Chapter Fifty-One: Swallowing Heaven and Earth Armor

  These two rhombus-shaped bronze talismans were the ones taken out from the Wuchuan ring when it was opened that day. There were several talismans stored in the Wuchuan ring, and the fact that Xuanmingzi, a master of such high caliber, treasured them in his ring meant they were no ordinary items. On that day, under the heavenly thunderfire, Xuanmingzi's physical body along with those personal talismans that resonated with his spirit were all destroyed by the Nine Heavens Fused Origin Flame. However, this ring was not an evil dao artifact, so it survived the heavenly fire and benefited Gan Ping instead.

  Gan Ping had also tried to refine those treasures, but due to his cultivation level, he was unable to control and use these obviously high-grade items. This made him extremely frustrated, as others could easily wield their own treasures, while he was stuck with a pair of treasures that he couldn't even use. He didn't know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for him.

  If Gan Ping had been able to freely control one of the flying swords during the battle in Xiao Yue City, perhaps Ling Er's outcome would have been vastly different. From Gan Ping's shallow perspective, the treasures left behind by Xuan Mingzi were mostly around third-grade, which was a rare level even among the elders of Miao Cheng Sect. Even Li Xing An's grandfather, Li Lie Feng, a renowned master at the Yuanying stage, only possessed a single fourth-grade flying needle.

  It was clear that if others found out about the treasures in Gan Ping's possession, it would cause a huge stir. However, if that were to happen, Gan Ping would undoubtedly be the first person to be silenced.

  However, the two rhombus-shaped talismans that had already merged into his body were somewhat unusual. Gan Ping couldn't distinguish the grade of these two armor pieces, but he vaguely felt that they were extraordinary, seemingly a pair of artifacts from a set. Thinking that this was just a fragment of an artifact and yet it was so unusual and spiritual, Gan Ping couldn't help but speculate about the original form of this treasure. Could it be a legendary top-grade artifact? The thought sent a thrill through his heart, but he immediately shook his head. Even if it were a top-grade artifact, what could he do with it? He wouldn't be able to wield it anyway, and if he took it out, people would definitely kill him for the treasure. It all came down to power, Gan Ping thought wryly, saying that in the end, one still had to rely on power to get things done.

  Since he couldn't use those high-level artifacts for now, these two rhombus-shaped bronze armor pieces became Gan Ping's only choice. As for the other artifacts, they could wait until his cultivation improved. Thinking of this, Gan Ping immediately immersed his mind in the two armor pieces. He had offended Li Xingan's lineage within the sect, and it wouldn't be easy to get by in the future. Although Li Liefeng might not be shameless enough to attack him personally, Li Xingan was a different story. Having an extra trump card now meant having an extra life-saving chip.

  With the power of his divine soul, he gently wrapped the two pieces of armor around him, and they emerged from the tips of his fingers. Gan Ping thought to put them in his dantian to warm and refine them, but unexpectedly, a series of knife-sharpening sounds came from within. The two pieces of armor felt these sounds and quickly escaped from Gan Ping's divine soul power, retreating back along their original path. Gan Ping was shocked and looked inward at his dantian, where the Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao knife was humming with energy, eager to strike out like a provoked child. Gan Ping hastily calmed it down, having forgotten that he still had this overbearing presence within him. This Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao knife was indeed overbearing; even now, as just a faint red glow, it was already so dominant that the two pieces of armor didn't dare approach, allowing it to occupy his dantian. Only a thread of Gan Ping's cultivated dragon-patterned fire surrounded it at a distance, not daring to get close to the center where the knife resided. Seeing how overbearing the Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao knife was, Gan Ping felt a sense of joy in his heart; if he allowed this knife energy to grow, its power would surely be unmatched.

  Once again, using the same method, he brought out the two pieces of jade from his fingertips and unfolded the Soul Silk Technique, transforming his soul into threads of soul silk that tightly wrapped around the two shell fragments. As Gan Ping's heart moved, the true yuan in his body transformed into a flame suspended below the two shell fragments, burning fiercely. The thread of fire also transformed into a small dragon that swam around the two shell fragments, occasionally spewing out a wisp of pure flames onto them. Slowly, Gan Ping felt a connection between his heart and the two shell fragments, and some messages emerged from them, transmitting to his sea of consciousness.

