Taiyi Dao Fruit

Compared to the side branches and minor details here, Yellow Heaven is what's truly important.

Moreover, while the reconstruction of Liangzhou certainly offers tremendous benefits, even allowing for the insertion of official positions, to Jiang Li, that is about all there is to it.

Regardless of power or influence, the realization of these would always resort to violence, and Jiang Li now wielded that violence. In the future, his focus would also lie in this area, everything else being secondary.

Instead of worrying about placing people here and there, it would be more relaxing to mooch off the Gongsun Family a bit more.

Receiving this reply, both Ming Shaowei and Long Yue's expressions turned grave.

Immediately, the two of them took their leave, one to gather manpower from the Imperial College to deal with Liangzhou's affairs, while the other hurried to report the situation to Juzi.

After they had left, Jiang Li and Gongsun Qingyue looked towards Primordial Lord Rain Master and then witnessed the changes unfolding beneath the thin veil of her countenance.

Her beauty was natural and elegant, with eyebrows like crescent moons, bright and dazzling eyes, as deep as lake waters, and her visage even more stunning than before by threefold. She appeared to be in her twenties, at the prime of her life, similar in age to Elder Tianxuan.

This was a basic characteristic of female cultivators.

Male cultivators in high positions often presented themselves with the image of a forty-something middle-aged man, highlighting their dignity while also showing stability and maturity, to steady people's hearts. There were also those who preferred to let time etch its marks upon their faces, aging like ordinary mortals.

As for female cultivators, whether they were eighteen, eighty, or eight hundred years old, they typically liked to keep their appearance between twenty and thirty years of age, never opting to appear old.

Naturally, the former Elder Tianxuan also did this.

Over the years, Jiang Li had only ever seen Tan Wuwei, a single female cultivator, allowing her appearance to age, and now even that one exception was gone; Tan Wuwei had become young again.

"Indeed it is Elder Yu Liu," Gongsun Qingyue said with a smile.

Although Gongsun Yuli had left the Sect many years ago, her image remained within the Sect in the form of recordings, and as the future Family Head of the Gongsun Family, Gongsun Qingyue naturally did not find her unfamiliar.

However, Primordial Lord Rain Master expressed her dislike, "Just call me Primordial Lord, or Master of Rain is fine too, elder or anything like that just makes one seem old unnecessarily."

As for her name, to be honest, it had been many years since anyone had addressed her directly by her name, having been Elder Tianxuan for decades, followed by Primordial Lord Rain Master for several more decades. She was accustomed to such titles; her given name had hardly ever been used.

Primordial Lord Rain Master said, her eyes rippling as she looked to the side, "Immortal Queen, encountering an acquaintance, won't you come out to meet them?"

Without knowing when, a faint mist had appeared in the direction Primordial Lord Rain Master was looking, and as she spoke, an elegantly dressed Immortal Queen emerged from it, her indifferent eyes looking at Primordial Lord Rain Master, showing a rare stir of emotion.

"So it is you; no wonder you allied with Tianxuan back then," the Immortal Queen said indifferently.

Seeing her this way, it was apparent she had failed to stop Guanyin.

Tan Wuwei had been promoted to third grade and left through the void, naturally aiding Guanyin's escape. Although the Immortal Queen was strong, it was difficult to stop two third-grade beings.

However, judging by the Immortal Queen's demeanor, she seemed not too perturbed, indicating a rather remarkable mental state.

"You don't seem to mind having one more enemy," Primordial Lord Rain Master said with an air of teasing, "Aren't you afraid I too might advance to third grade and thwart you again?"

"Karma has been set; you can no longer restrain me," the Immortal Queen replied calmly, still unmoved.

'Karma, huh...' Jiang Li mused to himself upon hearing this.

Logically, a fourth-rank couldn't possibly obstruct a third-rank's path; there was a fundamental disparity in power, and the Immortal Queen could definitely rise above the fourth-rank. Yet, back then, Tianxuan took the lead, joining with the other two to defeat the Immortal Queen once, creating tangible combat achievements that set karma in motion.

Without erasing this karma, even if the Immortal Queen's power surpassed those three, she still couldn't establish her position as the preeminent female cultivator.

Similarly, now that both Primordial Lord Rain Master and the Princess had conceded, a new karma had been set, preventing them from obstructing the Immortal Queen's path unless they defeated her once again.

The determination of the West Queen Mother Dao Fruit relied on karma.

Seeing the Immortal Queen's indifferent expression, Primordial Lord Rain Master realized she couldn't shake her composure. Compared to back then, the Immortal Queen's mental state was leagues ahead; what worked once might not be effective now.

