"The Great Circle Sword is created from the combined mastery of Brother Guangming, second captain of the Sword Discussion Sea, Jingyang Jun, and the Mystic Sect's Loose Cultivator Yuan Fu, but its core still relies on the Yuxu Temple's method of Refining Solid to Void."

Yin Tulong watched the Sword Qi shot from Jiang Li's fingertips, crossed his arms over his chest, and said with an air of experience, "The methods of Yuxu Temple focus on using artifacts to carry the Dao and transforming Dao through artifacts. Weapons and magic artifacts are manifestations of one's own Dao, like my Chaos Sky Ribbon, Qiankun Ring, and Fire-tipped Spear, which represent my Primordial Technique, Taiyin Qian Yuan Technique, and Divine Fire Nine Refinements respectively. You merely used the Sword Qi of the Great Circle Sword as a common weapon, which is somewhat putting the cart before the horse."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li thought it over carefully and knew that Yin Tulong was correct.

The Great Circle is another name for heaven, encompassing all things, able to change on its own according to the cultivation body of the sword master. When Gongsun Qingyue was making substitutes in Tianxuan, his arbitrary changes to the nature of the Great Circle Sword had caused Jiang Li quite some trouble.

Jiang Li used the Great Circle Sword as a weapon for Lawless Freedom because it could change at will, had no fixed form, and was hard to detect the truth by others.

Now it seems that the Great Circle Sword is indeed an all-powerful carrier of Dao, designed to accommodate the sword master's cultivation body and to bear the sword master's Dao.

So then, what is Dao?

Dao, meaning path, is not the grand Dao of heaven and earth, but the path that a cultivator must walk. For example, if someone cultivates the Water Element steadfastly, it is the path of water; when the Divine Farmer created Innate Qi using his own appearance, he cultivated the Qi Path, and the 'Qi Tomb' is the grand masterpiece of his life's cultivation.

The Dao of the Yellow Emperor also focuses on the character 'form,' thus he has the 'Form Tomb.'

These are distant examples, and a nearer example, the most typical one, is Ji Jiji, whose 'Yin Talisman Scripture' is the cultivation technique he created for his own Dao.

And Jiang Li...

'Got somewhat chaotic.' Jiang Li frowned.

It was like using the purest water to brew a pot of tea with a mix of premium leaves like Dragonwell before the rain, Da Hong Pao, Maojian, and Bi Luo Chun, resulting in a pot of tea indescribable.

The teas were all good, but mixing them together without prioritizing led to problems.

With his current wisdom, Jiang Li quickly realized the problems he might be facing.

'Systematizing the cultivation techniques and establishing a main focus is imperative,' Jiang Li thought silently to himself.

It was not just because of the somewhat abstract notion of one's own Dao, but also because his demonstration of Dao Fruit had such requirements.

Since ascending to Daoist Zhuang Zhou, Jiang Li had been through several battles, and his strength had improved a lot, but the progress of his Dao Fruit had not advanced.

The Sixth-Rank Luu Dongbin Dao Fruit could be demonstrated through slaying demons, but the Fifth-Rank Zhuang Zhou could not.

Looking back over Zhuang Zhou's life, there were no legends related to fighting and killing; he was a pure Daoist. If anything, it was only related to Zhang Jiao obtaining the 'Peace Technique' and then initiating the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

According to Jiang Li's deductions, the demonstration of Zhuang Zhou's Dao Fruit could involve insights from previous promotion ceremonies, focusing on mental state, literary works, and aspirations.

Mental state would naturally be about non-action and freedom.

Literary works, in essence, mean thoughts; writing books to express a school of thought, turning one's studies into works, highly coincide with establishing one's Dao.

As for aspirations, more specifically, it's about spreading one's thoughts and shaping an ideal world with one's concepts. The early sages of the Hundred Schools of Thoughts were basically inseparable from this point.

Let's not mention mental state, as aspirations are now not easy to discuss. After all, Jiang Li has not yet completed the set of three powerful ministers, has not secured a position among the Jiang family's Three Dukes, and is even just a reserve affiliated son-in-law. Using this route to demonstrate Dao Fruit will be long and obstructed.

What remains is to write and establish theories.

This point was quite similar to when he demonstrated the Warlock Dao Fruit, but Jiang Li thought, surely he could not rely on writing Spring Palace Storybooks to demonstrate Zhuang Zhou's Dao Fruit?

Not to mention whether it is embarrassing, but seeing as the Karma Collection hasn't even prompted a Dao Fruit progression until now, it shows this route won't work.

Jiang Li's past works should still be circulating, and even benefited from Tu Qi Longevity's marketing outside the sect. If it were effective, there would have been feedback.

No feedback can only mean that Zhuang Zhou was a person who transcended low-grade tastes, and so was his Dao Fruit, or it could be said that the slight feedback from the Spring Palace Storybooks was not enough to promote the fusion of Dao Fruit, so the Karma Collection didn't even record it.

Therefore, this path indeed needs to be taken.

'I never thought that I, a writer of Spring Palace Storybooks, would have a day to write and establish theories, just unsure how I should write the book,' Jiang Li lamented inwardly.

Despite having the wisdom of a Great Grandmaster, he was far from integrating all he had learned, and the techniques he practiced were not ordinary, being the teachings of the Three Emperors and the skills of Jiuli. Even slightly lesser ones, like the Wind Queen's Strange Gate, were peerless magical techniques.

