Chapter 228: Chapter 223 Wind Queen’s Strange Gate
A full moon rose from behind Elder Tianxuan, then moved above Jiang Li’s head, casting down strands of golden silk that entered the top of Jiang Li’s head.
In Jiang Li’s Sea of Consciousness, it was as if a golden rainfall had begun, with thousands upon thousands of golden threads falling down, which then instantly became invisible, blending into Jiang Li’s Sea of Consciousness.
A sensation of coolness and richness slowly erased the wounds of his Divine Soul, replaced by feelings of satiety and sublimation. His Divine Soul seemed to be soaring, leaving the body behind, transcending the world, rising to the clouds, where a bright moon boldly entered his perception.
Jiang Li’s spiritual power surged with the momentum, quickly filling the Mud Ball Palace, while Innate Qi circulated the Grand Circulation and surged to his Third Eye region.
"Boom!"
His mind was like experiencing an explosion, Divine Sense turning into a roaring torrent, the upper, middle, and lower Dantian Qi Seas resonated, and one lotus after another bloomed upon the Heavenly Spirit.
This was Three Flowers Gathering at the Top, yet not the "Three Flowers Gathering at the Top."
The Jiang Li of the past could achieve Three Flowers Gathering at the Top due to Dao Fruit Ability, but now, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit combined to form the appearance of Three Flowers Gathering at the Top, merging with the Dao Fruit Ability, encasing his body in golden light, becoming complete and flawless.
Elder Tianxuan’s assistance with healing Jiang Li’s soul injury also led to a growth in his Divine Origin Cultivation. Jiang Li took advantage of this momentum to break through and open the Upper Dantian Qi Sea.
He had already begun opening the Upper Dantian during his promotion but it was incomplete, though his foundation was laid. Now, with Elder Tianxuan’s help, Jiang Li opened the fourth Qi Sea. Innate Qi surged to the Third Eye’s Mud Ball Palace, mingling with Divine Essence, strengthening Divine Sense; the upper, middle, and lower Dantian Qi Seas resonated, Essence, Qi, and Spirit connected as one.
The healing of his Divine Soul combined with the emergence of the fourth Qi Sea also greatly enhanced Jiang Li’s Divine Essence cultivation. The stream of information pouring into his mind gradually became organized and clear, a silhouette in his Sea of Consciousness went from nonexistent to definite, and finally transformed into a giant Compass.
A vast and ancient voice echoed in the Sea of Consciousness.
"Mastering the creation of the Circulation..."
Jiang Li slowly opened his eyes, murmuring.
"Grasping the cycle of the Dipper’s handle."
Elder Tianxuan continued.
She slowly retracted her finger pointed at Jiang Li’s Third Eye, that touch of coolness receded with it, leaving Jiang Li with a sense of loss.
’I’m referring to the coolness that entered the Sea of Consciousness, not the finger’s coolness. Writing it this way might cause a misunderstanding.’
Jiang Li could barely keep himself composed upon seeing the mystical text manifested on Karma Collection when he opened his eyes.
"It seems you have already begun to grasp the basics."
Elder Tianxuan carried her right hand behind her back and gently lifted the Compass with her left hand, saying, "The Qimen Dunjia that is commonly circulated in the world today consists of only eighteen Arrays. Your Jiang family’s Qimen Dunjia is slightly more complex with seventy-two Arrays, while Wind Queen’s Strange Gate has one thousand and eighty Arrays. As for the more profound ’Dragon Armor Divine Chapter,’ there are four thousand three hundred and twenty Arrays."
"The greater the number of Arrays, the more intricate the transformations described, and correspondingly, the difficulty of study rises. That’s why there is a need for simplification. The Qimen Dunjia of eighteen Arrays can only reproduce simple Array evolutions, while the ’Dragon Armor Divine Chapter’ with four thousand three hundred and twenty Arrays can expound upon the transformations of heaven and earth."
"Qimen Dunjia encompasses all, it is the extreme of transformation, covering the creation of the Circulation externally and the cycle of the Dipper’s handle internally. We Cultivators aim to use ourselves as the handle of the Dipper, mastering the cycle, connecting externally to the creation of the Circulation and internally embracing all transformations."
