Attack

Inside the carriage, the general and Li Qi sat facing each other.

Shen Shuibi sat behind Li Qi, looking blank, as if she were sleepwalking. She just sat there without making any movement.

The Old Ma was outside the carriage, competing with the general's horse. Each horse raised its head higher than the other, making a constant clattering sound. They almost came to blows, which frightened the horse handler, who quickly separated the two Dragon Steeds.

But inside the carriage, Li Qi was talking to the general. "So let me summarize, General, you mean that the Swallowing Heaven Demon Nest is currently tightening its grip on power, and the reason is unknown? It's very likely that you abandoned the town's defenses in preparation for the next attack from the demon nest?"

"It's not that we're abandoning the pass, but that the town can't hold out. If a demon's lair were to launch a massive attack, forming a tidal wave, holding the pass would only lead to certain death," the general explained.

"Therefore, the Imperial Preceptor has made a decision to evacuate the people in the vicinity, abandon the town, and then deploy troops using the terrain to their advantage to hold the position."

"Therefore, as the demon's lair is about to attack, although you are doing a righteous deed, I must remind you to be careful, lest you die in vain," the general said.

"Then, General, have you considered the possibility that... it might actually be a defensive maneuver?" Li Qi reminded him.

Although the sudden contraction is indeed suspicious, the Green Mountain Kingdom Lord has already said that this should mean that the Sky Swallowing Demon Lord has gone to the outer realm.

But that was news that only a fifth-rank ruler would know; these people probably didn't know yet.

Perhaps even the Lord of the Hundred Forests Kingdom doesn't know about this. The news that the Lord of Tuntian Kingdom Heaven Creation for the outer realms should be kept absolutely secret from them.

I have no idea how the Green Mountain Kingdom Lord got this information; he must have connections everywhere.

"Indeed, some people think that way, but we can't gamble. What if something goes wrong if the demon tide comes? It's better not to risk your life. Why not come with me? When the demons come out in full force, you can kill them in my army as well," the general advised.

"Thank you for the reminder, General, but I have my own ways of protecting myself, so you need not worry. Besides, I have other reasons for going in, in addition to slaying the demon," Li Qi said politely.

"Since that's the case, then I won't force you to stay, young hero." The general shook his head, leaving his words unsaid.

The two were just strangers who met by chance, so there was no need to say too much. Even if it was out of good intentions, in the end, they would just go their separate ways. Since the other party had made up their mind, there was no need to say anything more.

Li Qi bid farewell to the army, pulling along his Old Ma, which was eager to fight the enemy's mounts, and left the army with Shen Shuibi.

The army didn't linger and quickly left. Before long, the two sides could no longer see each other and had widened the distance between them.

Li Qi continued heading towards the town.

On the way, he said to Shen Shuibi behind him, "It seems that the Hundred Forests Kingdom are not very warlike. When they encounter the enemy's changes, their first reaction is to run away."

Shen Shuibi thought for a moment and replied, "It must be because the Sky Swallowing Demon Lord is too strong, so he was afraid of being beaten. I heard that the three kingdoms here, plus the Righteous Sword Palace, have a total of three fifth-rank experts. The Palace Master of the Righteous Sword Palace is also extremely powerful, comparable to half a fifth-rank expert. The four of them joined forces to launch a surprise attack on the Sky Swallowing Demon Lord. Even if they were prepared to catch him off guard, they still failed. The Sky Swallowing Demon Lord is still alive and well. I have even heard about this."

"One against four? That's incredible!" Li Qi was astonished.

I've never heard of that. Isn't the Sky Swallowing Demon Lord also a fifth-rank demon?

Shen Shuibi explained, "There are significant differences within each grade. If you were to fight against an ordinary ninth-grade opponent, you could easily take on dozens of them, right?"

"At lower ranks, they can fight dozens of people. Although the higher the rank, the smaller the gap between them, people like the Righteous Sword Palace and the Green Mountain God Jin Chi, who are sixth-rank, can fight a dozen or so ordinary people of the same rank at the same time without any problem. The Sky Swallowing Demon Lord is the same."

Upon hearing this, Li Qi suddenly realized that it was indeed true.

Because the differences between each grade are too great, I don't know what the big shot who set the grades was thinking. Each grade is a different level, so the differences between grades of the same level can also be huge.

Those who have just entered the sixth rank would probably be killed in one move if they faced a strong man like Green Mountain God who could fight head-on against a fifth rank. They would have to gather a dozen or so together to fight, and maybe they could even manage a draw.

