Chapter 767 - 762: Target, Fruit of Celestial Fire
Lü Yang looked at Progenitor Tingyou, whose skin glowed with spiritual essence and whose eyes shimmered with Mythical Light. His entire demeanor was utterly different from before, and Lü Yang’s heart filled with nothing but sincere excitement and joy.
"Excellent, excellent, excellent!"
That Progenitor Tingyou could take another step forward, reconstructing and recreating the [Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven] and advancing it to the level of a true Fruit, was a great weight off his mind.
On his part, Progenitor Tingyou also seemed quite pleased. He pinched the Spirit Light transformed from the [Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven] between his fingertips, rolling it around contentedly. Then he looked at Lü Yang. "I have you to thank for this. If it weren’t for you, the [Ruyi Heart] I deduced would likely not have been achieved so easily."
"Not at all!"
Lü Yang waved his hand dismissively with an expression that said ’what’s there to be formal about between us?’. Then, he asked expectantly, "If I may ask, Progenitor, what kind of Abilities does this profound new art possess?"
"The name says it all."
Progenitor Tingyou smiled. "[Ruyi Heart]. ’All things are made by the heart, and all matters go as I wish.’ That’s all there is to it. You could consider it another direction for the transformation between illusion and reality."
"In my opinion, Mu Changsheng has still gone astray."
"The change between illusion and reality, the change between truth and falsehood—both are extremely profound. It’s impossible to master both. The result will only be being a jack of all trades and master of none."
"It’s better to focus on one."
"Therefore, I didn’t pursue the change between truth and falsehood. Instead, I focused solely on turning the false into the real. To put the effect of the [Ruyi Heart] in a single phrase, it’s ’making fantasy a reality’."
Lü Yang was stunned.
Although Progenitor Tingyou spoke of it casually as if it were nothing, how could Lü Yang fail to understand... ’Holy hell, this has the potential to become an Emperor Fruit!’
’The Progenitor is just too damn reliable!’
Lü Yang wanted to ask more, but he suddenly sensed something. His brow furrowed, and he then drew a stream of light from his sleeve—it was Mu Changsheng’s spiritual perception.
’Hm?’
Reading the information sent by Mu Changsheng’s spiritual perception, Lü Yang’s eyebrows shot up. ’The Old Dragon Monarch... is openly collaborating with True Monarch Gangxing?’
’They’re plotting for the Fruit of Celestial Fire?’
.......
「Sea of Suffering.」
As a bizarre space existing above the Foundation Establishment Realm, a place where the concepts of all things in Heaven and Earth are projected onto a higher dimension, it was, in principle, boundless.
In such a place, a single Fruit, a single Great Dao, or even a single person was minuscule. It was like finding a needle in a haystack; one simply couldn’t determine location or direction. What’s more, these things could move, so most Cultivators pursuing the Dao in the Sea of Suffering were solitary.
But there were always exceptions.
RUMBLE!
A portal opened wide, and five figures strode out from the Current World, shattering the tranquility of this sea of infinite concepts. The vast Sea of Suffering immediately churned with massive waves.
The one in the lead was none other than the Old Dragon Monarch!
And standing behind the Old Dragon Monarch were two other Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivators from the Four Seas Sect: Profound Turtle Great Saint and Bright Pearl Great Saint, along with Mu Changsheng and Celestial Python.
"Old Dragon Monarch, are you sure you want to cooperate with True Monarch Gangxing?"
Profound Turtle Great Saint said in a low voice, "The Sword Pavilion... is no better than the Stain Sect. They might even be worse. At least when the Stain Sect turns on you, they don’t try to disgust you..."
As an old-school Perfected Lord, Profound Turtle Great Saint was naturally no stranger to the four great rascals of the mainland. In his eyes, the Stain Sect and the Sword Pavilion were two peas in a pod. The only difference was that when the Stain Sect betrayed you, they’d admit they were never trustworthy to begin with, whereas when the Sword Pavilion betrayed you, they’d condemn you for being untrustworthy.
None of them were good people!
Facing Profound Turtle Great Saint’s question, the Old Dragon Monarch shook his head and sighed. "It can’t be helped. Who else can we blame but Gangxing for being on the verge of returning to his Peak and ascending to the rank of Great Perfected Lord?"
"If we don’t pledge our allegiance now, it will be too late."
"After all, you and Bright Pearl have always been unwilling to link your Grotto Heavens to mine and help me break through to the Late Stage of Golden Core... Since that’s the case, we can only survive by depending on the whims of others."
As soon as he said this, Profound Turtle Great Saint was struck speechless. On the other side, Bright Pearl Great Saint’s expression also changed, and it was clear they were both having second thoughts.
Seeing this, the Old Dragon Monarch laughed inwardly.
’A few leaders of minor clans who once depended on my Dragon Race actually think they can stand with me as equals? I may not be able to deal with the Stain Sect, but I can certainly deal with you.’
That’s right, he was doing it on purpose.
Siding with True Monarch Gangxing was a pretense. The Old Dragon Monarch’s main goal was still to make Profound Turtle Great Saint and Bright Pearl Great Saint recognize the situation and choose to side with him.
’After all, one of True Monarch Gangxing’s past achievements was suppressing the Overseas. Both Profound Turtle Great Saint and Bright Pearl Great Saint are worried that after he becomes a Great Perfected Lord, he will once again move against the Overseas. For that reason, the Overseas truly needs a Great Perfected Lord to stabilize the situation.’
After all, a Great Perfected Lord was different!
A Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivator, with a Grotto Heaven that cannot fall, is theoretically already Immortal. However, a Great Perfected Lord... strictly speaking, has a chance of killing a Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivator!
Of course, the method was rather unusual.
Admittedly, even a Great Perfected Lord would find it very difficult to strip a Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivator’s Grotto Heaven from its Fruit and shoot it down. However, a Great Perfected Lord has other methods.
For example, they could sever the karmic links between the Perfected Lord’s Soul and their Grotto Heaven, preventing them from returning after reincarnation. Then, they could deduce the karmic links to calculate the Perfected Lord’s reincarnated body, descend from the heavens, and annihilate their Soul... In this way, even without shooting down the Grotto Heaven, the Middle Stage of Golden Core Perfected Lord would still be doomed.
A Great Perfected Lord! Only a Great Perfected Lord can contend with another!
At this thought, the expressions of Profound Turtle Great Saint and Bright Pearl Great Saint wavered even more. The Old Dragon Monarch saw this and rejoiced inwardly, immediately striking while the iron was hot:
"I am also thinking of our Overseas."
"If we can help Gangxing successfully capture the [Fruit of Celestial Fire] this time, it would be a great service. I imagine that after Gangxing recovers, he will show us some leniency."
’Give me a break!’
Profound Turtle Great Saint didn’t believe a word of it. Beings like them, ’the ones with fur and horns’, performing a great service for the Sword Pavilion? ’Wouldn’t the Sword Pavilion’s reward just be killing us?’
Profound Turtle Great Saint could even guess the Sword Pavilion’s speech: "You have performed such a great service, so we will show you leniency and send you into the cycle of reincarnation. Once you’ve changed your lineage, cleared your past, and been reborn as humans, we will come and guide you to join the Sword Pavilion. You can start as Servant Disciples..."
’Sword Species!’
The thought made Profound Turtle Great Saint grow even more uneasy. Meanwhile, the Old Dragon Monarch nodded to himself, certain in his heart that the two Great Saints would soon yield.
But just then, a magnificent voice rang out, instantly causing the Sea of Suffering to vibrate. "What’s the use of siding with True Monarch Gangxing? You might as well come and join my Stain Sect! Join me, and I will vouch for you. No one will be able to harm you!"
Immediately after, under the Old Dragon Monarch’s stunned gaze, a stream of light burst through the sea. It parted swiftly, and out walked a dignified and graceful woman in white.
World Purger Fei Xue!
"You again..."
The Old Dragon Monarch swallowed and secretly gritted his teeth. Ever since this woman had emerged from the [Nourishing Life Master] five years ago, she had been wandering the Overseas, constantly looking for trouble with him.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t beat her. In the past, he might not have been a match for World Purger Fei Xue, but after the [Fruit of Vast-Sea Water] returned to its Supreme Venerable position, the Old Dragon Monarch was confident in his ability to fight her. Even if he couldn’t win, it would be very difficult to lose. But the question was, why fight at all?
Difficult to lose didn’t mean impossible to lose.
The Old Dragon Monarch knew his own limits. When it came to surviving, no one in the entire Immortal Pivot was better than him. But when it came to Combat, he could only be described as average—neither exceptional nor poor.
In this situation, fighting against World Purger Fei Xue, who was hailed as the "Five Thousand Years of Fighting Number One"...
What if he screwed up?
’As they say, the only way to win is not to play!’
’Rather than waste time fighting this Mad Woman, I should focus on finding a way to become a Great Perfected Lord. At that point, even if I just stand here, she won’t be able to do a thing to me!’
Thinking this, the Old Dragon Monarch prepared to retreat at once.
In the next second, however, World Purger Fei Xue’s voice drifted over faintly, causing Profound Turtle Great Saint and Bright Pearl Great Saint, who had been following the Old Dragon Monarch, to stop dead in their tracks.
"You two, don’t forget."
"Who was it that beat the True Dragon Race into its current state? A Great Perfected Lord can certainly protect himself in the short term... but the Overseas, in the end, has no Nascent Soul Daoist Lord!"