Taiyi Dao Fruit

Above the roiling Dinghu Waters, a gust stirred and waves surged. Suddenly, a water column twisted upwards, piercing the heavens. Amidst its coiling, water patterns solidified into dragon scales, and the sky-reaching column began to transform into a dragon's body, its peak morphing into a dragon tail, stirring the winds and clouds.

Below the water's surface, countless fish converged into a group, propelling five light boats through the waves. Jiang Zhuyun stood upon the central vessel, holding an object wrapped in white cloth. Wisps of pitch-black aura coiled around it like serpents, entwining with the blood-red spell inscriptions intermittently visible through the fabric.

The fierce winds and waves, as if drawn to this energy, furiously rushed towards the light boats but dissipated into nothingness upon encountering a faint golden light just as they were about to strike the vessels.

Jiang Zhuyun and the others aboard each had the vague apparition of golden yellow dragon scales on their bodies, resonating and echoing with the dragon's might rampant in Dinghu, causing the storm to abruptly vanish before it could get close, only to reappear and disappear repeatedly.

"Yinglong's Scale."

A shadow moved upon the water, and a murky voice filtered through the currents: "I truly did not expect that a descendant of Emperor Yan would possess so many of Yinglong's Scales. Interesting, truly interesting. It seems the inheritors of the Yellow Emperor are not as united as one might think."

In the current world, the most famous powers that worshipped the Yellow Emperor were three—the Ji Royal Family, the Taiping Sect, and the Dinghu Sect.

So, from which of these could the Dragon Scales have come?

The Royal Family? The Taiping Sect? Or could it be from Dinghu Sect itself?

The muffled voice contained a hint of seduction, stirring an unsettling urge to respond.

But just as the voice neared Jiang Zhuyun, the pitch-black aura suddenly fluctuated, the air buzzed, as if even the intangible allure was shattered.

Jiang Zhuyun gripped the long weapon wrapped in the Blood Curse White Cloth, unmoved, speaking coldly, "Save your breath; you only need to lead me to the Ochre Whip. The Military God's Five Weapons will be yours; everything else does not concern you."

It appeared that he had quickly adapted and was now making demands as a collaborator.

"Heh heh heh..."

A series of meaningful laughs echoed from beneath the waters, and a shadow undulated. A pair of crimson eyes gleamed like lanterns: "Fear not. Although I am not entirely sure of the Ochre Whip's location, I do have a rough idea of the area. It's just a pity I couldn't trick Jiang Li into showing up. If I could capture him and search his soul, I would definitely find the Dinghu Sect's secret place."

At the mention of Jiang Li, the submerged shadow felt frustrated.

Even now, he could not fathom how he had given himself away. Without understanding this, he lacked security when assuming others' identities in the future and risked being exposed again at any moment.

At that moment, the wind and waves grew even more frenzied. The sound of the wind was sometimes deep, other times lingering, like the breath of a True Dragon, as the haze above thickened.

Suddenly—

"Boom!"

A bolt of thunder cleaved the sky, illuminating a colossal figure on a distant island.

Following that, the thunder boomed fiercely, and bolts of lightning darted through the sky, turning it into a sea of thunder. The wild Thunder Light struck the water column that had transformed into a dragon.

"Bang!"

The water column, which stirred the winds and clouds, exploded upon impact, and countless droplets burst into a torrential downpour, with the audacious thunder momentarily overpowering the storm.

"Luu Tianpeng!"

Jiang Zhuyun glared at the silhouette, grinding his teeth, "Even you want to block my way! You and Jiang Li are the same, all traitors, betrayers of our family."

"The Yaoguang Elder of Dinghu Sect, although he is still fourth-rank, is said to have Thunder Techniques as exquisite as Zhixuan Zhang, the Sect Leader of Taiping," murmured the shadow beneath the water. "With him intervening, the unleashed might of the Yinglong Dao Fruit will likely be constrained."

In the end, it was just a Dao Fruit, not a true third-grade cultivator, and considering the Yinglong Dao Fruit was still in a reactive state, it was well within Elder Tianpeng's power to suppress it.

