Chapter 581: Ziwei Lineage

In Outer Void, a seemingly flowing ball of light burned.

Great Fire.

Though called Great Fire, it wasn't scorching; instead, it was somewhat warm, pulsating like a heart. With each beat, it seemed to stir up wisps of smoke that drifted along with the Qi leaking from the Great Fire. Li Qi felt a warm breeze caress his face, bringing peace and tranquility to his mind.

A serene and tranquil warm sphere of light—this was the true essence of the Great Fire.

This wasn't the explosive star Li Qi had imagined, a gigantic fireball on the verge of a supernova, nor was it some strange, fierce, unapproachable mass of magma or a superstorm formed by a gathering of fire Qi.

It was merely a sphere of light emitting a gentle, warm glow. It wasn't particularly large, only slightly bigger than an ordinary world, and its temperature was like that of a hot spring. From within the Great Fire, a vibrant life force emanated, as if countless beings were flourishing, their blessings reaching all corners of the universe.

Warm, soft breezes danced, and gentle light lingered.

Buds stirred and blossomed, and all light became new.

Boundless warmth, boundless beneficence.

Radiant and vibrant, stars drove and supported the wheel.

Li Qi felt as if he had seen the fount of life itself. Merely existing there, it continuously burst forth with a nearly infinite life force, nurturing the entire starry sky.

Moreover, there was no gravity.

Yes, no gravity. The Great Fire seemed like an illusion, as if it didn't exist in this world, completely devoid of the gravity that mass brings. Or… was its gravity eliminated by something?

He didn't know, couldn't understand, so Li Qi decided not to ponder the question.

“Eight inner spiritual auxiliaries, four outer luminous oceans, stars residing in myriad universes, adorning myriad realms, the central sky bright with dawn, the five planets clear at night… Great Fire… truly worthy of being the very center of ‘Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu)’. No wonder the name ‘Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu)’ is so, it truly is a ‘heart’.” Li Qi gazed at the warm sphere of light, sighing in admiration.

At this moment, Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu) Star Lord replied, “Great Fire is where life force resides. As the saying goes, when the sun is long and the star of fire is in its proper place, it signifies midsummer. When the Great Fire is directly overhead, it is when life force is most abundant, suitable for planting millet and beans. In the star charts woven by the ancient Star Officials, Great Fire is also an important place of life.”

After this brief introduction, Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu) Star Lord began to dissipate his Dharma body, instructing as he faded, “The Great Fire has been brought. I shall depart first. Young Master, remember not to be impolite. Farewell.”

With that, before Li Qi could even reply, the other party’s Dharma body had already vanished.

He left rather… hastily, as if he didn't want to work overtime.

But then again, it probably was overtime, wasn't it? After all, Li Qi had summoned a God, and directly summoned their true body, which was indeed a bit presumptuous.

Although Li Qi had offered sacrifices, so it wasn't unpaid labor. Otherwise, the other party wouldn't have guided him for so long.

Putting those matters aside, Li Qi slowly approached the Great Fire.

After a while, he landed on top of the Great Fire.

Standing directly on the Great Fire, it couldn't burn anyone.

It was just… so desolate.

Around him, there was only Li Qi. There wasn't even the Qi presence of other Cultivators. He supposed the suppression of the external Dao had hindered most people.

With that layer of Dao suppression, the Heavenly Dao limit was suppressed to only 1.5 times. Li Qi had to rely on the help of a God and take several breaths to reach this place. It was even more impossible for people weaker than Li Qi to come here.

Conservatively estimated, at least a Fifth-Rank person would be qualified to come here alone. But Fifth-Rank people probably had no need to come to this place, which is why there were so few people?

Never mind that. For a Void Realm wonder like the Great Fire, there probably weren't many people brave enough to come here.

Everyone with a bit of knowledge in the entire world knew that the Great Fire was the Dao foundation of an ancient Star Official. Approaching it casually was playing with one's life.

“Let’s try this cultivation method first.” Li Qi cast aside all extraneous thoughts, muttering to himself as he began to try the cultivation method that the Shen Yijun elder had given him.

As for the origin of this cultivation method, Li Qi had already guessed it. Most likely, some Great Power had made a move in their grand game, and it had landed on him.

But what did that matter?

It was just like what Li Qi had once said to Li Shiwei about that Seventh-Rank world.

This world always has crossroads. If not this one, then that one. Don't worry about how the crossroads came to be; the key is for you to decide how to walk your path.

If you constantly worry about whether your path is arranged by others, then you shouldn't have been born.

