Chapter 166: None of Them Are Simple

"Rumble!"

The world trembled. A streak of brilliant light plummeted from the sky and smashed heavily into the earth, throwing up dust that choked the air for thousands of miles. Vast fissures spiderwebbed outward from the point of impact.

Like a volcanic eruption, the vast expanse shook. Infinite rays of light blasted from the cracks, surging into the endless sky to churn the sea of clouds before blossoming across the firmament. From afar, they looked like a series of mushroom clouds. Within this blast radius, every living creature—human and beast alike—was wiped out.

Such a spectacle could only be called grand.

And this was on Bliss Immortal Peak. As one of the Eight Immortal Peaks of the Immortal Gate, its spiritual qi environment was overwhelmingly dense, which should have severely suppressed the destructive power of any spell.

Yet it still caused such devastation.

Clearly, the cultivators fighting this battle were out for blood. Divine powers, dharma treasures, secret arts—they had resorted to every conceivable method in a true struggle of life and death.

And the outcome reflected that.

High in the heavens, Daoist Xuanhe, Yun Xuantong, and Daoist Yuhong—three inner sect disciples—rode their flying lights, coldly looking down at the magnificent devastation below.

The trembling of the ground had not stopped; in fact, it was growing more violent. A Divine Powers cultivator had fallen. Their dissipating divine powers dragged along their aligned qi, triggering a tremendous upheaval in the world. A hundred years from now, this vast expanse of thousands of miles would surely transform into a boundless marshland.

"It's the Nine Marshes Nether Demon-Suppressing Qi,"

Daoist Yuhong muttered in a low voice, knowing the truth full well. 'It matches Red Brows's qi exactly. It seems Red Brows is the one who died, and Qixia survived.'

Of course, he didn't say that out loud.

Since the man had appeared as a bandit cultivator, he would die as a bandit cultivator. As for the inner sect disciple Red Brows, he would simply be recorded as missing.

'A pity this wasn't on Dao Proving Mountain.'

'Otherwise, killing Red Brows would have yielded a substantial amount of qi destiny. But it can't be helped. Dao Proving Mountain is too rigid; it doesn't allow ganging up on people...'

Even while he thought this, Daoist Yuhong's hands were not slow.

"Whoosh!"

In a flash, three massive hands formed from magic power reached out of thin air, happily claiming the legacy the "bandit cultivator" had so generously left them upon his death.

But the moment they grabbed the loot, Daoist Yuhong and Yun Xuantong cursed aloud.

'It's the Object-Stealing Thief!'

They both glared at Xuanhe, whose expression remained completely composed. They gritted their teeth silently. 'The Object-Stealing Thief specializes in snatching external objects. His corpse-looting efficiency is way higher than ours.'

'He actually swiped the lion's share!'

However, the rule had always been that whoever had the most skill took the biggest cut. As much as they cursed him, there was nothing they could do. They could only turn their attention to the other bandit cultivator.

Answering them was a streak of light shooting into the sky.

Taking advantage of his companion's death and Xuanhe's group squabbling over the spoils, the other bandit cultivator reacted with lightning speed. He had already secretly prepared a life-saving escape art.

Unleashing it now, his figure transformed into a brilliant rainbow, vanishing over the distant horizon in the blink of an eye. But how could the three of them give up such a precious opportunity to kick a man while he was down? They instantly summoned their flying lights and pursued him without stopping.

But after chasing for only a short while...

They didn't catch sight of the fleeing bandit cultivator's light. Instead, they saw another flying light approaching them. It dispersed, revealing a woman in an elegant palace dress.

"Xuanhe? Yuhong?"

The woman looked surprised as she saw the three pursuers. "How did you all end up together? And you look like you just fought a major battle. Did you run into bandit cultivators?"

Hearing this, the three men immediately halted their advance.

An incredibly strange expression crossed Daoist Yuhong's face as he looked at the woman in the palace dress. "Qixia, you certainly have some nerve, daring to stay here."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Fairy Qixia smiled, though her beautiful eyes were entirely devoid of warmth. "This is Bliss Immortal Peak, and I am an inner sect disciple. Let me ask you—who would dare to kill me?"

