Taiyi Dao Fruit

Yun Jiuye stretched out his arm, and the originally unremarkable aura suddenly became tinged with a coldness. The ghastly green ghost energy emerged from the acupoints in Yun Jiuye's arm, forming into one laughing skull after another, swaying and dancing wildly.

"Soul Refining Technique?" Elder Tianpeng's brows slightly furrowed, as a sudden thunderclap appeared, "Indeed, this is the practice of the demon and heresy."

In the Five Turbid Evil World, the spiritual mechanism was gone, and the methods of the Righteous Path needed to be altered for their legacy to continue. However, some Evil Path methods not only required no change but even flourished due to the environmental shift.

Using living souls for sacrificial cultivation of Magic Artifacts and consuming human blood and flesh to enhance power—countless methods utilizing humans as materials emerged. Not only did the recipients of the four types of Dao Fruits—demon, ghost, and monster—cultivate these methods, but even other cultivators who appeared respectable on the surface might dabble in them.

Without suppression from all sides, these Cultivation Techniques might even become mainstream.

Elder Tianpeng's Dao Fruit required him to slay demons and remove evil spirits. Being influenced by his Dao Fruit, he detested those of the Evil Path deeply. He was now waiting to see how Jiang Li would handle the situation; otherwise, he would have already struck with a Thunder Technique, thoroughly sweeping away the ghost energy.

The fierce skulls danced chaotically, sensing the nearest Jiang Li, they immediately howled as they flew towards her, with a sinister and strange laughter, lunging at her body.

But before they could touch Jiang Li, a blade energy suddenly appeared, and the atmosphere of Golden Spear's martial might surged, making one feel as though they were on a battlefield.

Ling Wujue stood with his palm shaped like a blade, its sharp edge on the hand, filled with the intent to kill. The blade light, like a miniature storm, swept across, and its chilling murderous intent caused the skulls to nearly collapse.

"Let me try first," Ling Wujue intervened.

He had not noticed the back-and-forth between Jiang Li and Yun Jiuye, but he felt that whatever Jiang Li was intending to do, disrupting it was the right move anyhow—not allowing Jiang Li to succeed.

The fierce blade light carried the might of soldiers and slaughter, replete with Qi and intention, possessing the power to slay souls. Coupled with Ling Wujue's robust Essence Qi, it countered the Yin spirits and evil presences from both aspects.

However, before his blade light could truly slash at the skulls, Jiang Li suddenly reached out with a palm, intercepting the blade energy.

"Three Points Return to Primordial Qi."

The Innate Qi, like True Water, surged around her palm. The blade light instantly dissipated upon contact, consumed by the Innate Qi like a clay ox melting into the sea.

Jiang Li's fingers danced, about to touch Ling Wujue's palm, but with his keen martial senses, Ling Wujue quickly adjusted, tilting his hand blade to intercept Jiang Li's sword finger.

As they collided, the imposing Blade Energy was about to burst forth from the edge of his palm. Ling Wujue urgently circulated his True Qi, ready to teach Jiang Li a lesson. In a direct confrontation, the Jiuli Saber Scripture was certainly not inferior to anyone.

Yet the True Qi emanating from Jiang Li's fingertips was like the water of spring, directly infiltrating Ling Wujue's palm, with the imposing Blade Energy barely posing any obstruction.

Following this, Ling Wujue felt his blood and Qi suddenly surge, and a sensation of scorching heat appeared in his body, making him uncomfortable all over, especially his heart, which pounded rapidly and increasingly faster.

Poison?

Ling Wujue immediately circulated his True Qi, his body temperature quickly rising, his blood and Qi tumultuous, attempting to forcibly expel the toxicity.

However, what Jiang Li had given him was not poison but a medicine that bolstered blood and yang energy—an aphrodisiac with extremely potent restorative properties, in a sense.

Instead of curbing his blood and Qi, their elevation allowed the medicine's effects to quickly meld into his body. Ling Wujue immediately flushed red, his Qi mechanism becoming chaotic, and the sharp edge he wielded lost its unstoppable intent.