However, since Jiang Zhuyun had chosen to make this move, he naturally had countermeasures in place.

Though he had been forced into a corner, his threat with the Yinglong Dao Fruit was an act of long contemplation.

"Rest assured, he cannot stop us," Jiang Zhuyun said coldly.

No sooner had his voice fallen than a thunderous, lightning-filled sky appeared, and a furious thunder, like an angry dragon, swept across the sky, striking ferociously upon the thundercloud.

To attack thunder with thunder, the collision of two of the most violent forces in nature produced a sky full of electric sparks, dispersing the thunderclouds.

"Duke of Thunder, aid me!"

Inside a stone house in Si Fan Valley, a young man was kneeling on the ground, his lips moving in silent prayer.

Dazzling divine light shone forth from his Mud Ball Palace, piercing through the stone house, illuminating all directions, and manifesting a Thunder God Dharma.

With a face like indigo, vermilion hair, fierce eyes, and protruding fangs extending beyond his lips, a mouth like the Duke of Thunder's, the being was two zhang tall, its entire body the color of merged water, and flesh wings sprouting from its back. The Thunder God Dharma, resembling a fierce demon yet also possessing the vast divine power of Heavenly Thunder.

Upon its appearance, it flapped its Double Wings, invoking wind and thunder. Above Si Fan Valley, indigo Gang Wind and blue-purple thunder immediately appeared. The wind and thunder overlapped and transformed into immense Wind and Thunder Wings that enveloped the colossal figure.

"Divine Possession!"

The voice of Elder Tianpeng boomed out, "Bold! You dare to take my Jiang family's flesh as your form."

After the End of Dharma, there are no gods within a three-foot radius above one's head. However, as a Divine Fruit reaches a higher rank, cultivators are indistinguishable from gods, able to wield the abilities of deities. Just like gods taking form through a believer's body, as long as divine sense and power are pre-embedded, the Divine Descent Technique can be used at a critical moment to possess the body and manifest divine power.

This method is quite consuming, though.

Suitable believers are not easy to cultivate, and after one instance of Divine Descent, they are basically spent.

It was for this reason that Tianpeng was enraged. He was angry that someone treated a Jiang Clan member as a mere shelter for possession, and furious at both Jiang Zhuyun's ruthlessness and the young man's foolish loyalty in paying such a high price to confront him.

Indeed, it confirmed what was said before: if one day Tianpeng stood on the opposing side, they would also kill Tianpeng.

With this thought, the Dharma that Tianpeng had manifested surged with magnificent Purple Clouds, carrying Thunder and Fire forth, colliding with the Wind and Thunder Wings. The two thunder forces entwined in a clash, forming a column of Thunder and Fire that reached from heaven to earth, where it passed, vegetation was incinerated, mountains crumbled, and rocks cracked.

At the same time, deprived of Elder Tianpeng's suppression, the Yinglong Dao Fruit once again started to stir the winds and waves. Inside Dinghu, a huge whirlpool formed, like a conduit to the Nine Netherworld, as a massive dragon's head slowly began to rise from below.

"Hah, well then, I suppose I will put forth some effort," murmured the shadow beneath the water, sensing the gradually intensifying dragon's majesty filling the world. He laughed softly.

He slowly sank down, disappearing into the dark depths of the water, leaving no trace. But following close behind, eight dark clouds approached from the west, a bloody torrent flowing into Dinghu, quickly assimilating with the lake water.

Amid the raging storm, a mountainous body entered Dinghu Waters, and pairs of lantern-like eyes blinked open and shut in the storm, emitting a savage and ancient malevolence.

A fourth-rank Demon Cultivator had come to attack!

Jiang Zhuyun was also unraveling the white cloth wrapped around the long weapon, unleashing even stronger warlord evil spirits, inducing the Yinglong Dao Fruit to react further.

"Ochre Whip, I am determined to have it," Jiang Zhuyun's palm exuded bright red blood, staining the blood curse on the white cloth, "No one can prevent the Jiang family from rising again in East Mountain."