Taiyi Dao Fruit

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[March 28

the year of 1995, Dingsi Month, Yihai day, auspicious day. The day is marked for death, major undertakings are advised against.]

The next day arrived, and in the early morning, Jiang Li looked at the ancient calendar recorded in the Karma Collection and thought to himself that the tasks he planned to do today should not be considered major, so his fortune should not be bad.

He donned a green robe lined with talismans, took his sword, and left the house, making his way to the Daoist Law Pavilion.

Elder Wan was still faithfully guarding the front of Daoist Law Pavilion as always. Today, however, Elder Yun was not present, which seemed to make the elderly man appear somewhat lonely.

And there he was, beginning to play chess against himself.

"Playing chess, Elder?"

Jiang Li, with a cheerful smile, sat across from Elder Wan and suggested, "How about this disciple plays a match with Elder, how about it?"

Elder Wan lifted his eyelids to glance at Jiang Li and pushed the jar filled with white pieces across the board, "If you can't beat this old man, don't bother speaking."

This kid, unseen for a month, suddenly appears today, and with such eagerness, surely must be seeking favors.

When in need, it's 'Elder Wan' this and 'Elder Wan' that, but when not, he's nowhere to be seen.

Elder Wan decided he needed to teach the young man what it means to respect one's elders and to show him not to treat the elderly as mere tools. This would be done with the exquisite chess skills honed over many years of playing.

Then...

Two quarters of an hour passed.

Jiang Li placed his final piece and revealed a modest smile, "Elder, thank you for letting me win."

The game could not be described as one-sided, but rather as a great disparity in skill levels.

What is the proper way to solidify karma and cause?

Is it simply relentless practice?

Although there is nothing wrong with practicing, focusing solely on practice certainly wastes this sort of ability.

Effort always pays off, symbolizing that what's possible can become inevitable. Theoretically, what a person is capable of can be achieved through effort, and with enough time, one could even become omnipotent, in a literal sense.

For example, playing chess.

Jiang Li had dabbled in various arts such as music, chess, calligraphy, painting, but due to time constraints, he had to focus on certain areas. There's no helping it; after subtracting the time for spiritual practice, Jiang Li didn't have much time left in the Yikun year.

Even though his time management skills, enhanced by solidifying karma, had progressed to a level comparable to Master Luo's, it was still impossible to squeeze out more time.

And the focus on calculating moves made chess Jiang Li's focus.

Right, Jiang Li had learned chess from Elder Wan. It was by learning chess that he initially established a rapport with Elder Wan and gradually became more familiar.

Thus, after his own harsh defeat, Elder Wan seemed particularly unable to accept it.

"Has someone else taught you chess?" Elder Wan's gaze was like that of someone looking at a disciple who had betrayed his sect.

"No, no," Jiang Li quickly denied, "Just some insights recently, little progress."

Really, just a little.

Jiang Li even used his thumb and index finger to illustrate.

"Again," Elder Wan said sternly.

He straightened his back and sat up with a grave expression, preparing to exert his lifetime's worth of chess skills.

"That matter..."

"Win against this old man, and you can ask for anything."

Then, another two quarters of an hour passed.

"Again!"

From these words alone, one could tell who had won or lost.

After another two quarters—

"Again!"

After another two quarters—

"Again!"

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By noon, Elder Wan had finally faced reality.

He let out a sigh, as if he had aged ten years, "I have come to realize that you, young man, have always been letting me win to make me happy."

Jiang Li had played against Elder Wan before, but each time he would persist for a while before reluctantly losing, highlighting that he was good but not as good as Elder Wan, which greatly pleased the elder.

Today, to stop Elder Wan from keeping a straight face, Jiang Li decided to give a strong dose of his own medicine.

It was a bit too strong; Elder Wan almost had a breakdown.

"How can it be for fun? This disciple is showing filial piety, is it not because I fear you would be unhappy if you lost?" said Jiang Li with a smile on his face as he cleaned up the chessboard.

"Hmph! Am I the kind of person who cannot afford to lose?"

Elder Wan snorted coldly, barely suppressing his desire to demand another game.

"Tell me, I also want to know, what could make you so anxious today?"

Indeed, anxious.

If it had been another day, Jiang Li would not have hesitated to lose a few dozen rounds, make Elder Wan happy, and then make his request. That way, although he did not win over Elder Wan, the elder would not truly ignore Jiang Li.

