Ziwei Lineage

In the outer void, a ball of light that seemed to be flowing was burning.

Great Fire.

Although it was described as Great Fire, it wasn't actually scorching hot. Instead, it felt warm, thumping like a heartbeat. As it beat, it seemed to stir up wisps of smoke and dust, which blew over with the steam leaking from the Great Fire. Li Qi felt a warm breeze brushing against his face, bringing him peace and tranquility.

A peaceful and tranquil sphere of warm light—that is the true nature of the Great Fire.

This was neither the exploding star that Li Qi had imagined, nor the giant fireball that was about to explode like a supernova, nor some strange, intense, unapproachable lump of magma, nor a super-powerful storm formed by a cluster of Fire Qi.

This is a ball of light radiating a warm and gentle glow. It is not very large, not much larger than an ordinary world. The temperature is like that of a hot spring. The vibrant life force emanating from the Great Fire seems to indicate that all things are flourishing and that blessings are extending to all things.

A gentle breeze dances, and the soft sunlight lingers.

Sprouts begin to emerge, and new things appear in myriad forms.

Its warmth is boundless, its blessings extend to all.

Shining brightly, driven by stars and supported by wheels.

Li Qi felt as if he had seen the source of life. Just by existing there, there was an almost infinite vitality bursting out, nourishing the entire starry sky.

Moreover, there is no gravity.

Yes, without gravity, the Great Fire is like an illusion, seemingly not existing in this world, completely devoid of the gravity brought by mass, or perhaps... the gravity has been eliminated by something.

Not knowing, and unable to figure it out, Li Qi decided not to think about the problem.

"Inner spirits of the eight auxiliary stars, outer light of the four seas, the stars dwell in the myriad universes, adorning the myriad realms, the morning light shines in the central sky, the five planets illuminate the night, the Great Fire ... truly worthy of being the very center of the 'Heart Mansion,' no wonder the 'Heart Mansion' is named as such, it truly is the 'heart'." Li Qi looked at the warm sphere of light and exclaimed in admiration.

At this moment, Star Lord Xin Zhao replied, "The Great Fire is where life is. As the saying goes, 'The sun is long and the stars are bright, which is the height of summer.' When the Great Fire is at its peak, life is at its most vigorous, and millet and beans can be planted. In the star charts woven by the ancient Star Officials, the Great Fire is also an important place of life."

After this brief introduction, Star Lord Xin Zhao began to dissipate his Dharma body, saying as he did so, "The Great Fire has been brought, so I shall take my leave now. Young master, please remember not to be impolite. Farewell."

Before Li Qi could even reply, the other party's avatar had already vanished.

They really left in a hurry, as if they didn't want to work overtime.

However, it really was overtime work, wasn't it? After all, Li Qi summoned a god, and directly summoned the real body, which was indeed a bit ungrateful.

Although Li Qi did provide offerings, it wasn't like he was working for free; otherwise, the other party wouldn't have led the way for so long.

Putting all that aside, Li Qi slowly approached the Great Fire.

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

Even if you stand directly on top of the Great Fire, the Great Fire will not burn anyone.

It's just... so deserted.

All around, there was only Li Qi, and there was no aura of other cultivators. It was probably because the suppression of the Great Dao in the outside world was hindering most people.

With that layer of Great Dao suppressing it, even the Heavenly Way Limit was reduced to only 1.5 times. Li Qi had to rely on the help of the gods and catch his breath several times before he could get here. People who are inferior to Li Qi would have even less chance of getting here.

Conservatively speaking, only a person of the fifth rank would be qualified to come here alone, but there is no need for a person of the fifth rank to come here, which is why there are so few talented people.

Forget about all that. There probably aren't many people who would dare to come here to witness such a spectacular Great Fire.

Anyone in the world with a modicum of knowledge knows that Great Fire is the foundation of a High Antiquity Star Official's Dao, and to approach him is to risk one's life.

"Let's try this Method Formula first." Li Qi put aside all other things and muttered to himself as he began to try out the Method Formula that Old Master Shen Yijun had given him.

Li Qi had already guessed the origin of this Method Formula; it was most likely that some powerful figure had placed a piece on his head while playing chess.

But what does it matter?

Just like what Li Qi once said to Li Shiwei about that Seventh Rank World.

There are always crossroads in this world. If there isn't one, there will be another. Don't worry about where the crossroads came from; the key is that you decide which way to go.

If you're going to worry every day about whether your path was arranged by someone else, then you shouldn't have been born.

After all, you certainly didn't choose to be born; your parents chose it for you. They decided that you would be born, which is the most extreme form of forced arrangement. Only heartless people would resent such a decision.

Getting hung up on this is like getting hung up on the value of silver.

You know, silver... Li Qi used to think that Human Path silver had anti-counterfeiting marks or something. Everyone could mine silver, but only the silver that had been marked by Human Path was useful.

But after reading books in the library of Wushen Mountain, he discovered that among all the heavens and myriad worlds, only the Human Path world produces silver.

The silver from other worlds was 'erased'.

Silver is not produced anywhere except in Human Path places.

A great road stretching across all the heavens and myriad realms—the great road of Qian Jun, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue of the Human Realm—has, with the help of the human dragon veins, altered the definition of the "five metals" throughout the heavens and myriad realms. This has resulted in silver becoming an absolutely precious commodity, absolutely controlled by the human realm, and all silver must be produced by the human realm.

It can be said that the paths of all beings in the heavens have been affected and manipulated. Those who cultivate metal-based Technique Method will naturally lack one of the five metals, and may even cause the Great Dao to be incomplete.

So what should you do? Why don't you go to the Human Path and ask them to continue releasing the 'five metals'?

So there's no need to worry about these things. Just focus on each step and keep going. Even if you need to ask for the metal from the Human Path, you have to get there first, right?

Therefore, he simply couldn't be bothered to care about the origin of this Method Formula, nor was he as terrified as before after sensing the Heaven's Will; he had completely gotten used to it.

Fine, I'll make the arrangements then. Why don't you just eat me then?

With that in mind, Li Qi successfully executed the Method Formula.

Then, he felt the attraction of the Great Fire reappear.

"Hmm?" Li Qi felt his body being drawn in, and... the Great Fire beneath his feet also became soft.

He was being sucked into the Great Fire.

However, Li Qi did not stop.

The intense vitality emanating from the Great Fire, along with its warm and gentle feel, made his sixth sense feel extremely safe.

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

In that instant, Li Qi suddenly sensed...

Sweet?

It was hard to say, he was somewhat surprised. It wasn't a strange feeling, just a simple sweetness.

Why does it taste sweet?

This question popped into Li Qi's mind.

Suddenly, a voice rang in his ear. "Because this is the taste of 'qi'. You've eaten so much 'qi', don't you feel anything?"

Li Qi immediately replied, "The taste of qi? I don't know, I've never eaten it before. Can qi be eaten? Shouldn't qi form matter, matter combine to become food, and only then can these foods be eaten?"

He didn't ask who it was; since the other party was willing to communicate, he decided to ask the questions first.

"Since it's all just air that you're ingesting, what's the difference?" the voice retorted.

Li Qi replied, "Isn't that nonsense? What you ingest is all air, so what's the difference between substances? They're all air, but the differences are huge. Water vapor and Fire Qi can both form harmless cloud vapor and transform into highly toxic miasma. There's definitely a difference."

This makes it sound like you're saying that since you're only eating atoms, the molecular formula doesn't matter.

Sodium chloride and sodium cyanide are both sodium, but can they be the same? One is a common salt, while the other is a deadly poison that can kill with just 0.1 grams.

The voice asked again, strangely, "Isn't what you cultivate and absorb into your body also qi? This qi makes up everything your body needs, which is why you can Grain Avoidance and not eat, right? So what's so special about directly consuming qi?"

"Oh, herbivores are good at walking but foolish, carnivores are brave and fierce, grain eaters are wise and skillful, those who eat qi are divine and long-lived, and those who do not eat are immortal and divine, is that the saying?" Li Qi said, "But the 'eating qi' in this saying means extracting the essence of things, not directly consuming qi. What's the use of directly consuming qi? You can't absorb it; you still need to refine it with Cultivation Method."

"Why use Cultivation Method to refine it? Oh, wait, you're from outside?" The voice sounded somewhat surprised.

"Yes, they came from outside, they just arrived." Li Qi nodded at this point, readily admitting it.

The voice said in a tone of sudden realization, "Outsiders... It's been a long time since I've seen one. Indeed, if you are an outsider, then that's true. You can't directly consume Qi. But wait, if you can't directly consume Qi either, then how do you taste it? Aren't you unable to consume Qi?"

