Greeting

Li Qi carried the Old Ma and continued walking forward.

The distance of ten miles is only a few minutes to Li Qi now; it's practically right on his face.

A few minutes later, Li Qi was able to see the other person through their eyes.

There were five people in total, and the one at the front took the initiative to release his aura, allowing Li Qi to sense his presence.

That guy was... a real heartthrob.

He's really handsome.

Clad in white, whiter than snow, with a sword on his back, he sat cross-legged between phoenixes, wearing cloud-patterned shoes and a green silk sash around his waist. He was kind and graceful.

However, the style of the clothing is different from that of the Tang Kingdom, so it does not appear to be ancient.

At first glance, the first impression is that this person is either a saint or a deeply hidden villain.

Behind him were four other people with different appearances.

There were men and women, all dressed differently.

A man with long eyebrows, large ears, a healthy body and clear mind, bare-chested, with dark red skin, standing twelve feet tall, with bulging muscles, was very imposing.

She was fresh-faced, pretty, lively, and adorable, wearing a pink dress. Her skin was fair and bright, and she was about six feet tall, looking like a little sister of fourteen or fifteen years old.

A woman with eyes like autumn waters and eyebrows like spring mountains, composed and elegant, barefoot, with a pair of Golden Lotus under her Xiang skirt, floated in mid-air, her eyes lively and intelligent.

The last one was a blind man, with a grayish-white membrane covering his pupils, making it impossible to discern his expression. He was dressed in ordinary clothes and had a smile on his face.

However, it was this last one that gave Li Qi the creeps, because from the moment Li Qi appeared, the other party's blind eyes had been staring at Li Qi as if he could see.

The five people each noticed Li Qi and rushed towards Li Qi.

The handsome man in white, who was leading the group, rode forward on a phoenix and greeted Li Qi with a cupped-hand salute, saying, "Junior brother, it's a pleasure to meet you. How do you feel about arriving at Wushen Mountain?"

Li Qi sensed the aura emanating from them.

As expected, all five were disciples of the Great Shaman...

He subconsciously turned to the side. "Shen..."

He had only uttered one word when he realized that Shen Shuibi was not here.

Normally, when faced with this situation, he would first ask Shen Shuibi about the other party's background, because he had seen and understood a lot and had basically never made a mistake in judging the other party's background.

However, he is no longer here.

Li Qi's mood immediately plummeted, and he appeared somewhat irritable.

However, he maintained his composure and quickly regained his composure. He first placed the sleeping Old Ma aside, then smiled and bowed to the five people, "Greetings, senior brothers and sisters. May I ask why you have come here so suddenly?"

Although he asked, Li Qi had already pretty much guessed why.

Teacher, oh teacher... can you please be a little more low-key in your actions and dealings? Don't cause me any trouble. Can't you give me a break?

The handsome man in white at the head of the group said very politely and kindly, "Junior Brother is returning to the sect for the first time. As peers, we should naturally welcome you back with a feast. Why don't you join us for a few drinks to get to know each other better so we can get along better in the future?"

After all, they are from the same sect. Wushen Mountain is not some evil sect that incites its disciples to kill each other every day. It is normal for them to be polite to each other.

Besides, even if it were an evil sect, it wouldn't incite its disciples to kill each other every day. Otherwise, it would have been wiped out long ago. If people were Heavenly Kill, their hearts would be scattered, and there would be no sect left.

Moreover, normal people don't constantly shout about fighting and killing, or argue with others about fighting as soon as they meet.

Therefore, although both sides were fully aware of their own intentions, they maintained a relatively friendly demeanor on the surface.

Li Qi immediately replied, "Senior brothers and sisters, please forgive me. Our teacher wants me to see him immediately. How about this, I'll finish explaining things and then come over. How about that?"

The handsome man in white shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Alas, junior brother, I cannot disobey my master's orders. Our master has instructed us to invite you to the banquet. Are you going to offend a Great Shaman?"

"Junior brother, this banquet isn't just for one Great Shaman. All five of our masters will be attending. This is a rare grand event at Wushen Mountain recently. You'll be missing out if you don't come." The muscular man with dark red skin walked up and said to Li Qi in a gruff voice.

Li Qi felt ashamed.

It seems the division of labor within Wushen Mountain is quite detailed...

The group of high-ranking shamans negotiating with the Tang Kingdom were so busy they were practically on fire.

They still had the mind to hold a banquet.

