Chapter 583: Dao Fruit Obtained

Chapter 583: Chapter 583: Dao Fruit Obtained

Zhang Ziyang chuckled. "I was a Sect Leader for a few hundred years, after all. Make your decision quickly. If you have any reservations, just give up on the idea."

A glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes as he instantly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

’Should I do it or not?’

If he followed the conventional path, he would reach Foundation Establishment Perfection without any bottlenecks. Even attaining a Dao Attainment Fruit Position wouldn’t be difficult.

The problem, however, lay in the moment he actually tried to attain that Dao Attainment Fruit Position. While the Attribute Panel would certainly allow him to advance unhindered...

...whether the True Monarchs of the world would be willing to let him was another matter entirely.

Time was life. Every single moment could bring him under the scrutiny of a True Monarch.

Having the Celestial Empress retrieve it was risky, but it was the only viable path before him.

His own Cause and Effect Secret Technique was also running frantic calculations, confirming that this action was the only chance of survival, the only way to escape utter annihilation amidst the current chaos of the Celestial Secret.

’I’ll do it!’

’If I don’t take it, I might not be able to protect my position as a Golden Core True Monarch even if I do manage to achieve a Dao Attainment Fruit Position in the future!’

With no further hesitation, Xu Yunfan’s gaze became like cold lightning, instantly piercing through the Star Banner to lock onto the Celestial Empress Star Soul trembling within.

The Star Spirit Banner trembled, and Xu Yunfan’s Divine Thought surged.

"Celestial Empress Star Monarch, hear my decree!

Use the full power of the energy in your remnant Divine Soul—the power that shares the same origin as this world’s Dao Fruit—and, under the cover of the Star Banner’s Spiritual Power, retrieve for me the Taiyin Profound Mirror Dao Fruit at the core of that suspended mirror.

If there is the slightest hesitation or any unusual move, I will immediately have your form and spirit annihilated, ensuring you will never be reborn for all eternity."

"I obey Your Excellency’s decree!"

The Celestial Empress felt the terrifying pressure on the brand on her soul’s origin—a pressure capable of crushing her in an instant. Her body trembled violently, and the last trace of defiance in her eyes dissolved into absolute fear and submission.

She didn’t dare to even consider the sliver of hope that might be hidden in Zhang Ziyang’s words. Xu Yunfan’s absolute control over the life and death of her True Spirit was an instinct that overrode everything else.

No one wanted to die, especially not a Cultivator seeking Longevity.

What’s more, as a Banner Spirit absorbed into the Star Spirit Banner, her life and death were not her own. Even if she retained her own consciousness, it was merely to add a bit of spiritual flexibility to the artifact.

If she tried anything, a single shake of the Star Banner would render her a mere puppet.

As Vast Magical Power poured into the Star Spirit Banner, it trembled. Empowered by the banner’s strength, she immediately mobilized the residual aura deep within her Divine Soul—an aura originating from the Taiyin Origin of the Celestial Realm—and transformed her Divine Soul into a unique spiritual conduit.

With a thought, Xu Yunfan controlled the Star Spirit Banner, and its deep, dark surface unfurled silently.

An immensely condensed stellar power, wrapped around the Celestial Empress’s faint yet perfectly compatible aura of the Dao Fruit’s origin, formed an invisible, transparent arm. It reached out gently and swiftly toward the Moon Wheel Treasure Mirror floating at the core of the suspended mirror.

At that moment, even the surging, collapsing waters of the Celestial River seemed to freeze for an instant.

The invisible arm, a mixture of the banner’s power and the spiritual conduit of the Celestial Empress Star Soul, passed through the barrier of Taiyin Law naturally flowing around the Taiyin Profound Mirror Treasure Mirror with extraordinary smoothness.

This was the final opening left by the Celestial Dao for its favored vessel. Now that the Celestial Empress had come to claim it, and with the Celestial Realm facing a great calamity, the Celestial Dao naturally wouldn’t refuse her.

The watery surface of the Treasure Mirror rippled gently. It seemed to sense the familiar yet alien origin aura, showing a hint of hesitation. However, it was also seemingly confused by the pure attribute of the Celestial Empress’s Divine Soul at that moment, and further deceived by the Star Spirit Banner’s powerful concealment ability.

