: Stirring up clouds and rain, drawing distant threads; A dream of wealth and glory, a met

"Houtu, belonging to the ancestor of yin soil, possesses a moist quality, stores water and nurtures wood, carries yin and embraces the secluded..."

"This is the wonder of harmonizing one's own earthly energy!"

As Yan Chen recalled the various "Taoist practices" taught by Senior Sister Zhu, he immediately understood the so-called "Houtu".

"The Earth element belongs to Yin, which is Ji Earth!"

"This 'Earth-Bearing Radiance Cauldron' is truly meant to be refined by me!"

After making up his mind, Yan Chen secretly pondered to himself:

"According to the information of cause and effect, half a month later, at the year-end ritual, that heretical elder who has reached the third level of Qi Refining will come to the 'Qing Sheng Sect' to perform the method of soul-seizing and body-grabbing."

Thinking of this, Yan Chen couldn't help but sigh deeply, rubbing his brow and showing a worried expression.

"An elder from another sect who has reached the third level of Qi Refining..."

"Zeng Deyan invited such a person here not just to carry out the body-snatching, but must have had other plans behind it. It's just that the Zhao and Huang families are not of high enough level to know about it."

"But it can also be predicted that it will not be a good thing."

"There are still two weeks left..."

"We must find a way to get our hands on that cauldron and use the 'virtue of Earth' contained within it to break through the third level of Qi Refining."

Yan Chen let out a long sigh, got up and went to the window, gazing at the thin mist over the western mountains and the birds flying across.

He sneered inwardly:

"The heretical path is indeed a heretical path. It is nothing more than a lowly and despicable art, yet it dares to use it recklessly to show off and bewitch people's minds. Does it really think that no one can detect it?"

"Trying to teach a fish to swim is just asking for trouble!"

"Imperial Official, please inquire about the current situation regarding the cause and effect of Zhao Dengke's family's karma today!"

[Target of Insight: Zhao Dengke.]

[Time required: Half an hour.]

……

……

It was late at night, inside a warm room.

The candlelight before the bed was dim, flickering slightly with the faint airflow.

After drinking a bowl of calming herbal tea, Li Xuanyi crawled into bed and fell into a peaceful sleep.

As the nostrils flared, faint wisps of burning air could be seen entering the nasal cavity.

Li Xuanyi's brows furrowed suddenly.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes again.

The surrounding environment has changed dramatically!

Then he found himself sitting upright on the back of a crane. Looking up, he saw clouds swirling and rolling, a vast blue sky, and green mountains all around him—a truly magnificent sight!

Li Xuanyi glanced at the elaborate Taoist robe he wore and the various magical treasures in the storage pouch at his waist. He was only bewildered for a moment before quickly revealing a look of delight.

Riding a crane, they pressed down on the flowing clouds and slowly landed on a mountaintop.

A small pavilion stands on the mountain, with a base of gold and stone, and stone steps extending in all directions.

Li Xuanyi squinted and looked inside the pavilion. There was a young Taoist priest sitting upright. A guqin was placed on a table in front of him. He did not pluck the strings, but the strings played music. The melody was ancient and elegant, lingering and dreamlike.

"Haha! Junior Brother Zhao, you're in high spirits!"

Li Xuanyi strode into the pavilion, flicked his sleeves, and sat down.

Zhao Dengke shook his head and said with a wry smile:

"Junior brother's cultivation has hit a bottleneck, with no hope of breaking through. He can only use this minor path to dispel his worries!"

"What difficulties are you facing in your cultivation, junior brother? Why don't you tell me in detail?"

"Even if I had told you, I'm afraid you would be powerless to help..."

"What exactly happened?"

"To be honest, Senior Brother, I have already reached the peak of the Qi Refining Realm. If I want to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm, I must gather the five elements of 'Qi'. Currently, I only have 'Gold' and 'Water' in my possession. As for the other three, I have no clue where to start..."

"This... is indeed troublesome."

Li Xuanyi pondered for a moment, then patted his storage pouch, and three items landed on the side of the table.

He looked at the other person and said:

"Of these three things, one contains the element of fire, the other two contain the element of wood, and as for the last one, the element of earth... I am powerless to change that."

"Senior brother...are you really going to hand these three items over to your junior brother?"

"Of course, we grew up together and are lifelong friends. Now that you're in trouble, how could I not lend a hand?"

Li Xuanyi waved his hand dismissively.

Immediately, however, he earnestly instructed:

"However, there is one thing: three years from now, Senior Brother intends to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm here. At that time, he hopes that Junior Brother will be here to protect and assist him. Senior Brother does not trust anyone else."

Zhao Dengke nodded emphatically:

"must!"

And so, three years later.

"Junior Brother Zhao! What are you doing?!"

Between heaven and earth, dark clouds rolled, torrential rain poured down, and lightning bolts moved about, a truly terrifying sight.

Li Xuanyi suddenly opened his eyes and saw that his clothes were tattered and stained with blood, and his internal energy was slowly flowing away, lingering around his body and dissipating with the rain.

As he slowly turned his head, he saw Zhao Dengke mocking him with a cold smile:

"Senior brother, my dear senior brother!"

"For decades, we have treated each other with the utmost respect, addressing each other as brothers, as close as if we were born of the same mother. But aren't you being a little too naive?"

"Don't you know, this is the moment I've been waiting for you to overcome your tribulation!"

"Once I kill you and refine the five elements of Qi within you, I can ascend to the Foundation Establishment realm!"

Hearing these words, Li Xuanyi felt a chill in his heart. All the past affections flashed before his eyes like a fleeting glimpse of flowers.

Childhood, Taoism, Taoist tradition... After decades of ups and downs, it finally settles into the scene before my eyes.

"I hate it!"

Li Xuanyi let out a loud cry, and his physical body shattered, releasing a surge of powerful Qi.

Zhao Dengke laughed heartily, then immediately sat cross-legged and slowly began to absorb and refine it.

But without realizing it, his expression slowly stiffened.

"Strange... Didn't Li Xuanyi say that he had all five elements? Why is he still missing the earth element Qi?"

"So be it, so be it. Mere earth-elemental energy can't stump me!"

Then Zhao Dengke flicked his sleeves, stood up and took a few steps forward. In an instant, the light and shadow changed, and he had arrived at his family's ancestral hall.

Above those memorial tablets, an outline covered with red silk came into his view.

Zhao Dengke smiled wryly, raised his hand and tossed the red silk into the air, snatched the cauldron, and without stopping, turned around and rode the clouds into the sky.

The cauldron in his hand, for some reason, seemed to be enveloped by clouds, as light as nothing, and unconsciously drifted away into the distance.

Seeing this, Zhao Dengke couldn't help but feel anxious and reached out to grab it!

However, the next moment, the whole world seemed to roll, and he suddenly fell from the sky, landing in a daze, completely disoriented.

When he opened his eyes again...

He found himself surrounded by darkness and silence, while he sat slumped outside the ancestral hall, clutching a red silk ribbon in his hand, utterly bewildered.

"What a strange dream... How did I fall asleep here?"

Zhao Dengke looked at the red silk in his hand and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately got up and rushed into the ancestral hall.

But the "Houtu Chengguang Cauldron" had vanished without a trace!

"Oh no!"

……

……

Outside the walls of the Zhao family mansion.

Yan Chen waved his sleeve and put away the cauldron.

After the "natal fire" was completely drawn back into the fontanelle and entered the brain's spiritual gate, he took a step and returned to the Green Comb Pavilion.

They come and go without a trace, like the wind and dust.