Intercalating the Five Phases

1,126 words

Li Huowang grabbed his own lungs with both hands—his face twisted in agony—and tore them out, slamming them down onto the Thousand Greats Record lying on the ground.

With his roar, the half-moon in the sky was swiftly swallowed by dark clouds, so that the massive bodhisattva carved into the mountain seemed to close its eyes.

"WOOD LIVER!"

The guards rushing toward Li Huowang suddenly collapsed, writhing on the ground and letting out inhuman screams.

Zu Yi, who had just reached Li Huowang's side, froze, his face a mask of shock. "That... that's Intercalating the Five Phases?!"

The full-skin dharma artifact of a Heart-Element could do more than substitute a life; in Li Huowang's hands, it could also unleash powerful sacrifice rituals that could only be used once.

The blood-red bamboo slip writhed into squirming, flesh-colored maggots that crawled through the scars on Li Huowang's body, some even climbing up Li Sui's tentacles.

When all the emptiness inside him was finally filled, utterly exhausted, Li Huowang let out a long breath. The pain was gone.

He slowly pushed himself up, calmly facing the Ao-Jing Sect disciples standing in the blazing flames.

"Come on, then."

The situation had reversed entirely. As Li Huowang walked toward Zu Yi, the burning Zu Yi began to back away.

Slowly, both sides started moving faster. Li Huowang chased; Zu Yi fled.

When he saw the Eldest Princess standing still, Zu Yi shouted a warning.

"Princess, beware!! He's used the Ao-Jing Sect's secret art! He's immortal for a short time! Don't let him get close! Watch out for the bugs on him!"

"Hmph!" The Eldest Princess let out a displeased snort, lifted her chin slightly, and swish swish swish—several black shadows shot toward Li Huowang with a piercing whistle.

Li Huowang didn't even bother to dodge; he let one shadow pierce straight through him. The bowl-sized hole in his chest was instantly filled by writhing, flesh-colored maggots.

"Li Sui! Let's go!"

As Li Huowang charged at the Eldest Princess, Li Sui quickly pulled out turmeric paper, drew two talismans, and pressed them onto her two largest tentacles.

The tentacles swelled to twice their size. With a single powerful snap against the ground, the force launched Li Huowang like a crossbow bolt straight toward the Eldest Princess on the rooftop.

The Eldest Princess swung her sleeves, and her ribbons danced through the air, forming a shifting, three-dimensional formation around her.

Li Huowang didn't care. Gripping his spine sword with one hand, he slashed down with all his might. Li Sui's tentacles whipped forward, sending the maggots flying.

When she saw the rift easily cut through her ribbons and the maggots squirming through the gap, the Eldest Princess's face turned grim. His power had surged this much in an instant.

She grabbed a ribbon and wrapped it around the tall, seven-tiered bronze cauldron behind her. With a hard pull, she floated backward.

The maggots were about to give chase, but a splash of molten golden liquid blocked their path.

"Eldest Princess! Our best bet is to stall him! If we can just wait out the Intercalating the Five Phases, he's finished!" Zu Yi shouted, trying to explain.

"How troublesome. In that case, you hold the rear. I'm returning to the palace."

The moment the Eldest Princess lifted her foot, Li Huowang was already blocking her path.

"Trying to leave? I paid all this, and you still want to leave?!"

Gritting his teeth so hard they cracked, Li Huowang thrust out his chest and grabbed it. His pale ribs split open like flower petals, and the writhing mass of maggots sprayed out toward the Eldest Princess like scattering petals.

Sensing the immense danger, a gold-threaded sachet on the Eldest Princess's waist opened on its own, releasing clouds of mist in an attempt to block the maggots.

The Empress Dowager's guards had arrived as well, joining the Eldest Princess and Zu Yi in surrounding Li Huowang.

But in his Intercalating the Five Phases state, no one could stand against him. One after another fell. Gradually, Li Huowang gained the upper hand, and the Eldest Princess began to take wounds.

Soon, at the brink of death, everyone was fighting for their lives.

"State Preceptor!!"

The shout stopped everyone in their tracks. They all turned to look.

An old man sat backward on a green ox, dressed simply, wearing a bamboo hat and holding a fishing rod. He walked slowly into the center of the battlefield.

Li Huowang stared at the old man's face. He had seen him before. He was definitely the Grand Liang State Preceptor from the imperial temple. A flood of thoughts raced through his mind.

"State Preceptor! Save me!" The Eldest Princess's tears fell instantly, and with her disheveled state, she looked deeply pitiful.

Huangfu Tiangang walked into the fray with an expressionless face. He looked at Li Huowang, now unrecognizable, then at the pitiful Eldest Princess. He seemed to understand what had happened.

He patted the green ox's back gently. The ox picked up speed and slowly walked away from the battlefield.

"State Preceptor! It's me! You used to hold me when I was little!"

As Li Huowang watched his retreating back, he heard an old, weary voice.

"Ah... time passes, the seas turn to mulberry fields. Haste is good... haste is good..."

The moment the green ox disappeared into the night, just as Li Huowang was about to act, a splash of burning golden liquid hit the Eldest Princess's face.

"AAAAHHH!!"

Li Huowang glanced at the Ao-Jing Sect disciple who had inexplicably betrayed his own side, then said nothing and charged at the screaming Eldest Princess.