They probably don't think it's a big deal. After all, Li Qi's decision to go to the Tang Kingdom has already solved half the problem. If he succeeds, then the problem will be completely solved.

This is the main gate of Wushen Mountain, so there will be no problem here no matter what.

That's why he's so carefree.

If the sky were to fall, those powerful figures of the first and second ranks would hold it up. As for troubles that are not within their scope of work, these great shamans probably don't care much about them.

Moreover, Li Qi had also figured out what the other party meant.

He was invited to a banquet, and it was a banquet hosted by five great shamans.

Isn't this just forcing your teacher to attend the banquet?

If I go, my teacher will have to come out to pick me up and I will have to go to the banquet with him, which will definitely lead to me running into those five great witches.

Li Qi didn't dare to think about what might happen then.

Therefore, Li Qi immediately shook his head. "Please, senior brothers and sisters, don't make things difficult for me. My teacher did have an urgent matter that summoned me back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have rushed here so quickly, and even had a fifth-rank senior come to pick me up."

At this moment, the barefoot, elegant senior sister spoke to Li Qi, saying, "Junior brother, you're joking. You rushed here in such a hurry? This is the first time I've ever seen someone who has cultivated to the eighth rank outside before returning to the mountain. You've been outside for so long, why rush back?"

Her tone was gentle, seemingly in harmony with the surrounding nature, and carried a sense of approachability.

However, this did not affect Li Qi. Li Qi simply shook his head again and repeated, "I hope Senior Sister will not make things difficult for me."

The lively and adorable little girl sighed and replied, "Sigh, I don't want to make things difficult for you... but Master wants to make things difficult for me. You say you have a master's order, but we do too."

As she spoke, she suddenly got angry, and with her hands on her hips, she said to Li Qi, "If you don't come with us, aren't you just making things difficult for us? Besides, it's just asking you to attend a banquet, not killing your head. What are you afraid of? There are many rare delicacies at the banquet, which will be very beneficial to your health and won't do you any harm. Why don't you go? Why are you being so Mama? We're not going to harm you!"

Li Qi had a headache.

They're not trying to harm me, but it's obvious they're targeting my teacher. Am I just going to give up?

The situation remained deadlocked for a while.

Li Qi's smile grew increasingly stiff. He was already in a bad mood, and now that he was being blocked, he became even more annoyed.

Finally, the handsome man in white who was in the lead took the initiative to say, "How about this? Since we all have to obey our master's orders, let's have a contest. If we win, we'll trouble you to come with us, junior brother."

"If we lose, how about you leave first, junior brother, and come to the banquet later?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qi asked, "How does Senior Brother plan to wager?"

The handsome man in white said, "If we were to fight, we Shaman do not take pride in our fighting prowess, and a fight would likely damage our harmony."

"If we were to compete in any other skill, none of the six of us are all-rounders and will inevitably have some weaknesses. Since there are five of us, there are bound to be some areas where we are stronger than our junior brother. I'm afraid our junior brother will be Qi Ingestion if he loses, and we will also Qi Ingestion if we lose. It would still escalate to a fight, which is not a good choice."

"How about we play chess?" the handsome man in white suggested.

"Chess?" Li Qi asked curiously, "What kind of chess?"

He has no interest in these entertainment games and has never been exposed to them before. What should he do?

"This is no ordinary chess piece. I possess a small, unranked world with an exceptionally fast Cosmic Time flow rate, bestowed upon me by my master." The handsome man in white said, "We cannot enter such a world with such vastly different Cosmic Time flow rate at will. Otherwise, we could easily be torn apart by the chaotic cosmic light upon entering."

"However, it is possible for a will to descend upon it. You and I cannot interfere in our true forms, but the descending will can use this world as a chessboard, designate a person, tell him different goals, and each of us can place three pieces at different points. After a year in that world, let's see who can bring that person's fate closer to the goal we said. Whoever gets closer will win. How about that? During this time, we can only use wisdom to calculate and cannot use any other Divine Ability."

"In this way, the competition will be purely about wisdom, how about that? That way, no one will have any complaints about losing."

The handsome man in white said this, and then took out a bead from his Mustard Seed Bag.

Inside that bead was a sun, and near the sun were three very tiny planets.

On the planet farthest from the sun, there is life. This planet also has two moons, each rotating on its own axis and revolving around the sun, in a ceaseless cycle.

Because the Cosmic Time flow rate varies in different worlds, we can see that planets move very fast, completing a full rotation in about ten minutes.

