A Martial Artist Battles an Immortal!

Outside the meditation chamber, Fairy Yuerou formed an incantation gesture. Her spiritual sense rippled outward from her person, gradually seeping into the formation before the chamber door and silently penetrating deeper inside. Soon, she caught sight of Wang Ping within the chamber. He sat cross-legged, seemingly deep in cultivation, with beads of sweat rolling down his brow from time to time. The sight made Fairy Yuerou sneer inwardly. 'What a foolish wretch.' What era did he think this was? Still relying on bitter, arduous cultivation? Having personally experienced the marvels of the Life-Stealing Thief, he ought to have understood that in the immortal sect, plodding through conventional bitter cultivation was a guaranteed dead end! You don't even have a cheat—what kind of immortal are you trying to cultivate into? 'Wasting several days of my time for nothing.' Fairy Yuerou grumbled in her heart. Circulating her spiritual sense, she directed the hairpin in her hand to pierce cleanly through the formation of the quiet chamber, locking onto the Tianting point between Wang Ping's brows. This hairpin was a magic artifact she had meticulously refined, known as the Spirit-Gathering Nail. Designed specifically to target a cultivator's sea of consciousness, it could be recalled and launched at will, moving with a speed that surpassed even the limits of spiritual sense detection. Because of this, it never failed. She had spent no short time as a predatory cultivator, and surviving to this day was largely credited to this artifact. After all, when cultivators clashed, magical treasures came first, divine abilities second. Even if one's cultivation was lacking, possessing a top-tier magic artifact allowed one to overcome superior foes. If one also cultivated a formidable divine ability, one would be practically invincible among peers. Were it not so, the Divine Weapon Courtyard would never have dared claim to be foremost in the immortal sect. "Die!" Fairy Yuerou formed a seal and pointed. Her spiritual sense surged into the Spirit-Gathering Nail before she aimed it straight at Wang Ping. A streak of brilliant, fiery light flashed and vanished. Pfft! A heartbeat later, blood blossomed. Wang Ping, deep in meditation, showed no reaction whatsoever as his sea of consciousness was pierced through, slipping into darkness and losing all breath of life. The entire process went as smoothly as flowing water, exactly as Fairy Yuerou had planned. Paying no further attention to Wang Ping's corpse, she swiftly recalled the Spirit-Gathering Nail and her spiritual sense, then began scattering True Fire talismans all around to destroy the evidence, preparing to burn the entire cave dwelling to ashes. Moments later, accompanied by a tremendous roar, the cave dwelling was swallowed by raging True Fire. Fairy Yuerou stood at a distance, and only after confirming nothing was amiss did she ride her escape light into the distance. Soon, she arrived at the base of a peak where the clouds met the sky. "That went surprisingly well." Landing her escape light, Fairy Yuerou felt a bit surprised herself. "It seems unusually quiet. There aren't even any patrolling disciples questioning passing rogue cultivators." A flicker of doubt crossed her mind, but she quickly rationalized an answer. "It's probably because the Eight Trigrams Furnace is about to be opened to forge treasures. With the true disciple issuing orders, most disciples were summoned to the Divine Weapon Courtyard, so naturally no one is left to patrol." Still, that worked out for the best. The more people eyeing the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the easier her plan would be to carry out. As long as this deal succeeded, she would have hope of crossing her mortal tribulation! "You seem to be in good spirits." A familiar voice sounded beside her ear. Fairy Yuerou turned to look, her fair face blushing slightly. "I'm embarrassing myself before Senior Brother; Yuerou was merely feeling a bit emotional." Before her stood a handsome young man. Looking at him, Fairy Yuerou's impression of him swiftly came to mind: 'Senior Brother Guo, an outer disciple of Supreme Bliss Immortal Peak... How I'd love to dual cultivate with him...' 'Never mind, never mind. How could I possibly endure Senior Brother's magic power? Word is Senior Brother has divorced a full fourteen times, while I've only divorced three times. My foundation in dual cultivation is far inferior to his. If I really dual cultivated with him, I'd probably just be drained dry and end up a crippled invalid.' Fairy Yuerou quickly collected her stray thoughts and said respectfully, "Reporting to Senior Brother: Ping Jiangzi refused to comply, so Yuerou had no choice but to clean up the scene. I'm afraid we'll have to find another rogue cultivator from the Soul-Drooping Study." "I see." The handsome young man nodded, then replied in exact accord with what Fairy Yuerou had imagined: "Yuerou, care to try dual cultivating with me once? Rest assured, I won't drain you dry." Hearing this, Fairy Yuerou was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, instinctively showing an expression of eager anticipation— Right then, a brilliant flash of light erupted between them. Pfft! Like lightning and flint sparks, the Spirit-Gathering Nail moved