Chapter 317: Chapter 40 Heaven and Earth Furnace
The gap between the Sixth Rank and Fifth Rank was so wide that not even Jiang Li, a cultivator whose every Dao Fruit was unique, could bridge it.
Perhaps when Jiang Li attained perfection with the Sixth Rank Dao Fruit and fully integrated it, he might be able to do so, but as for now, it was absolutely impossible for him to kill a Fifth Rank using only the Sixth Rank’s power.
Assuming he relied solely on his own strength and did not borrow the power of heaven and earth.
The natural world was full of all kinds of forces. If one could understand their principles and use them to their advantage, they could accomplish many unbelievable feats.
Just like how Jiang Li previously summoned the wind and clouds, causing the heavenly phenomenon to change.
If one forced it with True Qi, it would consume a tremendous amount, and even a Fifth Grade practitioner would have to use a Dao Fruit Divine Power to achieve this.
However, the True Qi Jiang Li used at that time was far less than the strength typically used by an average Fifth Rank.
And now—
"Boom!"
The large tree next to the Fourth Prince suddenly exploded, wood chips flying in all directions as the qi wave swept out, rolling with flames.
The Fourth Prince’s Protective True Qi spontaneously counterattacked, dispersing the qi wave, clearing away the flames, and those countless wood chips were reduced back to Wood Qi by the rebound...
And then ignited by the flames!
But this was only the beginning.
While the Fourth Prince and Zuo Zhao noticed the exploding tree, a reddish light had already enveloped all the trees.
The trees’ roots intertwined, connecting with each other; the surrounding grass and plants all transformed into Wood Qi, their Qi Mechanism interlinked. By pressing a single large tree, Jiang Li could deliver the Innate Fire Qi to every corner.
A single exploding tree was not enough to injure either of them, but what if all the trees became one entity and then exploded?
What Jiang Li was about to do was to turn this forest, this small piece of heaven and earth, into explosives, into kindling, and completely detonate it.
"Boom!"
A myriad of explosions sounded in unison; the world was left with only one color as the fierce hurricane swirled with flames, melting everything; heaven and earth had become a furnace.
While this was a result of a profound application of natural principles, a perfect embodiment of Wood Fire, the outcome was incredibly simple and exceedingly brutal.
It was the ultimate form of violence, the purest form of destruction.
The Three Corpses God Dao Fruit was of no use here, the Nine Insect Technique couldn’t exert its malevolent power, and the astounding speed of the Divine Travel Grand Protector and the Star Sun Horse could not escape the all-enveloping explosion. All the Fourth Prince and Zuo Zhao could do was to resist with all their might.
Use True Qi to resist, apply Protective Secret Methods for defense, exhaust the physical body, pump True Qi, exhale Divine Essence, fight with everything to persist.
When the air was burned out, they resorted to internal breathing.
When air pressure dropped, they used True Qi to balance it out.
Endless red billowed up, with differently colored True Qi all stained red, even the dark and fierce aura had a layer of flames added to it, constantly fluctuating as if it too was burning.
Even through the True Qi, the blast was so intense it made their internals burn, resulting in severe injuries.
The Fourth Prince never imagined that Jiang Li’s real trump card would be so mundane, yet so ferocious.
Jiang Li even intentionally used up his last ace, using himself as bait to lure in the Fourth Prince.
This was his true reliance on killing the Fourth Prince.
As soon as he fell into the Cave Heaven Blessed Land, upon noticing the lush, sprawling forest that stretched nearly a hundred miles, Jiang Li had this idea. But after realizing the uniqueness of the place, he switched the final confrontation site.
From that moment, it was no longer the Fourth Prince’s persecution of Jiang Li, but rather a murder designed by Jiang Li, a murder targeting the Fourth Prince.
A long-planned scheme, culminating in this moment, when the dagger is finally revealed.
His hair was singed, and his vestment robe became unbearably hot, as if flames were burning it, steam billowing from his body as the water within him evaporated.
