Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“Immortal Fairy, my Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit is the culmination of having witnessed the vicissitudes of life, lived through two lifetimes, comprehended reincarnation, drawn inspiration from the Epoch Dao Fruit, traveled the cultivation world to seek out teachers and friends, visited numerous half-immortals and immortals, debated the meaning of existence, and studied their Dao Fruit philosophies.

“It’s hardly as superficial as merely lowering one’s cultivation... Alright, fine, it is essentially lowering the opponent’s cultivation to defeat them.”

After explaining at length, Lu Yang realized that he had arrived at the same conclusion as the Everlasting Immortal Fairy. What the hell? Could it be that condensing the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit has something to do with having fused with the Unbeatable Primordial Spirit?

According to Lu Yang’s conjecture, once he became an immortal, his Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit could reduce an immortal to a half-immortal. After Yun Zhi’s Dao Union, he could rescue her from that state.

Yun Mengmeng was perched on a nearby tree watching the battle, her eyes brimming with worshipful admiration. The Second-in-Command is so amazing! Lowering an opponent’s cultivation is a surefire winning strategy. Why haven’t I ever thought of something like that?

Having grasped the principle behind the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit, Meng Jingzhou threw in the towel on the spot. “There’s no way to fight this.”

If both of us are at the Intermediate Transcendent Tribulation Stage, we can still spar. But with me at the Basic Transcendent Tribulation Stage and Old Lu at the Intermediate Transcendent Tribulation Stage, what’s the point of fighting?

No matter how capable I am, I can’t challenge beyond my level when the opponent is Old Lu. Surrendering now can at least spare me the physical suffering.

“Come on, how can you surrender before we’ve even begun? Where’s your backbone and fighting spirit?” Lu Yang genuinely wanted to spar with Meng Jingzhou. Our exchange earlier doesn’t even qualify as a warm-up.

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. “Have some shame, will you?”

“You’ve got your brother all wrong. What’s our relationship? How could I let you fight beyond your level?”

With a snap of his fingers, Lu Yang deactivated the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit, restoring Meng Jingzhou’s cultivation to the Intermediate Transcendent Tribulation Stage.

“How about this? I won’t use the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit. Let’s fight for real. What do you say?”

“That’s acceptable.”

The two stood upon the lake’s surface and squared off once more.

They vanished in the same instant, reappearing at the lake’s center in the next breath. Without any techniques, they engaged in the most primal form of combat.

Bang!

The lake erupted, water spraying everywhere before pouring down like rain.

Two figures flickered in and out of sight through the curtain of lake water, as though they had a thousand clones scattered throughout the rain. The sounds of their clashes rang out like drumbeats—bang, bang, bang—an unending rhythm that made one’s heart pound.

In truth, their speed was so fast that ordinary eyes could only catch the afterimages, unable to distinguish which one was the real body.

“Not bad, Old Lu. Your cultivation hasn’t fallen behind, and neither has your physical body.”

“I can’t afford to neglect tempering the body. If I do, Big Senior Sister will throw me straight into the furnace.”

“If you’re so afraid of fire, let’s see how you’ll withstand this move!”

Pure Yang True Fire and Nirvana True Flame burst forth around Meng Jingzhou. The presence of these two supreme flames sent the lake boiling. Water vaporized, forming a thick mist that shrouded the battlefield, making their figures even harder to discern.

“You ambushed me!” Lu Yang fumed. We had been in the middle of a close-quarters fight, yet you resorted to spells. The worst part is that I wasn’t the one who ambushed first.

“This is called seizing the initiative!” Putting himself in Lu Yang’s shoes, Meng Jingzhou was certain that Lu Yang had also harbored thoughts of ambushing him.

The Pure Yang True Fire and the Nirvana True Flame unleashed at the Intermediate Transcendent Tribulation Stage were extremely terrifying. Both flames needed to be nurtured with pure yang essence, something Meng Jingzhou never lacked.

The Pure Yang True Fire blazed like the great sun, illuminating all things and intimidating all evildoers. The Nirvana True Flame gave off a phoenix’s cry and transformed into a phoenix that could set a prairie ablaze.

