Chapter 87: Cousin, Please Step Out

Inside the Drill Ground, the atmosphere grew incredibly awkward.

Xugou shrank into a corner to minimize his presence. Chenlong frowned deeply; he looked at Madam Su, then at the tall woman, and finally at Wang Ping.

Before he could speak, the tall woman beat him to it. "It's been half a month."

"It's been exactly half a month since the Longxing County incident. In all that time, you haven't visited my cousin even once. Do you even care about her?"

Madam Su flushed with embarrassment and quickly tugged at the tall woman's sleeve.

"Luoyan, my husband has important matters to attend to. Don't be unreasonable..."

The tall woman grew even angrier. "Cousin, it's because you're too soft-hearted that you've suffered so much. Leave this to me."

With that, she turned to Wang Ping.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I..."

Wang Ping blinked. Instead of answering, he stared intently at the tall woman, as if trying to recognize something. For a moment, he seemed completely lost in thought.

That gaze made the tall woman frown instinctively. It was deeply uncomfortable. She felt as though his eyes could pierce her clothes, seeing right down to her skin, flesh, and bone. She almost circulated her spiritual sense on reflex to protect herself—but then she froze.

"This is...?"

Now it was the tall woman's turn to blink. She stared right back at Wang Ping. The two locked eyes, both seemingly trying to glean something from the other.

Madam Su: "???"

Seeing the two of them just staring at each other in silence, Madam Su finally whispered, "Husband, Luoyan is just hot-tempered. Please don't hold it against her..."

That snapped Wang Ping out of his daze.

"Not at all."

He immediately turned to Madam Su and smiled. "Is this the close friend you mentioned? Your extraordinary person cousin who joined Fangxian Dao?"

Madam Su nodded quickly, then tugged at the tall woman again.

A second later, the tall woman also snapped back to reality. Her delicate brows furrowed. She turned toward Chenlong and Xugou. "Could the two of you step out for a moment?"

Chenlong glanced at Wang Ping. Seeing the helpless look on Wang Ping's face, he let out a teasing smile. "Then we'll talk more another day, young friend Wang."

"Pardon the display, milord," Wang Ping replied, cupping his hands.

Soon, both Chenlong and Xugou left the Drill Ground.

Madam Su looked pleased and shot the tall woman a grateful glance. After sleeping in an empty bed for half a month, she had been longing to spend some intimate time with Wang Ping.

Then she saw the tall woman look over apologetically. "Cousin, please step out too."

Madam Su: "...Huh?"

I need to step out too? Wait, weren't you trying to get me some alone time with my husband? Something feels wrong here!

Madam Su instinctively looked at Wang Ping.

"Trust me."

Wang Ping wore a solemn expression. "I have something major to discuss with this... lady. It isn't appropriate for you to hear it. Please wait outside for us."

Madam Su was a perceptive woman. The moment Wang Ping spoke, she caught on. Does this have to do with my cousin's identity as an extraordinary person?

She quickly calmed down. "I understand."

"I'll wait outside."

With that, Madam Su left the Drill Ground feeling uneasy—equal parts worried, bewildered, and filled with an indescribable mix of emotions.

My husband and my cousin... they'll be fine, right?

"My name is Chen. Chen Luoyan," the tall woman said first.

"I am an outer-world disciple of the Book Mountain blessed land under Fangxian Dao in the Central Province. May I ask where you hail from, fellow Daoist? Which blessed land do you belong to?"

Wang Ping spread his hands. "No sect, no faction."

"Don't joke around," Chen Luoyan said in a low voice. "You cultivate the core cultivation method of my Fangxian Dao. If you have no sect, where did you get it?"

Exactly. This was why Wang Ping and Chen Luoyan had locked eyes the moment they met—both had sensed the traces of a familiar cultivation method on each other.

Three Corpses and Nine Worms Tribulation-Resolving Secret Record!

A dime-a-dozen independent cultivator method in the Immortal Gate has actually become the core cultivation method for the Great Shun Dynasty's extraordinary person sects? This Fangxian Dao really is connected to the Immortal Gate!

So what role do these extraordinary persons actually play in Great Shun?

And what is their status back in the Immortal Gate?

Since it involved the Immortal Gate, Wang Ping was incredibly curious. He still had to go there eventually. The more he learned now, the better off he would be.

With that in mind, he immediately said, "To be honest, I stumbled upon this method by chance."

"By chance..."

Chen Luoyan's frown deepened. But a moment later, her eyes lit up. "Could you have stumbled upon one of the fated encounters left behind by our sect's patriarch?"

