What exactly changed when Li Huowang completed three Dung-Beetle Ascensions?

The *Thousand Greats Record* was previously required as an intermediary to channel Bashe's power. After three Ascensions, Li Huowang's flesh itself has become the offering point—he can sacrifice directly without the book.

Does Li Huowang want this power?

No. He recognizes it as a double-edged advantage—it removes his vulnerability to having the *Record* stolen, but it also means he is now physically closer to Bashe, and he has no idea what other transformations the Ascensions have wrought.

Why is the Zuowandao going silent a bad sign?

Li Huowang correctly deduces that if small-scale attacks fail to harm Zhuge Yuan, the Zuowandao will skip the minions and mobilize their most dangerous assets—likely the Four Joys and North Wind—for a decisive strike.

Was the Great Elder title always real inside the Ao-Jing Sect?

Yes. All the "Great Elders" readers encountered before were Zuowandao impostors, but the rank itself is genuine within the Ao-Jing Sect's hierarchy. Xia Risheng's recognition confirms the title's legitimacy.

The Mantle No One Wanted

1,226 words

“Lord Zhuge tells me you’ve undergone the Dung-Beetle Ascension three times. Is this true?”

Li Huowang gazed coldly at the young man before him. “What if I have, and what if I haven’t? What business is it of yours?”

“Then it’s true?!” Xia Risheng dropped to one knee without hesitation, his expression blazing with fervor. “Greetings, Great Elder!”

The moment the man knelt, Li Huowang instantly rose and sidestepped. “I am not your Great Elder. You have the wrong man.”

“You are! You absolutely are! One who has used the Thousand Greats Record to complete three Dung-Beetle Ascensions—you are beyond any doubt the Great Elder of the Ao-Jing Sect!”

“At your level, you no longer need the Record! You can offer your flesh directly to the master! That is the supreme symbol!”

The man’s excitement was so feverish it made Li Huowang’s skin crawl. He had never known much about the Ao-Jing Sect, but he certainly hadn’t anticipated this.

“You’re mistaken. Zhuge Yuan was lying to you. I have never performed the Dung-Beetle Ascension!”

With that, forcing calm into his stride, Li Huowang walked away, not caring whether the man believed him or not.

What the hell is this? The Dung-Beetle Ascension—it’s supposed to be a ritual where you trade dual agonies for power from Bashe. You’re telling me this ritual is some kind of rank symbol inside the Ao-Jing Sect?

Li Huowang knew exactly what a “Great Elder” meant. Even if those elders had all been impostors from the Zuowandao.

Whether there were higher authorities above the Great Elder or not, the title itself was certainly not low in the Ao-Jing Sect.

And now I can sacrifice directly to Bashe without the Thousand Greats Record*? What does that mean? It means I’m getting closer to Bashe?*

Li Huowang did not consider this a good thing. The Dung-Beetle Ascension clearly carried hidden dangers that the Record never mentioned.

After a moment of thought, he decided to test it first. Glancing at the others in the distance, he slipped into a nearby grove and began to remove his red Daoist robe.

“Li Sui.” Li Huowang leveled the bronze-coin sword in his hand. Li Sui’s tentacle coiled around the hilt, reached behind him, and sliced open the freshly healed skin on his back.

More tentacles stretched in, gripping the Thousand Greats Record that had all but fused into his flesh, and wrenched it free.

Ignoring the pain, Li Huowang hooked the corner of his left index fingernail and flipped it sharply. With a shwoosh, a deep, blood-soaked gash appeared on a bowl-thick tree trunk three zhang away.

I really can do it without the Record*?*

For a moment, Li Huowang stood there, staring blankly as the distant tree tilted and fell with a grating crash, its descent slow and absurd.

Is this a good thing? I suppose it’s… supposed to be?

Old problems unsolved, new ones sprouting up—Li Huowang found himself endlessly vexed.

Yet when he considered actively getting rid of this advantage, he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.

At least now he had no more obvious weakness. The time when Peng Longteng had ambushed him and stolen the Record, leaving him unable to use his flesh-and-blood techniques, would never happen again.

One step at a time. Get the Heart-Element trouble sorted first, push everything else to the back. Why does living have to be so exhausting?

