Taiyi Dao Fruit

Or maybe, he found another Dao Fruit elsewhere.

The same thought appeared in Jiang Li's mind.

'I thought he was just an ambitious man coveting the Awakened's status, but now it seems I've underestimated Manjusri, this third grade.'

On the pillar outside the main hall, a fly crawled around, harboring thoughts unknown to people.

Shen Hou guessed that the three Great Masters had something to say, and of course, Jiang Li guessed too.

So, before leaving, he secretly left a trace of Primordial Qi, transforming into a fly lingering outside the hall. With Jiang Li's ability of Mysterious Skill transformation, this fly formed from Primordial Qi was indistinguishable from a real one; Primordial Qi changed perfectly into matter without any flaws being noticed by the third grade.

And although Guanyin had set up a barrier to prevent eavesdropping from afar, Jiang Li was proficient in lip-reading. Just by looking at their lips, he could know what they were saying.

Moreover, Tan Wuwei's blind spot with his Reverse Knowledge of the Future had already been figured out by Jiang Li; as long as he didn't reveal himself in the future, Tan Wuwei couldn't know that the fly was Jiang Li's ears and eyes.

'A little eavesdropping yielded quite a bit. Manjusri isn't a clueless fool either; he knows Tan Wuwei has someone backing him and is confident enough to compete with the Supreme, with thoughts of subduing Tan Wuwei.'

'And the special aspect of Buddha Fruit... combined with incense, it can subtly change a person's Mental State towards the Dao of Buddhism...'

Jiang Li instinctively recalled another characteristic of Buddha Fruit mentioned by the Awakened.

Among the third grade Dao Fruit, some still contain the True Spirit from their original text, and the Buddha Fruit has the highest probability of retaining it, because those Buddha Great Masters can preserve the True Spirit through incense, and Buddha Country has a rather unique organizational culture — addressing each other by their duties.

Guanyin's Disciple, Manjusri Bodhisattva, Guangli Bodhisattva... these titles aren't theirs but belong to the original owner of the Dao Fruit. The incense offered by the believers was for the Bodhisattva Arhats.

The popular incense cultivation method in Buddha Country — Summoning Technique, there might be a big pit within.

'The waters of Buddha Country run deep.'

Fly Jiang Li thought this while leisurely flapping his wings, flying outward like any ordinary fly.

He flew out of the Governor Mansion, hovered a few rounds, and then, as if catching a scent, flew into a nearby alley, intending to transform into Primordial Qi and return to the main body.

However—

At that moment, a faint ripple appeared, and a large hand reached out, grabbing for the fly.

Behind that ripple, an illusory figure emerged, robed in dark red, face covered by an Asura Ghost Mask. Wasn't it the Ghost-faced Man who had supposedly left earlier, suspected to be the Fourth King of the Fire House Buddha Hell and possibly an avatar of the Great Venerable?

"My friend, how come you've chosen this spot for peeping too? Truly, great minds think alike."

The words, carrying a smile, transmitted into Jiang Li's mind, and the descending palm was like a canopy, enveloping all directions, blocking all retreat paths, even suppressing the space.

'Great minds think alike my foot.' Jiang Li couldn't help but retort internally.

This alley was not far nor close to the Governor Mansion, secluded enough to be a good escape route. Upon approaching the Governor Mansion, Jiang Li had already taken the surrounding terrain into his Heavenly Eye and evaluated the uses of various passages.

With his ability of Eight-Nine Profound Skill, he could easily transform and slip into these places, even Tan Wuwei's Reverse Knowledge Divine Power couldn't trace him.

But Jiang Li never expected someone else would choose this alley, and that person being the Ghost-faced Man.

A suitable place isn't just selected by Jiang Li; others might too.

This Ghost-faced Man was indeed sly, leaving openly but actually sneaking back, eavesdropping here.

With such stealth capability, if you say you're not an avatar of the Great Venerable, Jiang Li might as well swallow the Military God's Five Weapons whole.

The large hand pressed down, space solidified like amber, aiming to freeze the fly within, Jiang Li couldn't allow his Primordial Qi to fall into someone else's hands, and the fly suddenly changed.

From a tiny insect, it transformed into Primordial Qi, then shaped into a vague human figure, resisting.

The solidified space abruptly began expanding, with the giant palm only half a body's height above the ground, yet the vague human figure stood upright, completely at an average person's height.

A strange sense of contradiction appeared in perception, faintly distorted ripples flashed with numerous Yin Yang Yoke.

Jiang Li's avatar was merely a trace of Primordial Qi, without strong power, thus he deftly used Skill to alter space, creating contradiction.

"Hmm?"

The Ghost-faced Man emitted a sound of surprise, apparently not expecting Jiang Li's proficiency in Wind Queen's Strange Gate had reached such a level. He also followed the movement, a Earth Plate Eight Trigrams Image emerging in his palm, probing into the expanded space, still grasping down as if catching a fly, aiming to incorporate the vague human figure into his palm.

Seeing this, Jiang Li's body organized Yin Yang Yoke, transforming into Primordial Qi again, with various Yin Yang Yoke arranged inside, like a dragon, colliding with the giant palm.

Upon collision, faint ripples surfaced, causing a slight breeze yet no noise.

The Ghost-faced Man eavesdropping here also wished to remain undetected, especially by Tan Wuwei's Divine Skills, thus while engaging, he was extremely restrained, even trying to cover Jiang Li's fluctuations.

And Jiang Li poured all efforts into this avatar, employing multiple tactics, contesting with the opponent.

Both were using Qimen Changes as means, exchanging without showcasing excessively strong power. The faint spatial ripples transformed quietly, Yin Yang Yoke and divination intermingled, triggering Qimen Changes.

The dragon formed by Jiang Li and the palm collided, abruptly disintegrating into countless Yin Yang Yoke, breaking into pieces, flying out of the distorted space, recomposing into a vague human figure not far away.

Exceedingly ingenious changes alongside microscopic perceptive ability made the Ghost-faced Man's eyes shine.

"Unexpectedly, your Wind Queen's Strange Gate and Yi Dao have advanced to this level."

With amusement in his tone, he said, "There aren't many with such skill in today's world, still hiding your identity?"

He already saw through the vague human figure's essence, guessed the opponent's identity.

"So it's revealed after all."

Jiang Li sighed lightly, "Indeed, no need to disguise identity now."

The vague sense dissipated, revealing the true figure.

"I am indeed an avatar of the Great Venerable." He spoke with a 'you have found me' tone.

"You can call me Witch Di."

Clad in a green robe, face covered with a white mask, his exposed eyes subtly transformed, showing vertical dragon and snake pupils.

The Ghost-faced Man felt a bit stiff.

"Heh heh heh heh..."

He emitted a laughter devoid of fluctuations, "How coincidental, I am 'Witch Zhen,' so we truly are one family."

"Who is family with you, I am an avatar of the world's greatest troublemaker Great Venerable, what level are you to claim kinship." Jiang Li disdainfully responded.

"Of course we're family," Witch Zhen's laughter became cold, "I am a transformation of Gongsun's affiliated son-in-law Jiang Li, and Jiang Li is sworn brothers with the Great Venerable, aren't we family after all?"

"Really? I don't believe it. That Jiang Sikong is a pillar of the current dynasty, a upright man, how could he have an avatar as sneaky as you."

Jiang Li continued bluffing as his form gradually started dissolving internally.

He was converting this Primordial Qi to Five Vile Qi, intending to self-destruct on spot, letting the opponent grasp nothing.

Anyway, he couldn't leave any handle at the hands of good brother.

Such shameless words made Witch Zhen twitch his eye corners, this good brother clearly discarded any dignity with the mask, indulging in self-praise without reserve.

Simultaneously, ripple-like waves appeared in his eyes, sharply perceiving the change occurring within the opponent.

"The Great Venerable didn't have such shameless avatars."

Witch Zhen violently rose, Heaven, Earth, Man, Divinity four plates suddenly appearing, intertwining mystical Instruments and array formations, in an instant fusing heaven and earth into a moment.