Chapter 160: Memories of Bitter Cultivation

"Who is this?"

Changyangzi didn't recognize him at first. The young man's face was completely unfamiliar, yet this was somehow a disciple capable of leaving his mark here.

He shouldn't have been a stranger.

Could it be a disciple from another immortal peak who had only recently left his mark? Was his luck really that bad, running into a newly manifested opponent who just so happened to be a saber cultivator?

Still, a cultivator's eidetic spiritual sense rarely failed. He had merely been searching his memories of the Immortal Gate's disciples. Once he recovered his wits, he remembered the young man's face—it was the independent cultivator he had seen just earlier. An even greater wave of shock exploded in his mind.

An independent cultivator???

'Damn it! He's the one who defeated Xiaoxiang!'

Changyangzi instantly connected the dots. Alarm bells shrieked in his head as his flying sword pulsed with a warning, signaling an intense, impending crisis!

"Strike!"

Without a fraction of a second's hesitation, sword light flared between Changyangzi's brows. A sword pill, brilliant as a star, shot forth from his forehead.

He poured his dharma power into the sword pill without holding anything back, erupting with magnificent sword light. His dharma power was drawn from the Taibai Weapon-Wielding Divine Fiend Qi and was known as Vanguard Crushing—anciently called Breaking the Formation or Destroying the Enemy's Armor. Unleashed like this, its offensive power was unparalleled among all arts!

'Block him!'

Changyangzi roared inwardly. His spiritual sense trembled as the sword pill—fueled by every drop of his dharma power—swept a horizontal line and pushed straight ahead.

He had no idea where the attack would come from.

So he had to gamble.

He bet that the opponent's strike would come straight at his front. With his Vanguard Crushing dharma power empowering a mid-grade artifact sword pill, he could rip through any head-on assault!

"Boom!"

On the 333rd floor, a deafening boom rolled through the air like a thunderclap. Visible ripples blasted outward in concentric rings between Changyangzi and the saber-wielding youth.

Changyangzi's counterattack worked. The ever-victorious Vanguard Crushing dharma power ripped open a rift in time, revealing the otherwise invisible slash. The saber light was as graceful as a startled swan and as fluid as a swimming dragon. It was sharpened to the absolute extreme, yet felt as heavy as a towering mountain.

The moment he saw that saber light, Changyangzi froze.

"A dharma treasure!?"

This son of a bitch... it wasn't fair!

He was an outer sect disciple using a mid-grade artifact, yet this independent cultivator was wielding a dharma treasure? Where was the justice in that?! It was completely reversing the celestial order!

Changyangzi's eyes bulged as he watched that overwhelming saber light effortlessly swallow his flying sword before completely filling his vision.

...

Outside Dao Proving Mountain.

"Boom!"

With a loud crash, Changyangzi stumbled backward out of the mountain. He immediately repeated the exact same motion Xiaoxiang had made, instinctively reaching up to touch his neck.

Is my head still attached?

After freezing in a daze for a long moment, Changyangzi blankly turned his head and locked eyes with Xiaoxiang. Both men simultaneously wore looks of profound, mutual understanding.

One look was all it took: You were also killed by him.

"How was it?"

Xiaoxiang sent a spiritual transmission, a faint smile on his lips. "How does it feel to be instantly killed without even catching a glimpse of the attack?"

"Huh?"

Changyangzi paused, staring back. "What do you mean, not catching a glimpse? It was obviously a saber... Don't tell me you didn't even know how you died?"

Xiaoxiang was speechless. "...?"

The budding sense of camaraderie between the two men instantly evaporated. Xiaoxiang's face darkened and he immediately turned away, while Changyangzi let out a contemptuous sneer.

After all, even if they had both been killed in a single strike, at least he had seen that the other man was using a saber! That made him inherently superior to someone who hadn't even seen the weapon. This thought vastly improved Changyangzi's gloomy mood over being instantly eliminated—until a soft, sweet voice called out:

"Fellow Daoist Changyang?"

Changyangzi looked over to see Fairy Fengyuan drifting toward him. She asked curiously, "How did it go? Did you run into the true transmission disciple who defeated Xiaoxiang?"

Changyangzi didn't hesitate for a second. He shook his head.

"No."

What a joke. I'm soaking wet out here in the rain, why should I hold an umbrella for you? Go climb the mountain yourself! Better yet, I hope you run into that independent cultivator and get knocked out in a single slash!

"Hmm..."

Seeing this, Fairy Fengyuan furrowed her brow. As her dharma power circulated, her mind became as clear as a mirror. 'Both Xiaoxiang and Changyang are hiding something.'

Her dharma power stemmed from the Brilliant Illumination of the Six Directions Qi. It was called Blazing Sun—known in antiquity as Illuminating the Six Directions or the Brilliant Heaven Mirror—and it possessed both martial and literary applications. Its martial application naturally manifested as a blazing fire that scorched the void and left nothing unburned. Its literary application illuminated the dark and demonic, piercing through deliberately hidden secrets.

On a grander scale, it could even divine the secrets of heaven and shatter seals.

Naturally, her dharma power wasn't pure enough and her cultivation wasn't high enough to reach that level. At most, she could sense if someone was hiding their true thoughts.

Of course, every dharma had a counter.

As far as she knew, the natural counter to Blazing Sun was a dharma power known as Latent Concealment. When the two clashed, the victor was simply whoever wielded a higher grade of power.

'What should I do? Maybe I shouldn't go...'

Two people in a row had run into trouble and kept their lips sealed about it. Fairy Fengyuan was certain that something bizarre was happening inside Dao Proving Mountain.

