Taiyi Dao Fruit

The moon was overhead, the world silent around Wuqu Ping, where only a few lights in the disciple dormitory were still burning.

Jiang Li's residence was one of them.

"It's been a month."

Yang Chong, his eyes bloodshot, peered through the slightly opened window under the bright moonlight, fixating on the room directly in front of him.

For thirty straight nights, the light in that room had never gone out. Had Jiang Li secretly harbored the Dao Fruit of the Owl?

In order to surveil Jiang Li, Yang Chong's sleep had become almost otherworldly. Each day was a struggle, and if he hadn't harbored the Heavenly Weapon Dao Fruit, transforming his constitution beyond that of an ordinary person, he likely would have collapsed dead already.

Thinking of his own hardship, Yang Chong couldn't help but secretly clench his teeth.

At that moment, the room he had been watching for a full thirty days suddenly stirred.

Under the moonlight, the door of Jiang Li's room quietly opened. A figure stepped out and gently closed the door.

It was Jiang Li!

Yang Chong's eyes widened.

In the moonlight, the target he had committed to memory held a long sword in hand, looked around suspiciously, then quickly left the dormitory courtyard.

Almost without thought, Yang Chong grabbed the black-sheathed long sword beside him, silently opened the window, flipped out, and stealthily followed Jiang Li.

Having watched for a month, Jiang Li hadn't left his room for anything but the essentials. His sneaky departure today had to be suspicious.

······

[From the disciple dormitory onward, Jiang Li headed more and more off the beaten path, slowly making his way to the other side of Qiao Mountain Island. The person tailing him never lost track, clearly an experienced stalker.]

As he walked, Jiang Li read through the Karma Collection, never looking back but aware of the person following him.

He followed a secluded path into a bamboo forest, where the moonlight was obstructed by the bamboo leaves, making Jiang Li's figure flutter and hard to discern.

Then, at a certain moment, Jiang Li suddenly quickened his pace, darting into the shadows.

Behind him, Yang Chong lost sight of him and hurriedly sped up, but unexpectedly a green shadow flashed past in the dark ahead. A puff of quicklime thrown from the cover of the darkness assaulted him.

The old rule: start with quicklime to show respect.

But Yang Chong seemed to have anticipated this. His sword flashed from its sheath, creating a roaring wind, and his energy dispersed the quicklime. Then, the tip of his sword trembled, and several cold lights suddenly bloomed in the shadows, aiming at the green shadow.

'Fast sword.'

Jiang Li immediately recognized the type of swordsmanship. He continued to charge forward sword in hand, his blade slanting awkwardly, cutting down the cold lights with an irregular and formless style.

Jiang Li knew swordsmanship.

Or rather, be it fist, palm, finger, leg, claw, blade, or sword, Jiang Li had practiced all martial arts. He knew all the Dinghu Sect's foundational martial arts by heart. He refrained from carrying blades on him to keep others from seeing his uniqueness.

The essence of Louguan Swordsmanship lay in observation and calculation: position, environment, opponent's moves, and other data were primary, while the sword moves were secondary. This allowed Jiang Li to quickly master this swordsmanship.

With a single sword strike stopping the cold lights, Jiang Li slid forward. One hand behind his back, the other wielding the sword straight forward. The precisely calculated sword tip aimed directly at Yang Chong's neck.

Yang Chong quickly swept his own sword up, attempting to deflect Jiang Li's blade but unexpectedly, as the swords touched, a pure force rebounded, and he, who should have been superior in strength, failed to deflect the blade.

Following that, a bright light suddenly lit upon Jiang Li's long sword, and a talisman flashed into Yang Chong's view.

Wind Repelling Talisman.

As the talisman on the sword activated, a burst of wind exploded, sweeping Yang Chong's sword away, while Jiang Li's sword continued to push forward.

"Stop!"

Yang Chong shouted in a low voice, a sudden invisible authority bursting forth as he quickly dodged.

In the critical moment, he finally unleashed his Dao Fruit Ability.

