Taiyi Dao Fruit

"Heavenly Monarch's sincerity truly shames me for my earlier doubts," Earth Uncle sighed deeply.

Gongsun Qi then raised his hand and sent forth the Jade Scroll, saying, "Earth Uncle is deserving of this sincerity."

Of course, Earth Uncle wasn't truly ashamed, but rather wary of any hidden traps within the Magic Door. Thus, Gongsun Qi reassured him that with his Realm, he needn't worry about such matters.

As an old monster of the Ji Family, Earth Uncle's understanding of the "Form Tomb" was profound, perhaps no less than Gongsun Qi himself. Since "Yin Talisman Scripture" originated from "Form Tomb," being a branch of that great tree, any traps could hardly be hidden from Earth Uncle.

The reasoning was indeed sufficient.

The Jade Scroll flew directly into the Fire Eye, swallowed by those lava-like pupils.

Earth Uncle accepted this token of sincerity.

"With this, I shall take my leave," Earth Uncle said peacefully, smiling like a benevolent elder, as he bid farewell to Gongsun Qi.

"No need for formal farewells."

Gongsun Qi did not insist on him staying longer.

As the two parted, the fiery Yin Qi began to collapse, gradually shrinking to a point and vanishing, as if Earth Uncle had never been there.

Gongsun Qi's expression also gradually became indifferent, with a tone that seemed mocking, he said, "Greedy."

He knew that once Earth Uncle returned, he would thoroughly understand the "Yin Talisman Scripture," grasping all its details, rather than rushing into cultivation.

He also knew that ultimately, Earth Uncle would practice it.

Because this scripture contained no traps and also held great temptations that Earth Uncle couldn't resist.

For Earth Uncle, a legend says that he was a Netherworld deity split from the Earth Deity, and his path was intricately tied to the Earth Deity Dao Fruit. Unfortunately, though, Earth Uncle could not advance using the Earth Deity Dao Fruit.

Because the legendary Earth Queen was envisioned with a female persona, which did not match Earth Uncle.

However, this wasn't without a solution—such as... attaining Heavenly Dharma, using its formlessness to directly bypass the Dao Fruit's fitting conditions. Apart from the Heaven-Seizing Technique, the "Yin Talisman Scripture" had the wonderful capability to meet most Dao Fruits' fitting conditions.

With such temptations, how could Earth Uncle possibly resist?

"Hmph, greedy."

...

...

'I wonder if Gongsun Qi will overthink this.'

Meanwhile, having successfully sent a cryptic message, Jiang Li sensed the disappearance of the yellow light and thought to himself.

Given Gongsun Qi's cunning nature, he would surely decipher the underlying message in Jiang Li's words and already be plotting. Whatever his conclusion may be, Jiang Li hoped that he would focus less on him and more on outwitting the Great Venerable.

Since he is wary of resonating with Heaven alongside me and has received my cryptic message, he should know that targeting me might not be effective and may as well confront the other.

That was Jiang Li's intention.

As for truly betraying the Great Venerable...

That's impossible!

Jiang Li was still waiting for the day he could inherit the Feng family's wealth, after all, he was now a new member of the Feng Clan. This Heluo God trying to drive a wedge between him and the Great Venerable and ruin the inheritance plan, his intentions are totally condemnable.

While thinking this, Jiang Li flipped through the Karma Collection and indeed saw recorded advancements in Dao Fruit.

[Firstly, withdraw from Asura King, then slay the form and essence of the Giant Snake Baqi, aligning with demon suppression and advancing the integration of the Dao Fruit.]

The integration's progress this time seemed much more substantial than the last.

Despite no adversaries being slain this time, and the Giant Snake Baqi's essence still lingering although its form had perished, the feedback to the Dao Fruit was stronger than before.

Indeed, this Dao Fruit, with its connection to suppressing demons, stood inherently opposed to demons and monsters. If one day he could suppress the Great Venerable... the progress of the Dao Fruit... heh heh.

Merely the thought of it was delightful.

At that moment, the people from Yuxu Temple finally made their belated arrival.

Due to Jiang Li's timely intervention, the evil qi had not leaked to a severe extent. In fact, because the Giant Snake Baqi had barely revealed itself before being slain, the evil qi had even retracted, which was why the people from Yuxu Temple had only now arrived.

