Chapter 622: Incense Cultivation

After entering Wuji Palace, Li Yi used the Great Heaven-and-Earth Qi-Collecting Art to gather spiritual energy from hundreds of li around, and as he breathed in and out, he refined the metal qi within it using twelve heartfires, drawing it into his lung orifices.

Yet after harnessing the power of incense belief, the spells he cast became absurdly potent; and since becoming National Teacher, even within the imperial palace under the Son of Heaven's suppression, his cultivation was hardly affected.

Only a moment passed.

The palace he occupied became like a colossal furnace, surrounded by crimson aura, though no flames were visible, yet within it one felt as if submerged in a sea of fire.

Neither the Embroidered Uniform Guards nor the Golden-Eyed Guards could approach this palace.

Any ordinary person who drew near would have their flesh melted by the heartfire qi, reduced to ash.

Under this grand spectacle, Li Yi's internal orifices were rapidly filling, his strength surging swiftly; as time passed, the spell's range expanded further, for his title of National Teacher had been deliberately spread by Emperor Li Jiye.

Though publicly Li Jiye feigned deliberation with his ministers, in truth he had long planned everything—so with but a single command, the Embroidered Uniform Guards would mobilize en masse to proclaim the name of True Person Taiyi across the land.

Thus, over these few days, the incense belief power Li Yi gained continued to swell without end.

"An unimaginable cultivation method—I, this Immortal Dame, am gifted beyond compare, unmatched in Dao arts; yet even I took nearly two hundred years to reach the Three Flowers Realm. But with Taiyi's method, he'll achieve Five Qi Convergence and nurture the Three Flowers in no more than a year."

At this moment, thanks to the incense qi, the soul-flower of Xiangxiangzi, one of the Seven Immortal Dames, grew ever more refined.

Her primordial spirit was also reviving steadily—once merely infant-like, it had now grown into the form of a child, with clear features and a solid body; if this continued, within ten days her primordial spirit would be fully restored.

Though she knew full well this was all illusion—once removed from incense qi, she'd instantly revert to her original state—this visible transformation was utterly mesmerizing.

Two hundred years of primordial spirit power could not match a few days here.

This contrast left the former Three Flowers Realm Immortal Dame speechless.

No wonder Taiyi loves crossing realms.

Cultivating multiple arts is outright monstrous—accumulated evolution over countless years in one world seized in a single moment and turned to one's own use, mutually reinforcing each other—how blissful it is.

"Taiyi, pity you're too rooted—after opening twelve heartfire orifices, you opened twelve lung-metal orifices; otherwise, you could have crossed the Five Qi Realm in a single day."

Xiangxiangzi added: "But such deep roots bring boundless benefits. When you one day achieve Five Qi Convergence and Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, you'll become a Dragon-Tiger Immortal of limitless magic power. Since so, let me aid you further—I'll help you comprehend and fully transmit to you the Great Arts of Size Alteration and River-Turning, and as for that bald one's Rain-Summoning Art, I've learned a bit of it in the Dao world; I'll pass it on to you too."

With her primordial spirit reviving and nothing else to do, she immediately set about comprehending the other two supreme Dao arts for Li Yi.

"Very well, thank you, Immortal Dame," Li Yi said, pulling out the scroll containing the two Dao arts.

The Size Alteration Art and River-Turning Art had been taken from Tianyi Sect in the End-Dharma Dao world—he'd never had time to study or contemplate them; now that Xiangxiangzi offered help, it was perfect.

"To comprehend arts through incense belief and make them your own—that is the true path."

With that, Xiangxiangzi formed a hand seal, seated her primordial spirit upon her soul-flower, surrounded by incense qi, and attempted to fully master these two arts.

Even for a top-tier Dao master like her, fully learning and mastering a supreme art, achieving complete fluency, normally required six decades of dedicated cultivation.

Thus, most Dao masters avoided devoting energy to art research, focusing instead on nurturing the Three Flowers to hasten their path to Dao.

Fortunately, among the Seven Immortal Dames, Xiangxiangzi was the one skilled in combat arts—otherwise, Tian Dao Sect's three supreme arts might have been lost in the End-Dharma era.

Suddenly, Xiangxiangzi's primordial spirit on the soul-flower swelled in size, then shrank again; sometimes her head enlarged while her limbs remained unchanged, her form shifting constantly—she was studying Size Alteration, Tianyi Sect's most wondrous art, even more potent than her own Dragon-Taming Art.

Yet this art was easy to learn but hard to master; few ever reached its peak.

But in Xiangxiangzi's view, those Tianyi Sect Three Flowers masters were utterly incompetent—if she practiced it, such problems wouldn't exist.

While Xiangxiangzi cultivated the arts,

Li Yi spent this time refining metal qi—he had already filled three orifices, and the pace was accelerating, for the incense qi around him grew denser, expanding the range from which he could gather heavenly qi; the twelve heartfires continuously spun, refining the metal qi from the spiritual energy.

Only half a day had passed.

Li Yi's six orifices were now filled with metal qi; once he filled the remaining six, he would successfully break through to the second layer of the Five Qi Realm.

"Taiyi, you've mastered metal qi collection well—why not multitask? Open new orifices now."

Suddenly, seeing Li Yi's skill and the harmless, easily controlled nature of the incense qi, Xiangxiangzi made the suggestion.

"Heartfire, lung-metal—fire overcomes metal, metal overcomes wood, and wood generates fire—so next I should open the liver-wood orifice?" Li Yi asked.

"Precisely, Taiyi. You've gained considerable insight. Your third layer of Five Qi requires opening the liver-wood orifice," Xiangxiangzi praised.

"I'll try."

Li Yi immediately began—he multitasked, striving to achieve a qualitative leap in strength as swiftly as possible, so even while still at Five Qi second layer, he was already planning for the third.

Yet with his prior experience using incense qi, this time he had a foundation.

As incense qi entered his body, it transformed into an invisible force surging within—harmless to himself, yet granting wondrous abilities, like granting wishes, making thoughts come true.

Soon,

A seed of an orifice quietly formed.

As blood qi flooded in, the orifice opened smoothly.

But the moment it opened, a certain qi from the surrounding heavenly energy subtly surged into the orifice.

This change instantly triggered the twelve heartfires into chaos, jolting Li Yi awake.

"Taiyi, don't rush—you lack sufficient metal qi to balance the Five Elements. The liver-wood orifice can be opened, but not yet filled with qi; otherwise, the heartfire qi, drawing upon this liver-wood qi, may cause trouble," Xiangxiangzi explained, sensing the qi shift.

Li Yi nodded deeply in agreement, taking this as a warning to prevent recurrence.

Yet as he cultivated,

The court session had long ended.

Aside from Taiyi being named National Teacher, Prince Xin suffered misfortune—he lost his princely title for entering the capital without imperial summons, reverting to an ordinary imperial prince, forbidden henceforth to leave the capital; whether this was good or bad for him remained uncertain.

Simultaneously, after the court session ended, the capital erupted in turmoil.

All incense deities gradually received word that True Person Taiyi had been appointed National Teacher.

This shocked many incense deities, for it was the greatest event in generations.

A mountain Daoist, not of the imperial clan, had ascended instantly to the rank of National Teacher, sharing in the realm's incense?

Was the current emperor a fool, squandering his vast wealth by giving part to an outsider?

The Hidden Officials immediately informed the Yin Son of Heaven, seeking the late emperor's view on this matter.

Yet from these actions, it was clear:

No one wished for a National Teacher to divide the realm's incense—incense distribution was already full; when one deity was enshrined, another was stripped. Li Yi's arrival meant stealing incense from everyone's heads—the more incense a deity held, the greater their loss, naturally inviting widespread resentment.

But Li Yi and Li Jiye had foreseen this outcome.

After all, compared to this, replacing the Crown Prince would be far more disruptive, time-consuming, and complicated.

Meanwhile,

Near Wuji Palace stood another palace.

It was the Crown Prince's Donggong.

At this moment, Crown Prince Zhao Jing stood at the palace gate, gazing at the golden and splendid Wuji Palace nearby. Though an ordinary man, he could sense the changes occurring within—it radiated heat even from afar, scorching his mouth dry and making his body blaze with fever.

"Are you certain you didn't mistake it? That True Person Taiyi truly has Dragon-Tiger aura?" Zhao Jing frowned, his expression grave.

"Your Highness, no mistake—True Person Taiyi indeed possesses Dragon-Tiger aura. Not only did I see it, but several other officials with cultivation also witnessed it. His Dragon-Tiger aura is extraordinarily dense, far from ordinary," a minister whispered.

Crown Prince Zhao Jing did not doubt the minister's words.

Indeed, many could perceive aura; this matter was too critical to risk lying and inviting trouble.

"Since ancient times, only the Son of Heaven has Dragon-Tiger aura. Even I, your heir, possess only a juvenile dragon's aura. Why does a mountain Daoist possess it? And why does Father so favor him, overriding all opposition to name him National Teacher and grant him Wuji Palace, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the Golden-Eyed Guards? Father once secluded himself—he never knew any Daoist."

"Unless… this Daoist knew Father before his ascension."

Crown Prince Zhao Jing began to ponder.

The emperor's actions were abnormal, utterly unlike his past behavior. Others might dismiss it as a whim or a test of the realm—but Zhao Jing did not think so.

He was Crown Prince; his greatest concern was who and what surrounded the emperor.