Make the Immortal Sect Great Again

Wang Ping reached an epiphany.

In the peach blossom grove, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow. His expression was peaceful, his energy and spirit erupting outward endlessly as countless bursts of inspiration and ingenuity swarmed forth.

”Boom!”

With a massive explosion, the Black Hornless Dragon Bow trembled. Blinding celestial light bloomed from the bowstring and shot straight into the clouds, kicking up rolling waves of air. It truly carried a momentum capable of piercing clouds and shaking the heavens.

With Madam Su’s help, he had finally fired this arrow.

[Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow], Great Completion!

Bolstered by the Art of War, [Frost-Chilling Arrow]!

An unknown amount of time passed before Wang Ping’s surging spirit and energy gradually subsided. A sore, numb sensation spread through his arms, and his body showed signs of being hollowed out.

”What an incredible secret art!”

Wang Ping marveled inwardly. Even with his perfect mastery of the Iron Ox Art, he had only executed the technique once, yet he actually felt a trace of exhaustion.This proved that while he had only channeled the secret art a single time, it was actually the result of accumulating dozens or even hundreds of repetitions to erupt in an instant. No wonder this extraordinary art tested one’s physique so severely. If an ordinary martial artist lacked the physical fortitude but forced themselves to practice it, they might even suffer a sudden fatal collapse at the climax.

Thinking of this, he looked back at Madam Su.

Fine sweat still clung to the tip of the beautiful woman’s nose. She exhaled slowly, evidently quite exhausted from the recent exertion. The chicken wrap hadn’t been made properly; it was overwhelmingly salty.

Seeing Wang Ping looking her way, she finally revealed a faint smile:

”Congratulations, my lord. Your martial arts have advanced another step.”

”It has been hard on you, Madam.”

Wang Ping affectionately squeezed Madam Su’s shoulder and smiled. ”Rest assured, Madam. With Old Brother Liu’s pace, there should be news within half a month.”

These were meant to be comforting words.

After all, once Liu Ye delivered the message to the Capital Su Family, Madam Su’s old friends and relatives in the Capital would immediately rush over, guaranteeing her safety.

However, there was no joy on Madam Su’s face.

In fact, it was exactly the opposite. She suddenly grabbed Wang Ping’s hand, turned toward him, and whispered, ”Can you just not go? We can hide together for half a month.”

Wang Ping shook his head at her words. ”Half a month is too long.”

By his estimation, Xu Bingzheng would stabilize his injuries in a week at the latest. Even if he couldn’t fully recover, he would be well enough to show his face and issue orders.

When that time came, they would be facing the entire Longxing County Yamen.

And in martial combat, it had always been a case where two fists cannot fight four hands.

Facing the pursuit of hundreds of constables from the Longxing County Yamen, even his profound Internal Force would eventually be depleted, let alone the fact that he would be distracted trying to protect Madam Su.

In other words:

”We have a week at most. If we want to extend that to half a month or more, someone needs to make a sacrifice.”

Either he abandoned Madam Su and fought a lone guerrilla war—which would actually make things simple; never mind a hundred constables, he could handle several times that number with ease. Or, he sacrificed himself, letting Madam Su hide while he went to fight Xu Bingzheng to the death. Regardless of his success or failure, Madam Su would definitely survive.

It was a very simple multiple-choice question.

’I can have countless chances to start over, but other people only get one life. Since that’s the case, how could I let someone else die because of me?’

His conscience wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.

Besides, he happened to have a blank scripture scroll. If he could die a heroic death and then contain his own corpse in it, he might just hit the jackpot.

”Don’t worry.”

Wang Ping patted Madam Su’s shoulder and smiled. ”Although my conscience is a bit heavy, I have good luck. I barely have the ability to hold it up.”

Madam Su’s expression grew increasingly heavy.

In this moment, she even felt a bit bewildered, feeling that the man before her completely exceeded her understanding. Why could he joke so casually about a matter of life and death?

She had shown him no great grace or favor.

To put it bluntly, she had offered him nothing more than her body and a few martial arts manuals. What did that amount to in the eyes of an ordinary martial artist? It certainly wasn’t enough to gamble one’s life over.

Could it be that he had actually fallen in love with her?

But even if that were true, would it make him disregard his own life so completely?

Madam Su couldn’t help but wonder. If it were Chen Haoyan—that vile thief who claimed to love her deeply—would he go this far for her?

The answer surfaced almost immediately:

’He wouldn’t.’

If it were Chen Haoyan, he would definitely flee into the night. Her life or death probably wouldn’t even cross his mind, let alone him risking everything to fight for her.

Thinking of this, she looked at Wang Ping again.

At this moment, without Wang Ping needing to do a single thing, she already felt flushed. It was as if a fire was burning in her heart, spreading out toward every limb and bone.

”Wang Ping... my lord, take me.”

It was the first time she had called out Wang Ping’s name. Before her voice even faded, she impatiently kissed him, even taking the initiative to reach out and take the offensive against Wang Ping’s body.

”Eh? No, Madam, please conduct yourself...”

...

The passion subsided, and the gentle spring light was just right.

