Chapter 37: Noble in Disguise, Despicable in Truth
Editor: Atlas Studios
In terms of cultivation realm, Wang Ping was indeed the weakest person on Heaven Heart Island.
But in terms of strength, that might not be the case.
All along, even Gu Feng, who had brought him along to join this operation, had only treated him as an ordinary cultivator who had just broken through to the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm without a single offensive Dharma artifact.
In the previous battles, he had always used the "Illusory Body Technique" and the "Golden Blade Technique'' to attack his enemies and had used the "Rippling Water Barrier" spell to defend himself. He looked average and did not have many remarkable points.
However, he had previously obtained a low-grade offensive Dharma weapon, the Meteor Fire-Snake Dart, as well as the "Explosive Fireball" spiritual talisman that the "Black Shark Drifter" had gifted him along with two spiritual talismans that could instantly release a "Rippling Water Barrier."
In addition, he also had Xiao Feng, a demon wolf spirit pet with considerable combat strength.
If these trump cards were utilized well, while it would be difficult to say for sure whether he would win against a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator like Meng Changyou, at the very least Wang Ping didn't believe that he would lose to a cultivator at the middle-stage of Qi Refinement like Gu Feng.
This was especially true since Gu Feng and the others didn't know that he had these hidden trump cards. If he were to truly fight them, they would definitely underestimate him.
Therefore, after knowing that there was no other way for him, Wang Ping let go of all of his worries, ready to take a gamble.
After leaving the beach from the harbor, he did not return to the water pool. Instead, he hid on top of a large tree less than three thousand feet away from the beach.
This tree was sufficiently tall, almost seventy feet tall. Wang Ping hid at a height of sixty feet and most of his body was blocked by tree branches.
This was high enough to make sure that, other than Meng Changyou, the other cultivators would not be able to detect him with their divine sense when they walked past the tree.
After Wang Ping broke through to the middle stage of the Qi Refinement Realm and was able to project his divine sense, he was able to understand the wonders of his divine sense. From then on, like other cultivators, he developed the habit of relying on his divine sense to be on guard.
The divine sense would not be obstructed by grass and leaves, nor would it be fooled by ordinary methods of disguise, nor would it be restricted by the terrain and light. When cultivators passed through places like the forest, their divine sense would be much more alert than their eyes.
In the past, when his divine senses could not be projected, Wang Ping would pass through the forests and sometimes get bitten by poisonous snakes and insects, and he would have to use his Dharma magic to remove the poison.
Now that he could project his divine sense, not even a mosquito could bite him in the forest.
However, he also understood very well that the range of divine sense projected by Qi Refinement cultivators was limited. If one relied too much on their divine sense to stay vigilant, it would be hard for them to detect the dangers hidden outside their range.
Right now, he was using the flaw that didn't exist for high-level cultivators to set up an ambush.
Just as Wang Ping was preparing for an ambush, patiently waiting for his target to appear, the battle at the water pool had reached its climax.
Facing the joint attacks of Zhao Jing, Gu Feng, and Wang Jun, after Meng Changyou had killed the weakest Wang Jun, he was ultimately still outnumbered. Gu Feng's long awl Dharma artifact pierced through his defensive Dharma spell, stabbing right into his chest.
"Boss Meng, do you have any final words before your death? On account of the fact that we are brothers, if it's not something too difficult to accomplish, Brother Zhao and I will still help you with it!"
In the forest on the west side of the pool, Gu Feng looked at Meng Changyou, who was leaning against a tree trunk with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth —he was on the verge of death. Gu Feng couldn't help but reveal a triumphant grin.
Meanwhile, fifty to sixty feet away from him, even though Zhao Jing's clothes were also stained with blood, he was grinning widely from ear to ear. He, too, laughed heartily and said, "Hahaha, Brother Gu's words are extremely correct. Boss Meng, no matter what, you were once our boss. Over these past few years, we have fought side by side many times, so we can be considered brothers who went through life and death together. Brother Gu and I will definitely help you out with any unfinished business you have."
When he heard the two people's words that were filled with complacency and ridicule, Meng Changyou's pale face couldn't help but reveal a hint of redness. As though in a final struggle, he grabbed the trunk of the tree with the back of his hand, and stood up from the ground bit by bit.
Then, he looked at Gu and Zhao coldly. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and said with a miserable smile. "Cough cough cough cough, brothers who have gone through life and death together? Is this how you treat brothers who have gone through life and death together? I hate that this Meng was blind and was unable to see the true colors of you two heartless bastards earlier. That is why I will die today!"
As he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and hissed. "Cut the crap! If you want to kill me, then do it! I would rather die than be humiliated by despicable people like you!"
When Gu Feng and Zhao Jing, who were originally very pleased, heard his words, the smiles on their faces stiffened. Then, as if they had been jabbed in the foot, they immediately started to curse in fury.
Gu Feng spat on the ground and shouted furiously. "Pui! You're about to die and you're still acting like a good person. Who are you even acting for?"
"If we are despicable people, you, Meng Changyou, are also a hypocrite!"
"Do you dare to say that you didn't intend to take all the loot for yourself? It's just that we made the move first and acted faster than you!"
Zhao Jing added with a cold expression. "Brother Gu is right. Do you think we don't know what kind of person you are?"
"Let's not even talk about how you've been hoarding the majority of the earnings all these years because of your high cultivation level."
"Let's just talk about this time. If you didn't intend to keep everything for yourself, why did you intentionally hide your strength when we were breaking the array formation? Why did you secretly send a mental message to Old Zhou after discovering that corpse? Do you dare say that the message you sent to Old Zhou wasn't to form an alliance with him to take all the loot?"
Most people were like this. Even if they did something bad, they wouldn't allow others to say that they were bad.
If the person who said so was not a good person at the start, they would be even more furious.
In the past, Gu Feng and Zhao Jing had been in the same group as Meng Changyou. Because their cultivation levels were inferior to the latter, they had suffered quite a bit.
Now that their scheme had succeeded with great difficulty and now that they had forced Meng Changyou to a dead end, they wanted to vent out all the resentment and anger they had accumulated in the past before he died. As such, how could they endure Meng Changyou's attitude?
Faced with their scoldings and accusations, Meng Changyou suddenly opened his eyes and revealed a trace of a strange smile on his face. He laughed softly and said, "Heh, heh, heh, the look of you despicable people achieving success really makes me pity you. Do you really think you've won?"
"Even if you two kill me today and obtain the items left behind by the other cultivators and me, as well as the many treasures in that cave abode, you can only grow old and die alone on this Heaven Heart Island. Don't even think about taking a single blade of grass or a piece of wood from Heaven Heart Island back to Golden Pearl Island!"
With that said, before Gu Feng and Zhao Jing could ask him what he meant, he removed the Dharma power protecting his heart and committed suicide by shattering his own heart meridian.
-- Gift
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