Chapter 523
Chapter 523
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 523
>Chapter Title: Ascending the Tiers
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Discovering that this was the enemy who had clashed with her dad before,
Li Sui's body immediately crouched low, her tentacles writhing all over as she let out a threatening growl from deep in her throat at the newcomer.
"Visitors are guests. Sit."
Li Huowang pulled a bench from beside the table and pushed it toward the man.
"I wouldn't dare. There's no place for Zuyi in front of the Great Elder." Zuyi extended his charred hands like coal and set the bench aside.
"Since you know I'm the Great Elder, why did you go against me before?" Li Huowang asked.
"At the time, this disciple owed a favor to the Eldest Princess over some trivial matter. Even knowing the Great Elder's identity, I couldn't go back on my word. I absolutely couldn't let the Great Elder lay a finger on her."
"Oh? Then why did you rebel against her afterward?"
"Since this disciple used every trick in the book but still couldn't stop the Great Elder, I'd fulfilled my duty and repaid that favor." Zuyi spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"As a disciple of the Ao Jing Sect, when the Great Elder faces trouble, this disciple must help. Naturally, Zuyi must aid the Great Elder in dealing with the Eldest Princess."
"You're really something, keeping everything so neatly separated, huh?" Li Huowang reached out and clamped down on Li Sui's growling mouth.
"In life, plenty of people say it's best to play dumb sometimes, but I still think it's better to keep the accounts clear."
"And how did you recognize me as the Great Elder? What if I'm not even from the Ao Jing Sect?"
"Anyone who can perform the intercalary placement of the five elements and live? Without a doubt, you're the Great Elder!" With that, Zuyi bowed in worship to Li Huowang.
Facing Zuyi before him, Li Huowang smiled, sat there watching him for a while, then suddenly spoke up. "Want to keep chatting small talk? If you do, I can chat with you all night long."
"Why would you say that, Great Elder?"
"What the hell are you here for today!" Li Huowang's voice rose a pitch.
Zuyi hesitated for a moment before prostrating himself carefully on the ground before Li Huowang. "Zuyi is willing to give everything for the Great Elder's method of ascending the tiers!"
Looking at Zuyi before him, Li Huowang now understood why this guy had been sticking to him.
Li Huowang didn't reject the man's request right away. Instead, he started considering whether this guy could be of use against Dice.
"You know about the dice from the Sitting-Forgetting Path?"
Though he didn't know why the other had suddenly switched topics, Zuyi answered promptly. "Of course. Not long ago, that dice caused quite a stir in the capital."
"Then who in the Ao Jing Sect do you think can deal with Dice?" Li Huowang leaned forward slightly.
After thinking for a moment, Zuyi replied, "In terms of raw strength alone, any of the three Five-Tribulation Great Elders would suffice."
"Five-Tribulation?" As soon as Li Huowang voiced his confusion, Zuyi picked up on it.
"Every time an Ao Jing Sect member ascends a tier, they gain an additional tribulation. After three, they earn the title of Great Elder. A Five-Tribulation Great Elder, naturally, is someone who has ascended five times."
With that, Zuyi looked up at Li Huowang in some confusion. "Great Elder, you didn't know this?"
Li Huowang didn't answer. He was stunned by the bombshell in the man's words. "Cang Zhu ascending tiers has effects? The more times you ascend, the stronger you get?! Five ascensions make you stronger than Dice?!"
"It's not just Cang Zhu ascending tiers. Other ascension methods have the same effect. Each ascension brings us closer to Ba Hui, letting us borrow more of his power for ourselves."
"Who's the highest ascension in the Ao Jing Sect right now? How many tribulations?"
"Rumors say ten tribulations."
"Ten tribulations? What's that person's name?"
"Ox God."
"Ox God undying is the Mysterious Womb. The gate of the Mysterious Womb is the root of heaven and earth. There is a thing formed in chaos, born before heaven and earth."
The man's words instantly pulled Li Huowang back years ago, to that statue seated cross-legged on the cross.
From what he'd learned at the Cross Temple before, Ox God was the one mortal who had achieved sainthood in the flesh and wrested a portion of the Heavenly Dao alive from Ba Hui's grasp.
Endure ten tribulations to achieve sainthood in the flesh? Li Huowang's heart burned hot at the thought.
Cang Zhu ascending tiers truly lived up to its name—one tier at a time, until you could become a god! This was something Li Huowang hadn't known.
"Then what are we waiting for? If I ascend the Cang Zhu tiers a few times, I can crush Dice easily! This deadlock would be broken!"
But as soon as Li Huowang thought that, the agonizing memories of past Cang Zhu ascensions flooded his mind.
"Mom! I can't tell!! I really can't tell!!"
"No... impossible! I didn't kill these people! I didn't wipe out this village!"
"Huowang... why?"
Last time it was Yang Na. Who would it be next? His own mother? What horrific thing would he have to do to Sun Xiaoqin to reach the peak of mental and physical agony? No!! No way! I won't do it! She's not fake! She's my mom!
Seeing everything around Li Huowang twist faintly, Zuyi jolted in alarm and instinctively backed out into the courtyard.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Li Huowang clutched half his face in pain as he spoke.
"Brother Li, there must be another way. Don't do it like that. Cang Zhu ascending tiers requires killing your own child and slaying your father, committing every evil under the sun—and each time it's harder than the last. If you really did that, what difference would there be between you and a monster of utter evil like Dice?!"
Under Zhuge Yuan's persuasion, Li Huowang gradually calmed down. "Don't worry. I won't do that. I'll definitely find another way!"
Li Huowang looked up at Zuyi in the courtyard and forced himself to sound steady. "I'm fine. Come in. Let's keep talking."
"Great Elder, what strange technique is this? Why such an abnormal phenomenon?" Doubts rising, Zuyi walked back into the room.
"Let me ask you— you've never even seen Dice. What makes you so sure a Five-Tribulation Elder could beat him? I've tried Cang Zhu ascending tiers myself. Aside from heightened pain sensitivity and better healing, there weren't any other changes."
Calmed down, Li Huowang instinctively began doubting the truth of the man's words. After all, anyone could say anything—who could verify it?
"Great Elder, no need to doubt. Once you've passed five tribulations, you're no longer mortal. Besides, the Sitting-Forgetting Path isn't strong in direct confrontations. A Five-Tribulation Elder would be more than enough."
"But Dice, as the head of the Sitting-Forgetting Path, excels at deception. If he truly wants to hide, even the elders hunting him would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. That's why the sect has been looking for so long without finding him."
"You're looking for Dice too? Why?" As soon as Li Huowang asked, he realized the answer himself.
"Right, the Ao Jing Sect counts as an upright orthodox sect, so the Heavenly Supervision Bureau must have come knocking on your door too."
(End of chapter)