After a brief rest, Li Huowang and the group resumed their journey.

Their guide was that Old Man Qin. Evidently fearing another ambush, they deliberately took obscure, winding paths.

Li Huowang didn’t mind. His mission was to stay close to Zhuge Yuan and wait for the Zuowandao like a rabbit. He could afford to take the slow route.

Only the young man, Xia Risheng, seemed unconvinced by Li Huowang’s denial. His attitude toward Li Huowang had undergone a complete, startling transformation.

“Great Elder! Please, sit here!” Xia Risheng rushed into a shabby roadside inn, wiped the stool and table with his sleeve, and gestured respectfully for Li Huowang to take his seat.

The moment Li Huowang sat down, Xia Risheng immediately poured him tea, then intercepted the waiter to order the dishes himself.

The man’s bizarre behavior made Li Huowang intensely uncomfortable. He neither needed nor wanted some servant hovering around him.

“What exactly are you after?” Li Huowang asked, his tone impatient.

“Nothing at all, Great Elder! Serving you is this humble one’s greatest fortune!”

Xia Risheng performed the utmost humility, adding silently to himself: And if you happen to let slip the technique for a successful Dung-Beetle Ascension, all the better!

“Fine. I’m the Great Elder, am I? Then the Great Elder orders you to get the hell away from me. Don’t come within sight until we reach the capital.”

“Ah—as you command!”

Watching Xia Risheng finally leave, Li Huowang felt a flicker of relief.

He cast a glance at the woman from Miaojiang sitting with her companions. Strange. It’s been so long, and the Zuowandao haven’t made a single move. That doesn’t match what I thought would happen.

According to Li Huowang’s earlier hypothesis, now that Zhuge Yuan was appearing openly on the streets, those Zuowandao should have swarmed him like flies to shit.

And yet—aside from that one time on Apricot Island when they impersonated him—there had been no further activity from the Zuowandao. The only one they had encountered was a low-ranking pawn whose identity had been completely exposed.

Could it be… they think small, petty strikes won’t hurt Zhuge Yuan, so they’re cooking up something big? Li Huowang couldn’t help but assume the worst.

If it came to fear, Li Huowang—now completely alone—really wasn’t afraid. His only worry was whether North Wind might be involved.

Facai was killed. Hongzhong and Baiban will definitely come. And to finish off Zhuge Yuan in one blow, the Four Joys should probably come too, right?

Just as Li Huowang was turning this over in his mind, Zhuge Yuan, who had been gone for a while, came over and sat down across from him.

“Brother Zhuge, where did you slip off to?”

“Oh, I bought the horse cart from the innkeeper and fixed up the carriage so Old Man Qin would be more comfortable riding in it.”

“You had to do something like that yourself? Brother Zhuge, how exactly did you meet Old Man Qin?” Li Huowang picked up the teapot and poured him a cup.

“I was in Youdu,” Zhuge Yuan said, “watching Old Man Qin play chess under a tree. His style was expansive and bold; he won every game with perfect integrity. I simply couldn’t resist going over to make his acquaintance.”

“That’s how you met?”

“Brother Li, how else would it be? I have never chosen friends by their status or background. I only follow fate and a good feeling.”

“Brother Zhuge lives by his principles. I admire that.”

“Is this not how friendship should be? I do think so many people today overthink and overcomplicate things—that is why they cannot find true kindred spirits. Speaking of which, in this world we live in now…”

Just then, the waiter arrived with a tray. His arrival rescued Li Huowang from the impending lecture.

“Here come the dishes! Quick-fried lamb, Three Fresh Delights, stir-fried cattail shoots, and a braised eight-treasure duck. All served. Please enjoy, gentlemen.”

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Reading Guide Decoding

Three Ascensions Later — Li Huowang Becomes the Living Altar

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The Dung-Beetle Ascension (Cangjia Dengjie, 苍蜣登阶) takes its name from the dung beetle, an insect that feeds on filth and transforms it into a ball of life-giving sustenance. In xianxia terms, this is a “corrupted” or “inverted” path to power: instead of refining purity, the practitioner refines suffering and rot. The beetle’s ball becomes the cult’s paradoxical symbol—a grotesque, sacred burden. Three completed Ascensions apparently mark a user as having become so saturated in Bashe’s logic that the physical Thousand Greats Record is no longer required. The flesh itself becomes the scripture.