Unlike the abilities of a Daoist that tend to aid in support and growth, both abilities of the Heavenly Weapon Dao Fruit are designed to enhance combat power. One is the "Heavenly Weapon Divine Body" which greatly strengthens the physical body, and the other is the "Heavenly Weapon Divine Power," which can be used to intimidate others.

At this moment, Yang Chong was employing the "Heavenly Weapon Divine Power."

However, Jiang Li possessed the "Seeking Truth" within him, and his mental state was clear. Although this stern shout stirred ripples in his heart, it could not fully unsettle his mind.

The icy sword tip, by a narrow margin, whisked past Yang Chong's neck, drawing faint trails of blood, bringing a stinging sensation that made him feel the terrifying imminence of death.

"Ah!"

He let out another loud scream, his voice shaking the surroundings once more as he forcefully bounced back, his sword movements rapid and swirling with the wind, retreating swiftly as he withdrew.

"Trying to escape?"

Jiang Li chuckled, quickly thrusting his left hand forward, shooting six yellow talismans from his sleeve simultaneously.

"Think you can escape?"

The talismans entered the swirling winds, enveloped by the sword winds and circling like swallows returning to their nest, from six directions they flew to Yang Chong's side, pressed tightly against his body by the wind force.

Louguan Swordsmanship allowed Jiang Li to combine his divination skills with combat. Although it was a martial art Jiang Li chose to replace Bending Flower Hand, it brought him far more benefits than the Bending Flower Hand ever did.

The method of identifying the enemy's strategy beforehand could be applied not only to swordsmanship but also to any technique, including but not limited to martial arts and magic.

And now, through precise calculations, Jiang Li established a winning situation.

One by one, bright lights shone as all the talismans were activated simultaneously.

"Bang." Jiang Li softly uttered the word.

"Bang!"

Six Fire Thunder Talismans exploded simultaneously, the burst of flames sending Yang Chong flying ten feet away, slamming him into a thick bamboo, forcing him to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.

The cold sword tip followed closely, stabbing into Yang Chong's left shoulder, pinning him firmly against the bamboo.

"I haven't even exerted much force, and you've already fallen."

Holding the hilt of the sword, Jiang Li looked at his captive with a twinge of regret, and said.

For this battle tonight, he had prepared fifty Six Ding and Six Jia Protection Talismans, two hundred unclassified talismans - his green robe was nearly plastered and stuffed with them.

He even simulated the battle scenario twenty times in his mind, repeatedly performed divinations, making sure to consider all possible outcomes and prepare for failure, planning four escape routes.

Is this the result?

Such an opponent made Jiang Li feel as if the past month had been a joke, like he was matching wits with the air.

"Senior brother, you've truly disappointed me."

Jiang Li leaned closer, staring into the other's eyes, "I hope you won't disappoint me further, otherwise, I might have to resort to measures that could hurt our fellow disciples' feelings."

"Junior brother, what are you talking about? It was you who attacked me unprovoked, and now you spout this nonsense," Yang Chong retorted angrily, "Let me go."

At this moment, having recovered from his initial fear, his rationality regained the high ground, refusing to admit he had stalked first, even attempting to turn the accusation back.

After all, Jiang Li couldn't possibly kill him.

A disciple murdered within the sect was no small matter; his death would lead to a full-scale investigation by the sect, employing divination, Dao Fruit Divine Power, and various magic techniques, making it exceedingly difficult for the perpetrator to escape punishment.

Yang Chong believed that Jiang Li would not commit such an irrational act.

Unfortunately, what Yang Chong didn't know was that some methods could make a person suffer more than death.

Having been in this world for two and a half years, Jiang Li had adapted to its ways. His moral values had changed significantly from his previous life, becoming more flexible.

And anything or anyone that endangered his life became a shifting standard in his moral considerations.

Jiang Li needed to survive, to keep on living, because only by staying alive would he have the chance to reach the First Grade and try to return home.

For those who threatened his life, Jiang Li was never stingy in employing any necessary measures.