The so-called handle of the Dipper refers to Beidou’s handle.
Ancient texts stated: "The Dipper is the Emperor’s chariot, operating at the center, governing the four directions, dividing Yin Yang, establishing the four seasons, equalizing the Five Elements, moving measures, setting records, all connected to the Dipper."
In the content of the ’Dragon Armor Divine Chapter,’ all responses of heavens and earth are linked to the Dipper; controlling the handle of the Dipper meant mastering the creation of the Circulation.
"Just like this."
Elder Tianxuan waved her sleeve gently, and the gigantic Compass pattern centered around her, outlining a radius of about thirty feet, the sky suddenly darkened, the rising morning sun vanished without a trace, and daytime turned to nighttime, with a bright moon hanging high.
"Just now, your master used Wind Queen’s Strange Gate to simulate Taiyin, transforming my True Qi into Emperor’s Flowing Liquid to aid the recovery of your soul injuries."
"Emperor’s Flowing Liquid?" Jiang Li revealed a look of surprise.
As a diligent student who had once read through Elder Wan’s small library, Jiang Li was familiar with various terms related to cultivation, including Emperor’s Flowing Liquid.
Geng Shen Night Moonlight contains Emperor’s Flowing Liquid, with a form like countless olives, a myriad of golden threads, linked together, dangling into the human world; plants that receive this essence energy could become demons.
Every sixty years, the essence of the Taiyin Star’s Moonlight would condense into Emperor’s Flowing Liquid and descend to the human world. Ordinary plants that absorb this quintessence can become demons, and if a Cultivator manages to refine it, it can also enhance cultivation, especially the Divine Essence related to intellect.
Emperor’s Flowing Liquid is a creation of heaven and earth. Yet Elder Tianxuan could simulate it with human effort. Such Divine Skill is indeed miraculous and formidable.
’Understanding the transformations of heaven and earth?’
Thinking of this, Jiang Li’s eyes revealed complex patterns, and the Compass in his Sea of Consciousness also began to rotate.
Internally, he performed calculations with Wind Queen’s Strange Gate, and externally observed with Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill. Internal and external became one, the three patterns in his eyes combined into a perfect form, and Jiang Li finally integrated the three abilities of Li Chunfeng’s Dao Fruit perfectly.
His eyes suddenly cleared, and as his gaze fell, the patterns of Qi Veins appeared before him. Elder Tianxuan had not utilized her formidable fourth-rank strength or exhibited her Dao Fruit Ability, but had reduced the quality of her True Qi to a level similar to Jiang Li’s own.
Day turned into night not by changing the heavenly phenomena but by bringing an area of twenty zhang into one’s control and creating a new celestial pattern.
This meant—
"I can do it too."
The diagram of Taiji emerged beneath Jiang Li’s feet, followed by the construction of the Eight Gods, Eight Gates, Nine Stars, and Eight Trigrams outward. Based on his understanding of the Wind Queen’s Strange Gate and the Array Plate demonstrated by Elder Tianxuan, Jiang Li began to construct his own domain.
However, this immediately led to a collision and friction with Elder Tianxuan’s Array Plate, tangling the Qi Veins and causing the Array Plate to become distorted.
The color of night suddenly receded partially as if the moon was a curtain rippling, streams of pure Qi appeared around Jiang Li like dragons and snakes, dispersing the night wherever they went.
This seemed somewhat different from what Elder Tianxuan had shown.
Under the guidance of True Qi, the Compass began to evolve autonomously, transforming from a copycat Array Plate into a different form.
"Wind Queen’s Strange Gate is the Transformation Skill, which will vary in appearance according to the Cultivator’s foundation and understanding," Elder Tianxuan noted Jiang Li’s confusion and explained, "As a mentor who bases his methods on the Star Dao, the Wind Queen’s Strange Gate and the Dragon Armor Divine Chapter naturally exhibit corresponding changes. It is on this basis that I created the ’Taiwei Fu’. Your foundation is different from mine, and naturally, your emphases are also distinct."
In other words, the Wind Queen’s Strange Gate has a strong adaptability. Like a living organism, this method of Qimen adjusts itself according to the differences in the Cultivator.
