Chapter 63: A Martial Artist Battles an Immortal!

Outside the quiet room, Fairy Yuerou formed a hand seal.

Her spiritual sense rippled outward, slowly sinking into the formation outside the quiet room's door and silently seeping deeper inside.

Soon, she caught sight of Wang Ping inside the room.

He sat cross-legged, seemingly deep in cultivation. Beads of sweat occasionally rolled down his forehead. Seeing him like this, Fairy Yuerou couldn't hold back a scoff.

'What a fool.'

What era was this? Still cultivating the hard way?

Since he had personally experienced the wonders of the Life-Stealing Thief, he should have understood that blindly cultivating step by step in the Immortal Gate was a dead end!

Without even a cheat, what kind of immortality was he cultivating?

'You just wasted several days of my time.'

Fairy Yuerou scoffed inwardly. She silently circulated her spiritual sense, and the hairpin in her hand instantly pierced the quiet room's formation, locking directly onto the acupoint at the center of Wang Ping's brow.

This hairpin was a magical artifact she had painstakingly refined, known as the Spirit-Gathering Spike. It specialized in attacking a cultivator's sea of consciousness. She could deploy and retrieve it at will, and its speed surpassed even the limits of spiritual sense detection, making it an invincible weapon. She had been a bandit cultivator for quite some time now, and this artifact was the biggest reason she was still alive today.

After all, in battles between cultivators, magical treasures always came first, and Divine Powers second.

Even with subpar cultivation, a top-tier magical artifact allowed one to punch above their weight. If they also mastered powerful Divine Powers, they would be invincible among their peers.

If that weren't the case, the Divine Weapon Courtyard wouldn't dare claim the title of the Immortal Gate's number one institution.

"Die!"

Fairy Yuerou pointed her finger in a hand seal, pouring all her spiritual sense into the Spirit-Gathering Spike. She aimed it at Wang Ping, and a brilliant trail of flaming light flashed and vanished.

Pfft!

A split second later, a spray of blood erupted. Sitting silently in cultivation, Wang Ping didn't react at all. His sea of consciousness was pierced straight through, and he lost all signs of life in a daze.

The entire process flowed like water, going exactly as Fairy Yuerou had planned. Without sparing a second glance at Wang Ping's corpse, she quickly retracted the Spirit-Gathering Spike and her spiritual sense. She then began scattering true fire talismans, intending to destroy the evidence and burn the entire cave dwelling to the ground.

A moment later.

Boom!

With a massive explosion, the cave dwelling was swallowed by raging true flames. Standing in the distance, Fairy Yuerou confirmed that nothing had gone wrong before riding her escape light away.

Soon, she arrived at the base of a mountain peak that touched the clouds.

"That really went smoothly."

Landing, Fairy Yuerou felt a bit surprised herself. "It's so quiet. There aren't even any of the Immortal Gate's patrol disciples checking on passing independent cultivators."

Doubt flashed through her mind, but she quickly rationalized it. "It must be because the Eight Trigrams Furnace is about to open to forge a treasure. A true transmission disciple issued a decree, and most disciples were ordered to the Divine Weapon Courtyard. Naturally, no one is left to patrol."

But this was perfect.

The more people focused on the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the easier her plan would be to execute. As long as she pulled off this job, she would have hope of passing her Human Tribulation!

"You seem to be in a good mood?"

A familiar voice rang by her ear. Fairy Yuerou turned around, her pretty face flushing slightly. "Forgive the display, Senior Brother. I was just feeling a bit moved."

Standing before her was a handsome young man.

Looking at him, her impression of the man quickly surfaced in her mind: 'Senior Brother Guo, an outer sect disciple of Bliss Immortal Peak. I really want to dual cultivate with him...'

'Never mind, how could I possibly handle Senior Brother's magical power? I heard he's divorced fourteen times already, while I've only divorced three times. My dual cultivation foundation is far inferior to his. If we actually did it, I'd probably be sucked dry and turned into a cripple.'

Fairy Yuerou quickly reined in her stray thoughts and said respectfully, "Reporting to Senior Brother, Pingjiangzi refused. I had no choice but to clean up the scene. I'm afraid we'll have to find another independent cultivator from Soul-Falling Studio."

"Is that so?"

The handsome young man nodded, then gave exactly the response she had imagined: "Yuerou, do you want to try dual cultivating with me?"

"Don't worry, I won't suck you dry."

Hearing this, Fairy Yuerou felt immediately flattered, instinctively revealing a look of anticipation—before a brilliant light bloomed between them.

Pfft!

The Spirit-Gathering Spike struck like lightning, surpassing the limits of what spiritual sense could track. The handsome young man didn't even have time to react before it pierced straight through him.

At the same time, the previously delighted Fairy Yuerou withdrew all emotion, a sinister look falling over her face. "It really was an illusion. Is this Dream Seeding or Nightmare Invocation? Pingjiangzi... to think I underestimated you. You've actually mastered Cosmic Orbit Respiration?"