Though systematizing and integrating weren't about creating a new method, the difficulty was considerable.

"Indeed, it's time to systematize."

Feng Manlou took this opportunity to join in, with a smile that did not show any previous embarrassment, his words carrying profound meaning, "However, dear brother, your techniques are incomplete and imbalanced, you should quickly marry into your new family, so you can truly grasp the essence of 'Form Tomb.'"

As he spoke, he winked slyly, signaling towards the distant sacrificial platform.

To the uninformed, it might seem he was hinting at Gongsun Qingyue, but those in the know understood that he meant both women on the sacrificial platform were included.

His delight in their misfortune was apparent.

Both Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue were no ordinary women, trying to balance these two was extremely risky, a careless step could tear a person apart.

Feng Manlou was just waiting to enjoy the spectacle.

But what he said wasn't wrong.

Jiang Li himself had awakened the Divine Farmer's appearance, practiced the Qi Tomb and Innate True Body Method, and had major assistance from the Great Venerable, who had refined Fuxi's blood into Jiang Li's body, allowing him to transform into the body of the Dragon and Snake. Among the foundations of the Three Emperors, only the Yellow Emperor had the shallowest foundation, lacking related bloodlines and only having inherited the Yinglong Transformation derived from the Form Tomb.

If Jiang Li wished to base his practices on the teachings of the Three Emperors, he first needed to study the Form Tomb.

"Brother, you should focus more on your own family matters," Jiang Li also responded meaningfully.

The Ji Family and the Jiang Family must have taken action against the Feng family in the past, at least failing to help, otherwise why would the Feng family have disappeared while the two clans continued to prosper and even jointly rule over the Great Zhou for eight hundred years?

When the conflicts eventually erupted, it seemed that Feng Manlou and the Princess, this pair, would also face big challenges.

Everyone involved was an affiliated son-in-law; no one had fewer troubles than the others.

Saying this, Jiang Li bowed to Yin Tulong and said, "Daoist, your magnanimity is admirable."

This was his way of expressing gratitude that Yin Tulong had not pursued the matter regarding the Great Circle Sword.

Yin Tulong had already levitated mid-air, level with Jiang Li, and calmly accepted the thanks, showing a generous demeanor that made Jiang Li almost want to lift him up high.

This meant that Lawless Freedom needed to be cautious not to expose that they too possessed the Great Circle Sword.

As for pursuing Wuzhiqi...

Jiang Li glanced at Feng Manlou, unsure of what he was thinking.

He also looked towards the two women on the altar, somewhat uncertain of his senior sister's intentions.

Balancing between two sides was indeed a huge dilemma.

Noticing Jiang Li's gaze, Tianxuan removed the barrier, put away the altar, and walked over with Gongsun Qingyue.

The master and disciple, both stunningly beautiful and similarly ethereal in their elegance yet distinct — one regally graceful, the other uniquely exquisite — displayed a similarity yet unique form of beauty. Especially when the two women walked together, their prominent features were extremely captivating, posing a great challenge to Jiang Li's Daoist Heart.

Although one of them had padding...

Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue approached, harmoniously together, showing none of the tension from a previous covert conflict, leaving one to wonder who had outperformed the other. Tianxuan's beautiful eyes swept past Jiang Li, eventually landing on Feng Manlou, she asked, "Did Ji Lingguang send you for support?"

"Of course, it's not just me, there are also a hundred thousand members of the Forbidden Army, but to deploy the army into Liangzhou Province, we first need to overcome the water disaster," Feng Manlou replied with a smile.

"A hundred thousand soldiers, a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers, should indeed be sufficient."

Tianxuan responded and nodded slightly.

The hundred thousand Forbidden Army soldiers, each imbued with the Ninth Grade Heavenly Weapon Dao Fruit, were truly elite. If this army could enter Liangzhou Province, it could match up against the followers of the Taiping Sect, compensating for the weakness in their grassroots combat capability.

However, for Tianxuan, the key factor was the support shown by Feng Manlou.

This indicated that the mysterious Prince Consort now counted as one of their own.

Of course, Tianxuan wasn't completely reassured and glanced at Jiang Li, giving him a look that signaled him to keep an eye out.

All of this, Tianxuan did openly, especially so in front of Gongsun Qingyue.

Seeing the synergy between her master and junior brother, Gongsun Qingyue felt a bit overwhelmed, clenching her teeth in secret.

This old demon was unwilling to suffer any loss, now signaling with her eyes.

Immediately, she plotted a counter-strategy in her mind, but Tianxuan didn't give her a chance, swept her sleeve to ride the starlight, and with a command of "Let's go," she led everyone away.

Their destination — Broken Sky Gorge.

---

In the pitch-black forest, where neither sun nor moon could be seen, only an invisible and heavy aura ebbed and flowed, making the surroundings as still as a realm of death.

Suddenly, a gleam of water appeared, faintly illuminating, outlining the massive form of an ape.

"Hm?"

Wuzhiqi abruptly opened his eyes, golden light shining forth like beams, and his vast head shook as one ear after another sprouted from the side of his face.

"Is someone divining my divine presence?"

"Is it the Great Venerable, or..."

Wuzhiqi pondered, the light in his eyes flickering uncertainly as his ears trembled in unison.

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