Taiyi Dao Fruit-Chapter 1304 - 67: Promotion Ceremony Begun 800 Years Ago (Part 2)

Until the right moment arrives, until the Great Heavenly Venerate takes control of Heaven, manifesting again in the mortal world.

By then, with the unmatched power and methods of the Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerate, won't he be able to make the Great Zhou great again and rule over Heaven and Earth?

"This is an ascension ritual that started eight hundred years ago," Jiang Li raised his hand skyward, as if trying to capture the presence of Heaven in the majestic sky dome, "Once the Great Heavenly Venerate resurrects and reclaims his Dao Fruit, he will reach the perfection of the Second Grade. He only needs to follow the steps, recover his full strength, and complete the Promotion Ceremony. Unlike us, who need to demonstrate Dao Fruit."

"The Great Heavenly Venerate is indeed farsighted," Karma Tathagata nodded, then suddenly laughed, "Unfortunately, his plan has encountered unexpected variables."

The ceremony to ascend to First Grade is of course difficult, so difficult that it demands the domination of Heaven and Earth, subduing all dissent. Not to destroy all enemies, but at least to hold Heaven and Earth in one's grasp.

Yet in today's Five Turbid Evil World, under the Great Heavenly Venerate's plan, it has become relatively simple.

He had set everything in place eight hundred years ago, waiting for the time to come when the Dragon King Ancestor would return.

However, eight hundred years later, Jiang Li appeared as an anomaly.

It was not just replacing the Ji Family with the Jiang family; he also advanced rapidly, making even the Great Heavenly Venerate, who had reincarnated, unable to defeat him and even allowing the Jade Emperor Dao Fruit to fall into Jiang Li's hands for a time.

The Great Heavenly Venerate's return to the mortal world ended not with him sweeping the universe, but nearly being swept himself.

This is not all; if that were the only issue, the Great Heavenly Venerate's Promotion Ceremony would still be feasible. The stronger the Great Zhou grew under Jiang Li's rule, the more it facilitated the Great Heavenly Venerate's Promotion Ceremony.

Who leads isn't important; what's important is that the Great Zhou becomes the mainstream of the world.

In a way, Jiang Li is working for the Great Heavenly Venerate.

However—

Karma Tathagata, astutely aware, being the Sixth Brother's formidable counterpart, quickly grasped the predicament facing the Great Heavenly Venerate now.

'Jiang Tanyue's progress is too fast,' he thought while looking at Jiang Li, his heart filled with indescribable feelings.

The growth of Great Zhou similarly enhances Jiang Li's power exponentially, and Jiang Li's own daoist cultivation is advancing, having obtained two First Grade Dao Artifacts, even aiding Karma Tathagata in acquiring the Amitabha Buddha Dao Fruit.

Even as the Promotion Ceremony progresses rapidly, without the Fuxi Dao Fruit, the Great Heavenly Venerate cannot claim success.

Let's not wait until the Great Heavenly Venerate's Promotion Ceremony is about to complete, only for Jiang Li to intercept and slay him before it finishes.

This is a possible outcome.

Once Jiang Li dominates Heaven and Earth, his power will expand to unprecedented realms, and with [Emperor Emerges from Zhen] and [Pangu's Left Eye], his divine skills will perform miracles. Furthermore, Jiang Li possesses [Primordial Human], elevating all divine skills to Second Grade.

This incredible speed of progress is the greatest hidden threat to the Great Heavenly Venerate's plan.

"The Great Heavenly Venerate could have surprised and undermined my enemies, granting me final victory, but now my strength gives him pause," Jiang Li said with a light laugh. "Thus, he connects to the void, intending to bring back the Tathagata Buddha prematurely, opposing me. Ultimately, the result would be mutual destruction with my enemy, achieving two gains in one move."

Dragging one's feet is a tradition for the Sixth Brother, and once it's discovered that the Great Heavenly Venerate is about to ascend to First Grade, not only Jiang Li, but also the Queen Mother of the West, the Great Venerable, and the two Tathagatas of the Buddhist faction, would never tolerate the Great Heavenly Venerate.

They would unite because they have a common enemy.

And the Great Heavenly Venerate, who is about to ascend successfully, will become the new common enemy.

History is like a cycle; previously, it was the third grade uniting against those trying to ascend to the second grade, and now it's the second grade uniting against those attempting to ascend to the first grade.

Of course, the main key is that Jiang Li's progress is too fast, potentially becoming the Great Heavenly Venerate's greatest stumbling block.