"That's true, but how come the difference is smaller the higher the grade?" Li Qi asked again.

These were all common sense to Shen Shuibi, so she didn't hide anything and said truthfully, "I've never seen the appearance of a high-grade one, so let's talk about the fifth grade. At that time, when it comes to fighting, cultivation level is not that important. What's important are resources, Divine Ability, and Law Treasures."

"After all, people at the fifth rank live a long time. Unless they suffer a sudden misfortune, they can usually slowly grind up their cultivation. But breaking through to the fourth rank can't be done by grinding. So most people at the fifth rank have already reached the so-called 'peak'."

At this point, Shen Shuibi seemed troubled about how to explain, and her words became somewhat incoherent.

However, after a while, she simply said, "You can think of it this way: if you break through to the fifth rank, don't you need to stabilize your realm?"

"Definitely." Li Qi nodded.

"Most fifth-rank cultivators have already reached a bottleneck in their cultivation by the time they stabilize their realm. After breaking through to the fifth rank, the first thing they should do is go into seclusion. Once they finish their seclusion, their cultivation will have reached the fifth rank, and there will be no difference between them and others. There will be no difference in cultivation level. The only things that can show the difference are things like weapons and Divine Abilities."

"But you can't do that at the ninth rank, because you are currently in a process of accumulation, and you also have a lifespan urging you to improve quickly. Once your rank improves and you have accumulated to a certain extent, you will find that the accumulation is a natural process, and what you need for a breakthrough is not accumulation, but a spark of inspiration."

Shen Shuibi was not good with words, so her explanations were all messed up, which made things difficult for her as well.

Fortunately, Li Qi was quite clever.

He clapped his hands. "Oh, I get it!"

Li Qi helped Shen Shuibi sort things out. "Going from zero to one is an improvement of countless times, going from one to two is an improvement of two times, but going from one million to one million and one thousand is only an improvement of a little bit. There won't be much difference between the two."

"That's how cultivation works. The higher the cultivation level, the harder it is to increase the percentage, and the harder it is to widen the gap. So the difference in combat power depends on the coefficient, right?"

"In the early stages, the base level is the most important, because if your base level of cultivation goes from one to two, you will be twice as strong as someone with a base level of one. But later on, even if you cultivate for a thousand years, it won't make much difference; you have to rely on the coefficient to boost your cultivation."

"Yes, yes! That's exactly what I mean!" Shen Shuibi nodded repeatedly, finally understanding what she meant.

It was only when Li Qi spoke that things became clear.

It's essentially a relationship between a base and a coefficient.

Once the base number is increased to a certain level, it becomes extremely difficult to further increase it.

In the early stages, if your cultivation level is 10 and you have a Divine Ability with a coefficient of 10%, then your combat power will be 11, because a 10% increase from 10 results in 11.

Instead of pursuing such a Divine Ability, it would be better to quickly cultivate to the twelfth level of cultivation. This would make one more powerful in combat and also extend one's lifespan.

But later on, even if you cultivate for a million points in seclusion, it only amounts to a million and a thousand points, which is too little improvement.

However, if it is still a single Divine Ability with a coefficient of 10%, then the combat power is 1.1 million, an instant increase of 100,000, which is much stronger than the 1,000 gained through arduous cultivation.

Therefore, early-stage combat power mainly relies on a base level like cultivation, while later-stage combat power mainly relies on factors like Divine Abilities.

However, at this moment, Shen Shuibi reminded, "But combat power is not the only pursuit. Cultivation is not just for fighting and killing. Cultivation can also be used in other ways. If you pursue combat power every day, you will go astray."

"Yes, I know that. Combat power exists only to ensure that one can follow one's own path, not to increase combat power for the sake of combat power itself." Li Qi nodded.

Ultimately, spiritual practice has a purpose.

The path and means to achieve this goal are your Dao Path.

Combat power is for self-preservation, but the purpose of your cultivation cannot be to increase combat power.

Of course, there are also people who simply want to become stronger, but those are generally called martial arts fanatics, and they are different from most cultivators.

Take Shen Shuibi as an example again. Among the fifth-rank cultivators, she is particularly bad at fighting, and can be said to be completely incapable of fighting. However, she is a highly skilled physician and Alchemist, and can still earn the respect of others.

However, Li Qi also understood that while combat strength was not everything, it was indispensable.

All peace, harmony, beauty, and actions that pursue the Way must be built on a sufficiently strong foundation; otherwise, they will only lead to one's own demise.

The two chatted about these trivial matters of spiritual practice; this was probably their usual way of getting along.

