Chapter 1362

Yun Zhi's presence was rapidly fading; first to forget her were those who had merely heard her name, then those with only an ordinary relationship with her, and finally, those irreplaceable in her memory.

The first two groups had completely forgotten Yun Zhi's existence, even the proof that she had once existed was vanishing, as natural power smoothed away evidence and corrected the world.

Only the last group still remembered Yun Zhi's existence.

In their place, Yun Zhi had gained a power never before seen in the world.

At this moment, she was heaven and earth itself; with a single move, she forced the overwhelming mastermind behind the scenes into a disadvantage!

The participating immortals and gods looked dazed, having all forgotten who was fighting the mastermind behind the scenes.

Lu Yang clutched his head, constantly recalling his past with his senior martial sister; at this moment, his senior sister had indeed united with the Dao, but true unity was not like this.

According to her, true unity meant becoming the impartial heaven and earth, to whom all beings were equal, she would favor no side, and all her past would vanish from the world.

One who truly unites with the Dao would not fight the mastermind behind the scenes—this is not the doing of the just heaven!

The reason she could still fight the mastermind behind the scenes was because she had just united with the Dao, her realm was not yet stable, and she remained too entangled with the mortal world.

When she severed all mortal ties and vanished from everyone's memory, that would be the time her unity with the Dao became stable.

The Immortal Maiden also withdrew from the battle, standing beside Lu Yang, together recalling the matter of Yun Xiaotou, trying to keep Yun Zhi in this state as long as possible.

Moreover, the current battle no longer required her participation—Yun Zhi alone was sufficient.

The graceful shadow Yun Zhi left in the world possessed boundless Dao arts, the vital forces of life and death cycling, merging her Dao with the Immortal Maiden's fist technique to form a new fist art, seeking to erase the mastermind behind the scenes, who was being beaten back repeatedly, yet his vitality was astonishingly vigorous—even severely wounded, he could recover swiftly.

Lu Yang noticed something amiss, his brows furrowed, constantly recalling the methods the mastermind behind the scenes had used in this battle—it was as if he possessed multiple Dao fruits—how had he done it?

"Yun Xiaotou, beat him to death!" the Immortal Maiden shouted loudly, her voice so loud she wished the entire universe could hear.

"If you can kill him, I will never mention the Mother-Child River matter again!"

The shadow trembled slightly, as if reacting to these words.

Seeing a reaction, the Immortal Maiden continued shouting loudly: "I will also keep secret the matter of the Heavenly Gate Peak puppet being your doppelgänger!"

"But you must keep my matter secret—Simaing even gave you hush money!"

"Senior Immortal, stop talking!" the shadow's voice lost its former calm and indifference, now filled with emotional fluctuation; she even thought it would be better to just unite with the Dao now.

Seeing this, the Immortal Maiden hurriedly poked Lu Yang, who was recalling every detail of his pleasant experiences with his senior sister.

"This method works, Little Yangzi—you say something too."

"Ah, I—I what should I say?" Lu Yang startled—this step wasn't in the plan.

"Just say anything."

Lu Yang was caught off guard by the Immortal Maiden, but he had to admit this method worked—it could prolong his senior sister's unstable state—so he gritted his teeth and spoke.

"Senior sister, when you first cultivated, you used boiling water to bathe me, scalding me to death!"

"Senior sister, you're so strong now—after I become an immortal, I won't cultivate anymore; in the second half of my life, I'll rely on you to take care of me!"

"Senior sister, you're actually very lively inside, it's just not visible on the surface!"

"Senior sister, you're extremely beautiful—the most beautiful person I've ever seen; you look even better when you smile—smile more from now on!"

"You two, stop talking!"

The shadow's emotional fluctuations grew increasingly violent, her strikes becoming incredibly ruthless, as if she treated the mastermind behind the scenes as a combined entity of the Immortal Maiden and Lu Yang, each move aiming for a killing blow.

"It's not that you, as heaven, are unreasonable—these words aren't mine to shout!" the mastermind behind the scenes cried out in injustice—Is heaven not just? Why pour all this anger onto him?

Yun Zhi paid no heed, mobilizing the power of heaven and earth, evolving endless runes, transforming into myriad immortal artifacts and divine weapons, slaughtering toward the mastermind behind the scenes.

The mastermind behind the scenes summoned heavenly thunder and earthly fire, evolving ancient and primordial beings, then using immortal blood to animate them, clashing with the immortal artifacts and divine weapons, while he himself bore a black vortex atop his head, devouring all attacks.

Yet Yun Zhi's assault was incredibly fierce—those ancient and primordial beings quickly grew weak in breath, no match for the immortal artifacts and divine weapons, and her attack methods were so numerous he could not devour them all.

Seeing this familiar scene, Lu Yang finally understood why the mastermind behind the scenes could wield so many Dao fruits.

"He possesses the Dao fruit of devouring!" Lu Yang roared, revealing the mastermind behind the scenes' innate Dao fruit.

The mastermind behind the scenes possesses the same devouring Dao fruit as the Zhongtian Emperor—everything now makes sense.

The Zhongtian Emperor wished to use the devouring Dao fruit to devour the Dao fruits of the four ancient immortals, gaining the power to break the seal of the Cultivation Realm, but he merely imagined it—he never succeeded.

The mastermind behind the scenes is even stronger—he devoured more than one Dao fruit in ancient times!

Dao fruits are unique by nature—logically, since the mastermind behind the scenes has already condensed the devouring Dao fruit, the Zhongtian Emperor could not possibly condense it.

But the issue is that the mastermind behind the scenes is not an immortal, but transcends realms.

He himself transcends, and along with him, the devouring Dao fruit and all the Dao fruits it has devoured have transcended, so they will not affect later cultivators' Dao fruit condensation.

Otherwise, if the Zhongtian Emperor tried to condense the devouring Dao fruit but found it suppressed by existing Dao fruits, realizing someone had already obtained it, that would contradict the transcendence ideal.

Upon these words, the mastermind behind the scenes' body trembled, his breath unexpectedly beginning to destabilize!

Lu Yang's discovery undoubtedly exposed part of his foundation; the mastermind behind the scenes wanted to kill Lu Yang, but now he struggles to preserve himself—let alone slay Lu Yang!

Yet the mastermind behind the scenes soon felt a surge of joy, discovering an opportunity for victory—Yun Zhi's movements grew increasingly hesitant, her offensive momentum weakening.

Lu Yang and the Immortal Maiden's memories of Yun Zhi were also fading rapidly—they would soon forget her existence!

"Yun Zhi Daoist, your realm is finally about to stabilize, isn't it?"

"As heaven, how could I attack all beings under heaven? Thus, upon knowing Yun Zhi was about to unite with the Dao, I felt only surprise, not despair."

"I believe I can endure until Yun Zhi truly becomes heaven."

"Lu Yang and the others are also waiting for this moment!"

Only then did he step forward a large stride, draw his Azure Edge Sword, myriad swords returning to the origin, magnificent sword qi suppressing heaven and earth, and he struck with one sword toward Yun Zhi's direction.

"Trace the Source!"

The sword qi stretched ten million li, slicing past the shadow yet causing no harm whatsoever.

The shadow gradually took form, transforming into an ethereal water person, reshaping bone and blood.

Within the heavenly and earthly rules, the Trace the Source rule continuously trembled, pulling Yun Zhi back from her united state.

Yun Zhi gazed at the astonished mastermind behind the scenes, still wearing that indifferent expression, as if the one who had just united with the Dao was not herself.

"Let's continue."