Chapter 924: Cultivation

Chapter 924: Cultivation

The seven wheels of cultivation are the Root Wheel, the Sacral Wheel, the Navel Wheel, the Sea of Illusions, the Heart Wheel, the Throat Wheel, and the Crown Wheel.

This was the cultivation technique imparted by Dou Mu. The Primordial Qi was the reason why Li Huowang, as a Heart-Element, could cultivate. Each time he utilized the divine light from the eyes of his consciousness to envelop the Primordial Qi and push it into one of the seven wheels, his control over cultivation would grow stronger.

When Li Huowang first fully mastered the Root Wheel, he could briefly transmute a stone into a real apple.

When he mastered the Sacral Wheel, he could liquefy the earth beneath his feet and deflect incoming arrows.

And when he mastered the Navel Wheel, he could conjure fire from nothingness and twist a man into a pile of sludge with a mere gaze.

This time, as the divine light and Primordial Qi of three Heart-Elements surged into his body, he began his push toward the next wheel.

With more divine light dragging the Primordial Qi, he could pull more of it at once, accelerating his progress.

Yet, Li Huowang felt a subtle sense that these powers were slipping from his grasp; after all, they did not belong to him, and he dared not lose focus for a single moment.

In this state, Li Huowang lost track of time, unaware of what was transpiring in the world outside. His mind held only one thought: cultivation.

His focus was stretched to the breaking point as he channeled the divine light to pull the Primordial Qi within him. The volume had tripled, and his speed had visibly increased.

The iron-willed, immovable Primordial Qi gradually began to overlap with the next wheel. At the final moment of convergence, Li Huowang’s consciousness exploded; his awareness scattered, and he knew nothing more.

When Li Huowang finally regained his senses, he found himself hovering in mid-air, while Li Sui watched him from afar, looking as if facing a formidable enemy.

The original furnishings of the room had vanished. All around him was a vast, empty, white void, a stark departure from the meditation chamber he had known.

Li Huowang scanned his surroundings, and with a mere thought, the vanished chairs, beams, and floorboards instantly materialized, returning to exactly how they had been before his meditation.

His cultivation ability had grown stronger, and its range had expanded; Li Huowang estimated he could now influence things dozens of meters away.

"Father, it seems the method I suggested truly worked. It only took—" "Wait!"

Drenched in cold sweat, Li Huowang cut Li Sui off. "Stop talking, bring me food and water!"

Soon, his demands were met. After devouring the meal, he didn't even glance at Li Sui before collapsing onto the floor to sleep.

Upon waking, feeling refreshed, Li Huowang explained to Li Sui, "After I cultivate, I must eat. Don't tell me how long I was under; if it was too long, I fear I might have starved myself to death."

Only by satisfying the needs of food, drink, and sleep before learning the duration of his fast could he put the trouble behind him.

"Speak, then. Picking up from before, what were you saying?" Li Huowang plucked a hair from his head, stuck it in his mouth like a toothpick, and began cleaning his teeth.

"I meant that the cultivation didn't take long—only two days. Our method is effective."

"No, it is not enough," Li Huowang shook his head. "Last time, I tricked him with the help of the dice. If Zuo Qiu-yong returns, he will likely bring the full might of the Heavenly Chen."

"A living Incarnation of a God and an entire world turned against us—that is no laughing matter."

"Since we have committed to this path, we must raise me to the seventh wheel before Zuo Qiu-yong makes his move! You must remember, I am only at the fourth."

As he said this, Li Huowang kept a thought to himself: even if he reached the seventh wheel, he might not be a match for Zuo Qiu-yong, an Incarnation of a God on earth.

The only consolation was that he was not fighting alone; both the Great Qi and the Great Liang stood on his side.

"The more Heart-Elements, the better. Find as many as you can. Use every means necessary to bring all the Heart-Elements in the world to me." Li Huowang patted Li Sui on the shoulder, preparing to resume his cultivation immediately.

He still lacked enough Primordial Qi and divine light, but clutching at straws was better than doing nothing.

"Father, are there Heart-Elements in the Great Qi? Should we ask them for help as well?"

"Ha, Heart-Elements in the Great Qi? I doubt there are many left alive. We cannot count on them for this."

"Go back and tell Gao Zhijian not to be too clever with his schemes. Do not expect the Great Qi alone to hold back the Heavenly Chen; it is hopeless."

"I know the Dragon Veins are precious and the Dragon Qi accumulates slowly, but regardless, this is the time to use them."

"If we do not use the Dragon Veins now, we will never have the chance again. He will be fit for nothing but to serve as a footstool for that hermaphrodite Zuo Qiu-yong."

The breakthrough Li Huowang envisioned still lay in traveling to White Jade Capital. He refused to believe that after doing such great favors for those Gods, they would just stand by and watch him die. What could those Gods possibly be so busy with?

"Very well, Father. I shall go at once. You need not worry about these trifles; leave them to me."

Watching Li Sui depart, Li Huowang sat cross-legged, ready to resume his practice. But just as he closed his eyes, he suddenly felt he had forgotten something important.

"Strange, what did I forget?" After pondering for a long while, he suddenly reached toward his own head.

With a gentle scrape of his fingernail, his scalp parted. Another stroke, and his pale skull opened. Li Huowang reached into his own brain, rummaged around, and with a light tug, pulled out a blood-stained red-center mahjong tile.

This tile had been planted in his brain by the dice to relay news of the natural disasters. The mission was complete, yet the tile remained. Li Huowang did not believe for a second that this was merely the dice's negligence.

"That fellow is truly treacherous, harboring malice in his heart. I must keep a close watch on him next time we meet." With a forceful squeeze, Li Huowang crushed the tile into powder.

As he closed his eyes to cultivate once more, Li Sui stood outside, gazing at the meditation chamber.

The view from the inside was entirely different from the outside. The wooden hut appeared completely distorted and disintegrating; newness and decay existed simultaneously.

All of this was caused by Li Huowang’s cultivation. Why such a phenomenon occurred, perhaps even he did not know.

Yet, this bizarre, teetering structure did not collapse; instead, it breathed like a living creature.

"Tell the others to clear this area. No one is to remain here." This was only the fourth wheel of cultivation; heaven only knew what would happen next.

Xuan Pin did not want the Great Liang's Imperial Observatory to be wiped out by his own father before the battle had even begun.

"As you command, my lord," Zhuzi replied from the side.