Chapter 1274

"Immortal, this Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype of mine is not merely lowering cultivation—it is the culmination of having witnessed the vicissitudes of the world, lived two lifetimes, comprehended reincarnation, drawn inspiration from the Time Dao Fruit, traversed the Cultivation Realm seeking masters and friends, visited countless half-immortals and immortals, studied life, and learned their Dao Fruit concepts—it is not so superficial as merely reducing cultivation... Well, it is indeed lowering cultivation to defeat opponents."

Lu Yang explained for a long time, only to realize it was exactly what the Immortal Maiden had said.

Damn it, could it be that I can condense this Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype, and is it related to having fused with an invincible Primordial Spirit?

According to Lu Yang's speculation, as long as he can become an immortal, his Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit can weaken immortals to half-immortals, and after the Eldest Sister achieves Union with the Dao, she can be rescued.

Yun Mengmeng, sitting on a nearby tree watching the battle, had eyes full of admiration—Second-in-Command is so formidable, lowering the opponent's cultivation is a surefire winning strategy; why didn't I think of this?

"You can't fight this." After understanding the principle of the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype, Meng Jingzhou directly surrendered.

If both were at the mid Tribulation Transcendence stage, they could still spar, but he is at the early stage while Old Lu is at the mid stage—this is pointless to fight.

No matter how capable he is, he cannot fight Old Lu and still prevail across stages.

Surrendering now can still spare him physical suffering.

"Hey, we haven't even started fighting and you're surrendering—where's your backbone?" Lu Yang genuinely wanted to fight Meng Jingzhou; the earlier clash didn't even count as a warm-up.

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes: "Show some spine."

"Don't blame the brother wrongly—what's our relationship? Can I still fight you across levels when I hit you?"

Lu Yang snapped his fingers, dispelling the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype, and Meng Jingzhou returned to the mid Tribulation Transcendence stage.

"Then I won't use the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype—I'll fight you with real blades and true spears—how about that?"

"That works."

The two stood on the lake surface, adjusted their stances, and reassumed their postures.

The two instantly vanished from their original positions and reappeared at the lake's center, with no technique or form, engaging in the most primal combat.

Boom—

The lake surface exploded, lake water splashed up, then poured down like rain.

Two figures appeared and disappeared within the rain curtain formed by the lake water, as if they had hundreds of doppelgängers appearing at various points in the curtain, the battle sounds like drumbeats—boom, boom, boom, boom—nonstop, making listeners' hearts pound fiercely.

In truth, it was because the two moved too fast—so fast that ordinary people could only see afterimages, unable to discern their true forms amidst the myriad afterimages.

"Old Lu is impressive—his realm hasn't declined, nor has his physical body."

"If you don't train your physical body, you won't survive—otherwise, the Eldest Sister will toss you straight into the furnace to burn."

"If you're so afraid of burning, how will you block this move!"

Pure Yang True Fire and Nirvana True Flame suddenly appeared beside Meng Jingzhou; the emergence of these two supreme flames caused the lake surface to boil, water to evaporate, mist to spread, making the two figures increasingly indistinct.

"You're sneaking an attack!" Lu Yang flared in anger—you used magic in a proper close-quarters fight, and worst of all, I wasn't the one who initiated the sneak attack.

"This is called striking first to gain advantage!" Meng Jingzhou, putting himself in Lu Yang's shoes, simply didn't believe Old Lu had no thought of ambushing.

The Pure Yang True Fire and Nirvana True Flame unleashed at mid Tribulation Transcendence stage were extraordinarily terrifying—both require pure yang energy to nurture, and Meng Jingzhou happens to lack nothing in pure yang energy!

"True Fire? I can do that too!"

Pure Yang True Flame blazed like the great sun, illuminating all things, deterring the petty; Nirvana True Flame carried the cry of the phoenix, transforming into a prairie-fire phoenix!

These two true flames had been forged by Meng Jingzhou to the utmost extreme!

Lu Yang's palm steamed, and two kinds of true fire appeared.

"Three Flavors True Fire, Golden Bird True Flame!"

Meng Jingzhou was about to tease Old Lu for overestimating himself when he saw the Three Flavors True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame suddenly expand ten millionfold—like two flame-born spirits, especially the Golden Bird True Flame, which was more agile than his Nirvana True Flame and more scorching than the Great Sun True Flame!

When did Old Lu secretly forge these two true flames to such an extreme degree behind my back?!

The Three Flavors True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame collapsed the void, burned the heavens, like sovereigns of fire!

"Old Meng, step back—my true fire is strange, it's activated by the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype!" Lu Yang, unaware of what had happened, urgently sent a divine sense transmission.

"Too late!" The true fire closed in—Meng Jingzhou had no retreat, only able to meet force with force!

At the moment the four true fires collided, Meng Jingzhou's face drastically changed—only upon contact with Old Lu's true fire did he realize how terrifying these two flames were!

Boom—

Lake water evaporated, Meng Jingzhou was blasted to the lake's edge, his clothes scorched.

"Old Meng, are you alright?"

The sudden change startled Lu Yang, who rushed back to check the situation; Yun Mengmeng, seeing the state, also ran over.

"Cough—" Meng Jingzhou, face smeared with dirt and soot, looked quite disheveled, "Still alive, I suppose."

Please... 收藏_（! ）

It's because his constitution is tough, plus his yang energy and the Golden Bird True Flame's yang energy are highly compatible, they canceled out the force—otherwise, any other Tribulation Transcendence cultivator would have been severely injured and unable to rise, forced to drink medicine from a gourd's mouth.

"When did your true fire become this strong? Why hadn't I seen you use it before?" Meng Jingzhou looked resentful.

Lu Yang also felt utterly innocent: "I didn't even know my true fire could be this formidable!"

"I originally intended to use the Three Flavors True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame as a distraction to divert your attention, then sneak-attack you."

"But as soon as I unleashed these two true fires, the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype was also activated—you saw the effect, the true fire's power became this strong."

Meng Jingzhou snapped: "We agreed before the fight not to use the Dao Fruit prototype!"

Lu Yang hastily explained: "It's truly not my intention to use it—it's the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype activating on its own, just like... just like..."

Lu Yang pondered for a long time, finally finding the precise description: "It's as if the two true fires and the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype are connected by countless threads—whenever these two true fires are unleashed, the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype must be activated simultaneously."

"Immortal, do you know what's going on here?"

The Immortal Maiden was equally puzzled—this was directed at her: "I've never seen such a situation. The power of these two true fires already rivals that of true fire unleashed by the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit prototype."

The reason half-immortals far surpass Tribulation Transcendence cultivators is precisely due to the Dao Fruit prototype—spells cast through it wield power far beyond ordinary spells.

For example, even if a Tribulation Transcendence peak cultivator unleashes the great divine ability "Five Thunders Proper Method," its power would surely fall short of the thunder law unleashed by the Facing Tribulation Dao Fruit prototype.

Precisely for this reason, the Three Flavors True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame earlier overwhelmed the Pure Yang True Fire and Nirvana True Flame with overwhelming dominance.

"Why does Second-in-Command's Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype strengthen these two true fires?"

It's easy to understand how the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit prototype strengthens true fire—after all, true fire belongs to "yang"—but Mengmeng just can't fathom what connection the Origin-Tracing Dao Fruit prototype has with these two true fires.

"And one more thing—why must I activate the nascent form of the Retracing Source Dao Fruit whenever I manifest two kinds of true fire?"

Lu Yang furrowed his brow, a thought forming in his mind: "Unless these two kinds of true fire are themselves the result of 'Retracing Source'?"

(End of Chapter)