Taiyi Dao Fruit

For disciples unaware of the truth, it was as if they had experienced a dream.

Suddenly, a storm rose, thunder boomed and lightning flashed— a scene of natural disaster— and just as suddenly, everything was calm, and all the troubles had been resolved.

They were both very close to and very distant from this strange event, only learning afterward that Inner Sect Disciple Ji Yunliu had betrayed the Sect, intending to bring demons into Dinghu, but was killed by Outer Disciple Jiang Li, and the demon rabble was suppressed by six elders.

As for the news that Ji Yunliu was the Third Young Master of the Jiang Family Main House...

Fake!

The Sect had personally confirmed it as false.

Ji Yunliu had neither a connection with the Jiang family's Qi Shu nor any resemblance to Jiang Zhuyun in appearance or stature—he had simply misused the Jiang family's name to wreak havoc within the Sect.

There were indeed people from the Jiang family who had concealed their identities within the Sect, but they had never resorted to changing their appearance; and in this incident, Jiang Li's killing of the traitor Ji Yunliu was aided by people from the Jiang family. The other traitors, apart from Ji Yunliu, were killed by them.

This declaration set the nature of the affair. Even if some people harbored doubts in secret, they would never dare to proclaim them openly.

And with this settled, the topic of how to reward Jiang Li became the subject of discussion among the disciples. The most common and widely accepted belief was that Jiang Li would ascend to heaven in one step upon promotion to the Inner Sect, taking one of the six elders as a mentor and immediately becoming a True Inheritor.

Thus, the turmoil surrounding Jiang Zhuyun's death was glossed over.

On the third day of July, three days after killing Jiang Zhuyun,

inside the disciple dormitory, Jiang Li sat cross-legged on his bed, circulating Innate Qi, examining his inner Fire, with Heart Fire igniting the Qi, rising from the Lower Dantian, and shooting up the spine like thunder to the tail of the great dragon.

Boom!

A collision sound, audible only to Jiang Li, resounded as the lower reaches pass, the center of vigor linked to the kidneys, was breached in an instant by the surge of Innate Qi, with the robust Qi Mechanism rushing into the Acupoint, merging with the Essence Element, and instantly enhancing Jiang Li's essence energy considerably.

Having opened the lower reaches pass as a Qi Sea and nourishing it with Innate Qi, naturally led to a considerable enhancement of his essence energy, causing the Kidney Water to rapidly strengthen as well.

[Karma Collection mocked: "With such fortified essence energy, even if that petty woman breaks my Wise Man's Heart some day and lands a blow, I'll definitely endure much longer than she does, and not nearly faint like last time. Hehehe."]

The Karma Collection's timing with its commentary was perfect, and Jiang Li silently suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind, continuing to circulate Innate Qi to gradually expand the Qi Sea and strengthen the Essence Element.

When Jiang Zhuyun had opened the lower reaches of the river to form his Qi Sea, he chose to integrate the essence of Mount Heng to create the Mountain Qi that strengthened his essence energy and physical body's resilience. Jiang Li, on the other hand, directly incorporated the essence of Kidney Water, amplifying his Essence Element, and after completing the Qi Sea, he returned to the origin and practiced Innate Qi once more. The two Qi Seas cycled continuously, digesting all the benefits acquired from Jiang Zhuyun.

"Whew—"

Jiang Li suddenly opened his mouth and exhaled a streak of white breath, sharp as an arrow, which struck the ground in front of the bed and made a shallow pit.

'My power has more than doubled compared to before. Now, in terms of True Qi volume, I'm stronger than others of the same realm, not to mention the quality. It is regrettable... that Jiang Zhuyun's gifts can only help me this far.'

Jiang Zhuyun was so lacking; his quality of True Qi was far inferior to Jiang Li, who, even after refining the Innate Qi from his two Qi Seas, found it concentrated several times over when converted to his own.

Now that Jiang Li had opened a Second Qi Sea, filling it would still require effort, and as for a third Qi Sea, that was even more distant.

'To make rapid progress, I must employ the Jiang family's tradition—ingesting pills or... finding a second Jiang Zhuyun.'

A nefarious thought crossed Jiang Li's mind.

With a second Jiang Zhuyun, he could open a third Qi Sea, and his strength would climb further. Unfortunately, members of the Jiang Family had moved overseas, and if Jiang Li wanted to make rapid progress, he would need to head overseas to look.

This idea was instantly suppressed due to its difficulty of execution, and Jiang Li also took a moment to introspect.