In other words, ten minutes is equivalent to a year in the outside world.

This... this is a star system that you can hold in your hand.

Although it's called Ninth Rank World, this isn't something an eighth-grade person can access, is it?

Wait a minute, this handsome guy in white said it was bestowed by his master, which means that his master, that third-rank great shaman, gave him this thing.

This is really...

Worlds with unique Cosmic Time flow rate are rare, and this characteristic is extremely valuable. Even Li Qi knows that the value of such worlds usually skyrockets.

Only...

Li Qi shook his head, raised his head and said, "Senior brother, could we try a different way of playing chess?"

The handsome man in white was taken aback. "Why? Isn't this fair? It's just a contest of our wisdom and deductive reasoning abilities. There's probably no fairer game in the world."

"Although the people of the small world are weak, that is not a reason for us to manipulate their lives for our own amusement. My principles do not allow me to do such a thing. I ask you to find another way, senior brother." Li Qi straightened his back and said solemnly.

At the same time, an aura also surged from Li Qi's personal microcosm, the aura of all people.

Upon hearing this, the handsome man in white suddenly fell silent.

Then, his aura suddenly became chaotic.

The other four people suddenly looked at him at the same time, and the blind man even stepped forward and put his hand on him.

It took him quite a while to finish Qi regulation.

Then, he cupped his hands slightly to Li Qi and said, "Junior brother is absolutely right. I have other matters to attend to, so I will not participate in this fight. Please do as you wish."

Then, he bowed to Li Qi again. "Junior brother, your words have shaken my foundation. I don't know if you did it intentionally or unintentionally, but this method is enough. I think I can't persuade you today. Farewell. But there are several other junior brothers and sisters. Please be careful."

After speaking, the handsome man in white gently patted the phoenix below.

The mount let out a low neigh and turned to fly away.

"I'll try with my junior brother." The tall young man stepped forward. "You hurt Senior Brother Yan's foundation with your words, so I will test your foundation with you."

After speaking, he didn't wait for Li Qi's reply and stomped his foot on the ground.

Li Qi immediately felt an immense, towering mountain pressing down on him!

However, it is just a mountain.

He suddenly felt...

Although this person is much stronger than Zhang Lan, and even stronger than other eighth-rank cultivators he has ever seen, and could probably beat seven or eight Zhang Lan, compared to Shen Shuibi's eighth-rank cultivator and his own eighth-rank cultivator, it seems... that's not all there is to it.

It's just a mountain.

Li Qi's personal world, though small, encompassed an entire prefecture.

He neither dodged nor avoided, nor even reached out, but directly used his Five Peaks Mountain God Energy to crash into it.

But then a loud bang was heard, and the dark-skinned young man staggered back several steps. Although his face was dark, it was clear that his complexion had turned bluish.

His face turned pale, and his expression was one of horror. "How is this possible? I have already refined thirty spirit peaks, and my foundation is so solid. Wasn't he only at the eighth rank a few days ago?!"

This person's body was as resilient as... a complete landmass, making his previous attitude seem like a joke.

Realizing this, the burly man was immediately filled with shame and covered his face as he fled without even saying goodbye, disappearing into the ground.

Of the remaining three, the two women stared at Li Qi, their expressions changing from calm to surprise.

This new fellow disciple...

That's tough.

So they made a decision immediately.

"Junior brother has a solid foundation and outstanding strength. It seems we can't keep you here today. We sisters have no choice but to accept our fate. We only hope that Master will not be too harsh on us. Alas, farewell." The barefoot beauty sighed and, after saying goodbye, pulled the little sister who didn't want to leave and rode away on a cloud.

The little girl seemed eager to try and even wanted to make a move, but she was forcibly pulled away, and no one knew why.

In the end, only one blind man remained, staying in the same spot.

Li Qi frowned. What's wrong with these people? Is it serious? Are they just here to mess around?

Only one blind person remained.

Li Qi could sense that this person was a diviner.

The main problem is that it smells too much like a charlatan.

You can tell at a glance that he's a fortune teller.

He didn't leave, but stood there without stopping Li Qi, and said politely, "If there is anything urgent, please go and report back, Junior Brother. I won't stop you."

"Why?" Li Qi asked.

"Because we'll see each other again soon," he said listlessly.

Li Qi frowned, his mind filled with bewilderment.

That's a good point.

What does this diviner know?

Never mind, I'd better go find the teacher first.