Chapter 557: Meeting

Li Yi, at this moment, did not know anything that had happened in the Imperial Palace of the capital.

He was now sitting on a flower boat. This flower boat was parked in the center of the lake, motionless, as if it had been fixed. Under the shroud of the stars filling the sky, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to form a storm of energy, pouring toward this side and rushing into his body.

Li Yi pinched a magic seal, his whole body entwined with streaks of incense fire belief power. This power was what he had harvested earlier when he was in the capital.

Although he only gave a little guidance to the pedestrians, his image had been seen, and they mistakenly thought an immortal had descended. In less than two hours, he had already received incense fire belief power, and as time passed, more and more incense fire belief power was pouring in from all parts of the capital.

The legend of the immortal, Immortal Tai Yi, was spreading in the capital.

And the more people who knew, the more incense fire belief gathered.

Although it wasn't lasting, it was enough for cultivation in the short term.

After all, he was walking the path of borrowing the false to cultivate the true; the incense fire belief power was only for borrowing, not for reliance.

"Instead of slowly filling the acupoints, it's better to open them up and leave a seed. It won't be too late to slowly accumulate them after leaving this world." Li Yi, although he had opened the fifteenth acupoint, his strength hadn't transformed, because his fifteenth acupoint wasn't full yet.

Since the Qi and blood hadn'

But he discovered that this did not affect his continued opening of meridian points.

At this thought.

Li Yi closed his eyes and remained motionless, continuing to use the power of incense faith to search for the sixteenth meridian point.

With the previous experience, his attempt this time was bold and swift, without the slightest worry of taking the wrong path; in any case, the power of incense faith would not harm him.

And this time.

Li Yi was somewhat shocked.

Having only tried three times, the sixteenth meridian point was successfully found and opened. This was simply a world of difference compared to his previous speed.

"Why is it like this?"

He explored it earnestly and found only one possibility: his own incense was more abundant than before. Once incense is abundant, it is as if one can have one's wishes fulfilled, which is helpful for one's cultivation and transformation.

Li Yi left behind a seed of life essence, waiting only for it to grow stronger later, then bypassed the sixteenth meridian point to attempt opening the seventeenth.

The speed of opening this time was significantly slower.

Relying on his current power of incense faith, Li Yi tried over ten times before he succeeded. Yet even so, he remained extremely astonished.

"I understand. The more incense there is, the faster the speed of opening meridian points, but the further one goes, the greater the difficulty of opening them. As long as the incense supply keeps up, everything is not a problem; even opening all three hundred and sixty-five meridian points in the body is not a difficult task."

At this moment.

Li Yi had a brand-new realization regarding the power of incense faith.

This was simply cheating.

No.

The path of becoming a god through incense is cheating. After an ordinary person dies, as long as the incense faith is sufficient, they can fly and burrow within a day, with strength comparable to a cultivator. Although they would fall back to being a mortal once the incense faith collapses, this power is real. This is something that cannot be done in any other world.

Li Yi felt that he had truly come to the right place by crossing dimensions.

Another moment passed.

The eighteenth meridian point was opened.

Excluding the twelve heart points, he now had six lung points. Once he opened six more and finished absorbing the metal energy of heaven and earth, he would be able to become a second-layer Five-Qi Realm cultivator.

However, Li Yi also clearly felt that the speed at which incense helped open meridian points was rapidly decreasing.

Fortunately, incense was still gathering from all over the capital, which barely kept up with his cultivation.

When Li Yi opened the twentieth meridian point, these incense powers were somewhat inadequate.

Because the difficulty of opening meridian points later on had increased.

"I really want to rebel."

This thought could not help but pop into Li Yi's mind. If he gathered the incense of the entire world, why worry about not being able to achieve the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and the Five Qi Returning to the Origin?

He had intended to continue cultivating to see if he could open the twenty-fourth meridian point in one go, but at this moment, he already sensed someone boarding the painted boat.

This painted boat had already been bought by him with a gemstone.

The women and guests on the painted boat had long been driven away by him; now, this boat was completely empty.

But now, he sensed the aura of a cultivator.

"Lu Bin, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, pays respects to Daoist Tai Yi." Suddenly, a voice rang out, and immediately after, a person had already arrived on the deck, bowing respectfully to Li Yi, who was sitting at the bow of the boat.

"Did the Embroidered Uniform Guard from before not tell you not to disturb me?" Li Yi's voice was cold, and it was unclear whether he was pleased or angry. Commander Lu Bin immediately said: "Replying to the Daoist, the Emperor has an order, requesting the Daoist to go to the imperial palace."

"Your Emperor invites me?" Li Yi was stunned for a moment.

He remembered that Prince Xin had gone to find the person suspected of being a cross-dimensional traveler. How did this matter reach the Emperor? Or was it that the Emperor also knew of the existence of cross-dimensional travelers and was quite curious about him, so he wanted to invite him to the palace to sit?

Or perhaps, the Emperor was that cross-dimensional traveler?

But this was impossible.

Prince Xin was already twenty-one years old.

When the Emperor gave birth to him, it was at least twenty-one years ago. At that time, the spiritual energy of Earth had not even recovered; where would a cross-dimensional traveler come from? So the second possibility was almost non-existent.

"I fear this is a Hongmen Banquet." Li Yi thought to himself.

Once inside the imperial palace, his magic power would be obstructed, and his strength would not return to its peak. If he encountered danger, he might get trapped and be unable to get out.

Thinking of this.

He said calmly: "I will not go to the imperial palace. If your Emperor wants to see me, let him come here."

【No errors, one read-through!】

"What?" Commander Lu Bin was somewhat shocked.

This Daoist was truly lawless, actually wanting the Emperor to leave the palace to see him.

He wanted to get angry and draw his blade to teach this Daoist a lesson, but thinking that this Daoist was the person the Emperor had specifically named to invite, he could only suppress this displeasure.

"Daoist, the Emperor has a body of ten thousand gold; how can he come in person? It is better for the Daoist to follow me into the imperial palace to meet the Sage. The carriage is already prepared. If the Daoist does not like the carriage, taking this painted boat is also fine." Commander Lu Bin said.

Li Yi said: "I will wait here for the Emperor to come. If he truly wants to see me, he will naturally leave the palace. If he is unwilling, then I will not force it."

He felt that if that cross-dimensional traveler was truly his father, he would certainly show himself. If he refused to show himself, then whether he was his father or not was no longer important. He would turn around and leave the capital, travel the four corners of the world, accumulate incense faith, and cultivate for a period of time before crossing dimensions to leave.

"Daoist, the Emperor is waiting in the imperial palace. Please, Daoist, be accommodating and do not make things difficult for me." Commander Lu Bin said.

Li Yi said: "You can just go back and report."

Commander Lu Bin hesitated for a moment.

"You Daoist have a very big mouth, actually daring to let the current Emperor come to see you. Are you truly not afraid of death?"

However, at this moment, a small boat came down the river from the north of the capital. On the boat sat a middle-aged man with a long beard, holding an oar in his hand. But in Li Yi's line of sight, that was not an oar at all, but a great blade. The blade hummed and flashed with divine light, which was extremely terrifying.

Li Yi glanced at it and smiled immediately: "I was wondering who it was; it turns out to be an incense god. What is your relationship with that Nation-Protecting Divine General Zhang Wang Jian Gong?"

He had only seen this level of incense faith power in Zhang Wang Jian Gong.

Only the righteous gods of the imperial court could gather so much incense faith power, turning the virtual into reality, walking in the city like a peddler or a foot soldier.

"He is the Southern Nation-Protecting Divine General; I am the Northern Nation-Protecting Divine General Wang Wang Qijun. Hearing that an immortal has appeared in the capital, I, the Divine General, have specially transformed into a boatman to come and investigate, lest someone be playing god in the capital and ruining the reputation of us Nation-Protecting Divine Generals." This middle-aged man named Wang Wang Qijun said with an indifferent expression.

"Northern Nation-Protecting Divine General? Why are the other three not seen?" Li Yi asked.

Wang Wang Qijun's eyes opened slightly: "This place belongs to the North."

"I didn't expect you to divide up the territory." Li Yi said: "I am not interested in you Nation-Protecting Divine Generals. Roll away quickly and don't get in the way."

"Disrespectful to the monarch, ignoring the law, not even putting the Nation-Protecting Divine General in your eyes—how can a Daoist demon like you remain in the capital? You deserve to be executed." Wang Wang Qijun was furious, then slowly stood up, holding the great blade, full of killing intent.

At this moment, Lu Bin, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was startled and immediately said: "Divine General, the Emperor has an order to invite Daoist Tai Yi into the imperial palace."

"This Daoist demon defies the imperial decree and refuses to enter the palace; how can he be allowed to stay? After I, the Divine General, take this Daoist demon down, I will hand him over to you, and you can escort him back to the palace to meet the Emperor." Wang Wang Qijun took a step forward, walked off the small boat, and incense energy coiled around his feet. His worn clothes disappeared, transforming into a suit of black armor, majestic and powerful.

Li Yi just sneered and said: "You feel that my reputation as an immortal has spread, and that I have acquired incense faith power in the territory under your jurisdiction, which makes you feel unhappy, so you want to come and kill me to silence me. If you want to make a move, then make a move; why bother speaking such high-sounding reasons?"

"Seeking death." Having his thoughts pointed out, Wang Wang Qijun no longer restrained himself. He manifested his true form as a Divine General, held the Nation-Protecting Great Blade, and slashed down with one strike.

Instantly, a brilliant divine light shone between heaven and earth. This divine light slashed down like a blade glow. Although mortals could not see it, the wind still rose and thunder and lightning were born in the movement.

"So be it. Today, I shall slay you, this Nation-Protecting Divine General." Li Yi was completely unafraid. The Daoist robe on his body changed, immediately transforming into a suit of Red-Feathered Purple-Gold Armor. Under the infusion of magic power, this mid-grade magic treasure emitted a crimson glow, and a red divine bird shrieked and flapped its wings, suddenly meeting the falling blade glow.

Boom!

The power of incense faith clashed with the mid-grade magic treasure. The fierce power vented, almost overturning the entire great lake.

"Not good."

Commander Lu Bin of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was terrified upon seeing this and hurriedly retreated. The aftermath of this kind of battle was simply not something he could withstand. Once caught in it, he would truly die.

"Quickly inform the Emperor of this matter."

While retreating frantically, he also passed down his own orders.

(End of chapter)