Chapter Thirty: Turning the Tables

  As the seven-colored flow of light, representing Ling'er's soul, flew in from the horizon and was about to enter the spirit jade inscribed with the formation, someone suddenly struck it with the Taichu Zhengyi Divine Thunder. This thunderous blow was majestic and awe-inspiring, its power unfathomable, causing the entire grand formation to tremble violently, on the verge of collapse. The Seven Star Locking Spirit Formation was not a defensive formation to begin with, but rather one that needed to be embedded within other protective formations to be foolproof. Gao Ping had hastily set it up, thinking that there wouldn't be any powerful cultivators left in Xiao Yue City, and so he had carelessly locked Ling'er's soul. But unexpectedly, at this critical moment, such an unexpected event occurred. As Gao Ping's divine sense reached the formation, he felt the impact of the divine thunder, causing the spirit stones within the formation to shatter and crumble, clearly unable to withstand the enormous pressure.

  Gan Ping let out a loud roar, and a mouthful of blood spurted out, landing on the jade stone in mid-air. The droplets of blood seeped into the pure white jade, like a few sorrowful blood-tear-stained plum blossoms. The entire array suddenly flashed and shook, and the remaining intact spirit stones also shattered one after another. It was because Gan Ping had accelerated the operation of the formation that there was no more time to spare. A powerful enemy was lurking nearby, watching with cold calculation. If he couldn't collect Ling'er's soul, it would surely disperse into the heavens and earth, and even a god would be powerless to stop it.

  Gan Ping's hand was indeed small, and the originally extremely fast Seven-Colored Flowing Light accelerated a few more points, already reaching the top of the array, barely approaching that piece of Ling Jade. At this time, another divine lightning struck down, looking like it was heading straight for the Ling Jade in mid-air. Gan Ping's eyes turned crimson red as his murderous intent surged violently, having made up his mind to wipe out everything. Currently, Ling'er's soul had no defensive power whatsoever; if she were hit by this lightning technique, her outcome would be certain annihilation.

  Gan Ping's eyes had already turned crimson, his face twisted in a scowl. How could Ling'er be so unlucky as to encounter such disasters one after another? This was enough to fill Gan Ping's chest with rage. With a loud shout, he shook off the ring-shaped object and threw it out, far into the distance, towards the heavenly lightning. It was precisely Qingyue's Sealing Ring of the Mountains. How could Gan Ping be so intelligent and yet not realize that such a powerful cultivator had suddenly appeared in Xiao Yue City? It must be Qingyue's doing. Gan Ping hated him to the extreme, but for now, he had no time to bother with him. He threw out this treasure that he had been suppressing, which should be able to block it for a while.

  That bolt of heavenly lightning struck the Encircling Mountain Seal, and this ring-shaped treasure was immediately torn to pieces under the lightning. The fragments flew everywhere, and Qingyue, whose divine soul was connected to it, felt as if her head had been smashed with an iron hammer, let out a loud cry, and almost fainted from the pain. However, she still gritted her teeth and endured the splitting headache, supporting the light screen outside her body, fearing that she would be torn into pieces by the Seven-Star Locking Soul Array.

  With the seal of the mountain ring, the seven-colored flow of light had already entered the Lingyu. Gan Ping raised his hand and the jade stone flew into his palm. He immediately used his divine soul power to observe the situation of Ling'er's soul, but suddenly his expression became disheartened and he muttered: "How could it be???? How could it be like this???" Even the formation beside him was struck by another heavenly thunderbolt, on the verge of collapse, and yet he remained completely unaware.

  At the time of casting, the Seven Star Lock Spirit Array was struck by the Taichu Zhengyi God Thunder, and during the shock, it also affected Ling'er's soul. At this time, Ling'er's soul is obviously missing some, but that's not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is that when the Zhengyi God Thunder struck the mountain ring, some of the thunder light hit this spirit jade. Now, Ling'er's soul is entwined with threads of thunder light, although it didn't harm the soul, but wanting to put it back into Ling'er's original body is extremely difficult.

  Just as Gan Ping was walking away, the Seven-Star Lock Spirit Array on his head could no longer withstand the attack of the incoming person. With a loud crash, it collapsed and dispersed into the air. Gan Ping became alert, suddenly turned his head around, and a pair of crimson eyes like blood, filled with anger, stared at the incoming person.

  A person floated in the air, wearing a blue Taoist robe like Qingyue, with a bun on his head and a white face without a beard, looking like he was in his early twenties. Seeing Gan Ping look at him, he bowed his head in the air and said loudly: "I am Hanshanmen Qingruo, I have met you, fellow Taoist." At this time, Qingyue, who was struggling to support himself on the side, suddenly shouted: "Big brother, you've finally come!" Qingruo looked at Qingyue, who was in a sorry state, and smiled slightly before turning his head to look at Gan Ping. "Fellow Taoist, since you are doing such an unrighteous thing on this trip, I'm afraid I have no choice but to be rude."

