Chapter 867: Two True Ones Merged

Where is Miss Luo?

After He Pingsheng emerged from seclusion, he did not see this girl, Luo Bingyao.

Feng Wu said: "Miss Luo left several years ago, saying she wanted to travel for a while and would return after some time!"

He Pingsheng had not emerged from seclusion for fourteen years this time.

It makes sense that Luo Bingyao had left.

"What about Hu Chen? Did he leave too?" He Pingsheng fixed his gaze on Feng Wu.

Feng Wu said: "No… this guy heard there's a Jiaoyi Society out there and went to attend it!"

Hu Chen had reached the twelfth layer of Body Integration, just one step away from breaking through to Mahayana Emperor Realm—only lacking a certain elixir called 【Great Creation Elixir】.

The elixir was out of the question; he could only gather materials himself and refine it, but his main ingredients were still incomplete, so he traveled everywhere participating in various trades.

That's not strange!

"Alright!" He Pingsheng rattled as he pulled out the elixirs he had refined and strengthened over the years from his space ring and handed them to Feng Wu.

Due to the lack of elixirs, the shop had been closed for nearly two years.

Now that there was finally a vast quantity of elixirs, Feng Wu was so excited he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Feng Wu, I'll take over the shop for the next while!"

"You go back into seclusion and cultivate!"

"Your cultivation base hasn't advanced much these years—it's time to push forward!"

He Pingsheng took on the shop's responsibilities and managed it alone.

He ran the shop while refining and strengthening elixirs.

After more than half a year, he finally saw Hu Chen return from outside.

"Did you gather all the main ingredients?" He Pingsheng asked him.

"No!" Hu Chen looked crestfallen, smiling bitterly: "I was short three main ingredients before; now I'm still short two—and both are the most valuable ones!"

"Alas… those ingredients did appear at this Jiaoyi Society, but I didn't have enough treasures to trade for them!"

"What a pity… what a pity…"

He Pingsheng said: "Don't lament. Have you cultivated the 【Space Wormhole】 technique I passed on to you?"

Hu Chen said: "I have cultivated it!"

"Good!" He Pingsheng said: "I have a clone cultivating on the Heavenfire Continent—he's now at Void Refinement eleventh layer; I estimate he's close to full completion. Open a space portal and bring him back for me!"

He Pingsheng had not entered Body Integration, so he dared not return to the Heavenfire Continent lightly.

Sending Hu Chen back, however, was a good solution.

"Understood, Daoist Tai Xu! Rest assured—I'll get this done for you!"

Next, He Pingsheng gave Hu Chen the exact coordinates; Hu Chen then opened a void portal and departed for the Heavenfire Continent.

About ten days later, Hu Chen brought back the wood-element clone.

"Greetings, my original self!" The wood-element clone bowed to He Pingsheng.

The wood-element clone had the appearance of an old man.

He Pingsheng nodded.

"Phew…" Hu Chen exhaled deeply: "Good… Daoist Tai Xu, when I first saw your clone, I thought I'd made a mistake!"

"Why doesn't he look like you?"

He Pingsheng smiled.

Originally, he had created five clones, all altered in appearance—none resembled him.

There was even a female version of a clone.

That way, he could hide deeper and avoid detection by enemies.

"Good!" He Pingsheng patted the clone's shoulder.

After more than a decade, the clone's cultivation had advanced another layer, reaching Void Refinement eleventh layer.

"The Shanquan Trading Association will hold a major annual auction soon—I'll see if I can find some high-grade wood-element Daoic essence; then you can break through!"

He Pingsheng suddenly felt urgent.

Hu Chen said: "The Shanquan Trading Association's auction is still half a year away!"

"But I heard Elder Dong from Shanquan had an accident!"

"Elder Dong?" He Pingsheng was slightly startled: "What happened?"

He knew Elder Dong—he'd dealt with him several times.

He was a fairly ordinary sort.

Hu Chen said: "No one knows why, but this guy got a wild idea—he tried fusing two different elemental Daoic essences, hoping to use the fusion to break his bottleneck. He failed and blew himself up!"

"What?" He Pingsheng looked incredulous: "That's impossible—he's cultivated for so long, doesn't he know the Five Elements are incompatible?"

"How could he not know?" Hu Chen said: "But he claimed wood generates fire, so he forcibly fused wood and fire—and… probably because his bottleneck had lasted too long, he couldn't wait anymore…"

"Couldn't wait" had two reasons.

One was psychological—he couldn't wait.

The other was lifespan—he was running out of time.

Hu Chen was about to say more when he suddenly noticed He Pingsheng was staring blankly.

He Pingsheng stood behind the counter, gazing upward at the ceiling in an utterly unnatural posture, frowning.

"Daoist Tai Xu!"

"Daoist Tai Xu…"

"What are you doing?"

Hu Chen shook He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng snapped back to awareness: "Hu Chen… watch the shop for me—I need to enter seclusion for something!"

He Pingsheng walked straight into the back room and kicked out Feng Wu, who was in seclusion inside: "I have something to do—you watch the shop!"

Then he began seclusion.

Hu Chen's words had given He Pingsheng an unprecedented insight.

Five Elements united?

I have it…

I've cultivated the Five Elements Mixed One Scripture!

I can already blend all Five Elements—how much more so two elements?

That's not the key!

The key is: if the Five Elements can merge into one, then two different elemental essences can also be fused—it's just a matter of how you fuse them.

Then… could Daitian Thunder and Jiutian Xuan Fire be fused together to create a powerful technique?

Boom…

Crackling…

A bolt of thunder and a flame flew out from He Pingsheng's body, leaping before his eyes.

He Pingsheng stared at the thunder and flame, sinking into deep thought.

If the Five Elements can merge into one, could the 【Five Elements Mixed One Force】 method fuse these two elemental essences?

Let's try!

He Pingsheng closed his eyes.

One day!

Two days!

Three days!

Time slipped away silently.

In an instant, half a year passed.

He Pingsheng opened his eyes and immediately entered his magic treasure space.

"Open…"

He Pingsheng roared, striking with both fists simultaneously.

Left fist: Daitian Thunder; right fist: Jiutian Xuan Fire—each shot forth from his hands, then he slammed them together violently.

The forces of thunder and flame merged in collision, then erupted violently from between his hands as a punch of divine energy that shot into the void.

"Roar…"

A massive crimson dragon silhouette materialized, its enormous head wreathed in silver lightning.

Boom…

Under He Pingsheng's spiritual sense, the crimson dragon's head exploded violently a thousand zhang away.

A powerful energy wave swept across the heavens.

Even a thousand zhang away, He Pingsheng's body was blown away like a falling leaf.