.

The rest would entirely belong to that brat!

What a disaster!

For a moment, Daoist Xuanhe almost passed out. His body swayed slightly as he desperately stabilized his state of mind. 'Impossible. It's absolutely impossible!'

'I must be overthinking things. This Xiaoxiang doesn't even have a single magic treasure on hand, whereas that brat is a Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank from the Eight Trigrams Furnace. He definitely has at least one magic treasure. A gap in combat power under these circumstances is perfectly normal. However, Senior Sister You wouldn't have such a massive vulnerability.'

Right, don't panic. It's just a technical adjustment!

Meanwhile, Xiaoxiang's premature elimination had also drawn the attention of the others. Soon, two figures riding evasion lights approached.

It was none other than Fairy Fengyuan and Changyangzi.

"Greetings to the four senior brothers."

The two first bowed to Daoist Xuanhe and the other three inner sect disciples before turning to look at Xiaoxiang. "Fellow Daoist Xiaoxiang, which True Transmission did you run into?"

Xiaoxiang: "..."

After a moment, Xiaoxiang sneered. "I didn't run into a True Transmission. I was simply careless for a moment and failed to steady my mind. The two of you can go in without worry."

As the saying goes, since I've already been drenched in the rain, why should you get to hold an umbrella?

Therefore, without any hesitation, Xiaoxiang chose to keep it a secret, not breathing a word about 'Senior Brother Dousheng'. At the same time, he prayed silently in his heart:

'I hope you guys run into him too!'

Right now, he was the only one on the field who had gone in and been instantly kicked out by Dao Proving Mountain. It was highly embarrassing and humiliating. But if there were more people instantly kicked out...

Then that would be a different story.

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiang simply closed his eyes, putting on a cold front that pushed others thousands of miles away. He clearly wasn't prepared to answer any more questions.

Seeing this, Fairy Fengyuan and Changyangzi could only turn away helplessly.

"Something's not right with Xiaoxiang."

Fairy Fengyuan knitted her brows together, gazing toward Dao Proving Mountain, and suddenly spoke up. "Speaking of which, what about that independent cultivator? Why hasn't he come out yet?"

"Instead, it was Xiaoxiang, who followed him in, that came out... Changyang, you don't suppose they bumped into each other and that independent cultivator eliminated him, do you?"

"Impossible."

Changyangzi shook his head. "An independent cultivator? On what grounds?"

"I won't deny that since he dared to enter Dao Proving Mountain, and Senior Brother Xuanhe didn't stop him, he likely has some special means on him."

"But at best, he could only tangle with an ordinary outer sect disciple. Xiaoxiang came right back out immediately after going in. One look is enough to tell he couldn't even last ten moves."

"Do you think an independent cultivator could accomplish that?"

"The way I see it, in all likelihood, that independent cultivator was matched against an outer sect disciple for his first battle on Dao Proving Mountain and is locked in a bitter struggle, with no victor decided yet."

"Which is why he has been delayed until now."

Fairy Fengyuan nodded after listening. She also felt that compared to the fantasy of an independent cultivator instantly defeating Xiaoxiang, Changyangzi's conclusion was far more reasonable.

"Regardless, I still have to enter Dao Proving Mountain."

Changyangzi's gaze was resolute.

"If I run into that True Transmission who eliminated Xiaoxiang, I can test my sword against him. Even if I lose, fighting against a True Transmission will definitely yield some gains."

"Then go on ahead."

Fairy Fengyuan smiled faintly. "I don't know why, but I feel incredibly anxious, so I won't go in. I'll observe a bit longer... I wish you victory in your first battle, Fellow Daoist."

Changyangzi didn't reply, simply rising up on his evasion light.

In a flash, he flew into Dao Proving Mountain.

...

"No opponents."

Wang Ping carried his saber on his shoulder as he strolled along the path of Dao Proving Mountain. It was as if he weren't here to challenge the mountain, but merely out for a spring outing in the countryside. His expression was relaxed and carefree.

Even though a new opponent appeared with every layer up, each one stronger than the last, Wang Ping didn't even blink. His posture of carrying the saber on his shoulder didn't change at all, yet invisible, formless slashes had already swept through his opponents' bodies, slicing them in half at the waist on the spot.

And such a scene had already occurred a full three times.

"So weak, far too weak. I haven't even exerted any effort yet."

Wang Ping looked around, checking the tier he was currently on—the 333rd layer. Yet, up to this point, he had only defeated three opponents.

"Is this a level skip?"

"Because my strength is too great, defeating just one opponent let me skip the 111 layers of this stage, and I skipped three times in a row?"

Wang Ping felt somewhat delighted.

Regardless, this result proved that he wasn't just blindly arrogant. His combat power truly was strong—even within the Immortal Gate, he was capable of holding his own.

Just at that moment.

Rumble!

Following his gaze, Wang Ping saw a stone stele suddenly rise further up the mountain path ahead of him. Clear words gradually surfaced on the stele:

[You have successfully cleared the 333rd layer and obtained the qualifications to register your name on Dao Proving Mountain. Would you like to register your name? After registering, an imprint avatar will be left behind.]

"This must be what Xuanhe mentioned..."

Realization dawned in Wang Ping's heart. This was a special privilege granted only to those who performed exceptionally well on Dao Proving Mountain. They could leave behind an imprint to continuously harvest subsequent cultivators.

"After I register my name, my imprint will remain on this 333rd layer. When latecomers reach this point and wish to continue upward, they might be matched against my imprint. If they beat me, my qi destiny will be harvested. If they lose, I will harvest theirs. And the vast majority of people won't be able to win."

To put it more directly.

By leaving behind an imprint, one could continuously seize qi destiny without even entering Dao Proving Mountain. This held immense benefits for cultivation.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping immediately spoke.

"Register name: Dousheng!"

As his words fell, a beam of light suddenly flared upon the stone stele. It swept over Wang Ping's body once before finally sinking back into the mountainside.

Almost at the same time, a stream of clear energy descended from the sky.

"Huu..."

Wang Ping let out a long breath. Even though he had skipped straight through 333 layers, the amount of qi destiny seized was not small, and the natural feedback wasn't lacking in the slightest.

He immediately sat cross-legged, bathing in the clear stream. Following that, a feeling identical to when he had broken through to become a Loose Immortal and initiated Borrowing Qi to Manifest Magic welled up within him. In his daze, he actually saw that streak of Hidden Dragon Meridian-Circulating Nether-Penetrating Qi again. He saw its billions of rays of light, and shockingly, a single thread of it cascaded down toward him.

His magic power skyrocketed!

At this moment, the magic power within Wang Ping's body surged madly, like a bursting dam. However, his aura remained deeply hidden, completely locked within his physical body.

Yin Water on the earth; the law demands Latent Concealment.

And with the elevation of his magic power, the things Wang Ping could 'conceal' were no longer limited to his aura and physical form, gradually extending toward broader concepts.

...

"Just a little more!"

On Dao Proving Mountain, Changyangzi wore a cold, stern expression. His body merging with his sword light, he forged ahead with indomitable will, slaying yet another opponent. He finally arrived at the goal of his trip.

"The 333rd layer..."

Magic power was divided into nine grades. Every three grades marked a qualitative transformation, and whether one could clear the 333rd layer was the crux of whether their magic power could usher in that qualitative change.

"Back then, Senior Brother Yuhong's imprint was left right here on the 333rd layer. In order to obtain Master's legacy after his death, I must shatter his imprint and take his place. Only then can my path to immortality progress a step further. Otherwise, I'm afraid that for my entire life, I'll only be able to condense a single minor Divine Power."

Thinking of this, Changyangzi grew even more resolute.

"Bring it on!"

Although many people had left their imprints on the 333rd layer, and who one was matched against was theoretically random, there were actually patterns to be found.

For example, he was a sword cultivator.

Thus, there was a high probability he would be matched with an imprint that also used a saber or sword magic artifact. It was very difficult for him to be matched with imprints belonging to those skilled in spells, or those whose magic artifacts were special items like pagodas, bells, or cauldrons. And as far as he knew, out of all the imprints on the 333rd layer, Senior Brother Yuhong was the only one who used a sword.

So theoretically, he was guaranteed to be matched with this senior brother.

However, just as Changyangzi roused his spirit and prepared for a fight to the death, the figure gradually taking shape on the 333rd layer left him stunned.

It wasn't the sword-bearing man he had imagined.

Instead, it was a different young man. He held a saber in one hand, the blade resting over his shoulder, while his other arm swung casually as he marched forward with large strides.

The stone stele beside him also revealed his Daoist title.

[Dousheng].