At those words, the three inwardly cursed this bitch's quick reflexes. Knowing she couldn't escape, she had used her escape art to put some distance between them, changed her clothes, and come right back. She had undoubtedly wiped away every trace that could tie her to the bandit cultivators. Under these circumstances, it was impossible for them to attack her again.

In the Immortal Gate, these matters required evidence.

Only what could be proven was considered fact. Even if everyone knew the truth in their hearts, without evidence, without catching them in the act, an unproven crime simply didn't exist.

"...You misunderstand, Fairy."

A second later, Daoist Xuanhe flashed a light smile. "We did indeed encounter bandit cultivators. After a bitter struggle, we managed to kill one, but we accidentally let the other slip away."

"Did you happen to see him, Fairy?"

Fairy Qixia tilted her head in innocent confusion. "I'm sorry, I didn't see a thing."

"Then never mind."

Daoist Xuanhe wasn't surprised. He continued, "Time is of the essence. We must continue hunting that bandit cultivator, so we won't chat any longer. Please excuse us, Fairy."

With that, Daoist Xuanhe took the lead, rising on his flying light and shooting into the distance. Beside him, Daoist Yuhong and Yun Xuantong paused for a second. Yuhong quickly caught on and hurried after him. Yun Xuantong was the slowest to react, but realization soon dawned on his face, and he too summoned his flying light to follow.

Instead, it was Fairy Qixia who stood frozen in place.

'They gave up that easily?'

She couldn't understand it. She had prepared herself for a vicious verbal spar with these three animals, fully confident they wouldn't dare attack her in broad daylight.

But they had just left.

That wasn't right. Given the fine tradition of Immortal Gate disciples—who would scrape off a layer of dirt to take with them just walking down the road—how could they let this go?

Unless...

'Oh no!'

Fairy Qixia shuddered, her pretty face—which had just relaxed after escaping disaster—tightening once more. A terrifying suspicion leaped into her mind.

A moment later, her suspicion was confirmed.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous crash, Fairy Qixia whipped around, only to see three blurry figures hurtling toward her. Their auras were completely masked, making it impossible to even tell if they were men or women.

"Hehehe... Fairy Qixia, we've finally found you!"

"We were going to strike earlier, but you were with Xuanhe and the others. We couldn't find an opening. Now that they're gone, your time has come."

"Die!"

That textbook opening line, combined with how tightly they had wrapped themselves from head to toe, instantly exposed the identities of these three approaching killers.

Bandit cultivators!

'Xuanhe, Yuhong, Yun Xuantong... you lot of Biyang's!'

Animals!

Fairy Qixia couldn't help but curse aloud on the spot. However, she didn't dare hesitate. She instantly ignited her magic power and summoned her flying light, fleeing for her life into the distance once more.

...

Myriad Colors Blessed Land.

Wang Ping opened his eyes and dispelled his Sound Perception spell. His expression was a little strange. 'Good lord, not a single one of these people is simple!'

Especially that last maneuver. Fairy Qixia abandoned her identity as a bandit cultivator, only for Daoist Xuanhe's group to immediately swap into bandit cultivator gear and rush right back out to continue the hunt. To change identities that quickly, this clearly wasn't their first rodeo. It turned out every single one of them had moonlighted as a bandit cultivator!

Who in the Immortal Gate wasn't a bandit cultivator?

'No wonder the bandit cultivators can never be wiped out.'

Wang Ping sighed inwardly.

Resources were limited to begin with. Add to that the Immortal Gate's rule where the strong prey on the weak, and moonlighting as a bandit cultivator in one's spare time to fight for resources was entirely logical.

'I bet even Daoist Nun You has played the bandit cultivator before.'

'After all, even she has times when she's short on cash. While true transmission disciples might not lack a master's legacy, they still have to earn their own resources. The Immortal Gate isn't a charity.'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping breathed a sigh of relief.

Looked at from this angle, the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Series had probably flooded the Immortal Gate long ago. It was called a forbidden art, but in reality, no one cared.

