Zhang Kui Asks the Way in Investiture of the Gods

Inside the quiet room, the spiritual light of the five elements surged and rippled like the tide.

Zhang Kui sat cross-legged in the center, his body seemingly transformed into a furnace of heaven and earth. The five internal organs—liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—resonated with a roar. The Azure Dragon sang, the Vermilion Bird flapped its wings, the Qilin suppressed the mountain, the White Tiger roared, and the Black Tortoise coiled. The illusory images of the five divine beasts solidified into reality, surrounding his body and inducing a powerful circulation of the five elements, forming a perfect prototype of the Five Elements World, which firmly imprisoned the violently trembling Yin-Yang Qi Bottle in the center.

"Roar!" Zhang Kui roared, his eyes flashing with a sharp light, and his vast magical power surged into the Five Qi Circulation.

"Great Five Elements Extinction Divine Light, refine it for me!"

Red, yellow, blue, white, and black divine light shot up from behind him, like five chains of divine order, carrying a terrifying Daoist aura that could annihilate all laws and reshape the earth, water, fire, and wind, and fiercely pierced into the chaotic airflow gushing from the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.

"Buzzing—"

The Yin-Yang Qi Bottle emitted a mournful cry, its chaotic-colored seal rapidly dissolving and collapsing under the onslaught of the five-colored divine light. The originally balanced primordial Yin and Yang energies within the bottle, now freed from their restraints, clashed and surged violently like wild horses, on the verge of exploding completely.

A resolute glint flashed in Zhang Kui's eyes. He fully activated the Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Technique, frantically absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy, and even drew upon a trace of the Mianchi Earth Vein Dragon Qi to replenish his nearly depleted mana.

At the same time, he abandoned the attempt to suppress it with the power of the Five Elements, and instead guided the uncontrolled, incomparably pure innate Yin and Yang energies, like guiding two roaring dragons, straight towards his eyes.

"My husband!"

Gao Lanying, who was guarding outside the quiet room, felt the earth-shattering energy fluctuations inside and Zhang Kui's almost self-destructive behavior. Her face turned pale, and she was about to rush in.

"No, mistress!"

Zheng Lun and Chen Qi, who had just arrived, quickly stopped Gao Lanying. Although they were also shocked, they understood that they had to trust Zhang Kui's judgment at this moment.

In the quiet room, unimaginable pain instantly overwhelmed Zhang Kui's mind.

The innate Yin and Yang energies are the origin of the primordial chaos and the source of all things. How domineering and fierce are they? Forcibly penetrating them into the mystical apertures of the eyes at this moment is like taking an unexplored primordial chaos and forcibly taking it into a tiny space.

"Ugh..."

Zhang Kui's muscles and bones crackled like thunder, the veins on his forehead bulged like dragons, and his blood and qi surged like rivers. His Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming supernatural powers were activated to the extreme, firmly stabilizing his body on the verge of collapse.

He carefully guarded the clarity of his mind, taking the Golden Elixir Dao as his foundation, and forcefully circulated the Five Elements' generating and restraining method. The Dharma images of the five internal organs manifested behind him as five colors of light: blue, red, yellow, white, and black, which transformed into the five innate energies that circulated endlessly. He guided this violent power with his supreme will.

Within the left eye's aperture, the supreme yang energy surged like boiling water, as if the sun had fallen into the pupil, and the scorching Daoist aura almost melted the eye aperture into glass.

Deep within the right eye, an intensely Yin energy flowed, as if the Netherworld were pouring into the pupil, the chilling cold that seemed to freeze the very soul almost solidify time and space.

If these two mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining primordial energies lose their balance even slightly, the foundation of one's Dao will immediately crumble.

"Yin and Yang rotate, forming heaven and earth... Settle for me!" Zhang Kui roared silently from the depths of his heart, using his supreme will to control the power of creation and creation, barely managing to construct a new balance in his eyes.

Within his eyes, the yin and yang energies gradually formed the shape of Tai Chi. The golden light in his left eye flowed like the sun rising over the East Sea, while the shimmering light in his right eye resembled the moon reflected in a cold pool.

After countless cycles of birth and death, the intense pain gradually turned into a sense of coolness.

When Zhang Kui opened his eyes again, his eyes had undergone a stunning transformation.

Deep within the pupil of his left eye, a miniature, radiant sun seemed to reside, its golden light flowing, exuding ultimate yang and strength. Within his gaze, even the finest dust particles in the air, the veins of spiritual energy, and the most minute rune structures of the meditation chamber's restrictions were presented with unparalleled clarity before his "eyes." This was the divine power of the "Subtle Sun Cave."

His right eye was like a bottomless, icy pool, shimmering with a ghostly light, utterly yin and gentle. As his gaze swept across it, the walls of the quiet room seemed to become transparent. He could directly "see" the blood and spiritual energy flowing around Gao Lanying and the others who were anxiously waiting outside, and even faintly sense their inner worries. This was the mystery of "Taiyin Zhuyou".

A new innate supernatural power has been born.

The Great Yin-Yang Penetrating True Eye dispels illusion. This eye can observe the workings of the stars in the heavens above and glimpse the secrets of reincarnation in the netherworld below. Dispelling illusion and seeing the truth is merely its basic power.

