Chapter 64: Who Doesn't Have a Side Gig?

Inside the cave dwelling, Wang Ping settled back onto his futon. He toyed with the newly acquired Spirit-Gathering Spike with keen interest, continuously pouring his spiritual sense into the artifact.

Meanwhile, Fairy Yuerou could only watch helplessly.

Seeing the artifact that had once obeyed her every command now trembling and whimpering uncontrollably under the infusion of Wang Ping's spiritual sense left her feeling incredibly conflicted.

"Don't push so hard..."

Finally unable to hold back, Fairy Yuerou whispered, "You're injecting too much spiritual sense for the Spirit-Gathering Spike to handle. Use a little less, and be gentler."

"Otherwise, you'll just break it."

"Really?"

Wang Ping looked curious. He simply waved a hand. "Then come over and lend a hand. That way, the Spirit-Gathering Spike can recover as quickly as possible."

"Ugh..."

Fairy Yuerou's beautiful face flushed with anger. But seeing that Wang Ping had absolutely no intention of pitying the artifact and was instead stubbornly ramming a massive amount of spiritual sense into it...

She truly couldn't bear to let it suffer. Feeling aggrieved, she stepped forward to help Wang Ping adjust the volume and speed of his spiritual sense. Under her guidance, the Spirit-Gathering Spike's whimpers gradually smoothed into a joyous, sustained hum. Brilliant light surged, finally displaying the true might the artifact was supposed to possess.

Fairy Yuerou really couldn't bear to watch.

But the moment she withdrew her spiritual sense and stopped helping, Wang Ping would immediately lose his grasp on the proper limits, resulting in the Spirit-Gathering Spike wailing all over again.

It was as if it were saying:

'Please, help give it a push, otherwise he won't move.'

Left with no choice, Fairy Yuerou stepped forward again. After helping him another dozen times, Wang Ping finally grasped the trick to driving the Spirit-Gathering Spike.

"Many thanks for the guidance, Fairy."

Fairy Yuerou gritted her teeth and whispered, "Since you've decided to join us, Fellow Daoist, why don't you come with me to meet our Senior Brother?"

"Let's skip that."

Wang Ping shook his head decisively. "Senior Brother Guo, right? An outer sect disciple who has passed the Human Tribulation and cultivated magical power. With such a high cultivation base, he's far out of my league."

Fairy Yuerou wasn't surprised by his response. She could only sigh inwardly. 'I fell for his tricks earlier, and he used an illusion technique to wring a lot of information out of me. Now that he knows Senior Brother Guo's strength, there's no way he would willingly walk into a trap and hand his life over to an outsider.'

At that thought, she stopped trying to persuade him.

"Forget it, then. I have a voice transmission ring here; you can use it to communicate directly with Senior Brother Guo." Fairy Yuerou simply removed the hoop earring from her earlobe.

"As for the rest, you can ask Senior Brother Guo yourself."

Wang Ping nodded slightly. "That works."

With that, he took the earring. He then pulled out a piece of talisman paper, drew a few strokes on it, cut out a paper doll, and handed the earring to the doll.

Fairy Yuerou watched this, feeling even more exasperated.

Where was the basic trust between people? Even though they were independent cultivators, within the great family of the Immortal Gate, they could still be considered fellow disciples. Why be so guarded?

Boom!

The next second, the earring exploded, reducing the paper doll to ash on the spot.

Wang Ping gave her a sidelong glance.

"...Sorry, I grabbed the wrong earring just now. It's actually this one." Fairy Yuerou's expression didn't change as she calmly removed the earring from her other ear.

Seeing this, Wang Ping couldn't be bothered to argue. Repeating his earlier process, he had another paper doll take the earring before injecting his spiritual sense. This time, the earring didn't explode. Instead, it glowed with a faint light, and a refined, easygoing voice sounded by Wang Ping's ear. "Yuerou, how is the situation?"

"Very smooth," Wang Ping replied.

"I've already agreed to help. Fairy Yuerou was so moved that she lent me the Spirit-Gathering Spike and then told me to come chat with you, Senior Brother Guo."

