Born as an ant, I was summoned to ascend to immortality.

Chapter 67 A Masterful Hand Sees Through Yin and Yang

It has been half a month since the group of boats from Xuntianfang left.

After many days of painstaking work, Zhou Li has reorganized Yuwen Zhao's spiritual pivot and constructed a new myriad transformation spiritual track in his spiritual thoughts, thus gaining more refined control over the spiritual body.

Compared to the flourishing of cultivation in human form, cultivation in ant form has stagnated.

Since joining the sect, Zhou Li has discovered that neither the "Five Elements Danqing Technique" nor ordinary metal-element techniques can be used by ant-like beings. He can only accumulate spiritual power by using the Qi-guiding technique.

Zhou Li understood that this was because the meridians of ants were different from those of humans, and therefore could not perfectly adapt to the cultivation methods of these sects. Ultimately, the Changtian Sect was merely a place of cultivation established for the human race.

In the far west of the Eastern Continent, on the other side of the vast Cangyuan Sea, there is said to be another continent called the Demon Realm, which is the place where all demon cultivators in the world live and make a living.

If someone with the body of an ant wants to establish a foundation, does he have to cross the Cangyuan Sea and travel to the Demon Realm to seek opportunities?

Zhou Li sighed. In any case, he should first improve his own cultivation. Without sufficient strength to protect himself, how could he be qualified to plot this?

As usual, Zhou Li studied the Dao of Formations in the morning, practiced the Spiritual Ritual in the afternoon, and diligently advanced his practice at night.

However, before the entire cycle of the universe had even finished tonight, he suddenly opened his eyes, his brows furrowed.

Just now, he clearly sensed that a wisp of extremely cold and alien true energy was entrenched deep within the spiritual body's meridians, quietly wandering through the meridians like a bone-deep carbuncle, and showing signs of growing stronger.

If it weren't for the lotus seed that became an opportunity at the beginning of my cultivation, which tempered my meridians to be incredibly resilient, it might have already seeped into my meridians and lay dormant, making it difficult to discover later.

Even so, if this true energy is not eliminated as soon as possible, it will gradually grow stronger over time and erode even the most resilient meridians.

"It's Jiang Liulang!" Zhou Li instantly realized, "That palm strike actually concealed such a vicious hidden move!"

He immediately activated the five elements of true energy within his body, attempting to refine this wisp of cold energy.

However, although this aura was as thin as a hair, it was extremely stubborn. Under the cleansing of the Five Elements True Qi, it was difficult to merge with it. On the contrary, due to its cold and yin nature, it subtly repelled the balanced and harmonious Five Elements True Qi in Zhou Li's body.

But during this stalemate, the five-colored lotus plate in Zhou Li's dantian spontaneously generated a strange desire.

"This is..." Zhou Li's heart suddenly stirred, and he turned to use the Five Elements True Qi to slowly drive away this cold energy, gradually guiding it from the depths of his meridians to the vicinity of his dantian.

The process was slow and arduous. Each collision between true qi and yin qi brought a slight stinging pain to the meridians, while Zhou Li was completely immersed in this unexpected cultivation.

Though the road ahead is treacherous, its path is bright. This seemingly insidious scheme may well be the opportunity for him to reach a higher level.

After several days of painstaking effort, Zhou Li had gradually guided the cold energy to the vicinity of his dantian.

The suction force of the five-colored lotus plate increased sharply. The cold energy that had been moving like a live snake was now powerless to resist under the locking and gripping of the five-colored lotus plate and was tightly bound by it.

However, things did not change. Although this wisp of cold energy could not roam around, it coiled around the lotus plate. No matter how the five-colored true energy flowed, it remained curled up and motionless, like an upside-down yin snake.

Zhou Li smiled wryly, "In this way, we don't have to worry about the cold energy corroding our meridians. However, even if it doesn't affect the flow of spiritual energy, it will be a catastrophic disaster if it is activated during future battles or breakthroughs."

After pondering for a long time, Zhou Li suddenly remembered that the newly acquired Wuxiang Gu was of the Yin-cold nature and had been raised by Jiang Liulang for many years, so it might be a suitable candidate.

Opening the spirit beast pouch, Zhou Li found the Formless Gu curled up, recovering from its injuries. Zhou Li pointed with his fingers, extracting a wisp of the Formless Gu's essence. This essence seemed to share the same origin as the cold energy, but it was far less pure.

Zhou Li then slowly guided the essence into his dantian. As the essence entered his body, it resonated with the cold energy. The essence transformed into wisps of water-like power that merged into the cold energy, which in turn strengthened it.

Zhou Li's eyes widened in surprise. His original intention was to draw out the cold energy by drawing out the essence, but he did not expect that the essence could be transformed into the power of water to nourish the cold energy.

He clearly sensed that although the wisp of water-elemental power was one of the five elements, it was completely incompatible with his own true energy, just like...

"One positive, one negative; one yin, one yang!" Zhou Li blurted out.

