Inside the Panshishi Cave, Yu Heyuan sat in the main seat, with Ning Zhuo standing before him.

Although Ning Zhuo had relied on many Foundation Establishment cultivators to defeat all of Yu Heyuan’s subordinates, in Yu Heyuan’s mind, this only proved that Ning Zhuo had a hidden force assisting him.

Yu Heyuan’s impression of Ning Zhuo was still limited to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Ning Zhuo didn’t mind and took the initiative to speak, “Senior Yu, I have a few questions after studying the ‘Ni Wuxing Mogong’ (Reverse Five Elements Demonic Art). The first one is, ‘Heart fire extracts three parts of blood, turning it crimson like pulp.’ This junior has not practiced this art, but even from just reading it, I can deduce that if one were to circulate the art according to this instruction, it would surely cause a rapid heart pulse and overly fast blood circulation. How do you harmonize this problem in your daily practice, Senior?”

Ning Zhuo’s Five Elements cultivation was very profound, but he hadn’t practiced any part of the “Ni Wuxing Mogong,” so his study was limited to theory. Thus, even though he understood the essence of this art, he still had many doubts.

Yu Heyuan chuckled, “Harmonize? Harmonize what? Just extract and use it directly.”

As he spoke, he spread the five fingers of his right hand, palm upward, and drew out a stream of vital blood.

The vital blood was dark red, pulsating and twisting like a living thing.

Yu Heyuan continued, “After extraction, it’s like an ordinary person grasping a hot iron; it must be used immediately, there’s no way to suppress its volatile nature!”

He suddenly clenched his five fingers, and the ball of vital blood instantly condensed and solidified, transforming into a crimson flame that covered his fist, burning fiercely.

“A rapid heart pulse and overly fast blood circulation are not hindrances, but rather strong advantages in combat against enemies.”

“The mind must be fiery, like a wildfire sweeping across the plains. As soon as a thought arises, the blood has already become fierce, burning brightly.”

“Harmonize what? Any slight delay will result in the heart meridian being burned through!”

Ning Zhuo was silent for a moment before nodding slightly.

“So that’s how it is. Control fierceness with fierceness, suppress violence with speed—then, regarding the line, ‘Liver palace contains wood essence, passes through winding corridor and injects into Zhangmen,’ what is your interpretation of the three words ‘passes through winding corridor,’ Senior? This method of circulation might cause meridian stagnation, like vines entangling dead wood. The more times it’s done, the deeper the after-effects will be.”

Yu Heyuan nodded, “It is indeed stagnant.”

“Look,” he bent his left arm, and his loose robe sleeve slid down, revealing an old scar on the inside of his arm, deep enough to show bone and emitting a dark green wood energy.

Around the scar, muscles and tendons were knotted and twisted, revealing an eerie vitality, as if tiny rootlets were moving under the skin.

“Do you see it?”

“This is what is left every time I circulate my energy through the ‘winding corridor’ gate!”

“The ascending energy of the liver palace is overbearing and tricky, like old tree roots. Because the energy has been circulated too many times, this gate is almost completely blocked. However, I also found a way.”

As he spoke, he pointed his fingers together like a blade and made several illusory slashes near his left rib’s “Zhangmen acupoint,” his fingertips stirring up wisps of green energy that twisted into a strange snake-like trajectory in the air.

“The winding corridor is like a knot in an old tree, almost a dead end.”

“So, I follow the nature of wood, like a climbing vine, flowing along its纹理. When circulating energy, I focus my mind on the Zhangmen acupoint, using the acupoint as a ‘root,’ guiding the wood essence like a spring vine exploring branches; part of it infiltrates through the winding corridor, and a larger part bypasses it from both sides.”

“Although it’s a roundabout way and consumes a good deal of primordial energy, it at least prevents the disaster of wood energy completely stagnating and backfiring on the liver palace!”

At this point, a mixed look of lingering fear and pride flashed in his eyes.

