Chapter 141: Divine Art, Third Level: Former Followers of Taiping Gong

Li Guanyi lifted his head and saw Old Man Chen Chengbi.

The old man was disheveled, his clothes torn by bursts of qi, making him look like a beggar who had wandered far from home, yet his face bore a joyful smile—clearly, the battle with the Sixth Sect Master had been exhilarating.

Then the old man saw Li Guanyi, and his expression froze.

Chen Chengbi was not a disciple of the Yin-Yang School.

He had never had the opportunity to receive a manifestation from Master Siming, and his eyes could not perceive manifestations or destiny qi.

But he was a supreme martial artist, immersed in royal martial arts for decades, and he saw Li Guanyi's clothes subtly swelling, with qi patterns like dragons and snakes winding across his body—this trail, Chen Chengbi recognized at a glance.

This path was precisely his Six Void Four Union Divine Art.

Yet it was not the Six Void Four Union Divine Art.

After flowing and transforming, this level of cultivation naturally began to coalesce.

The Second Level of the Six Void Four Union Divine Art could originally control five layers of true qi; Li Guanyi possessed the Jade Arm Divine Bow Art, the Crimson Dragon Force, and the yin-soft hidden force from Situ Deqing, yet now, beyond these three forces, a subtle, exquisite qi flowed.

Majestic, radiant, upright.

Like a sovereign before him, all other divine arts and martial forces, proud and fierce, submitted without resistance!

«……………??? »

«Imperial Purple Qi? »

Chen Chengbi was solely devoted to martial arts, yet his knowledge was far from shallow—he appeared beside Li Guanyi in an instant, seized his body, and with some martial technique unknown to others, instantly triggered Li Guanyi's destiny qi.

Boom!!!

Destiny qi scattered.

Vast as green clouds obscuring the moon.

Yet carrying a thread of noble, inexpressible purple qi.

The old man stared, dumbfounded, fixed on Li Guanyi.

The world's destiny qi was divided into several tiers; among them, green and purple qi were of unmatched nobility—Chen Chengbi himself possessed pure green qi; purple qi, unless belonging to an unparalleled Daoist master, could only belong to an emperor walking the world—none other could attain it.

Chen Chengbi stared at Li Guanyi, his lips twitching.

The old man's face knotted into a frown.

His white hair was wild, the whole man resembling a scruffy little dog.

He recoiled from Li Guanyi as if shocked, stepping back with thud-thud-thud steps.

Then he crouched beside him, beginning to think deeply.

After a moment, he looked at Li Guanyi and asked cautiously: «You've been wandering outside—were you… cough, I mean, did only your aunt raise you? »

Li Guanyi nodded.

The old man grimaced: «Have you ever met your father? »

Li Guanyi replied calmly: «No. »

Chen Chengbi's face twitched.

Chen Chengbi knew Li Guanyi's Juan Sect file—he recalled something, his face darkening: Xue family's imperial concubine made Li Guanyi call her aunt, raised him outside since childhood, only returning to Jiangzhou after growing up, raised by that Xue family tiger with a thousand scheming tricks—and yet he carried pure, unadulterated purple qi.

Chen Chengbi's heart clenched.

He couldn't help cursing inwardly.

Who?!

Who left this child?!

Who!!?

The old man gritted his teeth; the thought that a Chen royal might have abandoned this child, leaving him to wander for years due to his royal lineage, made his vision blur.

Damn it, what a tragedy!!!

Today I'll castrate you all, beasts, beasts!

The old man took a deep breath, pressed his throbbing temples, and felt a powerful emotion surge within him—pure exhilaration; his lips curled, then he pressed them shut, reminding himself he should be sorrowful.

But he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

The feeling of excitement surged.

His lips lifted, then pressed down, over and over.

Chen Chengbi's nature was clear as bright light, yet he knew such matters couldn't be hastily confirmed—what if this boy was truly the once-in-a-millennium Daoist body, devoted solely to the Dao, with purple qi coming from the east?

Would I have made a terrible mistake?

