Immortal Refiner

Outside the five elements jujube forest, Li Qing sat cross-legged, expounding on his understanding of the five elements.

He combined the profound secrets of the five elements he had gleaned from the five elements spirit pearls in the lower realm with the Five Elements Secret Manuals he had previously obtained. By verifying his dao path, he articulated the principles of mutual generation and mutual restraint among the five elements with remarkable clarity.

”In the primordial chaos, yin and yang first separated. From yin and yang arose the five elements, and from wood comes fire...”

As he spoke, Li Qing felt a subtle stirring within his five elements spirit root. This dao discussion outside the five elements jujube forest had unexpectedly deepened his comprehension of achieving five elements harmony.

The key to advancing to the void refinement realm lies in unifying one’s five elements spirit root. Yet here he was, already taking the first steps toward this crucial milestone ahead of schedule.

Li Qing calmly meditated on the changes within his five elements spirit root, reaping considerable benefits from this insight.

Many cultivators who had perfected their divine transformation realm cultivation remained blocked by this critical step of five elements harmony for their entire lives. Some lacked the necessary spiritual roots to complete the process, while others failed to fully grasp the profound principles of the five elements.

Yet Li Qing, still in the late divine transformation realm, had already grasped the True Meaning of the Five Elements, achieving this understanding far ahead of schedule.

”Huff!”

After a long moment, Li Qing exhaled deeply, his gaze now much calmer.

He looked at the five elements jujube forest ahead, his gaze no longer burning with intensity. While obtaining the five elements jujubes would naturally be ideal, he wouldn’t be bothered if he failed.

Having grasped the True Meaning of the Five Elements, he now only needed to patiently refine his cultivation and mana until he reached the perfected divine transformation stage. After that, he could attempt to achieve five elements harmony and break through to the void refinement realm.

Suddenly, the mysterious, resonant voice echoed again:

”Intermediate solution achieved! Ten five elements jujubes awarded!”

The Five-Colored Barrier rippled, and ten vibrant, plump jujubes rolled forth.

Li Qing swiftly gathered the jujubes in his hand, carefully sensing the dense five elements essence within.

”Wood nourishes fire,” he mused. ”For me, only the two wood essence jujubes are useful. The other eight will be of little benefit.”

Unlike other spiritual objects of heaven and earth, five elements jujubes must be consumed strictly according to the five elements’ generative cycle. If he were to consume a fire essence jujube now, his mana wouldn’t increase at all; in fact, it might even cause harm.

Since Li Qing cultivated the fire dao, which emphasized the principle of wood nourishing fire, consuming the wood essence jujube was essential for his progress.

For water dao cultivators, however, consuming the wood essence jujube could actually reverse their mana flow, leading to severe consequences, including a potential drop in realm.

Having thoroughly studied the classic texts, Li Qing was well aware of this.

After carefully storing the ten five elements jujubes, the resonant voice echoed once more:

”What is the great dao?”

This time, Li Qing answered fluently: ”The dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal dao.”

”Therefore, the Heavenly Dao diminishes excess to replenish deficiency.”

Having cultivated the immortal dao for many years, Li Qing had long developed his own understanding of it. With eloquent words, he articulated his insights into the great dao, his tongue blossoming like a lotus.

”Excellent understanding! You may claim twenty more five elements jujubes!”

As the words faded, twenty more five elements jujubes dripped from the Five-Colored Barrier, rolling out in perfect, plump spheres. Each one was a priceless treasure, capable of enhancing mana even for cultivators in the void refinement realm.

Therefore, Li Qing could keep the five elements jujubes that were useless to him and trade them later in other places.

After answering the second question, the booming voice, like the sound of a great bell, fell silent.

Li Qing felt a slight pang of regret. He had hoped to answer a series of increasingly difficult questions and directly trigger the opening of the five elements barrier.

”What a pity,” he murmured. ”From such a vast jujube forest, I only managed to obtain this handful of five elements jujubes—just thirty in total.”

In truth, this harvest was already astonishing. Thirty five elements jujubes, if auctioned off, would fetch exorbitant prices for each fruit.

Afterward, Li Qing lingered no longer before the jujube forest. In this spirit-restricted zone, he had no way to forcibly break through the five elements barrier, and further lamenting would be futile.

The other mountains on the island held no particular significance. After thorough exploration, Li Qing found nothing of note.

Finally, he traversed the rugged terrain, crossing mountains and valleys until he reached the island’s very center. Here, the terrain dipped into a natural valley, surrounded by towering peaks.

The valley was barren, devoid of vegetation, appearing utterly desolate save for the rocky terrain.

Just as Li Qing was about to leave, a five-colored treasure light suddenly erupted from the valley.

Hum!

The ground began to tremble violently, sending massive boulders tumbling down from the surrounding peaks.

Moments later, a colossal five-colored divine altar emerged from the earth, its radiant light bathing the entire area in a mystical glow.

Li Qing froze, wary of making any rash moves. He hesitated to approach the strange and mysterious altar, even considering leaving altogether.

After observing for a long time and confirming that the altar showed no further activity, Li Qing cautiously approached, stepping onto the altar one careful step at a time.

Boom!

Suddenly, an immense pressure slammed into Li Qing, as if he were bearing the weight of a mountain the size of Giant Spirit Peak.

”Hmph!”

Even with his terrifyingly powerful fleshly body, he could barely withstand the crushing force.

Straining against the overwhelming pressure, he slowly raised his head, his gaze gradually settling upon the interior of the five-colored divine altar.

”This is actually a sealing altar. What’s being suppressed beneath it?”

However, the pressure on his body grew increasingly immense, leaving him no room to investigate further. If he lingered any longer, his fleshly body might be crushed.

As he retreated step by step, the five-colored divine altar sank back into the earth, vanishing as if it had never existed.

Feeling the pressure recede, Li Qing let out a long sigh of relief. But then he noticed a five-colored token lying quietly on the ground, right where the altar had vanished.

This time, when he stepped forward, the five-colored divine altar remained dormant.

”Five Elements Token”

Only these three characters were inscribed on it. Li Qing turned it over and over in his hand, but he couldn’t discern anything special about it.

Still, since it had appeared at the heart of this mysterious island, it couldn’t be an ordinary object.

He tucked it into his robe alongside the five elements jujube and prepared to leave the island.