This trick was something he had comprehended in extreme pain when he was on the verge of death from Qi Deviation.

Ning Zhuo also understood.

He looked at Yu Heyuan before him, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.

“Practicing like him, the frequency of Qi Deviation would be very high.”

“These tricks are probably accumulated from too many instances of Qi Deviation, constantly gaining experience and summarizing it from blood and tears.”

“He probably has other such tricks.”

Such tricks were undoubtedly shortsighted.

But who could blame Yu Heyuan for his Five Elements cultivation being only that high?

Ning Zhuo, discerning the subtle, inferred Yu Heyuan’s Five Elements cultivation from this small trick alone.

“With his ability, inventing these small tricks can indeed maintain his cultivation and preserve his strength at the lowest cost.”

“If enough of these small tricks accumulate, they can also trigger a qualitative change from quantitative change, gradually improving the ‘Ni Wuxing Mogong’ art.”

Many cultivation arts are continuously improved and perfected in this way.

For a moment, Ning Zhuo couldn’t help but feel emotional.

He thought of his own “Wuxing Qilv Jue” (Five Elements Qi Regulation Art).

Compared to it, the “Ni Wuxing Mogong” was like rubble compared to a bright pearl.

Yu Heyuan practiced the “Ni Wuxing Mogong,” and each cultivation session was a torment to his body. The deeper his cultivation, the more drawbacks and hidden dangers he accumulated.

Because its greatest strength was the transformation of essence and Qi, but the transformation was quite rough and crude. Simply circulating Qi would cause harm to the cultivator’s physical body.

The “Wuxing Qilv Jue” specialized in cultivating the Dantian Qihai, yet it allowed for free transformation between the Five Elements. Because it was confined to the Qihai, all the backlash from the Five Elements transformation was borne by the Qihai, effectively eliminating it.

The “Ni Wuxing Mogong” was troublesome; it could transform vital blood into spiritual power, but the cultivator’s physical body was not empty,

but rather dense and solid.

“The ‘Wuxing Qilv Jue’ alone is a top-tier art in the world, and this is only one of the three foundational arts.”

“Compared to Yu Heyuan, I am fortunate.”

“Once I rescue my mother, the Lava Immortal Palace must be in my hands.”

The three foundational arts Ning Zhuo obtained only had the Foundation Establishment chapters, not yet the Golden Core chapters. He needed to seek them from the傳法鐘 (Chuanfazhong – Dharma Transmission Bell) of the Lava Immortal Palace.

While traveling to the Wanxiang Sect, Ning Zhuo’s cultivation progress was not significant, but his combat power had advanced by leaps and bounds.

“When I face Meng again, I will never be as passive and disheveled as before.”

Gathering his scattered thoughts, Ning Zhuo said to Yu Heyuan, “Senior Yu’s trick, which relieves the stagnation of wood energy and opens a new path for energy circulation, is indeed ingenious. However—”

“As Senior Yu just said, the fierceness of heart fire must be controlled with speed, and the entanglement of liver wood must be circumvented with softness. These are all one-off policies, like managing water by only dredging a single channel. If we view the overall circulation of the Five Elements, there are many improprieties.”

“For example, how should one extract vital blood to transform it into metal-element spiritual power?”

“This is both the source of sharp energy and also needs to restrain its destructive nature to prevent excessive metal energy from harming one’s own meridians. It also needs to receive the nourishing power of the earth element (spleen palace) to increase its toughness and guide the kidney water (癸水 – Guishui) to moisten its dryness.”

“How is this balance achieved?”

Ning Zhuo immediately noticed the improprieties.

The “Ni Wuxing Mogong” itself was self-consistent, but Yu Heyuan’s addition of tricks caused a rather significant disruption to its overall integrity.

If Yu Heyuan only focused on the fire and wood elements, it would severely interfere with the cultivation of the metal, water, and earth elements.

Yu Heyuan’s face was ashen.

