“A Poison Fiend! And why’s it such a powerful one?!” the dao immortal screamed in abject terror as the fiend’s potent poison assaulted his body, his end looming as dark green blood oozed out of all of his orifices. Even the surrounding waters became a pond of poison.

Nine dark gold dao fruits bust out of his body in flashes of aureate light, making a desperate escape.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Three of them exploded, due to the poison’s corruption, while the remaining six simply faded away after a violent tremor.

A dao immortal’s nascent spirit was entrusted to the confines of their dao fruit. As long as their dao fruit remained, the immortal’s spirit would as well. Even if their body died, they could just manifest a new one.

With three of the dao fruit destroyed, though, the peak aether dao immortal’s cultivation had instantly dropped several minor realms. It wouldn’t be difficult to continue cultivating, but it would be next to impossible for him to pick another dao fruit.

……

“Pity. He fled faster than a rabbit.” Su Xiaoxiao emerged and cast a regretful look at the monster spirit.

The aether dao immortal had been far more cautious than Xue Daozi. Even though the escaped quarry was a renowned elite in the North Sea, one who’d enjoyed his reputation for a long time, he’d abandoned his body and made a speedy escape as soon as he felt the situation take a turn for the worse.

Still, Su Xiaoxiao had only been a golden immortal in the ancient times, and was only a peerless immortal now. It was a great enough feat for her to successfully ambush a dao immortal.

……

“A Poison Fiend!” Seeing a Poison Fiend by Su Xiaoxiao’s side alarmed the two remaining dao immortals and the peerless immortals.

“Are you from the Five Poisons Sect of Mist Land?” Sweat broke out on their brows and became part of the sea water.

The Five Poisons Sect of Mist Land was the greatest poison sect in the world of immortals. Lu Yun’s Infernum, Lü Guhong, was a disciple of the sect.

“The Five Poisons Sect? I suppose. Stay here and don’t go anywhere, or I’ll have the Poison Fiend detonate itself and destroy this palace,” Su Xiaoxiao giggled. “As you can see, my Poison Fiend can destroy even aether dao fruits. You two may be able to escape, but all your lesser soldiers will be killed.”

The two dao immortals exchanged a look and shook their heads in unison. Great power gathered in them as they enveloped their bodies with inner energy, isolating themselves from the poison outside.

They kept fixed stares on Su Xiaoxiao. As soon as she showed even the barest hint of an opening, they would launch a powerful, lightning-fast blow and strike down the charming, but unnaturally terrifying girl.

Su Xiaoxiao wasn’t as relaxed as she pretended to be, either. She was a capable fighter, but she was far from the two peak aether dao immortals’ level. Her real expertise lay in poison, rather than head-on fights. Crippling a dao immortal in a sneak attack was the most she could do.

They were locked in a stalemate, and neither party dared make a reckless move.

“Now, where did I put my Far-Reaching Captivating Fragrance?” Su Xiaoxiao diverted some attention to rummaging around in her seed storage. She might seem conscientious and meticulous, but her seed storage was a mess of ingredients, poisons, and medicines, all mixed up together. Even she didn’t remember where she’d stored the poison she wanted.

……

Outside the inner vault of the palace treasury.

Xue Daozi was losing ground against the replica of the North Sea emperor, despite the Qing clan treasure he wielded.

“You’ve hidden your true power deep, Beigong Xuan!” Xue Daozi yelled disbelievingly when the emperor shattered the soundwaves of the golden bell with a palm strike and flung him backward. “You’re an arcane dao immortal who’s plucked nine dao fruit!”

The world believed that the North Sea emperor was an arcane dao immortal who’d only plucked eight dao fruit, putting him a touch below the greatest elites of the peak clans. Only now did Xue Daozi realize, to his chagrin, that the emperor also possessed nine dao fruit and was second only to the nine celestial emperors!

The emperor had refined one of his dao fruit into a replica so that he could maintain the appearance of an eight-fruit arcane dao immortal, concealing his true level of power.

The replica, being the manifestation of a dao fruit, was an arcane dao immortal. Although Xue Daozi was only a step away from ascending to the arcane dao realm, the difference between the two realms were night and day.

The replica was in an entirely different league. If Xue Daozi hadn’t been wielding the Arcane Golden Bell, or wasn’t able to tap into its full power, the replica would’ve killed him with a simple slap upon their initial engagement.

“We have you to thank for the Scarlet Arcane Fruit three thousand years ago. That helped Us with Our final step.” The North Sea emperor smiled faintly.

A Scarlet Arcane Fruit could not only help peak aether dao immortals break through, but it could also deepen an arcane dao immortal’s understanding and increase their chances of successfully obtaining dao fruits. It was incredibly valuable and had been priceless even in the ancient times.

Three thousand years ago, Xue Daozi had discovered a Scarlet Arcane Fruit in a secret realm in the North Sea. Once the news got out, the emperor asked for it to be presented to him.

As a subject of his emperor’s will, Xue Daozi had naturally offered the fruit to his liege. Keeping further developments to himself, the emperor then plucked his ninth arcane dao fruit and refined it into a replica to defend the inner vault.

……

“We trusted you so much, Xue Daozi. You are such an incredible disappointment!” the emperor’s tone gained an edge as he noted Xue Daozi’s expression. He’d been reluctant to reveal the replica, but all three of the dao immortals stationed in the palace were trapped. He had no choice but to tap into the replica’s full power to defend his position.

With a hand seal from both hands, he gathered dark energy in his hands.

“Dammit, he’s summoning the clan treasure of the blackwater snakes!” Xue Daozi panicked.

Roar!

A tremendous dragon howl rang throughout the palace. A claw sparkling faint silver starlight slashed at the replica.

“Blasted remnant of the North Sea dragons!” snarled the emperor. He manifested a black iron staff and viciously struck at the glowing dragon claw.

“The Divine Seaward Iron!!” Empress Myrtlestar shouted with a start within the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals.