Chapter 1339: You Two, Stop Talking

Yunzhi's presence was rapidly fading. Those who had only heard her name were the first to forget her, followed by acquaintances, and finally, even those who considered her irreplaceable in their memories.

The first two groups had already completely forgotten Yunzhi's existence, and even the evidence of her ever having been there was disappearing as a powerful natural force erased all traces, correcting the world.

Only the last group still remembered Yunzhi.

In return, Yunzhi gained a power previously unknown to the world.

At that moment, she embodied the very essence of heaven and earth, and with a single move, she put the arrogant mastermind on the defensive!

The participating immortals looked bewildered, having forgotten who was even fighting the mastermind.

Lu Yang clutched his head, desperately recalling his past with his senior sister. She had indeed achieved Dao integration, but this was not its true form.

According to his senior sister, the true state of Dao integration meant becoming the impartial heaven and earth, viewing all living beings equally without favoritism, and having all personal history vanish from the world.

A truly Dao-integrated being would not fight the mastermind; such an act would not befit an impartial heaven!

The reason his senior sister could still fight the mastermind was because she had only just achieved Dao integration, her state was not yet stable, and she still had too many attachments to the mortal world.

When she severed all worldly attachments and vanished from everyone's memories, her Dao integration state would become stable.

The Immortal of Immortality also withdrew from the battle, standing beside Lu Yang as they together tried to recall Yunzhi's past, hoping to keep her from remaining in this transitional state for too long.

Moreover, the current battle no longer required her participation; Yunzhi alone was sufficient.

The ethereal figure Yunzhi had left in the world wielded boundless Dao techniques, embodying the cycle of life and death energy. She merged her own Dao with the Immortal Lady's boxing style, creating a new form of combat to obliterate the mastermind. The mastermind was steadily pushed back, yet his vitality was impossibly robust; even severe injuries healed swiftly.

Lu Yang noticed something amiss, his brow furrowed as he racked his brain, recalling the mastermind's techniques throughout the battle. It was as if he possessed multiple Dao Fruits. How was that possible?

"Yunzhi, kill him!" the Immortal of Immortality roared, her voice so loud it seemed the entire universe could hear it.

"If you can just kill him, I'll never bring up the Mother-Child River again!"

The ethereal figure swayed subtly, as if reacting to her words.

Noticing a reaction, the Immortal of Immortality continued to yell, "I'll also keep secret that the puppets on Heavenly Gate Peak are your clones!"

"But you absolutely must keep my secrets! Siming has already given you hush money for them!"

"Immortal Senior, please stop talking!" The ethereal figure's voice lost its prior calm and indifference, now tinged with emotional波动. She even thought achieving full Dao integration right then would be preferable.

Noticing this, the Immortal of Immortality quickly nudged Lu Yang, who was busy reminiscing about cherished moments with his senior sister.

"This method works! Xiaoyangzi, you say something too."

"Ah, what... what should I say?" Lu Yang was surprised; this step wasn't in their plan.

"Just say anything."

Lu Yang was caught off guard by the Immortal of Immortality but had to admit that this method worked to prolong his senior sister's unstable state. So, he braced himself and spoke.

"Senior sister, when I first started cultivating, you bathed me in boiling water! It scalded me to death!"

"Senior sister, you're already so powerful! Once I become an immortal, I won't cultivate anymore; I'll rely on you to take care of me for the rest of my life!"

"Senior sister, your inner world is actually very vibrant, it just doesn't show on the surface, does it?!"

"Senior sister, you are incredibly beautiful, the most beautiful person I've ever seen. You look even prettier when you smile, so please smile more often in the future!"

"Both of you, stop talking!"

The ethereal figure's emotional fluctuations grew more intense, and her attacks became incredibly ruthless. It seemed she was treating the mastermind as a composite of the Immortal of Immortality and Lu Yang, striking with lethal intent in every move.

"Isn't it unreasonable for you, as Heaven, to be so unfair? Those words weren't even shouted by me!" the mastermind cried out, feeling wronged. "Isn't Heaven supposed to be impartial? Why are you taking all your anger out on me?"

Yunzhi paid no heed to his complaints. She channeled the power of heaven and earth, manifesting endless runes that transformed into countless immortal artifacts and divine weapons, all hurtling towards the mastermind.

The mastermind summoned heavenly thunder and earthly fire, conjured ancient and primeval beings, and imbued them with immortal blood, setting them against the barrage of immortal artifacts and divine weapons. Above his head, a dark vortex spun, devouring every incoming attack.

However, Yunzhi's assault was relentlessly fierce. The ancient and primeval beings quickly weakened, proving no match for the immortal artifacts and divine weapons. Her methods of attack were also too numerous for him to devour them all.

Witnessing this familiar scene, Lu Yang finally understood why the mastermind could wield so many Dao Fruits!

"He possesses the Devouring Dao Fruit!" Lu Yang shouted, revealing the mastermind's innate Dao Fruit.

The mastermind possessed the same Devouring Dao Fruit as the Central Heavenly Emperor, and suddenly, everything made sense.

The Central Heavenly Emperor had sought to use the Devouring Dao Fruit to absorb the Dao Fruits of the Four Ancient Immortals, hoping to gain the power to break the cultivation world's seal, but he had only ever imagined it, never succeeding.

The mastermind, however, was far more powerful; he had devoured more than one Dao Fruit in ancient times!

Dao Fruits are unique, so logically, if the mastermind had already condensed the Devouring Dao Fruit, the Central Heavenly Emperor should not have been able to do so.

The catch was that the mastermind wasn't an immortal, but a being of the Transcendent Realm.

Being transcendent himself, all Dao Fruits he had absorbed through the Devouring Dao Fruit also became transcendent, thus not affecting later cultivators from achieving their own Dao Fruits.

Otherwise, if the Central Heavenly Emperor had tried to condense the Devouring Dao Fruit and encountered suppression, he would have realized someone else already possessed it, which would contradict the concept of transcendence.

The moment these words left his mouth, the mastermind's body trembled, and his aura surprisingly began to destabilize!

Lu Yang's discovery undoubtedly exposed a part of the mastermind's true origins. The mastermind wished to kill Lu Yang, but he was currently struggling even to defend himself, let alone eliminate Lu Yang!

However, the mastermind soon felt a surge of joy, realizing an opportunity for victory. Yunzhi's movements grew increasingly hesitant, and the force of her attacks against him weakened.

Lu Yang's and the Immortal of Immortality's memories of Yunzhi were also rapidly fading; they would soon forget her existence entirely!

"Fellow Daoist Yunzhi, your state is finally stabilizing, isn't it!"

As Heaven, how could one possibly attack the world's myriad beings? Thus, when the mastermind realized Yunzhi was about to achieve full Dao integration, he was only surprised, not despairing.

He believed he could hold out until Yunzhi truly became Heaven.

Lu Yang had also been waiting for this very moment!

He took a huge stride forward, unsheathing the Qingfeng Sword. With a cry of "Myriad Swords Convergence," brilliant sword energy suppressed heaven and earth as he thrust his blade directly towards Yunzhi.

"Trace to Source!"

The sword energy, spanning tens of thousands of miles, swept past the ethereal figure without inflicting the slightest damage.

The ethereal figure gradually solidified, transforming into an ethereal water-like being, as bone and blood were re-formed.

Within the rules of heaven and earth, the "Trace to Source" rule continuously vibrated, pulling Yunzhi back from her Dao integration state.

Yunzhi looked at the utterly astonished mastermind, her expression still as indifferent as if she hadn't been the one who had just achieved Dao integration moments before.

"Let's continue."