With a single sentence, the atmosphere instantly fell silent.

The voice on the other end of the earring paused for a few breaths. Only a moment later did it speak again. "Then we'll have to trouble Junior Brother Pingjiangzi to show us the way."

There wasn't a trace of anger in his tone; instead, it was extremely solemn.

This attitude left Wang Ping rather satisfied. 'As expected of an outer sect disciple of the Immortal Gate. His caliber is so high that I don't even need to spell it out.'

In truth, his opening remark had already made his position abundantly clear: I've captured Fairy Yuerou, the Spirit-Gathering Spike is my spoils of war, and I know your surname is Guo, you're an outer sect disciple, and your cultivation is high. So let's drop the pleasantries and get straight to the point.

Senior Brother Guo had immediately caught the underlying message.

So he didn't waste his breath. He directly stated his main goal for expending so much effort tracking down Wang Ping through Fairy Yuerou: he needed a guide for the bandit cultivators.

"Your target is the Soul-Falling Studio?"

"That's right."

Senior Brother Guo spoke calmly. "According to my intelligence, the Soul-Falling Studio is about to transport a high-grade artifact on behalf of a true transmission disciple to the Divine Weapon Courtyard for reforging."

"I plan to intercept that artifact."

"Therefore, I need someone from the Soul-Falling Studio to act as an inside man."

Wang Ping frowned slightly. "I've already been fired."

"That's not important," Senior Brother Guo continued. "What's important is the information you possess."

"I've already found out that the transport convoy will pass through one of the Soul-Falling Studio's secret strongholds, but I don't know its exact location."

"That stronghold is called Myriad Spirits Valley."

"Well? Does it ring a bell?"

At those words, Wang Ping immediately began digging through Pingjiangzi's memories. He quickly found the answer. "...Yes. I do indeed know the location of that place."

From this, it was clear that these bandit cultivators hadn't picked him at random.

"Excellent."

Senior Brother Guo chuckled. "Tell me the location, and I will pass on the Life-Stealing Thief to you. Combined with the chant Yuerou gave you, it will be enough to make your cultivation advance by leaps and bounds."

"However, the Life-Stealing Thief extracts life essence and primordial qi, which naturally requires killing. Even if you get the method, without life essence, it's like a clever housewife trying to cook without rice... Of course, if you join this operation to ambush the Soul-Falling Studio, you'll definitely have plenty of opportunities to accumulate life essence."

"The decision is yours."

"Think it over carefully. The Soul-Falling Studio has already set off for the Divine Weapon Courtyard, and time does not wait for me. So you must give me your decision by the end of today."

"The offer expires after that."

With that, the voice abruptly cut off, and the faint light on the earring faded away.

Wang Ping stood in place, pondering. 'This Senior Brother Guo might have spoken bluntly, but he makes a good point. Practicing the Life-Stealing Thief ultimately requires killing.'

If he didn't become a bandit cultivator and put his life on the line, how would he accumulate life essence?

'Especially now. Mastering Cosmic Orbit Respiration has already drained my stock of Life Essence Primordial Qi Pills. Making further progress won't be that easy.'

Wang Ping urgently needed to restock right now.

From this perspective, the ambush against the Soul-Falling Studio was undoubtedly an opportunity for him. It was like someone handing him a pillow just as he was dozing off.

There was just one minor problem.

'The cooldown period for Outer Heavenly Demon hasn't finished yet!'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping's resolve instantly hardened. 'So what if it's an opportunity? Opportunities come around every day, but I only have one life. I absolutely cannot wade into these muddy waters!'

After all, by this point, Wang Ping had gained some understanding of how the Immortal Gate operated. Heaven only knew what kind of disastrous complications this so-called ambush might trigger. The last time the bandit cultivators ambushed Daoist Nun You, they had been on the verge of winning when a Qi Refining practitioner descended from the sky and simply reversed time...

How the fuck do you even play against that?

After thinking it over, Wang Ping made up his mind. Not wasting any time, he picked up the earring and activated it again. "Senior Brother Guo, I've thought it through."

