Taiyi Dao Fruit

Elder Tianquan and Elder Yuheng did not respond, only quietly watching him.

It seemed that there was no misunderstanding.

"It seems that I cannot escape today."

The devil cultivator wore a helpless expression. "However, seeing how much the two of you value the Drought, the one sleeping beneath the Dinghu Waters might truly know about the Heaven Creation Device. Knowing this, I am not wasting my——"

Before the last word "life" was uttered, the devil cultivator's figure transformed, his bizarre body turning into a tentacle, poised to strike.

However—

"What's going on?" The tentacle stood erect, speaking human language.

His consciousness couldn't withdraw from this avatar.

It was natural, after all. The world before him was but an illusory dream realm. As the devil cultivator entered the dream, so too did his original body enter the dream. His consciousness was trapped within the dream realm, and how could it be so easily withdrawn?

Previously in Kaiyang Hall, it was Elder Tianxuan who turned a blind eye; now it was different.

At the moment, the devil cultivator's mind went through countless thoughts, finally reducing them to one.

If he couldn't withdraw, he would commit suicide.

Evil Qi vibrated within the tentacle, ready to destroy his flesh and blood and end himself. But, commiting suicide wasn't easy in front of two fourth-rank cultivators.

"Seal."

Elder Tianquan spoke true words, and the Word Spirit Binding Curse was instantly added to him, binding his flesh and stabilizing his Qi mechanism, rendering him unable to move.

Elder Yuheng, on the other hand, flicked his finger to direct a sword, a beam of sword light piercing the tentacle, securing the devil cultivator's divine thought, adding an extra layer of precaution.

The two fourth-grade experts dealt with a seventh-grade without regard for martial virtue, their methods clean and decisive. Even Heluo God, as cautious as Jiang Li, fell for the trap and was trapped in an avatar.

"We have plenty of time for you to talk," Elder Tianquan said indifferently.

-----

On the other side, by the Dinghu Waters, dark clouds rolled, pouring rain fell like from buckets, one dragon-like snake head after another swayed in the storm, a curtain of evil current covering the sky, stirring up a storm. The evil Qi even enticed the Five Vile Qi to surge, causing a terrifying decadence to spread.

A fourth-rank cultivator, if exerting full force, could change heavenly phenomena with ease; devil cultivators, adept in the path of great strength and flying bricks, had physical bodies and powers generally stronger than those of the same realm. Once they made their full effort, the scene was of heavenly shock and earthly movement.

Yet, facing such a violent offense, the person they were fighting against was not at all at a disadvantage.

"Woo—"

The wind mourned.

"Roar!"

The wind roared.

An Azure Dragon soared and danced, leading a blade light that cut through the evil current, splitting clouds and breaking the sky.

"Creep, eat my blade!"

Elder Kaiyang, face red as blood, with hair flying wildly and vigor so robust that it even formed a pillar of blood-colored light that shot straight into the sky, held a Yanyue Blade in hand. He somersaulted in the air and brought his blade down, the Azure Dragon soaring, carrying the might of collapsing mountains and breaking prisons—a sword gang of several meters in length split the evil current, leaving a sharp mark in the heavens, and fiercely chopped down on one of the snake heads.

"Clang!"

In the moment of contact, the snake head suddenly covered with a layer of golden iron color. The blade struck it, creating a clanging sound, but in the next instant, this sound of metal striking distorted into a harsh screeching of friction.

The Sword Gang split the snake scales and severed the skull, actually cutting one snake head into two halves.

"Hiss—"

The giant snake raised its head to the sky and hissed, its demonic energy surging, transforming into countless black snakes writhing chaotically. Its crimson snake eyes seemed as if they could bleed, filled with violence.

However, at that moment, the giant snake suddenly faltered, unable to withdraw its splitting body, awakening it from its malevolent state, causing the dark clouds to retreat like a tide.

It wanted to escape.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Elder Kaixiang stepped through the air, each step causing explosive noises, shooting towards him like cannonballs.

At the same time, a figure appeared from behind, an ink-black iron whip striking out, with its shadow directly hitting the snake's body.

This unexpected strike caught the giant snake off guard, leaving it to endure the whip. Fortunately, its demonic body was robust and capable of transforming its golden and iron nature, allowing it to withstand this stealthy whip.

"Despicable!"

One of the snake heads looked back and saw a middle-aged man in a purple robe floating in the air with no expression—an unmistakable Elder Tianji.

The inherently devious giant snake couldn't help but criticize this sneak attack.

Before it could finish talking, strands of golden copper muddied air wound around the massive snake body, the rolling dirty thoughts eroding its mind.

Elder Tianji Lu Cun, controlling the wealth of the human realm, represented the star of wealth. Elder Tianji followed the Divine Dao, embodying the Dao Fruit of the godly Dragon Tiger Xuantan True Monarch from the Finance Department. Every one of his moves carried the golden copper muddied air, embedded with the worldly desire and pursuit of wealth, highly adept at corrupting the mind and spirit.

Most crucially, Elder Tianji had arrived early but remained out of sight, revealing himself only now for a sneak attack, decidedly lacking the dignity of a fourth-rank expert, which even made a Devil Cultivator like the giant snake widen its eyes.

"Evil creature, surrender, and you might still have a path to life."

Elder Tianji verbally urged surrender, but his actions were swift, continuously pressuring with strands of whip shadows carrying the golden copper muddied air.

Meanwhile, Elder Kaixiang surged forward on explosive noises, also discarding martial virtue, striking with his sword from the air and joining Elder Tianji in the attack, "You think you can leave just like that? Not so easy!"

Under the dual assault, the giant snake's massive body became continuously marred with injuries, the dark clouds above its head were scattered, revealing its true appearance.

With a body rivaling mountains, its movements stirred surging river tides and violent winds; its dragon-like snake heads roared, the size of its head comparable to a mountain peak, its eight heads flailing wildly...

"Eight heads..." Elder Tianji's expression changed, "No, this isn't Xiang Liu."

Xiang Liu had nine heads, whereas the giant snake before them had eight. Although it might seem a minor difference, both being multi-headed snakes, the difference of one head meant entirely different Dao Fruits.

Strategies effective against Xiang Liu might not necessarily work against this giant snake.

Then, in the instant his words fell, fierce Sword Qi burst forth from within the giant snake's body, directly severing the bindings of the dirty Qi around its body. The giant snake coiled up, spewing Sword Light from its mouth, its massive body serving as the hilt and the Sword Light as a blade reaching heaven and earth.

"A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. Even if I die today, I will not be captured."

Vast Essence Elements blazed, instantly releasing an overpowering aura that even faintly overshadowed the two elders.

Burning its Essence Elements was a sign of fighting for its life, and the reservoir of Essence Elements within a Devil Cultivator was so substantial that even together, the two elders might not match it. Although Elder Kaixiang's strength was not inferior to the adversary, in terms of Essence Elements, he was still less than this giant snake.

Such an immense Essence Elements ignited forced even the two elders to take it seriously.

"Sky Cluster Cloud Sword."

"Hiss—"

Space cracked open, an unmatched sharp edge splitting reality and illusion. The giant snake's burning Essence Elements further exploded and then—

Suddenly, the snake's body changed, shrinking a hundredfold, escaping into the fissure.

Elder Tianji: "..."

Elder Kaixiang, holding his cross-blocking greatsword, exclaimed in admiration, "I thought Elder Tianji was shameless enough, but it turns out there's always someone more shameless. Respect, respect."