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Through the curtain of rain, Meng Junzi looked at the cooking maid who had just left the small shop with uncertainty. Like him, she stood in the rain, yet not a single drop touched her.

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Even if he was caught off guard just now and the cooking maid’s sneak attack had been successful, it was not something an ordinary cultivator could achieve.

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Immortal!

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The cooking maid turned out to be an Immortal!

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"Elder!"

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Several cultivators from the Meng Family who were at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage sensed that something was amiss and wanted to rush over to help.

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"Don’t come over!" Meng Junzi sternly stopped them, knowing that at this time, those at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage would be of no help whatsoever.

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"You..."

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Just as Meng Junzi was about to probe the cooking maid’s identity, she vanished on the spot and abruptly appeared right in front of him, her speed unbelievably fast.

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The cooking maid punched Meng Junzi in the stomach, causing him to bend like a shrimp and fly straight into the sky, up above the dark clouds.

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Meng Junzi’s mind raced, trying to match the cooking maid’s identity with known immortals. Among the Four Ancient Immortals, there was no female, neither the Mid-heaven Emperor Lord nor The Controller were females, she was neither Emperor Wu Yao of Yu nor Guan Shanhai. Who exactly was she, and why did she not match any known immortals?

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Wait, there was one immortal whose identity remained unknown.

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Meng Junzi suddenly remembered the battle at the East Sea, where Yun Zhi fought with an immortal shrouded in grey mist.

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Afterwards, he and Jiang Pingan had inquired about the details of that battle, asking about the identity of the misty immortal. Yun Zhi had said that this immortal’s identity could not be revealed.

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Grey mist... Grey skirt, could she be the misty immortal from the battle at the East Sea?

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"Who are you!" Meng Junzi shouted, alarmed. The opponent’s speed and strength were beyond his own, just as he had been against Yun Zhi. Which immortal was she, exactly?

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Ashy Bean’s eyes were as still as an ancient well, calm enough to be terrifying.

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"Founder of the Qi Cultivation System, the first Immortal from ancient times," Ashy Bean casually made up an identity.

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"What?" Meng Junzi was stunned. The founder of the Qi Cultivation System—how ancient an existence was she, exactly?

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Before Meng Junzi could say another word, he saw a terrifying black vortex appear in Ashy Bean’s palm. The spiritual energy above in the high skies and the dark clouds beneath were devoured by the black vortex, even space itself started to destabilize, as if it was being torn apart by the black maw!

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"Go."

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Ashy Bean threw the black vortex, which moved slowly across space. Meng Junzi wanted to dodge it, but suddenly found that with the appearance of the black vortex, time had become exceedingly slow.

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"Lion and Tiger Seals!" Meng Junzi lifted his hands and two imprints shot out. From the right and left emerged ferocious lions and tigers—the lion black, the tiger white. They were majestic and roared through heaven and earth, their voices alone could shatter space.

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The black and white lions and tigers, shattering space, revolved around the black vortex. Representing the power of Yin and Yang, they strove to tear apart the black vortex.

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However, the black vortex was far more terrifying than Meng Junzi had imagined. As the black and white lions and tigers drew close to the vortex, they were like wild beasts flung into the maw of a seawater whirlpool, with no chance of survival, only to be coldly devoured by the vast sea.

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"Borrowing, the outline of the Dao Fruit for speed."

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Seeing the Lion and Tiger Seals being absorbed by the black vortex, Meng Junzi borrowed the outline of the Dao Fruit for speed to increase his own, escaping far from the black maw.

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"A Dao Fruit of absorption?"

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The ease with which the Lion and Tiger Seals were neutralized implied that the black vortex was one of the manifestations of Ashy Bean’s Dao Fruit abilities.

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"Do you really think you’re invincible?"

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Meng Junzi also became irate—he was an Immortal who had fought his way out of the blood seas of the late Great Yu era, having even defeated the Great Yu National Preceptor, Guan Shanhai. In terms of combat power, he feared no one.