"Oh? That fast?"

Senior Brother Guo's voice came through again, carrying a hint of a smile. "Very well. I will tell you the rendezvous point for the ambush. Just head there when the time comes..."

"You misunderstand, Senior Brother."

Wang Ping said in a deep voice, "I don't plan on participating in the ambush, nor do I need the Life-Stealing Thief. I only hope that Senior Brother can bestow upon me a different, high-tier immortal method."

"...What?"

At those words, a trace of genuine surprise finally crept into Senior Brother Guo's voice. "You don't want the Life-Stealing Thief, but rather some other orthodox immortal method?"

"You are very perceptive, Senior Brother." Wang Ping put on a serious expression and spoke with righteous conviction. "To tell you the truth, what I hate most in my life is taking shortcuts in cultivation. Although the Life-Stealing Thief is incredibly profound, it is also bizarre and unpredictable. Furthermore, what it cultivates doesn't truly belong to oneself. The foundation it builds can't possibly compare to the orthodox path."

"Even if it brings rapid progress in the short term, in the long run, it is of no benefit to the Immortal Dao."

"Therefore, I refuse to take it!"

This grand speech actually left Senior Brother Guo stunned. The cultivation gained from the man-eating Life-Stealing Thief was inferior to orthodox immortal methods? What kind of unprecedented nonsense was this?

How could the foundation built step-by-step through an orthodox immortal method possibly compare to the solid, highly efficient foundation forged by the Life-Stealing Thief, which plundered the best of all paths?

Besides, you're an independent cultivator!

A mere independent cultivator—trash who might not even survive the Human Tribulation in this lifetime—actually lecturing him about how the Life-Stealing Thief was 'of no benefit to the Immortal Dao in the long run.'

Are you even worthy of worrying about that?

At that thought, Senior Brother Guo nearly burst out laughing. It took immense effort for him to hold it in. "Good, good, good. I didn't expect you to have such a steadfast Dao heart."

"No matter. I will grant your wish."

"I heard that back then, as an independent cultivator, you were granted the Three Corpses and Nine Worms Tribulation-Resolving Secret Record. That method was actually excerpted from another immortal method."

"Since you don't want the Life-Stealing Thief, I'll pass that full method on to you."

"How does that sound?"

Wang Ping, naturally, readily agreed.

Soon, the two sides completed the transaction. Senior Brother Guo verbally recited a complete scripture on the spot. After verifying it was authentic, Wang Ping told him the location of Myriad Spirits Valley.

"Alright, you can let Yuerou come back now."

After dropping that final line, Senior Brother Guo directly cut the connection. Clearly, he had lost all interest in Wang Ping, viewing him as a 'delusional independent cultivator.'

Wang Ping naturally didn't care in the slightest.

"Take care, Fairy!"

A moment later, Wang Ping politely escorted Fairy Yuerou out of the cave dwelling. Without a backward glance, he activated his grand array, sealing the inside from the outside, and completely ignored her.

............

Back inside the cave dwelling, Wang Ping unrolled the scroll.

Looking over it, the page was densely packed with writing. This was the immortal method Senior Brother Guo had dictated to him, named the Taiyin Form-Refining Heaven-Ascending Talisman Scripture.

The Three Corpses and Nine Worms Tribulation-Resolving Secret Record was extracted straight from this immortal method. However, to practice this art, one first had to cultivate the Three Corpses and Nine Worms Tribulation-Resolving Secret Record to perfection and pass the Human Tribulation before even attempting it. Doing otherwise was courting death, simply because its very first line read:

"To practice this method, one must first commit suicide."

That's right. The very first step to cultivating the Taiyin Form-Refining Heaven-Ascending Talisman Scripture was to slit one's throat and return to heaven. Therefore, if the prerequisites weren't met, committing suicide meant genuinely dying.

"After death, the heavenly soul ascends, the earthly soul descends, the Three Corpses transform into ghosts, and the Nine Worms devour the corpse."