With this thought, Primordial Lord Rain Master shelved her probing and turned to ask Jiang Li, "You mentioned seeking Yellow Heaven, do you know where Yellow Heaven is now?"

"He should be near Divine Capital."

As Jiang Li put away his armor and changed his clothes, hiding his injuries, he spoke.

His assertion was clearly based on confidence.

"Hasn't your master contacted you? The constant fierce battles here are extremely dangerous; it would be expected for your master to keep a close watch," Gongsun Qingyue showed surprise, "She hasn't contacted you until now, which suggests there indeed might be unexpected developments in Divine Capital."

Primordial Lord Rain Master, "?"

Why did Tianxuan's lack of contact with Jiang Li signify trouble in Divine Capital?

If anyone were to be contacted, shouldn't it be Gongsun Qingyue, the heir? Could it be that Gongsun Qingyue's position in Tianxuan's heart was even lower than that of an affiliated son-in-law?

Primordial Lord Rain Master didn't understand.

Master of Rain was greatly shocked.

In the years since he left the Dinghu Sect and the Gongsun Family, there seemed to have been some extraordinary changes.

Given Master of Rain's understanding of Elder Tianxuan, there must be something fishy about this.

"Sister is really petty, now she's already laying the groundwork for revenge," Jiang Li thought to himself as he saw what was happening.

He could guarantee that Gongsun Qingyue's words were not a slip of the tongue, but a deliberate leak, intending to put some pressure on Elder Tianxuan.

"She thinks she's capable again."

Despite his inward amusement, Jiang Li decided not to interfere. He simply coughed lightly and looked towards the Immortal Queen, saying, "The Immortal Queen is also heading to the Divine Capital, isn't she? Would you like to travel together?"

The Meng Family's position had shifted, and it was due to the Kunxu Immortal Palace. It was only right, both emotionally and rationally, for the Immortal Queen to pay a visit to the Meng Family at the Divine Capital. Besides, she was probably also going to meet with Elder Tianxuan to discuss the matters concerning the Buddha Country.

Jiang Li's guess was not wrong.

"You sure have the nerve,"

the Immortal Queen said, looking at Jiang Li before gently waving the Plain Cloud Realm Flag, "If you're not afraid of this palace making a move, I don't mind taking you along for the ride."

As her voice fell, clouds enveloped everyone within them.

...

...

Liangzhou, Yuelin City.

Governor Xiao Xiyue paced back and forth on the city wall, glancing towards the distance from time to time. His neatly groomed white beard was now knotted, and he was too preoccupied to care about it, his clothes also becoming somewhat dirty.

Ever since the war began, Xiao Xiyue had been standing on the city wall, gazing in the direction of Donglin.

Despite the vast distance, the intensity of the battle there was still enough to cause Xiao Xiyue to faintly sense the fierce fluctuations of the Qi mechanism.

Especially the violent tremors that disturbed a thousand miles of land, they had caused Xiao Xiyue's face to turn ashen.

At that moment, he felt that something was not right. Later, as the Plague Qi seemed to begin dispersing, he became even more ominously uneasy.

"Lord Inspector."

A colonel ran up the city wall in a fluster, adding to Xiao Xiyue's gloom.

"The statue, the statue in the city has cracked."

Xiao Xiyue's body shuddered, his hands starting to tremble.

The city worshiped the statues of the Taiping Sect's Four Gods, The Immortal of Colossal Spirit, and Zhang Zhixuan. If anything happened to the worshipped beings, the associated statues would...

"Heaven has abandoned me!" Xiao Xiyue moaned in despair.

If he had known this would be the fate of the Taiping Sect, he might as well have held his ground to the end or even abandoned the city.

Anything would have been better than the current situation.

A sense of despair overtook him.

As an Earth Deity, if Xiao Xiyue left Liangzhou Province, he would be nothing more than an ordinary old man. However, if he stayed, the court's retribution would ensure certain death.

A regular old man would struggle to survive in this chaotic world, while maintaining power meant certain death; both options were tantamount to death, plunging Xiao Xiyue into despair.

He even considered taking his own life, but upon reflection, having already forsaken so much for the sake of living, to commit suicide now seemed not worth it.

Therefore, Xiao Xiyue planned an escape.

Better to live a shameful life than die a noble death, he thought. Even without power, there might still be a chance to live.

With this thought, Xiao Xiyue decided to change into ordinary clothes and leave Yuelin City before anything else.

Just then—

"Governor Xiao, please hold."

A Daoist called out from afar, riding a tiger and flying in with the wind.

In his hand, an ancient wooden whip was emitting a faint glow.