After all, your birth was certainly not your own choice; it was chosen by your parents. Your parents decided that you should be born, which is why you could be born. This is the most extreme form of forced arrangement, but only heartless people would resent such a decision.

Worrying about such things is like worrying about the value of silver.

You see, silver… Li Qi used to think that the Human Dao’s silver had anti-counterfeit marks or something, and everyone could mine silver, but only silver marked by the Human Dao was useful.

But later, after reading books in the Shaman God Mountain library, he discovered that among all the myriad worlds, only Human Dao worlds produced silver.

Silver from other worlds had been ‘erased’.

Except for the Human Dao’s territory, all other places did not produce silver.

A Dao that spanned across all myriad worlds—the Dao of that Human Dao Minister of Revenue, ‘Lord Qian’—had, with the help of the Human Dao Dragon Veins, altered the definition of ‘five metals’ throughout the entire heavens, causing silver to become an absolutely precious resource, absolutely controlled by the Human Dao. All silver was necessarily produced by the Human Dao.

It could be said that the paths of all people in the myriad worlds were affected, manipulated. Cultivating metal-element spells would naturally lack one of the five metals, and could even lead to an incomplete Dao.

So what to do? Are you going to find the Human Dao and ask them to release the ‘five metals’ again?

Therefore, there was no need to dwell on these matters. Just focus on each step and strive to move forward. Even if he wanted to demand the five metals from the Human Dao, he would have to get there first, wouldn't he?

So, he simply couldn't be bothered with the origin of this cultivation method, nor was he as terrified as before when he sensed Heavenly will. He had completely grown accustomed to it.

Arrangement is arrangement, so what? Are you going to eat me?

Thinking this, Li Qi successfully operated the cultivation method.

Then, he felt that the Great Fire’s gravity had reappeared.

“Hmm?” Li Qi felt his body being pulled, and… the Great Fire beneath his feet also became soft.

He was being drawn into the Great Fire.

However, Li Qi did not stop.

The intense life force emanating from the Great Fire, and that warm, soft feeling, made his sixth sense feel extremely safe.

Li Qi was slowly pulled into the Great Fire, his body enveloped by light.

In that instant, Li Qi suddenly felt…

Sweetness?

It was hard to say. He was somewhat astonished. This wasn't some strange sensation; it was simply sweetness.

Why would there be sweetness?

This question popped into Li Qi’s mind.

At this moment, suddenly, a voice sounded in his ear: “Because this is the taste of ‘Qi’. You’ve eaten so much ‘Qi’, haven’t you felt it?”

Li Qi immediately responded, “The taste of Qi? I don’t know. I’ve never eaten it before. Can Qi be eaten? Shouldn’t Qi form matter, and matter combine to become ingredients, and only then can these ingredients be eaten?”

He didn't ask who it was. As long as the other party was willing to communicate, he would ask his questions first.

“Since everything you eat is Qi, what’s the difference?” the voice countered.

Li Qi replied, “Isn't that nonsense? If everything eaten is Qi, then why bother with distinctions between matter? Even if it's all Qi, the differences are huge. Water Qi and Fire Qi can combine to form harmless cloud Qi, or they can transform into highly toxic miasma. There must be a difference.”

This was like saying that since everything eaten is atoms, then the molecular formula doesn't matter.

If it's all sodium, are sodium chloride and sodium cyanide the same? One is common salt, the other is a deadly poison that kills with 0.1 grams.

The voice asked strangely again, “Isn't the Qi you cultivate and take into your body also Qi? This Qi forms everything your body needs, which is why you can now abstain from grains and not eat, isn't it? So what’s so special about directly eating Qi?”

“Oh, ‘Those who eat grass are good at walking but foolish; those who eat meat are brave and fierce; those who eat grains are wise and clever; those who eat Qi are divine and long-lived; those who eat nothing are immortal and divine’—is that the saying?” Li Qi said, “But the ‘eating Qi’ in that saying refers to extracting the essence from things, not directly eating Qi. What’s the use of directly eating Qi? It can’t be absorbed, it still needs to be refined by cultivation method.”

“Why use cultivation method to refine it? Oh, wait, are you from outside?” The voice sounded a bit surprised.

“Uh, yes, I’m from outside, just arrived.” Li Qi nodded at this point, frankly admitting it.

The voice said with a sudden realization, “An outsider… I haven’t seen one in a long time. Indeed, if you’re an outsider, then it’s true. You can’t directly ingest Qi. No, wait, if you can’t directly ingest Qi either, then how did you taste it? Aren’t you unable to ingest Qi?”

“Huh? You’re asking me? I don’t know.” Li Qi shrugged.

He still didn't know where he was, so how could he know such inexplicable things?

“Right, being new here, you must be very curious, right? Curious why you came here, curious why you closed your eyes and opened them, and this is where you were.” The voice then said.

“No, I’m not curious.” Li Qi immediately replied.

What was there to be curious about? He came here on his own initiative.

Although Li Qi couldn't actually see anything right now—he was like he was soaking in a shimmering bath of light, unable to see anything, and unaware of what his surroundings truly looked like.

“Hmm? You’re not curious? Do you know where this is?!” The voice raised its volume.

“Inside the Great Fire, what’s wrong?” Li Qi was a bit curious now. What was this voice?

Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, the voice fell silent.

Then, Li Qi felt the light enveloping him begin to recede.

The warm yellow light dissipated, allowing Li Qi to float steadily in a vast, empty space. There was still light around him, but it no longer obscured his vision, so he could clearly distinguish how much was truly around him.

However, in reality, there was nothing.

Then, a pale white orb of light appeared before Li Qi, and the previous voice sounded again: “You came in by yourself? How did you get in?”

“Let’s not talk about that yet.” Li Qi waved his hand. “Let’s introduce ourselves first, so we don’t talk past each other. I am Li Qi, from Shaman God Mountain. May I ask your name, brother?”

“My name is Xinluo. Um… I’m from the Great Fire, and I’ve never been out.” The orb of light said.

“Hmm… Are you a God?” Li Qi looked at the small orb, asking.

It truly resembled a God. The other party had no physical body; it was a pure energy body, filled with endless ‘Qi’.

However, it had no rank. If one had to assign a rank, it would be unranked.

But despite being unranked, the Qi within the other party was pure and vast, and extremely easy to digest, with high quality. It was simply like a super Medicinal Pill. If a Sixth-Rank Martial Artist were to consume this orb, their Martial Dao Inner Qi would likely multiply several times over.

This characteristic was somewhat similar to another lineage of Gods he had recently learned about from the Star Officials.

Another kind of ‘God’ existing independently of the Star Officials—the True Gods of the Ziwei Heavenly Court Lineage.

“Yes, I am a God, but I haven’t been born yet. Once I’m born, then I’ll be a God!” Xinluo said, excitedly circling Li Qi. “So what about you? How did you get in? Sometimes there are outsiders here, but they’re all people who got some kind of fortuitous encounter. You don’t seem to be from a fortuitous encounter, but came in by yourself?”

“I have a cultivation method that allows me to enter it. By the way… is it just you inside the Great Fire?” Li Qi asked.

“Of course not just me. Everyone is in here. Wait, why are you asking that?” Xinluo suddenly became wary.

“Nothing, it’s just… I’m a bit curious. You don’t look like a Star Official, and… to be honest, you look a bit like a mass of Martial Dao Inner Qi.” Li Qi rubbed his chin, examining Xinluo.

“Ah, what is Martial Dao?” Xinluo’s wariness dropped again, her attention quickly drawn by the term Li Qi had mentioned.

She was like a child.

Coupled with her statement that she hadn't been born yet, she was most likely a God in the embryonic stage of gestation.

In that case, Li Qi could determine that the other party was definitely not a God of the Star Official Lineage.

The Star Official Lineage, by its very nature, was the Heavenly Dao of a world, or even a cluster of worlds, that had awakened sentience. Their bodies were immensely vast, and they wouldn't appear in this form during the gestation stage.

So, if she was a God and not a Star Official, then she naturally belonged to the Ziwei Heavenly Court Lineage of Gods.

Li Qi didn't know what the Gods of the Ziwei Heavenly Court Lineage actually looked like. He only knew that the supreme being of the Heavenly Court was called Haotian, The Supreme God of Heaven.

But… why would a God of the Ziwei Heavenly Court Lineage resemble a mass of Martial Dao Inner Qi?

Just as Li Qi was about to ask a few more questions, Xinluo suddenly let out an exclamation, then vanished in a flash, as if she had run far away.

Li Qi strained his eyes, trying to find her, but before he could fix his gaze and search, he instantly felt a colossal, terrifying power descend!

Li Qi didn't know where it came from, but he knew it was another God.

At the same time, an idea popped into his mind.

The devouring of various Qi by Martial Dao Inner Qi was a simulation of the ‘breathing’ of the Gods of the Ziwei Heavenly Court Lineage.