Success and Retreat

Wang Ding and the other three had now fallen into an illusion woven by countless Heavenly Demons, their situation perilous in the extreme. The swarm of Heavenly Demons was only a few dozen meters away from them and could arrive in the blink of an eye. When that happened, the four would inevitably become food on their plates.

All of a sudden, the Mysterious Yellow Great Talisman in Wang Ding's soul trembled, instantly rousing him from the hallucination. By then, the Heavenly Demons were already right before his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Wang Ding saw that Long Lingyu and the other two had also been caught in the illusion, standing behind him with blank, wooden expressions, not moving at all.

Wang Ding had no time to worry about them. The Heavenly Demons were already before him. He raised the King Slayer Golden Halberd high, poured half of all his Innate Qi into it, and slashed down at the surging Heavenly Demons. A golden stream of light several zhang wide, formed from dozens of flying dragons, blasted out from the golden halberd in Wang Ding's hand and extended all the way several hundred meters away.

Every Heavenly Demon enveloped by the stream of light left not even dregs behind, turning straight into flying ash. Then a shockwave swept through the very center of the Heavenly Demon horde, clearing out everything around it.

The enormous fluctuation of vital energy jolted the three people behind Wang Ding awake. When the three came back to their senses and saw the scene before them, how could they not know they had been hit by an illusion? Their faces instantly turned ashen, and lingering fear gripped them. If Wang Ding had not awakened either, the four of them would probably have ended up as food in the mouths of these Heavenly Demons.

Wang Ding had now consumed half of his Innate Qi. Seeing that Long Lingyu and the other two had awakened, he said, "You three, hurry and make your moves. I need to take pills to replenish what I've consumed. Also, from now on, we'll attack in pairs by turns, to prevent them from joining together to use illusions."

The three immediately understood upon hearing this. Long Lingyu and Dongfang Riyue were the first to step forward, taking over Wang Ding's position.

From then on, the four of them took turns activating their Spirit Tools, attacking every time the Heavenly Demons gathered together and charged at them. After cycling through this several times, they killed this entire batch of over a thousand Heavenly Demons.

Wang Ding looked at the countless streams of merit flying toward the four of them, excitement on his face as he said to the other three, "This time, we gained more than ten thousand points of merit. Each of us should have a little over three thousand. Unfortunately, we didn't bring enough pills. Otherwise, we could have gotten even more."

Wang Ding had long since told them how he classified merit.

When the three heard this, they were instantly overjoyed. Huang Tutian said in particular, "We actually got this much? Doesn't that equal three hundred thousand human-path merit? No wonder I suddenly feel as if my mind has become clear. All kinds of martial mysteries I learned before but never quite understood are now displayed perfectly clearly before me. So it was because I gained so much merit."

After carefully sensing her body for a while, Long Lingyu said, "It's truly inconceivable. I had already cultivated to the final step of the Innate Stage, only lacking the fusion of spirit and True Qi before I could attempt the Heavenly Gate trial. Now my Innate True Qi and spiritual thought power have actually begun to slowly merge. It seems Senior Brother Wang Ding's words were not false at all. The power of this merit is truly incredible."

Seeing that Long Lingyu and Huang Tutian had both personally experienced the benefits of merit, Dongfang Riyue could no longer wait and began examining his own body as well.

Wang Ding looked at the three of them, restless and excited, and said with a smile, "Don't be anxious, you three. The benefits of merit have not fully manifested yet. In the years to come, you will naturally experience its advantages. We have already gained enough from this trip. To avoid going too far until too much is as bad as not enough, and inviting unforeseen danger, we should leave this place first, find somewhere safe to hide, then wait until Heavenly Void is about to close before leaving and returning to the sect. At that time, we can break through to the Qi Gathering Stage in one stroke, advance to become true disciples, and from then on, the immortal path will be within reach."

