A Small Test of Skill

Wang Ding walked toward the city gate. Along the way, he saw three rays of light—yellow, gold, and black—appearing above every passerby's head. From the information he had obtained from the Jade Plate of Creation, Wang Ding knew that these three rays represented a person's merit, fortune, and karma. This was an ability granted to him by the Great Dao runes formed from the Jade Plate of Creation, allowing him to see clearly how much merit, fortune, and karma each person possessed.

In the Mysterious Yellow Undying Great Art, if one wanted to steal merit and fortune, one had to kill the target first before using the art to absorb their fortune and merit. Moreover, this method was divided into ten levels; with each level cultivated, one could absorb one additional portion of the opponent's merit and fortune.

However, heterodox arts were tricks that took shortcuts, and shortcuts inevitably had flaws. When stealing another's merit and fortune, one would also inherit an equal amount of karma. Therefore, before taking action, one had to calculate whether the merit and fortune gained could outweigh the karma. Otherwise, if the karma exceeded the merit and fortune, disaster would surely be invited. Even with the Mysterious Yellow Undying Body, there would still be the danger of perishing.

This Mysterious Yellow Undying Body existed by relying on Mysterious Yellow Qi. Whether the physical body or the soul died, it only needed to consume one strand of Mysterious Yellow Qi to revive endlessly, until the Mysterious Yellow Qi was completely exhausted.

Wang Ding kept looking at the three lights above the heads of the surrounding cultivators, thinking to himself, It seems most people's merit, fortune, and karma are merely balanced. This great art of mine has these restrictions, and sure enough, there is a reason for it. If a madman relied on slaughtering all living beings to gather merit and fortune, wouldn't the whole world fall into chaos? I should seek out those born with great fortune as my targets. But people with great fortune have surely long since been gathered clean by the great sects. In that case, I must not give up on joining a sect. People are grouped by kind, things gather with their own; only people on the same level will cross paths. Only then will I have the chance to encounter more people with great fortune.

Wang Ding walked while thinking, and before long he arrived at the city gate. He took a spirit stone from his robe, paid the exit tax, then came to a sand dune ten li outside the city.

At this moment, the sun was high overhead, and the desert was like a furnace. However, Wang Ding had already stepped into the Innate Realm, so ordinary heat and cold no longer affected him.

Wang Ding's eyes narrowed slightly. He sank his lower body into a horse stance, clenched both fists and held them level at his waist. Power gathered throughout his entire body, and Innate Qi began to circulate within him. He drew in a deep breath, stilled himself for a short while, then suddenly opened his eyes. Circulating all his strength, he stepped forward with his left foot and punched out with his right hand. It was the simplest straight punch.

With one punch, wind rose from the flat ground within ten meters around Wang Ding. All the sand nearby was drawn before him. Ten phantom flying dragons appeared out of thin air over Wang Ding's fist, sweeping all the wind and sand into them. The ten phantoms, after the sand joined them, transformed into ten sand dragons. Ten terrifying, enormous maws charged forward in front of Wang Ding, as if they meant to destroy everything. Only when the force of the punch vanished a hundred meters away did the flying dragons formed of wind and sand turn back into grains and fall onto the desert.

"It truly is the strength of ten flying dragons. Now that my physical body has been tempered by the Pure Yang Creation Fruit, its toughness can compare to a top-grade defensive magic artifact. Attacks below the strength of ten flying dragons cannot harm me. My attack power likewise rivals a top-grade magic artifact. Within the Qi Transformation Stage, I absolutely have no opponent. But if I run into someone in the Qi Training Realm, there is nothing I can do. A Qi Training Realm cultivator has the strength of ten flying dragons from the physical body alone, and after stepping into the Qi Training Realm, they also produce true essence. An ordinary Qi Training Realm cultivator possesses the strength of twenty flying dragons. Moreover, as their realm rises, the power of their true essence will slowly surpass the power of the physical body. With the amplification of various magic treasures on top of that, their combat strength will become more and more terrifying. It is simply not something the current me can imagine. Although I now have the Mysterious Yellow Undying Great Art as my foundation, I cannot be the frog at the bottom of the well, arrogant and looking down on all under heaven. Only by being cautious while also possessing the spirit to take risks can I possibly go farther down this path." After testing his current strength, Wang Ding gave himself a systematic evaluation. At the same time, he gained a clear understanding of how he should cultivate in the future. His Dao lay in heterodox arts, but to prove his Dao, he had to possess powerful combat strength, which meant he had to have good cultivation methods. In that case, the sects of this world were his one and only choice. "Good. Now that I have crossed into the Innate Realm, it is time to leave this place and head for the West Sea. That is where I, Wang Ding, will soar into the heavens in a single leap."