To give such a strong dose only meant that the matter was extremely urgent, so urgent that even Jiang Li, usually composed, could not restrain his thoughts.

Despite the urgency, Jiang Li had stayed to play until noon, which warmed Elder Wan's heart.

Such a good child.

'Plan successful.' Seeing this, Jiang Li, who was also trying very hard in his acting, secretly smiled.

"Ah—"

Jiang Li exhibited his excellent acting skills, painting a fan-shaped figure on his face with three parts melancholy, three parts anger, three parts restraint, and a part of sorrow, "Someone wants to kill me."

"My own kin, sharing the same roots, wants to kill me."

It was unknown what Cultivation Technique Jiang Li had exchanged that proved Elder Wan's reliability, but his past interactions with Elder Wan made him believe that this elder would not harm him.

Thus, he slightly edited the fact that someone wanted to harm him, omitting some cruel experiences like Water Torture, and revealed them one by one.

Then, Jiang Li stood up and bowed deeply to Elder Wan, "Please, elder, save me."

"People from the Jiang Family are concealing their names; you don't know their identities now, and they harbor a killing intent towards you. Most importantly, you know they want to harm you, but you can't fight back. Even if you reveal this matter, you cannot truly threaten Jiang Zhuyun. Because he is the Third Young Master of the Jiang Family, while you are just a nameless Outer Disciple."

After listening, Elder Wan summarized the situation, saying, "This indeed is a tricky issue, however, ensuring your safety is quite simple."

He looked at Jiang Li, laughing lightly, "Little Jiang, you are too low-profile and too cautious. You should know that whether it's you or anyone else, once you join the Dinghu Sect, first and foremost, you are disciples of the Dinghu Sect, and only secondary is any other identity. Actually, I have heard about the disciples from the Jiang Family; they are typical examples of placing their family first, and their identity as Sect disciples is secondary, which the elders in the Inner Sect are quite displeased with."

"But you are different, you are now enemies with Jiang Zhuyun, which actually proves your stance. As long as you can show sufficient value, you don't need to do much; the Sect will protect your safety. Would Jiang Zhuyun dare to harm a nameless Outer Disciple, and would he dare to assassinate a talent valued by the Sect?"

"If you are valued by the Sect, never mind that you already have some evidence, even if you have no evidence but report to the higher-ups that someone wants to harm you, the Sect will not dismiss it."

"Elder doesn't know why you are so low-profile, I just want to tell you that being low-profile and cautious is not a bad thing, but being overly so is conservative."

Elder Wan knew some of Jiang Li's abilities, and it was exactly for this reason he wanted to take this opportunity to impart some life experiences to Jiang Li.

"Not to mention anything else, just consider the Dao Fruit, if you don't achieve some results soon, do you think the Sect will just give you the Eighth Grade Dao Fruit for no reason?"

Of course not.

The Ninth Grade Dao Fruit is the threshold for entering the Daoist Sect, and is bestowed when conditions are met, but the subsequent Dao Fruits need the Sect to value you, needing you to show enough potential.

Even if Jiang Li could survive this predicament, once he fully integrates the Ninth Grade Dao Fruit, he needs to stand out. Otherwise, even if you fully merge with the Dao Fruit, does the Sect necessarily have to give you the Eighth Grade Dao Fruit?

His cultivation practice would be extremely difficult without the Dao Fruit if he wanted to make further progress.

Thinking of this, Jiang Li also felt that he had been somewhat shortsighted.

He was still young, despite having lived two lifetimes, but when it truly comes to mental age, he was not even thirty. Although he was perceptive and cunning, he still lacked the experience that came with age.

Caution is not a bad thing, but it should not lead to timidity.

Although Elder Wan had been manipulated by Jiang Li, his words at this moment undoubtedly provided Jiang Li with an important lesson.

'This is why we need the elders to solve difficult problems,' Jiang Li thought slightly self-mockingly, 'I am still too young.'

Thinking this, he bowed once more to Elder Wan, saying, "This disciple understands."

"Good that you understand," Elder Wan stroked his long beard, comforted, "Don't bury your own talents like this in the future, Elder will help you too. Just like today, you picked ten Ninth Grade disciples, tomorrow Elder can directly report to the Sect Leader, stating that an emerging dragon has appeared amongst the Outer Disciples. Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm going to fight ten."

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