He primarily cultivated the fire and wood elements, supplemented by the water element. The fire element was explosive, wood generated fire, increasing its duration, and water element moistened it,

alleviating damage and maintaining calmness.

Yu Heyuan barely maintained such a fragile power triangle.

To him, the metal and earth elements were more like burdens he had to bear!

Balance?

Yu Heyuan had already pushed himself to the limit in comprehending the wood and fire elements. Further comprehending the water element completely squeezed out his learning potential.

How could he possibly also manage the metal and earth elements?

Yu Heyuan’s eyes widened, staring at Ning Zhuo, “Junior, you must know that this demonic art is a life-or-death gamble! Being timid and cautious,

and seeking harmony in everything, is absolutely not the spirit of a demonic art.”

Ning Zhuo saw Yu Heyuan’s失态 (shitai – loss of composure) and smiled faintly, “Senior, I have conceived a method that might harmonize the Five Elements and allow them to circulate on their own.”

“The principle is very simple: choose one of the Five Elements as the main axis. The other four elements follow each other, circulating like a wheel.”

Yu Heyuan scoffed, “Easier said than done! I ask you, how will you implement it?”

Ning Zhuo nodded, “That’s not difficult.”

He circulated his spiritual power, gesturing with his finger in front of him. The spiritual power hovered in mid-air, condensing without dissipating, forming a three-dimensional figure, like a talisman, yet also like a formation.

“This is the prototype of the circulation. Based on Senior’s actual situation, if we take the fire element as the main axis.”

“It would be like this.”

Ning Zhuo pointed his finger at the center of the figure, and a ball of flame erupted. The flame drove the figure, which began to slowly rotate on its own axis.

Ning Zhuo, “Heart fire as the hub, the beginning of the wheel’s rotation!”

The figure rotated faster and faster, its overall shape gradually approaching that of a wheel.

Yu Heyuan smiled, as if he had already foreseen the entire figure rotating and collapsing on its own.

If it were allowed to develop like this, it would indeed happen.

But the next moment, Ning Zhuo lightly touched the edge of the wheel with his fingertip. Immediately, a light blue water trace spread out, forming an inner ring, like a cool dike built at the edge of a raging fire.

Ning Zhuo explained, “Using the moistening essence of the water element to cover the outer edge of the hub, like a cold lid over a boiling cauldron, containing without erupting,

making its fierce heat not burn the wheel, but only serve as propulsion!”

Yu Heyuan’s expression changed slightly, but he still didn’t take it seriously.

The water element covering the fire element could indeed suppress it. But this couldn’t last, and the figure was still unstable; it was merely a temporary solution, extending its lifespan, but it would still ultimately collapse.

Moreover, water and fire are incompatible, and the consequences of collapse would be far more severe than before.

Ning Zhuo continuously gestured with his finger, using wood-element spiritual power to form dark green lines, starting from the outermost water wheel and connecting to the fiery core of the wheel.

“Water generates wood, wood generates fire! The exuberance of wood energy is easily disorderly. By linking them in this sequence, one can utilize the principle of mutual generation among the Five Elements,

naturally making the wood element serve as spokes.”

At this moment, Yu Heyuan’s expression drastically changed.

Ning Zhuo’s design was very ingenious, killing two birds with one stone.

It both eased the incompatibility of water and fire and greatly stabilized the figure. The overall appearance of the improved art was already broadly visible!

“Could it really work?”

“No, there are still the metal and earth elements left.”

“No, even if the subsequent deduction cannot proceed, this structure is greatly beneficial to me. Perhaps I can truly deduce the right outcome through subsequent study!”

Ning Zhuo made a stroke with his finger, and metal-element spiritual power quickly formed a circle, creating a second wheel.

The metal-element wheel and the water-element wheel were of the same size, and both revolved around the fiery core with a humming sound.

The two wheels collided, immediately producing subtle changes. Metal, being moistened by water, naturally restrained its sharpness and became tougher! And metal generated water, the water element permeated, gaining nourishment.