  Gan Ping saw Qing Ruo standing in mid-air, his green sword shining brightly as he stood naturally with a calm demeanor. Gan Ping's heart cooled down a bit, "This Qing Ruo must be the one who brought Qing Yue here. If it weren't for these two brothers, how would Ling'er end up in such a situation? But this Qing Yue is not to be underestimated, just look at him controlling his sword in mid-air with a natural demeanor, his cultivation must be extremely high. It seems that today's matter cannot be resolved peacefully. That Qing Yue hates me to the bone and will definitely not tell the truth. Forget it, let's just fight and see who's more powerful. Just because they hurt Ling'er, they deserve to die."

  His mind racing, Gan Ping saw the murderous intent flashing in Qingruo's eyes. After a glance, he turned and fled towards the rear. Qingruo let out a bright laugh, "Fellow Daoist, do you still want to escape? Why not follow me back to the mountain, become a child, cultivate your heart and nature every day, and make up for the killing karma you've committed?" Gan Ping ignored his words and rushed towards the city gate at high speed. This person stood in mid-air, being beaten passively, if he didn't escape, there was no chance of turning the tables.

  He saw him like that, pointed his hand and flew up with the flying sword under his feet. Qing Yue saw the two of them chasing each other, turned around and didn't see them, stunned for a moment, and also chased after them. He wanted to see how Gan Ping would die. Gan Ping ran very fast, Qing Yue stepped on the flying sword in the sky, calmly following behind him. A series of thunder spells struck towards Gan Ping, seeing Gan Ping dodge one by one, couldn't help but exclaim: "This body method is quite clever, if I can get it, wouldn't it be a great advantage in fighting with others?" Thinking of this, he relaxed his control over the flying sword, just following behind Gan Ping's back, wanting to exhaust Gan Ping and capture him alive, asking about this set of combat skills.

  Gan Ping employed the Cloud Dragon's Concealment technique, a martial art of the dragon clan, to dodge the flashes of lightning while sneaking glances at Qing Yue in the sky. Qing Yue remained fifty feet above, refusing to come down, and Gan Ping couldn't help but feel anxious. "If he could get within ten yards of me, I'd take him out," he thought, "This guy is too cunning." Qing Yue had long since realized that Gan Ping was a Body Refining cultivator, so how could he possibly get close to him? Even if he was confident in his ability to suppress Gan Ping, he still wouldn't dare take the risk personally.

  In the midst of a stalemate, Qing Yue suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I actually forgot about this thing." After finishing speaking, he took out several talismans from the storage bag at his waist. "Only focusing on competing with this kid, yet forgetting one's own many treasures - this cultivation can't be done by just closing up in seclusion after all." Qing Yue sighed as he threw out the talismans, three of which transformed into paper shadows that fell from the sky and covered Gan Ping's body. Gan Ping originally wanted to dodge but didn't know why he couldn't dodge, so he could only let the three talismans stick onto his body.

  Qing Yue smiled faintly, this Heaven Symbol Net technique is the ultimate skill of Hanshan Gate, how could you, a mere child, dodge it? Seeing the three talismans stuck to Gan Ping's body, Qing Yue decisively pinched them, and the three talismans emitted a yellowish-brown glow. Gan Ping felt the talismans on his body and his body shook violently, trying to shake them off, but to no avail. In a panic, he stretched out his hand to tear them off, only to see the three talismans flash with a yellowish-brown light, and a wave of earth-attribute spiritual energy enveloped his entire body.

  Gan Ping only felt the pressure on his body surge, as if he had a huge mountain on his back, and his speed slowed down. He was shocked in his heart and tried to lift his hand to pick up those talismans. Qingyue Daoist saw this and muttered to himself, but the pressure brought by the talismans became even greater, making it impossible for Gan Ping to lift his hands. At this time, Qingyue Daoist, who was closely pursuing the two of them, had caught up and saw Gan Ping in such a sorry state, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, pointing at him from afar and scolding: "You little thief, you have three Yunling talismans on your body, do you still want to struggle? Quickly surrender!" Qingyue Daoist was extremely angry with Gan Ping and thought that when his master caught the little thief in front of him, he would definitely humiliate him in every way possible to vent his anger.

  Qingyue didn't know, but in his senior brother's heart, it was a shocking blow. With Yunling Symbol activated, each of them weighed as much as 10,000 catties. The young man in front of him had three of them on his body, and now he was just struggling a bit. What kind of physical training could achieve this effect? Gan Ping's performance made Qingyue's idea of capturing him alive even stronger. Not to mention the strange movements earlier, but the youngster's physical training method was also an extraordinary secret recipe. At such a young age, he could condense his body to such an extent, and it was imaginable how advanced this physical training method was. At this time, Qingyue continuously threw out his finger techniques, chanting incantations in his mouth, urging the symbols on Gan Ping's body.

  Gan Ping felt his body unable to move, but he didn't panic. He took a deep breath and two threads of flame, like fine hairs, shot out from his nostrils - it was the Dragon Pattern Tri-fire. The two flames flew towards the two talismans at lightning speed, and as soon as they touched them, the talismans exploded with a loud noise, turning into ashes. With the two talismans gone, Gan Ping suddenly felt a lightness in his body. He reached out to grab the remaining talisman paper, and the two flames shot towards it simultaneously.

  He destroyed the talisman in his hand, and saw Qingyue still cursing loudly not far away. He snorted coldly, and instead of retreating, he charged towards Qingyue. Qingyue, who was scolding with relish, saw Gan Ping rushing towards him and panicked. He didn't have the cultivation of his senior brother to wield a flying sword, and his only treasure had been destroyed by Gan Ping's hand. What could he do?

  Just as he was in a state of panic, Qingyue suddenly saw a ribbon-like treasure falling from the sky, and his heart was immediately filled with joy. Master Big Brother had finally made his move. The ribbon floated to Gan Ping's head, wrapped around him, and before he knew it, Gan Ping was tied up tightly. He hastily directed the two dragon-patterned flames to pounce on the ribbon, wanting to burn it to ashes. Qingruo, who was in mid-air, laughed and said: "This thing is refined from the essence of the earth, even if your flames have some power, they can't be burned off in a short time. Little friend, calm down."

  Gan Ping also sensed that the object was difficult to burn, so he put away the dragon-patterned tripod and glared at Qing Ruo fiercely. Qing Ruo pointed his hand, and the flying sword fell to the ground, transforming into a three-inch-long crystal small sword, which was inserted into his hair bun. Seeing Gan Ping being trapped, he also let down his guard, but he didn't notice the flash of joy in Gan Ping's eyes.

  "Ah, you're the one who's been causing all this trouble! What's your name, which sect do you belong to, and why are you doing such evil things? Hand over your martial arts manual at once, or I'll make sure you suffer a slow and agonizing death!"

  When Gan Ping heard this, he understood in his heart that Qing Ruo was trying to trick him, but seeing the two brothers less than ten zhang away from himself, he didn't panic. He thought they would definitely not be able to escape and laughed at them for thinking they had the upper hand. He said: "Why don't you ask your brother about all the evil things he's done? And yet you come to ask me." Hearing Gan Ping's words, Qing Yue hastily bowed to Qing Ruo and said: "Brother, please listen, I only fought with him because I saw him wanting to harm people, I didn't do any evil deeds."

  She glanced at him, smiled but didn't speak. She knew exactly what kind of person her junior brother was, and it wasn't important what he had done in the current situation. What mattered was how to trick out his magical skills and that strange body technique. Smiling, she said to Gan Ping: "I don't know what Qingyue's junior brother has done, but your movements are suspicious, I suspect you're an evil cultivator. Tell me about your magical skills, if it's genuine, I won't make things difficult for you." Hearing this, Gan Ping sneered coldly: "If I told you everything, wouldn't you just kill me to silence me afterwards?"

  Qing Ruo thought that by slightly deceiving the young boy, he would reveal all he knew. However, Gan Ping was extremely clever and saw through his trickery at a glance. Qing Ruo, who had been cultivating in the mountains for a long time, was not skilled in verbal debates with others. Seeing Gan Ping expose his lies, he became enraged and flung his Taoist robe, coldly snorting as he glared at Qing Yue.

  Qing Yue, who had mixed with worldly people, had sharp eyesight and saw that his senior brother was being deceived. He scolded Gan Ping, "You little thief! My senior brother spoke kindly to you, but you refused the wine offered and instead drank the penal wine. Quickly reveal your evil methods and hand over any hidden items. If not, you will suffer physical punishment!"

  Upon hearing these words, Gan Ping asked, "It seems that even cultivators have greedy desires and will resort to strong-arm tactics. Is this right or wrong?"

  Receiving Gan Ping's sarcasm, Qing Yue couldn't help but laugh and say: "You little kid is quite clever, in the world, strength is supreme, if you don't have power, you'll be killed by others, this principle is the same everywhere. Since you're so clever, why not show some respect and hand over your magic skills? Maybe Master Dao will be in a good mood and give you a quick death." Having gotten a definite answer, Gan Ping nodded and said: "That's right, you people are taking advantage of me because you're stronger than me, right? You think I have no chance of turning the tables, right? Unfortunately, you're wrong!"

  Gan Ping no longer had the mind to entangle with them, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. A crimson blade shot out, which was the ancient magic ultimate skill learned from another space, Jiuzhou Continent - Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao!