Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Zhang Zhiwei naturally granted his request, and with the same palm force, sent Lü Ci flying once again.

Immediately afterwards, Lü Ci got up again and charged towards Zhang Zhiwei, still with overwhelming momentum, but his palm strike was much weaker than the first time.

As he weakened, Zhang Zhiwei naturally weakened as well, maintaining a palm strike of equal strength.

Even so, this was still beyond Lü Ci's ability to withstand, and he was still sent flying, his disheveled appearance basically unchanged from before.

Lu Ci fell to the ground, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with helplessness.

I don't understand!

I don't understand!
He wasn't Zhang Zhiwei; he didn't have such good comprehension. Even though he had been penetrated by the force of the fist many times, he still couldn't understand the principle behind that palm strike.

However, Lü Ci was a ruthless man, ruthless to others, and even more ruthless to himself. If he didn't understand after being beaten once, he would be beaten twice, three times...

If you want to beat someone up, you have to learn to take a beating first. Getting beaten up a few times is no big deal. Being knocked away by Senior Brother Zhang time and time again is an honor.

Lu Ci struggled to get up. He was covered in wounds, his legs were weak, and his shoulders were uneven. He fell several times before he was able to stand up again.

He re-established his stance, intending to launch an attack on Zhang Zhiwei, but after several attempts, he was unable to muster the strength due to his physical weakness.

On the training ground, the disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion watched this scene without saying a word. They could all see that Lü Ci's body had long been pushed to its limit, and the fact that he could still get up was purely due to his strong will.

Looking at Lü Ci like this, Zhang Zhiwei nodded: "You still can't learn after taking so many blows? Don't you know how to be flexible and try to understand it in other ways? Like through words. You're really not smart."

On the field, many fellow disciples nodded to themselves. They were smart enough to give up after being beaten several times and planned to ask Zhang Zhiwei for advice later when he called out to them.

Unexpectedly, the next second, Zhang Zhiwei changed the subject: "But it's right not to be too smart. Cultivation doesn't require being too smart. Smart people often have too many thoughts, are not pure, can't calm down, and have difficulty concentrating."

"Since you can't come up with any moves, the instruction should have stopped, but..."

A look of appreciation appeared on Zhang Zhiwei's face. He walked up to Lü Ci and said, "I'll give you another slap as a reward!"

Having said that, before Lü Ci could react, he struck him on the forehead with a palm, sending Lü Ci flying backward once again.

The palm strike was controlled with unparalleled skill, shaking Lü Ci's inner energy without harming his core.

In mid-air, Lü Ci stood there blankly, as if a great bell was ringing in his head, wave after wave, the sound seemingly echoing some kind of truth.

With a "bang," Lü Ci fell to the ground. The reverberating force of the punch in his head disappeared, followed by a sharp, needle-like pain in his head.

Lu Ci clutched his head in pain, writhing on the ground like a maggot. Several disciples who were close to Lu Ci rushed over to check on him.

"Brother, this..."

"It's nothing serious, I'll just rest for a few days!" Zhang Zhiwei said.

Although he had deliberately controlled the blow and it didn't damage Lü Ci's brain, that area was still extremely fragile and would have aftereffects. For the next few days, he would suffer from splitting headaches.

After dealing with Lü Ci, the instruction session was pretty much over.

After leaving the training ground, Zhang Zhiwei did not go to Tianmen Peak for the first time in a long time, but returned to his room.

Although he didn't think that breathing in the Qi of Heaven, Earth, and Man would bring about a great natural disaster, he would do as his master instructed.

He sat cross-legged in his room, meditating. The Sage Thief was, in the end, just an aid to cultivation, an embellishment. He could cultivate just as well without using the Sage Thief.

Maintaining harmony with nature over a long period of time can indeed help one better understand the various mysteries in the changes of the world, but one's ability to "observe" is limited.

I have gained more insights into the vast world around me.

Naturally, one's understanding of one's own little world diminishes.

However, with the assistance of the "national advisor," Zhang Zhiwei was able to manage both external and internal affairs simultaneously.

However, the "Imperial Advisor" is a double agent; he can get things done, but expecting him to do things wholeheartedly is impossible.

Zhang Zhiwei had actually anticipated this, so he would try to fill in the gaps by understanding the "national advisor's" inner thoughts.

However, the "National Advisor" was also a seasoned veteran who had long been aware that Zhang Zhiwei could see through his thoughts. Therefore, he still dug many pits for him in his daily self-reflection.

These pits are not big, and could even be considered harmless, but as the saying goes, a thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole. If they accumulate over time, the problem can become quite serious.

Originally, it would have taken Zhang Zhiwei some time to discover these problems.

But today, when he ended his state of oneness with nature and transferred his "observation" power from the external world to the microcosm of the human body, he noticed some subtle changes that he had never seen before, which was an unexpected surprise.

"This guy is really dishonest!"

Zhang Zhiwei thought to himself, but there's really no way to blame the "Imperial Advisor" for this. It could simply say that it had done its best and just hadn't noticed.

Zhang Zhiwei calmed himself down and focused on cultivating his inner self. He watched as the "National Preceptor," who was sitting upright in the hall space, was terrified, fearing that the big-faced thief would come looking for trouble.

In reality, it was overthinking things. Cultivation is a personal matter. If the "National Preceptor" could help, that would be a great honor. As long as it didn't cause trouble, it didn't matter if it slacked off a bit. Zhang Zhiwei wouldn't care.

These past few days, Zhang Zhiwei has been teaching his fellow disciples on behalf of his master during the day, and practicing meditation in the evenings.

These past few days, Zhang Jingqing has not gone to the Great Shangqing Palace. The affairs that the Celestial Master needs to handle are temporarily being handled by Zhang Shoucheng. He took Zhang Yi to the back mountain, where he set up a Qi formation for Zhang Zhiwei to suppress evil spirits with talismans.

First, they selected an open space on the back mountain and arranged the center of the space in a pattern where the "Kan" trigram overcomes the "Li" trigram, with the fullness of the Kan trigram symbolizing the condensation of water essence.

"Kan" represents water, and "Li" represents fire, meaning that water overcomes fire.

Following that, the seven northern constellations of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, which belong to Xuanwu, are arranged around the perimeter, taking the Qi of Ren and Gui water from the north, and the scene is painted with a black tortoise spitting water pattern.

Then, an altar was set up. A high platform was erected in the Xun position, which belongs to the wind element of the site. On the platform, a statue of the "Water Official Emperor" was placed, and nine crystal lamps were arranged around it, symbolizing the water virtue of the nine palaces.

Then, fold the talisman into the shape of the "Kan Trigram" and bury it at the four corners and center of the site, nine inches deep, corresponding to the number of the Nine Palaces. When burying the talisman at each location, recite the "Suppressing Fire Light Mantra": "The black tortoise spits water, suppressing the fire and fire. May the fire not rise, and may there be peace for all eternity."

This method of warding off evil integrates talismans, incantations, meditation, and rituals, conforming to the principle of interaction between heaven and man and the number nine of the five elements. It is truly an orthodox method for avoiding the three calamities of fire.

With everything set up, Zhang Yi let out a long breath: "Phew... Senior brother, this thing sounds high-end and sounds complicated, but how come it was so easy to set up? It was done in one go, without encountering any problems."

"Why don't you try setting it up by yourself?"

Zhang Jingqing gave him a disgruntled look and rubbed her temples as she spoke. Zhang Yi was merely an assistant in arranging the layout; he did all the hard work and mental effort, so naturally, Zhang Yi didn't find it difficult.

Zhang Yi chuckled: "Then let's skip it. I'll go and call Zhiwei over."

Soon, Zhang Yi led Zhang Zhiwei to the back mountain.

Zhang Zhiwei looked at the solemnly ordered venue in front of him, and the tall altar in the very center of the venue.

The altar was built in the shape of a tower, with a pure wooden structure, simple and elegant, without a single nail, using only mortise and tenon joints.

Zhang Yi pointed at the tower and said, "Kid, isn't this tower impressive? Your martial uncle built it for you personally!"

"It looks impressive. I never knew my master was a craftsman!" Zhang Zhiwei said.

"Basic stuff, don't be silly!" Zhang Yi mimicked Zhang Zhiwei's words, then added, "For the next period of time, you will cultivate in this tower. We will have people bring you food every day. In any case, you are not allowed to leave this place before the fire is over. At most, you can wander around the area around this tower." Zhang Jingqing also said, "Although this place is not as good as your Tianmen Peak, it is enough as a temporary seclusion place."

He continued, “In the cultivation world, passing the three calamities is called avoiding the three calamities. Clearly, the dangers of the three calamities cannot be avoided, so why call it avoiding instead of crossing over?”

"The key is to avoid the dangerous parts. Since ancient times, crossing fire has always referred to crossing fires that are built inside the building. It is rare to cross a large fire. But even so, it is a matter of life and death."

“When I was young, I accompanied my master to protect a senior monk who was over a hundred years old. That senior monk was practicing the inner fire cultivation technique.”

"I still remember it clearly. That old senior was sitting cross-legged on the altar of the Qi formation undergoing tribulation. He was perfectly fine, but suddenly his whole body burst into flames, and his entire body was glowing from the inside out. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a rainbow and flew away, disappearing into the horizon."

“I was young and inexperienced at the time, and I thought that the old senior had successfully ascended to heaven. It wasn’t until I noticed the sorrow on the faces of my master and the other Dharma protectors that I realized that he had failed to transcend the tribulation and had passed away.”