And Jiang Li’s Innate Qi...
The eight qi came forth from his body, aligning with the Eight Gates, Eight Trigrams, and Eight Gods. As the Array Plate rotated, Jiang Li felt something and converted Qi into wind, shaping clouds and summoning rain.
Xun Position, Kan Position.
The Eight Trigrams rotated, shifting positions.
There was no need to stand in corresponding positions as in the past; instead, the positions of the Eight Trigrams moved with one’s intent. Stationed in one place, Jiang Li could simultaneously harness the force of wind and rain.
The Wind and Rain Sword was formed in an instant, turning into a spiraling Sword Light that pierced the night sky, shooting straight ahead.
"Not bad," Elder Tianxuan praised, seeing this, then gently moved the Compass in his left hand slightly, making the Array Plate below him turn, "But it’s still not enough."
As the Array Plate rotated, similarly shifting the Eight Trigrams, invisible Qi Veins intruded into Jiang Li’s domain, causing sudden changes.
"Bam!"
The Wind and Rain Sword exploded without warning, the wind failing to take shape, and the rain failing to gather force.
Wind and rain were supposed to complement each other, but at this moment, they were like wind and thunder, mutually antagonistic, causing the Wind and Rain Sword to collapse spontaneously.
"It’s not only about changing the Array Plate positions arbitrarily, you can also manipulate Yin and Yang, reverse positives and negatives, turning mutual enhancement into suppression. In reality, all things in this world are about mutual generation and suppression. Wind and thunder can mutually complement and can also mutually bolster, as can water and fire stimulate each other, and Yin and Yang can suppress and yet generate each other. As long as you grasp the essence of transformation, you can regulate generation and suppression, but this requires tremendous calculation power," Elder Tianxuan raised his hand and the Wind Queen Compass in his palm flew toward Jiang Li, "Take it. Continue attacking your mentor. If you can gain even a slight advantage, your mentor will help you obtain Qing Yue."
Jiang Li quickly reached out to catch it.
When the Wind Queen Compass was in hand, it resonated with the mental method Jiang Li was running, immediately transforming into the form of Jiang Li’s Array Plate. At the same time, the Compass and the Innate Qi within him resonated, refining the eight qi and enhancing Jiang Li’s control and transformation of his innate qi by a level.
At the same time, when Jiang Li looked at Elder Tianxuan’s Array Plate, the Wind Queen Compass also changed, assisting in observation.
It was like an external brain, making Jiang Li feel as if his intelligence was rapidly increasing.
’The Dao Fruit of the Wind Queen is at least fourth-rank, and if the Wind Queen Compass is also a Dao Artifact, its value exceeds even that of the Ghost Gate.’
Jiang Li couldn’t help but ask, "Where is the Wind Queen’s Dao Fruit?"
If he could incorporate the Wind Queen Dao Fruit, his path as a mathematician would surely reach the pinnacle in the world. Unfortunately, the Dao Fruit wasn’t in the Compass—it was no longer a Dao Artifact.
"I don’t know," said Elder Tianxuan, "The Wind Queen was a subordinate of the Yellow Emperor and a descendant of Fuxi. Although our sect possesses the Wind Queen’s Strange Gate, the Wind Queen Dao Fruit should be in the hands of Fuxi’s descendants. This Compass came into my possession by chance. The Wind Queen Dao Fruit likely already has an owner."
An owner?
’Could it be him?’
Jiang Li thought of a certain person enduring hardships.
At that moment, any guilt Jiang Li felt about his big brother facing tribulations vanished. If the Wind Queen Dao Fruit was truly with him, that meant Jiang Li couldn’t make a move, otherwise, he would have to make his brother explode with Dao Fruit.
With the help of the Wind Queen Compass, Jiang Li’s Array Plate gradually stabilized. He scanned with his eyes, the fluctuation of True Qi incessant, adjusting the Qi Veins. Suddenly, he stomped his foot.
Shock Position.
The Thunder Talisman materialized on his body, thunder raging, turning into electric snakes that swiftly raced towards Elder Tianxuan, arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye.