Taiyi Dao Fruit

Spending day and night with Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue, Jiang Li's Dao Fruit fusion progress surged upwards, and his strength continued to grow. To outsiders, whoa, so Dao Fruit is interpreted this way.

Jiang Li had found the quickest way to advance using his unique traits. It would be absolutely impossible for anyone else to refine their Eight-Nine Profound Skill this way, let alone interpret the Qingyuan Miao Dao True Monarch Dao Fruit, but others didn't know that.

And Jiang Li certainly couldn't reveal secrets concerning his very foundation to anyone.

Yin Tulong focused on the grudge between the Three Altars Sea Meeting Great God and the Dragon Clan and targeted the Dragon Palace for benefits, ultimately carving out a name for himself as the Dragon Slayer Daoist. If Jiang Li were to reach Dao Fruit Perfection with this method, who knew what kind of title he would get.

Soft Rice Taoist?

The Tiger of Dinghu Sect?

Just thinking about such a future, Jiang Li felt a darkness before his eyes, a future without promise.

But there was still a small part of him that was tempted.

No matter how high one's Mental State, it still had to face the influence of various temptations. If previously unaffected, it was only because the temptations were not strong enough. Take Daoist Guang Cheng, for instance, who was a high figure in the Mystic Sect; if he could suddenly ascend to First Grade and become a Heavenly Venerate, let's see if he wouldn't be tempted.

Never mind shame, he would risk his life to try it.

The temptation Jiang Li faced wasn't as great as an immediate promotion to First Grade, but he had his own thoughts about it, indeed hitting Jiang's sore spot.

Whether Yang Jian had shame or not, Jiang Li didn't know, but he himself presumably didn't care about face.

The only concern was whether such a method of advancement would cause the Dao Fruit to reject him.

As Jiang Li was weighing his options, a trace of sinister Qi fluctuations entered his senses.

He immediately looked up, his Heavenly Eye flashed, discerning the source of the evil Qi.

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In a hall of Yuxu Temple, a Golden Bell was placed in the center of the room, bell mouth downwards, with evil Qi overflowing from its edges, faintly forming the shapes of evil spirits.

Two young Daoist boys stood outside the hall, startled by the leaking evil Qi.

"How is this possible? The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover is a Third Grade Daoist Artifact, how could it let evil Qi leak out?"

One of the boys shouted, "Ling Yu, quickly go find Dragon Slayer Master, no wait, it's better to call the temple master too, that'll be safer."

The other Daoist boy, still groggy, was about to act on these words when a flicker of black Qi passed through his eyes, and his face suddenly twisted, "Dragon Slayer Master is punishing us to guard the gate just because we're now taller than him. That's simply unfilial. If you ask me, we might as well lift off the Divine Fire Cover and release this demon."

"What kind of madman are you, to release a demon just because you have to guard the gate? Besides, you can't lift the Divine Fire Cover. No point in telling you this, though."

The Daoist boy lunged with a swift leg sweep at Ling Yu, "Ling Yu, you've been bewitched; I'll knock some sense into you and maybe even get us out of gate duty."

As he spoke, black Qi also emerged on his face.

"Hehehe, Bai He, look at you, you're no better off than me," Ling Yu cackled as he reached for the Daoist boy with a Yin-crippling palm strike.

The two Daoist boys began to scuffle at the gate, employing all manner of dirty tricks.

As they fought merrily, a flickering light appeared, and Yin Yang divinations evolved into symbols, encircling a figure that appeared in front of the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover.

"I wonder why Yin Tulong didn't kill you, turns out you've grown stronger too," Jiang Li said, his brow shining with light as his Heavenly Eye's vision penetrated the Divine Fire Cover to see the blazing True Fire inside, with the illusion of an eight-headed and ten-tailed snake dancing in the flames.

This snake monster was the fusion of a Heluo God's split self.

By this point, all of Heluo God's split selves had been burned away, leaving only the snake monster's illusion, appearing like a Primordial Spirit yet not one, akin to a shadow, preventing the Divine Fire from instantly consuming it.

Of course, this was also due to Yin Tulong's repeated battles and the need to chase after Shen Hou, as he hadn't had time to act and refine it.

Jiang Li's voice filtered into the bell jar, causing all eight heads of the giant serpent to turn, their crimson eyes filled with various malevolent emotions.