Zhang Jingqing looked at Zhang Zhiwei: "As long as you can avoid a major fire using this layout, with your abilities, you should be able to repair the interior to prevent a fire. Just remember not to push yourself too hard."

Zhang Zhiwei nodded hurriedly and said solemnly, "I will follow the teachings of my master and uncle and will properly undergo the tribulation here and will never take any risks."

Zhang Jingqing nodded, gave a few more instructions, and then left with Zhang Yi.

Zhang Zhiwei ascended the altar and entered the tower. As soon as he entered, he felt his own transformation being affected.

He wasn't alarmed or surprised; this was normal. What kind of Qi Bureau wouldn't have some influence?

The space inside the wooden pagoda was about the same size as the meditation room in the monastery, with a futon thoughtfully placed in the middle. Zhang Zhiwei sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes, and began to sense his surroundings.

Immediately, he sensed that the entire layout, with this altar as the center, was filled with a watery energy.

With the Water Official Emperor statue on the altar as the core and other water-related ritual implements around it as auxiliary elements, the water energy between heaven and earth is continuously gathered and forms a self-circulating system that stays here for a long time without dissipating.

As these water-qi elements accumulated, they fermented, brewed, churned, and condensed here, turning the changes in this place into a chaotic mess.

Upon entering the Dharma Platform, one becomes deeply bound to this structure. The chaotic changes here will invade one's body, disrupting one's own transformations and causing one to resonate with the entire structure, thereby achieving the purpose of concealing oneself.

In this way, they can avoid the arrival of a major fire.

This is the good side, but it also has the bad side.

For example, if one's own changes are disrupted, it can bring some hidden dangers.

The Twenty-Four Heavenly Valleys deep in the Qinling Mountains can fundamentally cause an individual to perish by disrupting its changes.

In theory, this energy field should also have such an effect.

But as the saying goes, talking about toxins without considering dosage is irresponsible. The scope of this Qi formation is too small and the variations are too few, so it is impossible to achieve that kind of effect.

However, external changes affect oneself, and the influx of a large amount of water-related energy into the body will inevitably disrupt one's own five elements.

Small fires within fires are caused by an imbalance of the five elements and an excess of metal energy.

Metal and water generate each other.

Staying here for too long, even if one's own five elements have been harmonized, may cause them to become unbalanced again, thus causing a small fire to occur.

In other words, if we really have to face this calamity, we may have to confront a double attack from both internal fires and small fires.

"If you are not prepared beforehand and are suddenly attacked from both inside and outside, it is quite painful. No wonder the old senior that Master mentioned suddenly turned into a rainbow and left."

"This feeling of having one's own five elements affected is really unpleasant!"

"Let's ignore the small fire for now and investigate the big fire first. If the big fire is truly unbearable, then we can study the small fire," Zhang Zhiwei thought to himself.

He is willing to take risks when doing things.

But there's no need to take risks in spiritual practice.

He wasn't fixated on what kind of fire to fight; if it was too dangerous or too risky, he would just switch to another one.

With this thought in mind, Zhang Zhiwei began to communicate with heaven and earth, to bridge the gap between heaven and earth, and to try to start a massive fire.

Within the Qi formation, this action could only induce the Heavenly Steps to begin brewing, but it could not bring down the Heavenly Tribulation, because there was no target.

During this process, he vaguely sensed that deep within the heavens and earth, many intricate lines were intertwined and flowing; these lines were change.

When Zhang Zhiwei looked at them, he suddenly felt that these changes seemed to have their own consciousness. They were high above, looking down on all living beings, like gods.

"If there are gods in this world, then they are likely powerful beings with self-awareness?"

This thought suddenly popped into Zhang Zhiwei's mind.

But then he discovered, upon peering into the past, the tangled mess of changes.

Suddenly it shrank, transforming into a blazing fireball.

The fireball was exactly the same as the one that appeared during the internal simulation, but it was larger and more intense.

It appeared three feet above our heads, ready to strike at any moment.

However, Zhang Zhiwei was not afraid. He was in a strategic position, and even a slight mistake could lead to a huge difference. No matter how close the fireball was, it would not be able to land.

Of course, if he were to run outside of this pattern now, a great fire and calamity would instantly descend.

"Could it be that the difficulty of surviving a massive fire is similar to the difficulty of dealing with a giant fireball during an interior simulation of top-secret information?"

Zhang Zhiwei thought to himself.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

He tried to stop observing, and the intense heat above his head quickly disappeared, the fireball turning into lines.

Immediately afterwards, he began to contemplate the Dharma again, and in an instant, the fireball formed once more.

He moved away again.

The fireball disappeared again.

Observe further.

reappear.

I tried it many times.

Zhang Zhiwei understood something in his heart: the changes had always been there all along.

When not observed, it is simply a line.

If observed or deduced, it will turn into a fireball.

Within the inner realm, the heavenly tribulation encountered while peering into celestial secrets and the fire tribulation are essentially the same. (End of Chapter)