Behold My Artifact, Turning Peril into Safety!

Inside Universe in a Pot. "Gather!" You Xuexin moved without pause, her billowing sleeves whipping up a sinister wind that collected the scattered corpses around her before sweeping them all into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag. Wang Ping naturally accepted the feast in its entirety. Life-Stealing Thief ran at full throttle, frantically devouring the vital essence lingering within the bodies. While the amount in each corpse was modest, their cultivations in life had all surpassed Wang Ping's. The high quality combined with the steady accumulation made for a truly impressive harvest. He feasted with immense delight. On the other side, You Xuexin was equally delighted, finding that even after consuming so many corpses, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag showed no signs of reaching saturation. 'This only proves its immense potential!' At that thought, You Xuexin threw herself into the task with even greater zeal, going so far as to allocate an extra sliver of dharmic power—at the cost of degrading her current combat condition—to keep scouring the area for bodies. Before long, however, she noticed a problem. 'Why hasn't the aura of this artifact grown at all?' Having swallowed so much nourishment, it should have produced some kind of anomaly by now. Yet the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag's aura remained as placid as still water, devoid of the slightest ripple. 'Could it be... that the divine artifact is concealing its brilliance?' You Xuexin secretly speculated, 'It is said that sentient magical artifacts behave this way, knowing how to mask their presence. As long as they remain unprompted, they seem no different from ordinary mortal items.' This was a wonderful thing! If the artifact knew how to conceal its own aura, then once she summoned it in battle, she could use it like a concealed weapon to catch her foes off guard. Pondering the matter from every angle, You Xuexin felt there was no other explanation. After all, she had just fed it so much nourishment; even a pig would have squealed and kicked twice by now. If it wasn't concealing its brilliance, the only other possibility was that someone had been secretly devouring all the nourishment... 'Impossible, utterly impossible.' You Xuexin instantly dismissed the baseless, bizarre thought, turning her mind instead toward researching the opponents she would face in the upcoming Immortal-Brahma Sword Contest. It truly filled her with anticipation! Meanwhile, within the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag. Wang Ping sucked the vital essence from another corpse until it was dry as a husk, then released the discarded scraps of soul to the fiends dwelling in the flag, his heart brimming with equal anticipation. 'It feels like it's almost there.' As the primary soul of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag, he could already sense that despite surviving on mere scraps, the magical artifact was finally approaching full satisfaction. The next instant, a sudden change occurred! As the last scrap of soul was torn apart and devoured by the fiends, a blaze of black-gold brilliance erupted violently within the flag, and dazzling lines of dragon-dancing seal scripts and secret talismans manifested on their own. Countless seal scripts assembled, harmonizing with Wang Ping as the primary soul and transforming into an influx of profound knowledge that poured into his sea of consciousness, bringing a look of pleasant surprise to his face. "This is... a spell?" In theory, only a pinnacle-grade artifact could commune with heaven and earth to inscribe a spell of its own accord. Right now, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag had reached that very threshold. 'If I hadn't embezzled and frantically devoured the nourishment that venomous woman threw in, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag would probably have broken through long ago. Fortunately, she pulled her weight out there, killing so many predatory cultivators with everything she had, which secured this opportunity for me. Seen that way, she really isn't all that bad...' Wang Ping dared not dally, immediately settling his mind into tranquility. As the primary soul, the spell inscribed within the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag naturally fell under his control, and an ocean of magical knowledge surged in at once. This sensation was just like Qi Restriction! 'Once I digest this knowledge, I'll be able to use it even after returning to Dashun. At most, my lack of dharmic power will prevent me from mastering it to its absolute peak.' Soon enough, he learned the name of the spell. Soul Seizing! 'True to its name, this art can seize a cultivator's seven earthly souls. There is also a paired spell called Soul Chasing, which hunts down a cultivator's three celestial souls.' Strictly speaking, had the artifact not been left to feed on meager scraps while the bulk of the corpses' nourishment went to him, both spells might have been inscribed in this breakthrough. Still, Wang Ping did not mind. Once he turned against You Xuexin shortly and refined her into a banner slave, the outcome would be the same. The next second, Wang Ping smiled coldly. Pinching an incantation gesture, he circulated the Soul Seizing art, drawing all the surrounding fiends toward him and inhaling them into his mouth and nostrils. He was doing everything he could to amass the full might of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag. 'Everything is ready.' Wang Ping maintained a calm, composed expression as he calculated in his mind, 'I just need that venomous woman to deploy the artifact. The moment she lets me out, I'll hit her with a vicious blow!' Meanwhile, in the outside world. 'Why has it gone still again?' Looking at the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag in her sleeve, You Xuexin frowned slightly. 