Meanwhile, Jiang Li transformed her fingers into a palm, where the Innate Qi was Returning to the Origin, and thunder rumbled from her hand's center.

"Tianpeng, Tianpeng, Nine Elements Evil Child."

Jiang Li uttered the True Words, with their rhythm and cadence echoing the might of thunder. A bolt of lightning flew from her palm, clashing with the faltering Sword Intent's light and erupting into a gust of air.

At the same time, his other hand had already put away the Ghost Immortal Dao Artifact, reached out to grasp, and Innate Qi surged forth, merging rapidly with the Ghost Energy and even enticing the remaining Ghost Energy within Yun Jiuye's arm to pour out like a lustful ghost lunging at a beautiful woman, heading straight for Jiang Li's palm.

Skull after skull, each the size of a fingertip, enveloped Jiang Li's palm, frenziedly absorbing the Innate Qi but little did they expect that with a flip of Jiang Li's palm, thunder was reborn.

"Five Ding Du Si, Gao Diao Bei Weng."

With a roaring boom in the center of his palm, Thunder Light flickered, and many skulls shrieked piercingly in his grip, yet they were no match for the might of the righteous Thunder Technique. Further refined incessantly by Innate Qi, they were swiftly reduced to nothingness.

One hand repelled Ling Wujue, while the other hand easily dissolved Yun Jiuye's alien energy. Such an effortless act certainly inspired awe.

The Jiang family members watching from not too far initially saw Jiang Li earning favors, and now witnessed his actions, felt great assurance in their hearts, quietly standing behind Jiang Li in a manner that pledged unwavering allegiance.

"Thunder Technique?" Elder Kaiyang glanced at his senior brother.

Yun Jiuye's eyes sparkled with admiration, "Sixth Junior Brother has remarkable expertise in Qi Observation Skill."

Others might only see Jiang Li's Thunder Technique and Innate Qi, but Yun Jiuye knew that the ability to discern the skulls' craving for pure Essence Qi, the ability to easily shatter Sword Light, all depended on exceptional eye power.

Jiang Li was able to achieve all this not only because of his extraordinary strength but also because his Qi Observation was akin to seeing through everything, understanding the mechanisms of various Qis with clarity as if seeing through fire.

Thinking about this, Yun Jiuye intended to inquire about Jiang Li's Qi Observation Skill but never imagined...

"Fifth Senior Brother, what's the matter with you?" Jiang Li suddenly turned his head towards Ling Wujue with a concerned expression, "Could it be that your junior brother here accidentally hurt you?"

At this moment, Ling Wujue's face was flushed, breathing growing more rapid, his body slightly hunched, resembling someone who was injured.

He had been hit with a potent tonic by Jiang Li. Although he could suppress the urge, the physical reaction was inevitable.

"Hmph, it's nothing."

Ling Wujue abruptly circulated his True Qi, using the energy of slaughter to forcefully suppress part of his excessively vigorous blood energy. Despite internal injuries, this allowed his blood energy to stabilize, and then he straightened up, his face's redness swiftly fading, "Just a minor detour of True Qi, a trivial matter."

Harsh indeed!

It was the first time Jiang Li had seen someone so ruthless. It seemed he had previously underestimated his Fifth Senior Brother.

Next time, he would transform the medicinal power with Innate Qi, aiming for the acupoint in his waist, to see if he could continue to be so harsh.

After this interruption, Yun Jiuye's inquiry naturally could not continue, so Jiang Li took the opportunity to lead everyone into the hall, to the place where the ceremonial pledge to the teacher was to be held.

However, the aftereffects of this scene were far from over.

'Yun Jiuye, a difficult opponent,' Jiang Li judged in his mind.

After Yun Jiuye's gift-giving scene, the matter of Jiang's branch family needed to be resolved promptly, to ensure their complete loyalty, or else there might be unforeseen changes in the future.

'Jiang Li, a thorny character,' Yun Jiuye similarly murmured to himself.

With the help of this person, the threat level of Elder Three, Gongsun Qingyue, was significantly increased, and the Yaoguang Elder had likely taken sides already.

With these three sly characters from the same mentorship, the Tianxuan Hall had become a den of foxes.