Chapter 377: Heart Element

Chapter 377: Heart Essence

"Dad?" Li Sui raised her two eyeballs, gazing up at the heart that beat rapidly above her.

She didn’t know why, but her father’s heartbeat sometimes raced so fast—it was quite amusing.

Seeing that Li Huowang ignored her, Li Sui cautiously extended one of her tendrils to poke him. When there was still no response, she pulled it back and tried again, this time tugging downward.

"Hiss—! What in the world are you doing?! Be more careful!"

Startled by Li Huowang's sharp rebuke, Li Sui quickly retracted her tendrils.

Having been scolded, she dared not move about anymore. She nestled in place, playing with the black spindle her father had given her.

She didn’t know what a spindle was, but since her father called it that, she would call it that too.

Holding her two eyeballs, she circled the spindle several times, then began to feel bored again.

But she didn’t want to leave. Being inside her father’s belly felt comfortable and peaceful; she liked that feeling.

After some thought, Li Sui wrapped her tendrils around the eyeballs and crawled through her father’s navel, carefully observing the outside world.

Before her stood a table. On it was only a cup of tea. Her father looked anxious, as if waiting for something.

"Where is this place?" Li Sui tried her best to hear the sounds around her, but everything was muffled and incomprehensible.

"Oh, someone’s coming," Li Sui curiously watched a plump-faced man approaching, who held a stack of books in his hands.

"Why is he carrying books? Is dad going to teach me to read again? I don’t want to read anymore."

When the man placed the books on the table, Li Sui also looked over. But she knew very few characters. "Heart essence? What does that mean?"

Just as she was about to take a closer look, she noticed her father had already picked up the book, blocking her view.

Li Huowang’s pupils trembled slightly as he scanned the pages. He read each word carefully, unwilling to miss even one, because these pages contained information about Heart Essence!

After quickly reading the first few pages, Li Huowang paused slightly. Indeed, the book did record information about Heart Essence.

But it wasn’t the information he wanted. Instead, it described how to combine Heart Essence eyes with Heart Mucus hair to forge so-called magical artifacts.

"Switch!" Li Huowang quickly grabbed another book and started reading again.

He flipped through book after book, all detailing methods for forging Heart Essence bodies and minds. This made Li Huowang increasingly agitated.

These were things he could never use. Could he really make magical artifacts from his own organs?

As Li Huowang turned pages faster and faster, a sharp bird cry suddenly interrupted him.

"Why do you want to read about Heart Essence? Do you have some yourself?"

When Li Huowang turned his head, he saw Sima Lan—who had just left—returning!

Looking at the books about Heart Essence beside him, a chill ran down Li Huowang’s neck. Could he suspect him now?!

After a brief moment, Li Huowang calmly set down the book and explained, "I saw somewhere that the North Wind is Heart Essence. I just wanted to know what Heart Essence truly is."

"Didn’t the elders of Ao Jing Sect teach you?" Sima Lan asked.

Li Huowang reached behind his back and took off the cloth bag. As he lifted the cloth, the wooden stick with the Heart Essence tongue embedded in it appeared.

"When I was at the Crossroads Temple, someone mentioned it. They told us that Heart Essence is a living celestial treasure, and we must coax it rather than force it. But they never told us why."

"So we have to coax the North Wind too? How can we fight then?"

Sima Lan nodded slightly. "I see. Then you needn’t investigate the Four Treasuries. Since you’re already a member of the Geng Flag, let me tell you myself."

Just as Li Huowang opened his eyes in surprise, Sima Lan spoke. "The Master once said: 'There is birth without birth, transformation without change. Those who do not give birth can give birth; those who do not transform can transform. Birth cannot avoid birth, and transformation cannot avoid transformation. Thus, there is constant birth and constant transformation. Those who constantly birth and transform are never without time.'"

Hearing these words, Li Huowang began to feel a headache coming on. He quickly raised his hand to stop him. "Brother Sima, please speak plainly. I’ve never attended private school—I’m a rough man. Just tell me directly: what is Heart Essence?"

Upon hearing this, Sima Lan frowned slightly, a fleeting look of disdain and contempt flashing in his gaze toward Li Huowang.

But facing Li Huowang, he tapped the blind bird beside him. The bird immediately began to answer in simple terms.

"According to the Master, ordinary people have ten emotions and eight sufferings. But Heart Essence is different—he has ten emotions and eight sufferings, plus an innate primordial qi."

"When the primordial form changes into shape, the shape has substance but is not yet complete—it is called Heart Essence. Heart Essence possesses this extraordinary innate qi. His ten emotions and eight sufferings can transform into the primordial form, merging with the Dao of Heaven."

"If you confront Heart Essence harshly and push him to his limits, should he unleash that innate qi, even gods cannot save him."

Hearing this, Li Huowang swallowed hard. "What would be the consequences?"

"Ripping mountains apart, summoning storms, all at his will!"

At this point, Sima Lan’s voice dropped significantly, as if frightened by his own words.

"Hmm?" Li Huowang blinked slightly, stunned. Ripping mountains apart, summoning storms—was this really him? Was this really Heart Essence?

His gaze shifted to the faceless red man behind Sima Lan, the monk without malice, Peng Longteng without a head, and Jinshan Zhao with only half a body.

"This doesn't match! The Heart Essence described by this person is completely different from mine! Why didn’t he mention hallucinations? Why didn’t he say dead people follow him? Why didn’t he mention that Heart Essence’s body can shift?"

"Heh heh heh, this Mohist boy obviously doesn’t know anything. He’s just reciting from memory. Do you really think he’s ever seen a living Heart Essence?" The Red Man suddenly appeared, mocking him.

"Oh no, wait—this boy actually has seen a living Heart Essence. Right here in front of him, hahaha!!"

Li Huowang’s eye twitched slightly. Ignoring Red Man’s mockery, he continued asking Sima Lan, "If dealing with ordinary Heart Essence is so dangerous, wouldn’t dealing with the North Wind be even worse?"

Sima Lan nodded. "Yes. Think about it—how hard is it to coax someone from the Way of Forgetfulness? That’s why that person became one of the Four Joys of the Way of Forgetfulness."

"How do we deal with the North Wind??" Li Huowang asked again.

"If the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau had a way to deal with the North Wind, they’d have eliminated him long ago. Why let him run around freely?"

Hearing this, Li Huowang’s expression darkened. The information in his words was vast—he needed to sort it out carefully.

(End of Chapter)