Chapter 510: Void-Core Five Qi Art! Metal, Fire, Mysterious Water! Liu Jun’s Thread!

Li Yanchu waited patiently. When everything settled, he opened the

Yellow Court Classic

and discovered that the descriptions of the cultivation techniques had changed.

The Qi Cultivation Realm and the Astral Projection Realm were optimized. Most excitingly, the third realm techniques had been updated. Not only were various third realm divine abilities detailed, but there was also a method for breaking into the third realm.

“Void-Core Five Qi Art...” Li Yanchu whispered the name.

It recorded a secret method for breaking the third realm: refining the vital essences of the five internal organs, gathering the five elemental energies of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and consolidating them into the Yellow Court[1]. This would shatter the internal shackles of the body in one stroke and condense the Yang Spirit.

Li Yanchu glanced at the required merit points and couldn’t help widening his eyes.

“Three hundred thousand merit points... This enhancement cost three hundred thousand merit points?!”

He was astonished, but then thought it over. Many powerful sect elders and ancient experts in the world were trapped at the peak of the Yin Spirit realm, unable to find a method to break the third realm.

Even he, after cultivating for a short time, had long been stuck at Yin Spirit’s peak. Now, possessing the Void-Core Five Qi Art, his chance of breaking the third realm increased. Three hundred thousand merit points was well worth it; after all, his life and cultivation were his foundation.

I wonder how long it will take to reach the Five Qi Fusion realm?

Li Yanchu thought to himself.

He quickly entered meditation and began cultivating according to the method recorded in the

Void-Core Five Qi Art

.

In Daoism, the five internal organs correspond to the Five Elements, and this technique required him to completely fuse the vital essence, energy, and spirit within his body into a single furnace. Only by doing so could the shackles be broken and the Yang Spirit achieved.

Although it was a shortcut, the record indicated that it still required three years of effort. For those stuck at the peak of the Yin Spirit realm, three years to break into the Yang Spirit realm was like a golden opportunity falling from the sky.

He quickly entered meditation and soon refined the energies of Geng Metal[2], Li Fire[3], and Xuan Water.

Xuan Water corresponded to the kidneys, and his body already possessed vast life essence. Thus, refining Xuan Water was extremely easy.

With the Fire Official’s Sacred Edict and mastery of the Fire Virtue True Lord’s divine body, refining Li Fire also became effortless.

Geng Metal governed killing and decisiveness, and Li Yanchu’s capacity for decisive action was unmatched among the young generation of the Dao. All the demons, heretical sects, and strange evil spirits he had faced had experienced this firsthand. Refining Geng Metal was also simple; only the energies of Shu Earth[4] and Yi Wood[5] remained unrefined.

“Three energies refined at once?” A hint of delight appeared in Li Yanchu’s eyes.

His own foundation was so profound that he instantly advanced the progress to three-fifths complete. At this rate, breaking into the third realm was only a matter of time.

Li Yanchu took a deep breath, forcing down his excitement, and continued cultivating.

As for the matter of the Prince Qing’s Mansion, which he had learned about through the old scholar, he reported it through the Court of Judicial Review channels.

For now, he could only claim to be an unofficial agent of the Court of Judicial Review. The Kingdom of Qian’s governance of the Central Plains was clearly not as weak as an ordinary county office, and there were undoubtedly deeper forces at work.

For the time being, this matter would be left to the Court of Judicial Review to handle.

Over the next few days, Li Yanchu continued his secluded cultivation at Qingyun Temple. The Shu Earth and Yi Wood energies still had no progress, but he remained patient. After all, breaking into the third realm was no trivial matter and could not be rushed.

On the fourth day after returning from Dongyang County, officials from the Court of Judicial Review arrived with a reward from the imperial government.

As a cultivator, he was not given money; he had no interest in palace affairs and carried the calm, detached aura of a free and wandering hermit. He had no desire to become a court official, so the reward was converted into cultivation resources instead.

“Longhu Golden Pill, Spirit-Replenishing Pill, Three Yang Pill...”

Seeing the top-grade alchemical medicines among the imperial reward, Li Yanchu couldn’t help but sigh, “Truly extravagant.”

Such abundant cultivation resources could only come from the imperial court. There were not only finished pills but also treasures to aid cultivation.

He noticed that two or three of the items were on par with the Firefly Fruit he had acquired in Feiyun Prefecture, and his brow furrowed. Strictly speaking, his merit points were insufficient to redeem so many high-level cultivation aids. The court’s generosity could only have one explanation: they were trying to win him over.

