An Unbelievable Transformation!

At first, no one paid any attention to the disaster.

It was only the disappearance of a songstress, a dancer, and a poetry gathering, the interruption of a banquet—until the disaster touched everyone.

"Was it just my imagination?"

"There seem to be fewer people. The embroiderer's gone, and after Xiao Rui heard a few words from Miss Feng, she hurried backstage too. Why has everyone left?"

"Only a few courtesans are left."

"You've got to be joking."

No one knew when the once-bustling Vermilion Phoenix Tower had begun to grow quiet, leaving many patrons frowning.

Even Qing Feng, the star courtesan onstage, looked surprised.

Some of the wealthy patrons and scholars trained in martial arts, however, keenly sensed that the entire Vermilion Phoenix Tower was trembling ever so slightly.

The trembling seemed to be coming from... a particular room?

But when they strained to listen, all they heard was one soft, breathy moan after another, making it impossible to pinpoint the source.

What was going on?

Vermilion Phoenix Tower, Secret Sound Pavilion.

Wang Ping lounged on a brocade couch. Clothes lay scattered across the floor, some his, some belonging to others, caught amid the pale bodies sprawled almost everywhere.

Though his opponents pressed him at every step, he remained unstoppable.

Outside the door, Miss Feng's elegant brows drew together.

"He still hasn't been taken down?"

The maid beside her looked nervous, yet couldn't help licking her lips. "They all went in, and not one came out. He took them all down."

"He's even more formidable than Master Liu was back then."

Miss Feng swallowed too. "He only just started practicing the [Iron Ox Skill]? This would be the limit even at full mastery—he might be stronger still!"

After all, even someone who had mastered the [Iron Ox Skill] was only human. Taking on ten at once was the limit. Yet the man in that private room had fought a bloody battle for two full hours without a single break. His prowess had gone far beyond Miss Feng's understanding.

But they couldn't go on like this.

Just then, a maid rushed in from outside, panic on her face. "Madam Feng, the guests outside have noticed something's wrong and are starting to make a fuss."

"Find a way to calm them down. If that doesn't work, you go in."

"Huh? Me?" The maid pointed at herself in bewilderment.

"..."

After a moment's silence, Miss Feng shook her head. Then she looked at the maid beside her, whose cheeks had already flushed rosy, and snapped, "Go notify Master Liu."

"At this rate, it could go on until tomorrow."

"Today's business is finished."

The maid beside her suggested, "Madam Feng, why don't you put that silver tongue of yours to work and persuade the young master to take a break?"

"You don't understand."

Miss Feng shook her head. "At this point, words won't help. If words could... Wait here. I'll go in myself!"

After all, she was the Vermilion Phoenix Tower's old warhorse, still eager for the charge. Her skills far surpassed those youngsters'.

With that, Miss Feng took a deep breath. Her waist swayed like a slender willow in the wind, and with the resolve of one marching to her death, she pushed open the private room's door.

Vermilion Phoenix Tower, first-floor hall.

Disguised as an ordinary merchant in a fresh set of clothes, Xie Shi frowned and swept his gaze around the room, no longer paying attention to Qing Feng onstage.

"Where did everyone go?"

The increasingly quiet hall almost made him think the county office had laid a dragnet to catch him, but a closer look told him otherwise.

It seemed more like something unexpected had happened.

He had noticed the tower's faint trembling too, but he was badly wounded now, and his hearing was nowhere near what it used to be. He simply couldn't locate its source.

Just then, a commotion erupted in the crowd.

"What? Impossible!"

Someone had apparently pried the news from the tower's maids and servants. But as word spread, countless cries of disbelief followed.

"You're saying a monster of a man came in?"

"And all the ladies went to attend to him?"

"He's been at it for two whole hours without a single break? Even Miss Feng went in, and it sounds like she's in for a hard fight too?"

"You've got to be joking!"

Surprisingly, once the news spread and was confirmed, only a few in the crowd were angry. Most were—curious.

Two hours, and at this rate, he might conquer a hundred in a single day? He couldn't possibly be an ordinary man. He must practice martial arts.

What martial art was it? Could I learn it?

The crowd grew ever more restless with curiosity. But amid them, Xie Shi's face darkened as he pieced together what had happened. He could barely contain himself.

"Damn it..."

He had no interest in the monster of a man who had practically swept through the Vermilion Phoenix Tower. What mattered to him was that, thanks to this, the tower had clearly stopped doing business.

Even Qing Feng had quietly slipped backstage.

How was he supposed to portray a beauty and disguise himself now?

His life hung in the balance. For a moment, Xie Shi's hatred for that mysterious man nearly pierced the heavens, yet he dared not show the slightest trace of it.

Meanwhile, Wang Ping was having the time of his life.

"The hundred and eighth!"

On the bed, Wang Ping casually pushed aside Miss Feng, who was utterly spent and rolling her eyes, then sat cross-legged with his hands forming a seal before his chest.

Inhale! Exhale!

In an instant, Wang Ping felt a faint, elusive breath flow in through his nose and mouth, pass through his entire body, and spread to every limb and bone.

It felt nothing like ordinary breathing. That single breath seemed to possess some unimaginable power. Wherever it passed, his flesh, tendons, and bones underwent an earth-shaking transformation. The sound of blood coursing through him grew louder and louder, until the breath sank into the deepest reaches of his marrow.

"This feeling... Could this be spiritual energy?"

The next instant, a sudden change struck.

Wang Ping's face split from the center of his brow, eyes, and nose toward both sides. One face now bore two utterly different appearances.

On the left were swordlike brows and bright eyes, rugged and imposing.

On the right were crimson lips and beautiful eyes, tender as flowing water.

Strange fleshy bulges also rose from his chest, back, and armpits, like the limbs of an infant just beginning to develop. The sight was unspeakably grotesque.