Wang Ping's heart skipped a beat. He played along and asked, "Patriarch? Fated encounters?"

Just as he expected, Chen Luoyan looked surprised. "You're a cultivator from Shuzhong, yet you don't know? It seems you really did stumble upon it by accident."

Her expression turned serious, and she spoke with a proud tone. "In Shuzhong, our Book Mountain blessed land has always reigned supreme. Before ascending, our sect's patriarch left behind three thousand fated encounters to benefit anyone in the world drawn to the Immortal Dao. My guess is that you obtained one of them."

"Why don't you come back to Book Mountain with me?"

Chen Luoyan suggested, "I can have the sect elders verify it. If it truly is a fated encounter, they will accept you into the sect. That would fulfill the patriarch's karmic merit."

What? Go to Book Mountain?

"That won't be necessary!" Wang Ping shook his head decisively.

Chen Luoyan paused. "Why not?"

Asking something so naive about the dangers of the world... is she really an Immortal Gate disciple? She doesn't act like one at all. Is she a complete rookie?

Wang Ping calculated inwardly, but on the surface, he put on a helpless expression. "Lady Chen, we only just met today."

"As the saying goes, one can never be too careful."

"I know nothing about Fangxian Dao, nor do I know Book Mountain. I barely understand extraordinary person cultivation. How could I just leave with you like this?"

Chen Luoyan looked somewhat puzzled. "Then what would it take for you to come with me?"

"Why don't you explain things to me?"

Wang Ping guided her patiently. "What is Book Mountain? What is Fangxian Dao? And how does extraordinary person cultivation work? For example, how does one cultivate the Tribulation Transcending First Layer?"

"That's easy!"

Even Wang Ping didn't expect Chen Luoyan to be completely unguarded. She agreed instantly. "Honestly, I was planning on giving you some pointers anyway."

"After all, it looks like you've also practiced martial arts?"

Wang Ping nodded. "I have no sect and no faction. Though I obtained an immortal method, I don't know any spells, so I could only practice some martial arts to defend myself."

Chen Luoyan sighed. "No wonder. That's because you don't know the truth of this world. If you understood even a little, you'd know there is no future in martial arts."

"Don't panic at what I'm about to tell you."

"I practice martial arts. I won't panic."

"It's exactly because you practice martial arts that you'll panic once you know."

Hearing this, Wang Ping had actually guessed what she was going to say.

Sure enough, Chen Luoyan pointed at the sky above and lowered her voice. "Our world is actually just an artifact furnace!"

"The Central Plains of the Divine State, the Great Shun Imperial Court."

"The billions of commoners, whether they are black-headed commoners, law-abiding citizens, the imperial court, or the martial underworld... they are all nothing more than firewood used by the Cosmic Void Immortal Realm to forge the artifacts they need!"

As her words fell, Chen Luoyan watched Wang Ping's face. He froze at first, then looked bewildered. He seemed to think it over before finally sneering. "Lady Chen, even if you don't want to tell me the secrets of Book Mountain, there's no need to spin such a lie."

"You think I'm lying to you?"

Having thought she was revealing a heaven-shaking secret, Chen Luoyan grew anxious when Wang Ping flat-out refused to believe it. "I swear by the patriarch, everything I said is true!"

"Weren't you curious about Fangxian Dao?"

"To tell you the truth, whether it's Book Mountain or Fangxian Dao, we are all disciples sent down by the Cosmic Void Immortal Realm to watch the furnace!"

The word "disciple" isn't quite accurate.

Wang Ping scoffed inwardly. A bunch of cultivators who probably haven't even condensed true magical power would be treated as nothing more than human livestock or parasitic independent cultivators back in the Immortal Gate. Calling yourselves "disciples" is just flattering yourselves.

Despite his thoughts, his face remained full of disdain. "How could anything so absurd exist in this world?"

"It's real!"

Seeing Chen Luoyan racking her brain to convince him, Wang Ping finally revealed his true intentions. "Where's the proof? How can you prove any of this?"

The moment Wang Ping said that, Chen Luoyan's train of thought was easily derailed. She instinctively began trying to think of evidence to back up her claims.

"O-Of course I have proof!"

A second later, Chen Luoyan looked up and declared, "There is a path leading to the Cosmic Void Immortal Realm right inside Book Mountain! It's the very one our patriarch used to ascend!"

Good lord!

Wang Ping drew a sharp breath, forcing himself to suppress his surging emotions.

I actually struck gold!

Other than the Taiping Sutra, there's actually a second path to reach the Immortal Gate from Great Shun... And from the sound of it, it might actually be an official route!