"Huh? You're asking me? I don't know." Li Qi shrugged.

He still doesn't know where he is, so how could he know about such a strange thing?

"Indeed, you must be quite puzzled since you're new here, aren't you? Puzzled about why you're here, puzzled about why you find yourself here the moment you open your eyes," the voice then said.

"No, I don't find it strange at all," Li Qi replied immediately.

What's so strange about that? He came on his own initiative.

Although Li Qi can't actually see anything right now, it's as if he's soaking in a pot of shimmering soup, unable to see anything or know what his surroundings are like.

"Huh? Aren't you surprised? Do you know where this is?!" The voice raised its volume.

"What's going on inside the Great Fire?" Li Qi asked curiously. What was that sound coming from?

Unexpectedly, after saying that, the voice fell silent.

Then, Li Qi felt the light surrounding him begin to fade.

The warm yellow light dissipated, Li Qi was able to float steadily in a void. There was still light around him, but it no longer enveloped his eyes, so he could clearly distinguish how many things were around him.

However, there was actually nothing there.

Then, a pale white sphere of light appeared in front of Li Qi, and the same voice rang out again. "You came in by yourself? How did you get in?"

"Let's not talk about that for now." Li Qi waved his hand. "Let's introduce ourselves first, so we don't end Ox-Head. Xia Li Qi, from Wushen Mountain. May I ask your name, brother?"

"My name is Xinluo, um... I come from the Great Fire, and I've never been outside before," the sphere of light said.

"Hmm... you are, a god?" Li Qi asked, looking at the small sphere.

It really is like a god. The other party has no physical body and is a pure energy body, which is filled with infinite 'qi'.

However, there is no rank. If we have to talk about ranks, then it is unranked.

Despite not being of high quality, the Qi within the other party's body was pure, vast, and extremely easy to digest, with high quality. It was practically like a super pill. If a sixth-grade martial artist were to consume this ball, their internal energy would likely increase several times over.

This characteristic is somewhat similar to another lineage of deities that he recently learned about from the Star Official.

A different kind of 'god' independent of the Star Officials, Orthodox God of the Ziwei Heavenly Court lineage.

"Yes, I am a god, but I haven't been born yet. Once I'm born, I will be a god!" Xinluo said excitedly, circling around Li Qi. "So what about you? How did you get in? There are sometimes outsiders here, but they are all people who have had some kind of extraordinary encounter. It seems like you didn't have an extraordinary encounter, but rather you got in on your own?"

"I have a Method Formula that allows me to enter it. By the way... are you the only one inside the Great Fire?" Li Qi asked.

"Of course I'm not the only one, everyone's in here. Wait, why are you asking this?" Xinluo suddenly became alert.

"Nothing, I'm just... a little curious. You don't look like Star Official, and... to be honest, you look a bit like a ball of Martial Dao Inner Qi." Li Qi stroked his chin, looking Xinluo up and down.

"Ah, what is martial arts?" Xinluo lowered her guard again, and her attention was quickly drawn to the term Li Qi mentioned.

Like a child.

Given that she said she hasn't been born yet, it's highly likely that she is a deity in the gestation stage.

Therefore, Li Qi could conclude that the other party was definitely not a god of the Star Official lineage.

The Star Official lineage is itself the Heavenly Dao of the world. Heavenly Dao by the awakening of intelligence of the Heavenly Dao of the world and even the world group. Its body is extremely large, and it would not be in this form during the gestation stage.

Since they are gods, not Star Officials, they must be gods of the Ziwei Heavenly Court lineage.

Li Qi didn't know what the deities of the Ziwei Heavenly Court lineage actually looked like; he only knew that the supreme being of the Heavenly Court was called the Vast Heaven Emperor.

But... why do the gods of the Ziwei Heavenly Court lineage look like a ball of Martial Dao Inner Qi?

Li Qi wanted to ask a few more questions, but Xinluo suddenly exclaimed and then disappeared in a flash, as if she had run far away.

Li Qi strained his eyes to look into the distance, trying to find the other person, but before he could even focus his gaze, he instantly felt an immense, terrifying power descend upon him!

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 head.

The absorption of various energies in the world by Martial Dao Inner Qi is a simulation of the 'breathing' of the gods of the Ziwei Heavenly Court lineage.