faster than the limits of spiritual sense could capture. Before the handsome young man could react at all, it pierced straight through him. At the same time, the delight on Fairy Yuerou's face vanished, replaced by cold malice. "An illusion indeed. Is this Dream Grafting, or Nightmare Supplication? Ping Jiangzi... to think I underestimated you. You've actually mastered cosmic circuit breathing?" Fairy Yuerou reacted with exceptional speed. She had already achieved spiritual awareness and a flawless true body; for Wang Ping to bewitch her with spells, his cultivation could only be higher than hers. Yet since she was able to perceive the illusion and break free, his cultivation could not be overwhelmingly superior. At the very least, he had not yet condensed magic power. That left only cosmic circuit breathing. At the first layer of Tribulation Crossing, reaching this stage meant he was only one step away from condensing magic power, fully overcoming his mortal tribulation, and being formally accepted into the immortal sect as an outer disciple. Among rogue cultivators, someone at this level who had some savings could even become the master of a blessed land, hiring other rogue cultivators to work for them and accumulate resources for the Immortal Dao. For instance, the masters of the Soul-Drooping Study and Yangyuan Ridge were both rogue cultivators of this sort. Yet Fairy Yuerou remained thoroughly baffled. "With cultivation like this, how did you end up in such a state? Or could it be... you aren't Ping Jiangzi at all? Are you a bald donkey who sneaked in from the Fan Realm?" One question followed another. Yet no one answered her. The corpse of "Senior Brother Guo" on the ground lay motionless, and the illusion showed not the slightest sign of shattering. "Damn it..." Fairy Yuerou's brows furrowed tightly. As long as Wang Ping responded and engaged his spiritual sense, she was confident she could trace it back and break the constraints of this illusory realm. Yet her opponent seemed far too cautious. 'The caster must have experience in magical combat; that's why he's on guard against me... Could he really be a bald donkey from the Fan Realm?' Fairy Yuerou grew uncertain. After all, as far as she knew, Ping Jiangzi had never even seen blood in his life—how could he have any combat experience? With that thought, she immediately circulated her spiritual sense. "Dispel delusion, purify the heart, suppress stray thoughts, lock the spirit... Order!" With a shout of the incantation, her howling spiritual sense slammed into the illusory world before her. Yet it struck like a sledgehammer hitting refined steel. The illusion did not budge in the slightest. Even so, Fairy Yuerou keenly sensed the crux of the issue: 'This doesn't make sense. The gap between our cultivation levels shouldn't be this wide.' 'Furthermore, I am clearly deep within an illusion, yet he hasn't made a lethal move.' 'Why?' Her mind raced, and she quickly formed a hypothesis: 'It seems I overestimated him. His ability is limited; he hasn't completely taken control of me!' 'He must have only used a spell to trap the portion of spiritual sense I separated to probe the meditation chamber. My physical body and the majority of my spiritual sense aren't trapped! That's why he can do nothing to me and cannot kill me, while the trapped portion of my spiritual sense cannot shake his illusory world.' In that case, the solution was simple. A ruthless look flashed across Fairy Yuerou's pretty face. Without the slightest hesitation, she reversed the Spirit-Gathering Nail and drove it into her own forehead. She committed suicide. Boom! As Fairy Yuerou's corpse hit the ground, the entire illusory world abruptly shattered, dissolving like smoke and dust to reveal reality once more. "Cough, cough, cough..." Outside the meditation chamber, Fairy Yuerou staggered to her feet. The phantom pain of suicide still lingered between her brows, yet without a moment's hesitation, she instantly activated her Daoist robe. A halo of multicolored light blossomed around her, enveloping her securely. Almost at the very next instant, a bare palm pressed gently against the iridescent glow. Unassuming at a glance, it produced a thunderous explosion the moment it made contact, blasting the colorful radiance into fluttering shards. The two held in a stalemate for a few breaths before a victor emerged. "How can this be..." Fairy Yuerou looked up in astonishment. In the very center of her protective radiance, a distinctly visible fist imprint had appeared, collapsing inward toward her. Bang! The multicolored light exploded. The iron fist drove straight through, its fingers snapping open and shifting back into a thrusting palm with a crackling burst of popping bones as it shoved forward. Meanwhile, Fairy Yuerou disregarded the thrusting palm right in front of her. Her eyes widened, her vicious gaze locking onto Wang Ping himself behind the palm. At the same time, the Spirit-Gathering Nail shot upward, blazing with fiery light, aiming to pierce Wang Ping's sea of consciousness before his strike could land. Crack! In that split second of life and death, the palm Wang Ping thrust forward suddenly emitted a sharp crack, and his arm—already extended to its limit—abruptly lengthened by a whole section out of nowhere! The entire movement resembled drawing