However, this alone doesn't fully explain Jiang Li's actions.

Because the Great Heavenly Venerate will find Jiang Li progressing too quickly, not because he is astute, but because Jiang Li deliberately exposed it.

The cause and effect must be clear; Jiang Li exposing himself first led to the Great Heavenly Venerate changing his mind.

If Jiang Li had not revealed Pangu's Form, what awaited the enemy was the Great Heavenly Venerate's backstab, and then Jiang Li dealing with the Great Heavenly Venerate.

The current predicament is one Jiang Li proactively created.

"Emperor Xi."

Jiang Li solemnly said, "The downfall of the Great Heavenly Venerate is not the end, attempting to ascend to First Grade with the Fuxi Dao Fruit naturally brings the risk of backlash from the Fuxi Dao Fruit. If the Great Heavenly Venerate falls, then Emperor Xi will surely return."

If asked why Jiang Li is so certain, it is because the Promotion Ceremony for the Fuxi Dao Fruit was informed to Jiang Li by the old ancestor Emperor Yan.

At such a delicate moment, Jiang Li learned about the Promotion Ceremony and saw through the Great Heavenly Venerate's plan, making it difficult for Jiang Li not to think deeply.

Let's not wait until the end, decisively defeating the Great Heavenly Venerate, only for Emperor Xi to be resurrected in a blink of an eye.

The Three Emperors are respectable, but Jiang Li won't place his safety in the hands of others' benevolence, even if it is the Three Emperors.

Regardless, the Great Heavenly Venerate must be defeated; his ascent to First Grade is much more severe than the return of Emperor Xi. No matter how cautious Emperor Xi is, he remains Emperor Xi, whereas the Great Heavenly Venerate is a pure schemer.

The gap in credibility between the two is even larger than that between Jiang Li and the Heavenly Monarch.

For Emperor Jiang himself is no saint, and in terms of character alone, he cannot compare to Emperor Xi. But the Great Heavenly Venerate and the Heavenly Monarch, the two are of the same vein.

Thus, it becomes a matter of either allowing the Great Heavenly Venerate to ascend to First Grade or letting Emperor Xi return, or...

'...delaying the emergence of these two results until I ascend to First Grade, or can progress in strength and realm to preemptively target the Great Heavenly Venerate and cut him down.'

Jiang Li's thoughts were profound, his left eye nearly transforming into a true sun.

Emperor Xi can return, but only when Jiang Li is able to control the situation do so.

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As the Battle of the East Sea settled, the brilliance of ten suns lost its maker, further enhancing its ability to illuminate the Ten Directions, beginning to spread in all directions.

On the islands of the Yellow Sea, the Great Venerable's incarnation unhesitatingly gathered the flow of time, twisted the Cosmic Light, pulling along the Immortal Queen, Heavenly Charm, Xuanwu, and several subordinates to retreat.

"Retreat!"

His voice reached the ears of the Third Grades, urging them to accept the pull of the temporal torrent.

In an instant, the chaotic sea began to restore to normalcy. Gongsun Qingyue and the Princess, unable to intercept, watched as the others were swept away by the invisible stream, retreating thousands of miles.

Even the Great Venerable's incarnation, three thousand miles away, vanished within the torrent.

Compared to the previous advance, this retreat was even swifter, making it difficult for even the third grades to pursue.

Within moments, the torrent had traversed nearly ten thousand miles, far from the coastline.

At that moment, a lofty Qi Mechanism, like a boulder, slammed into the torrent, transforming into an invisible giant hand to seize.

Within the torrent, the pupils of Heavenly Charm stretched into a line, sensing an overwhelming crisis descending, she screamed piercingly without hesitation, a multitude of fair hands cutting open like a peacock displaying, the eyes in her palms gazing in all directions.

Yet her resistance was almost futile, the invisible hand pressed down, revealing a massive blood-red pupil in the center, within which appeared an ancient bronze pot.

The immense power fell upon the bronze pot, causing it to tremble, a Vast Energy flew out, landing into the invisible hand.

Subsequently, the waves calmed, and the hand with the Vast Energy vanished without a trace.

"Mo Yiling!"

Heavenly Charm, still in shock, exclaimed, "The Imperial College Sacrificial Officer has been taken."

She turned to look at the Great Venerable's incarnation.

"No matter."

The Great Venerable's incarnation remained calm, with no intention of making a move, seemingly already aware of the other's identity.

He simply waved his sleeve lightly, letting the torrent submerge back beneath the sea surface.