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

The next day, at dawn.

Sunlight streamed in from the Dahan Mountains, illuminating the lone rooster in the Li family courtyard with its golden crest.

"Giggle giggle!"

Li Yi stopped circulating his qi, glanced at the rooster with its neck raised, and asked Zhang Junyi:

"Can I be considered to have mastered the basics?"

"...Okay." Zhang Junyi looked at Li Yi's fingertips with a complicated expression, a surge of azure energy swirling around them.

She simply pointed out the acupoints mentioned in the "Introduction to Qi in Qi Mountain" and had Li Yi feel them a few times. Then, on his first attempt at circulating Qi, he actually succeeded.

Are there any fellow disciples like this?

The more he knows, the more confused he becomes; Li Yi is currently in this stage.

He asked curiously, "I only opened one acupoint, Tongziliao, so why can the Five Elements Qi circulate through all the acupoints in my body?"

"The acupoints in the human body are naturally open; blockage is a sign of illness," Zhang Junyi replied gently. "What Li Lang was circulating just now was wood qi, not wood vital energy."

The girl pointed to an apricot tree at the courtyard gate. "What's that?"

"Tree—wood!"

"That's right. This apricot tree belongs to the genus *Wood*, but it's more than just the word 'wood'." Zhang Junyi said patiently, "When we see trees, we think of vitality and life force, which is the essence of wood."

Only by exploring the essence of the Five Elements can one reach the realm of "Qi".

Therefore, what Li Lang was circulating just now was only wood energy, enough to perform wood-based spells, but not reaching the realm of 'Qi', and its power and wonder were ultimately limited.

Li Yi nodded thoughtfully. "Wood represents growth and vitality. My Tongziliao acupoint carries the energy of wood, which is why it can be called a 'spiritual acupoint'."

It seems that the five elements of Qi each have their own mysteries and are not simply five major elements; my previous thinking was too superficial.

Zhang Junyi glanced at the east room, noticed the commotion there, and used his mind to utter the last words of the morning:

"That's right. As the saying goes, once you understand one thing, you'll understand everything. Now that I've explained the Wood Qi to you, you'll have a general idea of ​​the other four elements. I'll explain it to you again when you return home."

Li Yi responded, listened to the commotion in the main room, waited a while, and when he saw Li Dashan come out of the room fully equipped, he stood up and greeted him:

"father."

Li Dashan nodded and helped his adopted son prepare all the necessary equipment for running in the mountains, mainly a fire tumbler, a 1.5-foot-long wood-chopping knife, a bag of dry rations, a leather bag of boiled water, and an extra bag of wooden arrows.

"Let's go, Big Tiger is probably waiting."

Sure enough, when the father and son went out, they saw a man walking out of the neighboring yard. He also had a bow on his back, a hemp rope slung over his shoulder, and a large piece of hemp cloth hanging from his waist, which he guessed was for carrying meat.

"Big Tiger".

"Brother Shan!"

A burly man, half a head shorter than Li Dashan, strode over and looked at Li Yi with a smile.

"Yi-ge'er is quite capable. If he runs around the mountains with Shan-ge more, it will be a good skill for him when he returns to the army."

"Uncle Tiger," Li Yi greeted him obediently.

Li Dashan interrupted the casual conversation and arranged the entire day's itinerary in a single sentence:

"Let's go check out where the meat is stored first. If everything's alright, we'll hunt some small animals and head home before dark. Big Tiger, after you bring the pork back, you hang out with Old Ma and the others for a few days. I need to help Yi-ge get used to things."

"What are you talking about! We're used to working together." The forty-something-year-old Tiger looked at Li Yi. "We help each other out. My kid will need Yi-ge's help next year."

Li Yi quickly replied, "Of course."

Running in the mountains requires an early start, so the three of them stopped chatting and strode towards the woods to the east. By the time they returned home, it was already sunset.

The father and son each carried a large piece of pork in their hands, and their backs were also full.

Besides the wild boar meat that couldn't be brought back yesterday, there were also two foxes that followed the scent of blood to find the hiding place of the meat and accidentally fell into a trap.

Most of the time, Li Dashan led Li Yi to familiarize himself with the route and did not spend time hunting.

At night, Zhang Junyi patiently explained the Five Elements Dao to Li Yi, who listened attentively, and the days passed by in this way.

Three days later, Li Yi opened another acupoint, the second acupoint of the Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian, Tinghui.

Zhang Junyi proactively examined Li Yi's spiritual acupoints and exclaimed, "Young Master Li is indeed exceptionally talented. Did you comprehend any techniques this time?"

After several days of explanation from the girl, Li Yi had achieved a basic understanding of cultivation.