Yu Heyuan had instinctively stood up, no longer sitting.

He stared intently at the figure.

At this moment, the spiritual power figure had become a sphere, with a ball of fire at its core, wood-element spokes, and a water-element rim. There was also a metal-element rim, but without spokes, like a hollow circle, rotating around the fiery core, and frequently colliding with the water-element rim.

Yu Heyuan instinctively said, “Wonderful! Before, water generated wood, wood generated fire, and the water element supported everything, consuming a lot. But now, metal generates water, greatly compensating and prolonging its duration.”

“But—it’s still unstable.”

“The metal element is still restrained by the fire element. Once either the metal or water element is depleted, this structure will collapse!”

Yu Heyuan felt very regretful.

He never expected Ning Zhuo to deduce to this extent. He was now completely captivated by this figure!

“What a pity, what a great pity.”

“Just one step away, but it’s as difficult as ascending to heaven!”

“No, it’s simply impossible.”

Ning Zhuo took in Yu Heyuan’s expression and laughed aloud, “Senior Yu, do not worry, just watch.”

Ning Zhuo bent his index finger, forming an earth-element spiritual power that, like a seed, was directly thrown into the fiery core.

“Watch my metal energy enter the fire!” Ning Zhuo shouted in a low voice, his divine sense activating the metal wheel.

The metal wheel suddenly contracted.

Metal restrains wood. During the contraction, the wood-element spokes all disintegrated, then were driven by the metal wheel, and all entered the fiery core.

Fire restrains metal, wood generates fire.

The flames surged, burning out the wood element, annihilating the metal element, and adding it to the earth element.

This was fire generating earth.

The earth-element seed rapidly expanded, then suddenly exploded.

The earth element largely dissipated, forming a golden ring that suddenly expanded and spread outward.

Soon, the metal wheel reappeared, returning to its original size and position.

The spiritual power figure continuously evolved: water generated wood, wood generated fire. According to this fundamental principle of the Five Elements, a large number of wood-element spokes naturally appeared.

At this moment, all the hairs on Yu Heyuan’s body stood on end!

He was like he had been struck by lightning, standing still, staring intently at the Five Elements circulation diagram before him.

“Beautiful, incredibly beautiful!”

“Wonderful, indescribably wonderful!”

He roared in his heart.

A huge surprise filled his chest, making him feel as if he were dreaming.

Good heavens! This dream was too beautiful.

Ning Zhuo’s eyes reflected the five-colored brilliance, and he calmly explained, “The fire element is explosive, but when metal energy enters fire, it precisely utilizes the sharp and destructive intent, not to harm oneself, but to stabilize the mind, eliminate the wild thoughts in the fire, and add a pure and focused quality. This is ‘Fire, tempered by metal, pure in light and non-dispersing’.”

“After that, the embers return to nourish the rich earth. Earth virtue carries all things, and the metal wheel is reborn.”

“Thus, the Five Elements circulate, endlessly.”

Ning Zhuo’s voice was calm, but to Yu Heyuan’s ears, it was deafening!

This late Golden Core cultivator stared at the Five Elements circulation spiritual power diagram before him, his eyes shining brighter and brighter, his face flushed with extreme excitement, and he muttered to himself, “Balance in motion… Five-speed circulation driven by the fire hub—metal tempers the mind—earth nurtures the foundation—… Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”

He was too focused, and unconsciously circulated his spiritual power, changing his own spiritual power flow according to the animated diagram before him.

This change was no small matter.

Yu Heyuan’s preparations were severely inadequate, and his entire attention was also drawn outward. And changing the flow of spiritual power, how could it be such an easy thing?

The old order was overturned, but a new order had not emerged in time.

The ball of fire had just formed when it exploded directly.

A terrible burning sensation instantly swept through his entire body.

Yu Heyuan’s pupils sharply contracted, revealing an expression of extreme horror.

“I’m going to die!!!”