The Daoist wore a pale blue Dao robe, about thirty years old, with a small mustache on his lip, yet he held a silver long spear that flashed like lightning, exuding a stern aura that seemed at odds with his attire. He must be a cultivator who primarily focused on martial arts.

Jiang Li recognized him; they had met briefly outside Yuqing Hall the day before, and among the current higher-ups of Yuxu Temple, he was the only one Jiang Li had not spoken with.

Guangling Daoist, a successor of the lineage of the Void Dao De Venerable, had disciples who had once accompanied Yin Tulong and Shen Hou to Liangzhou Shu County, and had interacted with Jiang Li.

Guangling Daoist had arrived with a stern aura, but upon seeing Jiang Li and the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, his qi mechanism subsided, and he even stowed away his long spear.

He approached and saluted, saying, "Fellow Daoist."

"Fellow Daoist."

Jiang Li returned the salute and pointed at the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, saying, "The true form of the giant serpent was exposed to the light of day, causing the dispersed evil qi to surge violently. Upon noticing this, I took care of it myself."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for handling it... Ah?"

Guangling Daoist was about to express his gratitude when he suddenly noticed the ancient sword Jiang Li was holding.

It was all white, with a blade shaped like a leaf, and multiple joints along the sword body, resembling the spinal column of a fish, with misty clouds faintly visible around it.

This sword, wrapped in clouds and appearing mythical, was actually a sinister bone sword; with Guangling Daoist's experience, he recognized at once the sword's extraordinariness and the evil hidden within it.

"Fellow Daoist, the handling you spoke of, couldn't possibly..." Guangling Daoist hesitated.

"Ah, I happened to visit Five Finger Mountain and cut down the giant snake. Unfortunately, the snake had other bodies, making it hard to completely eradicate the evil."

Jiang Li modestly explained, simultaneously displaying the sword.

This was indeed the physical manifestation of Giant Snake Baqi's divine skills—the Sky Cluster Cloud Sword.

The Dao Fruit of the snake must have once used this sword as its Dao Artifact, staying inside it. Even without the Dao Fruit, the Sky Cluster Cloud Sword would still be a rare divine weapon.

According to legend, Giant Snake Baqi should be a god of calamities, particularly associated with military disasters and earthquakes. The Fusang region was typical of a place with shallow waters and numerous tortoises, a small area teeming with demons, ghosts, and monsters, constantly battling, though far less intense than the Nine Provinces, but still countless in number.

The Sky Cluster Cloud Sword was likely a symbol of military disaster and also represented sovereign power, renowned for its sharpness.

Guangling Daoist was at a loss for words.

He had only just noticed, while Jiang Li had already taken a trip and returned, even defeating a fourth-rank on the way.

This was incredibly vigorous.

Even having seen Jiang Li's battle before, Guangling Daoist admired internally the vigorousness and strong evil qi of his fellow Daoist, seemingly even fiercer than his own skilled killer.

For a moment, Guangling Daoist did not know how to react.

He had no choice but to change the topic, saying, "It just so happens, Fellow Daoist, that you and this poor Daoist should visit Fire Cloud Hall to inspect the armor."

"It's already refined?" Jiang Li asked in surprise.

As far as he knew, the Artifact Refiners from the Retro Party were particular about timing, usually requiring either forty-nine or eighty-one days to complete. Even if they ignored these traditions, it had been less than two hours since Yin Tulong notified him.

"The predecessors of our temple had already crafted the basic form, just not finished refining it," Guangling Daoist explained, "and even now it is not yet complete, it is merely for your initial inspection."

That set of armor was linked to the Dao Fruit of Qingyuan Miao Dao True Monarch, and the predecessors of Yuxu Temple looking to advance their Dao Fruit naturally wouldn't forget the corresponding artifacts, thus having prepared them well in advance.

And these preparations had then gathered dust for several hundred years...

Guangling Daoist felt somewhat embarrassed as he spoke, earnestly explaining, "Please rest assured, Fellow Daoist, this embryo is forged from Divine Gold; if refined successfully, it will undoubtedly rank as fourth-rank."

It was only because the materials used were too good at the time that they were reluctant to discard them; otherwise, Yuxu Temple wouldn't consider using centuries-old items as a gift.

Jiang Li didn't mind these details, even suggesting that reducing the refining time was actually a good thing.

After all, war could break out at any time elsewhere.

"Please, Fellow Daoist, lead the way." He straightforwardly said.