It turns out that every time a Qi cultivation cultivator opens a spiritual acupoint, there is a chance to comprehend the corresponding Five Elements techniques.

If one can open up the Great Dragon and unblock the entire meridian, there is a greater chance of comprehending supernatural powers during the tempering of internal organs and foundation building.

The expectation in Zhang Junyi's eyes dimmed slightly after Li Yi shook his head, and she softly comforted him:

"It's alright. There are forty-four acupoints on the Gallbladder Meridian, so there are plenty of opportunities. Besides, each time an acupoint is opened, there will be a corresponding improvement. At least the Tongziliao and Tinghui acupoints will make Li Lang's eyesight and hearing clear."

Li Yi felt this deeply. These past few days, when he returned home late, he was always able to detect unusual activity in the forest before his adoptive father. Although he couldn't be called a night-vision expert, his eyesight was still much better than that of ordinary people.

"The benefits of absorbing Qi and opening acupoints are numerous, and one can even comprehend magical techniques from them. So, does that mean the Investiture of the Gods is my Tongziliao's magical technique? Isn't that too shocking? What about Zhang Junyi?"

Li Yi asked the question as soon as he thought of it, and Zhang Junyi did not hide anything and spoke frankly:

"My daughter possesses two innate magical techniques, namely 'Water Escape Technique' and 'Water Dragon's Roar.' Although she has just barely opened her fifth spiritual acupoint, 'Water Spring,' it does not hinder her from using these techniques."

Li Yi nodded thoughtfully. He had heard Zhang Junyi mention yesterday that her two innate spells were located in the ninth and thirteenth spiritual acupoints, respectively. It seemed that even though the spiritual acupoints were sealed, the corresponding spells would not be forgotten.

That's great news!

It's hard to accept that his Investiture of the Gods is frequently banned.

Aside from practicing Qi cultivation and opening acupoints, Li Yi has spent most of his free time studying the Investiture of the Gods in the past few days, but he knows very little about it.

You have to use it at least once.

"That tiger spirit is quite powerful, and I am powerless to resist it. If I, a mere 'minor official,' do not have complete control over the deity I have appointed, wouldn't I be trapping myself in my own web?"

Judging from the name and my own feelings, the Investiture of the Gods' effect is limited to bestowing titles and sharing incense offerings. Apart from removing gods from their positions, it seems to have no other means of control...

Upon meeting the tiger spirit that very night, Li Yi initially considered simply choosing to bestow an imperial title upon it, since they were essentially on the same side, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

The reason for this was probably that Li Yi felt that the big tiger was really good at scheming, and if he couldn't see through him, he wouldn't trust him.

Thinking of this, Li Yi looked up at the sky outside the window and, seeing the sun high in the sky, said:

"I want to go into the mountains alone, and I'll definitely be back before dark."

Zhang Junyi's face was slightly flushed. In the past few days, in order to stimulate acupoints, she had been eating and drinking heartily every day to replenish her qi and blood.

If this were a place as spiritually rich as Qishan, there would be no need for such a loss of composure.

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Li."

"Call me Yi-ge'er," Li Yi said with a smile. "I'll call you Junyi too, is that alright?"

Zhang Junyi did not respond, but nodded silently. She had never experienced this feeling before.

Li Yi turned and left the main room, tricking Li Dashan into wandering around the village. His heart was pounding all the way out of the courtyard.

"What's going on? It's just a change of address. You've already called me 'wife' before..."

……

Not wanting to get entangled with his adoptive father and worry him, Li Yi went out without any hunting supplies. He put on a pair of leather boots and went into the woods to the east. Before he knew it, he arrived at the edge of the waterfall cliff.

"My father always stops near the waterfall. It's safe, but I need to find a living being to bestow a title upon me. I need to find a spirit that has opened its spiritual cave."

Li Yi stood on the edge of the cliff and looked down at the river below. This unnamed river was only a few meters wide, and the tiger spirit's territory was five miles away.

"Since we don't know the way, we'll just follow the river; we won't get lost."

Li Yi spotted a slope. Although it was steep, he was no longer a mortal and strode down it.

There were some simple traps set up by hunters nearby, but Li Yi, having mastered the Tongziliao technique, could always avoid them if he was careful.

Xiao Lang walked eastward along the river, listening to the murmuring water, but he had no interest whatsoever.

"Zhang Lingbao could appear at any moment; we have to find a suitable spirit to summon today, no matter what!"

Li Yi hardened his resolve, a hint of blue glint appearing at the corners of his eyes, his sharp gaze sweeping across his surroundings.

Suddenly, an extremely weak voice entered his ears. Li Yi looked around and finally focused his gaze on the bottom of the river!

The sound kept repeating and gradually weakening:

"Fellow Daoist, save me!"

"Fellow Daoist, save me..."