The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

Zhang Junyi entered the room and sat down at the table. "The villagers witnessed the carp swimming upstream and being carried into Li Ertu's arms, and they were all sincere at that moment."

She poured herself a glass of water and looked at Li Yi with a smile:

"Yi-ge'er still has a way."

Li Yi accepted the praise with a smile, and Zhang Junyi then said:

"Li Ertu wanted to share some fish and meat with the villagers, but they thought it was a special reward from the immortals and dared not take more. I think his lung qi is damaged. Yi-ge can take a look. It can also be considered as an exploration of the Five Elements Dao."

After saying that, he glanced at the vegetable vat outside the window and his smile faded.

"Now that my daughter has recovered her cultivation, it's time for her to return to the mountain to report. It's bad luck to leave a dying person in the courtyard all day."

Li Yi, who had been smiling, suddenly grabbed his thigh and, just like on their wedding day, dug his fingers into the flesh, just like Zhang Junyi.

He calmed his emotions, smiled, and said, "Then I wish Junyi a safe journey and success in the path to immortality."

Zhang Junyi nodded silently, walked to the bedside table to organize her clothes, and realized that apart from the linen dress she was wearing, there seemed to be only one bright red ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) from her wedding day, which could barely be considered her own.

She stood in front of the counter, staring blankly at the ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) and the embroidered shoes displayed on the bottom shelf. In the end, she only picked up a wooden hairpin and put it into her inner sleeve pocket.

Li Yi accompanied Zhang Junyi out of the house, helped her pull Zhang Lingbao out, and asked:

"Junyi, how are you going to get down the mountain? Shall I go and get you a donkey cart?"

Zhang Junyi slowly shook his head, "It's faster to go down the mountain by water."

Li Yi subconsciously thought of taking a boat, but then remembered her mid-stage Qi Refining Kidney Water cultivation, and said in a low voice, "Then I'll give you a ride."

With Yi-ge'er's current prestige in the village, naturally no one dares to point fingers at the newlywed bride who frequently shows her face in public.

The two strolled upstream, where Zhang Junyi, dragging Zhang Lingbao along, stopped at the riverbank. After a moment, he turned back and said:

"Does Yi-ge have anything he wants to say to Junyi?"

Li Yi scratched his head and stammered:

"You've returned home safely. Are you going back to Qishan to cultivate Taoism?"

Zhang Junyi smiled and said, "Once Yi-ge'er returns to his unit, he can take some time to visit the Zhang residence in the west of the county town. I will explain to my father that the servants will not stop him."

Having said that, he grabbed Zhang Lingbao and plunged into the river, swaying like a fish as they swam down the waterfall and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Li Yi stared blankly, not even noticing when Xiao Qing appeared.

The River God watched from the river for a long time, then sneered disdainfully, muttered "good-for-nothing," and turned into water, disappearing from sight.

……

Li Yi remained silent, scooped up a grass carp from the river, and without going home, carried the fish to Li Ertu's house, knocked on the door, and went inside.

The person who opened the door was Li Ertu, who was so surprised to see him that he almost knelt down.

Li Yi helped him up and joked, "I could hear you coughing from two miles away."

He shook the bluefish. "Why don't you wish for a full recovery?"

Standing before Li Yi, Li Ertu was timid and hesitant. Coupled with his lung ailment, his speech was very short and hesitant, stammering as he said:

"The village head instructed me to make any wish I wanted, without troubling the river god."

Li Yi sighed, walked into the courtyard, and pointed to the low stool placed in front of the stove, saying:

"Sit there, let me show you."

He went inside, filled a basin with water, put the bluefish into the basin, and then sat down on the ground in front of Li Ertu, reaching out to release his wood energy.

The Wood Qi probed around and found that Li Ertu's lung qi was damaged, leading to loss of appetite. His spleen and stomach were also gradually weakening. As the condition progressed, Li Ertu developed heart fire, and his condition deteriorated further.

On one hand, the spleen earth cannot support the lung metal, and on the other hand, the heart fire is constantly suppressing the lung metal. If a miracle doctor doesn't come, he will almost certainly die.

Fortunately, cultivators who have entered the Dao have ways to take shortcuts, especially Li Yi, a cultivator of the Gallbladder Wood, whose method of cultivating earth and reducing fire is more effective than any herbal medicine.

As he sent out the wood energy to repair Li Ertu's spleen and stomach, he comforted him, saying:

"Your tuberculosis needs to be treated slowly. I'll take care of one aspect, but you also need to relax and not treat yourself like a patient. Imagine yourself as a weak, ordinary person, eat and drink as usual, and you'll get better gradually."

