Too much fruit

Chapter 728: Observing the Dao Fruit through Cause and Effect
After a brief confrontation, both sides had reached a basic understanding.

Daojun couldn't stop the awakened one's spiritual thought, and the awakened one couldn't do anything to Daojun either. Taibai Zhenjun couldn't deal with Jiang Li, and Jiang Li didn't have the confidence to break the world's number one sword.

So, Jue Zhe and Jiang Li said goodbye directly.

After they left, Li Qinglian also bowed to the Taoist master and left the Taoist temple.

In response to this, Master Taibai did not stop him, as if he completely ignored his independent incarnation. He just held his sword and stared in the direction where Jiang Li left.

"What do you think of this Daoist friend Jiang?" Daojun also looked in this direction and asked in a gentle voice.

“You are not as good as me in swordsmanship, but you can fight with me. The saying ‘Heaven and earth are one finger, and all things are one horse’ is not an exaggeration.” Taibai Zhenjun replied with his eyes flashing.

Anyone can brag, as long as they have enough experience, even if they brag that they practice the way of chaos, can open up the world, and can transform all things, it is no problem. However, Taoism and foundation are not boasted, but fought for.

No matter how much you brag, if you don't have the ability to demonstrate your abilities, it's just empty talk.

Jiang Li's swordsmanship is indeed not as good as that of Taibai Zhenjun, or far from it, but he has grasped the common characteristics of all laws and ways. His own practice is one finger, and his swordsmanship is also one finger. There is no difference between the two. He can perfectly display his cultivation and practice with the sword.

To him, the way of the sword is like this, and the same power can be displayed by using other weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds.

Therefore, True Lord Taibai could be sure that Jiang Li's words were not exaggeration.

"Yes, I'm not exaggerating, the Yangtze River's waves behind push the waves ahead," Daojun shook his head and said, "The Awakened One has found a good helper. His future star tribulation is becoming more and more sophisticated. He saw Daoyou Jiang's potential early on and invested in him."

The awakened one at that time also used the future star calamity to see through the purpose of the Taoist monarch, revealed Ji Jiji's identity, and provoked the Taoist monarch to fight with him, which damaged Ji Jiji's physical body, wiped out all his arrangements in the Buddhist country, and also injured the Taoist monarch.

However, the enlightened one did not expect that Daojun could win a game against him even though he was injured. The Karma Tathagata forced the enlightened one to go into seclusion and return to the world.

Ji Jiji of the past, now the Heavenly Sovereign, can no longer be used by the Enlightened One, but the Enlightened One has found new helpers and even won a small victory today.

Taibai Zhenjun said calmly: "His Taoism is not inferior to mine, but in reality, it is not difficult to kill him."

[When the Tao rules the world, ghosts are no longer powerful] is an indiscriminate magical power. Tao Jun himself and Taibai Zhenjun who approached later would also be affected by the magical power. That's why Taibai Zhenjun did not attack at his full strength before.

Even though he was at a disadvantage under that sword, Master Taibai was still confident that he could kill Jiang Li.

Its power is as fierce as its sword.

"Making too many enemies is not the right path. Jiang Li is a temporary ally of the Awakened One, but he is not a mortal enemy of us," Daojun sighed after hearing this, "Disciple, you have gone astray by forcing yourself to practice the One Qi Transformation into Three Pure Ones."

"I only want to be promoted. If Jiang Li doesn't stop me, that's fine. But if he does, I will kill him," Taibai Zhenjun said indifferently. "If Jiang Li dares to say that he is his enemy, he must be killed. My Eternal Sorrow will not be at a disadvantage."

After saying this, True Lord Taibai bowed to the Lord of Dao and turned into a ray of sword light that flew across the sky.

Only the Taoist priest was left standing inside the Laojun Temple, staring at the starry sky in silence for a long time.

Eight hundred years ago, when the Great Zhou Emperor was about to march to Yongzhou to conquer the God of War, the Taoist priest looked at the starry sky like this. Eight hundred years later, when the situation changed for the first time in hundreds of years, the Taoist priest once again looked on like this.

Time flies, and eight hundred years pass in the blink of an eye. The starry sky above our heads remains the same, but we don’t know if it will be the same today as it was back then.

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On the other side, after Jiang Li left Laojun Temple, he traveled west for three hundred miles and landed on a hillside.

A faint light flowed, and a stone pavilion appeared, with the awakened one sitting in it as always.

Jiang Li didn't hesitate to say anything. He walked into the stone pavilion and sat down opposite the enlightened one. He looked into the eyes of the head of the Buddhist kingdom. "Today, I finally know why the layman chose to invest in me."

"Oh?" The awakened one smiled faintly.

"[Taoism rules the world, and ghosts are not powerful], this magical power may not be the strongest, but it is the most domineering. If you want to help the layman defeat the Taoist, you must first have a way to deal with this magical power."

Jiang Li placed his palm on the stone table in front of him, palm facing up, and a ball of golden flame ignited, "It just so happens that my Jiang family has the Dao fruit that can deal with [Dao Ruling the World]."

The golden flames were blazing, and a small tripod was taking shape, which was exactly the shape of the Shennong Tripod.

The third-grade Dao Fruit Emperor Yan possesses the magical power of [The First Ancestor of Humanity]. Although it is incomplete, he is not affected by any magical power of the third-grade or lower human Dao Fruits.

"That's right," the awakened one nodded, "The lost one would seek out the donor at that time, in fact, it was because the donor could help the lost one deal with the Taoist Lord in the future. The third-grade Taoist fruit contained in the Taoist Lord is the Taoist Laozi of the human species. Although the Taoist fruit of Emperor Yan cannot make [Taoism Rule the World] ineffective, it can ensure that his own Taoist fruit supernatural power is effective, which is enough."

"It's not just the donors. More than a hundred years ago, the Loser Society invited Manjusri to join the Buddhist Kingdom in order to deal with the Dao Lord. Unfortunately, Manjusri is too ambitious, and neither he nor the Jiang family is capable of bearing the Dao Fruit of the Yan Emperor."

The secret from more than a hundred years ago was told lightly by the awakened one, and all the ups and downs were covered up by the calmness, as if to him, everything was like a passing cloud, nothing more than that.

"Then why do you think I can bear the Dao Fruit of Emperor Yan?"

Jiang Li was not frightened by this secret, and still grasped the key point, and asked directly: "At that time, I was only a seventh-rank."

Jiang Li knew that his own destiny was special, but it was too decisive to conclude that Jiang Li would be able to contain the Dao Fruit of Emperor Yan based on this alone. Or was it that the Awakened One could calculate Jiang Li's future at that time?

"A seventh-grade fruit that can hold three unique Dao fruits?" The Enlightened One smiled. "Low-grade unique Dao fruits are rare, but I have never seen anyone who can hold three unique Dao fruits of the ninth, eighth, and seventh grades in succession. This alone is enough for me to invest."

"See the Dao fruit?" Jiang Li showed a hint of surprise.

[But in fact, Jiang Li has put his mind at ease. It is indeed surprising to see the Dao fruit contained by others, but compared to the fact that the reliance of the Cause and Effect Collection was discovered, this matter is acceptable. ]

[If the Enlightened One can perceive the Cause and Effect Collection, then it means that Jiang Li's true colors have been seen through, and the cover-up provided by the Cause and Effect Collection will no longer be reassuring.]

The Awakened One didn't know what was going on in Jiang Li's mind. When he saw Jiang Li's surprise, he didn't hide anything and said bluntly, "The essence of Dao Fruit should be known to you. Dao Fruit is cause and effect. In other words, if you can see through cause and effect to a certain level, it's not difficult to detect the other party's Dao Fruit, or even know the other party's Dao Fruit supernatural power."

"However, the donor's karma is too heavy. Previously, I was able to detect the donor's magical powers, but now I can only simply know the donor's roughly what level of spiritual fruit he is at."

The enlightened one spoke very thoroughly and explained all the relevant matters in order to avoid Jiang Li from feeling resentful.

Jiang Li observed openly and covertly, using the causal collection and his own eyesight to observe the words and expressions of the Awakened One, and finally determined that the Awakened One did not lie. At least Jiang Li did not see any signs of lying. And according to the Awakened One's awareness, he should not lie.

The monks’ precepts may not be attributed to the enlightened ones, but the emergence of the precepts originated from the first enlightened ones. By observing the precepts, we can also roughly estimate the enlightened ones’ mind. And the mind of those who can accept the enlightened ones’ Tao fruit and interpret it to perfection will not be too different.

Therefore, Jiang Li did not show any suspicion, and believed the enlightened one, and said with emotion: "The ability of the layman can be compared with that of the great master."

"If you keep thinking about it, there will be a response." There is also the ability to observe the results of the Tao from the perspective of cause and effect. If the Buddha and his good elder brother were to compete, I wonder who would come out on top.

"You are overpraising me," said the enlightened one. "In terms of understanding the law of cause and effect, the confused one is indeed better than the great one, but in terms of deduction and divination, the great one is the best in the world. With the great one's ability, it is definitely possible to observe the results of the Tao through cause and effect. With the donor's attainments in the Yi Dao, if he can further understand cause and effect, I think he can also do this."

As soon as the words fell, the Awakened One smiled suddenly, opened his lips slightly, and uttered a loud voice, "Thus I have heard."

“Even if the karma you have created does not disappear over hundreds and thousands of kalpas, when the cause and conditions meet, you will still have to bear the consequences.”

The surroundings suddenly darkened, and countless rays of light intertwined and appeared in Jiang Li's eyes.

Jiang Li's mind roamed subconsciously, and all the information and images flowed into his mind.

