Chapter 716: Five Qi Great Perfection

Li Yi had been in Shenmu City for ten days now.

During these ten days, he sat daily atop the ancient tree in Xiu Xiang's home, absorbing the qi of heaven and earth; combined with Xiu Xiang's steady supply of fine wine and meat, Li Yi's transformation finally reached a critical threshold.

Today, the final of the five-qi realm's sixtieth acupoint was finally filled.

The Five Qi was complete.

The sixty acupoints now erupted in a brilliant five-colored radiance, forming a cloud-robes that draped over Li Yi's body; as the Five Qi rotated, his body underwent a startling transformation.

His flesh became translucent and luminous, his bones like flawless jade, and his five viscera completely shed their physical constraints, transforming into a swirling flow of Five Elements qi that circled his entire body.

The energy of heaven and earth, once drawn into his body, was instantly absorbed and integrated.

At this moment, Li Yi looked like a celestial descending to earth, an otherworldly aura naturally emanating from him—but this transformation continued, and suddenly golden flames erupted around his body.

The flames engulfed him, then silver lightning suddenly appeared out of thin air, striking him repeatedly as if drawn by an invisible force.

Yet in an instant, three true dragons emerged from within the golden flames, and the silver lightning that struck him transformed into three silver tigers.

The power of three dragons and three tigers.

With the completion of the Five Qi realm, his physical strength surged dramatically—this power now rivaled that of a One Flower cultivator.

Yet Li Yi felt no particular joy at his progress.

For the completion of the Five Qi realm was inevitable; he had already entered the Five Qi realm, needing only time to accumulate.

"My divine blood still requires time to gestate. I can feel it—within ten days, I will complete its gestation and reach the status of a direct descendant of divine blood. Then my power will leap again."

Li Yi suddenly opened his eyes, drew a deep breath,

and as if swallowing the clouds above him whole.

With the full completion of the Five Qi realm, his Five Qi circulated, and his body was no longer mortal flesh; combined with the divine blood within, in the terms of the End Dharma cultivation world, he was now a Divine Blood Dao Body.

"Once my divine blood is fully gestated, I will break through to the Five Qi Returning to Origin realm, then refine my Law Form and Primordial Spirit, forging a path never before tread."

Li Yi then studied the Law Form cultivation methods he had acquired from the Four Seas and Eight Provinces.

It was given to him by Fan Zhizhou before he left Earth.

He intended to use the Five Elements qi combined with divine blood to gestate an immensely powerful Primordial Spirit Law Form—if successful, his body, Primordial Spirit, and magic power would all reach an unprecedented height.

At that time, what would One Flower cultivators matter? What would great demons matter? Even Mahayana cultivators would not survive a single strike from him.

Then, he could truly act without restraint.

He drew another deep breath.

Li Yi put away the Law Form cultivation method.

Now was not yet the time—he must endure a little longer.

He dispersed the auspicious clouds beneath him.

He flipped over and leapt down from the ancient tree.

It was time for meals.

Li Yi's appetite had grown steadily better—he ate more and more. Now that he had reached full Five Qi completion, his body's digestion and recovery were astonishing; he could consume a full cauldron of mountain lord meat.

Fortunately, Xiu Xiang had considerable wealth in Shenmu City and could afford to host him.

Li Yi made no pretense—he ate and drank daily, doing nothing else.

"Master, your meal is ready."

When he arrived at his quarters, E Ji and Su Ji had already prepared a cauldron of mountain lord meat and a jar of fine wine for him.

"Have you eaten yet?" Li Yi walked over, grabbed a piece of meat, and devoured it.

"How could we eat before you do?"

E Ji and Su Ji smiled, their beautiful eyes constantly drifting over Li Yi—they didn't understand cultivation, yet they could plainly see the immense changes in him lately.

Especially today.

The mortal dust had fallen from Li Yi's body; he now radiated a fragrance like lotus blossoms—the scent of a Dao Body, something only a Five Qi complete cultivator possessed.

"If you're hungry, eat first—no need to wait for me. I've been cultivating constantly and have no time to attend to you." Li Yi ate as he spoke: "Long Yu, how is your wound?"

"Master, I am fully recovered."

Long Yu immediately said: "A few days ago, Grand Sacrificer Dou Kun taught me a divine Qi Refining method. I studied it diligently and feel my body has grown much stronger."

"Oh? You've already begun the path of cultivation so quickly?" Li Yi was surprised, then glanced at Grand Sacrificer Dou Kun, who was eating meat nearby.

In the time since they last met, Dou Kun's aged aura had faded; his wrinkles had lessened, and he seemed reborn—clearly, he too had entered Qi Refining cultivation, beginning to extend his life and reverse aging.

Though cultivation progressed slowly, it seemed ill-suited to the barbarian world.

Living long-term in such a spiritually rich world, their bodies held immense potential—every cell in a barbarian's body brimmed with spiritual energy; now that they had taken up cultivation, their progress would be swift indeed.

This was because their innate foundation was already perfect—they lacked nothing in essence, qi, or spirit; they only needed the methods to awaken them.

"According to the Nine Turn Immortal Scripture you gave me, I'm now at the peak of Qi Refining—on the verge of condensing a Golden Core."

Grand Sacrificer Dou Kun smiled: "This method is exquisite and easy to practice. As Nan Shan Bo said, 'Those who consume qi become divine and long-lived.' I feel my life growing, outpacing its decline."

"Aging has already halted in me. If I continue cultivating, perhaps I can truly achieve immortality."

"That's good. You should all cultivate diligently—it's the way to grow stronger. Even if you're not divine blood warriors, you can still become a Lord of a Region." Li Yi said.

A Lord of a Region possessed strength comparable to a One Flower or Mahayana cultivator.

"Master, could I ever become a Lord of a Region?" Shan Guo asked, astonished.

She knew well she was not a warrior of great potential, and would never become a powerful figure.

Li Yi said: "If you earnestly learn from Grand Sacrificer Dou Kun and focus on cultivation, you will become a Lord of a Region."

Hearing this, Shan Guo was both delighted and excited.

To many warriors, becoming a Lord of a Region was the greatest dream of a lifetime—even if distant, it still drove them to strive.

Now, Shan Guo never imagined that warriors far stronger than herself had never earned this chance—yet she had been granted it today.

But as everyone ate and chatted,

suddenly,

Xiu Xiang rushed into the courtyard.

"Da Yi! I found it—I found it!" His voice trembled with excitement and joy.

Li Yi set down his meat and asked: "Xiu Xiang, what did you find?"

Xiu Xiang walked over, poured himself a bowl of fine wine, drank it down, then grinned: "I found the whereabouts of your companion."

"Oh? Really?" Li Yi was surprised.

Besides cultivation, he had not forgotten searching for Jiang Mingtian and Zhao Fang's whereabouts—but they had been sold as slaves, and even with his efforts, finding them was nearly impossible.

Xiu Xiang had promised to help, and Li Yi never expected him to still be trying.

Now, at last, he had results.

"It's almost certainly correct. I went to a slave merchant to buy a beautiful concubine, and he told me this: last year, a batch of cheap slaves arrived from Beihuang City—your companion was among them." Xiu Xiang said.

Li Yi immediately asked: "Where is he now?"

"Five hundred li west of Shenmu City lies a mountain, rich in crimson gold—hence its name, Chishan. Your companion is likely there." Xiu Xiang said.

"A mountain that produces crimson gold?" Li Yi frowned: "Why would Chishan need slaves?"

"To mine and smelt gold." Xiu Xiang said.

"." Li Yi understood.

So Jiang Mingtian and Zhao Fang had been sold as slaves to mine gold—no telling if they'd be whipped for not working hard enough.

If they were, it would be terrible.

"Can the slave merchant redeem my companions? How much silver? I'll pay." Li Yi asked.

But Xiu Xiang's expression turned troubled: "Da Yi, Chishan Mountain belongs to a Lord of a Region. Slaves who enter Chishan never leave—because they learn too many secrets while mining crimson gold. The Lord kills them when they grow old and replaces them with new slaves."

"That's truly barbaric." Li Yi fell silent, then asked: "How does the Lord of Chishan compare in strength to Da Ze, the divine blood warrior of Beihuang City?"

He was now fully complete in the Five Qi realm, possessing the power of three dragons and three tigers.

Even if he couldn't defeat Da Ze, he still had a chance to storm the mountain and rescue them.

After all, he still had the Moonlight Bow and the Black Gold Arrows—his greatest weapons; if he struck unexpectedly, he might even kill a Lord of a Region.

"Nü Heng said Da Ze could fight ten Lords of a Region—but Chishan is thirty mountains linked together, so its Lord is a Thirty-Mountain Lord, far stronger than Da Ze."

Xiu Xiang added: "And he's not alone—his subordinates include other powerful warriors, one of whom is a monstrous beast named Qiong Qi, once a Lord of a Region himself, later subdued by the Chishan Lord; and a divine blood warrior named Bei Gong who voluntarily serves him."

"Chishan also has Crimson Gold Warriors, over a dozen Warrior Leaders—stronger than Beihuang City."

Li Yi's heart tightened.

But he also found it reasonable—after all, Chishan was a gold mine. In this barbarian world, whoever controlled a gold mine must be powerful indeed, or they'd have been overthrown long ago.

But he wasn't going to seize the mine—only rescue one or two people. The difficulty shouldn't be that great.

If all else failed, he could call for help.

In the world of incense-god ascension, Xuan Yue Zi was already a One Flower expert; if he opened the dimensional gate and had Xuan Yue Zi hold off the Chishan Lord, the mission would become far easier.

Moreover, once he opened the gate to the incense-god world, Li Yi himself would gain the blessing of incense power.

Then, storming Chishan would be no problem.

Thinking this, Li Yi looked seriously at Xiu Xiang: "In ten days, I'm going to Chishan."

(End of Chapter)