"Alas, I cannot achieve full power."

Tianpeng suddenly let out a sigh, his face taking on the appearance of a red crystal, and terrifying Qi Mechanism surged from the nine Qi Seas throughout his body.

"He's going to leave!"

This thought flashed through Jiang Li's mind.

The Divine Farmer's appearance had already evolved, but Tianpeng's support had capsized, reversed by a sudden whip from Elder Tianji. What was once many against one had become one against many, and Tianpeng no longer had the possibility of succeeding.

Thus, he had to leave, decisively retreating without any hesitation.

And Jiang Li was trying to take his life.

One departing, one staying, the two almost simultaneously burst into action.

"Clang—"

On Tianpeng's right side, a hand grasped a bronze bell. The bell's soul-shaking sound struck directly at the Divine Soul, while the arm in front hoisted a War Spear, its tip trembling and emitting incessant piercing screams, like an evil dragon struggling and roaring in his hand, a sound not even the bell and thunder could cover.

"One Qi Transforms Three Thousand."

Jiang Li utilized "Carefree Travel" and "Pure Yang Dao Heart" to stabilize his Primordial Spirit and Perception, concentrating a thousand streams of Qi Force into the Ochre Whip, transforming into a long rainbow that struck the roaring "evil dragon."

"Boom!"

The Qi Force exploded, Divine Evil surged, and the Life-Breaking Spear blasted out a burst of Evil Qi like flames, devouring all vitality, yet shattered by a red light.

The two figures moved simultaneously, stepping onto the topmost stair. Tianpeng's figure flickered, without any visible change, the head and arm that had been at the front shifted to the side, replaced by Purple Lightning and azure light enveloping a large bronze axe, which slashed through the air.

"Heavenly Axe, Five Ghosts Form."

The abrupt change, Spell combined with Thunder Sound, carried the weight of Mount Tai and was overwhelmingly tyrannical with the speed of lightning, catching one off guard.

But Jiang Li seemed to have foreknowledge, rotating the Ochre Whip to meet the axe, condensing his Innate Qi into one, clashing with the axe.

"Bang!"

The two collided, the Ochre Whip forcibly blocking the axe's chop, but the axe's Strength was as heavy as Mount Tai bearing down, shaking Jiang Li's outwardly projected Innate Qi like tumultuous waves, causing his arm holding the whip to tremble.

Majestically tyrannical, while this axe's lethality was not comparable to the Life-Breaking Spear, in terms of force, it arguably had the advantage.

Most crucially, Jiang Li sensed that Tianpeng's strength had increased since earlier.

"He was previously distracted with the evolution of the Divine Farmer's appearance, but now that it's complete, his strength has naturally increased, without needing to be divided."

As this thought occurred, the two continued moving without pause, descending another stair. As Tianpeng attacked the Ochre Whip with the axe, a Sword Light suddenly appeared, lashing out from his waist like a spirit snake flicking its tongue.

His other arm wielded an Ancient Sword in attack.

But at the same time, Jiang Li sidestepped, avoiding the Ancient Sword, while his other hand revealed a swift Sword Light, the Great Circle Sword emerging and silently slicing at the sword's tip with a clang devoid of any pyrotechnics—seemingly slow but actually swift.

"Clang!"

In less than a breath's time, several exchanges had passed, their footwork unceasing, moving horizontally down from the platform, the fight unbroken.

Descending from the high platform happened in the blink of an eye. The two left afterimages on the nine steps, like one person splitting into nine, fiercely battling each other.

Tianpeng's power grew stronger and stronger. As he left the last step, his figure swiftly expanded.

Fatian Xiangdi!

With the display of Divine Skills, his figure grew instantly to several dozen feet tall. The arm holding the Life-Breaking Spear also transformed to the front at this time, with the proportionally enlarged shadow of the spear hammering down like torrential rain, unstoppable, an annihilating aura covering heaven and earth, permeating all directions.

In this instant, Tianpeng's momentum skyrocketed wildly with the use of Fatian Xiangdi.

Jiang Li was shrouded in the annihilating Evil Qi, the terrifying aura reminding him of the danger of the Life-Breaking Spear.

The previous injury from the Life-Breaking Spear led Jiang Li to slice away the infected flesh and blood; this showed the peril of Military God's Five Weapons. If truly pierced by this spear shadow, perhaps not even his Qi Body Origin could save Jiang Li.

"Sun at Noon, Sunshine in the sky."

Jiang Li immediately concealed the Great Circle Sword, raised his left hand, and the Divine Farmer's Cauldron floated to the left, unleashing fierce Yang Fire, forming the Sun Wheel.

"Taiyin Ju Zi, Water Clearing Gui E."

His right hand raised the Ochre Whip, which could transform extreme yang into extreme yin, raising a Moon Phase.

Transforming Qi into Taiyin and Taiyang, the shapes of the sun and moon emerged simultaneously, absorbing the surrounding Essence Qi, illuminating with mysterious light, and colliding fiercely with that Divine Evil spear shadow.

"—"

Silently, without earth-shattering force, yet the ground beneath them continuously disintegrated, the great hall's roof turned to ash, and the nearly thirty-foot-tall Tianpeng could not help but step back.

But Jiang Li was advancing instead of retreating.

He reached out to grasp the Great Circle Sword, murky Qi surged, transforming the spiritual mechanism into Evil Qi.

All decay of heaven and earth rested in one sword. Jiang Li became a dim Sword Light, charging towards Tianpeng, who had swollen to thirty feet tall.