'Rather than the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Series, the Immortal Gate's real focus should be the Heaven-Stealing Thief himself. I wonder what that old bastard actually did back in the day. Given that he has true transmission accomplices, it definitely wasn't a small matter... Yet strangely enough, he still hasn't reached Qi Refining. How bizarre.'

By now, Wang Ping had a certain understanding of the Immortal Gate.

Without a doubt, the Immortal Gate was a towering behemoth.

But for such a behemoth to put a bounty on a mere Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivator—and to fail to kill him even now—was utterly absurd.

'The water here runs deep.'

Wang Ping shook his head, choosing not to delve further. It wasn't his place to get involved in such matters yet. He would need to at least become a true transmission disciple before he was qualified to touch those secrets.

As for right now.

'Xuanhe and his group went off to hunt someone down. They probably won't be back anytime soon. In that case, I might as well tally up my harvest. Who knows, there might be a pleasant surprise.'

With that in mind, Wang Ping was quite content to linger in Myriad Colors Blessed Land. As he strolled around leisurely, he used his spiritual sense to sort through his latest spoils.

First were the souls of the three outer sect disciples.

Wang Ping did not hesitate, tossing them directly into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag. The demons, already starving and thirsty for blood, swarmed over the souls and began to gorge themselves.

It didn't take long for the demons to devour the three souls clean. Then, they began to divide. The demons, already numbering in the tens of thousands, suddenly started multiplying, growing increasingly ferocious in the process. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, Wang Ping discovered that the demon count had surged to an absolute limit.

'One hundred and twenty-nine thousand, six hundred...'

Exactly the sum of a grand cycle.

Faintly, it seemed some profound mystery was brewing within the flag, resonating with the unseen qi of heaven and earth. Yet, it was still just one final push away from a breakthrough.

'The next time I go to Dao Proving Mountain, I'll choose the path of the 'Weapon' and enhance this demonic flag. That might just be enough to birth a second profound mystery within it.'

Wang Ping calculated in his mind.

During this trip to Dao Proving Mountain, he had actually held back. He had only utilized the Battle-Victorious Demon-Quelling Blade and the Nine Mysterious Demon-Subduing Transformations, keeping the Heavenly Demon Flag in reserve.

'If I use the Heavenly Demon Flag next time, I can have the demons protect me while I disguise myself as an orthodox cultivator who specializes in spells and long-range combat. Then, after the enemy exhausts themselves fighting through the demons and finally manages to reach me, I can spring up and surprise them with a slash of my blade.'

'Or I could just hide among the demons.'

'I can disguise myself as an ordinary demon and launch a sneak attack when they least expect it... Anyway, there are plenty of methods. My tactics can sink even lower.'

From this, it was clear that his path in the Martial Dao was still very long.

Wang Ping continued tallying his spoils.

'Dharma currency... not bad. The three of them combined had over ten thousand coins. I just don't know what these incense dharma coins are used for besides buying things.'

'And there are five jade slips.'

Wang Ping lowered his eyes, sweeping them with his spiritual sense.

'Taibai Fiend-Grasping Sword Qi, Mountain-Moving Peak-Shifting Scripture, Violent Sun, Hidden Object Divination, and Pill Manipulation. Two of them are cultivation methods, and three are spells.'

Unfortunately, the cultivation methods were of little use to him.

After all, his path on the Dao was already set. Cultivation methods corresponding to the qi of other heavens and earths could serve as a reference at best. It would be difficult to actually practice them; trying would only backfire.

The three spells, however, were a different story.

'The Violent Sun spell is purely for slaughter. Put bluntly, it's a super-sized fireball spell. The Hidden Object Divination spell can divine the secrets of heaven, making it a must-learn for cultivators.'

For both of these, Wang Ping already possessed alternative equivalents. At most, they would add some variety to his combat tactics, but they wouldn't offer any significant boost to his actual strength.

However, when he looked at the last one, Wang Ping's eyes lit up.

'Pill Manipulation... An alchemy technique?'