Fairy Yuerou's reaction had been incredibly fast.

She had already mastered Telepathic Spiritual Perception and achieved a Flawless True Body. For Wang Ping to still be able to bewitch her with spells meant his cultivation had to be higher than hers.

However, since she could detect the illusion and break free, his cultivation couldn't be ridiculously high. At the very least, he shouldn't have condensed true magical power yet.

Then it could only be Cosmic Orbit Respiration.

Tribulation Transcending First Layer. Having reached this step, he was only short of condensing magical power before he could completely pass the Human Tribulation and be officially accepted into the Immortal Gate as an outer sect disciple.

Among independent cultivators, someone at this level with a bit of savings could even become the master of a blessed land, hiring other independent cultivators to work for them and hoard resources for the immortal dao. For example, the masters of Soul-Falling Studio and Essence-Nourishing Ridge were both independent cultivators of this caliber.

But Fairy Yuerou was still utterly baffled.

"With such cultivation, how did you fall this low? Or rather... you aren't Pingjiangzi? Could it be you're a bald donkey who infiltrated from the Brahma Nation?"

Questions piled up one after another.

However, no one answered her. The corpse of "Senior Brother Guo" on the ground remained motionless, and the illusion showed absolutely no signs of shattering.

"Damn it..."

Fairy Yuerou frowned deeply. As long as Wang Ping answered her and stirred his spiritual sense, she was confident she could trace it back to the source and shatter the bindings of this illusion.

But the other party seemed a bit too cautious.

'The caster must have experience fighting other cultivators. That's why he's guarding against me... Is he really a bald donkey from the Brahma Nation?'

Fairy Yuerou was feeling unsure. After all, from what she knew, Pingjiangzi hadn't even seen blood in his entire life. What battle experience could he possibly have?

At this thought, she immediately circulated her spiritual sense.

"Clear the delusions, calm the heart, suppress the thoughts, lock the spirit... Break!"

With that chanted spell, her howling spiritual sense smashed into the illusionary world before her. Yet, the result was like a sledgehammer striking hundred-times-tempered steel.

The illusion didn't budge an inch.

Even so, Fairy Yuerou sharply noticed the issue: 'This isn't right. The gap in cultivation between us shouldn't be this massive.'

'Furthermore, I'm clearly deeply trapped in his illusion, yet he hasn't moved in for the kill.'

'Why?'

Fairy Yuerou's mind raced, and she quickly formed a theory. 'It seems I overestimated him. His abilities are limited—he hasn't completely controlled me!'

'He must have only used a spell to trap the portion of my spiritual sense I split off earlier to probe that quiet room. My main body and the majority of my spiritual sense aren't trapped, so there's nothing he can do to me. He can't kill me. At the same time, this trapped sliver of my spiritual sense can't shake his illusionary world.'

In that case, the solution was simple.

The next second, a ruthless look flashed across Fairy Yuerou's pretty face. Without a moment's hesitation, she backhanded the Spirit-Gathering Spike straight into her own forehead.

She killed herself.

Boom!

As Fairy Yuerou's corpse hit the ground, the entire illusionary world shattered. It dissipated like smoke, revealing the reality around her.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Outside the quiet room, Fairy Yuerou staggered to her feet. The phantom pain of suicide still lingered in the center of her brow, but without any hesitation, she instantly activated the Daoist robe she was wearing.

Immediately, a ring of multicolored light bloomed across her body, shielding her firmly. But in almost the very next instant, a fleshy palm pressed lightly against the barrier. It looked utterly ordinary, but it instantly unleashed a thunderous boom, shattering the colored light into flying specks.

The two forces deadlocked for a few breaths before a victor emerged.

"How is this possible..."

Fairy Yuerou looked up in shock. Right in the center of the colored light protecting her, a clear fist imprint had appeared, collapsing inward toward her.

Bang!

The colored light exploded, and the iron fist punched straight through. The five fingers snapped open, transforming from a fist into a palm, and shoved straight forward with a crackling burst of popping bones.

At the same time, Fairy Yuerou completely ignored the palm thrusting right before her eyes. Instead, her beautiful eyes went wide as her ruthless gaze locked directly onto Wang Ping himself behind the strike. Simultaneously, the Spirit-Gathering Spike shot up, blazing with flaming light, aiming to pierce Wang Ping's sea of consciousness first.

Crack!

In that life-and-death split second, Wang Ping's thrusting hand suddenly emitted a tearing sound. Then, his arm—already stretched to its absolute limit—somehow extended a massive length further out of thin air!

The entire sequence was like drawing a bow and nocking an arrow.

Wang Ping's body pulled back like a bowstring, while his arm shot forward like a loosed arrow. His palm and fingers, acting as the arrowhead, thrust in front of Fairy Yuerou in a flash!

One step ahead meant being ahead every step of the way!

This palm pressed into Fairy Yuerou's forehead ahead of her strike. Matchless force poured out, violently shaking her delicate body and scattering most of her spiritual sense.

The Spirit-Gathering Spike that had been primed and ready to strike died stillborn.

With her winning trump card lost and the distance between them so close, Wang Ping naturally wasn't going to give Fairy Yuerou any chance to mount a counterattack.

Smack!

With a sharp sound, Wang Ping's five fingers formed hooks, clamping tightly over Fairy Yuerou's skull. His nails sliced into her flesh like blades.

"You had better not move, Daoist friend."

Only now did Wang Ping finally utter his first words since the fight began. "I can definitely crush your skull faster than you can kill me."

"..."

As his voice fell, Fairy Yuerou, whose vision was already dyed red, could only remain silent. Then, the Spirit-Gathering Spike lost its brilliant glow and clattered onto the floor.

He won!

At this moment, Wang Ping's mood was far less calm than he appeared. In fact, he was thrilled to the extreme—because he was the victor of this clash!

Fairy Yuerou wasn't weak. Though her cultivation was lower than his, the gap wasn't large. Combined with a magical artifact like the Spirit-Gathering Spike, it was almost guaranteed that he wouldn't last a single round in a head-on confrontation. The reason he managed to win wasn't because of immortal cultivation spells, but his martial arts!

Take that final bow-drawing palm thrust, for example.

In essence, that was actually a technique from the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow, just forcibly applied to his own body and unleashed through his fists and feet.

'If it were an ordinary martial artist, that palm thrust would have just ruined their own arm.'

'Thanks to the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong forging my body to be tougher than divine weapons and Sharp Weapons, I was actually able to pull off something so reckless...'

Wang Ping silently reviewed the fight in his mind.

As for the illusion that initially trapped Fairy Yuerou, it was exactly as she had guessed. Wang Ping had merely trapped a portion of her spiritual sense.

He had used a spell mastered by Pingjiangzi.

It was called Soul Pursuing.

A soul was composed of the ethereal hun and the corporeal po. The hun governed nature, while the po governed life. The former influenced mental thoughts, and the latter influenced the flesh and blood body. United, they were the foundation of a person.

Therefore, the effect of the Soul Pursuing spell was to shake the target's consciousness, plunging them into an illusion. When pushed to the extreme, it could even cause a person's spirit to die while their body lived. Unfortunately, Wang Ping's mastery of the skill was lacking. He could only use it to temporarily trap a sliver of Fairy Yuerou's spiritual sense, and she had spotted the flaws halfway through.

'If I had been just a little careless, I'd be the one who lost.'

'There's still a lot of room for improvement.'

Wang Ping sighed internally, though he didn't dwell on it too much. After all, regardless of the process, the result hadn't changed. Self-reflection was a luxury reserved for the victor.

Moreover, the result of this battle proved his theory: when Great Shun Martial Dao faced Immortal Gate cultivators, despite the massive disadvantage, it absolutely wasn't impossible to win!

Right then, Fairy Yuerou spoke:

"I never imagined Daoist friend Pingjiangzi was secretly a body cultivator. I bow in defeat... However, Daoist friend, why did you suddenly attack?"

Fairy Yuerou's red lips parted slightly. "If you want to report my identity as a bandit cultivator to the Immortal Gate, you should just give up, Daoist friend. The Immortal Gate won't give you any benefits, and the Heaven and Earth Pavilion certainly won't reduce your loans because of it. Instead, they'll probably encourage you to sell off this stinking body of yours to pay your debts."

By the end, Fairy Yuerou's tone was brimming with mockery.

"You misunderstand, Fairy."

Wang Ping reined in his thoughts. With a wave of his hand, he pulled the Spirit-Gathering Spike up from the ground and chuckled. "I was just coveting this magical artifact."

"Do you still remember the incantation to drive it, Fairy?"

Saying that, Wang Ping gave Fairy Yuerou's head a friendly pat. "If you don't remember, take some time to think it over. Whatever you do, don't remember it wrong."

Fairy Yuerou: "..."

'You're robbing me!'

After a moment of silence, Fairy Yuerou—bleeding from her head under Wang Ping's "Great Memory Restoration Technique"—finally surrendered, reciting the artifact's activation incantation word for word.

"Thank you for your generosity, Fairy!"

Satisfied, Wang Ping commanded the Spirit-Gathering Spike to circle around him a few times before storing it in his sea of consciousness. Only then did he contentedly release his grip on Fairy Yuerou.

"Oh right, I accept your terms, Fairy."

"Please take care of me from now on."

Hearing this, Fairy Yuerou's chest ached with anger, but she didn't dare lash out. She could only grit her teeth. "You must be joking, Daoist friend. You will definitely make an outstanding bandit cultivator!"