Little Five-Element Art

Early the next morning, the sky had only just brightened.

Chen Jue had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. He got up early and casually made breakfast for his mother.

After washing up in the master bedroom, He Yin had been about to head to the kitchen to grab a slice of bread and a carton of milk before leaving for work.

But the moment she entered the living room, she saw fried eggs with runny yolks on the table, along with a steaming bowl of scallion oil noodles.

"Ah! Young master, what could possibly have made a boy who loves sleeping in rise early to cook for his mother... Was it guilt, or was it love?"

He Yin looked at her son, who had removed his apron and lowered his head over his noodles, her eyes sparkling with little stars.

"He Yin, eat your noodles and go to work. Stop talking so much nonsense!"

Chen Jue peeled a clove of garlic and tossed it into his mouth beneath He Yin's intensely disgusted gaze, letting the sharp heat explode across his tongue.

"Young master, mind your image. Remember to brush your teeth again before you go out."

He Yin tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her elegant dining manners stood in stark contrast to Chen Jue's storm-like three-bites-to-empty-the-bowl devouring.

"I'm going to the City Patrol Office later to collect a True Qi Realm cultivation method. Do you want me to pick anything up for you?"

Chen Jue set down his bowl and asked his mother.

He Yin froze at that. "You've already established your martial foundation?"

"That's fast?"

Chen Jue said irritably, "Back when I was in high school, plenty of students at my level got into martial universities and reached the Spirit-Seeding Realm."

"I'm one step behind, and I'll be behind every step after!"

Chen Jue cleared away the bowls and chopsticks and took them into the kitchen.

"Bring back a box of low-sugar peach pastries from the Palace Cake Shop. We're having guests this afternoon," He Yin said calmly.

"Okay." Chen Jue did not even ask who the guests were before heading out.

Watching her son hurry out the door, He Yin's feelings were tangled beyond measure.

If she had not deliberately tried to raise her son into uselessness back then, Chen Jue might have soared into the sky long ago, becoming a dragon among men.

But on second thought, whether he strove to become stronger, immersed himself in games, or got hurt in an online romance, they were all part of her son's rich life experiences.

The twists and turns of life were mysterious. Who could truly say what was right and what was wrong?

He Yin planted her chopsticks into the bowl, picked up a small bundle of fragrant scallion noodles, and fed them into her mouth bit by bit. A gentle, contented smile gradually bloomed across her face.

The Patrol Inspectorate was located in the administrative district of the inner city's first ring.

Government offices stood everywhere here, and officials were as numerous as clouds.

The nine bureaus of general administration, finance and taxation, public welfare, official management, patrol inspection, and more were all gathered here, jointly overseeing every affair, great and small, of the provincial capital.

Chen Jue went to the Patrol Inspectorate first.

Someone registered his access credentials. Upon learning that he had come to collect a True Qi Realm cultivation method after establishing his martial foundation, they had someone lead him to the Rear Garden Library Pavilion.

Though it was called a library pavilion, it was actually a vast, large-scale library.

Several young librarians sat at the entrance, discussing the recently viral online novel Battle Breaks the Sky.

Chen Jue waited until their discussion reached a pause before stepping forward to explain his purpose.

"Oh? You established your martial foundation at twenty. Your innate potential should be quite good. Give me your identity card for verification."

The librarian receiving Chen Jue was a young man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

Dressed in an archaic gray-blue robe with a longsword at his waist, he had something of an immortal, otherworldly air about him.

"Five elements, flourishing fire. Above-average aptitude."

Several librarians beside the young man, who had been cracking sunflower seeds, were all stunned at his words.

Were martial exams for the younger generation really this cutthroat now?

Above-average aptitude, yet he had not gone to a martial university?!

The young man took out a card from a drawer and handed it to Chen Jue.

"The lower-grade cultivation methods on the first floor aren't suitable for you. This card will let you access the second floor and select a middle-grade cultivation method."

"And one more thing: you have five-element bones. If you aren't lacking cultivation resources, you may want to prioritize the Little Five-Element Art."

Chen Jue accepted the card and asked another question. "Why should I prioritize the Little Five-Element Art only if I don't lack resources?"