Zu Yi's betrayal was the last straw. Under the combined assault of both attackers, the wounded Eldest Princess was quickly overwhelmed.

In her crystal-clear pupils, the horrifying figure of Li Huowang grew closer... closer... until finally, Li Huowang reached out, picked up the head that stared lifelessly at the ground.

After the maggots had bored through the entire skull, confirming death, Li Huowang tossed the head aside and looked at the now-hushed Ao-Jing Sect disciples.

"Zu Yi greets the Great Elder." Zu Yi bowed respectfully.

"Now I'm the Great Elder? What happened to not being the Great Elder when we first met?" Li Huowang sneered, sizing up the twisted lump of charcoal before him.

Zu Yi didn't explain. He quickly retreated.

Li Huowang didn't chase. The pain inside him was growing stronger. Intercalating the Five Phases was wearing off.

"Li Sui. Let's go." Li Huowang turned and left in the opposite direction.

Half an incense stick later, Li Huowang leaned against a large tree, a hollow, lifeless shell.

A palm-sized piece of human skin crawled out from his abdomen, and under Li Sui's gaze, swelled rapidly.

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Reading Guide Decoding

A Burning Victory with a Flesh-Crawling Price

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Intercalating the Five Phases (置闰五行): A concept borrowed from traditional Chinese alchemy and cosmology. The Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) govern everything from organs to seasons. "Intercalating" refers to inserting an extra, out-of-cycle element—much like a leap month. In the Thousand Greats Record, this ritual overwrites the practitioner's natural Five Phase cycle with parasitic flesh, granting immense temporary power at the cost of catastrophic self-destruction. Think of it as a "heroic spirit possession" that your own body pays the bill for.

The State Preceptor's Backward-Riding Ox: The image of the old man riding backward on a green ox is a direct homage to Laozi (the founder of Daoism), who is famously said to have departed the world westward on a green ox, leaving behind only the Dao De Jing. Here, Huangfu Tiangang embodies that same aloof, world-weary Daoist detachment—he sees the chaos, recognizes the players, and chooses to let the "seas turn to mulberry fields" without intervention. It's a beautiful, melancholic Chinese literary trope of the transcendent who has seen too much to care about one more bloody fight.

Ao-Jing Sect (袄景教): A fictional syncretic sect fusing elements of Zoroastrianism (袄教) and Nestorian Christianity (景教). The "Flaming Gold" (燃烧的黄金水) and the burning aesthetic of their ritual combat evoke the Zoroastrian reverence for fire and purification. Zu Yi's sudden defection might be read through their own internal theology—perhaps a "Great Elder" holds more doctrinal weight than a princess.

Spirit-Nurse (Lifespan) (阳寿)

In the Thousand Greats Record system, lifespans can be harvested, traded, and spent like currency to power rituals or heal wounds, often with horrifying side effects.

Chapter Overview

Buckle up, folks—this chapter doesn't take prisoners. Li Huowang executes a high-cost, high-reward gambit by triggering the Intercalating the Five Phases ritual from the Thousand Greats Record, transforming himself into a temporary, horrifying juggernaut. The Ao-Jing Sect's burning discipline gets turned on its head as he single-handedly reverses the siege, and a key defection from within their ranks seals the Eldest Princess's fate. But the victory is as hollow as his final, emptied-out body—reminding us that Dao Gui Yi Xian never hands out power without demanding your pound of flesh first.

Key Plot Points

Li Huowang performs the Intercalating the Five Phases by tearing out his own organs and using the Heart-Element skin artifact to fuel a forbidden Ao-Jing rite, turning his body into a temporary flesh-worm incubator.
The Eldest Princess's guards and Zu Yi are overwhelmed as Li Huowang becomes virtually unstoppable—his wounds instantly filled by writhing maggots.
The Grand Liang State Preceptor, Huangfu Tiangang, makes a cryptic, fleeting appearance on his backward-riding green ox, offering neither help nor hindrance, only a weary observation.
Zu Yi betrays the Eldest Princess at the critical moment, drowning her face in burning gold liquid and turning the tide.
Li Huowang kills the Eldest Princess, her skull riddled with maggots to ensure death.
As the Intercalating the Five Phases expires, Li Huowang collapses into a hollow shell; a piece of his own skin crawls free from his abdomen and swells, hinting at further consequences.

Reading Guide

This chapter is a pure adrenaline rush with a twist of body horror and a dash of philosophical seasoning. Everything is paced for maximum impact: the ritual activation, the reversal, the betrayal, the hollow aftermath. But what makes it special is the State Preceptor's cameo—he doesn't say much, but his presence acts as a narrative mirror, reflecting Li Huowang's monstrous transformation against the cold, eternal gaze of true Daoist transcendence. If you're here for the visceral combat and the satisfying fall of a stuck-up princess, you won't be disappointed. If you're here for the creeping dread of "what did I just become," the last paragraph will haunt you.

Additional Note: The True Cost of Power

The final image—Li Huowang as a hollow shell, a piece of his own skin crawling free from inside him—is the Dao Gui Yi Xian signature. Never let yourself think that any victory comes clean. The Thousand Greats Record gives, but it takes everything in return. That skin fragment is not a trophy; it's a reminder that the protagonist is now a walking, dying, borrowed vehicle for something else.