  He slightly furrowed his brow, and for the first time, Gan Ping activated the treasure's refining technique. He hadn't expected that there would still be some messages stored within it, and he was somewhat unaccustomed to this sudden turn of events. However, he quickly regained his composure and skipped through some scenes of the previous owner using it. Gan Ping found what he wanted to know. It turned out that these two pieces of armor were not unknown, but rather fragments of the "Swallowing Heaven and Earth" armor, one of the top ten ancient war armors. The "Swallowing Heaven and Earth" armor was ranked seventh among the top ten divine armors, truly a first-rate divine armor with both offense and defense capabilities, impervious to all techniques. Each generation's owner had used this armor to create a renowned name, and countless ancient great gods and cultivators had fallen under its might. Unfortunately, during the Great War between immortals and demons thousands of years ago, the last owner of the "Swallowing Heaven and Earth" armor, Nan Gong Xiaonan from Tianmu Mountain, was surrounded by several powerful demon cultivators. Despite his extraordinary abilities and the assistance of the divine armor, he was unable to withstand the attack of multiple demon heads. After killing several people with great effort, he self-destructed, shattering the "Swallowing Heaven and Earth" armor and scattering its fragments everywhere, fearing that if the armor fell into someone's hands, it would lead to endless slaughter.

  The ancestors of the Wangyue Mountain sect also participated in this siege, so they got two pieces of the Qiongqi armor. The Qiongqi armor has a total of 1,284 pieces, and most of the demon heads who participated in the siege obtained several pieces. A large part of it is unknown where it was scattered. Although it's only two fragments of the Qiongqi armor, this legendary top ten divine armor isn't just talk. Even if it's just a fragment, it has reached the level of a six-grade treasure, and its solidity can be compared to that of a five-grade protective treasure. Unfortunately, those who participated in this siege were all demon heads who dominated the world at that time, so they didn't think much of these fragments, which were only of the sixth grade. They just collected them as spoils of war, and thus they were passed down from generation to generation until they reached Gan Ping's hands.

  Perhaps those mighty magical artifacts didn't think much of this mere six-piece armor, but for Gan Ping, it was just right, barely usable. Even so, Gan Ping couldn't control the armor to fly in mid-air, he could only slightly refine the two pieces of armor and barely command them. The two pieces of armor returned to Gan Ping's right hand index finger, transforming into a fingernail, revealing a faintly visible ancient copper-colored nail. Gan Ping couldn't help but smile slightly. This armor-turned-fingernail was one of his few current means of attack, since his physical strength and speed far surpassed that of ordinary people, this close-range killing tool would surely be unbeatable among those of the same rank, as long as he got close enough, a single poke with his finger would be enough to overcome any defensive artifact below six pieces.

  As for the other shell, it wandered all over the body in the meridians. Since he had offended someone, he had to be careful and guard against it. Under the urging of Gan Ping's humble and low-key cultivation, the shell could expand to the size of a palm, although not too large, but enough to cover some vital parts. As long as he wasn't hit in the vitals, Gan Ping believed that his physical strength would definitely be able to withstand it unscathed.

  The law treasures are divided into nine grades, and those below the sixth grade are basically not considered as law instruments, but only as a stream of law instruments. Only when they reach the sixth grade can they be considered as law treasures. Therefore, the sixth grade is a dividing line. If the grade of a law treasure reaches the third grade, it can be said to be a high-grade law treasure. In the sect, there are only a few such high-grade law treasures. A second-grade law treasure can serve as a treasure of a medium-sized sect. As for first-grade law treasures, only a few large sects can possess them. As for these, Ming Fan had only heard of them and didn't know much about them. He had only heard that there was a first-grade divine sword in the sect, but he didn't know where it was.

  As for the outer disciples' so-called "treasures", most of them are just low-grade artifacts, and even those that reach 8th grade are extremely rare. Most of them hover between 9th grade and ungraded, using common materials to carve out basic array patterns like Wind Condensation, and a low-ranking disciple's flying sword is made. But although this sect has nearly 10,000 disciples, not everyone has a flying sword. After all, with so many people in the sect, even the most basic materials are hard to come by. Therefore, despite being a prestigious sect within the Purple Flower Immortal Mansion, conflicts over mine ownership often arise, and even the Miao Cheng Sect frequently clashes with others over spiritual veins.

  Although Gan Ping had only barely refined the six-piece armor, his physical defense strength suddenly increased greatly. Looking around the entire sect, unless it was an elder-level figure who attacked, even inner disciples couldn't break through his protective armor. At this moment, Gan Ping's anxious heart finally put down a bit. He looked up and saw that the sky outside had darkened again. Calculating carefully, he realized that the commotion of the last three days of the month would end tonight, and tomorrow he would have to continue entering the fifth layer to learn alchemy techniques. Gan Ping sighed in his heart, this cultivation period was truly unpredictable, and he still had many things he wanted to do in the future, but could only slowly accomplish them later on.

  The next morning, Gan Ping went to the fifth floor of the Earth Fire Temple early and waited. Looking at the white misty path in front of him, Gan Ping knew that this was the barrier that blocked the fifth floor. Gan Ping didn't have any intention of touching it, as with his cultivation level, it was better not to casually touch such things. Not long after, the layer of white fog in front of him slowly began to flow and gradually thinned out, slowly dispersing without a trace. Just as Gan Ping was curiously looking around, a slightly surprised voice came from the other side of the barrier: "Gan Ping, is that you?"