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"Thousand Hammer Glazed Body!"

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Meng Junzi’s body was covered in a lustrous sheen, shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight. This was his personal Body Refining Technique, forged through thousands of poundings and having withstood tens of thousands of Thunder Tribulations, not even Jiang Pingan would dare to fight him bare-handed in this state.

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Unmoved by the irate Meng Junzi, Ashy Bean pointed one hand to the heavens and one to the earth, uttering the sacred words, "Above and below the heavens, I alone am honored."

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"Immortal Killing Fist!"

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Ashy Bean looked down upon all beings, staring at the mortal world with a hegemon’s poise, a sense of invincibility about her, as if despite the unparalleled geniuses enduring countless hardships to ascend to immortality, none compared to her!

Her punch was peerless, the earth and sky changed colors at its release, the immense and limitless power of the Annihilation Dao Fruit poured entirely into her fist.

She believed she was invincible; to fight using any Immortal Artifact would be a blasphemy to her own strength.

Boom—

Above the clouds, countless roaring sounds erupted as if over a thousand True Dragons were bellowing, deafening to the ears.

"Pfft—"

The glazed body shattered, and Meng Junzi’s chest caved in directly; he hadn’t anticipated that Ashy Bean’s fist would be so formidable, his prized Thousand Hammer Glazed Body entirely incapable of withstanding it!

"Borrowing Injury!"

Meng Junzi used the Borrowing Dao Fruit, forcibly transferring his injuries to Ashy Bean.

Ashy Bean’s chest felt as though she had hammered it herself, equally severely wounded.

This move had been used during the Imperial City battle against Guan Shanhai, who kept repairing his injuries and fell into a passive state.

However, Ashy Bean did not intend to heal her wounds, continuing to fight with her injured body, her combat power undiminished.

Meng Junzi was shocked beyond measure, could it be that his opponent had seen through the flaws of this move?

With the Borrowing Dao Fruit, a loan had to be repaid; after a period of time, the injuries would automatically return, and with interest at that, making the returned injuries even heavier.

Guan Shanhai had not realized this, blindly healing his injuries to avoid the situation of them returning.

How had his opponent managed to figure this out?

Ashy Bean had not figured it out; she merely felt that she should not heal, a judgment born from her combat instincts.

The two ascended from the clouds to space, where the illusory shadows of stars trembled in the aftermath of the dueling immortals.

"Drawing strength from the past and future!"

Two figures crossed the long river of Suiyue, arriving from the past and the future to fight alongside Meng Junzi.

Together, these two figures were equivalent to another Meng Junzi, doubling his combat power.

Yet in front of Ashy Bean, even if the Four Ancient Immortals themselves arrived, she would not fear them, let alone whether it was one Meng Junzi or two; there wasn’t much difference.

"Destroy the concept of ’time’."

In an instant, the entire world plunged into chaos, losing the concept of time. The figures of Meng Junzi from the past and future crumbled away, and then the concept of time was restored.

Meng Junzi felt as if he was facing Yun Zhi herself, utterly without the ability to fight back, as Ashy Bean’s consecutive punches left him battered and bruised.

"Dissolve!"

Meng Junzi dared not linger in battle any longer, using an Escape Skill, leaving behind a self-detonating clone, while his true form fled precipitously.

Boom—

The entire area exploded into a vacuum, even the shadows of the stars disappearing.

Ashy Bean brushed away the self-detonation dust, looking toward Meng Junzi’s vanishing figure, she sensed for a moment and discovered that no causality had formed between them.

"It seems he believes in my identity as the founder of the Qi Cultivation System."

"Well, that’s good; I can spare his life."

She no longer concerned herself with Meng Junzi, returning to the small shop.

By now, Elder Bai Hun of the Ruthless Sect had long fled the shop, what did it matter being chased by someone at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage outside when there were two Immortals here!

Ashy Bean shouted to the back kitchen, "Little Lotus, let’s go."