Just as she was hesitating, a voice rang out—

"Hey, am I seeing things? Did another person leave their name on Dao Proving Mountain? I think it's on the 333rd floor."

"Who is it?"

"Dousheng... does anyone know him?"

At first, it was merely confusion and idle chatter among the crowd. But as information spread, that murmuring quickly escalated into an overwhelming uproar.

The reason was simple:

"Are you kidding me... an independent cultivator?!?"

"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible!"

"Is Dao Proving Mountain malfunctioning?"

"Haha! I won the bet!"

At the same time, the inner sect disciples observing from above Dao Proving Mountain all turned to look at Daoist Xuanhe. Unrestrained astonishment shone in their eyes.

"Good heavens... he really is a prodigy?"

"To carve his name into Dao Proving Mountain... even if his origins are that of Human Firewood from the furnaces, that's enough for the sect to make an exception and accept him as an outer sect disciple, just like they did for you back then, Xuanhe."

"Congratulations."

The three inner sect disciples chimed in with their congratulations. Daoist Xuanhe kept his expression stony and clenched his jaw, projecting the profound image of an expert who wouldn't blink even if a mountain collapsed before him.

Inwardly, however, he was ready to cough up blood. Leaving a mark on the 333rd floor wasn't much on its own, and the boy was still far away from defeating Senior Sister You, but how much time had actually passed? Surging to the 333rd floor in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn meant his strength vastly exceeded that tier.

This wasn't right at all.

Daoist Xuanhe grew increasingly nervous, staring intently at Dao Proving Mountain. 'He won't actually succeed in challenging Senior Sister You, will he?'

'Please, anything but that!'

...

Saber light flashed.

Another figure was severed at the waist. Wang Ping finally halted and took a deep breath, surveying the messy aftermath of the fierce battle.

"As expected, the Time-Stealing Thief isn't omnipotent."

Once he reached the 600th floor, he could no longer skip through his battles. Every opponent he faced from then on had mastered a method to crack the profundity of the Time-Stealing Thief.

When his invisible slash—which skipped the process to arrive straight at the result—was countered, his saber light, though still overwhelmingly powerful, ultimately lacked the absolute dread of a guaranteed kill. As a result, the higher he climbed, the more times he was forced to swing his saber, culminating in the battle he had just finished.

"The 665th floor."

His opponent on this floor had forced him to utilize the profundities of the Art of War. After three hundred and sixty slashes, he had fused heaven and earth into a single ultimate strike just to secure his victory.

"And it's just as Xuanhe said."

"The Fivefold Heaven-Stealing Law might be a universally recognized forbidden art within the Immortal Gate, but quite a few people actually know it. It's just that no one investigates, and those who practice it keep it hidden."

After all, it was simply too useful.

"I came from the Eight Trigrams Furnace, and there's no need to hide my past as Human Firewood for the Heaven-Stealing Thief. Because of that, knowing the Time-Stealing Thief makes perfect sense."

Wang Ping calculated inwardly.

If he wanted to become a true transmission disciple, he naturally had to make his background look pristine. Clashing with the Heaven-Stealing Thief and nearly dying in the process was a fantastic addition to his resume.

After all, the enemy of an enemy was a friend. Without that history, how else could he prove that he and the Heaven-Stealing Thief were irreconcilable enemies, or demonstrate his unshakeable loyalty to the Immortal Gate?

"The 666th floor. That should be about it."

Stepping onto the platform, Wang Ping sheathed his Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade and waited patiently.

'This is the floor where You Xuexin left her mark.'

'I have the Desire Realm Celestial Body, and according to Xuanhe, that venomous woman Daoist Nun You possesses the Bliss Immortal Physique. The two are basically cut from the same cloth.'

Wang Ping was doing the exact same thing Changyangzi had done: utilizing a specific trait of his own to force Dao Proving Mountain to match him with a corresponding opponent.

Changyangzi was simply unlucky.

Wang Ping, on the other hand, had a tough enough fate and luck blazing as bright as the midday sun.

"...She's here!"

A second later, Wang Ping's eyes lit up. A beautiful silhouette—one he had dreamed about day and night—slowly materialized on the platform, stepping out from the void and into reality.

It was a woman in a blue and white Daoist robe with hair cascading to her waist. Her features were cold and aloof, yet she exuded a lethally enchanting allure. She stirred such an intense urge to pin her down and ravage her that it could shake one's focus and strip away their reason. Her temperament was a mass of complete contradictions, yet somehow perfectly harmonious.

'You Xuexin!'

Wang Ping took a deep breath and drew the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade once more. A ferocious sneer tugged at the corner of his lips. He had waited entirely too long for this day.

Moreover, the instant he laid eyes on Daoist Nun You's mark, his Divine Intent had already handed him the outcome.

'Not a threat in the slightest... I'm stronger!'

At that thought, excitement surged through Wang Ping.

By now, as a mature expert in the Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank, he had long since formed his own set of principles regarding the philosophy and practice of the martial path.

Simply put:

When facing an equal opponent, a martial artist should hold back thirty percent of their strength. Going through the motions was enough; there was no need to get too serious and ruin the harmony between them.

When facing a stronger opponent, one should hold back seventy percent of their strength. Since he couldn't win anyway, it was better to save his energy so he could run away faster instead of fighting a useless struggle to the death.

Finally, and most importantly, when facing a weaker opponent, one must strike with a hundred and twenty percent of their strength! After all, he had cultivated bitterly to this day for the sole purpose of viciously bullying the weak!