"It turns out to be Young Master Jiang, no, now I should address you as Yaoguang Elder."

The chilly voice came with a slight hiss. The serpent heads of the Giant Snake Baqi opened and closed their mouths. "I am the Disaster God, and now Liangzhou first met water disasters, then military disasters, death disasters. The richness of the Disaster Qi is such that even I, in Yong Province, can sense it. With this aid, my strength has indeed grown significantly."

When the Giant Snake Baqi went to Yong Province, it was to absorb the Disaster Qi of the province to heal its wounds. As a result, just as its injuries had started to mend, it found itself suppressed by the sudden emergence of a giant mountain, and to this day, it still hadn't crawled out.

Back then, Jiang Li was at Seventh Rank; now Jiang Li had ascended to fourth-rank, while the Giant Snake Baqi was still being suppressed, it could truly be said to be a version long outdated. But looking at it now, it seemed to have found a way to catch up.

In Liangzhou, numerous people and animals perished—millions were killed in water and military disasters alone.

Moreover, the disasters caused by the movements of mountains also produced Disaster Qi, and with the Immortal of Colossal Spirit repeatedly moving mountains in Liangzhou, no small amount of Disaster Qi was created, which in turn became a type of sustenance for the Giant Snake Baqi.

If the Giant Snake Baqi could indeed absorb this Disaster Qi, it would certainly explain why its avatar had made such dramatic progress in strength, catching up to the main body.

The main body of the Giant Snake Baqi was suppressed, but its avatar was not.

But then—

"Your avatar hasn't caught up with the main body, so how could it handle such tremendous amounts of Disaster Qi? It seems there must be someone helping you, correct?" Jiang Li looked at the serpent's illusionary figure and said indifferently.

Upon hearing these words, the serpent immediately let out a sinister chuckle, seemingly unsurprised that Jiang Li had uncovered this.

"It's no wonder you were able to force that man to retreat and take up the position of Yaoguang Breaking Army. Indeed, someone has been assisting me. That person is none other than your predecessor, the Yaoguang Breaking Army—Luu Tianpeng. It was he who found me and helped me gather the Disaster Qi."

He appeared to have no intention of hiding it, openly disclosing Luu Tianpeng's actions as candidly as one would expect from Heluo God.

"You are quite frank, to sell Luu Tianpeng out just like that." Jiang Li showed a hint of surprise and said.

"Everyone has their price. If that price is met, what can't be bought and sold?" Several heads of the Giant Snake Baqi laughed incessantly while others continued, "As long as you are willing, I could even reveal the secrets of the Great Venerable to you. After all, I was once a general under the Great Venerable."

As for his price, it was none other than the rescue of his own main body.

Jiang Li watched the serpent's heads move, and strands of malicious aura circled around him, seemingly ready to engulf him at any moment.

However, this Giant Snake Baqi had been outdated for some time, and he didn't know that I, Jiang, am now nearly donning the same trousers as the Great Venerable. Regarding the Great Venerable, what he knew could never exceed what Jiang Li knew.

But Jiang Li did not immediately answer; he merely watched the serpent quietly.

Under the scrutiny of the Heavenly Eye, he clearly saw the serpent's illusion tremble, the evil energy growing stronger, affecting the uncontrolled True Fire.

The serpent, under this calm gaze, slowly ceased its laughter and closed its mouth, sixteen crimson snake eyes staring into Jiang Li's third eye.

"I'm quite curious. Has Gongsun Qi met your price?"

After a brief silence, Jiang Li finally spoke.

The serpent's eyes flared for a moment, a sign of rising killing intent.

"Your Qi Mechanism has suddenly strengthened, even climbing continuously, but you are currently within the Divine Fire Cover, where is your sustenance for such absorption?"

Jiang Li kept talking, the Heavenly Eye still fixated on the fluctuations of the evil aura, "There's only one possibility, your main body is about to emerge."

The Giant Snake Baqi's main body was drawing on the rampant Disaster Qi, causing even the Qi Mechanism of its avatar to rise and soar.

This overflowing evil aura was not of Giant Snake Baqi's doing, but rather passive.

"Heh heh heh."

The Giant Snake Baqi's laughter deepened, becoming huskier, "The junior from back then has now grown to such stature, truly impressive. But what if you have realized my condition?"

Could you immediately rush to Five Finger Mountain?

What answered the Giant Snake Baqi was a gradually fading figure.