"Power suddenly surging can indeed foster inner demons, it's only because I have the Dao Fruit Ability by my side, otherwise, I'd probably be contemplating how to use humans as the remedy," Jiang Li thought to himself.

This is akin to the principle "those who carry a blade will develop a will to kill." Suddenly possessing overwhelming power can easily lead to a drastic change in disposition and impulsive actions. Although cultivators are not ordinary people, some plain truths still apply.

For Jiang Li, such a change in mindset was undoubtedly unacceptable. He was not a brute who triumphed through sheer force; his mental state was crucial to him. If his mental state were unbalanced, Observing Qi, Divination, Drawing Talisman, and converting True Qi would all be affected.

At the same time, reckless thoughts also went against Jiang Li's own intentions.

With this in mind, he immediately switched to Wise Man Mode and, in his mind, used thoughts as a brush to write the word "follow the heart," doing so a hundred times to completely erase the impulsive thoughts within him before he opened his eyes.

"To follow one's heart without overstepping the bounds, what Confucius said really makes a lot of sense."

Although he didn't fully agree with Confucian teachings, Jiang Li didn't disregard everything that Master Confucius said.

He calmed the thoughts in his mind, stood up to straighten his clothes, and then went to open the door.

Under the scorching sun, a quiet, standing youth came into view.

"Junior Brother Luo, thank you for your diligent protection," Jiang Li said as he approached the youth with quick steps, casually releasing a Freezing Ice Talisman to drive away the heat of the blazing sun.

In the past two days, as he was enclosed in his cultivation, digesting what he had gained, his clan members had been guarding him outside, among whom this young man, Jiang Luo, was the most eager, almost standing guard all day long. If he weren't yet at the stage where he could go without sleep, he might have taken up the entire guard duty over the last two days himself.

The Karma Collection had completely recorded this person's actions; it could be inferred that except for resting, Jiang Luo spent all the other time guarding outside the house. As for eating, he relied on Fasting Pills.

After two days like this, Jiang Li silently added this person to his list of dependable names.

In his quest for revenge, Jiang Luo could reach such lengths. Jiang Li could foresee that in the future, by helping him achieve his revenge, he would gain an absolutely loyal follower.

Seeing Jiang Li emerge, the stern expression on Jiang Luo's face finally relaxed. Then he stopped Jiang Li from pulling him inside to cool off, saying, "These two days, there have been many rumors within the Sect defaming Senior Brother, likely intending to tarnish your reputation, to make the elders think less of you, to prevent them from taking you as a disciple. Important matters should be prioritized, so let's not waste time on me..."

"Taking a master is important, and so are clan members, both are crucial."

Jiang Li smiled, reached out his hand, and Jiang Luo followed him into the house like he was carried by the wind, "As for the rumors, they are insignificant."

The disciple dormitory was not some heavy-duty enclosure for cultivation; words from outside had trickled into Jiang Li's ears to some extent. When it came to these so-called rumors, Jiang Li also had a clear understanding.

It was nothing more than the exposure of his side job.

Last time, Jiang Li defeated a group of adversaries, sending everyone who was about to reveal his side occupation to Si Fan Valley. Plus, with the incident at that time involving the Jiang family, the matter easily subsided. Now that the Jiang family's issues have been resolved, and with some people fanning the flames, the matter of his side occupation re-emerged.

"Be at ease," Jiang Li reassured him, "My merits cannot be erased. The matter of becoming an elder's disciple won't be hindered; the Military God's Five Weapons are still in my hands. The Sect hasn't come to claim them, which means they want to reassure me. The person spreading rumors also knows they can't stop me from taking a master; his real intention is to ruin my reputation, to make it difficult for me to recruit followers."

As for who was behind this, Jiang Li could easily guess.

With Jiang Zhuyun finished, certain people also lifted their bans.

The real powerhouses among the Sect disciples no longer needed to deliberately avoid anything.

"As for the rumors, they're not important, but tell me, what has been Yaoguang Hall's reaction?" Jiang Li asked.

Among the six elders and the Sect Leader, currently only Tian Ji and Yaoguang had not taken in disciples. Jiang Li guessed that if he were to take a master, it would likely be Yaoguang Elder Luu Tianpeng, whom he had the closest relations with. By now, this elder should have returned from Si Fan Valley, and his Yaoguang Hall should have shown some response.

For the future disciple principal of the hall to be slandered, the people of Yaoguang Hall ought to have some reaction.

However, the answer provided by Jiang Luo had been that there was no reaction at all.

"Is that so," Jiang Li frowned slightly, "then I indeed should take some actions. I will visit Elder Yaoguang."