No Other Shore, no blossoms in bloom, clouds rising and fading, a divine palace emerging.
Above the Wheel Sea stood a gate to the Heavenly Gate. The moment one charged through it, one entered another secret realm.
"Ever since a headwind swept in, I've been able to withstand winds blowing from all directions and sail onward."
A long, distant voice rang through the Wheel Sea. The Bitter Sea surged skyward as Li Qingxu sailed onward.
The Divine Bridge stretched across the sky beneath his feet, carrying him toward the Heavenly Gate. Though it was still far away, he could already see a whole new Heaven and Earth within.
The vast sea spread beneath his feet, and the Heavenly Gate opened among the clouds. The Dao Gate he had long yearned for was finally within sight.
Li Qingxu strode forward. He had accumulated more than enough long ago; breaking into the Dao Palace in a single bound was no dream or illusion.
"Boom!"
The breath of a deity came from within the Heavenly Gate. He sensed the power of the Dao drawing near, and stepped forward.
In the next instant, the sky seemed boundless and the earth vast, as if he had entered an entirely new world. A vibrant vitality filled the space.
At the same time, rumbling sounds came from within Li Qingxu. Five energies surged skyward, and five dragon-like streams of divine smoke shot into the heavens.
"What is that?! Why are five beams of light shooting into the sky from Councilor Li's location?!"
"Holy crap!"
"Has he become a god? How could a person possibly create a sight like this?"
Over the past six months, all the warriors who had come to City 003 had learned that Councilor Li of the Limit Dojo was cultivating on the rooftop of that building.
Some warrior teams had taken advantage of this and chosen places to rest in the vicinity of the high-rise where Li Qingxu stayed.
With a councilor stationed nearby, they could relax completely as they rested.
After all, in a city this chaotic, the most dangerous things were sometimes not the monsters.
But the scene before their eyes left nearly everyone who saw it stunned.
"This is almost impossible to believe. Could Councilor Li have broken through again?"
"A powerhouse beyond War God-level has broken through once more? What realm could that be?!"
Figures rushed out from buildings all around, gazing at the sky above the high-rise where Li Qingxu was.
Even warriors at War God Level were hurrying over from farther away.
Those five beams of light shooting straight into the clouds looked utterly dreamlike.
But they lasted only a dozen or so breaths before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
On the rooftop, Li Qingxu had broken into the Dao Palace Secret Realm. Now he faced a choice:
The Dao Palace had five realms, each devoted to cultivating a deity.
In his previous life, with the help of the Azure Emperor Heart, he had chosen to cultivate the secret treasury of the liver first.
But now, without any external aid, he needed to choose carefully.
"The human heart is in constant motion, its blood flowing through all the meridians and carrying divine power throughout the body. The Heart Divine Treasury must be the first choice."
After a moment's thought, he made his decision.
The world of the Dao Palace was hazy, shrouded everywhere in mist, awaiting his exploration.
"The heart governs the body and is the root of all things, the great master of the five viscera and six bowels."
It could be said that everything began with this Divine Treasury.
Li Qingxu walked straight ahead. Soon, he broke through the mist and reached his destination.
The deity of the heart was shaped like a lotus yet to bloom, not yet formed into a human figure.
Its outer form was still taking shape. To become immortal and endure for all eternity, it had to begin here.
Essence formed the foundation of the human body. After entering the Dao Palace Secret Realm, one had to transform essence into spirit and bring the deity into being.
"Innate essence gives birth; acquired essence nourishes."
Innate essence came with a person at birth. It marked the beginning of one's own Heaven and Earth: form took shape and spirit was born; when form perished, spirit was extinguished.
Acquired essence, on the other hand, had to be refined. It replenished the spirit and nourished life.
As he drew near, he felt waves of heat surging toward him. The Heart Divine Treasury brimmed with immense yang energy.
"Man is in harmony with Heaven and Earth. Heaven has its sun, and man has one too. The yang of the sovereign father is the sun..."
The human body corresponded to Heaven and Earth. The Heart Divine Treasury was the sun within the human body, the foundation of all vitality. It was of paramount importance, the greatest of the Dao Palace's five realms.
This Divine Treasury was the sun among the deities. It drew upon yang energy to drive the cycle of life force, preserve the body, and keep its vitality ceaseless.
At that moment, the Hengyu Emperor Scripture began chanting on its own within him.
The morning sun, just risen above the horizon, seemed to receive some mysterious summons. In an instant, it shone with the brilliance of the noonday sun.
Brilliant, searing beams of light turned into fire-attribute essence and shot down from the sky into his body, directly nourishing the deity shaped like an unopened lotus.
Before their very eyes, the spot where Li Qingxu stood blazed with dazzling light, as if a real sun had appeared there.
Everywhere else grew markedly dimmer.
What a terrifying sight! The great sun that illuminated Earth had gathered some of its light in one place!
And it shone on only one person!
At that moment, all the warriors in City 003 stared in stunned silence.
The scene before them seemed straight out of a movie, almost too surreal to be real.
"Oh my God, Councilor Li really is a deity!"
"My goodness! My God, you really do exist!"
Some warriors quickly came to their senses and pulled out their communicators to record the remarkable sight.
Others called the forces behind them, eager to report this miracle.
Anyone who could influence the sun was no longer human, but a god!
At the same time, satellites belonging to the world's major powers all turned their attention toward City 003.
The sun, unchanged since time immemorial, had behaved strangely—and because of a single person!
It was enough to shock everyone who saw it.
On the rooftop, Li Qingxu seemed to have become a blazing sun.
"You can't steal the Western Emperor Scripture's job."
With a soft murmur in his heart, the scripture of the Western Emperor Scripture seemed to transform into a brilliant sun, appearing within his Heart Treasury.
"The heart is the fire organ, illuminating all things."
"The sun of the body cannot be without yang. It nourishes all things and is the foundation of the body's enduring life."
"Boom!"
The lotus-shaped Divine Treasury scattered the mist. Li Qingxu felt utterly at ease, every pore on his body opening as a strange Dao power flowed out and spread through every inch of his flesh and blood.
In an instant, the entire building turned crimson. Flames roared as a great fire set half the sky ablaze.
The sun blazed in the sky, immense and vigorous. Li Qingxu stood within its radiance, solemn and dignified.
Above the high-rise, a sun as vast as a mountain filled the sky. The land around it turned pale, as if the sun itself had descended.
At the heart of the sun, Li Qingxu sat cross-legged of his own accord, serene and detached from the world, completely immersed in a state of the Dao.
His mind was clear as he bathed in the flames.
The unborn deity in the Heart Treasury seemed to transform into an infinite sun.
Scorching, resplendent flames surged into the sky, illuminating the Dao Palace with light.
Innate essence gave birth; acquired essence nourished.
His whole body glowed red, firelight shining through him.
Then he gradually turned translucent, his body veiled in fiery clouds. The essence of his heart cleansed away every blemish, leaving the inside and outside of the Dao Palace pristine as his body grew increasingly crystalline.
He had just entered the Dao Palace Secret Realm. Innate essence gave birth within him, and the Heart Divine Treasury shone like the sun in the sky.
It was like the beginning of Heaven and Earth, when all things were first born and the sun appeared within the human body.
Thus began the Dao Palace Secret Realm.
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