After testing his current strength, Wang Ding turned back and prepared to head for the West Sea.

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting came over. Wang Ding's heart stirred, and he crept toward the source of the noise.

"Jiang Yiheng, hand over the Wongchuan Sect's Yellow Springs Token. Otherwise, we will draw out your soul and refine your spirit, leaving you unable to reincarnate for all eternity."

Wang Ding had just arrived beneath a sand dune several dozen meters away from the scene and hidden himself when he heard a grating voice. Looking up, he saw two men in black controlling magic artifacts, surrounding a person in beige Daoist robes who was resisting with difficulty. The one speaking was one of the black-clothed men.

"Jiang Yiheng, your Jiang family has already been exterminated to the last by our Earth Fiend Sect. Now only you remain. You think you can rely on the Yellow Springs Token your ancestors obtained to go to the Wongchuan Sect and become a disciple, then come back later to trouble our Earth Fiend Sect? How could it be that easy? Our sect master long ago predicted that your Jiang family would certainly send someone to the Wongchuan Sect in order to preserve your bloodline, so he specially sent the two of us to intercept you. Give up. Once we obtain your Jiang family's Yellow Springs Token, it can serve as a stepping stone for our young sect master to enter the Wongchuan Sect. At that time, our Earth Fiend Sect will surely leave its name to flow through the ages." At this moment, the black-clothed man who had spoken earlier unrestrainedly told Jiang Yiheng every part of the plot. He was using a heart-attacking art, wanting to crush Jiang Yiheng's will to survive. Sure enough, despair appeared on Jiang Yiheng's face.

Thinking of his clan's extermination and how escape was hopeless, Jiang Yiheng's face filled with despair as he said hatefully, "Even if I die, I won't let you have an easy time." After saying that, he took a black token from his robe and controlled the magic artifact that was defending against the two black-clothed men's attacks, sending it slashing toward the token while completely abandoning his own defenses. But what he never expected was that just as his magic artifact was about to cleave into the token, something changed.

A figure suddenly appeared beneath his feet and chopped off his right hand, the one holding the token, with a single sword strike. Blood sprayed, and the figure snatched the token from the severed arm's hand, then flew back and dodged away.

How could Jiang Yiheng not realize he had fallen into a trap? He immediately roared in fury and hurriedly sent his magic artifact slashing toward the ambusher. But before the artifact could fly over, the other two black-clothed men had each sent their own magic artifacts to intercept Jiang Yiheng.

Left with no choice, Jiang Yiheng could only recall his magic artifact to protect himself.

At this moment, the ambusher had already stood off to the other side. Wang Ding raised his eyes and saw that it was a graceful young nobleman, with swordlike brows and starry eyes, a face white as jade, and a handsome, refined bearing. Only, he could not hide the arrogant, domineering air and lewd wickedness between his brows and eyes. He said, "Jiang Yiheng, this young master is the young sect master of the Earth Fiend Sect, Young Master Xihua. I knew long ago that you would be a cornered dog leaping over the wall, so I used the Earth-Escaping Shuttle early on to hide underground, just waiting for you to reveal a flaw so I could take this Yellow Springs Token. With my aptitude, I will definitely be a key target of cultivation in the Wongchuan Sect, ten thousand times better than you. Why aren't you kneeling and begging for mercy? Perhaps this young master can still spare your dog life."

The man who called himself Young Master Xihua suddenly gave a wicked smile and said, "Oh, right. Jiang Yiheng, your younger sister Jiang Huamei tasted quite good. In bed, she was like a little wild horse. This young master harvested and supplemented from her until she was dying of bliss, playing with her for a whole day and night before she finally breathed her last. I hear you have an elder sister cultivating outside too. Next time, once I capture her, I'll bring her before you and let you watch how I play with her. What do you think?" After saying this, he burst into wild laughter.