Who Let Him Cultivate?!

"The mastermind behind this is the Four Ancient Immortals?" Lu Yang was initially stunned, then his expression turned queer.

So, did Zuo Shi Immortal imply that the mastermind the Fairy had been seeking was actually fabricated by the Four Ancient Immortals, and the true masterminds were those four?

Qinghe also hadn't expected that when they had Zuo Shi Immortal inspect the murder process, the outcome he'd see was this?

"I am telling the truth!" Seeing that everyone looked different, and that they more or less didn't believe him, Zuo Shi Immortal panicked.

Every time he recalled this incident, he broke out in a cold sweat. The Four Ancient Immortals were amiable when they questioned him and were always accommodating to his requests.

At first, he thought this was the Four Ancient Immortals showing their true feelings, but when he saw the truth of the past and reconsidered the Four Ancient Immortals, he only felt that their smiles betrayed a sense of spookiness and murderous intent.

Had it not been for his quick thinking to change his statement to not having seen anything, he would have died on the spot!

"Have you never considered that the past you saw could be false?" Lu Yang couldn't help asking. It didn't make sense, not to mention, were Ying Tian Immortal and the others actually conspiring against Immortal Fairy for the Eternity Dao Fruit, what were they truly after?

In Immortal Fairy's words, if one becomes immortal, who would still pursue power? How tiring.

"I even confirmed whether what I saw was true or false by checking all the past events of the four, Ying Tian Immortal and the others!" Zuo Shi Immortal exclaimed passionately, having kept this secret for nearly four hundred thousand years, today he decided to let it all out.

"I saw the broken Firmament Tree birth the consciousness that became Time Immortal, saw Ying Tian Immortal buried as a sacrifice in a tomb, saw Qilin Immortal born from the essence of heaven and earth, saw Immortal Jiuchong born in the Human race's great Lianshan Clan."

The origins of Time Immortal, Qilin Immortal, and Immortal Jiuchong were not secrets, only Ying Tian Immortal, whose background did not match his persona, was seldom publicized. This indicated that what Zuo Shi Immortal saw was true.

"I also saw them, despite appearing righteous and commanding, were actually full of schemes behind their backs. Different faces in private, driven solely by interests!"

"They approached you merely because they valued your talent. You alone developed the concepts of 'Dao Fruit Outline' and 'Dao Fruit,' probing into the 'Immortal' realm. This talent is unrivaled in history!"

"They even feared you becoming an immortal first. Time Immortal thus persuaded you to give up the Annihilation Dao Fruit and switch to the Eternity Dao Fruit, intending to trap you in this event, preventing you from becoming immortal. Unexpectedly, you let go of your obsession and formed the Eternity Dao Fruit, making them envious and murderous towards you. That's why they cruelly attacked you!"

Lu Yang frowned, what was going on here? Zuo Shi Immortal's accounts sounded like conspiracy theories about the Four Ancient Immortals.

"Wait, did you just say 'Dao Fruit' was something Fairy figured out on her own?"

Lu Yang turned to ask Immortal Fairy, "Fairy, I remember you mentioned that 'Dao Fruit' was a result deduced by the five of you?"

"That's right." Not just Immortal Fairy.

Both Ashy Bean and Qinghe remembered this. The past Zuo Shi Immortal saw had issues!

"That's impossible!" Zuo Shi Immortal was dismayed. He would definitely not forget such earth-shattering deductions as the 'Dao Fruit.'

Lu Yang spoke solemnly, "If it truly was the Four Immortals who acted, how did they make the whole world forget about the Fairy?"

"They certainly have methods I'm unaware of!" Zuo Shi Immortal was unwilling to admit his mistake.

Facing Zuo Shi Immortal's non-answer, Lu Yang had a speculation, "The past you saw is not the true past but a false past manipulated by the real mastermind!"

However, Lu Yang didn't understand, why would the real mastermind fabricate a past with such a significant loophole as 'Dao Fruit was realized by the Fairy alone'? Was there some unavoidable reason?

Could it be...

"Fairy, if Ying Tian Immortal and the Four Immortals truly had the character Zuo Shi Immortal described, what would you do?"

"What would I do? Of course, stay away from them." Immortal Fairy stated matter-of-factly. She could distinguish who was good and who was bad.

"Then, if it came to deducing the Dao Fruit, would you still invite those four to participate?"

Immortal Fairy pondered what she would do, then answered very affirmatively.

"No, I would deduce it alone. Even if it's just me, I should be able to deduce the outcome."

"That makes sense then. The past that Zuo Shi Immortal saw was based on the assumption of the personality shift of the Ying Tian Four!" Lu Yang asserted confidently.

However, Lu Yang still hadn't figured out how the mastermind managed this; only a Dao Fruit could influence the outcomes observed by the Insight Dao Fruit.

"Could this be something that the Cause and Effect Dao Fruit can achieve?"

"How can this be possible? Is there really a mastermind?" At this moment, Zuo Shi Immortal felt his worldview being overturned—the nature of the Ying Tian Four was not as malicious as he thought; were they genuinely without ill intentions?

"So the person who threatened me back then was not the Ying Tian Four but the mastermind?"

"Threatened you?"

"The very night after this incident ended, someone waited for me in my palace when I returned. He demanded I destroy my Dao Fruit. If I refused, he said he would kill me!"

Thinking back to that figure, uncontrollable fear spread in Zuo Shi Immortal's heart: "The aura he emitted, he was definitely capable of killing me!"

"Who was that person?"

"I don't know; he did not show his face. I always thought he was one of the Four Immortals. But seeing as the past I saw was fabricated, if there really was a mastermind, then it was the person who threatened me!"

"I was coerced by him, forced to give up on obtaining insight from the Insight Dao Fruit and ultimately destroying the Insight Dao Fruit."

"You don't have the Insight Dao Fruit anymore?"

"Yes."

Zuo Shi Immortal gave a bitter smile. With the Insight Dao Fruit, which illuminates the ten directions, had he still possessed it, he would have been able to locate Silent Extermination Immortal and wouldn't have had the misfortune of acting in Demon City.

"Then, what exactly was the Great Era conflict you predicted?" Qinghe asked, referring to the term 'Great Era conflict' which originated from Zuo Shi Immortal. He had spoken of a Great Era conflict occurring after three hundred and ninety thousand years.

Zuo Shi Immortal sighed, "Although I lost the Insight Dao Fruit, I am inherently skilled at divination. Though it's not as effective as the Insight Dao Fruit, the divination results are still very good."

"I divined that three hundred and ninety thousand years later, an opportunity to become immortal would arise. Various eras of Semi-Immortals and Immortals emerging to battle, chaos between heaven and earth, with some becoming immortals and others perishing."

"However, my divination results are not entirely accurate—for instance, according to my divination, the Great Era conflict should have already started. Various forces should've started clashing by now; the world shouldn't be this peaceful."

"Another instance is when I divined that by founding Eternity Sect, I would obtain the Initial Form of Immortal Dao Fruit. As you all saw, I wasn't successful."

Lu Yang's expression grew increasingly strange. It seemed, had he not found the headquarters of Eternity Sect back then, Zuo Shi Immortal might have succeeded.