The Yin-Yang Qi Bottle that had troubled Zhang Kui for so long had vanished without a trace, leaving only emptiness in its place. The innate essence within it had been completely refined by him in an extremely dangerous way, merging into his eyes and becoming his own innate divine power.

"What a wonderful feeling..." Zhang Kui's mind stirred slightly, and the strange phenomenon in his eyes disappeared, returning to normal. But if he wanted, he could open these true eyes that could see through illusions and illuminate the darkness at any time.

Ok?

Just as Zhang Kui was immersed in the profound mystery of the initial formation of the Great Yin-Yang Void True Eye, his gaze subconsciously turned inward, sweeping over the long-dormant Falling Treasure Coin deep in his dantian.

That single glance was earth-shattering.

Under the wondrous vision of the True Eye "Discerning Illusion," this once simple and unadorned copper coin finally shed its disguise, revealing its hidden essence. Inside, the golden veins that originally represented the law of "transaction" still shone brightly, but beside them, the dark gold to almost black patterns that had grown from devouring Ma Yuan's Bone Hand in the past now writhed slowly like living things, emanating an extremely pure and chilling aura of the netherworld.

What shocked him even more was that these netherworld patterns had established a faint yet incredibly strong connection with a vast, ancient, and powerful entity that governs the reincarnation of all souls—the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

This connection, as thin as a spider's thread, spans the boundary between Yin and Yang, like an invisible bridge connecting the two sides of life and death.

"This...this is..." An unprecedented thought exploded in Zhang Kui's mind like a thunderclap, shaking his Dao heart: "Using the Falling Treasure Coin as the supreme medium to communicate between the Yin and Yang realms and conduct...a transaction?"

In my past life memories, the image of those paper money burned for ancestors, printed with "Heaven and Earth Bank," and considered to be able to communicate between the yin and yang realms, flashed by. But the treasure-filled coins before my eyes, undergoing a transformation, with their grand scale and lofty intentions, far surpass those superficial symbols by a thousand times.

At this moment, it is no longer merely a weapon capable of striking down enemies; its essence is being sublimated. It seems to be evolving into a "general equivalent" that transcends humans, ghosts, gods, and even all realms, capable of measuring cause and effect and quantifying merit, seeking to practice a more magnificent, supreme path that transcends life and death and governs gain and loss—the "Way of Balance."

Zhang Kuiqiang suppressed his surging blood and his shocked mind, took a deep breath, and tried to slowly touch the Falling Treasure Coin with his own divine sense. He then extended a wisp of his unique soul imprint, a faint magical power, like tentacles reaching out, along the hidden channel leading to the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

In an instant!

The Luobao Coin emitted a barely audible yet soul-stirring tremor. A cold, ancient flow of information, filled with the endless wails of the dead and the mysteries of reincarnation, surged back into his consciousness like a bursting dam.

At the same time, the mysterious verse that had appeared before resounded once more in the depths of his Dao heart, like the divine pronouncement of the Great Dao:

"Weighing cause and effect determines the universe, measuring merit subdues all heavens. Transactions clarify gains and losses, and the laws govern the entire world. When gods and demons inquire about the price, they will know that this treasure is truly what it is."

The verses resonated deeply, like the resounding toll of a great bell.

Immediately following, a crystal-clear "need" originating from the very essence of the Luobao Coin was imprinted into Zhang Kui's core consciousness—it needed a "spirit," a divine soul that truly understood, recognized, and was willing to completely dedicate itself to practicing this "way of balance," to completely merge with it, to become one with the Dao, in order to truly activate and master this supreme path that connects Yin and Yang and transacts cause and effect.

To merge one's body with the Dao? To merge one's soul and spirit?

Zhang Kui's breath suddenly caught in his throat, and the surging blood and qi in his body seemed to freeze at that moment.

This means that once he takes this step, his soul will be deeply bound to this innate spiritual treasure, with no distinction between them. They will share both glory and ruin. He will no longer be a mere "user" but will become the true "master" and "practitioner" of this treasure. However, he will also inevitably bear the destiny of promoting the grand and unknown "Way of Balance," which is fraught with both fortune and misfortune.

Is the road ahead one of becoming the supreme ruler who controls cause and effect and trades with all the heavens and the myriad realms, even the most supreme beings? Or will one perish and vanish on this unprecedented and thorny path, having touched some unknown taboo, thus wasting ten thousand years of cultivation?

Is it to be content with the status quo, relying on the already formed Great Yin-Yang Void-Penetrating True Eye and steadily improving cultivation, cautiously seeking survival in this Investiture of the Gods calamity, and striving for a stable place? Or is it to resolutely gamble everything you have, including your own freedom and the uncertainty of the future, to embrace this unprecedented opportunity and fight for a future that even the sages in heaven may not have imagined or touched...?

The sky outside the window was already bright, and sunlight streamed through the windowpane.

As Zhang Kui's eyes opened and closed, his left eye reflected the rising sun, while his right eye held the shifting moon, reflecting an unprecedented struggle and weighing of options deep within his heart. His fingertips tapped unconsciously on his knees, each tap seeming to strike at a crossroads of fate, a moment of utter uncertainty…