"Cause and effect..."

This was not the first time that Jiang Li had seen this line of cause and effect, so he was not surprised by it. However, it was the first time that he realized that he could clearly grasp these fine lines of cause and effect, as if all the causes and effects were clear in his mind as long as he had a thought.

All the Dao fruits contained so far are within his perception, including the current Dao fruit of Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun. Jiang Li can even perceive the progress of the Dao fruit fusion.

——Sixty-eight percent.

The progress of the fusion between the True Lord Qingyuan Miaodao and himself appeared accurately in his mind, and then everything he had done so far to interpret the Dao Fruit flashed in his mind one by one, including various Dao teachings and fierce battles.

'It turns out that the more you perform the same interpretation, the smaller the effect. No wonder I have been practicing the Eight-Nine Mysterious Skills for the past year, but I always feel that my progress is not as good as before.'

"Yang Jian's Dao fruit still needs more conquests."

The information about the fourth-grade Dao fruit lingered in Jiang Li's mind. His thoughts were floating, and he also sensed the other Dao fruits.

For example, the fifth-grade Dao fruit Zhuang Zhou is not complete yet. The most complete Zhuang Zhou Dao fruit is the third grade, and the remaining part is on the awakened one. Jiang Li only knew that this Dao fruit was on the awakened one in the past, but now he can sense the approximate location.

There is also the sixth-grade Lu Dongbin Dao Fruit, and there is room for completion.

as well as······
'Marriage?'

Jiang Li could sense that in addition to the two red threads of Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue, another marriage was emerging, but it was vague and not as tight as the two red threads that bound Jiang Li.

In addition to this, there are various causes and effects, all of which are clear to the mind.

The closest causal line among them...
Jiang Li looked forward.

This causal line is connected to the awakened one, and is gradually becoming thicker, indicating that the causal relationship between Jiang Li and the awakened one is deepening.

As for the awakened ones—

Although his body is a manifestation of spiritual thoughts, he can still see the lines of cause and effect. However, when observing the body of the awakened person, only a few lines of cause and effect can be seen, and one of them is connected to Jiang Li.

Jiang Li looked along his own line of cause and effect, and saw a shadow emerging inside the awakened one, with obscure information looming at the end.

[Fourth level of the path and fruit: Venerable Ananda]

[Category: Human]

[Matching conditions: unknown]

[Promotion Ceremony: Unknown]

[Supernatural power: The first in knowledge, Thus have I heard...]

[Thus have I heard: The Buddhist scriptures are the highest level for the voice-hearers. When you recite the Dharma, you can comprehend the essence of the Dharma and trace the source of the Dharma, as if you were there in person. You can also pass on the Dharma to others and develop all kinds of subtleties in your heart, like a revelation.]

The fruit of the path that the Awakened One received when he was in the fourth grade was none other than Ananda, one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha. However, this was not the Ananda in Buddhist legends, but Ananda as a human. The fruit of the path of the Awakened One must be carried by a practitioner of the human path, not a practitioner of the Buddha path.

Ananda was known as the "first in knowledge" and he remembered everything the Buddha said and did. After the Buddha's death, it was Ananda who recited the Buddhist scriptures, allowing them to be passed down to future generations.

The Buddhist scriptures all begin with "Thus have I heard", the "I" here refers to Ananda, and the overall meaning is "Ananda, I heard the Buddha say this."

The supernatural power of [Thus have I heard] was evolved from this, which allows the possessor to trace the source of Buddhism and see the Buddha in person. It also allows the enlightened one to use this supernatural power to explain the subtleties of the Dharma and pass it on to others.

When Jiang Li sensed this, he knew that the Awakened One was using Ananda's magical powers to teach the law of cause and effect. When he understood this, the darkness around him suddenly dissipated and returned to the previous scene.

The enlightened one bowed his head with a smile and said, "Can you understand?"

"I understand," Jiang Li nodded, "I understand that the cause and effect have deepened, and I owe you more favors. I don't know when I can repay you."

The awakened one is not a monk, but he is just as cunning, always doing favors without leaving any trace, tying Jiang Li firmly to his boat. But the favors he gave were exactly what Jiang Li needed, and even though he knew that the favors had to be returned, Jiang Li was happy to accept them.

"Ha," the awakened one laughed and said, "This is easy. If the lost person succeeds in the promotion, the cause and effect will not be affected, and the human feelings will naturally be cleared. If the lost person fails in the promotion, his body will die and the cause and effect will naturally be out of the question. After all, it will only take one or two years."

At this point, the enlightened one gently waved his hand and said, "It's time for you to go back. We'll say goodbye today and see each other again someday if we're lucky enough."

The stone pavilion gradually faded away, and in the flickering light and shadow, Jiang Li felt that there was nothing under his butt. The stone bench had disappeared, and the awakened one also turned into nothingness and returned to the other side.

(End of this chapter)