Thinking of this, Li Yanchu felt quietly gratified. After all, he could consider this enjoying the benefits of the court without being tied to it.

Recently, there was one thing that struck Li Yanchu as very strange: it was Liu Jun. It wasn’t anything else in particular; it was just that Liu Jun was unbelievably unlucky, unlucky to the point that she could choke just by drinking cold water. She would go out and get hit on the head by a flowerpot, or get knocked over by a passing carriage.

At first, Li Yanchu thought she was simply careless. But then he realized that even at breakfast in the morning, she almost choked to death. If he weren’t by her side, she probably wouldn’t survive a single day.

Li Yanchu had examined her with Qi Sight. At first, there was no noticeable change. But by the fourth and fifth day of her streak of misfortune, he checked again and found that her qi luck had become extremely weak, as if it had been emptied.

Everyone had some degree of qi luck, though its strength varied. But Liu Jun’s luck was astonishingly low.

Earlier, when he first observed her, she wasn’t like a prodigy with extraordinary destiny, but she was still someone blessed with abundant fortune. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have survived escaping from that mysterious town in the cursed territory.

“Have you encountered anything strange recently?” Li Yanchu asked.

At that moment, Liu Jun had just tumbled down the stairs from the second floor of the Taiping Inn, breaking a leg and covered in bruises. The young girl with twin ponytails, normally pretty, now looked utterly pitiful.

“Nothing particularly strange, I think?” Liu Jun thought hard but still couldn’t recall anything unusual.

“That’s exactly what’s strange. Compared to before, your qi luck has dropped to an extreme low. Usually, this level of decline suggests you’ve been affected by some malign influence, but there’s no trace of evil qi on you.”

Li Yanchu suddenly remembered that when the Eight Trigrams Mirror had scanned Liu Jun before, it had detected a problem with her, but at the time, he hadn’t been able to pinpoint what exactly was wrong.

“Could it be that thing acting up again?” he wondered, and retrieved the Eight Trigrams Mirror.

The treasure, rated at 100,000 merit points, slowly circled around him.

Li Yanchu activated the mirror, and...

boom!

A white divine light shone directly on Liu Jun.

And then something bizarre happened: under both his Qi Sight and Spirit Eyes, there was nothing wrong with her. Yet, right above Liu Jun’s head, a fine thread appeared. If one didn’t look carefully, it was nearly invisible.

“What is this thread?” Li Yanchu furrowed his brow.

He tried various methods to reach it, but the thread remained untouchable, as if it didn’t exist at all. Yet, in the Eight Trigrams Mirror, it was clearly visible.

1. In Daoist cultivation, “Yellow Court” (黄庭) refers to the core center of perception for a person’s essence, energy, and spirit, typically located in the middle of the chest about two to three inches from the center. ☜

2. In Bazi (Eight Characters) astrology, Geng Metal (庚金) represents Yang Metal, symbolizing strength, severity, and hard metals such as swords, knives, and iron. It embodies traits like integrity, decisiveness, chivalry, and resilience. ☜

3. In the I Ching’s Eight Trigrams, Li Fire (离火, ☲) represents fire, symbolizing the south, brightness, civilization, femininity, and the heart. ☜

4. In Bazi (Eight Characters) astrology, Shu Earth (戌土) refers to the eleventh of the twelve Earthly Branches. It represents the dry soil of autumn, high mountains, and fire storage, characterized by an outward firmness with inner gentleness, solid and steady, and a strong sense of loyalty and integrity. It symbolizes tolerance and impartiality. Unlike Wu Earth (戊土), which represents city walls or embankments, Shu Earth carries the imagery of fire storage and dry soil. In the Five Elements, it belongs to Earth. People associated with Shu Earth tend to be trustworthy and reliable, but because autumn soil is prone to dryness, it requires water for nourishment, fire for warmth, and wood to loosen it. ☜

5. Yi Wood (乙木) is one of the Heavenly Stems in traditional Chinese astrology (Bazi) and belongs to Yin Wood. It represents delicate plants such as flowers and vines, symbolizing gentleness, adaptability, and the ability to cling or adjust to circumstances. It thrives with the nourishment of water and soil, as well as sunlight (Bing Fire, 丙火), and often pairs with Jia Wood (甲木) to form the “vine-like Jia” pattern, earning the reputation of being “the indestructible little survivor.” In terms of personality, Yi Wood appears fragile outwardly but is resilient and tenacious inside. It corresponds to the liver, gallbladder, and nerves, and is also metaphorically represented as ropes or roads. In divination systems such as Liu Ren and Qi Men Dun Jia, Yi Wood carries additional specific symbolic meanings. ☜