Taiyi Dao Fruit

"You tend toward Qi Refiners?"

Seeing Jiang Li give up on Master Zhu and his gaze lingering on the Dao Artifact of Qi Refiners, Gongsun Qingyue roughly guessed Jiang Li's inclination. "Qi Refiners indeed suit you, especially after you've practiced 'Qi Tomb'. Moreover, the Dao Fruit ability of Qi Refiners belongs to the top-grade among the Seventh Rank, no inferior to that of Necromancers."

"I guess there's a 'but' coming next," Jiang Li said with a smile.

Hearing this, Gongsun Qingyue gave him a look and, as he wished, said, "But Qi Refiners have one quite fatal flaw."

"Unity of Heaven and Man?"

Jiang Li picked up the Jade Artifact and concentrated on sensing it.

[Unity of Heaven and Man: Ming He Tian Di, sensing the spiritual mechanism of all things, drawing boundless Essence Qi to sustain a finite body.]

In short, it enhances the interaction with heaven and earth, allowing one to draw Essence Qi from heaven and earth to increase power and even prolong life.

This should have been an excellent ability, but given the current harsh environment, the Qi drawn from heaven and earth won't prolong life but will instead hasten one's demise.

This is hardly Unity of Heaven and Man; it's more like Unity with Death—the kind that kills upon use.

"It's essentially a wasted Dao Fruit ability," Jiang Li stated.

"Not only that," Gongsun Qingyue shook her head slightly, "We cultivators, the higher our realm, the deeper our sensing of heaven and earth becomes, and the more easily we sense the decay and collapse of the Five Vile Qi. Without a Superior State of Mind, one will eventually be overwhelmed by this feedback, which is why some cease to advance in their realms. And, Unity of Heaven and Man strengthens this sensing."

It's like lying beside a tiger. Even if the tiger cannot hurt you, it still leaves one terrified, unable to rest peacefully.

As the sensing deepens, this tiger evolves into a saber-toothed tiger, a tiger demon, a white Divine Beast, and the pressure becomes unspeakable.

And Qi Refiner's Dao Fruit pushes the cultivator who is supposed to sleep next to the tiger to a position right beside a saber-toothed tiger—truly a test of the cultivator's mental state.

"Can it be avoided?" Jiang Li frowned.

"You can by accommodating incompatible Dao Fruits, reducing your own sensing ability, like using Ninth and Eighth Rank to house Daoist or Magician, and post-Seventh Rank to house Dao Fruits that incline toward Essence Element growth. However, this would also reduce your strength, slightly weaker than others of the same grade," explained Gongsun Qingyue.

Jiang Li looked towards the Jade Talisman that bore Master Zhu's Dao Fruit.

Wasn't this Jiang Jingyuan's approach?

He had indeed underestimated him—previously thinking he was a short-sighted fool—it turned out that it was precisely because of his foresight that he'd accommodated incompatible Dao Fruits.

Of course, foreseeing or not, Jiang Jingyuan was still a weakling, lacking even that bit of courage.

Jiang Li naturally couldn't do the same, and with the Dao Fruit ability of Dual Cultivation of Life and Spirit, even if he suddenly switched to a Dao Fruit that supported physical enhancement, his Three Elements would still remain balanced and his sensing ability intact.

Because essentially, this method of avoidance lowers one's own strength to reduce the sensing ability, not that the incompatibility of the Dao Fruit would impair the sensing ability.

This method was not viable.

So...

'It has to rely on Karma Collection.'

Jiang Li recalled his Golden Finger.

If the Golden Finger could truly modify karma according to his circumstances, it could solve this flaw. If not, Jiang Li was prepared to accept it.

It was just enhanced sensing, after all, something he would eventually have to face. If he couldn't advance because of this, wouldn't he fall to the same level as Jiang Jingyuan?

Although cautious, Jiang Li was uncompromising at the foundation of cultivation.

"I'll choose the path of Qi Refinement," Jiang Li picked up the Jade Artifact and asked for instructions, "Please explain the Promotion Ceremony."

Both Alchemists, who focus on Alchemy Dao and Pill Fire, and Necromancers, who emphasize multi-faceted development, are good choices, but even without these two Dao Fruits, Jiang Li, if willing to invest the time, could also develop in various aspects, the only difference being the amount of time it would take.

Choosing these two Dao Fruits, the only benefit was facilitating easier performance, faster, but it probably wouldn't enhance strength significantly. Even after metamorphosis through Dao Fruit, it's unlikely to exceed the original scope of the two Dao Fruits.

However, Qi Refiners not only promise a future but also can currently merge with his robust power, maximizing the use of the Eight Qi from 'Qi Tomb.'

Compared to the benefits, the drawbacks didn't seem so significant.

"Then, it shall be Qi Refinement," Gongsun Qingyue put away the two Dao Artifacts.

She believed Jiang Li had made this choice after careful consideration, so what she needed to do was to support and prevent Jiang Li from descending into madness.

"The Five Qi towards Chao Yuan consists of the Qi of the Five Organs, and Yuan is not referred to just one place, but three."

Gongsun Qingyue pointed to the center of Jiang Li's brows, "The Upper Yuan is the Purple Mansion at the brow center, which is the Upper Elixir Field."

Then she pointed to his chest, "The Middle Yuan, the heart's Vermilion Palace, which is the Middle Elixir Field."

Then to the area below his abdomen, "The Lower Yuan, the Yellow Court below the abdomen, which is the Lower Elixir Field."

"Refining the Qi of the Five Organs, through the Three Elements, to unite Essence, Qi, and Spirit, is the Five Qi towards Chao Yuan. Following the union of the Three Elements, you would be able to refine the Dao Fruit with this force, merging it into the brow center, at which point, the ceremony would be deemed complete."

It's good to have a mentor; other people can only fumble on their own Dao Fruit Promotion Ceremony, whereas Jiang Li has someone to explain; all he has to do is proceed step by step.

At the same time, Jiang Li also felt that this promotion ceremony quite suited him.

Currently, he had opened two Qi Seas in his Middle and Lower Elixir Fields, his True Qi flowing unobstructed; mastering the dual elements in the Five Qi towards Chao Yuan was easy, only the Upper Yuan posed some difficulty.

But for Jiang Li, who practiced 'Qi Tomb,' this difficulty was still not great.

"Please, Senior Sister, be my protector."

With those words, Jiang Li stood up,moved aside, and sat cross-legged, rotating his Innate Qi.

Instantly, the Qi mechanism around his body fluctuated; the surrounding clouds that were barely visible began to be absorbed into his body, from within which faintly emitted a five-colored brilliance.

That was the light emitted by Innate Qi operating through the Five Organs, manifesting directly outside his body due to the Divine Farmer's appearance, showing beneath his clothes.

Such a display indicated that Jiang Li was truly focusing on his cultivation, completely unguarded towards Gongsun Qingyue.

'He trusts me...' Seeing this, a strange joy surged in Gongsun Qingyue's heart.

[Gongsun Qingyue's face radiated with Divine Light, her body upright, as if boundless strength was bursting forth from within her, the joy was visible to the naked eye.]

[She felt joy from Jiang Li's trust.]

And Jiang Li, after noticing this line of text, truly relaxed his heart and began preparing for promotion, operating his Innate Qi.

Innate Qi coursed through the Five Organs, effortlessly refining green, red, yellow, white, and black before rising to the Middle Elixir Field, combining with the essence of the Elixir Field, where the Five Qi intertwined, gradually forming a phantom image of a lotus.