It triggered none of the violent energy backlash he had anticipated, nor did it provoke a counterattack from the Heavenly Dao Will.

Just as the three True Monarchs, their divine might blazing, were busy carving up the Celestial Emperor Dao Fruit and the remains of the Western Buddha Head, the Moon Wheel Treasure Mirror—the final manifestation of the Taiyin Profound Mirror Dao Fruit and the core of this world’s Taiyin Law—was gently wrapped by the invisible arm. Like a drop of water falling into the ocean, it was silently pulled into the deep, dark surface of the Star Spirit Banner.

’Success!’

Xu Yunfan’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest, and a wave of immense ecstasy instantly overwhelmed him.

’A genuine Dao Fruit!’

If word of this got out, countless Foundation Establishment True Cultivators would go mad for it. Even Golden Core True Monarchs would not hesitate to seize it.

But he dared not show the slightest hint of this on his face, and the warning bells in his mind were screaming at their peak.

’Retract!’

Xu Yunfan’s Divine Thought moved like lightning. He instantly recalled the All Heaven Star Spirit Banner, which rolled up into a dull, gray stream of light and vanished into his sleeve.

Throughout the entire process, the three concealment Secret Techniques around his body were pushed to their absolute limit. Layered on top of those was a Triple Array, allowing his figure to blend perfectly into the chaotic energy flows and battlefield aftershocks that permeated the ruins of the Celestial Court.

Without a moment’s hesitation, and with no time to inspect the new treasure within the banner or the Celestial Empress’s incredibly complicated state, Xu Yunfan fled.

His figure moved like a phantom. Using the cover of the surging, chaotic vapor from the Celestial River and the turbulent energy from exploding spatial fragments, he raced away. At a speed far exceeding his previous pace, almost at the cost of burning his Essence Blood, he unhesitatingly fled back the way he came.

’Faster!’

’Even faster!’

Magical Power erupted from Xu Yunfan’s Dantian Qi Sea, turning him into a streak of lightning that vanished in a flash.

He didn’t dare take any conspicuous routes, not even daring to pass through treasure-filled areas like the Alchemy Hall. Places like the treasuries of Spiritual Elixir Pills, and even the Scripture Tower, were key areas of contention for the disciples of the Wansheng Sword Sect and the Primordial Sect.

On his way in alone, he had already seen several clashes with fluctuations at the Foundation Establishment level.

Relying on his subtle perception of spatial auras and the keen reaction to physical environmental changes from his powerful physique—forged by the Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture—he adapted his escape.

He became a nonexistent wind, completely merging into the folds of space. He hugged the shadows of ruined Immortal Palaces, slipped into crevices created by the collapsing earth, and even skirted the perilous edges of several turbulent spatial flows, all to choose the most inconspicuous escape route with the least energy disturbance.

After an unknown amount of time, he felt he had completely left the core area of the Celestial Court’s ruins, even breaking out of the vast region once covered by the Celestial Emperor’s power barrier.

Before him were no longer lavish, shattered Immortal Palaces and swirling Evil Qi, but a relatively barren, broken patch of the world. Mountains had crumbled, great rivers had ceased to flow, and the sky, apart from the destructive Gang Wind, was filled with a relatively gentle and pure Root Qi dissipating from the World Heaven Origin.

’This is the place!’

Without pausing for a moment, Xu Yunfan immediately found a canyon fissure deep within the earth, freshly torn open by the battle’s aftershocks, and plunged into a lava cave at its bottom.

His hands flew through seals as he laid down several simple yet highly effective Breath-Concealing Restrictions and a vision-distorting Illusion Array, completely concealing himself.

Only then did his racing heart begin to calm down slightly.

But it wasn’t enough.

He forced himself to calm down, immediately closing his eyes and Concentrating Spirit.

His Heart and Spirit sank into his Sea of Consciousness as he began to operate the Cause and Effect Secret Technique—the most mentally taxing, but absolutely necessary, procedure.

He repeatedly scrutinized every trace of aura that might have leaked and every wisp of this world’s old karma that might have entangled him because of the Celestial Empress; if there were any he couldn’t be sure about, he used the Celestial-Eroding Netherworld Talisman to corrode and sever them, a process that continued for a long while.