Taiyi Dao Fruit

Resentment surged directly into his heart, and figures resembling vengeful ghosts pounced on Jiang Li, ready to bite into his flesh and blood.

"Humph! My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; all that I do is righteous."

Struck by resentment, Jiang Li remained unshaken, his Qi Mechanism surged, and from his acupoints burst forth dragons of Innate Qi, "To kill you all, my conscience is clear."

It might sound somewhat melodramatic, but that was indeed what Jiang believed.

Those who are kind to me are received with kindness, those who are evil to me are met with evil.

For those who considered themselves enemies of Jiang Li, he always slew them without any burden.

To try to corrode his spirit with this resentment was not enough—far from enough!

As the Innate Qi left his body, like dragons or snakes, pouncing on the figures shaped by resentment, it directly refined and digested them.

Those ghost-like figures were like crashing into roaring waves, vanishing in an instant.

And the Dragon Claw continued to press down firmly, thunder and lightning crazily flashing on the giant's body, emitting traces of blue smoke, streaks of Yin Qi being annihilated by the flash of lightning, the giant's body visibly shrinking at a rapid pace.

"Hum, aaaaaah—"

He let out a frantic scream, unable to stop the overbearing Thunder Technique. With each bit of Yin Qi destroyed, his soul body endured excruciating pain akin to being dismembered.

By the time Jiang Li landed from the air, the Ghost Cultivator had returned to normal human size. He lay on the ground, battered and nearly transparent, with the Dragon Claw, now larger than his head, clasped around the giant's fist, bolts of lightning flashing between its fingers, carrying an aura that made him tremble.

Given his current state, just a light touch of this Dragon Claw could scatter his soul.

"I should thank you. If not for you, I wouldn't have known about all these resentful spirits of defeated dogs still clinging to me." Jiang Li said with a benevolent smile, his fingers curling slightly, and the Dragon Claw mirrored the motion, making a grasping gesture.

Resentment isn't Essence Qi, so Jiang Li hadn't noticed the remnants of the failures entangled with him until this person, using some unknown ability, drew them out and allowed Jiang Li to see and then refine them.

It must be said, refining these things was somewhat useful. Jiang Li felt his heart relax a bit, and even his smile seemed to bathe in the spring breeze.

Though his actions weren't exactly benevolent.

"Tell me," Jiang Li asked with a beaming smile, "who are you?"

"He should be a Night Patrol Deity from the Yin Law Department, capable of sensing resentment and tracing its origins."

Gongsun Qingyue came over and spoke softly, "Our whereabouts have been compromised."

"Yin Law Department?"

"That's the office where Lord Cui resides," Gongsun Qingyue looked at the Night Patrol Deity and sighed, "As we try to unify the Jiang family, there are people intent on keeping the Jiang family divided, always dragging us back."

"So, can we use excessive force?" Jiang Li asked.

He didn't care about being dragged down; after all, such things were inevitable.

Within his own sect, he had Fifth Brother Ling Wujue and First Brother Yun Jiuye who potentially dragged him down, not to mention those outside the sect.

While Great Zhou was stable indeed, it didn't mean that the internal relationships were also stable.

What Jiang Li really cared about was whether he could ruthlessly handle those who dragged him down.

"Merely using excessive force is useless, with people like those from the Southern Heavenly Department and the Yin Law Department, their mouths are quite sealed. We still need to take drastic measures, like..."

Gongsun Qingyue spoke slowly, raising her hand lightly, a snake shadow flew out of her hand, fiercely stabbing into the Night Patrol Deity's body, "Like this."

This was the "True Intent Technique Python" transformed into a serpent shadow, purely composed of Gongsun Qingyue's Divine Sense. When it pierced into the body of the Night Patrol Deity, the illusory figure suddenly exhibited undulating ripples, and wisps of phantom Qi coursed through its body.

"This is the Taiyin Refining God Skill, created by Master. It is a technique that uses Divine Sense to forcefully refine the Divine Soul of another, in order to extract memories," Gongsun Qingyue slowly said, as she pulled the serpent shadow, extracting those wisps of illusory Qi. "Junior brother, keep an eye on this, you might need to use it someday."

The phantom Qi was forcibly extracted, morphing into several distinct images that caused Jiang Li's pupils to dilate slightly, almost losing his composure.

One would think Dinghu Sect was a reputable sect, yet they were so adept at these tactics and even specifically developed a Soul Refining Technique.

Jiang Li felt he needed to update his understanding of his Master.

As he murmured to himself, the images gradually became clearer. Jiang Li saw Jiang Zhihuan issuing commands, with several sinister figures obeying orders.

He also saw another Ghost Cultivator leaving while stealthily infiltrating the mountains.

There were some scattered images that did not connect into clues, but overall, they were sufficient.

Led by Jiang Zhihuan, the personnel of the Yin Law Department acted on orders, searching for Jiang Li's whereabouts.

Indeed, the movements of the two had been exposed.

As these images appeared, Jiang Li sensed bursts of Qi Mechanism approaching rapidly towards the mountains.

These were the Qi Mechanisms of living beings, not those of the Yin Law Department's Ghost Cultivators, and they made no effort to conceal themselves. Jiang Li could sense them, and so could others—for example...

"Jiang Wuming," Jiang Li said softly.

These people, including those from the Yin Law Department, had no intention of pursuing and killing Gongsun Qingyue and Jiang Li. Their role was to expose the whereabouts of the two, drawing Jiang Wuming there, then enabling him to discover his own desolate situation.

"I now have another question," Jiang Li asked, "Can you strike decisively against those of the Ji Family?"

"I'm even thinking of crippling him!" Gongsun Qingyue said coldly.

Belonging to the same clan did not necessarily imply good relations, like between Jiang Li and Jiang Zhuyun, or between Gongsun Qingyue and Ji Chengye.

Gongsun Qingyue was never one to repay grievance with virtue. Offend her, and she would even retaliate against her own master, let alone a mere clansman.

However, despite how they might seek retribution in the future, they first had to deal with the immediate situation.

Those streams of Qi Mechanism rapidly closed in, bursting into the valley in mere moments.

A shadow darted left and right in the narrow mountain passes, approaching like lightning, and with a final leap, its form suddenly expanded, transforming into a giant ape, which pounded down with its fist.

The Fist Power released a series of explosive air bursts, crackling and popping. In an instant, the fierce gale-force was already in front of him.

Jiang Li immediately lifted the Dragon Claw upward, grabbing the Night Patrol Deity from the Yin Law Department and rushing it towards the incoming Fist Power.

"Boom!"

With a loud explosion, the fierce Fist Power directly scattered the weakened Night Patrol Deity and then slammed towards the Dragon Claw.

As the two collided, the strength of the impact caused thunder and lightning to flash erratically.

Then, Jiang Li closed his fingers, the Dragon Claw mirroring the action, clenching together as Thunder Light converged within the claw, crushing the Fist Power.

"What?"

The giant ape showed a shocked expression in midair.

Meanwhile, Jiang Li drew up Innate Qi, shouting loudly, "Audacious madman, daring to murder the personnel of the court's Yin Law Department! You truly have a death wish!"

As he spoke, the Dragon Claw, with its fierce thunder and lightning, reached for the giant ape in the air.