Chapter 483: The State Preceptor's Embryonic Form of Dao Fruit

The Imperial Preceptor’s public guise was that of the Body Integration Stage, a deception adequate enough to fool those of the Integration or Tribulation Transcendence Stages, but utterly useless against a cultivator of his own caliber.

Had he exerted his full will to the ruse, he might have misled a peer.

Yet it had never crossed his mind that he would encounter a half-immortal powerhouse within the Dao Sect!

A tempest raged in his heart; this was merely one of the five great immortal sects, where a handful of Tribulation Transcendence cultivators would be considered formidable at best, so how could a half-immortal level figure possibly be here?

The Immortal Immortal stared back at the Imperial Preceptor with a grave expression.

Between peers of identical standing, unless one possessed a specialized technique, it was impossible to discern the other’s true cultivation.

When two cultivators met and found themselves unable to pierce each other’s depth, only two explanations remained: either the other possessed a higher realm, or they stood upon the exact same plane.

The world was vast and devoid of immortals, the probability of one appearing far too minuscule.

Therefore, the being before him had to be a half-immortal powerhouse.

He who possessed the embryonic form of a Dao Fruit was deemed a half-immortal.

Did this newcomer harbor benevolence or malice?

The Imperial Preceptor steeled his heart; though his opponent was a half-immortal, they were reduced to a mere soul with diminished combat prowess, making a swift, decisive strike the only prudent course.

Resolute, he withdrew a half-immortal grade magical treasure refined over three millennia—an octagonal porcelain plate—and shattered it upon the ground, its scattered shards weaving a sealed domain that trapped them both within, while he invoked his embryonic Dao Fruit to sever the Immortal Immortal’s connection to the outside world.

"Business is quite grand today, the Immortal should..." the Sect Leader murmured, skewering meat as he spoke.

He abruptly froze.

The Immortal? What Immortal?

The Sect Leader looked around the small shop; patrons streamed in and out in an endless line, Master High and Master Liu were overwhelmed with work, several elders of the sect were busy carrying, washing, and serving plates, and three alluring ghosts enticed customers at the entrance.

"Old High, Old Liu, do you feel like we are missing someone?"

Master High and Master Liu looked about, utterly bewildered: "No, everyone is right here, aren't they?"

"Is that so?" The Sect Leader's brow furrowed tightly into a knot, then slowly relaxed.

"Then I must have remembered incorrectly."

"An enemy!"

Caught completely off guard by the Imperial Preceptor, the Immortal Immortal found himself confined within a makeshift pocket dimension; the adversary’s posture made it clear that this was an execution.

Did the man truly think him an easy target?

The Immortal Immortal let out a clear, resounding cry as strands of golden light erupted from his form, rippling through the fabric of space like a celestial blade of divine tribulation hanging high above, ready to sever the very foundation of all living things.

"What of a celestial blade? Heaven's decree resides with my Great Yu! Chaotic Sacred Lotus!"

The Imperial Preceptor gave a soft shout as a lotus shrouded in chaotic mist soared from the space between his brows, its petals radiating a white aura that rushed forth like a turbulent, ceaseless current, illuminating the ten directions and dissolving the golden strands of light.

"The Chaotic Sacred Lotus?" The Immortal Immortal was astonished; this was a premier sacred relic of the Tribulation Stage, capable of emitting chaotic qi to nullify heavenly punishment, uniquely preserved for cultivators breaking through to that exalted realm.

Such an artifact had always existed only in legends, and he had never heard of anyone actually possessing it.

"You possess some insight, at least; I unearthed this in the northernmost wastes, at the very source of an entire mountain range of primordial chaos—a testament to my appointment by heaven's decree."

"Heaven's decree my foot! Heaven's decree lies with my Immortal Lineage!"

"The Immortal Lineage?" The Imperial Preceptor frowned, never having heard of such a faction.

"Ignorant fool, my Immortal Lineage is incomparably prosperous, and I rank a mere third within it!"

The Immortal Immortal sneered, striking a note of alarm into the Imperial Preceptor's heart.

If a half-immortal powerhouse ranked only third, what manner of beings were the top two?

At the very least, they had to be half-immortals!

"The Punishment of the Branding Iron!"

The Imperial Preceptor drew eight bronze rods from his storage ring and drove them into the earth; they instantly expanded, transforming into copper pillars that propped up the sky.

"Bind!"

The Imperial Preceptor pointed a finger at the Immortal Immortal, and countless iron chains snaked out from the eight celestial pillars; though the Immortal Immortal sought to shift and evade, he discovered a karmic bond had formed between himself and the chains, impossible to sever.

This was an inescapable spell!

The iron chains bound the Immortal Immortal fast, suspending him directly in the center of the eight copper pillars!

Sizzle—

Lightning abruptly materialized overhead, rampaging through the domain and concentrating into a single point before crashing down upon the Immortal Immortal!

"The Butterfly Dream Technique."

The Immortal Immortal closed his eyes and dissolved into countless celestial butterflies, breaking free from the shackles before coalescing once more to stand atop a copper pillar, calmly watching the lightning strike empty air.

"The Sea-Overturning Seal!" The Imperial Preceptor flipped his palm, and an azure handprint bearing the briny stench of a gale howled through the air, pressing down upon the Immortal Immortal.

During the era of the Great Yu, the Sea-Overturning Seal carried a legendary renown; a general of the Tribulation Stage guarding the Eastern Sea border had once unleashed it, repelling a million invading sea-folk with a single strike, instantly dyeing the ocean surface crimson.

And that was merely the execution of a Tribulation Stage cultivator; wielded by a half-immortal powerhouse, its might was vastly superior!

"The Palm of Great Leisure!"

The palm and the seal collided, unleashing a sky-shattering roar that tore flesh from bone and dissolved souls.

One of the Imperial Preceptor’s arms was severed entirely, his immortal blood spilling down to transform into a vast, surging sea of gore.

The Imperial Preceptor let out a cold grunt and consumed a grand elixir refined from a thousand rare herbs; his wounds healed rapidly as bone extended, muscle clung, and skin cloaked the void, restoring his arm to perfection.

"Physical trauma can be mended swiftly, but let us see how you manage a wounded soul!"

Staring at the soul-damaged Immortal Immortal, victory felt assured to the Imperial Preceptor as he unleashed the Sea-Overturning Seal once more, aiming for a fatal blow.

The soul dictated one's foundation; once it sustained damage, even a grand elixir could scarcely mend it.

"You needn't trouble yourself on my account. The Palm of Great Leisure!"

The moment their forces clashed, the Imperial Preceptor realized something was amiss; the opponent's soul was clearly damaged, meaning their cultivation should only operate at seventy to eighty percent of its capacity, so how could they still fight at the absolute peak of their power?

What the Imperial Preceptor did not know was that before the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit, the concept of a damaged soul simply did not exist; any injury to the soul could be restored in an instant.

Within a brief span, the two exchanged hundreds of blows, their techniques unfolding in a dazzling, breathless blur.

"Cough."

The Imperial Preceptor coughed up blood, the outcome of the clash unexpectedly leaving him at a disadvantage.

The adversary's strength far exceeded his prognostications.

As a surrogate for the Immortal Goddess, the Immortal Immortal had always been exceptionally powerful; it was merely that upon his debut, he had been crushed by the three mighty figures of Lu Yang, the Immortal Goddess, and Yun Zhi, turning him into a captive before his true might ever had the chance to be displayed.

"Good, very good, I have underestimated you."

Knowing he could gain no advantage in a frontal assault, the Imperial Preceptor activated the embryonic form of his Dao Fruit, severing his own karmic ties with the Immortal Immortal.

The Imperial Preceptor slowly vanished from before the Immortal Immortal's eyes, as though blending seamlessly into the very fabric of space.

The Immortal Immortal braced as if facing a mortal foe, releasing his immortal perception to guard against a sudden strike.

Then, a brief daze washed over him, leaving a blank expression on his face.

"What am I doing?"

The Immortal frowned, his memory resembling a hollow void, the causes and consequences entirely forgotten.

Concealed within the shadows, the Imperial Preceptor watched cold-eyed, biding his time for the perfect moment to strike.

The path he cultivated was the Dao Fruit of Karma, currently lingering at its embryonic stage.

The Dao Fruit of Karma granted total mastery over cause and effect, the very fabric from which the world was woven; every encounter, bond, and enmity between mortals was but a thread of this grand design.

By severing the karmic ties between individuals, one could erase the very memory of their mutual existence.

The River Spirit overlooking the Preceptor's faction, the high officials of the Immortal Sect forgetting the Immortal himself, the inescapable branding punishment, and the Immortal losing all memory of the Preceptor—all were the handiwork of this embryonic Dao Fruit.

The Preceptor had once slain six cultivators of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage by simply causing them to forget his existence, picking them off one by one.