Chapter 254: Chapter 143: A Short Rest and the Divine Soul Guide
Above the skies of a lone island south of Shang’an Prefecture.
Dense swarms of Embroidery Needles filled the air, seemingly intent on sealing off the entire space, but their advance was constantly thwarted by all manner of Talismans.
With a series of metallic clashes, a Sword Talisman streaked across the sky and completely severed the Spiritual Threads connecting the Embroidery Needles. However, the needles did not fall. Instead, they autonomously linked with nearby needles, forming a massive Array that absorbed the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and began to obliterate all surrounding matter.
"As expected of a Second Realm Artifact Cultivator. Truly impressive!"
Wang Ping exclaimed in admiration from within his Armor Talisman. In his view of the Inspiration Realm, everything was being utterly annihilated by the Array formed by the Embroidery Needles.
"Fellow Daoist, you flatter me. I can sense that with your current abilities, you have plenty of ways to break my offensive Array."
Zuo Xuan’s figure materialized amidst the dense cloud of Embroidery Needles. Ever mindful of her appearance, she first straightened her collar before bowing in Wang Ping’s direction.
Wang Ping smiled but said nothing. He formed a Spell with his hands, his spiritual body connecting to his divine soul to manifest a Luck-Borrowing Talisman. The next moment, darkness flashed across the world, and all the Embroidery Needles in the sky lost their spiritual nature, plummeting toward the sea below.
"I saw Wood Spirit Poison appear out of thin air in this space. That must be the legendary Borrowing Fortune Technique, I presume?" This time, Zuo Xuan was genuinely impressed; her earlier praise had contained a hint of modesty.
Wang Ping laughed heartily. He retracted the external Sword Talisman as the Armor Talisman around him rapidly dissipated. "The price to use it is just a bit steep," he replied. "That little display cost me about half a month of my lifespan."
"Half a month of life is a drop in the bucket for a Wood Spirit Cultivator!"
"But one can’t just use it carelessly!"
After replying, Wang Ping changed the subject. "Care for a cup of tea at Baisui Lake?"
"Of course!"
Zuo Xuan had been the one to initiate the spar. When Wang Ping emerged from his seclusion, he exuded such a powerful pressure that Zuo Xuan, as an Artifact Cultivator, had instinctively requested a match.
Before that, however, Wang Ping had paid a courtesy visit to Daoist Zi Luan.
「Baisui Lake.」
Yu Lian had been growing restless while Wang Ping and Zuo Xuan were sparring. The moment she saw that Hu Qianqian’s cultivation had improved, she eagerly challenged her to another match.
Meanwhile, Wang Ping and Zuo Xuan leisurely took out their fishing rods and started fishing.
By the time Yu Lian and Hu Qianqian finished their spar and returned, Wang Ping had already grilled a fish for Yu Lian. This made her so happy that she somersaulted joyfully in the lake.
"Master, there’s been a new development with the Sheep Demon Alchemist we’re monitoring," Hu Qianqian said, getting down to business while Yu Lian enjoyed her grilled fish.
With her mouth full of fish, Yu Lian mumbled indistinctly, "I’d almost forgotten about him. He’s not dead yet?"
Hu Qianqian habitually twitched her fluffy ears. After meeting the lively eyes of the fish-eating Yu Lian, she suppressed her impatience and continued her report. "The advancement Magical Artifacts he created for Artifact Cultivators are complete. There are three sets in total. Two of them were sent to two contact points the very first day, but those were temporary locations. However, we’ve got them by the tail now. It’s only a matter of time before we find out who’s behind this."
"The remaining set of Magical Artifacts was given to a Gold Cultivator registered with the Daoist Scripture Hall. I secretly investigated his file. Before Wulang Taoist disappeared, this Gold Cultivator had publicly worked with Wulang Taoist on six cases."
"I’ve already arranged for people to investigate him secretly, and I’ve also shared this intelligence with Wenhai Daoist."
Wang Ping was momentarily stunned, then smiled. "An unexpected gain. Now that we have this lead, hold onto it. Wulang has always been a thorn in my side. If you get any news about him, tell me immediately—unless I’m at a critical point in my advancement."
"Yes!"
"By the way, I haven’t seen Wenhai in a long time. He must be busy preparing for his breakthrough to the Second Realm."
A smile touched Hu Qianqian’s lips. "Wenhai Daoist used your letter of introduction, Master, and has already joined the Pingdong Sect. It was a blessing in disguise for him; after his Spirit Veins were repaired, they became even more active than before. I heard he has a very high chance of breaking through to the Second Realm, and the Pingdong Sect is willing to provide the necessary materials to help him advance."
"The Pingdong Sect really should have a Second Realm Cultivator."
Wang Ping said this thoughtfully. As an important member of the Sanhe Temple’s assembly on Nanlin Road, the Pingdong Sect’s current position was somewhat awkward. If they could produce a Second Realm Cultivator, it would further strengthen Wang Ping’s clandestine power on Nanlin Road.
"In recent years, many people on Nanlin Road have tried to break through to the Second Realm, but without exception, all have failed." Hu Qianqian looked at Wang Ping and added, "I specifically had someone check the records for other regions, and there haven’t been any successful breakthroughs to the Second Realm there either."
Zuo Xuan said with a hint of mockery, "They’re all just a bunch of third-rate hacks who don’t follow the Righteous Dao. Unless they’re willing to drive themselves mad, there’s no way they could possibly break through to the Second Realm."
After her gibe, she sighed. "In the chaotic times to come, these people will make the best cannon fodder. They don’t understand anything, which is why they’ll charge forward without fear."
Wang Ping didn’t respond. ’This was, in fact, his underlying plan.’ That was why he allowed more Entering Cultivators to appear in the Land of the Three Mansions under his jurisdiction. It wasn’t just him; most sects with the power to control Entering Cultivators had similar ideas.
"Enough of that. Today is just for drinking and fishing." Wang Ping looked at Hu Qianqian and asked, "Where’s the wine you brew here?"
"I’ll go get it right now..."
...
Relaxing at Baisui Lake seemed to have become a regular pastime for Wang Ping, a break from his ascetic cultivation.
This time, he stayed for the better part of half a month.
When he returned to the Mountain Peak Dojo, he didn’t announce the end of his seclusion. After resting for several more days in his own Dao Field, Wang Ping finally opened his strategy panel one sunny morning, read through it, and then performed a divination for himself.
Holy Trigram: Favorable!
Putting away the divination blocks, he walked over to the scholar tree, sat down cross-legged, and first checked the integrity of the Nine Extremes Array. He then glanced at Yu Lian, who was playing in the nearby well, before taking out the two Talismans Daoist Zi Luan had given him earlier.
"I don’t need Si Ran’s Primordial Spirit for now, so I can set this aside."
Muttering to himself, he put one of the Talismans away. He held up the remaining one, observing it for a moment against the sunlight.
This Talisman was also refined from the branches of a scholar tree and possessed an intense spiritual nature.
Before taking out the Divine Soul Guide from within, Wang Ping first took out a blank Talisman he had made himself, then manifested two Sealing Arrays.
"What are you doing?" Yu Lian landed on Wang Ping.
"I’m planning to take a look at the Divine Soul Guide."
"How could you not call me for something so interesting?"
"Aren’t you right here?"
Amid their idle banter, Wang Ping formed a Spell, using his Spiritual Qi to levitate the Talisman he had crafted in front of him. He then converted all the surrounding Spiritual Qi into Wood Spirit Qi before finally reaching into the Talisman from Zi Luan.
The next moment, a mottled gray-and-white object appeared in his hand. It felt bone-chillingly cold and sharp to the touch, like metal. It didn’t dart around wildly like the magical items in folk tales.
It seemed quite ordinary, but in the Inspiration Realm, the Spiritual Energy around it was converging at a visible rate. In just an instant, the gathered Spiritual Energy solidified until it was as dense as liquid.
"What a treasure!"
Wang Ping reached out and channeled his inspiration, absorbing the congregated Spiritual Energy in one go to strengthen his Divine Soul.
Yu Lian’s vertical pupils were filled with curiosity. "So that’s how a Divine Soul Guide works. You use a part of your own Divine Soul’s characteristics to guide Spiritual Energy to nourish it, and over time, it forms a tangible object in the material world."
"It’s amazing."
The forked tongue she flicked out almost touched the Divine Soul Guide.
Feeling the bone-piercing chill from the Divine Soul Guide, Wang Ping said, "Now I have to refine it first and make it my own."
"That’s easy. It’ll only take a month or so."
"The Heaven-Reaching Talisman will be drawn with this!"
"Then you’d better be careful."
While talking with Yu Lian, Wang Ping completely relaxed his mind and body. He checked the integrity of the Nine Extremes Array one more time, adjusted its core to the Wood Spirit element, and cleared the original formation patterns from the core area before finally beginning to refine the Divine Soul Guide.
Yu Lian was right; this step was very simple. The only trouble was that during the refining process, the Divine Soul Guide attracted a great deal of Spiritual Energy. To prevent any accidents, Wang Ping would periodically pause to absorb it all before continuing.
In just eleven days, Wang Ping had completely refined the Divine Soul Guide to the point where it was perfectly attuned to his Divine Soul. He then fused the Divine Soul Guide with the blank Talisman he had crafted.
The next step was to follow the instructions on the strategy panel and build a Thunder Law Altar to guide the Thunder Tribulation. Of course, it might have been possible to do without one, but the cautious Wang Ping chose to build it anyway.
This step was extremely expensive, because the strategy panel noted that all materials had to be replaced with Celestial and Earthly Treasures.
Wang Ping carefully calculated the cost and felt the urge to give up.
Currently, the cheapest thunder-attribute Celestial and Earthly Treasure was Yang Thunder Ore. A single pure Yang Thunder Stone cost around six hundred thousand taels of silver, and setting up the entire Thunder Law Altar would require at least a hundred of them.
Even a Lord would frown at such an expense.
Most importantly, there were only a dozen or so Yang Thunder Stones available on the market. Gathering a hundred of them would likely take several centuries. If he were to switch to other Celestial and Earthly Treasures, the price could easily double.
Therefore, after long consideration, Wang Ping decided to place Yang Thunder Stones only in the key areas of the Thunder Law Altar and use Thunder Gold for the other sections.
Even so, the cost would come to roughly six to seven million taels of silver.
In the end, Wang Ping decided to first inquire at the Daoist Scripture Hall about any ready-made Magical Artifacts for defending against a Thunder Tribulation. The answer he received was that the Earth Cave Sect’s Treasure Tower was the best option. However, after asking Zi Luan about the price, he once again decided to build the Thunder Law Altar instead. This was because he could continue to use the altar later, whereas the Earth Cave Sect’s Treasure Tower would just gather dust after a single use.
Six to seven million taels of silver wasn’t enough to make Wang Ping sell everything he owned; his own savings were sufficient. He had made a huge profit from selling Power Pills to Xia Yao last time, though most of it was in the form of IOUs. Fortunately, the IOUs were issued in the name of the Royal Bank and could be traded like silver banknotes.