The Fourth Prince held a tawny Big Seal in his hand, with insect-like runes constantly moving around him, trying to burst out of the core of the explosion. Yet gales of flame constantly surged around them, madly compressing the two figures.
It was Jiang Li!
He was directing the Flame Qi and the hurricane generated by the explosion.
"Qimen includes four plates, heaven and earth, man and god."
Jiang Li’s voice emerged out of nowhere, crisp and clear, "Jiang Li used Wood Fire to transform heaven and earth into a furnace, aligning with the right time and geography. The ’Qi Tomb’s’ foundation also mainly focuses on the Fire Element. I’m in my element here, like a dragon in the sea. It’s the perfect union of human and environment, and with my fate tied to Fire, it is here that my fate shall thrive."
"Heaven and earth, man and god, I have mastered all four Qimen plates, Ji Chengyuan, your defeat is certain."
Using his enemy’s method against them, the Fourth Prince manipulated others’ thoughts with the Three Corpses God every day, but today Jiang Li would stir the Three Corpses’ thoughts within him.
Hearing this, the Fourth Prince felt a surge of anxiety, for he knew what Jiang Li said was true.
In order to navigate in and out of the Dunjia Heaven and Earth, the Fourth Prince was somewhat proficient in Qimen Dunjia. Jiang Li’s words were true, without a shred of falsehood. And because of this, his mind was disturbed.
Now the Fourth Prince could only hope that Jiang Li had not reached the realm where he could use all four plates—manipulating heaven, earth, man, and god.
In fact, just as the Fourth Prince imagined, Jiang Li had not yet reached such a Realm in his Wind Queen’s Strange Gate mastery.
But he didn’t have to, for Tianxuan could.
Tianxuan had helped Jiang Li reach the Wood Element Land at the fastest speed, and now through their mental connection, Tianxuan was assisting Jiang Li in calculating the four plates, using heaven, earth, man, and god.
In the intense blaze, Zuo Zhao suddenly kicked out, unleashing a force as heavy as a mountain, forcefully extending his leg amidst the Flame Flow.
"Eight Heavenly Seals, Mountain Collapse."
Star Sun Horse’s Dao Fruit possessed a Divine Attribute, with a Divine Body typical of a Divine Fruit. However, this Divine Body had transformed into Divine Skills. What Zuo Zhao embodied was the Body of a Star God.
This allowed Zuo Zhao to forcibly endure the high temperatures and explosive shock. Even though large patches of burns had already appeared on his body and his internal injuries were severe, he could still timely execute his moves.
Starlight emerged, materializing into a horse shape within the fiery light, tearing open a gap for the encroaching figure and the object in his hand to appear...
The Sun Wheel!
"The Sun at Noon, Sunshine in the sky."
The red Divine Dragon Claw holding the Sun Wheel reached out from the torn gap, clashing head-on with that kick.
Jiang Li had consumed the Ginsengfruit, healing all his previous injuries and even restoring his Power. Aided by Tianxuan, he once again used the Mystic Techniques from "Taiwei Fu"—pitting the Sun Wheel against the Mountain Collapse force in a frontal, head-to-head collision.
The high temperatures surrounding them gathered toward the Sun Wheel in Jiang Li’s claw at that moment, with the Innate Fire Qi violently pulsating as if it was the raging Heavenly Fire on the surface of the sun.
Wood Qi produces, Fire Qi grows; the essence of fire is to spread uncontrollably like a wildfire, burning everything and fueling the Fire.
Jiang Li’s mind was like an undisturbed ancient well, merging with the fire, but burning fiercely, crazily intensifying it, even the blood in his body seemed to boil, pumping out torrents of immense Strength.
Fire Qi grows!
Endless heat and Flame Power converged in his palm, burning away the force, and Zuo Zhao’s right leg was gradually swallowed by the Sun Wheel. The metal-gloss boots, flesh, bone, True Qi, everything was burning, being melted by the Sun Wheel.
