Taiyi Dao Fruit

Jiang Li waved his hand, and a streak of sword light broke through the rock layers, flying into his grasp.

The form of the Great Circle Sword merged into his body, and from it, the Cloud Pattern Ancient Sword fell, now held in his hand.

"Sky Cluster Cloud Sword?"

Jiang Li was about to closely examine the sword when the mountain under his feet began to disintegrate, rapidly turning ethereal. In just a few breaths, the five peaks that had stood there were gone, leaving only Jiang Li suspended in the air.

The Five Finger Mountain had disappeared before it completely collapsed.

'This... I had thought that during this time, due to the cycle of the Five Elements, the Five Finger Mountain had gathered soil and become real mountains, but it seems they were still illusory.'

Jiang Li looked down at the now empty expanse of ground, his thoughts fluctuating.

Gathering soil to form mountains was not difficult, at least not for Jiang Li now. He could also turn the intangible into tangible, but making the illusory Five Finger Mountain as real as actual mountains, even to the point of crumbling into rocks, was beyond his ability.

The realm of the Awakened was more profound than he had anticipated.

As Jiang Li pondered, his thoughts fluctuated, and he descended elsewhere.

...

In a dark hall, a faint light flickered, underscoring the tense standoff.

Luo Hou stood at the forefront, devoid of any Qi mechanism, yet an overwhelming pressure, like that of mountains and seas, rolled forth, the substantial force compressing the air itself, leaving visible traces.

"Buddha's Scripture of the Strongman Moving Mountains," the supreme Body Refining Divine Skill of Buddha Country, which Jiang Li had once witnessed with Hui Neng. However, even a hundred or a thousand Hui Nengs could not compare to Luo Hou's mastery in this method.

Had Jiang Li not advanced, he would not dare claim the ability to contend with this man in physical strength.

"To shape Qi into form, to project oneself outside the body, impressive technique."

Luo Hou, watching Jiang Li materialize from nothing, voiced his praise. Yet his expression remained unaltered, and even his breath and Divine Thought showed no fluctuations—as if he were a statue.

Although Jiang Li was but a manifestation of the Primordial Qi, his body, transformed through mystic skills, retained sensation, and he could still detect nuances of the fourth-rank, such as those of Lou Shuangying and Jidou.

Yet, he gleaned nothing from Luo Hou.

"Your praise is unfounded. I merely hitched a ride from Brother Lou," Jiang Li said with a smile.

Using the Emperor's Qi Observation Skill, he had sensed his surroundings and calculated with the aid of the Eight Trigrams and the Wind Queen's Strange Gate. He had foreseen Lou Shuangying and Jidou's moves, thus making arrangements in advance.

Among them, Lou Shuangying, because of the presence of the Black Sky Armor, acted with more impunity, hence this strand of Primordial Qi had become attached to him.

This development indeed brought Jiang Li to this place.

Upon hearing his words, Lou Shuangying couldn't help but bristle with murderous intent, yet he forcefully suppressed it. Luo Hou had not spoken, and even as the Asura King, he dared not strike on his own initiative, even against an enemy.

'Luo Hou's authority in the Buddha Prison is almost comparable to that of the second Karma Tathagata.'

Seeing this, Jiang Li made his assessment, subtly sensing his surroundings.

Just moments ago, he had been at the Five Finger Mountain, yet now he found himself in a dark and vast hall, and even though he searched the original place from sky to ground and scanned a thousand miles, he still could not locate this hall.

'But since I've captured the Qi mechanisms of both, there's no reason I couldn't let Xiao Tian search for them later.'

Xiao Tian remained guarding the guest room at Yuxu Temple, unable to accompany Jiang Li, thus reducing his methods of searching.

Jiang Li quickly sensed that Jidou and Lou Shuangying had no intent to block him, seemingly unconcerned about this incarnation escaping.

In a brief period, Jiang Li had gathered ample information. He lightly waved his sleeve, manifesting a scene of the mountain collapsing before him.

"Paying a visit, one must always bring a gift. Not sure if you find this gift to your liking?" Jiang Li said.

The collapsing mountains were indeed the Five Finger Mountain.

Even though the Great Brightness Mantra was broken, and Five Finger Mountain remained, it still had its uses; now that the Five Finger Mountain had collapsed, it indeed qualified as a gift.

But one thing, since Jiang Li recognized this as a gift, did that prove...

Lou Shuangying and Jidou simultaneously cursed internally: 'This Sixth Brother.'

Knowing Jiang Li was aware of the Buddha Prison's intention to destroy the Five Finger Mountain, it was difficult not to suspect that he had been in the vicinity all along, lurking silently and eavesdropping on the conversation of the two Asura Kings. Only when the Giant Snake Baqi opened the mountains did he suddenly appear.

Having met Jiang Li twice, he had successfully left an impression of being both scheming and potent in their minds.

As for Luo Hou, he remained undisturbed, merely nodding slightly, "Indeed, a fine gift. Destroying Five Finger Mountain, after the disciple of the Awakened ascends to the Golden Cicada, will indeed add some turbulence."

"In addition, it also repays a favor, right?" Jiang Li added, probing, "I'm just not sure if the person is the one I suspect?"

"Could you tell me, even though you clearly have ties with Buddha Country, why destroy Five Finger Mountain?" Luo Hou did not respond but asked a question instead.

"Is this an exchange?"

"If you consider it so, then it is."

In the exchange of questions and answers, Jiang Li never managed to extract much information from Luo Hou.

This Asura King seemed more like a monk who had practiced for many years, rather than the second-in-command of the Demon Path, his mental state remarkably stable, a rarity in Jiang Li's life.

"Being the second-in-command of the Buddha Prison and acting like this, you somewhat lack decorum, especially since I've already offered a gift."