Taiyi Dao Fruit

In the instant of the strike, the Great Venerable's body shattered into countless anomalies.

There were mountains and rivers, fire and water, and also wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, as if struck by a Heavenly Monarch, transforming into all things.

The physical body at this moment showed not the slightest defensive ability, not even recovery ability was effective. Moreover, the Immortal-Slaying Flying Saber not only cut through the physical body but also slew the Primordial Spirit, severing even the intangible will, making its response particularly slow.

With one strike, the Great Venerable's body transformed into all things, then all things vanished, leaving only a head still falling.

However—

A faint ripple emerged, like an invisible long river flowing, reflecting a figure within, and that figure stepped out from it.

"That was close."

Wearing a green robe, without the Asura Ghost Mask, revealing his true face, the Great Venerable walked from the long river into reality, reaching out to catch the still masked head, both said simultaneously: "Just a little more, and I would have died at your hands."

Turning his palm, an overwhelming force poured out, clearly a normal-sized hand, yet it seemed as colossal as a Sky Collapse, covering an area of one mile radius.

The contradiction between small and large appeared extraordinarily harmonious under the subtle changes of space, yet extremely domineering, the Dragon Scale appearing on the palm symbolizing the immense power contained within one strike.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Monarch's figure also changed, rapidly increasing from normal human height, his palm too occupied a one-mile radius space, meeting the Great Venerable's palm.

"Boom!"

In the collision, there was no deafening sound, only the dull thud of great strength clashing.

Subsequently, the Heavenly Monarch's figure retreated, his form flowed like water, returning to normal height, without any abruptness.

'Not only capable of facing attacks from any direction, even the size of the form can change accordingly.' The Great Venerable noticed, his expression slightly changed, having discerned the special aspect of the Heavenly Monarch's four-sided form.

Enemies attacking from any direction would face the Heavenly Monarch's front, even the proportional size of his form would change accordingly, equaling the enemy.

Even if there were two enemies attacking from different directions, one large and one small, the Heavenly Monarch could respond with a similarly large and small form.

This is not something the "Form Tomb" could achieve, because no matter how perfect the form was, it would not have one side a hundred zhang tall, and the other side normal human height. This could only be the special nature of the "Yin Talisman Scripture" created by the Heavenly Monarch.

'He has trained himself into a non-human, like a living Cave Heaven Blessed Land, or rather… a human-shaped 'Heaven'!'

The Great Venerable couldn't help but marvel at this person's wild imagination, and the Heavenly Monarch even had the ability to turn this fantasy into reality.

"You've hidden it really well."

The Great Venerable held his own head, both mouths speaking at once: "Whether it's this kind of cultivation technique, or your stance."

"I never thought there would be a third party presence here."

If dividing stances using the Awakened as a standard, then there should only be two types of people here — the allies of the Awakened and the enemies of the Awakened.

Or rather, those who help the Awakened ascend and those who stop the Awakened from ascending.

Though each party has its own agenda, like simply stopping the Awakened from ascending or using the ceremony as a convenience to seize the Awakened's cultivation, or aiming to achieve their own purpose through it…

Such various intents could be said to harbor ulterior motives, but the overall stances can be divided into two.

The Heavenly Monarch had already fought with Jiang Li and coveted the incense of the Buddha Country, totally at odds with the Awakened, certainly not an ally of the Awakened and Jiang Li.

However, his current actions are helping the Awakened, preventing Karma Tathagata from recovering the declining situation.

The contradictory actions make one wonder if the Heavenly Monarch has fallen into deviation.

In such circumstances, could it be that the Heavenly Monarch intends to ask the Awakened and Jiang Li, "Can we reconcile?"

If the Heavenly Monarch suddenly acted like this, Jiang Li would laugh to death.

So, removing the option that the Heavenly Monarch is ill, there's only one result left.

— The Heavenly Monarch wants to stop the Awakened, but not now.

But rather...

"You don't want to stop the Promotion Ceremony of the Awakened, but you want to stop his ascension, or rather, you don't want the Awakened to succeed in ascending." The Great Venerable's eyes shone with bright light, like a Great Sun in his eyes, the more he spoke, the colder it became.

Not wanting the Awakened to ascend yet wanting the Promotion Ceremony to succeed sounds contradictory, but if a secret known to few is added, it becomes reasonable.

Ascending to Second Grade is different from other Grade promotions, even after the Promotion Ceremony is completed there are risks, that is the erosion of the True Spirit within the Dao Fruit, the body seizing by past Supremes.

The Heavenly Monarch, he wants the True Spirit within the Tathagata Fruit to awaken!

Only this can explain the Heavenly Monarch's contradictory behavior.

As for dealing with Jiang Li before, one is that Jiang Li's death is greatly beneficial to the Heavenly Monarch, second, in the future there would be one less enemy, which is not contradictory to his goal.

The inexplicable behavior received an explanation, but the situation appeared more complicated.

The Great Venerable stands with Jiang Li, but he is opposed to the Awakened. If there was a chance to strike at the Awakened, the Great Venerable would not hesitate, just as before.

The Heavenly Monarch is an enemy to both Jiang Li and the Awakened, but before the Promotion Ceremony is completed, he has to protect the Awakened, while also not missing any opportunity to strike at Jiang Li and others.

This figure had always used Tan Wuwei's Divine Power to observe the future, previously acting suddenly because he saw a chance to eliminate the Great Venerable, removing a strong enemy. Unfortunately, his decisiveness did not achieve the desired result, in terms of survival skills, the Great Venerable is not inferior to any Supreme.

Taibai True Monarch had previously collaborated secretly with the Heavenly Monarch, but now their goals differ.

As for the Daoist Lord, he is quite pure, his aim is to strike the Awakened. Those who stop him will also be struck.

The Heavenly Monarch revealed his purpose, now he should also be an enemy of the Daoist Lord.

With the Great Venerable's words, the Daoist Lord had already temporarily halted his actions. The success of the Awakened's ascension was certainly not as he wished, but the awakening of the True Spirit in the Tathagata Fruit was not a good result either.

Weighing the two, the result of the Awakened's ascension was not too bad.

However, the Daoist Lord cannot join forces with Jiang Li's side to deal with the Heavenly Monarch.

Just like the Daoist Lord said before, if the Heavenly Monarch is resolved, then it would be his turn to have his old bones dismantled. Although the Daoist Lord could not really be dismantled, the result would not be far off.

For a moment, there appeared to be a dilemma.

However, this dilemma pertains to the Daoist Lord, as for the Great Venerable, dealing with the Heavenly Monarch also has its benefits.

After all, no matter which one he deals with, it aligns with his interests, who he strikes is striking nonetheless?