"Those above instructed us to pass that along. I don't know the details either. There are introductions to the cultivation methods on the computers upstairs; you can look them up yourself."

Suspicious, Chen Jue took the card and went up to the second floor.

Bookshelves stood row upon row on the second floor, each enclosed in a transparent liquid-crystal display case. Only by swiping a card could one open the glass and retrieve the manuals within.

There were quite a few people here, all unfamiliar faces Chen Jue had never seen before.

Chen Jue found an unused computer and opened a simple desktop program titled "Internal Arts Catalog."

Dense blocks of text popped up, all cultivation method names, each followed by its respective characteristics.

Just as the young librarian had said, the Little Five-Element Art sat high at the top of the rankings, in first place.

But Chen Jue did not hurry to read it. Instead, he slowly scrolled down and carefully examined each of the top fifty middle-grade internal arts.

Azure Waves Shoot the Sun Art: A water-and-fire dual-attribute internal art. Water serves as sovereign and fire as minister; water and fire support one another, granting powerful True Qi bursts. One hundred percent compatible with steam-ejection martial skills.

Mount Tai Twin-Earth Art: A dual-earth-attribute internal art. Earth serves as both sovereign and minister. "Jade-tablet" attribute True Qi was not countered by single-wood-attribute True Qi and was one hundred percent compatible with strength-based or defensive martial skills.

Everlasting Spring Art: A dual-wood-attribute internal art. Earth serves as sovereign and wood as minister. "Forest" attribute True Qi was not countered by single-metal-attribute True Qi and was one hundred percent compatible with poison-attribute or recovery-type martial skills.

Sword-Nurturing Technique: A triple-metal-attribute internal art. Metal serves as sovereign, minister, and assistant. Once mastered, it was not countered by any True Qi except flame-attribute True Qi, and it was compatible with advanced flying-sword martial skills.

Chen Jue silently memorized the characteristics of these internal arts. If he encountered them in the future, he would not be caught empty-handed.

In the end, he withdrew his gaze and returned to the Little Five-Element Art, ranked first in the catalog.

This cultivation method was pieced together from five single-attribute internal arts.

They were the Dawn-Sun Flame Refining Formula, Geng-Metal Glaive-Breaking Method, Azure Wood Life-Gathering Art, Thick Earth Essence-Nurturing Art, and Flowing Water Essence Gathering Technique.

After reading the method's description in detail, Chen Jue fell silent.

Ordinary people struggled enough just to cultivate a single kind of True Qi to perfection, yet the Little Five-Element Art required cultivating all five qi together.

With such hellish difficulty, no wonder the librarian had specifically set "not lacking resources" as a prerequisite when recommending it.

Yet in this era where "nested-doll innate bones" ran rampant, ancient internal arts like the Little Five-Element Art, which cultivated five qi in tandem, had become rare.

If it ranked first, it had to possess something extraordinary.

Chen Jue carefully studied the cultivation method's traits and ultimately reached only one conclusion—brute force could smash through ten thousand techniques.

That was right. Compared to the double True Qi of dual-attribute methods and the triple True Qi of triple-attribute methods, the fivefold True Qi of the Little Five-Element Art focused on uniting the five elements into one—overwhelming power.

But it was simply too difficult.

So-called cultivating five qi together meant advancing all five internal arts side by side, rather than cultivating one type of True Qi to its peak before using it to drive the other four.

Chen Jue's innate bones had flourishing fire among the five elements. His best choice was actually a dual-attribute internal art with fire as sovereign and wood as minister.

That way, not only would the attribute strength be sufficient, but his cultivation speed would advance a thousand miles in a single day thanks to his Diligence Reward Talent.

But cultivating the Little Five-Element Art meant he would need to expend two and a half times the resources and effort required for a dual-attribute internal art.

That would practically offset the cultivation boost brought by his Diligence Reward Talent, leaving him deeply conflicted.

After hesitating for a long while, Chen Jue ultimately could not suppress the ambition surging in his heart. He chose the Little Five-Element Art, tempted by its empty prestige of ranking first.

As the saying went—how could a young man be content to tread the common road, when he wished to shake the heavens with the five elements?