Chapter 1169: Si Ming's Dao Fruit

"Haha, calling for help was useless, wasn't it!" Though unaware of why Emperor Zhongtian vanished with a single step, the Nine-Layered Immortal paid no heed. He seized the moment, attacking Sima Ming while the latter was still stunned.

Sima Ming was still pondering why the Emperor hadn't arrived when a searing punch struck him squarely. This was immediately followed by a frigid blow. The alternating heat and extreme cold forced Sima Ming to continuously retreat, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Although Sima Ming was bleeding, he was not seriously injured. His bone armor absorbed the vast majority of the blows.

Sima Ming was a civil official in the Great Qian. However, he didn't achieve his position through mere eloquence. He simply preferred not to trouble himself with state affairs; otherwise, Emperor Zhongtian wouldn't have ascended the throne with such ease.

Sima Ming's boxing intent was unparalleled, his immortal blood boiling with fervor. He shook both arms and launched a sweeping attack at the Nine-Layered Immortal.

The Nine-Layered Immortal's body alternated between extreme yin and extreme yang forces. A touch would incinerate a Tribulation Crossing cultivator to charcoal or freeze them into an ice crystal. But Sima Ming wore bone gloves and showed no fear in engaging the Nine-Layered Immortal.

The bone gloves even sprouted bone spurs, making Sima Ming's strikes akin to wielding brass knuckles. Every blow landed on the Nine-Layered Immortal, leaving a mark.

Both had absolute confidence in their strength, both exuding an aura of unrivaled dominance. They roared simultaneously, intent on suppressing and eliminating each other. A terrifying aura engulfed the surroundings. Inside their bodies, crunching sounds were heard, which were the sounds of bones shattering, followed by instant bone regeneration. They continued to fight, oblivious to pain and fatigue.

One might have mistaken them for practitioners of the Immortal Dao Fruit.

The Nine-Layered Immortal found a flaw in Sima Ming's moves, which also happened to be a vulnerable spot in the armor. Holding his yin and yang energy, he struck decisively.

However, what he didn't expect was that the moment he aimed his punch, the armor shifted bones from other sections, deflecting the blow and rendering it utterly useless.

"Interesting."

Boom!

The two separated after their clash. Both gasped for breath, their eyes locked intently on each other. They endured their pain while scrutinizing the other for any sign of suffering.

Neither found what they sought.

The Nine-Layered Immortal snapped his fingers, and clusters of immortal flames materialized. Any one of these clusters would be a great fortune for fire-spirit-root cultivators, but for him, it was merely a thought away.

Immediately after, balls of profound ice appeared, whose quality rivaled profound ice millions of years old.

Cultivators from the Great Qian and Great Yu who have been in slumber until now, regardless of the secret method they used, have lost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years of their lifespan. However, if they were frozen within this profound ice, they could achieve a nearly eternal slumber, and their lifespans would remain virtually unchanged even upon awakening millions of years later.

Sima Ming effortlessly swatted away a flying ball of profound ice. However, an endless barrage of immortal flames and profound ice followed, which Sima Ming, even with three heads and six arms, could not possibly block.

A cluster of immortal flames broke through Sima Ming's defense, but then, to his surprise, this cluster of immortal flames abruptly changed direction, colliding with profound ice and perishing in a mutual annihilation.

The Nine-Layered Immortal's expression hardened. That cluster of immortal flames had actually broken free of his control.

Immortal magic is not enough to contend with a Dao Fruit. Is this Sima Ming's Dao Fruit ability?

"Fairy, is Sima Ming's Dao Fruit a type that controls objects?" Lu Yang asked. He now had some understanding of Dao Fruits and could analyze some things.

Of everyone in Muxue City, only Lu Yang could discern some insights. Others were barely able to keep up with the pace of the battle, unable to spare the mental capacity to analyze the battle.

"Not quite," the Immortal Fairy said with a giggle, pointing out something Lu Yang hadn't seen.

"When they were fighting in close quarters, the Nine-Layered Immortal found an opening and landed a punch on Sima Ming, but it was blocked by his bone armor, wasn't it?"

"If it were a control-type Dao Fruit, Sima Ming didn't react to that punch in time, and neither should his armor have, logically speaking. Yet, that's not what occurred."

"If this immortal's guess is correct, Sima Ming possesses an 'enlightenment' or 'spirit-bestowing' Dao Fruit, allowing him to imbue objects with life and make them obey his commands. These objects also possess the ability to think and fight autonomously."

"So that's how it is."

"A control-type Dao Fruit?" The Nine-Layered Immortal's analysis was identical to Lu Yang's.

Hearing the Nine-Layered Immortal's analysis, Sima Ming smiled slightly and began to brazenly use his Dao Fruit ability. In an instant, he enlightened and imbued with spirit all the immortal flames and profound ice flying towards him, turning them against the Nine-Layered Immortal.

"Using my own moves to attack me?"

With a single thought, the Nine-Layered Immortal conjured an equal number of immortal flames and profound ice. They collided with those controlled by Sima Ming, causing the ground to quake for an immense distance.

"You defended against them? Not bad," Sima Ming remarked with ease. He now held the upper hand.

It was true that the Nine-Layered Immortal could control immortal flames, even conjure a sun, but both immortal flames and suns were tangible objects. As long as they were tangible, they were within Sima Ming's control. How then could the Nine-Layered Immortal possibly launch an attack?

Suddenly, the Nine-Layered Immortal took a blow from an unknown source. The attack was incredibly powerful, sending him flying and only stopping after he crashed through over a dozen mountaintops.

Where did this attack come from?!

The Nine-Layered Immortal quickly realized that spiritual energy was also within Sima Ming's control. This was an attack from spiritual energy!

Realizing this, the Nine-Layered Immortal took a deep breath and instantly absorbed and refined all the spiritual energy within a thousand-li radius into his body.

The Nine-Layered Immortal guessed that Sima Ming could control non-living objects. If he could control living objects, he would have controlled his own body long ago, instead of bothering with immortal flames and spiritual energy.

So he absorbed and refined all the spiritual energy, making it part of his body, and Sima Ming could no longer control it!

Sima Ming raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect that although the Nine-Layered Immortal hadn't analyzed the correct Dao Fruit, he had made the right choice.

"What will you do now!"

With a thought, Sima Ming's immortal consciousness enlightened the continuous mountains surrounding Muxue City. The mountains, like giants slumbering on the earth, awakened at that very moment.

The snow mountain giants rose, tens of thousands of feet tall.

Immediately after, the earth bulged, forming layer upon layer of cages that trapped the Nine-Layered Immortal.

The very earth had been enlightened by Sima Ming and was now at his command!

All things in heaven and earth were within Sima Ming's control!

The battlefield shifted outside the city. The bold and skilled cultivators within the city eagerly left Muxue City to follow and observe the battle.

They watched in stunned silence as snow mountains, responding to Sima Ming's call, stood upright on the earth like colossal figures.

Yun Zhi looked down at the constantly shaking and awakening snow mountains beneath her feet, shook her head helplessly, put away her Emperor's Chair, and leaped off the mountaintop, relocating to a safe distance to observe the battle, unaffected by the chaos.

"Earth and snow mountains? Mere mortal objects, yet they dare to trap an immortal!" The Nine-Layered Immortal roared fiercely, his body shaking like a chained dragon breaking free. Shattering the earthly shackles, he toppled a snow mountain giant with a single punch.

The headless snow mountain giant collapsed, shaking the earth with its fall.

"Mortal objects, you say? Then see how these fare!"

The snow mountain giant's head was shattered by the Nine-Layered Immortal when a metallic, humanoid object shot forth from it, smashing the Nine-Layered Immortal directly into the earth!

Boom!

The sky cracked and the earth split, a massive explosion erupted underground. The humanoid object was sent flying by a punch from the Nine-Layered Immortal, and the Nine-Layered Immortal burst forth from the earth.

However, the humanoid object, after taking a heavy punch from the Nine-Layered Immortal, surprisingly didn't disintegrate; it only had a fist imprint left on its body.

"Immortal Gold?" The Nine-Layered Immortal frowned.

This was not a magic treasure crafted from Immortal Gold, the kind that required the artistry of Ying Tianxian. This was merely a raw piece of Immortal Gold, but after being enlightened by Sima Ming, it could be called an Immortal Gold life form, and was terrifyingly hard.

"You certainly always manage to conjure up something unexpected," the Nine-Layered Immortal sneered.

"But you don't actually believe my Yin-Yang Dao Fruit can only control immortal flames and profound ice, do you?"