Meng Jingzhou had tempered both flames to their absolute peak.

“True fire? I’ve got that too!”

The temperature of Lu Yang’s palms rose as two different true fires materialized.

“True Flavor True Fire! Golden Bird True Flame!”

Meng Jingzhou was about to mock Lu Yang for overestimating himself when the Three Flavor True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame suddenly swelled to ten million times their original sizes, like two living beings made of flames. The Golden Bird True Flame in particular was more animated than the Nirvana True Flame and burned hotter than the Great Sun True Flame.

Since when did Old Lu refine these two true fires to such a terrifying level behind my back?!

The Three Flavor True Fire and the Golden Bird True Fire crushed the void and incinerated the firmament, like the sovereigns of fire.

“Old Meng, get out of the way! My true fires are acting strange! They’re being fueled by the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit!” Lu Yang had no idea what was happening and urgently transmitted an auditory message with his spiritual consciousness.

“Too late!” The true fires were already upon him. Meng Jingzhou had no means of escape and could only meet them head-on.

The moment the four true fires collided, Meng Jingzhou’s expression changed drastically. Only upon contact with Lu Yang’s true fires did he realize just how terrifying they were.

Boom!

The lake water evaporated, and Meng Jingzhou was blasted to the shore, his clothes singed.

“Old Meng, are you alright?”

The sudden turn of events gave Lu Yang a fright. He rushed back to check on Meng Jingzhou’s situation, with Yun Mengmeng following close behind.

“Cough, cough—” Meng Jingzhou was covered in dirt, looking utterly bedraggled. “Still alive, I guess.”

It was only thanks to his tough physique and his yang energy’s high compatibility with the Golden Bird True Flame’s yang nature that much of the impact had been neutralized. Any other Transcendent Tribulation cultivator would have been laid up with grievous injuries, chugging pills and elixirs straight from a gourd.

“When did your true fire get so powerful? Why have I never seen you use it before?” Meng Jingzhou looked at him reproachfully.

Lu Yang looked innocent. “I didn’t even know my true fire could be this powerful! I was planning to use the Three Flavor True Fire and the Golden Bird True Flame as a decoy to distract you, then launch a sneak attack on you.

“But as soon as I unleashed those two true fires, the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit was also activated. You saw the result. The true fires’ power shot through the roof.”

Meng Jingzhou snapped. “What happened to the agreement pre-battle not to use Incipient Dao Fruits?!”

Lu Yang hastily explained, “I really didn’t mean to. The Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit moved on its own! It was as if... as if...”

After pondering for a while, he finally came up with an accurate description. “It was as if those two true fires were inextricably linked to the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit. Whenever I use them, the Incipient Dao Fruit is inevitably triggered.

“Immortal Fairy, do you know what’s going on?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy was equally puzzled. This question had stumped her. “I’ve never seen a situation like this before. The power of those two true fires rivals what a Yin-Yang Incipient Dao Fruit can produce.”

The reason half-immortals far surpassed Transcendent Tribulation cultivators was precisely the existence of Incipient Dao Fruits. Techniques unleashed through them were exponentially more powerful than ordinary techniques. For example, the mighty ability “Five Thunders Orthodox Method” executed by an Apex Transcendent Tribulation cultivator couldn’t match the lightning arts channeled through the Tribulation Mandate Incipient Dao Fruit. This was why the Three Flavor True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame had overwhelmingly crushed the Pure Yang True Fire and the Nirvana True Flame.

“Why does the Second-in-Command’s Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit enhance those two true fires?”

It was easy to understand why the Yin-Yang Incipient Dao Fruit could amplify true fire. After all, true fire fell under “yang.” But Yun Mengmeng couldn’t fathom what connection the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit had with those two true fires.

“One more thing. Why does using those two true fires force me to activate the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit at the same time?”

Lu Yang frowned, a theory taking shape in his mind. “Unless those two true fires are themselves the result of ‘origin tracing?’”