Li Ertu rallied his spirits, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, "Really?!"

Li Yi looked at him and said earnestly, "As long as you believe in me, I can cure you."

Li Ertu burst into tears and tried to kneel down again, but Li Yi helped him up and asked:

"How is your uncle?"

Li Ertu choked up as he said, "He still needs to rest for a while, but he should be asleep now."

Li Yi nodded gently and advised, "Take it easy. I'll ask the village head to help out and get your family through this year."

After saying that, he walked out of the courtyard gate, and finally heard the soft sound of Li Ertu kowtowing.

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, I feel really happy inside.

"Li Ertu's lungs (metal element) are damaged. Earth generates metal, so I can only slowly nourish his spleen and stomach. In addition, my wood energy generates fire, but Li Ertu's heart fire is already strong. I can't add fuel to the fire; he can only rely on himself to reduce the fire..."

Li Yi pondered to himself, thinking that as long as Li Ertu could experience the effects, he would gain confidence and his anger would easily subside.

Thinking about this, Li Yi suddenly realized why he often heard people say "relax."

When disaster strikes, who can be at ease? At the time, I thought the person who said that was just talking without understanding the situation, but it turns out they were right.

However, this principle has been passed down to the present day, but it is now just an empty phrase. People say it casually, and people only feel annoyed when they hear it.

In cases like Li Ertu's, external things have little effect on his inner fire, which highlights the importance of "willpower".

It turns out that the Great Dao of the Five Elements Golden Elixir involves more than just the five elements; willpower is even more important.

Is this the root of cultivating one's nature and destiny?

Li Yi suddenly understood, feeling completely refreshed and invigorated.

He strolled home and suddenly saw a golden light appear in the twilight, descending from the sky and pouring into Li Yi's body.

Unexpectedly, the Investiture of the Gods in the Tongziliao agitated and spontaneously emerged from the spiritual acupoint, directly confronting the golden light in the sky. With a snap, the scroll shattered the golden light into pieces.

Li Yi was filled with astonishment, but the Investiture of the Gods seemed satisfied, leisurely returning to the pupils and falling silent once more.

That golden light was dazzling and didn't seem harmful, so how did it all disappear in an instant?

"What did you ruin?"

Li Yi fiddled with the scroll for a long time with the wooden energy, but it didn't react at all, so he had no choice but to return home in frustration.

Li Dashan and his wife were busy in the yard. When the two elders realized that their daughter-in-law and the useless person in the vegetable jar were gone, they didn't bother to make a fuss. They offered a few words of comfort, which made Li Yi feel very depressed.

My mood had been improving, but this consolation only made things worse.

He went back inside, sat down by the window, absorbed some energy, and reviewed the characters he had learned in the past few days.

During the day, he would run around the mountains with his adoptive father, and when they returned, he would take care of Li Ertu. Before he knew it, it was late autumn, and there were only two days left until the beginning of winter.

During this period, thanks to the offerings of incense by the villagers of Lai Village, Li Yi also reaped benefits, becoming much stronger than before, and the golden patterns on the Investiture of the Gods were steadily increasing.

Unfortunately, his responsibilities as a "minor official" remained unchanged, as did the assessment that his "cultivation was insignificant."

Early that morning, Li Yi cultivated his Qi for a while, estimating that it would take another two days to open the tenth spiritual acupoint, "Fu Bai." He then put aside his thoughts, picked up the luggage that his adoptive parents had prepared the night before, and left the courtyard.

Li Erhu was waiting at the door early, also carrying a large bag, and grinned when he saw people.

Li Yi raised his hand in greeting, then looked up at another person, Li Ertu.

"Why are you out here too?"

Few villagers knew about Li Yi's departure from the mountain, except for Li Erhu, who had decided to enlist voluntarily, and Li Ertu, who mentioned it to him yesterday.

"I've come to see Yi-ge off!" Li Ertu said with a restrained smile.

Li Yi patted him on the shoulder, "Your lung disease isn't fully healed yet, so don't follow me. Remember, if you can't recover, pray to the River God; he'll heal you much faster than I can."

"Understood."

Li Ertu fell silent, watching Yi Ge'er and Er Hu bid farewell to their respective families. He stared blankly as the two disappeared into the distance, then suddenly stood on tiptoe, waved, and shouted:

"Yi-ge, Er-hu-ge, after my dad recovers, can I come visit you next year?!"

Li Yi didn't turn around, he just waved his hand twice, but didn't give a reply.

Only after the two disappeared from sight did Li Ertu finally put his feet on the ground, his face full of anticipation for the future.