Chapter 412 - 411: The Dao Fishes Descend, Bai Qingyue’s Fortune Defies Heaven

"Mine! That one is mine!" roared a massive, four-armed demon, leaping from the ruins of a pagoda to snatch a brilliantly glowing red fish from the air. The moment his claws closed around the ethereal creature, it dissolved into his skin, and a burst of crimson light surged through his body.

The demon threw his head back and laughed. "The Dao of Raging Flames! My fire techniques will melt everything in my path!"

A swordmaster kicked off the demon’s shoulder and propelled himself toward a sleek, silver fish darting like a swallow. His fingers closed around its body, and the creature dissolved into a stream of light that entered his forehead, causing his sword intent to flare with renewed sharpness.

"Yes!" he shouted, his eyes blazing. "The Dao of the Rending Gale! My sword speed has doubled!"

All across the pulverized courtyard of the Grand Court, the battle shifted from a war of extermination into a desperate scramble for the falling treasures. Cultivators abandoned their defensive positions to pursue the rarest fishes, while demons who had been preparing to retreat suddenly changed direction, driven by the desire to seize as much ancient comprehension as possible.

A shadow demon hissed in delight as it swallowed a dark fish. "The Dao of Corrosive Shadows!"

Its body dissolved into absolute darkness before reappearing behind a distracted cultivator, and the newly acquired principle spread across its claws, allowing it to bypass the man’s weakened defenses.

Nearby, a human body cultivator caught a heavy, brown Dao Fish with both hands. The essence dissolved into his skin, turning it a metallic gray as the Dao of the Iron Mountain strengthened his physical foundation, and he immediately charged into a group of lesser demons, smashing them aside with his bare fists.

"The Dao of Weeping Blood!"

"The Dao of the Phantom Step!"

"The Dao of the Shattered Mind!"

The air filled with ecstatic shouts as combatants claimed their prizes, and the desperate struggle for survival became entangled with an even more dangerous contest for comprehension. For a brief, surreal moment, the impending threat of the Quasi Demon Emperor above was forgotten, overshadowed by the intoxicating possibility of acquiring a law that had remained hidden since the ancient era.

Lin Yuan watched the falling Dao Fishes without moving. His Dao Fruit of Three Rebirths remained suppressed, but his understanding of the laws had not vanished, and he could still distinguish between the different qualities of the essences raining from the sky. Some carried shallow principles that would provide little benefit to an advanced cultivator, while others contained profound laws that might alter the course of a person’s cultivation.

Ku Ming approached him, his expression tense as he examined the descending lights. "Benefactor Lin, Lady Bai, the world is crippled, but these Dao Fishes contain the untainted laws of the ancient Exotic Realm. If we are to enter the Hollow Beyond and face Gu Cangming, we need every conceptual advantage we can acquire before these essences evaporate."

Lin Yuan nodded slowly. "We should be selective. The rarest fish will not necessarily be the most useful to us, and the wrong law could take years to integrate properly. We need to find principles that complement our existing foundations rather than collecting whatever happens to fall within reach."

Ku Ming agreed, though his eyes continued tracking the glowing streaks of light above them. "That is true, but we cannot afford to hesitate for too long. The broken laws are causing the Dao Fishes to lose their stability, and once their conceptual bodies dissipate, the opportunity will be gone."

Bai Qingyue gripped the dormant Sun Shooting Bow in her left hand. She could no longer unleash its full solar power, but her Yunqi Realm fortune remained an intrinsic part of her foundation, even under the world’s suppression. The fortune surrounding her had weakened alongside the broken laws, yet it continued to influence the paths of probability, subtly drawing her attention toward the essences most suited to her.

"Lead the way, Master Ku," she said. "We should find what we can before the remaining laws collapse."

Ku Ming leaped from their position, his Red Skin Monk Clan physique allowing him to move through the broken terrain without relying heavily on spiritual Qi. Bai Qingyue followed closely, her pale blue gown fluttering as she navigated the ruined platforms, while Lin Yuan remained a short distance behind them, carefully observing the trajectories of the Dao Fishes.

They moved through the battlefield, avoiding the desperate clashes of cultivators fighting over lesser essences. A green fish darted past Ku Ming’s shoulder, pursued by three demons who collided against a broken pillar, while a violet fish vanished into the chest of a wounded cultivator who had been lying motionless beneath a collapsed wall.

The monk’s attention suddenly locked onto a strange, shifting fish that seemed to phase in and out of the visible spectrum. It radiated a profound, heavy aura that resonated with his physical foundation, entirely separate from his Buddhist path, and its movements suggested a principle connected to the dispersion and movement of dense physical matter.

"There!" Ku Ming shouted.

He launched himself from a shattered stone pillar and extended his hand toward the phasing fish. A lesser Demon King, whose cultivation had been forcibly restricted to the Nascent Soul realm, roared and lunged for the same prize, its claws extended toward the glowing creature.

Ku Ming did not use a Buddhist seal. Relying purely on the immense physical strength of the Red Skin Monk Clan, he drove his knee directly into the demon’s chest, cracking its sternum and using the impact to propel himself higher.

His fingers snapped shut around the fish.

The moment his skin made contact, the ethereal creature dissolved into a burst of heavy, grayish-brown light that flooded into his meridians. Ku Ming landed heavily on the jade tiles, his eyes widening as the sudden comprehension settled into his physical foundation, revealing a law that could alter the way his body interacted with the surrounding world.

He raised his hand, and the skin along his forearm temporarily dissolved into a swirling stream of hyper-dense, golden sand before instantly reforming into flesh. The transformation lasted only a moment, but the weight of the principle remained within his body, allowing him to understand how physical matter could disperse, shift, and reassemble without losing the force contained within it.

"The Dao of the Shifting Sands," Ku Ming murmured, surprise and satisfaction crossing his face. "It allows physical dispersion while preserving kinetic impact. A powerful defensive and offensive law, especially for a body cultivator."

He clenched his fist, and the golden sand flowed briefly across his knuckles before returning to the shape of his hand. "This will prove invaluable in the abyss, where our cultivation may be tested by enemies who possess a far greater command of the laws."

Ku Ming looked up, searching the chaotic sky for Bai Qingyue. "Lady Bai! Have you found one?"

Bai Qingyue stood atop a ruined archway, her eyes scanning the heavens. The fortune of her Yunqi Realm pulsed faintly around her, not as a dazzling aura but as a subtle influence that guided her attention toward the rarest essences among the falling lights.

She did not need to chase every fish. Her fortune seemed to guide her toward the most suitable opportunity, and the rarest among the falling Dao Fishes were already beginning to shift their trajectories as they descended toward the battlefield.

High above, breaking away from the main cluster spilling from the shattered Exotic Realm, a singular, magnificent Dao Fish descended. It was larger than the others, glowing with a blinding, iridescent white light that seemed to contain the essence of spatial purity and unadulterated velocity.

The fish swam through the air with elegant, untouchable grace, ignoring the grasping hands of dozens of leaping demons. Its body shimmered between several overlapping positions, and every time it changed direction, the surrounding space seemed to shorten before it, allowing it to travel without following an ordinary path.

Bai Qingyue watched it approach, a serene smile touching her lips. She raised her slender hand, waiting for the immense fortune of her cultivation to deliver the prize into her palm, while the Sun Shooting Bow rested against her other arm.

"The Dao of Absolute Zenith," she whispered....