Chapter 223: This is too much...

Two severed heads lay before Li Qi, startling him.

It wasn't the heads themselves that scared him; after all, he had seen countless dead bodies and could converse casually on the battlefield, so he wasn't afraid of corpses.

It was… the pressure emanating from these heads.

Even in death, it made Li Qi silent with fear, his heart pounding.

It was like standing on the ground, facing a planet plummeting towards him.

If he remained there, he would soon be annihilated by the great cosmic collision.

Fortunately, it was just a feeling…

Moreover, to be honest, such feelings also had their limits.

When Li Qi was unranked, he faced a Sixth Grade Demon King; when he was Ninth Grade, he directly confronted a Fifth Grade Lu Mountain God; and just now, while presiding over the Grand Ritual, he witnessed a Third Grade battle firsthand.

Honestly, he was almost used to it…

People can become numb; no matter how stimulating this feeling was, after a few times, it became just that.

However, at this moment, Zhu Fengdan suddenly spoke.

He squatted down with an apologetic expression, patting Li Qi's shoulder: “My apologies, Disciple, I promised to twist off three heads for you, but the opponent resisted too fiercely, and that Earth Immortal was not to be trifled with; he still managed to rescue one. Consider it a debt I owe you, Master, and I'll make it up to you later.”

Li Qi broke into a cold sweat hearing this; even though he was already considered incredibly brave, hearing these words made him tremble with fear.

Senior, please, spare me.

He quickly stood up from the trembling Shen Shuibi's embrace, only to suddenly realize that his body… felt somewhat different.

Inside his body, it was as if there was an entire Guangyang Prefecture?

His human body's small heaven and earth expanded rapidly, already as vast as the entire Guangyang Prefecture.

Mountain ranges and water veins converged, and mountain gods and water gods had naturally been born.

Under the overall planning of his Nascent Soul, the power from the Grand Ritual had already fully constructed the Sun and Moon Heavenly Gods and the mountain and water Di Qi (Earthly Qi).

His inner body spirits were complete.

Eighth Grade, achieved.

Moreover…

He had never felt himself so clear; he had already vaguely touched upon the path to Seventh Grade.

His inner body spirits were already complete; the next step… was to gradually construct his own human body's small heaven and earth?

In the human body's small heaven and earth, besides the gods, there should be other things.

Perfecting these, constructing a Guangyang Prefecture identical to the one in reality, and then Seventh Grade would be achieved.

Originally, there would have been various difficulties, such as establishing connections with reality, collecting all Qi, and then, using Qi and the projection of the human body's small heaven and earth in reality, gradually perfecting his human body's small heaven and earth, and so on.

Under normal circumstances, although there was no talk of a Bottleneck, spending decades or even a century to complete this meticulous work was very normal.

But now, he had directly completed it in one step.

The path to Seventh Grade had been solidified, all the frameworks were already in place, waiting only for him to fill them, and he could directly ascend to Seventh Grade, with no obstacles in between.

To use Chan Zhi the monk as an example, for him to advance from Seventh Grade to Sixth Grade, he needed to build a seven-story Pagoda. He didn't know how he built the previous few stories, but just for the fifth story Pagoda that Li Qi knew about, Chan Zhi the monk's method was to collect Karma from tens of thousands of households, then piece together the framework for the fifth story, and then slowly fill it in.

This was just the fifth story, and for the entire seven-story Pagoda, each layer used a different method.

Originally, Li Qi should also have gone through such a long process, but now, he had directly achieved it in one step; all the preliminary preparations were already complete. Not only had he advanced to Eighth Grade, but even the path to Seventh Grade was unobstructed, lacking only accumulation.

However, he only briefly experienced it, then immediately cupped his hands and bowed: “Master…”

“Eh, relax, why so stiff? Your Master, I, have never been bound by worldly rituals.” Zhu Fengdan said with a bright smile. With a gentle pat, Li Qi was forced to stand straight, unable to bend his waist.

Li Qi was helpless and could only nod, then, standing straight, he bowed to the other elder: “Greetings, Senior, thank you, Senior and Master, for your timely intervention this time, saving us.”

As he spoke, Li Qi also observed his surroundings.

Shen Shuibi cowered behind Li Qi, her head bowed, not daring to speak.

Clearly, she didn't have as big a heart as Li Qi.

Or rather… she understood more than Li Qi.

The more one knew, the more one feared.

These two individuals before them, each was no weaker than Empress Luofu; that Grand Invoker was even stronger than Empress Luofu.

As a former Fifth Grade, she understood this terror better than Li Qi.

The rabbit was naturally timid. She had no place to hide just now because she was holding Li Qi, so she could only endure. Now that Li Qi stood up, she naturally hid behind him.