'It clearly showed signs of advancement just now, undoubtedly becoming a pinnacle-grade artifact.' 'Why did it suddenly dim again?' 'Could it be...' Doubt flickered through her mind, yet she still refused to consider that something might be wrong with the artifact itself. After all, she had invested so much; how could there possibly be a problem? Finally, her gaze shifted, and she found her answer. 'I understand. It must be a pinnacle-grade artifact returning to simplicity, turning its profound mysteries inward. That must be it!' This was the mark of potential to become a Dharma treasure! At the thought, the corners of You Xuexin's mouth curled up, and she burst into hearty laughter. "Good, good, good! The time has come!" Her sudden laughter instantly put the man surnamed Lin in the distance on high alert. "What? Junior Sister You, now that death is at hand, have you finally lost your mind?" "Hmph, a frog at the bottom of a well." You Xuexin shook her head, an expression suggesting everything remained within her control spreading across her face. "How much dharmic power do you have left? I suspect you've nearly hit rock bottom, haven't you?" At these words, the man grew even warier. His dharmic power was indeed running low. Within the time it took an incense stick to burn, even if You Xuexin did nothing, he would no longer possess the strength to sustain Universe in a Pot. Yet the problem was that You Xuexin was in even worse shape than he was! His cultivation realm was higher, meaning an outright clash of dharmic power favored him without question. Furthermore, You Xuexin had inexplicably lost her mind and wasted precious dharmic power gathering corpses. With her reserves depleted faster than his, he was certain she would not last even an incense stick... In that case, where did she get the confidence to spout such arrogant nonsense? "No need to ponder it." Seeing the shift in Lin's expression, You Xuexin produced the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag directly from her sleeve. "After today, you shall become a banner slave within my flag." "Before you die, I will broaden your horizons!" Before her voice had even faded, You Xuexin poured every last shred of her remaining dharmic power into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag and hurled it with force, launching it into midair. "Behold my artifact, turning peril into safety!" In an instant, black-gold brilliance unfurled with the wind. The banner opened across the heavens, its ferocious demonic visage swaying, as a towering, burly silhouette stepped forth, surrounded by a surging deluge of resentful energy. Like a silver vase bursting with water, like armored cavalry charging forth amid the clash of blades and spears! In that single instant, You Xuexin was still dazed. 'I haven't even given the command, yet you are already so eager to slay the enemy for me? Is this artifact truly so sentient?' Then she saw that the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King, having just stepped out from the banner, did not hesitate for even a fraction of a second. It did not even glance at the distant man surnamed Lin. Instead, its gaze locked straight onto her. Opening its mouth, it unleashed a soul-shattering thunderclap directed squarely at her. "Ha!" Where the thunderous roar swept through, You Xuexin's seven earthly souls shuddered almost simultaneously, which in turn shocked her physical vessel, leaving her body stiff and frozen in place. Even then, she had not fully processed what was happening. The strike to her soul slowed her thoughts to a crawl. The first thought that surfaced in her mind was that the artifact had made a mistake—the enemy was over there... Yet in the next second, she snapped completely awake. The Six Desires Heavenly Demon King had already raised its arm, flood dragons coiling around its five fingers. With the dragons' bodies forming the blade and their heads and tails locking in a loop, they transformed into a frost-glinting, chilling battle-axe that swung down toward her neck with earth-shattering force! 'Ah?! Not good!' Watching the axe blade draw closer, You Xuexin finally realized that the artifact was turning on its master. Overcome with horror, she tried to invoke a spell to dodge the blow. Yet she no longer had any strength left. Forget casting a spell—she could not even break free from the paralyzing effects of Soul Seizing that weighed heavily upon her! In a flash between light and shadow, You Xuexin could only desperately lean backward. Squelch! Blood sprayed violently. Feeling the resistance pushing back through the axe, Wang Ping was stunned. He had poured every ounce of his power into this strike, yet it felt as though he had cleaved into a wall of solid iron! You Xuexin's neck had appeared slender and delicate, yet when struck, every shred of her flesh and bone seemed cast from forged steel. The blade met tremendous friction, allowing You Xuexin to seize a razor-thin sliver of survival, narrowly tearing herself backward before Wang Ping could sever her head completely. "How is this... possible...?" Blood gushed like a fountain as You Xuexin stumbled back three steps. Two-thirds of her neck had been cleaved open by Wang Ping, leaving only the last section of bone and flesh still holding her head to her shoulders. The rapid loss of blood caused her frame to sway unsteadily. Soon, however, You Xuexin revealed the terrifying vitality of a cultivator in the Tribulation Transcendence realm—especially one who had crossed the Human Tribulation and assembled all four cultivation traits. One of her hands pinched an incantation seal to guard against outside foes, while the other violently clamped down on her own head, forcefully holding it in place upon her neck. Simultaneously, brilliant light erupted from her flesh, tendons, and bones, knitting together and automatically closing up in an attempt to mend the wound! 'Is this woman even human?!' Wang Ping cursed inwardly as he pursued without hesitation. Raising the battle-axe high, he brought it crashing down accompanied by the furious roar of a dragon. Meanwhile, the man surnamed Lin finally snapped out of his stupor. To tell the truth, as a disciple of an immortal sect—even if he had not attained true transmission—he considered himself well-traveled and knowledgeable. Very little could truly shock him. After all, what spectacle had he not witnessed? Yet right now, he was genuinely dumbfounded. This was a sight he had truly never seen before: your ultimate trump card turns on you the very instant you summon it? And to think she had shouted, "Behold my artifact, turning peril into safety!" He had to admit, he had harbored a lingering worry that this ambush might go sideways. But after seeing her artifact, it really had turned peril into safety—for him! Shock aside, Lin's reactions were anything but slow. 'A golden opportunity!' In a heartbeat, he made his decision. A flash of ruthlessness flared in his eyes. Stirring all his remaining dharmic power, he parted his lips and spat out an incantation: "Heaven collapses and earth tears, the Divine Land sinks!" Explosive shattering sounds followed immediately after the incantation, ringing out one after another centered around You Xuexin. Every crack corresponded to a fissure spanning the void. At the same time, You Xuexin was still trying to retreat. That single movement sent her crashing straight into the countless spatial fissures encircling her. Slash! Instantly, blood flowed in rivers, and severed limbs flew through the air. Even though You Xuexin had reacted in time, the fractured space utterly bypassed all her defenses! These fissures had been created by Lin deliberately breaking the space of Universe in a Pot at the expense of damaging his own divine ability. Because the blade was forged from space itself, it ignored all defenses, instantly dismembering You Xuexin's fair frame on the spot. Limbs scattered, internal organs burst free, and a towering wave of blood erupted into the air! "Ah—!" This precise finishing blow completely extinguished every last ember of You Xuexin's hope. Wang Ping hesitated not for a second, charging forward immediately to beat the drowning dog. The next instant, as if a frame had been cut from existence, the figure of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King vanished, reappearing right in front of You Xuexin. Every divine trait was fully unleashed. Divine Foot! Ten Thousand Jun! Flood Dragon Axe! The battle-axe, suffused with peerless divine strength, smashed down heavily. It tore through You Xuexin's body a second time, cleaving her clean in two at the waist before the broken remnants of her form plummeted like a torn sack. Her dharmic power exhausted and her body dismembered, the breath of life You Xuexin had fought so desperately to preserve finally gave out. The hand holding her head slipped weakly toward the ground. Thud! Bereft of support, her fair head dropped to the earth and rolled twice. Blood gushed continuously from her seven facial orifices, her lovely eyes brimming with despair. Only at the moment of death did You Xuexin seem to realize that the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King she had painstakingly refined still retained a portion of its consciousness from life. Yet reduced to a severed head, she could no longer make a sound, able only to force a gurgle of spraying blood from between her teeth. How she hated him! She had refined a superior-grade artifact, and victory in this mission had been well within sight. The confluence of two joyous events should have brought even greater joy. Why had it turned out like this? At that thought, the look she cast at Wang Ping burned with venomous resentment. Her fading consciousness clung to a single thought—she would drag him down with her! Even in death, she would pull him into the abyss! Driven by this obsession, she frantically wrung her sea of consciousness dry, desperate to squeeze out a single spell. Just one, and she could claim his life... Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt. "Blame only yourself." Wang Ping reached out, echoing the very words You Xuexin had once spoken. "After all, it wasn't as if I forced you to refine me into an artifact." Truth be told, hearing such shameless words was infuriating, but uttering them oneself was thoroughly satisfying! The next second, he pressed his hand onto You Xuexin's body. Life-Stealing Thief! In the blink of an eye, what remained of You Xuexin's vital essence was swept clean by Wang Ping, and the spell she had been charging dissipated without a sound. This was the greatest harvest of this battle! Having done all this, Wang Ping looked at You Xuexin's drifting soul, intending to pull it into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag to refine her into a banner slave. Yet right at that moment. From the corner of his eye, Wang Ping caught sight of the man surnamed Lin nearby. The man's expression had undergone a drastic transformation completely discordant with the current scene. Initially, You Xuexin's death had thrilled Lin, and the surviving predatory cultivators around him wore fanatical expressions, preparing to claim the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman from the flying ship. But in a single fleeting instant, Lin seemed to notice something amiss. His expression shifted. The excitement and fervor froze on his face, gradually morphing into sheer terror. Through the Desire Realm Deva Body, Wang Ping could distinctly sense the emotional turbulence roiling within him. His handsome visage twisted as a result. What was he panicking about? What had happened? Wang Ping did not know, but he knew what he had to do. 'Classic of Great Peace!' The next instant, without the slightest hesitation, Wang Ping acted purely on instinct: he withdrew his consciousness, retreating back into the space of the Classic of Great Peace. Immediately after—tribulation fire descended from the celestial vault.