Wang Ping held Madam Su in his arms, leaning against a peach tree. He listened as the beauty in his embrace slowly and deliberately recited an incantation, her voice husky and magnetic.

”Is this... a martial art?” Wang Ping asked in surprise.

”You could say that.”

Madam Su curled up lazily in Wang Ping’s arms before explaining, ”To be exact, it is a martial art modified from an extraordinary art.”

”Because that extraordinary art was too overbearing and carried an immense price, very few even among extraordinary persons could master it. Yet, its power was unbelievably vast. Therefore, the imperial court specially allocated funds and invited three Great Grandmasters to jointly deduce and refine it. It took them forty-nine days to successfully simplify it.”

After saying this, Madam Su raised a finger and wrote six large characters on the ground:

[Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Art].

”This method is overbearing. No one beneath an Internal Force Martial Master can use it.”

”That is because what it disintegrates isn’t the physical body, but the cultivated foundation of an Internal Force Martial Master. It sacrifices one’s martial arts to exchange for several times, or even dozens of times, their usual Internal Force.”

Madam Su’s voice grew quieter as she spoke, and she couldn’t help but hug Wang Ping tightly.

”My lord’s journey this time will be arduous. I cannot help you with much, so I can only impart this method to you. If your martial arts are gone, you can train them again. I only pray that my lord can return safely...”

Wang Ping’s scalp tingled a little upon hearing this.

Crap, it seemed he had played his part a bit too hard. At this point, it was impossible to say something like, ’Actually, I won’t die, I can just resurrect.’

Of course, even if he could say it, he wouldn’t.

After all, he couldn’t just stop walking his path to go live some peaceful life with someone. Given his style of doing things, being a lone wolf was his most suitable state.

Settle the affairs of this life in this life; clearing karma on both sides was for the best.

Soon, another seven days passed.

Before the sky even brightened, Wang Ping packed his bags. Dressed neatly, carrying his bow and gripping his saber, he stepped out of the wooden cabin in the peach grove and looked toward the distant Longxing County.

Over these seven days, Madam Su helped him practice the secret art [Knocking on the Immortal Gate] every day to assault the perfect realm of the [Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow]. Unfortunately, this secret art wasn’t omnipotent either. Seven attempts at [Knocking on the Immortal Gate] failed to help him successfully break through the bottleneck, only allowing him to faintly touch the critical threshold.

Fortunately, Wang Ping wasn’t in a hurry.

He had a premonition that the final missing piece wasn’t comprehension, nor was it skill, but blood. As a martial art, if it didn’t see blood, how could it reach perfection?

”My lord, are you leaving?”

Wang Ping turned his head. Madam Su had woken up at some point and was leaning against the doorframe. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with light as she looked at him, looking exactly as if she had something to say but hesitated to speak.

Seeing this, Wang Ping waved his hand decisively.

”Madam, please remember not to enter the city for the next few days. I have prepared dry rations and water for you. It shouldn’t be long before news gets out...”

After a final set of instructions, Wang Ping turned around without looking back.

”Alright, I’m off.”

Madam Su didn’t speak. She just stared fixedly at his back, her eyes burning with longing, watching him leave the peach grove and disappear from her sight.

...

Longxing County.

In the early morning, the damp scent of dew still lingered in the air. It should have been a time of vibrant awakening, but the county city was permeated with an indescribable, chilling murderous intent.

This was the seventh day.

Seven days ago, almost every martial artist at External Arts Perfection in the city had heard that battle. However, no one dared to investigate; they all pretended to know nothing.

But after that night, everyone realized something was wrong. Ever since Chen Haoyan died, the position of chief constable had been vacant, so County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng had shown his face at the Longxing County Yamen every day. Yet suddenly, he had vanished without a trace. No one knew where he was; he had disappeared overnight.

Why was this?

Everyone astutely realized a certain possibility: could it be that on that night, the Magistrate was defeated, or even sustained severe injuries that he couldn’t let anyone see?

No one dared to ask, but secret probes gradually increased. As the seven days passed, the entire county city became a powder keg on the verge of exploding.

It only lacked a single fuse to ignite the whole city.

And now, he had arrived.

At the gates of the county city, the cold wind howled.

With every breath Wang Ping took, the muscles and bones in his body resonated together. Steaming mist rose off him, moving with the wind. Faintly, the roar of dragons and tigers seemed to emanate, echoing out into the surroundings.

Soon, this sound spread from his body to the weapons on his person. The Oxtail Saber at his waist constantly let out ringing, metallic hums inside its sheath. The Black Hornless Dragon Bow on his back seemed as if a true hornless dragon was roaring in a low voice. In addition, there was the soft armor on his body, his belt, and even his Heart-Protecting Mirror...

This was the physical manifestation of his martial arts.

It was also a process that all Internal Force Martial Masters had to experience—integrating the Ordinary Weapons under their control that corresponded with their martial arts, making them resonate with their cultivated foundation.

In short, it was a weapon set.

Integrating six [Ordinary Weapons] to forge a [Sharp Weapon] set, and then fusing it with one’s cultivated foundation—only this could push an Internal Force Martial Master’s power to the absolute limit.