After hearing this, Long Lingyu also agreed with Wang Ding. "Senior Brother Wang Ding's words are the proper principle. We should not be greedy for more. This harvest is already enough for us to advance to the Qi Gathering Stage."

Dongfang Riyue also said, "That's right. As the saying goes, Heaven cuts off all but one thread. We should still not exhaust all the benefits, lest disaster come knocking at our door. The will of Heaven in the unseen cannot be left unguarded against."

Seeing that all three of them spoke reasonably, Huang Tutian also nodded in deep agreement.

Seeing that all three agreed to leave, Wang Ding said, "Since we need to go somewhere safe now, I think the Million Earth Abyss where the Formed Bone Demons exist, the place we first arrived at, would be a good choice. There's basically no danger there. As long as we're a bit careful, waiting until Heavenly Void ends should be no problem."

Dongfang Riyue also said, "Senior Brother Wang Ding is right. There, we can digest what we have gained so far, and at the same time we can hunt the Inner Cores of Formed Bone Demons to accelerate the fusion of our Innate True Qi and spiritual thought power."

Seeing that the three had no objections, Wang Ding and the others once again passed through the Starlight Passage and arrived in Heavenly Void. What followed was naturally another round of fierce killing. Following their memories, the four reached the Starlight Passage they had entered at the very beginning and plunged into it headfirst.

Wang Ding and the other three emerged from the Starlight Passage and once again set foot in the caves of the Million Earth Abyss. After resting for a while, Wang Ding walked ahead into the tunnel, going to search for a cave the four had discovered during their last exploration.

An hour later, the four arrived at the end of a passage. At the end was a huge cavern about ten zhang wide. The four came to the middle of the cave, sat down cross-legged, and began taking inventory of their wealth.

Wang Ding and the other three each took out their storage bags and poured out all the goods inside. For a time, the entire cave was lit up brilliantly by multicolored radiance, as if they were inside a magical world.

Wang Ding and the other three sorted this batch of wealth into categories and organized it together. After the four had busied themselves for half an hour, they finally finished arranging everything clearly.

Wang Ding looked at the three and said, "Most of the things here came from the storage bags of cultivators who died in the great battle on the mountaintop. Among them are twenty low-grade Magic Tools, ten mid-grade Magic Tools, seven high-grade Magic Tools, three top-grade Magic Tools, two Spirit Tools, thirty-seven bottles of various pills, nearly a hundred unknown materials, over forty talismans, dozens of Daoist books, and one Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower. Now we'll begin dividing the treasures."

Huang Tutian stared at the Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower before him, his face flushed scarlet and his entire body trembling. He knew that his aptitude could only be considered average, and he had no confidence in whether he could break through the limit of the Heavenly Gate. But with this Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower, he had one hundred percent confidence that he could break through. At this moment, he could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart.

In truth, it was not only him. Long Lingyu and Dongfang Riyue were the same. Wang Ding fully understood their feelings, so he said, "We'll divide this Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower first."

After saying this, he took out ten jade boxes, plucked the petals of the Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower, and placed them into the jade boxes. The remaining part was also placed into the final jade box.

Wang Ding took out eight of the ten jade boxes and gave each person two, then said, "Now there is still one petal left, along with the stem of the Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower. I have a suggestion here. On that mountain, I once collected a black treasure mountain. Although I don't know what that thing is, it is certainly extraordinary. As for these remaining two jade boxes, I won't take a share. The three of you can discuss among yourselves how to divide them."

After Long Lingyu and the other two heard this, Dongfang Riyue took the lead and said, "At the time, none of us could tell what that was. Only Senior Brother Wang Ding took it out. By rights, it should belong to Senior Brother as well. Now that Senior Brother Wang Ding is being so fair, if we were still insatiably greedy, wouldn't we become people who don't know what is good for them? Senior Brother Wang Ding, please just take them."

Hearing this, Wang Ding said with a smile on his face, "In that case, many thanks to you three."