They asked each other questions and learned from each other. Shen Shuibi often asked Li Qi about human relationships and various stories, while Li Qi asked more questions about cultivation.

Although the topics Great One value, it was clear that both sides were quite happy.

Perhaps, asking questions was just a pretext.

Putting all that aside, as Li Qi and Shen Shuibi were chatting and heading towards the town, they suddenly looked up at the same time.

"There are people around, is there a village? Weren't they supposed to have all been evacuated?" Li Qi frowned.

That general clearly told him that Hundred Forests Kingdom was preparing to evacuate completely, so how come there are people in this place now?

"There's not only human energy, but also death energy and Blood Qi, and... there's also Yao Qi and Soldier's Qi, it seems like they're at war." Shen Shuibi's senses were much sharper than Li Qi's, so she noticed more things.

"The demon's lair actually dared to launch a surprise attack? And the timing was so precise?" Li Qi frowned.

After Shen Shuibi explained the situation, he almost understood what was going on over there.

The Soldier's Qi, the Blood Qi, the Yao Qi, the aura of humanity, and the aura of death are all mixed together—isn't this a battlefield?!

The large number of people indicates that there are a large number of people here, and that the residents of the Hundred Forests Kingdom are being evacuated from this area.

During the evacuation, were they attacked by demons? Are the evacuation garrison troops engaged in battle?

There were many things to talk about, but Li Qi only took a moment to process them. He made a quick decision. "Let's go take a look."

"Okay." Shen Shuibi nodded, and then the two changed direction and headed towards the source of the aura.

Before even arriving, Li Qi had already looked far into the distance and spotted the battlefield.

Just as he expected.

Large numbers of people are being forcibly relocated, numbering approximately 100,000.

There is also an army of over ten thousand men fighting against the demons at the front.

The demons, appearing from nowhere, were led by two eighth-rank demons, with dozens of ninth-rank demons and tens of thousands of lesser demons below them, howling and charging at the army.

Civilians began to suffer casualties and lost order, fleeing in all directions and disrupting the army's formation. This forced officers to kill people to intimidate them and order them to stand still.

The Technique Method emanating from the blood-soaked, dark red soil, along with a massive amount of magic, ignited a unique war within this world.

Numerous war Technique Method, amplified by the Soldier's Qi, stirred up brilliant flames and black clouds of smoke on the battlefield. Each perfectly executed volley caused the earth to tremble violently, and the aftershocks of the flames burned across the entire sky. Thick, acrid black smoke swirled in the sky like beacon fires.

However, there were too many demons, and they also had their own Soldier's Qi above their heads, like black livestock with green tails, like cattle and sheep in a yurt, with continuous energy, like a shuttle, dark and turbid.

These Soldier's Qi greatly weakened the Technique Method's Technique Method, drastically reducing their destructive power and range, and some were even completely neutralized by the Soldier's Qi.

Accompanied by the thunderous footsteps of the demons, the crackling of stones beside them, and their piercing laughter, these demons, after suffering only a few dozen casualties under the bombardment of Technique Method, broke into the soldiers' positions like sharp knives.

They collided with a bang.

The scene was like two earthenware jars filled with blood colliding with a loud bang, shattering and splattering blood everywhere.

The soldiers and the demons officially engaged in battle.

Blood and flesh splattered, screams and shrieks filled the air, and severed limbs and mangled bodies littered the ground.

The front row of spearmen faced the charging demons head-on, their spear shafts glowing with fire as they thrust forward while maintaining their formation.

Gunfire roared relentlessly in the confined battlefield, attempting to shatter the demons' charging formation. However, the demons, with their thick hides and tough flesh, withstood the thrusts and, after suffering considerable casualties, tackled the spearmen blocking their path, slamming them to the ground, scattering their equipment in all directions.

The battle formation descended into chaos, transforming from a direct confrontation into a frenzied slaughter.

Above the horde of demons stood two eighth-rank demons, each using their own methods to suppress the army, their Divine Ability constantly flowing, but both withdrew some of their power, so as not to harm the civilians.

It appears their aim is to abduct people.

The army had only one eighth-rank official, struggling to maintain its Soldier's Qi, but was stretched thin and unable to fight back.

In a large-scale battle, if there is no Soldier's Qi as the backbone, the inevitable outcome will be slaughter. If the army collapses, it will be a disorganized mess and cannot function as an army.

That is the difference between an army and a rabble.

"We need to hurry up, or we might not be able to save these people," Li Qi said.

"Yes." Shen Shuibi nodded readily.