Make the Immortal Sect Great Again

Outside Xuanjia Camp.

Shenhou and Xugou walked out of the tent and stood side by side. They still moved as if they had the place to themselves; not a single passing patrol noticed them.

Only after they had walked some distance did Xugou speak up in a low voice. "Your actions today weren't exactly wise."

"Not only did you teach him the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong, you made empty promises about recruiting him. We don't have that authority."

"Out of the twelve commissioners, only the First Seat can make that decision."

"You broke the rules."

Shenhou paid no mind to Xugou's accusations. He chuckled. "What, do you actually think he can master it? I just gave him a little hope, that's all."

"The Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong is an extreme cultivation method the First Seat specifically created to fight those extraordinary people. Fundamentally, it wasn't meant for ordinary humans to practice. So far, only those like you and me—people who stand out among mortals because we possess the bloodline of extraordinary people—can achieve any success with it."

"With difficulty like that, so what if I pass it on?"

"Besides, that kid has thin arms and legs. He doesn't have a single callus on his hands. At a glance, he's clearly not cut out for hard qigong. He also doesn't have the support of our secret medicines and precious pills. How could he possibly master it? It will be a miracle if he doesn't just ruin his own body rushing for quick success."

Xugou finally caught on.

"So you just gave him a sliver of hope so he'd work harder and not die too quickly? Just to keep him from sinking without a splash?"

"What else?"

Shenhou said mildly, "You always have to give a man something to hope for."

"But what if he actually succeeds?" Xugou pressed. "What if he genuinely masters the martial art, and doesn't die in Longxing County? What do we do then?"

"Actually succeeds?"

A faint smile broke out on Shenhou's face. "If he actually succeeds, then we really will recruit him. I'll just go and recommend him to the First Seat myself."

"The absolute most that could happen is he ends up wearing the same Cloak you have on your back."

"...Don't talk nonsense."

Xugou hurriedly tugged at his Cloak.

Within the Tribute Hall, there was a strict hierarchy of rank and seating, and the Cloak was its most distinct symbol. From lowest to highest, they were divided into three tiers: the Profound Cloak, the Vermilion Cloak, and the Purple Cloak.

No one could wear a Cloak without achieving great merit.

He had only earned his Profound Cloak by risking his life to resolve a malevolent spirit uprising, barely surviving the ordeal. It wasn't something just anyone could possess.

For a mere newcomer, joining the Tribute Hall was already a heaven-sent fortune. To think he could wear a Profound Cloak? He didn't know his own limits. He would need to obediently serve in the Tribute Hall for a few years first. Otherwise, one misstep, and he might end up like Haizhu recently—dying in a foreign land where even having a corpse to recover was a luxury.

The figures of the two men gradually faded into the distance.

Inside the tent, however, Wang Ping kept his eyes tightly shut, his spiritual perception firmly locked onto them. Only after a long while did he finally relax and let out a long breath.

Thank goodness they aren't entirely undetectable.

With his spiritual perception locked onto them, he clearly saw Shenhou and Xugou's movements. He finally understood the secret behind their ability to appear and disappear like ghosts within the military camp.

Their boots must be a Famous Treasure. Combined with a corresponding movement technique, they can easily slip into an outsider's visual blind spots.

This was no longer achievable on a purely physical level. It was the supernatural effect of a Famous Treasure. Because they always stayed in visual blind spots, the two of them could freely enter and exit Xuanjia Camp. They could even bypass spiritual sense detection to appear silently by his side.

Looks like I'll have to be more careful from now on.

Wang Ping warned himself. Since my rebirth this time, I haven't officially begun to cultivate immortality. The spiritual perception that naturally comes with the Desire Realm Celestial Body is still too weak.

I need to make up for this shortcoming as soon as possible.

As long as my spiritual perception is strong enough to cover all visual blind spots and offset their Famous Treasure's supernatural effects, they won't be able to hide from my eyes.

Wang Ping sat on the bed and settled his mind.

The next second, the world ground to a halt and spun around him as he once again entered the Great Peace Mortuary. He turned his gaze toward a corner of the high platform.

Sitting there was a mountain of Life Essence Primordial Qi Pills.

This was his greatest harvest from the Immortal Gate World in his previous life. Paired with the Life-Stealing Thief, it was enough to make his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds even without a spirit root!

"No time to lose."

Having made up his mind, Wang Ping reached for the small mountain of pills. In an instant, the dense cluster of pills transformed into a surging torrent that rushed into his body.

"Rumble!"

Instantly, sounds like popping firecrackers roared from within Wang Ping's body. His originally steady breathing grew sharply erratic and took on the metallic scent of blood.

"It hurts!"

Wang Ping's entire skin tone had been dyed a deep crimson. As the moments passed, this redness gradually seeped deeper into his flesh.

Throughout this process, the roaring inside Wang Ping's body grew more intense. His bones ground together, his membranes drummed, and his muscles vibrated. His figure swelled. His skin, now fused with qi and blood, shifted again to a faint yellow hue. The yellow gradually deepened until it reflected a layer of radiant golden light.

"...!!!"

This violent, full-body transformation from the inside out brought an agonizing itch and pain that reached deep into his bones. It drove Wang Ping so crazy he nearly shattered his teeth from clenching.

"Crack!"

Following the crisp snap, Wang Ping felt a bizarre sensation in his mouth. Stunned, he opened his jaws and actually spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and shattered teeth.

He really had shattered them!

With a touch of panic, Wang Ping hastily reached up to feel his mouth. However, instead of the empty gums he expected, his fingers traced a texture that felt like solid steel.

Are these... my teeth?

Wang Ping froze. He used his spiritual perception to look, only to find his mouth packed with fine, densely arrayed, eerie white teeth—a full forty of them!

Seeing this, Wang Ping couldn't help but scratch his head.

Then, he completely forgot about his teeth.

Because with that scratch, he found his hand clutching a massive clump of hair, while a bizarre, chilly sensation spread across his scalp...

"Fuck!"

Before Wang Ping could react, the chilly sensation rapidly expanded. Large swaths of hair fell out, drifting helplessly onto the ground around him.

I'm bald!?

Wang Ping reached up to feel his head again, only to discover new roots sprouting on his freshly bare scalp. In no time at all, his hair returned to its usual buzz cut.

"Am I shedding my mortal body and exchanging my bones?"

Wang Ping finally understood what was happening. Setting aside any further worry, he gritted his teeth, continued circulating the Life-Stealing Thief, and frantically devoured the stored life essence primordial qi.

An unknown amount of time passed before he finally recovered from the violent transformation. It was as if the heavy shackles that had constantly weighed him down were suddenly cast off. Whether moving his arms or legs, he was several times more agile than before. As he opened and closed his hands, a terrifying sense of power surged in his heart.

"Incredible!"

Wang Ping examined his newly transformed self. He felt as though his arms and legs had been visibly stretched out. He had grown quite a bit taller, and his shoulders and back had become broad and robust.

The clothes that had fit him perfectly were now uncomfortably tight.

Even his little brother down below had grown considerably more robust.

"The fingers are the tips of the tendons, the tongue is the tip of the flesh, the teeth are the tips of the bones, the hair is the tip of the blood. Tendons, flesh, bones, and blood... External Arts Perfection is absolute trash compared to this!"

Wang Ping delighted in stretching out his limbs.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Just by casually throwing two punches, his explosive strength hammered visible ripples of air outward, emitting piercing shrieks as they tore through the space.

Afterward, he closed his eyes and sensed his condition for a moment.

"Sure enough, the Heavenly Roc Force is gone again."

Just like in his previous life, because the Heavenly Roc Dragon Capture martial physique wasn't of a high enough grade, it collapsed the moment he officially began cultivating immortality, merging completely into his dharma body.

Therefore, if viewed from the perspective of the Great Shun Martial Dao, he was merely a martial artist practicing External Arts at this moment.

"But compared to an ordinary External Arts martial artist, I should be just a little bit stronger." Wang Ping circulated his spiritual perception and earnestly evaluated his current strength.

An Internal Force Martial Master? I'm more than that!

Wang Ping slowly exhaled and circulated his qi and blood. His pale yellow skin looked as if it were made of pure gold, and the muscles and veins beneath his flesh overflowed with a moist, lustrous glow.

This was the characteristic of the Flawless True Body.

"The Flawless True Body... As the name implies, as long as I have this trait, no matter what I practice in the future, it will firmly lock in the physical changes brought by cultivation."

In short, once attained, it was permanently locked in.

"Mortals practicing martial arts cannot afford the slightest slack, otherwise they will instantly regress."

"However, immortal cultivators with the Flawless True Body lock in their progress forever. Once they learn a cultivation method, they will never regress. This is the true advantage of an immortal cultivator."

Not to mention the physical changes brought by the Flawless True Body. Wang Ping felt that, relying solely on physical strength, he was currently no weaker than Xu Bingzheng!

"No, I should be stronger!"

At least compared to the Xu Bingzheng he had faced that day, Wang Ping felt stronger. And that was a pure comparison of physical power, not counting the scripture scrolls and spells he possessed.

"Phew!" Wang Ping exhaled deeply, tamping down his swelling ego.

"I need to stay calm. Although that dog of a magistrate is a Titled Martial Master, he is ranked low on the Great Shun Imperial Court's Armament Manual. He can't be used as a true standard."

Wang Ping thought of Shenhou and Xugou, whom he had just seen.

Those two should also be Titled Martial Masters, but their strength far exceeded Xu Bingzheng's. He wondered who would be stronger if they were compared to his current self.

Perhaps because he had just broken through, Wang Ping felt an impatient urge to find someone to spar with.

It took quite a while before he thoroughly calmed down.

"I'm not done yet. I can be even stronger!"

The next second, Wang Ping returned to reality. He took out the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong manual Shenhou had given him earlier and seriously flipped through it.

As the name implied, this martial art consisted of thirteen methods: Iron Head Art, Iron Throat Art, Iron Arm Art, Iron Elbow Art, Iron Fist Art, Iron Sand Palm, Iron Finger Art, Iron Knee Art, Iron Leg Art, Iron Foot Art, Iron Cloth Shirt, Iron Abdomen Art, and Iron Ox Art. It covered the entire body, leaving absolutely no weaknesses or flaws to speak of.

"Every martial art has a corresponding Art of War."

After reading the contents of the secret manual, Wang Ping was utterly astounded. "Good heavens, was this martial art designed to directly forge a person into a divine weapon?"

Extreme, and pure.

Although it was difficult to train because it was so extreme, its purity made it incredibly powerful. More importantly—this martial art was highly compatible with him!

I now have a Flawless True Body. Using an immortal cultivator's dharma body to practice martial arts inherently yields twice the result with half the effort. Coupled with the augmentation of my Telepathic Spiritual Perception, my spiritual sense has massively improved. I can precisely control the circulation of my qi and blood to increase the efficiency of my training. Any damage to my body can be rapidly healed using Qi Restriction.

The overwhelming dimensional superiority of immortal cultivation over martial arts was vividly displayed here.

If there was anything that could slow down his training speed, it would probably only be his comprehension. However, for a peerless "borrowing" prodigy like him, that wasn't a problem either.

"A promise worth a thousand gold, give me a loan!"

.........

Early the next morning.

Wang Ping sat upright on his bed. Although he hadn't slept all night, he was brimming with energy. The morning sunlight fell on him, faintly transforming into layers of radiant halos.

With every halo that settled over him, his appearance became increasingly majestic and solemn.

A copper head and iron brow. Arms capable of hauling thousands of catties. A steadfast Vajra.

Hundred-Step Divine Fist. Splitting monuments and cracking stones. Treading over land and piercing steel.

Elbows heavy as mountains. Knees that could breach copper walls. An abdomen as hard as armor.

Fingers that could pierce gold and stone. A throat that could lock onto steel blades. Golden Spear Standing Tall.

Bones of iron and sinews of steel.

A full thirteen Arts of War buffed his body at this moment. They made him look so mighty that he barely seemed mortal; instead, he resembled a divine statue sitting in a temple.

And when the thirteen Arts of War merged together, they formed an entirely new Art of War:

Indestructible Vajra Body!

"Whoever created this martial art was simply a heaven-sent genius!"

Only after truly mastering it did Wang Ping realize the core philosophy behind the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong, and he was deeply shaken by it.

"The creator must have wanted to use this martial art to push the mortal body past the limits of External Arts. Once perfected, it can even rival an immortal cultivator's dharma body."

Wang Ping used his spiritual perception to inspect himself, gaining a profound understanding of the buffs granted by the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong. Based on his estimates, even an ordinary mortal—so long as they could master this martial art—would likely achieve effects approaching a cultivation trait like the Flawless True Body!

Entering the Dao through martial arts—this was exactly what it meant.

"Incredible, truly incredible." Even as he sighed in admiration, Wang Ping was in an excellent mood. After all, this was a massive stroke of fortune for him.

"As expected, you can't underestimate the people of this world."

"Although it isn't as good as immortal cultivation, the Great Shun Martial Dao still has its merits. The people standing at its absolute pinnacle might not necessarily be weaker than immortal cultivators."

At this thought, Wang Ping looked back at the secret manual in his hands.

Before mastering it, he hadn't felt anything. But after succeeding, he could sense with absolute clarity that this martial art was incomplete. At best, it was only the first half.

"There must be an even more profound second half."

Wang Ping's eyes lit up slightly. "Above External Arts is Internal Force. Looking at it this way, could the second half be the corresponding martial physique diagram?"

"...I'll ask them another day."

Recalling Shenhou and Xugou, Wang Ping felt a spark of anticipation. "With their seniority, as long as they master the first half, they can definitely get the second half."

Although they were mere mortals, unlike him, this Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong wasn't exactly difficult. How could they possibly fail to master it?

..........

Meanwhile, outside Xuanjia Camp.

Having also stayed awake all night, Shenhou and Xugou—who had spent the entire evening training bitterly—opened their eyes. Deep in their gaze lay undisguised exhaustion, along with a trace of disappointment from their fruitless labor.

"Still missing a little."

Xugou sighed. "Why is this broken martial art so damn hard to practice? Even the First Seat, who created this thing, probably can't master it, right?"

"Look on the bright side."

Shenhou was equally helpless. "Arts of War of the same type will conflict with each other. Figuring out how to suppress those conflicts is inherently the biggest challenge in practicing this broken martial art."

"You barely managed to master seven methods. I'm slightly better than you; I mastered nine. And just this is already considered pretty good. After all, you and I are Titled Martial Masters; we can still use Divine Intent to reconcile the conflicts. If it were martial artists who didn't even have Divine Intent, the difficulty would spike by another level entirely."

Hearing this, Xugou furrowed his brows tightly. "Is there really no other way?"

"It's not completely hopeless."

Shenhou sneered. "Ultimately, the conflict between Arts of War boils down to the body being unable to adapt to the drastic changes they bring, being unable to withstand their buffs."

"You could let the conflict run rampant and allow it to damage your body."

"Then take precious medicines afterward, slowly recovering from the injuries and allowing the body to adapt to the transformation during the healing process. That can greatly alleviate the harm caused by the conflicts."

"However, as the old saying goes, a severe injury takes a hundred days to heal. Even with precious medicines, using self-mutilation to improve is incredibly inefficient. It could also leave behind incurable hidden traumas. Therefore, it can only be used as a last resort when all other methods have failed and no further progress is possible."

"Take Chenlong, for example. He's been in seclusion recently, trying to use this method to break through to the thirteenth layer. But I reckon his chances of success aren't high."

Hearing this, Xugou looked entirely speechless.

"In other words, to cultivate this martial art to the thirteenth layer of perfection, one must first have an extremely strong physique. Then, they must possess physical control that isn't inferior to Divine Intent, or even far surpasses it. On top of that, they must have a means of rapidly healing their body, and they even need extraordinary comprehension?"

Shenhou nodded. "Exactly."

"This..."

Xugou felt a tingling numbness in his scalp as he listened. He couldn't help but say, "Are you kidding me? This martial art isn't meant for humans to practice, is it? It'd be more suited for an extraordinary person."

"You're overthinking it."

Shenhou sighed. "Those extraordinary people have their own immortal pills and miraculous medicines to strengthen their bodies. Why would they waste precious time using crude methods like ours?"

At these words, Xugou instantly fell silent.

Shenhou, on the other hand, let out a long sigh.

"That's why, ever since the First Seat created this martial art, no one—aside from the First Seat herself—has successfully mastered it to the grand perfection of the thirteenth layer."

"There was no one in the past."

"And I'm afraid there won't be anyone in the future, either."

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