Three Lords

The instant the panel popped up!

Jiang Tian felt his body sink into a chaotic void.

Then—

Light came.

It wasn't light shining in from outside, but light surging from within his body.

His body was like a burning sun, illuminating the entire chaotic void.

The light burst forth from the depths of his marrow, piercing through bone, meridians, flesh, and skin, illuminating his entire body until he was transparent, like a lantern that had been lit.

His body began to change.

It wasn't a violent, painful change, but a gentle, slow one, like a seed breaking through the soil in spring.

Every cell rejoiced, and every inch of flesh sang.

His bones grew denser, and his meridians wider, like dried-up riverbeds flooded with torrents. His qi and blood surged like rivers, and his internal organs seemed to have been infused with something, growing stronger.

A faint golden sheen appeared on the surface of his skin. It shimmered and flowed, rippling over him like water, then sank into his body and vanished.

"Chaos Dao Body..."

Jiang Tian murmured, slowly opening his eyes.

He looked down at his hands, clenched them into fists, then relaxed them.

He could feel that his body had undergone a qualitative transformation. His bones, flesh, and internal organs were all stronger than before by more than a single level.

Still, he had a vague feeling that the changes brought by this [Chaos Dao Body] went far beyond that.

Otherwise, as another golden trait, the [Chaos Dao Body] seemed to have shown far less than [World-Shocking Wisdom].

But no matter how long he tried to sense it, he couldn't tell exactly what the change was.

Besides that, he had gained a new purple trait.

[Amplification (Purple)]

He tried it out. This trait was different from the ones he had gotten before.

The previous traits had all been more like passive skills, but this one was active. He could use it once every three days, and each use lasted fifteen minutes.

During those fifteen minutes, the power of all his methods would be amplified to a certain extent. After sensing it carefully, he estimated the increase at around fifteen percent.

That gave him another ace up his sleeve.

Jiang Tian shook his head, clearing away his distracting thoughts, and looked up at the sun.

The golden sun hung in midair like a blazing millstone, scattering light and heat across the land.

He adjusted his breathing and followed the steps of the Sun Heaven-Burning Qi Gathering Method, parting his lips slightly. Sunlight fell on the air before him, and that patch of air instantly ignited, turning into a mass of golden-red Solar Qi that he inhaled in one breath.

By the end of the afternoon, he had stored a considerable amount of Solar Qi in his dantian. The golden-red mass churned inside it like a miniature golden-red sea.

At this rate, in another two or three days, he would be able to condense the qi in his dantian into liquid.

However, his [World-Shocking Wisdom] told him he had to gather all five elements of qi into his body before condensing them into liquid together.

Once condensed into liquid, the qi would undergo a qualitative change—a leap from quantity to quality, from "qi" to "liquid."

If he condensed the Solar Qi first, the qi in his body would fall out of balance. The Fire Attribute would reign supreme, suppressing the other four until they could barely raise their heads. By then, balancing the five elements would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

The five elements needed to circulate in turn, maintaining balance.

Night fell, and the moon rose into the sky, its silvery light spilling down like liquid mercury.

Jiang Tian sat cross-legged on the platform and began absorbing Lunar Qi, storing it directly in his kidneys.

After his body had grown stronger, the Lunar Qi behaved much more docilely once it entered him.

When it first entered his kidneys, he felt a clear, chilly sensation spread through his lower back and abdomen, accompanied by a faint stinging pain. But after a moment, the chill eased.

Only after this trial did he dare to slowly move the Solar Qi into his heart.

After all, Fire was the most overbearing of the five elements, and Solar Qi was the most intense of all.

Even though his constitution had advanced to the [Chaos Dao Body], he still didn't dare to be careless.

The heart was the master of the five internal organs. If anything went wrong, it wouldn't be a laughing matter.

Only after testing Lunar Qi in his kidneys and confirming that his body could withstand it did he dare to handle the Solar Qi.

Jiang Tian's thoughts stirred, and under his guidance, the Solar Qi slowly moved from his dantian toward his heart.

The golden-red mass was like a docile little snake, slithering slowly along his meridians. It passed through his chest, skirted his lungs, and inched closer to his beating heart.

"Ugh—"

The instant the Solar Qi entered his heart, Jiang Tian grunted and shuddered violently.

He felt as if a small sun had been stuffed into his heart. The scorching current ran wild through its chambers, and his heartbeat suddenly sped up tenfold, pounding like someone beating a drum inside his chest—"thump, thump, thump, thump"—so fast that the beats nearly blended into one.

His face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.

Fortunately, this lasted only a brief moment before things returned to normal.

His heartbeat gradually settled, and the scorching current calmed down as well.