Though he had prepared himself, Wang Ping still felt his hair stand on end. Soon, however, he calmed his racing thoughts.

"Good thing I practiced the [Iron Ox Skill]..."

Drawing on the composure he had learned through training, Wang Ping kept his panic in check. He steadied his mind and worked to guide the extraordinary breath within him.

"This is the final step of the [Desire-Realm Celestial Birth Method]: manifestations appear upon the body. These physical mutations are proof of evolution and a fundamental transformation."

"But this step carries great risk too. Evolution isn't always for the better. I have to control the process with my own will."

If his evolution went in the wrong direction, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Right now, for instance, he existed in a state combining a [Desire-Realm Celestial Maiden] and a [Desire-Realm Celestial Being]. If things went wrong, he might even change directly from man to woman.

And that would be one of the better outcomes.

Worse, he could end up neither man nor woman—or his body could collapse outright.

At the thought, Wang Ping steadied himself further and began adjusting his mutating body step by step, strictly following the [Desire-Realm Celestial Birth Method].

"A pity the [Heavenly Book of Sovereign Desire-Realm Transformation] is incomplete."

"If I had cultivated the complete method before evolving my body, these mutations wouldn't affect me. I could even control them."

"But I don't need to be afraid. The [Otherworldly Celestial Demon] has finished cooling down. Even if I fail, I can start over. I have room for error."

Time passed, little by little.

At last, Wang Ping opened his eyes, his expression neither joyful nor sorrowful. His divided features fused together again, and the extra limbs swiftly returned to normal.

"Hard work pays off... I did it!"

Almost at the same time, the extraordinary breath he had inhaled seemed to exhaust its power. It became a breath of stale air, which he expelled.

The Desire-Realm Celestial Body was complete!

In that instant, Wang Ping felt as though his entire body had been immersed in a hot spring. His vital energy and blood suffused him with warmth, and he felt indescribably comfortable. The world before his eyes changed with him.

The sensation was wondrous. Though his eyes could not see inside his body, his mind clearly "saw" every blood vessel, every muscle, even his organs. He sensed them at work, revealing the intricate network within him.

"So this is... [Spirit Sense]?"

Understanding dawned on Wang Ping. This was the consciousness of an immortal cultivator, freed from the limits of the flesh. Through the secret method's transformation, he now possessed it too!

The next instant, Wang Ping turned his attention outward.

His Spirit Sense shifted from looking within to looking beyond. He seemed to see the colors of the wind, hear the voices of flowers and grass, and smell the scent of emotion.

Shing!

His long blade left its sheath. The stifling air left by hours of fierce battle vanished from the room, swept away by a biting wind that surged in every direction.

[Yama's Three Demon Blades]!

In an instant, an overpowering blade intent of greed rose again in his heart. Yet it could not shake Wang Ping's Spirit Sense, and he suppressed it with ease.

The first blade: entry level!

Next, greed receded, replaced by uncontrollable anger. The blade intent of wrath emerged, roasting his heart like a blazing furnace.

But it was still no use!

An immortal cultivator's Spirit Sense gave him a clear advantage over a martial artist, as though they stood on different planes. True gold feared no refining fire. Wang Ping's mind remained untouched by the flames of anger.

The second blade: minor mastery!

Then the anger faded, replaced by ignorance, a clouded heart, and the blindness of delusion. Like a shadow, it fell over his mind.

But at that very moment, Wang Ping raised his head sharply.

"Break!"

His shout cracked like thunder from a clear sky. A flash of blade light instantly cut through every delusion, while sweat steamed from his surging blood like rising vapor!

The third blade: major mastery!

The next instant, every strange manifestation subsided. As the steam dispersed, Wang Ping slowly stepped down from the bed and took the long blade in hand with casual ease.

Zheng—!

The blade shuddered violently. Across his body, his great tendons swelled and drew taut, letting out a clear cry like a dragon's song.

Tendons Like Dragon!

At that moment, Wang Ping clearly felt the power brimming in every limb and bone. He was like a barrel of gunpowder, ready to explode at any moment.

"Did I... master the blade art?"

Wang Ping could scarcely believe it.

His surging blood, taut tendons, and swelling power combined into a rush of pleasure greater than anything he had felt before.

"The difficulty of [Yama's Three Demon Blades] lies not in the moves, but in the blade intent. It really should be harder than ordinary martial arts, but my Spirit Sense worked wonders. The blade intent can no longer shake my mind, so practicing it was effortless. I reached full mastery in a single leap!"

This transformation in the very essence of his life was intoxicating!

"How strong am I now?"

Wang Ping slowly opened and closed his hand, pondering. "The four grades of dragon tendons are Worm Dragon, Flood Dragon, Hornless Dragon, and True Dragon. Which grade am I at?"

Could he shatter an artificial hill with one slash, as Shouchong had?

I really want to try slashing someone!

At that thought, Wang Ping suddenly sensed something and looked toward the room's entrance.

"...Hm?"

His Spirit Sense had just detected an extraordinarily intense emotion: anger and frustration, aimed squarely at him.

Who was it?

"I've turned the Vermilion Phoenix Tower upside down. It's normal for someone to be angry with me, but anger this strong, along with resentment... Something's off."

Wang Ping immediately sent out his Spirit Sense, following the emotion into the tower's main hall until he fixed on one person.

"Well, look at that. He's disguised himself?"

A sweep of his Spirit Sense revealed the man's oddity at once. His flesh, tendons, and bones were twisted out of their natural arrangement. This was clearly a disguise, not his original appearance.

But when Wang Ping's Spirit Sense revealed the man's true face, his expression froze.

"Xie Shi... Senior Brother Xie?"

Rumble!

That night, beneath a moonless sky and howling winds, rain poured down in torrents.