"Heavenly Dharma."

At this moment, Tianpeng began to retreat, his form fleeting and darting, like dew and lightning, like a dreamy bubble shadow, ready to disappear into the void.

Earlier on the platform, he seemed to have reservations, or perhaps was unable to exhibit his full capabilities. It was not until now that Tianpeng managed to escape using the Heavenly Dharma.

At the same time, Gongsun Shou suddenly opened his eyes wide, and a grand idea emerged from his Sea of Consciousness, materializing behind him as a giant vertical pupil with a faint shadow of a figure inside.

Tian Ji and Tianquan, and even Cao Yixuan and Gongsun Taicheng, subconsciously fixated on this vertical pupil. Then, they suddenly came to a halt. Even the Sword Light sent by Jiang Li was affected.

And in the instant that the vertical pupil appeared and moved, Tianpeng's form had already faded into an illusion. But at that moment, the Sword Light was upon him!

In that split second, time seemed to slow down to the extreme, unbearably prolonged. The Sword Light drew ever closer, as Tianpeng's figure was about to dissipate, and then—

Time truly slowed down for that moment.

A stream-like radiance, as if coming from the void, suddenly appeared and swiftly dispersed. The fading of Tianpeng's form paused just insignificantly, and the Sword Light, which was supposed to miss, felt a touch.

"Shh—"

The Sword Light pierced through Tianpeng's head, leaving a deep dark sword mark. Immediately after, Tianpeng's figure vanished.

"Great Venerable, your hand has indeed stretched into the Dinghu Sect."

There was a faint voice left behind, but the person had already disappeared without a trace.

Elsewhere, Gongsun Shou was engulfed by the ripples of space, and the two elders, Tian Ji and Tianquan, were unable to prevent his departure because of the vertical pupil's emergence.

[Tianpeng ultimately got away. Although Jiang Li pierced through one of his heads, he still had three others, and his Primordial Spirit was not in that foremost head.]

Jiang Li dispersed the Sword Light in midair, holding the long sword, looked at the words appearing on the Karma Collection and sighed softly, "What a pity."

The two-hundred-year-old monster indeed had a wealth of experience; possessing many contingency plans, he left this place despite Jiang Li's pursuit and the interference of a meddler, managing to come out slightly ahead.

And furthermore—

'Tianpeng actually cultivated the "Yin Talisman Scripture"; he wasn't just a puppet that was assimilated, but Ji Jiji himself?' Jiang Li wondered with a rising cloud of doubt.

Puppets and the original person differed; generally, cultivators at each Grade could only accommodate one Dao Fruit, which had clearly defined levels, distinguishing the strong from the weak.

This was to prevent conflicts between Dao Fruits.

Besides those of the same origin, each cultivator could only contain nine different Dao Fruits. Even if they created avatars or clones that inherited the same Dao Fruit, since a Dao Fruit's essence is karma, and it merges with the cultivator's karma, although the clone is separate, the karma remains connected, essentially making them one.

This was also why Li Qinglian could utilize the Immortal Poet's Dao Fruit.

If Tianpeng were not a puppet that was assimilated, but a clone of Ji Jiji himself, Ji Jiji's Fourth Grade Dao Fruit should also be that of Marshal Tianpeng.

'Even now, there remain unsolved mysteries about Ji Jiji. Moreover, it's unknown how many within the Dinghu Sect, and even within each faction, have been assimilated by Ji Jiji.'

Jiang Li considered this and felt a headache coming on.

However, it was fortunate that now the authority of the Dinghu Sect had shifted into the hands of the Tianxuan lineage.

Before the Sect Leader returned, no one could shake this current state of affairs.

Jiang Li slowly descended from midair, glancing at the ruined palace and the remaining people, sensing the approaching Qi mechanisms, and revealed a smile.

Ji Jiji had won, and Jiang Li had not lost out; the Dinghu Sect was now under the control of the Tianxuan lineage.

······

······

More than three hundred li outside Dinghu.

The sky undulated and writhed, then flowed down like a liquid, landing in the forests below and gradually took solid form, revealing a tall man in a black robe and a middle-aged man in yellow clothes.

"Years of planning, and in the end, only achieved the likeness of the Divine Farmer."

Tianpeng spoke with noticeable regret while simultaneously touching his forehead.

The lingering phantom pain was intense; the decaying and corrupt Sword Qi had pierced through the skull, corrupting everything inside, forcing Tianpeng to sever that head to ensure the integrity of his body.

It was only because Marshal Tianpeng had more than one head. If it were someone else, having their head pierced through, they might really have fallen at the hands of the junior Jiang Li.

"At first, when I handed over the person to Tianxuan, I thought I could make use of him later. I didn't expect that it would be a misstep. Tianxuan really doesn't have any of the wariness that a Gongsun Family Master should have, raising such a monster."

Tianpeng thought of that fellow disciple and couldn't help shaking his head.

If only Tianxuan had constrained Jiang Li a bit more, preventing him from growing so rapidly, the plan wouldn't have had to change to this extent.

However, fortunately, the initial goal was after all achieved.

Within the acupoints of his body, talismans took form, embedding into his flesh, reshaping his body, and fully developing the Divine Farmer Bloodline. Tianpeng's head subtly transformed, and it seemed as if three other faces surfaced on the left, right, and back, manifesting the Four Faces.

One of them revealed the color of Red Crystal, representing the Divine Farmer's likeness.

'Yan-Huang Body, bearing the heavenly Way, my Dao shall be accomplished.'

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