He had already been grievously injured and had exhausted a significant amount of True Qi. He was nearing his last breath and naturally couldn’t contend with the Taiwei Xuan Technique.
However, even so, this defeat seemed too swift.
Or could it be that, within this towering inferno, Jiang Li truly reached the strength of a fifth-rank?
Zuo Zhao had no time to think further, because his death was just a moment away.
At that moment, a pool of shadow suddenly appeared above Zuo Zhao’s body. Three dark holes emerged at his forehead, chest, and abdomen, spurting out plumes of black Qi like rain.
The Fourth Prince’s palm was unknowingly pressed against Zuo Zhao’s back. Streams of black Qi entered his body, awakening the Three Corpses and bombarding the Red Dragon with rolling evil thoughts, seeping into it.
These were evil thoughts, intangible, and even high temperatures and flames couldn’t melt them.
Earlier, when faced with the explosion, the Fourth Prince could only endure forcefully. However, when confronting a living creature, his Three Corpses God Dao Fruit could exert its effect.
It was just the method of use that was rather brutal.
At the moment of Zuo Zhao’s imminent death, the Fourth Prince forcefully ejected Zuo Zhao’s Three Corpses Evil Thoughts, assailing the Red Dragon and triggering greed, hatred, and delusion within Jiang Li’s heart.
Flames burned outside, as if they were also burning within Jiang Li’s heart.
The Three Corpses are, the upper corpse desires fine adornments, the middle corpse desires flavors, and the lower corpse desires licentious pleasures—they can be described as vanity, hedonism, and lust.
They can also be explained as the pursuit of spirit, the desire for survival, and the satisfaction of procreation, representing the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion.
Humanity’s base nature, all lie within the Three Corpses.
Jiang Li’s mind was in turmoil, the "stains" on his Pure Yang Dao Heart were distinctly visible.
It was as if he saw his senior sister about to speak but stopping, her jade finger gently curled, the Tianxuan Luo Shirt half-undone, with skin like creamy jade...
He also saw the Eight Qi Great Success, the Ochre Whip in his hand, gripping the Xuan Yuan...
And there were all sorts of enemies ahead, with continuous mocking laughter.
Various chaotic thoughts rose to his heart; under the evil thoughts stirred by a fifth-rank Cultivator’s evil thoughts, Jiang Li’s Mental State also showed ripples.
Even in...
Within the Void Illusion Realm, Tianxuan’s face blushed with a red glow, and these evil thoughts also touched her.
She was currently spiritually connected with Jiang Li, and though it was not an intimate union, all sorts of notions could be shared. Now that Jiang Li was attacked by evil thoughts, Tianxuan’s related thoughts were also triggered.
In a daze, she seemed to see Jiang Li undoing his clothes...
"How dare you!"
Tianxuan let out a light scold, directly shattering the messy thoughts in her heart.
As a fourth-rank, she was certainly not someone who could be easily influenced by a fifth-rank, especially through indirect impact of the evil thoughts.
At the same time, a Sword Light seemed to rise in Jiang Li’s mind, cutting through the evil thoughts while the Sun Wheel in his claws pressed on relentlessly.
"Roar!"
Zuo Zhao was completely ignited, with the Sun Wheel gradually engulfing his body, the golden-red light and scorching heat pressed towards the Fourth Prince.
"Three Corpses Transformation."
The upper, middle, and lower Dan Tian of the Fourth Prince simultaneously burst forth with massive amounts of black Qi, manifesting three eerie figures, mercilessly imprinting Big Seals onto the burning Zuo Zhao, shattering his body, and striking on the Sun Wheel.
"Plague Seal! Transform for Me!"
The handsome face twisted hideously as the Fourth Prince summoned all his True Qi. Three shadowy figures surged from around the Plague Seal, aiming for the Red Dragon.