Taiyi Dao Fruit

"Elder Tianji has arrived!"

The last elder had arrived.

This was the first time Jiang Li had seen the widely renowned Elder Tianji.

According to Elder Yun, Elder Tianji was skilled in commerce, often using unusual and risky tactics, and was decisive without leaving room for retreat, making him the most ruthless among the six elders.

Jiang Li had thought such a person would be a smiling tiger, but when he actually met Elder Tianji, he overturned his own impression.

Elder Tianji was dressed in a purple robe, his middle-aged face bearing a serious expression, devoid of the smooth and dangerous demeanor hidden behind a smile, appearing to be a man with boundaries.

That was good, having boundaries was good.

The kind of person Jiang Li most despised was the one who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, because you never knew when they would stab you in the back to achieve those goals.

Such a person, whether as an enemy or a friend, was extremely dangerous.

Even if the moral bottom line was flexible, it was better than having no bottom line.

Welcoming this final guest inside, they passed through Tianxuan Hall and the corridors, stepping into the grand eave hall—the Xuanji Palace.

By then, everyone in the great hall had taken their places.

At the end of the hall, on the divine throne, stood two statues on the left and right—one of the ancestor Yellow Emperor and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady. The Yellow Emperor was dressed in an emperor's robe, decorated with patterns of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and vegetation, dignified and solemn. Even as a statue, it exuded awe-inspiring majesty.

For some reason, no matter from which angle you looked, his face seemed blurred, as if seen through fog, indistinct.

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady, on the other hand, wore a golden jade crown and a golden red skirt, her arms wrapped in flowing ribbons and her demeanor noble and dignified. Her face was clear to see, and in Jiang Li's eyes, the statue of the Mysterious Lady bore some resemblance to Elder Tianxuan.

According to the protocol, they first paid homage to the ancestor; everyone in the hall performed the ritual.

Next was the formal initiation of mentorship.

Elder Tianxuan crossed his hands and slowly sat down in front of the divine throne. A jade seat appeared out of nowhere, supporting the elder just right.

Sister Gongsun Qingyue stood behind the jade seat, and Yun Jiuye, representing the Sect Leader, stood to the left of the seat. On the left and right sides of the hall were the other elders. Tianquan, Yuheng, and Yaoguang sat on the left, while Tian Ji and Kaiyang sat on the right.

The differentiation between the close and the distant ones was indeed immediately clear.

Elder Tianpeng truly leaned towards Elder Tianxuan's side.

Though he had said he did not trust Elder Tianxuan, this Jiang family crisis had indeed put them in his debt, and the fact that Jiang Li was mentored by Elder Tianxuan also meant that the Jiang Clan within the Sect now had a stance to take, leaving Elder Tianpeng with only one choice.

Elders Wan and Yun were added to the right side to make the sides a bit more symmetrical.

As for the disciples of the elders, they stood behind the elders, with the Jiang Family Disciples lined up behind the True Inheritors.

The ceremony began.

Jiang Li, holding the Military God's Five Weapons wrapped in white cloth and the compiled "Divine Farmer's Hundred Herbs Scripture," came before Elder Tianxuan and presented them with both hands.

This was the gift for the mentorship initiation.

Elder Tianxuan received it and said, "Outer Disciple Jiang Li has executed the rebel Ji Yunliu from the Punish Sect, retrieved the Military God's Five Weapons, resolved the Sect's crisis, and compiled the 'Divine Farmer's Hundred Herbs Scripture' to serve the Sect—his merits are immense. Therefore, today I take Jiang Li as my Direct Disciple in place of the Sect Leader, granting him a reward. After Jiang Li is promoted to Sixth Rank, he will wield the Ochre Whip to glorify our Sect."

This statement formally confirmed Jiang Li's qualification to wield the Ochre Whip, stirring the hearts of the Jiang Clan, and the presentation of the "Divine Farmer's Hundred Herbs Scripture" rendered any objections from the elders unspeakable.

Then, Jiang Li knelt thrice and kowtowed nine times, took the tea handed by Gongsun Qingyue, and presented it to Elder Tianxuan.

After receiving the tea, Elder Tianxuan extended his hand and gently patted Jiang Li's head three times.

So it was, even if the ceremony was completed.

The mentorship ceremony was actually quite simple, but welcoming guests was troublesome, feeling like getting married — both complicated and tiring. Jiang Li, whose strength was now strong enough to contend with a Seventh Rank, felt exhausted after all of it.

After the ceremony, he had to converse with the guests and then, just like welcoming them, he had to see each of them off. Busily going back and forth, before he knew it, dusk was almost upon him.

"Sixth Junior Brother, I shall reside in the Tianshu Palace these days. If you visit, I will always welcome you,"

Elder Yun Jiuye, the last to leave, said with a smile as he departed together with Ling Wujue.

Jiang Li wondered what Elder Kaixiang would think upon seeing his disciple leaving with another.

As for Yun Jiuye's words about residing in the Tianshu Palace indicating his own status, Jiang Li no longer had the heart to consider it. He was too tired, relying solely on switching to Wise Man Mode to keep going.

Then, when Jiang Li returned to the Xuanji Palace, he saw two women sitting there, one elegantly sipping tea, and the other reading the Divine Farmer's Hundred Herbs Scripture leisurely.

His fists clenched hard!

Had it not been for his inability to defeat Elder Tianxuan, he would have definitely launched a fierce attack, subduing with overwhelming force, splitting skulls, launching intentional heavy blows, a sight to behold, causing the two women to cry out in pain.

"She's back."

Elder Tianxuan set the tea aside, and only then did Jiang Li notice that she had removed her veil.

\\[Exquisitely beautiful, turning heads with grace, her charm beyond compare. Like a lotus emerging from the water, as clear and lustrous as ice, as if chrysanthemums frosted in autumn, silent as pines in a secluded valley, surpassing the beauty of Xi Shi, rivaling the allure of Wang Zhaojun.

Truly beautiful, but unfortunately, Jiang Li only wanted to hit her.\\]

The Karma Collection timely revealed a poem appraising beauty from deep within Jiang Li's memory, incidentally expressing his inner thoughts.

He had become a man devoid of emotion, only capable of punching.

"Have a seat."

Elder Tianxuan gently waved her sleeve, and a large jade chair appeared to her right.

"Yes."

The man devoid of emotion obediently sat down.

He truly wanted to say, "I just want to kill you two, or be killed by you," but sadly, he was not powerful enough to kill them, only enough to be killed by them.

"You've interacted with the other five elders today. What's your opinion of them?" Elder Tianxuan seemed to be testing him.

Jiang Li collected his thoughts and replied, "Yaoguang Elder already leans towards our master's side, Elder Kaixiang and Elder Tian Ji do not seem to be choosing Yun Jiuye, but they are also not overly close to our master. As for Elder Tianquan and Elder Yuheng…"

Jiang Li thought for a moment, then carefully worded his response, "They are not treacherous."

Not treacherous (×)

Faithful lapdogs never betray (√)

It wasn't even necessary for Elder Tianxuan to deliberately entice them; these two were steadfast in their loyalty, unless one day their master got married, otherwise, the two elders would not escape this trap.

"Elder Tian Ji and Junior Brother Kaixiang remain impartial for the sake of the sect, but because of this, I have my suspicions,"

Elder Tianxuan said somberly, "I suspect they might incline towards supporting Yellow Heaven."

"Yellow Heaven?" Jiang Li exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't that the Taiping Sect's belief?"