Chen Chengbi moved like a gust of wind, shouting: «Boy, stay right here! »

Then the old man leapt into the air, moving faster than a storm—Li Guanyi sighed; with Chen Chengbi's speed, no matter where he ran in Jiangzhou City, the old man would find him.

He tried to control the sudden surplus of destiny qi.

The destiny qi shifted, vast and pure; Li Guanyi possessed the Cauldron, while the other stole the Disc, plundered Li Guanyi's original destiny qi, forcing him into ten years of bitter wandering, countless dangers, poison outbreaks nearly killing him—thus, Li Guanyi's destiny over the past decade became a great abyss.

An extremely downward destiny.

Like a deep chasm.

Chen Yuyun, by contrast, was born with a fortune of wealth and nobility.

And he stole Li Guanyi's fate and destiny qi.

Like flowers adorned with brocade, fire boiling with oil.

His destiny and fate were piling up layer upon layer, like standing at the mighty upper stream.

Originally, with no meeting, there would be no issue—but they finally met, and at that moment, Chen Yuyun bore something born with Li Guanyi's fate—or rather, part of Chen Yuyun's vast, surging destiny qi was Li Guanyi's.

Like connecting the upper river to the deep abyss below.

Like opening a passage between an upstream river and a vast downstream void.

Destiny qi is like water.

Rolling down from above.

And the most ingenious part is.

This connection was forged ten years ago by the Emperor's own hands.

Had the Emperor not stolen Li Guanyi's fortune and destiny ten years ago to give to his son, their two fates would have been two clearly separate rivers—never intertwined; and had Li Guanyi not wandered for ten years, enduring hardship and nearly dying, his destiny would not now have sunk so low.

Even if their destinies touched, Chen Yuyun's fortune and luck would not have flowed like water downhill, vast and unstoppable, pouring into Li Guanyi's body.

It was precisely because their experiences over the past decade differed so drastically, manifesting in their destinies.

Only such a vast chasm could produce this reverse flow of fortune.

The boy raised his hand; a vast, swirling azure fortune flowed within his palm—this must be part of Li Guanyi's original fortune, representing his status as a scion of the Murong Clan and the eldest legitimate son of Tai Ping Gong, a destiny inherently rich and noble.

It was pure azure.

It was the destiny of the Great General who commands all imperial troops.

And this strand of purple qi.

Li Guanyi raised his hand; a strand of purple qi coiled around his finger, pure and radiant. This purple qi—the Emperor's qi, the dragon vein's qi—was inherent to Chen Yuyun himself, like water in his own fortune river, now drawn back and carried along by Li Guanyi's returning fortune.

Every sip and bite, as if preordained.

"No wonder in Hou Zhongyu's scrolls, when they speak of fortune, they only mention 'borrowing fortune.'"

"'Borrowing fortune.'"

"Remember: to borrow is to repay; to come and to go—that is the Dao of yin and yang."

The boy clenched his hand; the purple qi dispersed, sinking into the technique as Emperor's qi. He closed his eyes, expression calm, absorbing the profound mystery of this divine art, while Elder Chen Chengbi swept like the wind to find an old man living in a thatched hut outside Jingcheng.

He pounded wildly on the door: "Old man, come out!"

The old man opened the door: "What do you want?"

Chen Chengbi said: "I've come to ask you for a divination. Otherwise, I'll tell everyone about the Divine Fortune Calculator being here—I'll go to the Ghost Market, I'll go to the Academy, I—I'll tie you up and drag you to the Academy!"

"I'll travel far and wide, find the Four Legends, and send you back!"

The Divine Fortune Calculator sighed: "When others say such things, I treat them as wind."

"But you, you brute, you might actually tie me up."

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

Chen Chengbi said: "I met a very interesting little brat. I want to ask you..." He paused, originally intending to ask whether Li Guanyi's father was a member of the Chen royal clan—but he felt ashamed even thinking of such a descendant.

So Chen Chengbi scratched his head, struggled to find the right words, and stammered: "Can you tell me... has this boy's ten-year wandering been connected to the Chen royal clan?"

The Divine Fortune Calculator shook the sacred cup: "Yes."