a bow and notching an arrow. Wang Ping's torso drew back like a bowstring while his arm shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow, his fingertips and palm serving as the arrowhead that struck right in front of Fairy Yuerou in an instant! One step ahead was a step ahead at every turn! This palm pressed against Fairy Yuerou's brow a fraction of an instant earlier. Matchless, crushing force poured forth, violently jolting her delicate frame and scattering most of her spiritual sense. The Spirit-Gathering Nail, poised to strike, was naturally aborted before it could launch. Having lost her trump card and at such close quarters, Wang Ping would naturally grant Fairy Yuerou no chance to rally. Snap! With a crisp sound, Wang Ping's fingers hooked like talons, clamping ruthlessly onto Fairy Yuerou's skull, his nails biting into her flesh like blades. "Fellow Daoist had best stay still." Only now did Wang Ping finally speak his first words since the fight began: "I can crush your skull far faster than you can kill me." "..." Hearing his words, Fairy Yuerou—her vision already dyed crimson—could only fall silent. The Spirit-Gathering Nail lost its luster and dropped to the ground. He had won! At this moment, Wang Ping's emotions were far from as calm as they appeared; on the contrary, he was thrilled to the extreme—because he was the victor of this clash! Fairy Yuerou was by no means weak. Though her cultivation was lower than his, the gap wasn't vast, and possessing an artifact like the Spirit-Gathering Nail almost guaranteed that he wouldn't even survive a single round in a head-on clash. Yet the reason he had won was not due to some immortal art, but to his martial arts! Take that final bow-drawing palm thrust, for instance. In essence, it was a technique from the Cloud-Piercing Sky-Shaking Bow, except he had forcibly applied it to his own body, executing it through unarmed combat. 'If it were an ordinary martial artist, that strike would have merely wrecked their own arm.' 'It's all thanks to the Thirteen Taipo Horizontal Training Hard Qi Art forging my body harder than any sharp weapon or divine blade, allowing me 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 had indeed been just as she guessed: Wang Ping had merely ensnared a portion of her spiritual sense. The spell he used was one Ping Jiangzi had mastered. Called Soul Pursuing. The soul was composed of hun and po—hun governed nature, while po governed life; the former influenced the mind and spirit, while the latter governed the flesh and blood body, and their union formed the foundation of a human being. Thus, the effect of the Soul Pursuing spell was to destabilize the victim's consciousness and plunge them into an illusion. Mastered to its pinnacle, it could even render the spirit dead while the body lived. Unfortunately, Wang Ping's grasp of it was still crude; he could only temporarily trap a portion of Fairy Yuerou's spiritual sense, and she had even seen through its flaws midway. 'One misstep and I would have been the one defeated.' 'There is still plenty of room for improvement.' Wang Ping sighed inwardly, though he didn't dwell on it too much. Whatever the process, the outcome wouldn't change; self-reflection was a luxury reserved for the victor. Moreover, the outcome of this battle confirmed his thinking: when Dashun martial arts faced cultivators of the immortal sect, despite being at a massive disadvantage, they were by no means without a chance of victory! Just then, Fairy Yuerou spoke up: "I never imagined Fellow Daoist Ping Jiangzi was secretly a body cultivator. Yuerou admits defeat... But what is Fellow Daoist's purpose in suddenly attacking?" Parting her red lips, Fairy Yuerou continued, "If you intend to report Yuerou's identity as a predatory cultivator to the immortal sect, you'd better give up. The sect won't give you any benefits, and the Heaven and Earth Pavilion certainly won't reduce your loans because of it. Instead, they'll urge you to sell off this foul skin bag of yours to repay the debt." By the end, her tone dripped with mockery. "The Fairy misunderstands." Collecting his thoughts, Wang Ping reached out with a beckoning hand, pulling the Spirit-Gathering Nail from the ground into his grip, and smiled. "I merely took a liking to this magic artifact." "Does the Fairy still remember the formula to command it?" Having said that, Wang Ping gave Fairy Yuerou's head an affectionate pat. "If you don't recall, feel free to take your time thinking about it. Just be sure not to remember it wrong." Fairy Yuerou: "..." You're robbing me! After a moment of silence—bleeding from the head under Wang Ping's Grand Memory Restoration Technique—Fairy Yuerou finally yielded and divulged the treasure-commanding formula in full. "Many thanks for the Fairy's generosity!" Satisfied, Wang Ping commanded the Spirit-Gathering Nail to circle around him a few times before storing it into his sea of consciousness. Only then did he release his grip on Fairy Yuerou's head, well pleased. "Oh, right. I accept the Fairy's proposal." "Please look after me in the days ahead." Hearing this, Fairy Yuerou was so infuriated that her chest ached, yet she dared not flare up. She could only grit her silver teeth and say, "Fellow Daoist must be joking. You will surely make an outstanding predatory cultivator!"