In the Central Plains, southward for countless tens of thousands of li, lay the Myriad Mountains. Within those mountains were hundreds and thousands of small kingdoms that cultivated Witchcraft and Poison Arts and revered myriad gods. This land was called Baiyue.
Within Baiyue, the gods were countless, and illicit folk shrines beyond numbering filled the countryside. Mountains had mountain spirits, waters had water monsters; most were transformed from local people with some magic, ghosts, demons, sprites, and other such things. Having received the incense offerings of the locals generation after generation, they became mountain gods and water gods.
This was vastly different from the Central Plains. There, every god and every temple had been canonized by the imperial court and placed under official control, rather than being born from worship.
"We fled all the way from the Central Plains to this place. Could it be that the imperial court can still command Baiyue?" The delicate-looking woman rose to her feet, her expression shifting between light and dark as she muttered to herself.
Yet after thinking it over and over, her expression changed several times before she finally stood up and said to herself, "These shamans are no longer the shamans Baiyue once had..."
"The Tang Kingdom court governs the world through the Human Path, spreading it far and wide. Even the kingdoms of Baiyue have begun practicing the Human Path, establishing commanderies and counties, dividing official posts. The old temples, shamans, grand diviners, diviners, Shi Jin, and shamans of every tribe are no longer Baiyue's absolute rulers as they once were. If the Tang Kingdom issues an order, it is only natural that there would be those in Great Deer who answer it."
"But... the Ox-Strength Technique is a Great Shaman's art. Have even Baiyue's Great Shamans become lackeys of the Tang Kingdom? I should take a look before drawing any conclusions." The woman paced back and forth inside the temple. In the end, she could not set her mind at ease, and she left the ruined temple of her own accord, intending to see what was happening with her own eyes.
There were myriad cultivation methods in this world, but broadly speaking, they were all passed down by various Dao Lineages. Though they could not be said to be as distinct as the Jing and Wei Rivers, they nevertheless possessed unmistakable characteristics. Once a cultivator reached a certain realm, a single glance was enough to tell where a method had come from and whose tradition it had developed from.
Tracing countless methods back to their roots, they could never escape those great Dao Lineages.
The Ox-Strength Technique was one such method. It had emerged from the Shaman Path of Baiyue's Great Shamans. It had originally been created through prayers for immense strength, allowing one to invoke divine power to reinforce one's body. It was one of the most basic introductory arts for practitioners of the Shaman Path.
Precisely because it was basic, this art was also extremely widely applicable. It combined defense, body strengthening, and offense into one, making it a highly practical technique.
The Myriad Beast Strength, at which Baiyue's Great Shamans particularly excelled, originated from this. Beyond ox strength, there was tiger strength, elephant strength, eagle strength, viper strength, and hundreds upon hundreds of others.
Baiyue had many gods, and those gods were mostly sprites and monsters that had received incense offerings. Thus, in the beginning, Baiyue's Great Shamans traveled throughout the Myriad Mountains, visiting several hundred great gods of accomplished cultivation. By every means available, they ultimately gathered the power of many great gods and shaped it through prayers into this series of Myriad Beast techniques.
Once cast, it could draw divine power from one of those great gods, granting the flesh all manner of wondrous supernatural properties.
That was the foundation of the Myriad Beast Technique.
Because of those origins, it was impossible to stumble into cultivating such a method by accident. Without receiving the Divine Will Inheritance of a certain shaman, casting the Myriad Beast Technique would earn only the indifference of those great gods. They had entered into agreements with the Great Shamans back then before they were willing to lend their power. If just anyone cast it, even if every step were correct, it would be useless. Not only would they fail to borrow any power, they might even suffer backlash.
The woman quietly slipped into the Black Mist, yet the Black Mist did not resist her in the slightest. Instead, it tightly enveloped her.
The woman secretly observed Li Qi and the others' battle.
Li Qi and the burly man had frantically worn down the Black Mist, shrinking it by nearly a third, yet the Black Mist had no way to deal with them.
They could fight with all their might, but whenever they exposed a flaw and the Black Mist prepared to press its advantage, the merchant caravan and A'Du behind them would immediately step forward, forcing the Black Mist back and resetting the battle.
Li Qi and the others could make mistakes freely and fight without restraint. So long as they fell into a disadvantage, their companions behind them would immediately follow up. They were incredibly dependable, practically standing in an undefeated position.
Only five or six minutes had passed since the battle began, yet the Black Mist was already showing signs of wanting to retreat.
Meanwhile, the woman lurked within the Black Mist, cautiously watching the battle outside.
After watching for several minutes, she let out a breath of relief.
"Probably not. If it really were some Great Shaman... they would not have sent such petty soldiers to probe me." That was what she thought.
A Great Shaman commanded the Six Calamities, the Six Prayers, composed the Six Phrases, distinguished the Six Titles, distinguished the Nine Sacrifices, distinguished the Nine Bows, wielded fire and water, and served ghosts and gods—thus they were called shamans. They were exceptionally skilled in divination and sacrifice, usually accompanied by ghosts and gods, bolstered by numerous divine powers. Their strength was extraordinary, far surpassing ordinary people. If they had truly divined her location, they should have descended upon her directly.
Besides... Great Shamans should not have come looking for her in the first place. She was merely a petty pawn. They should be looking for Your Highness...
She relaxed and was just about to leave the Black Mist.
But at that moment, she suddenly sensed danger!
What was going on? Wasn't that little shaman who had used the Ox-Strength Technique fighting this little beast? Why was he suddenly coming at her?!
Meanwhile, on Li Qi's side.
He had been carefully observing his surroundings.
More specifically, he had been watching the Black Mist's movements, guarding against ambushes and the like.
But halfway through his observation, he suddenly saw an additional progress bar that read: "Observation: 1%."
He immediately understood. The real culprit had arrived.
It might well be the mastermind or caster behind this Black Mist.
For instance, perhaps this Black Mist itself was the other party's technique.
In any case, whoever had suddenly appeared without making a sound and secretly hidden within the Black Mist was definitely no good person!
Thus, while pretending to continue fighting the Black Mist, Li Qi suddenly changed direction and shouted, "Come this way!"
The burly man heard him and knew at once that this fellow must have discovered something. Without hesitation, he immediately called to those behind him, "Those in the rear, follow!"
The two hulking men charged headlong in one direction, followed by more than a dozen burly men who sang loudly while striking their cleavers against one another. For a time, the scene was utter chaos.
Even the Black Mist failed to react before the crowd suddenly charged through it!
Li Qi was swift of eye and deft of hand. He grabbed hold of a humanoid figure in one motion. By the feel of it, it should have been a person—probably a woman or child, because the skin was smooth and tender, unlike a man's rough skin.
Of course, men could have smooth skin too, but Li Qi preferred to believe that he had grabbed a woman.
"I caught one!" Li Qi shouted.
Though the person in his grasp was struggling, he possessed six thousand eight hundred jin of tremendous strength. His hand was like an iron pincer—how could an ordinary person break free?
"Good!" the burly man also roared, then violently swung his cleaver through the surrounding area, scattering the surging Black Mist.
The Black Mist had just tried to counterattack when the clanging sounds of weapons immediately surged forth, directly dispersing it.
The Black Mist was powerless. Li Qi gave a fierce pull backward, yanking a humanoid figure straight out of the Black Mist!
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