Fortunately, neither Zhu Fengdan nor Yun Fang proactively sought her out.

There was no need; from their appearance, it was clear that communicating with her would likely be useless. It was better to observe the 'culprit' who caused this conflict.

Yun Fang assessed Li Qi.

Well-proportioned, eyes gleaming with spirit, radiating vitality; he was a young man who easily made a good impression.

And, looking at what he had done…

Good, good.

Both intelligent and brave, with self-awareness, decisive and astute in his actions, his Comprehension Ability was not bad, he was steady in character, fair in his dealings, and handled human relations appropriately. Although he had no talent for combat, Shamanes didn't really care much about that anyway.

How can there be a perfect person? Let the martial artists and barbarians train in combat talent; it has nothing to do with Shamanes.

Such a good child, alas, how did he end up following Zhu Fengdan?

“Hey, Old Man Yun, what are you thinking?” Zhu Fengdan suddenly sensed something and stared at Yun Fang with an unkind expression.

“Cough cough, nothing, I just think this child is really good.” Yun Fang coughed dryly, saying so.

Zhu Fengdan heard this and laughed heartily, full of pride: “That's natural, how could the person I choose be wrong?”

After his moment of pride, he urged Li Qi: “Come, Disciple, put them away. If I say it's your gift, then it's your gift.”

Li Qi was momentarily stunned, then immediately reacted…

Wait, Master is telling him to put away the heads on the ground?

Seeing Li Qi frozen, Young Master Zhu proactively said: “These things are still worth some money. Although they can't compare to true Third Grade items, their essence is only Fifth Grade. However, they are barely touched by some official's Dao Resonance. You might find them useful in the future, so put them away. You should have a mustard seed bag; just put them in there casually.”

“Uh… uh, then, thank you, Master.” Li Qi gave an awkward laugh and put them away.

Although putting away human heads felt a bit unsettling, Master said they were 'worth some money'.

If they were worth something to him, then for Li Qi, all the money he had accumulated in his entire first half of his life probably wouldn't be enough to buy a single strand of hair from these things.

With that thought, the unsettling feeling in Li Qi's heart disappeared, and he busily put them away.

“I still owe you one, and I'll make it up to you when I have the chance.” Zhu Fengdan was quite generous. Seeing Li Qi accept them, he smiled, seemingly in a very good mood.

It was only then that Li Qi noticed that everything on this altar seemed normal.

But outside the altar, the people outside… why weren't they moving? Even the leaves blown by the wind had stopped.

Yun Fang noticed Li Qi's expression, and this seemingly benevolent old man explained: “This space has been encompassed by my human body's small heaven and earth. I have adjusted the flow rate of time, so it won't be disturbed by the outside world.”

Li Qi was startled to hear this.

Adjust the flow of time? Can that even be done?

Zhu Fengdan, however, seemed very displeased that Yun Fang was bringing up cultivation matters at this moment, so he immediately changed the topic: “Alright, Old Man Yun, don't be so formal. Oh, and that rabbit over there, what do you want to drink? And you, Disciple?”

“Tea is fine. As for Shen Guniang, she likes sour plum juice.” Li Qi immediately replied.

“What strange tastes… Never mind, whatever.” Zhu Fengdan waved his hand, and the surrounding scene suddenly changed. Li Qi found himself sitting directly on a chair, with Shen Shuibi beside him.

A table suddenly appeared before him, laden with tea, pastries, and sour plum juice.

Across the table were Zhu Fengdan and Yun Fang, each holding a scroll.

Shen Shuibi nervously clutched Li Qi's sleeve, not daring to look directly at the two of them.

Li Qi knew that the pleasantries were over, and it was time for serious business.

He swallowed, then picked up the tea and took a sip.

A misty Qi immediately spread from his abdomen.

His body solidified, his Spirit Soul became clear, all hidden injuries completely vanished, the injuries from the backlash of the Grand Ritual were directly healed, and even the quality of his human body's small heaven and earth slightly improved…

This, this was tea?

This stuff was a divine medicine!

Li Qi comfortably narrowed his eyes, but immediately came to his senses, quickly resuming a proper sitting posture.

Yun Fang saw this and smiled kindly: “Isn't it wonderful? Your Master secretly dug it up from Penglai. For three immortal tea trees from Penglai Immortal Mountain, several Earth Immortals pursued him for twenty years, and in the end, it was the Shaman God who had to intervene to settle the matter. But fortunately, Shaman God Mountain has been selling this tea since then, though the price is quite steep.”

Li Qi bowed his head, eyes fixed on his nose, pretending not to hear this.