"Success."

Jiang Tian let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

But now, another predicament lay before him.

"Solar Qi, Lunar Qi..." Jiang Tian furrowed his brow, sinking into thought.

These two kinds of qi were easy to gather. He just had to pluck the wool from the sun and moon.

The sun was in the sky by day, and the moon rose at night. Their supply was inexhaustible, so gathering their qi was convenient.

But the Everlasting Wood Qi Gathering Method and the Primordial Earth-Bearing Qi Gathering Method, the methods for the Wood and Earth Attributes, gave him a headache.

The Everlasting Wood Qi Gathering Method required him to gather Wood Qi from an ancient tree that had grown for ten thousand years and possessed sentience.

But if it had lived for ten thousand years and gained sentience, it might well have become a spirit!

Would it be willing to let him gather qi from it? That was no different from plucking hair off its body.

The Primordial Earth-Bearing Qi Gathering Method was just as frustrating.

He had to burrow ten thousand meters underground and gather the Essence Qi from deep within the earth.

Ten thousand meters... even a Foundation Establishment cultivator might not be able to dig that deep, right?

It would probably be difficult even for a Purple Mansion True Person. He wasn't sure, but there was no way he could do it with his Qi Gathering Realm cultivation.

And he needed to replace the Sharp Metal Brilliant Qi Gathering Method as well.

The other four methods were all top-tier, but the qi gathered by the Sharp Metal Brilliant Qi Gathering Method was only low-grade.

The qi of the Metal Attribute also had to be top-grade, or it wouldn't be enough to balance the five elements.

Earth and Wood were already this difficult. How could Metal be any easier?

The more Jiang Tian thought about it, the worse his headache became.

"This is hard..." He sighed miserably, his brows knitted together.

Heavenly Fire Sect.

Heavenly Fire Peak.

A sea of clouds surged beneath their feet. In the moonlight, it resembled a silvery-white ocean, its waves rising and falling without end.

The starry sky overhead was like an enormous chessboard, with the moon at its center and stars scattered across it.

Inside a pavilion at the peak, a white-robed man with a Water-Fire Mark between his brows sat cross-legged on a cushion, eyes half-closed, his breathing long and steady.

Curiously, he was clearly alone.

Yet three cups of tea had been set out before him.

Three blue-and-white porcelain cups sat arranged in a triangle, wisps of steam rising from the tea.

Just then, a figure appeared out of thin air inside the pavilion.

He had white hair and a white beard, a thin frame, gaunt cheeks, and sunken eyes. He held a horsetail whisk in his arms and looked every bit the immortal.

"Sect Master."

The newcomer glanced at the three cups of tea on the table. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He bowed slightly.

The white-robed man gave a soft "Mm." The old man with white hair and beard then sat down beside the table without being asked.

"Try my tea," the white-robed man said, still without opening his eyes. His voice was calm. "The tender leaves of a thousand-year-old tea tree. It yields only three liang a year."

The old man with white hair and beard picked up the cup before him and took a small sip.

He closed his eyes and savored it for a moment, carefully choosing his words before speaking. "Sect Master, I'd like to take a Qi Gathering Realm disciple of our Heavenly Fire Sect as my apprentice."

The white-robed man smiled faintly, still not opening his eyes. He took a small sip of tea but neither agreed nor refused.

"This young man has exceptional talent." The old man with white hair and beard paused. Seeing that the Sect Master hadn't interrupted, he continued, "If he joins the Master-Disciple Lineage, with the Master-Disciple Lineage's..."

He suddenly realized that the Sect Master before him had also come from the Master-Disciple Lineage.

Though the Sect Master had remained neutral and taken neither side since assuming the position, there were still some things he couldn't say too harshly.

"Barren soil can't grow towering trees..."

Before he could finish, a voice like an exploding thunderclap rang in his ears.

The person hadn't arrived, but her voice had already reached them. Though clearly a woman's voice, it was as deep and resonant as a bell. It shook the entire sea of clouds, setting the churning layers swirling as if stirred by an invisible hand and raising waves of cloud several zhang high.

"Old Man Zhu!!!"

"Damn your mother!"

(Thanks to [WolfIsComing12345], [User11076516], [TheNaiveYoungFellow], and [LiLongjiWhoLovesGoldenPotatoChips] for sending power stones!!! Thank you, thank you!)

(Thanks to [Four-River Dragon God of White City] for sending an inspiration capsule!!! Thank you, thank you!)

(Thanks to [YoungAndStrongLowerBack] for the like!!!)

(Thanks to [Wind~Eiffel] for sending a reminder charm!!! Thank you, thank you!!!)

(Thanks for all the positive reviews! Truly, thank you!)