He recalled the profound and mysterious records in those ancient books from his previous life: "The Five Elements are the mother of heaven and earth, containing yin and yang. Isolated yang cannot produce anything, and solitary yin cannot grow..."

Although these ancient books are not true scriptures on spiritual practice, they do explain some principles in a very logical and reasonable way.

The Five Elements Alchemy Techniques practiced by Zhou Li aimed to achieve the perfect foundation of the Dao, where the Five Elements cycle endlessly. Previously, thanks to his exceptional comprehension, he had already achieved the initial unity of the Five Elements, with his true energy flowing in a balanced and harmonious manner.

However, if what the ancient books say is true, and the Five Elements are indeed divided into Yin and Yang, with Yin arising from Yang and Yin complementing each other to form the Great Dao, then the subsequent advancement of the cultivation method requires finding the power of the matching "Yin Five Elements," drawing Yin into Yang, and achieving the great perfection of the unity of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, in order to lay the foundation for the supreme Dao.

However, why is such an important principle of Yin and Yang not mentioned at all in the "Five Elements Painting Manual"?

Zhou Li frowned and pondered for a long time, somewhat hesitant: "Master once said that no one has ever been seen who can cultivate this technique before. If the ancestors of the He family did not think of this when they were cultivating the technique..."

He shook his head, finding it somewhat absurd, and said self-deprecatingly, "I could have imagined it all. How could the He family's ancestors, with their extraordinary talent, not have thought of it? Unless there was no Yin and Yang back then..."

As soon as he said it, Zhou Li was taken aback. Then, a flash of inspiration struck him. The Five Elements Danqing Technique was extremely obscure. It must have been practiced in ancient times, and it was possible that the concept of Yin and Yang had not yet appeared.

If ancient cultivators first divided the five elements and then yin and yang in their cultivation, then the Five Elements Danqing Technique, which no one has ever practiced, is very likely still not perfect.

I am not more intelligent than the ancestors of the He family, but I stand on the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancients. A classic book should not be the opinion of one person, but should be constantly improved through the tireless exploration of many sages.

Zhou Li introspectively examined his own balanced and harmonious Five Elements True Qi, and then felt this sinister and unpredictable cold energy. He made a bold decision.

He incorporated the five-colored lotus plate into the visualized spiral tortoise diagram, and the five elements of true energy transformed into surging water energy that filled the entire spiral tortoise meridian. At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

The cold energy seemed to have encountered its nemesis, struggling desperately to escape, but because it was tightly bound by the five-colored lotus plate, it had no choice but to enter the Xuan Turtle Meridian as well.

Under the constant pulling and scouring of the lotus plate, this chilling energy gradually weakened and eventually dissipated into a pure, exotic water-based energy, which was absorbed into the spiraling tortoise diagram.

At this point, a brand-new spiral tortoise meridian slowly emerges, overlapping with the original meridians and recombining them into an even more complex and profound spiral tortoise diagram.

Zhou Li was overjoyed, knowing that he had made the right bet. The power of water is divided into yin and yang, and the meridians are also divided into yang meridians and yin meridians. The power of the yang five elements enters the yang meridians, and the power of the yin five elements enters the yin meridians.

If we use the Heavenly Stems and Five Elements to describe Yin and Yang, the Yang element belonging to the Water element should be Ren Water, and the Yin element belonging to the Water element should be Gui Water. The difference is that the Yin channel of Gui Water has not yet been fully opened.

The spiral tortoise diagram in Zhou Li's dantian already has the power of the Yang meridian Ren water as its foundation. Therefore, constructing the Yin meridian is not as troublesome as it was when he first visualized it. He only needs to slowly accumulate the power of Gui water and gradually open up the Yin meridian.

According to the "Five Elements Painting Manual," when this method is mastered to a profound degree, it can command visualized ancient demons to fight against enemies.

Previously, Zhou Li had been struggling to find an opportunity to summon the ancient demon he had observed. Now, he had a vague feeling that once this Yin Meridian was formed, the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements of the Xuan Turtle Scroll would be unified, and summoning the Xuan Turtle would be as natural as water flowing into a channel.

Unexpectedly, the chilling aura that Jiang Liulang used to ambush Zhou Li was based on the Yin-elemental Gui Water power, which happened to be of the same origin as the "Yin Five Elements" power required by Zhou Li's cultivation technique, thus giving Zhou Li a great gift.

"Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise..." A glint flashed in Zhou Li's eyes. "Now that we have glimpsed Yin and Yang, the next step is to gather the power of Gui water to connect the Yin meridians of the Xuan Gui Diagram. But where should we find this power of Gui water?"

The spiritual energy commonly found in the cultivation world is mostly of the "Yang Five Elements," and most cultivation techniques and supernatural powers are also based on the Yang Five Elements. Seeking the "Yin Five Elements" requires further consideration.

At this moment, as the power of the Five Elements of Zhou Li circulates through all meridians, an indescribable harmony is contained within it.

He suddenly realized that he had just officially entered the second stage of Qi Refining, achieving minor success in Qi Refining.