Inside the Morgue, Wang Ping opened his eyes.
Then, he suddenly clutched his head. His pupils trembled violently as bewitching passages of scripture surfaced in his mind, one after another.
The Celestial Book of the Heavens of Desire and Transformation!
Just by looking at the title, Wang Ping felt as if he could vaguely see a bizarre Bodhisattva chanting a scripture. It had a body that was both male and female and sat upon a lotus pedestal.
It said that the mortal world is a great Sea of Desire, where all living beings struggle. Sinking into pleasure and indulging every whim is only natural. However, the desires of the mortal world have their limits. Once you have experienced every pleasure, you will naturally be freed from them and will never again hold them in your heart.
This is "emptiness."
Thus, "indulging in pleasure is emptiness." This scripture acknowledged all desires, even encouraging people to fulfill them so they could break free—
The scripture came to an abrupt halt.
The chanting in his mind suddenly dissipated, leaving Wang Ping standing there in a daze, practically drooling. It took him a moment to snap out of it.
"...Why did it stop?!"
That’s right. This Celestial Book of the Heavens of Desire and Transformation only had a beginning. It had barely finished describing its core philosophy before it was unceremoniously cut short.
’If the goal of this scripture was to lead a Cultivator from "pleasure" to "liberation," then the actual text only covered the "pleasure" part... No, it didn’t even cover that completely.’ After simplifying and trimming it down, Wang Ping barely managed to distill a Secret Technique from the text.
The Desire Realm Heavenly Birth Method.
’This is a Secret Technique used to transform one’s own body. After mastering it, my body will transform into a special cultivation constitution called a Desire Realm Celestial Being.’
’This constitution can not only sense the thoughts and emotions of others, but it can also condense Spiritual Sense—something only a Cultivator should possess—even without formal cultivation practice.’
’This is great stuff!’
Wang Ping pumped his fist in excitement. He never expected that his time as a human sacrifice in the Immortal Sect, which he thought would be a total loss, would instead end with him receiving a great opportunity right before death.
And it was Daoist You who had practically forced it on him.
’She’s such a good person.’
’Such kindness. Next time, I’ll have to find the perfect opportunity to repay her with all my heart... by tearing it right out of her chest.’
’It’s a shame the scripture is incomplete. There’s only this Secret Technique to transform my constitution, not a true Magic Gate to let me formally begin Immortal Cultivation. Otherwise, I would’ve really hit the jackpot.’
Thinking of this, Wang Ping quickly took a deep breath.
’Calm down. Can’t get greedy.’
’Besides, Immortal Cultivation isn’t my only option. Isn’t there still the Da Shun Dynasty, with its burgeoning world of martial arts? If I really train to the peak, it’s not like there’s no future in it.’
Wang Ping had always been one to let his circumstances dictate his thinking; his principles were flexible.
Although just a moment ago he was thinking about returning to Da Shun to stomp on some weaklings, now that the path to becoming an Immortal was closed, he was a staunch supporter of the Martial Dao. A great Martial Artist was no worse than an Immortal!
With this, Wang Ping immediately settled on a plan.
’First, I’ll return to the Da Shun Dynasty, master the Desire Realm Heavenly Birth Method, and train in a few Martial Arts. Once I have some real strength, I’ll come back and explore the Immortal Gate World!’
Immediately, he looked toward the Taiping Scripture.
But at that very moment, Wang Ping discovered that on the title page for the Outer Heaven Demon in the magnificent tome before him, brand-new words had suddenly appeared:
[Current Identity: Vagrant (Commoner)]
[Current Fortune: 1 (White Lotus Church Master)]
[Consume Fortune to exchange for a new identity?]
"What is...?"
Looking at the words on the Scripture Scroll, Wang Ping immediately recalled another function of the Outer Heaven Demon: one could consume Fortune to exchange for a new identity!
’But the description said it could only be used in specific worlds.’
’Does "specific world" refer to the Da Shun Dynasty?’
’After all, the White Lotus Church Master identity was from the first time I died, but there was no prompt to choose a new one when I went to the Immortal Gate World.’
’There are six levels of identity.’
’Commoner, Black Clerk, Cyan Scholar, Vermilion Robe, Zi Qing, Golden Peerage... For each level my Fortune has, I can redeem an identity of the corresponding level.’
This was perfect!
’It’s the White Lotus Sect’s Fortune, anyway. If it’s gone, it’s gone. Besides, Shouchong, that Old Bi Deng, was the one who gave me this position. Wouldn’t I be losing out if I didn’t use it?’
Thinking this, Wang Ping immediately nodded. "Do it!"
The moment he spoke, the words on the Taiping Scripture began to float. His Fortune was instantly depleted to zero, while the identity slot began to shine.
It was an arcane light.
Then, Wang Ping saw the description in his identity column change from [Commoner] to [Black Clerk], and the identity itself began to shift.
Merchant, Prominent Clan Member, Scholar... numerous identities flashed by. In the end, it settled on one that even Wang Ping found somewhat surprising:
[Constable].
The next second, Wang Ping took a deep breath and strode into the Outer Heaven Demon’s gateway. In the process, his vision was slowly enveloped by light.
.........
Wang Ping opened his eyes.
Before him was a small room.
He stood in the room, facing a bronze mirror. It reflected the face of a man in his twenties with a slightly weary expression.
’This... is me?’
Wang Ping instantly realized something. He hadn’t possessed another person’s body this time. This face was identical to his old one, only younger.
At that moment, Wang Ping’s feelings were a little complicated.
’This is good too. Instead of possessing a stranger, I was just given a new identity directly. I’m still me, just a firework of a different color...’
Soon, memories surfaced.
It was less a set of memories and more of a background briefing. Wang Ping quickly understood his situation, and his recently relaxed expression turned grim once more.