“Cough cough, alright, why talk about such irrelevant things?” Zhu Fengdan straightened his face, interrupting Yun Fang, who seemed about to continue: “Let's talk about the main business.”

“Disciple, do you know why we appeared here?” Zhu Fengdan asked Li Qi, holding the scroll.

“I don't know. Could it be because someone wanted to attack me?” Li Qi shook his head, indicating he didn't know, while also guessing.

He truly didn't know about this matter.

From Li Qi's perspective, he was holding the Grand Ritual, and halfway through, several Third Grade Cultivators suddenly appeared.

Then, just as suddenly, Master appeared and chopped off two heads for him.

That was how simple the matter was.

He knew nothing of the underlying reasons, nor could he.

However, he also had a feeling in his heart that things definitely weren't that simple.

What kind of person was he?

To have Third Grade Cultivators chase and kill him, was he even worthy?

So, he felt that he must have been accidentally caught in the crossfire, but Master was still very reliable. Although he didn't intervene when facing the Seventh Grade and Fifth Grade Cultivators, he still managed to protect him at this critical moment.

At this moment, he heard Young Master Zhu say: “This matter, to be precise, starts with that rabbit. Oh, by the way, tell me your thought process. Come on, tell me, how did you think of giving away the Celestial Pole Golden Elixir Method?”

Zhu Fengdan pointed at Shen Shuibi, seemingly very puzzled.

The rabbit bowed her head, trembling.

Li Qi immediately stood up: “Master, please don't blame her. Shen Guniang was worried that I couldn't complete the Grand Ritual, so she proactively came to help me. It's just that many of the materials and books are Shaman God Mountain classics and cannot be shown to outsiders, so she offered this as an exchange, simply to help me. The matter of the exchange was also my own decision, but I wonder… did this violate any taboos?”

He was puzzled. This matter seemed to be to their advantage, so why did it involve several Third Grade Cultivators? Was there something wrong with the Celestial Pole Golden Elixir Method?

Yun Fang spoke at this moment.

This elder had a benevolent face and a gentle tone: “There are taboos, but it's also our fault for not telling you in advance. Now I will tell you…”

However, Zhu Fengdan suddenly interrupted: “Old man, don't talk nonsense! What taboos? Does my Disciple not even have the authority over some Third Grade classics? Forget exchanging them, what if he gave them away for free?”

Yun Fang saw this and could only smile helplessly, then changed his wording: “Alright, alright, there really are no taboos. It was fine for you to make the decision to exchange these. I'll still tell you the specific situation.”

“This matter starts with the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron.”

The rabbit was startled. She, who had been shrinking and silent, suddenly raised her head and said: “Great Shaman… do I need to withdraw for a moment?”

Yun Fang glanced at Shen Shuibi, his tone serious: “No need. This matter concerns you. You stay here and listen carefully.”

Zhu Fengdan slapped the table: “Old Man Yun, can you be a bit nicer?!”

Yun Fang was silent, then took a deep breath.

Third Grade Cultivators don't actually need to breathe, but he felt he absolutely had to take a breath.

Li Qi pretended not to see it from the side.

This old Master… his benevolent expression was almost turning ferocious.

They won't start fighting, will they?

If he wasn't afraid of being beaten to death here, Li Qi would have stood up and said to Young Master Zhu, “Master, please say less…”

Wait, can Master read minds?

At this thought, Li Qi immediately lowered his head and played dead, silently reciting one, two, three, four, five in his mind.

Fortunately, Yun Fang's self-restraint was good enough, and he didn't dwell on the matter. After taking a deep breath to calm himself, he continued: “This is related to the hidden secrets of the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron.”

Saying this, Yun Fang began to explain to Li Qi why someone had come to him.

Spiritual Artifacts can actually develop wills. In fact, many Spiritual Artifacts are already completely identical to Cultivators.

They can also cultivate independently and advance independently.

Although these Spiritual Artifacts have different origins, they have actually become a kind of alternative Cultivator.

As long as they reach Fourth Grade or above, Spiritual Artifacts are basically no different from normal Cultivators, it's just that their cultivation methods are different, and it's very common for Spiritual Artifacts to achieve the Dao.

In fact, it's also very normal for Cultivators to become living Spiritual Artifact frames.

A demonic sword controlling a Cultivator to kill and slaughter—such things are simply too common. This is no different from a person wielding a sword, just reversed.

The Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron was such an existence, but it was not some demonic sword or the like, but a legitimate Second Grade of the orthodox Dao sect.

Empress Luofu, on the other hand, was his Dao Companion.

“The Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron contains the opportunity to advance to First Grade,” Yun Fang said.

The chapter number is wrong, please ignore it.