"And the connection is great—essentially direct."

Chen Chengbi fell silent, then said: "I'm just asking, just asking, not because I really think—could there be a core disciple of the Chen royal clan who had affection for his parents?"

The Divine Fortune Calculator glanced at him, shook the cup again, tossed it, and grinned:

"Yes."

"Deeply entangled affection."

Chen Chengbi's face turned black; the old man nearly wept, gritting his teeth:

"Then..."

"Ask, ask, ask your damn self!"

The Divine Fortune Calculator snapped: "Didn't we agree—only one question, just one! Now you've got another after the first—when will this end?"

"Just tie me up and drag me out!"

But Chen Chengbi gripped his arm tightly: "One last one. Just the last one."

"Is the boy's father a Wang Zhi? Does the purple qi come from Chen?"

The Divine Fortune Calculator growled: "Yes, yes!"

"The first one is yes, the second one is yes too."

Chen Chengbi clutched the Divine Fortune Calculator's wrist, extended one finger:

"One more."

The Divine Fortune Calculator roared: "Go to hell!"

Chen Chengbi said: "I swear, last one—is the boy a good man?"

The Divine Fortune Calculator pointed at Chen Chengbi and scolded: "You, a man who has mastered martial arts to divine levels, with a pure heart, despise evil and cherish the virtuous. If this boy were wicked, you'd have kicked him to the ground long ago. If you've come here to ask, how could he possibly be evil?"

"Go, go, don't disturb my fasting."

He swept his sleeve, urging Chen Chengbi to leave. Chen Chengbi beamed and hurried off. The Divine Fortune Calculator rolled his eyes, glanced at the sacred cup, tossed it, and shouted: "Chen Chengbi, remember—divination is not absolute. The same omen can have multiple interpretations."

Chen Chengbi was already gone.

The old man raced back to where Li Guanyi was.

Seeing the boy had mastered the Six Void Four Union Divine Art, he burst into laughter—the excitement he'd held back finally exploded. He roared: "Ha ha ha! You brat, you've got purple qi!"

"Brilliant! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

The old man circled Li Guanyi rapidly, nearly making him dizzy.

Li Guanyi blinked: "Huh?"

All the explanations he'd prepared—about a miraculous encounter, or receiving it from an ancestral master, or Daoist purple qi—went unused.

Because the old man slapped his shoulder hard: "Ha ha ha! Good!"

"Excellent!"

"You've got purple qi!"

"Father, Father—I'm teaching this boy, and I'm not breaking any rules anymore! Ha ha ha!"

Imperial purple qi is equivalent to the Chen royal clan's dragon qi.

Anyway, old man that I am, I stick to this—when you go down, you can't argue with me.

Chen Chengbi pressed both hands on Li Guanyi's shoulders, eyes wide with excitement: "You have this purple qi—I don't even have it! Let me tell you, the imperial clan of Chen has countless strange and powerful Wu Gong, and none can be practiced without this!"

"I'll teach you—learn fast!"

"Once you learn, play with me."

The old man was overjoyed.

Li Guanyi stared, dumbfounded, then suddenly burst into laughter—laughing freely, then laughing so hard he sat on the ground, stomach aching, tears welling in his eyes.

The Chen state is the whirlpool of the world.

Jiangzhou is a microcosm of this chaotic age.

He had met many: the Chen emperor, shrewd and steeped in the art of power; Xue Lao, bold and magnanimous; Zu Wenyuan, who had calculated the death of the tenth deadliest assassin; the young and arrogant Po Jun; the calm and unhurried Wang Fuzi—but never had he met anyone so pure, so easy to be with.

After confirming the purple qi, the old man's initial displeasure gave way to joy.

Because purple qi can cultivate many special Wu Gong, and you can fight together.

His heart held not a trace of guile.

Li Guanyi wiped the tears from his eyes and said with unreserved delight: "Fine!"

He said: "Come, let's play!"

He suddenly rose, stepped half a pace forward, clenched his right fist and pulled it back, then stepped forward again.

The qi grew solemn, vast and overwhelming.

【Crush Mountain】!

