Taiyi Dao Fruit

"You lost."

After consecutive fierce battles and the Immortal Queen severely injuring Zhang Zhixuan, Jiang Li eventually wore him down to where he could no longer sustain his strength, and defeated him.

The detailed account of this process takes up dozens of pages in the Karma Collection, and even a brief read is quite time-consuming.

Fortunately, the outcome finally arrived—Zhang Zhixuan lost.

Jiang Li exhaled a long breath of tainted Qi. His right arm hung loosely, blood flowing down his arm and fingers, with a faint mist of blood surrounding his entire body. This battle had taken a severe toll on him.

Even now, the fierce thunderous Qi continued to torment his wounded body inside, difficult to dispel. His right arm, which had executed "Heavenly," suffered a violent backlash, the flesh and bones chaotically intertwined.

But in the end, Jiang Li had won.

He felt a relief in his heart, but he immediately suppressed any relaxation and even used Outer Object Transformation to conceal his injuries.

Jiang Li was always cautious, even at this crucial moment, he dared not be negligent.

Zhang Zhixuan had lost. Jiang Li could even ascertain that he was bound to die but before dying, he might still be able to counterattack. Even if Zhang Zhixuan died, there were others present; the remaining fourth-rank hadn't died yet.

With Jiang Li's current state, it wasn't certain that he could definitively beat the remaining fourth-ranks, even if one of them was the Marquis of Wind.

However, from the looks of it, it seemed the remaining fourth-ranks had no leisure to come over and investigate, and Zhang Zhixuan appeared not to be struggling on the verge of death.

This Taiping Sect Hierarch had an arm cut off, half of his body nearly cleaved apart, endured a desperate battle, his body covered with sword marks, blood flowing, and his wounds exuded Dirt Qi. These were just the external injuries; internally, his limbs and bones were nearly severed, his meridians collapsed, and his Primordial Spirit was contaminated with the Five Vile Qi, suffering severe damage.

Anyone coming over would have to say, "Irredeemable."

Zhang Zhixuan seemed resigned to his fate, laboriously getting up and leaning against the rock wall behind him like an ordinary person.

"I've lost... but Yellow Heaven hasn't," Zhang Zhixuan whispered lowly, as if talking to himself, yet also seeming to deny Jiang Li's victory.

"It appears," Jiang Li narrowed his eyes slightly, "the Heavenly Monarch indeed has other plans, and all of you from the Taiping Sect are merely expendable pieces. And you, you are willingly so."

Zhang Zhixuan was no fool; by now, he would certainly know that the Heavenly Monarch had abandoned the Taiping Sect. Yet from his demeanor, he didn't seem to harbor hatred, rather he appeared quite serene... or rather willing, willing to make this sacrifice, even to the point of death.

This led Jiang Li to suspect whether Zhang Zhixuan had also been assimilated by the Heavenly Monarch; otherwise, why would such a competent third-grade act in this way.

"The Heavenly Monarch... the Heavenly Monarch and you are of the same kind, given his temperament, he would only use me, and I don't believe in him... but I believe in Yellow Heaven. Unfortunately, I can only go so far, unable to witness the era of Yellow Heaven."

Zhang Zhixuan uttered these cryptic words, struggled to a kneeling position, and murmured lowly: "Heaven is dead, Yellow Heaven shall rise."

"Heaven is dead, Yellow Heaven—shall rise!"

His voice grew deeper, fading to barely audible, and within a few moments, the kneeling figure slowly drooped his head.

Zhang Zhixuan, dead.

This Taiping Sect Hierarch, though having experienced a grueling battle, died quite calmly, unwilling, but not driven to madness because of it.

Jiang Li: "..."

"Is this him knowing he must die, speaking in riddles before death to confuse me?"

Jiang Li murmured to himself, yet some thoughts about Zhang Zhixuan's words lingered in his mind.

In Zhang Zhixuan's words, Yellow Heaven and the Heavenly Monarch were treated separately; toward the Heavenly Monarch, Zhang Zhixuan actually harbored wariness and did not hold the utmost trust.

Even linking his earlier words to Jiang Li, his slight fear of Jiang Li might be because Jiang Li's nature was similar to Heavenly Monarch Gongsun Qi. With such a mindset, Zhang Zhixuan naturally wouldn't die for the Heavenly Monarch.

But in the current view, the Heavenly Monarch and Yellow Heaven are one, Zhang Zhixuan's separation makes no sense. Unless...

'Unless Yellow Heaven could break away,'

Jiang Li's thoughts flowed, with his understanding of the Yin Talisman Scripture, he contemplated one possibility, 'The Yin Talisman Scripture corrupts heavenly intent with the human mind, if human thoughts can corrupt heavenly intent, why not corrupt the intention of the Heavenly Monarch? Using external power comes at the cost of being influenced by it, maybe Zhang Zhixuan wanted to use the gathered Incense Fire Thought Power to transform the intention of Yellow Heaven.'

Although the Taiping Sect created droughts, plagues, and floods, marking it as a true Evil Cult, its core ideology was oriented towards benevolence.

The fanaticism of the Taiping Sect believers, in a way, might have assisted in shaping Yellow Heaven.

Light glimmered in Jiang Li's eyes, through the deduction of the Eight Trigrams, he ultimately concluded: Separating Yellow Heaven and the Heavenly Monarch, might not be impossible.

'But the schemes and depths of the Heavenly Monarch are unfathomable, Zhang Zhixuan's intentions might not be concealed from him, and the Heavenly Monarch abandoning Zhang Zhixuan might precisely be because he sensed Zhang Zhixuan's rebellious spirit.'

'Zhang Zhixuan could not contend with the Heavenly Monarch.'

Jiang Li's thoughts gradually calmed, already accepting that Zhang Zhixuan's ideas wouldn't succeed.

Rather than thinking about using this to weaken the Heavenly Monarch, it would be better to spend more effort strengthening his own power. As long as his power was sufficient, when the time came, whether it was the Heavenly Monarch or Yellow Heaven, both could be annihilated.

With this in mind, Jiang Li raised his hand and unleashed a trace of Innate Qi, capturing the emerging Dao Fruit.

Zhang Zhixuan had died, and the Taiping Sect was essentially gone, but the war had not yet ceased. Eradicating the Taiping Sect, eliminating the Marquis of Wind, locust god, and other fourth-ranks, as well as the Buddha Country's Guanyin's Disciple.