Unexpected

Afterward, Li Qi and A'Du chatted for a while longer. Once the two merchant groups had set off, they waited until the others were a good distance away before they too began their journey.

During this time, A'Du had indeed taught Li Qi a method to stimulate his energy and unleash greater vitality.

It was a song, very short, only sixteen characters.

"Brilliant Seven Luminaries, Bright Above, Valiant Warriors, Mighty Indeed!"

Although the words were few, there were many different syllables, making it incredibly difficult to sing correctly. The melody shifted frequently and required precise breathing. Li Qi spent an entire hour learning it, repeating, trying, and practicing until he could barely manage to sing it.

However, he wasn't discouraged. He could clearly see his progress on the progress bar, and if he made a mistake, the progress would regress.

This allowed him to quickly grasp the knack of it, and his progress was remarkably fast.

Before long, his learning progress bar was full.

Once it was full, he could feel it. Though he had only just learned it and was still clumsy, he suddenly understood the entire essence of this song!

He confirmed this once more: as long as the learning progress bar was full, it seemed he could directly master what he was learning, not just have a clumsy grasp of it.

This method couldn't directly teach him something, but once he learned it, it immediately made him an expert, rather than needing to practice it bit by bit.

As for the song itself, after singing it completely, Li Qi clearly felt his blood suddenly begin to flow faster!

It was as if a ball of fire was burning in his chest, circulating through his organs, almost bursting from his mouth.

His face turned red, his entire body temperature rose, and his body even felt much lighter. His feet, which had been stiff from the winter cold, quickly warmed up. He felt as if he had just run five kilometers on a track.

But it was only boiling blood and qi, with none of the usual fatigue.

It was a very strange sensation.

He could even feel the intense heat steaming from his forehead, dispelling the surrounding chill.

"This is truly… quite effective," Li Qi said, feeling the warmth radiating from himself and looking at A'Du with some surprise.

A'Du, however, looked even more surprised.

"Brother Li is truly intelligent. It took me two or three hours to learn it originally, and some slower learners take a whole day! You learned it in such a short time, and you sing it so well!" A'Du scrutinized Li Qi, seemingly finding it hard to believe that he could sing the song so well in such a short period.

"Perhaps it's because I'm quite smart," Li Qi replied with a smile.

A'Du was only momentarily surprised and didn't dwell on it. He immediately began to explain, "This song can stimulate the Three Innate Treasures, making the Essence, Qi, and Spirit more active. This way, your Yang energy becomes like fire, and mountain spirits and wild monsters dare not approach. Its origin is unknown, but don't overuse it; it consumes a lot of stamina. In the wilderness, when you're far from any settlement, having no stamina is more terrifying than mountain spirits and wild monsters, and you might even slip and fall."

As they walked, A'Du explained to Li Qi.

As long as one kept singing this song, it would continue to stimulate the body, but if one stopped, the effect would immediately cease, which was very convenient.

According to A'Du, when they were traveling as merchants before, even if they encountered mountain spirits or wild monsters, as long as ten or so people gathered together and sang this song, the spirits and monsters would generally retreat.

Chatting as they went, they had been on the road for over an hour, and dusk was approaching.

Li Qi had been a bit puzzled earlier, asking why A'Du insisted on drinking tea until evening before setting off, instead of traveling during the day and finding a place to rest at night.

A'Du's answer was: "The one who is about to achieve sentience this time is rumored to be a wild dog. It most likely wakes with the sun and sleeps with the moon. Going during the day would make it easier to encounter it. At night, while it's sleeping, perhaps we'll get lucky and slip past. You see, the two merchant groups ahead of us, didn't they also drink tea all day and only set off as evening approached?"

This explanation made sense. In fact, the two merchant groups were indeed doing the same.

Understanding the reason, Li Qi couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. As expected, merchants were indeed well-informed and experienced. If he had followed his original plan of traveling during the day and resting at night, he might have actually run into the monster that was said to be a wild dog.

Oh, it wasn't a monster yet, just close to achieving sentience.

But it was still very powerful, at least for a mortal like Li Qi.

Li Qi waited for the effects of the unknown song to wear off. He had only sung it once, and while he felt his blood boiling, his body didn't feel tired, which was fortunate.

The two of them chatted about the specific situation, and the sky gradually darkened.

Their path also became narrower. They had already traveled twenty to thirty li. Further ahead, they would enter the mountains, with only a narrow, winding path to navigate. It required frequent climbing and was dangerous even during the day. Now that it was dark, it was even more terrifying; one misstep could send them falling.

Fortunately, A'Du was well-prepared. Unlike Li Qi, who only had a single satchel containing money and food, A'Du was experienced in the wilderness. He immediately took a torch from his backpack, poured lamp oil on it, and struck flint to ignite it, so they wouldn't have to walk in the dark.

Li Qi felt a bit ashamed. He had killed people and fled in haste, and no one in the Wave-Pushing Gang had experience with long journeys. He hadn't prepared anything. If not for A'Du, it seemed his journey… would have been quite risky.

However, he was lucky to have met A'Du. Traveling together was a form of complementarity.

After all, if something truly happened, he would likely be the one to handle the fighting.

Of course, it would be best if they didn't have to fight at all.

The two walked through the mountains. Although it was a dark and windy night, with the torch illuminating the path, apart from the annoying moths, the journey was uneventful.

However, halfway through, both of them shivered simultaneously, pricked up their ears, and looked ahead.

Ahead, there were about ten merchants.

They were none other than the merchant group from the tea stall earlier, the one that had even stood up to intimidate Li Qi.

The torch burned brightly, illuminating the surroundings. The ten or so people each held a woodcutter's axe, striking them against each other while shouting unknown tunes.

The dozen or so axes produced a series of clanging sounds, like the clash of weapons on a battlefield.

The sound of weapons echoed through the night sky, accompanied by the shouts of the merchants, as if they were engaged in combat, but their enemies were hidden in the darkness, unseen.

Li Qi was amazed, staring at the merchants. It seemed that every group in this world had its own unique skills. The Wave-Pushing Gang had their Wave-Pushing Strength, and these merchants were no exception.

He could clearly see a progress bar appearing on the merchants, labeled "Barrier Protection, 25%".

It seemed they had indeed encountered something and were relying on this series of clanging axes to defend themselves.

As he was observing, he felt a gust of cold wind, causing him to shiver involuntarily.