Taiyi Dao Fruit

Night had fallen, yet the county town of Jingyun was still bustling with noise.

Government officials lit torches and, brandishing their weapons, hurried to the town temple, splashing the statues with black dog blood before smashing them with hammers.

Jiang Huaimin stood outside the temple and loudly proclaimed to the gathering crowd, "Our County Magistrate Ren Zihe has colluded with demonic Dao and acted unlawfully. After investigation by the Upper Envoy from the court, the evidence is irrefutable. Ren Zihe is hereby removed from his position, and all divine statues within the county are to be destroyed."

"Ladies and gentlemen, if there are official or divine tablets in your homes, please destroy them immediately or submit them to the county government; otherwise, you will be charged with the same crime."

Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately burst into discussion. Some mentioned the previously scattered leaflets, which further corroborated Jiang Huaimin's words.

People hurried back to their homes, rushing to destroy the divine tablets.

In Great Zhou, officials were rooted in rural communities, allowing village chiefs to possibly be granted Land Stove God Dao Fruits while County Magistrates received only Eighth Rank Stove God Dao Fruits. Not only did Ren Zihe have temples within the city but also divine tablets placed in various homes to ensure household stoves thrived.

Now, all of that was gone.

Although Ren Zihe had been operating in Jingyun County for many years and had a good reputation, Great Zhou's rule had existed for centuries, and the authority of the court deeply ingrained in the people's hearts. No matter how well he managed, a single decree from Gongsun Qingyue was enough to ruin him overnight.

Ren Zihe, stealthily moving underground, saw people rushing back to their homes. He cursed them internally as "troublesome citizens" and harbored even deeper hatred toward Jiang Huaimin.

If it weren't for him, even with a Jade Seal in hand, Gongsun Qingyue would have found it far from easy to control the situation and quickly destroy his divine statues.

If not for pressing matters at hand, Ren Zihe would have wished to burst forth and dismember this traitorous betrayer.

Glancing sinisterly upwards, Ren Zihe continued his covert trail underground, soon arriving at the city gate.

Jiang Li and Gongsun Qingyue had gone ahead on Flying Swords, while Qi Changsheng, three others, and Cao Yuanlong were still in the wilderness. Ren Zihe was now waiting for them.

In the wild, unless he had followers acting as spies, Ren Zihe, as a Land Stove God, also had to search for people himself, hence he chose to wait for the rabbit.

Waiting for Qi Changsheng and others to intercept, save Cao Yuanlong or perhaps send him to meet Yellow Heaven first, to get rid of the witness before dealing with the evidence. If he discovered that Jiang Li and Gongsun Qingyue had left the city to meet with Qi Changsheng and others, he would switch targets and eliminate the two.

He was covert now and could adapt as needed.

Moreover, the opponents might not anticipate his boldness to return and were unaware of his actual strength. In this situation of clarity for him and obscurity for them, the advantage was his, and he was fully prepared for battle.

Ren Zihe, suppressing his murderous intent, waited quietly like a venomous snake at the city gate.

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At dusk, four people hurried to the outskirts of the county town.

Luu Wangji, carrying the subdued Cao Yuanlong, led the way, with Jiang Luo and Qi Changsheng cautiously following behind, finally spotting the town's gate.

However, night had fallen, and the gate was firmly shut. If Qi Changsheng and the others wanted to enter the city, they could either call for the gate to be opened or...

"Use the Featherweight Talisman and climb over," Qi Changsheng, still cautious, suggested.

Though he trusted the abilities of Jiang Li and Gongsun Qingyue, it was safest to proceed without alerting anyone until they had met.

However, before they could apply the Featherweight Talisman to themselves, a white mist suddenly rose from outside the city gates. Ren Zihe emerged from the ground and, with a faint smile toward Qi Changsheng and the others, the Divine Light suddenly spread in all directions, placing a heavy pressure on everyone.

At the same time, the urgent cry of a baby echoed, and three snake shadows slithered out from three directions, cornering Ren Zihe.

A strong, fishy wind approached; the three Transformation Snakes, loaded with dense demon energy, rushed in for the kill without wasting words with Qi Changsheng and the others.

"Be careful!"

Qi Changsheng instantly shouted, swept his arm around, and protected the two behind him, while his right hand, which never left the storage bag, raised to draw out a magical artifact to counter the attack.

"Ignorant of death!"

Seeing Qi Changsheng's actions, the leader of the Transformation Snakes wasn't moved at all, its attack continued, even intensifying.

A Seventh Rank daring to act so boldly was truly laughable.

Especially since this Seventh Rank was an Artifact Refiner, whose Dao Fruit Ability added nothing to his combat power, which made it even more amusing.

However, this spirit of protecting his sect was commendable.

Decided, let him watch his junior brothers get devoured alive before dealing with him.

With this thought, the three Transformation Snakes noticed Qi Changsheng's magical artifact.

It was a bizarre object they had never seen before—six black cylindrical tubes circled into a round formation, clasped by a metal ring, approximately half a foot in length, connected at the rear to a handle and a black box.

This kind of magical artifact was unheard of, extremely odd, its sharpness indiscernible, its power unclear, but as soon as Qi Changsheng drew it, a fierce aura surfaced on the artifact, and the beastly instinct went into a frenzy of alarms.

"Demonic outsider, taste my junior brother's astonishing brilliance."

With a carefree smile, Qi Changsheng wildly infused True Qi into the mysterious artifact in his hand; talisman patterns lit up on it, and the six black tubes suddenly spun rapidly, firing explosive projectiles in a wild barrage around them.

"Da-da-da-da-da-da-da..."

Forged with great mental and physical effort by a kind-hearted junior brother, the magical artifact finally faced its enemies.

When the artifact was first completed, Qi Changsheng had briefly tested it against the walls of the Artifact Refining Room. The result, a torrential onslaught that could break a wall theoretically capable of withstanding the power of a Seventh-grade Magical Artifact, causing a collapse in the Artifact Refining Room. Using it today, it was uncertain whether the Transformation Snakes or the refining room was tougher.

Like a violent storm, the bullets rained down on the Transformation Snake leader, causing scales to fracture and fly off, while its body was battered bloody.

One projectile could only cause a minor injury, but hundreds, even thousands of them, were enough to kill.

Holding the artifact, Qi Changsheng swiped it around, bullets tore into the three Transformation Snakes, flinging flesh and blood everywhere. The leader, being the strongest, still managed to maintain some composure, while the other two suffered terribly.

One of the snakes even got hit in the eyes; writhing in agony caused its defensive demon energy to weaken, and its head was blown off by the following bullets, killing it instantly.

"Sigh—"

After a sweeping round, Qi Changsheng, gasping for breath, rested the artifact beside him, turned to his stunned junior brothers with a smile, and said, "Actually, your senior brother still has a few tricks up his sleeve."

To think that he was merely an accessory.