Return kindness with kindness—it should be so.

The Chen Gong's ultimate technique was revealed; Chen Chengbi rejoiced, instantly dissolving the strike with soft qi, saying: "Brilliant, brilliant! Come, fight with me!"

They exchanged a few moves; Chen Chengbi recognized this as one of his own family's ultimate techniques—and more refined and complete than the Juan Sect's records. He exclaimed: "Good, good, good!"

"Boy, watch closely—this is the 【Six Void Four Union Divine Art】. According to the original Sa Lu Zi, it uses this internal qi to circulate and transform, controlling other internal qi. But once purple qi enters, everything changes."

"Let my true qi be the sovereign; let all other techniques' qi be its ministers."

"Like the North Star, fixed in its place, with all stars revolving around it."

"Like a sage king establishing his capital and axis, with ten thousand states bearing jade and silk—naturally, all schemers will turn their weapons and serve. Thus cultivating and circulating qi is like pulling the main cord—how much more so than merely controlling six qi? Even the thirty-six Heavenly Stems, and beyond, to infinity, all can be mastered!"

"All qi circulate, with purple qi supreme—vast, boundless, noble beyond words."

The old man's body shifted unpredictably: "This aura is no longer the 【Six Void Four Union Divine Art】. This art was created by our ancestor, the Chen Gong, perfected by generations of emperors, and its name follows our ancestor's decree!"

"It is called—【Emperor Sweeps the Six Directions, Upholds the Four Quarters】!"

Li Guanyi raised his hand; a thread of purple qi stirred the flow of qi within him, growing purer. Seeing Li Guanyi's progress in martial arts, the old man felt joy—as if his own plum tree were slowly blooming—and he was overjoyed.

Eventually, they lost track of time; when the horizon began to darken, the old man suddenly shouted.

He raised his hand and slapped his own forehead, saying:

"Damn! Damn damn!"

"I got carried away and almost forgot the main matter! Didn't I tell you about that bald man with tremendous strength? I need him to teach you Wu Gong."

Li Guanyi asked: "Did that elder agree?"

Chen Chengbi boasted: "What can't I accomplish when I act?"

"Boy, come early tomorrow. Old man I'll take you to find that old fellow. Today's fight was exhilarating—I'll go find a technique to conceal your purple qi. No matter what, this thing is too dangerous exposed."

"At least, it's dangerous before you have sufficient Wu Gong."

The old man grew unusually solemn, patted Li Guanyi's shoulder, and laughed as he departed.

Li Guanyi sighed, gazing at the previous Juan Sect documents. He pulled them out, his expression growing solemn. After the old man left, he reviewed the records of the Twenty-Four Generals, spent another half-hour reading, and finally gained insight.

But the first few names made Li Guanyi's expression darken.

"You Changxie, General of Pacification, skilled in lightning raids; once led three thousand men to seize an enemy city in a snowstorm—brave, bold… deceased."

"One night, drunk and off-balance, he fell into water and drowned."

"Yu Chi Shilun, strongman, Can Use Weight, wielded twin iron whips; when facing enemies, he hurled them—none escaped with unbroken liver and brains… During war with Ying state, he was 【recklessly overconfident】; reinforcements failed to arrive in time; he died before the city gate."

"Zhuge Qingkong, executed for treason."

Each name carried a history of battlefield glory, yet all died within ten years.

Li Guanyi fell silent, until at last he saw a title.

"Xue Tianxing—traitor and rebel!"

"At the time, he was city lord; he sealed the city, hosted the Green Gate Banquet, invited all nobles, and declared—"

"When the lord is shamed, the minister dies. Are you not all ministers of Tai Ping Gong? Now our lord is in peril—this is the hour of ultimate sacrifice. Even if he fails, we still uphold our ministerial duty. Beyond the Green Gate, there is death, no retreat! This moment cannot be hesitated—those who follow later will be beheaded!"

All swore their oaths. They slaughtered a beast and formed an alliance.

They rebelled against Chen, still raising banners, upon which the Fire Qilin was emblazoned.

They called it—

Tai Ping Army!