"However, if one commits suicide using the secret art within the Taiyin Form-Refining Heaven-Ascending Talisman Scripture, they can command the Three Corpses to guard their souls and the Nine Worms to protect their physical body after death."

"In this way, one can die without perishing, temporarily traversing Taiyin."

"Until the mortal form fades away and the divine form is forged, thus achieving the merit of ascending to heaven and receiving the talisman—this achievement in the Immortal Gate's system is the fruit of entering the Dao through Qi Refining."

In other words—

"This is a cultivation method that leads straight to Qi Refining!" Wang Ping slammed his hand on the table and stood up, unable to hide his excitement. This was a true legacy of the Immortal Gate!

For a moment, Wang Ping felt an unbearable itch in his heart.

After all, such a supreme immortal method was lying right in front of him, yet he couldn't practice it immediately because he hadn't met the prerequisites. It was truly agonizing.

Just at that moment.

Boom!

Suddenly, a deafening crack of thunder exploded from the sky above. Ignoring the countless layers of arrays both inside and outside the cave dwelling, the sound smashed straight in.

Wang Ping was instantly jolted awake, snapping back to reality.

"What's going on?"

In shock, he quickly strode out of the cave dwelling, only to see that the previously clear blue sky was now blanketed by a dense expanse of dark clouds.

Light flashed intermittently within the clouds, dancing wildly like golden snakes. As it illuminated the earth, scalp-numbing booms continuously rang out. After this lasted for a while, a torrential downpour followed. Every single raindrop contained incredibly dense spiritual energy, striking the ground with the force of a thousand-pound boulder.

Wang Ping inhaled sharply.

Standing in the rain, Wang Ping pushed the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong to its absolute limit, barely managing to withstand the crushing weight of the downpour hammering against him.

Thanks to this, he was also able to clearly see the source of the storm.

It was two people.

One of them he was all too familiar with. With bright eyes, white teeth, and dressed in Daoist robes, her temperament was a flawless blend of aloofness and alluring charm. It was none other than the long-unseen Daoist Nun You.

And the one facing off against Daoist Nun You was a woman in white robes carrying a sword on her back. The dark clouds smothering the land and the torrential rain had all been conjured by her. Far from weakening, the storm was only growing stronger by the second, as if she had hauled an entire ocean into the heavens.

"A spell? Or Divine Powers?"

"Who is Daoist Nun You fighting? Another True Transmission?"

Before Wang Ping could get a clearer look, his spiritual sense's vision was stained blood-red. A splitting headache followed, forcing him to avert his gaze.

'This isn't good.'

How long were they going to fight?

Wang Ping spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling terrified. This torrential downpour was undoubtedly just the aftershock of their clash, a mere byproduct of their casual strikes.

But for him, and for the countless independent cultivators beneath their battlefield, this was an unmitigated disaster—a catastrophe that threatened their very lives!

'I can hold on for now, but if this battle drags on for a day or two, even I'll be crushed into pulp by the rain. And it's not just me—even cave dwellings protected by arrays won't be able to withstand it. They'll collapse all the same. I have to escape the battlefield's radius before that happens...'

Wang Ping's mind raced, and finally, he covered his face.

"Myriad Spirits Valley..."

The Soul-Falling Studio's blessed land was a secret stronghold within the Immortal Gate. The array formations there were robust enough and should be able to withstand the fallout of this clash between true transmission disciples.

But the problem was that the bandit cultivators had chosen that exact place as their ambush site. It wasn't safe anymore, either.

"So in the end, I'm still forced to wade into those muddy waters?"

What kind of joke was this!

Wang Ping found it a bit hard to accept, but the raindrops slashing at his body like knives forced him to face reality. "I'll just have to take it one step at a time."

If he had to deal with bandit cultivators, then so be it.

"In this day and age, who the fuck doesn't have a side gig... Fuck me!"

With that thought, Wang Ping stomped his foot hard. Then, he bolted straight into the curtain of rain, sprinting madly in the direction of Myriad Spirits Valley.

The pitter-patter of the rain echoed endlessly, still pouring down even three days and three nights later...