The Great Elder title in the Ao-Jing Sect is noteworthy. In the novel’s earlier arcs, all “Great Elders” encountered were actually Zuowandao impostors. That a genuine sect member now recognizes Li Huowang as one clarifies that the title corresponds to a real, in-world rank—its authenticity was only ever corrupted by the impostors, not the office itself. The hierarchy likely runs: ordinary disciple → Ascension-level elder → Great Elder → something higher we haven’t seen.

Chapter Overview

The Zuowandao have gone conspicuously quiet, and Li Huowang’s paranoia sharpens to a razor’s edge. While the chapter may seem like a transitional breather—travel, inn stops, awkward new worshipers—it actually drops a lore bomb that quietly reshapes everything we thought we knew about the Thousand Greats Record. Li Huowang discovers that three Dung-Beetle Ascensions have altered his relationship with Bashe at a fundamental level. He no longer needs the book. He is the offering point. And while that sounds like a power-up in any normal xianxia, here it feels like moving one chair closer to the furnace.

Key Plot Points

Xia Risheng, a young Ao-Jing disciple, kneels to Li Huowang and addresses him as “Great Elder,” claiming that three Dung-Beetle Ascensions make him the sect’s highest authority. Li Huowang bluntly denies it and walks away.
The chapter’s core revelation: Li Huowang tests if he can still perform flesh-and-blood techniques without the Thousand Greats Record. He can. His fingernail flick splinters a tree at three zhang with no intermediary book—proving he has internalized the sacrificial link to Bashe.
Li Huowang acknowledges this is both an advantage (no more vulnerability to having the Record stolen, as with Peng Longteng) and a terrifying unknown (what else has Ascension changed about him?).
Zhuge Yuan buys a cart for Old Man Qin and explains his philosophy of friendship: he chooses companions by fate and instinct, not status. The chat is cut short when food arrives.
Li Huowang broods over the Zuowandao’s silence. He suspects they are planning something large-scale, possibly involving the Four Joys and North Wind.

Reading Guide

If this chapter feels strangely quiet, that’s exactly the point. The calm before a storm is a staple of the genre, and here the silence of the Zuowandao is deafening. Li Huowang’s logic is airtight: they tried small strikes, got nowhere, and are now probably rolling out the heavy artillery—the Four Joys. But the bigger gut-punch is the personal cost. Li Huowang gets a power-up he never asked for, one that moves him closer to the entity he least wants to be close to. Every “advantage” in this novel comes with a shadow. Enjoy the breather, reader—the butcher’s knife is definitely being sharpened off-screen.

Also, Zhuge Yuan buying a cart for an old chess buddy is a moment of genuine warmth in a world built on filth and betrayal. Savor it. Those are rare.

Quick Q&A

Lore recap (TL;DR) drawn from this chapter's Cultural / Xianxia Notes — same text as the FAQ structured data on this page.

What exactly changed when Li Huowang completed three Dung-Beetle Ascensions?: The *Thousand Greats Record* was previously required as an intermediary to channel Bashe's power. After three Ascensions, Li Huowang's flesh itself has become the offering point—he can sacrifice directly without the book.
Does Li Huowang want this power?: No. He recognizes it as a double-edged advantage—it removes his vulnerability to having the *Record* stolen, but it also means he is now physically closer to Bashe, and he has no idea what other transformations the Ascensions have wrought.
Why is the Zuowandao going silent a bad sign?: Li Huowang correctly deduces that if small-scale attacks fail to harm Zhuge Yuan, the Zuowandao will skip the minions and mobilize their most dangerous assets—likely the Four Joys and North Wind—for a decisive strike.
Was the Great Elder title always real inside the Ao-Jing Sect?: Yes. All the "Great Elders" readers encountered before were Zuowandao impostors, but the rank itself is genuine within the Ao-Jing Sect's hierarchy. Xia Risheng's recognition confirms the title's legitimacy.