Wang Ping had walked all the way from the peach blossom grove to the county city. The journey wasn’t short, but he remained unhurried precisely to complete this crucial step along the road.

”Who goes there?!”

Paving the way with wind and clouds, accompanied by dragons and tigers—such an astonishing phenomenon naturally alarmed the guards outside the county city. For a time, clamor erupted all over the Outer Market outside the walls.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

In an instant, the city gates slammed shut. Silhouettes darted back and forth across the city walls. Crossbows were swiftly aimed, all locking onto Wang Ping, who was still walking toward the city.

At the same time, the defending general in charge of the watch was completely enraged.

”This is an outrage against the heavens!”

”It’s those rebels from outside the city again. Could he be planning to storm the yamen like that White Lotus Sect rebel leader last time? Lawless! Truly lawless...!”

His voice came to a sudden halt.

For as Wang Ping drew closer, the defending general caught a clear look at his face. It was as if an invisible, giant hand had seized him by the throat, choking off his words.

’It’s... it’s him?!’

If it had been half a month ago, Wang Ping’s alias, [Great Dragon Spear], would have been nothing but a joke in Longxing County. But now, it was completely different.

After all, anyone with a bit of a network in the city knew that on that night, the Magistrate had gone to the Su Family Estate. And who was there? This very [Great Dragon Spear], Wang Ping! After that, the Magistrate had bizarrely gone missing. Therefore, the logical conclusion was that he was very likely the one who had severely injured the Magistrate!

As time passed, Wang Ping’s reputation in the county city had practically been demonized.

Some said he was a spy for the northern alien tribes. Some said he was a secret agent for the Capital’s Divine Constabulary. Some even claimed he was the true mastermind behind the White Lotus Sect.

’Why did he come back? What do I do?’

For a moment, the defending general was completely at a loss. He stood stunned for a good while before almost instinctively raising his hand and forcing a sound from his throat:

”F-fire the arrows!”

Before his voice even faded, the snapping of crossbow strings rang out like a clap of thunder. In the blink of an eye, a dense, dark cloud of shadows crashed down toward Wang Ping’s position.

Almost simultaneously, Wang Ping looked up.

In the next second, the shadow of death formed by hundreds of arrows swallowed Wang Ping’s foothold, yet not a single bloom of blood could be seen on the spot.

The sight that followed made the defending general nearly doubt his own eyes.

Looking out, he saw the young man with the bow on his back and saber in hand instantly appear in another spot without any warning, roughly several dozen zhang away.

Right after that, he lifted his foot.

Clearly, no movement or precursor was seen, yet as his lifted foot landed, his figure seemed to glitch out like a skipped frame.

With a single step, he had moved another three to five zhang!

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Taking three consecutive steps, looking just like the legendary ”ground-shrinking” extraordinary art, the young man practically crossed the city gates and effortlessly arrived atop the city walls!

These three steps, so utterly divorced from common sense, made the defending general who witnessed it feel a shudder from the bottom of his heart. And this shudder quickly spread from the depths of his soul to his physical body. With every step that landed, it felt as if someone was beating a war drum directly against his heart, making it unbearable.

’Is this... Divine Intent?!’

’How is that possible?! No, wait... this makes sense. He’s also a Titled Martial Master, he also possesses Divine Intent, and that is why he was able to severely injure the Magistrate...’

Thinking of this, the defending general’s vision abruptly went black.

Not only him, but countless citizens in the Outer Market, as well as the surrounding soldiers responsible for defending the city, all felt overwhelmingly dizzy at this moment and collapsed to the ground.

Between heaven and earth, only the howling wind remained.

Following that, the man who paved the way with wind and clouds and was accompanied by dragons and tigers simply stepped over the city wall and strolled into the county city. Along the way, not a single person stopped him.

This was, of course, not Divine Intent.

It was spiritual perception. After summarizing his battle with Xu Bingzheng, Wang Ping had used his spiritual perception to simulate this technique. Its efficacy was only three or four-tenths that of true Divine Intent.

There was nothing he could do. His spiritual perception was too weak; it was an innate trait of his [Desire Realm Celestial Body]. Its quality might far surpass the Divine Intent of a Titled Martial Master, but the quantity was overwhelmingly lacking. Therefore, it was only good for bullying ordinary mortals. If he truly wanted to storm the yamen, this move would likely still fall short.

Even so, Wang Ping was quite satisfied.

’As the saying goes, the essence of martial arts is the strong bullying the weak. So looking at it from this angle, this technique perfectly aligns with my martial heart.’

Lifting his head, Wang Ping looked in the direction of the yamen.

Immediately after, he experienced another hallucination. In a daze, he actually saw a giant roc huddled deep within the yamen, glaring at him with bitter hatred.

”...Haha.” Wang Ping laughed heartily and rolled up his sleeves.

Sure enough, in just seven short days, that dog official’s injuries still hadn’t healed. He was old, weak, sick, and crippled—hitting three of the four! It was the perfect opportunity to kick a man while he was down and relentlessly beat a drowning dog!