Going to the Banquet

Baffling...

Damn it, all charlatans in the world are the same.

However, Li Qi managed to control himself, politely bid farewell to the man, and hurried to his teacher's cave.

After that, the journey was smooth, but it would still take a few Chen.

However, just as Li Qi was on his way...

"It's boring, really boring. A bunch of brats pretending to be polite, how tedious!" Zhu Fengdan shook her head in the cave abode, her tone very displeased.

But then a thousand miles of rivers and mountains appeared in his hand, with every blade of grass and every tree clearly visible. He had seen everything that had happened between Li Qi and his fellow disciples.

It's just really boring.

A group of children, acting like little adults, each one more calm and restrained than the last.

Why are you fighting? What's going on? Don't you have any youthful spirit?

Zhu Fengdan was very disappointed.

However, despite saying that, he was actually quite satisfied.

The whole situation might seem very subtle to onlookers, as if it started strong but ended weakly, but in reality, it was just that Li Qi resolved it quite cleverly.

Zhu Fengdan remembered that the handsome man in white was called Yan Ke, Dao Path was quite interesting.

He was a descendant of the Human-Ghost lineage of the Shaman. He was born with the temperament and ability to become a leader among people. He was also able to understand people's hearts and perceive the general trend. He was exceptionally talented, so he was taken in as a disciple by a Great Shaman.

After accepting it, the Great Shaman went to great Dao Path and paid a considerable price to find a small, unranked world with a unique Cosmic Time flow rate.

Then he asked someone for help to refine the Heavenly Dao of this small world, overcome the special cosmic light within it, and allow the will of the outside world to descend into it through the arrangement of the Great Shaman.

Then he handed this thing over to Yan Ke, allowing him to imbue it with his will and control the 'civilization' of this small world.

Through repeated arrivals and by simply relying on will and words, he shook the course of civilization throughout the world. In this way of learning, he gradually mastered the ability to manipulate the "general trend".

Even a small world has a billion people. It can descend by will alone, without any ability, and influence history with just words, making a billion people move in the direction it wants.

Manipulating the course of history and artificially creating trends is a special cultivation method of the Human-Ghost lineage, which is perfectly suited to Yan Ke's talent.

That small world is the foundation of the Yan Ke's philosophy.

The Yan Ke proposed a battle of wits in this small world, which was actually a plan to ambush Li Qi. After all, he had been playing this game for many years, while Li Qi was experiencing it for the first time, so he thought Li Qi had no chance of winning no matter what.

But Li Qi was more straightforward, stating directly that such a thing did not conform to his principles and that he resolutely refused to accept it, while simultaneously displaying his influence among the people.

Where did Li Qi's popularity among the people come from?

Because he connected with the people through cause and effect, and received their gratitude and even worship, Li Qi, although from the Earthly Deity lineage, did more things in the Human-Ghost lineage, such as offering sacrifices to the heroic spirits of the White Rhinoceros Army to help them return to the cycle of reincarnation, and receiving worship for saving 100,000 people, plus the many causes and effects brought about by a grand sacrifice.

It can be said that Li Qi has gone further than him in the lineage of Human-Ghost. While he is still in the laboratory researching how to control the general trend, Li Qi has already made a real impact on the general trend of a state.

Therefore, after Li Qi demonstrated his results, he said that he could never accept this method.

This is to deny his foundational doctrine from the very beginning.

This is the root of the problem: Yan Ke has not really thought much about his own foundation of Dao.

This was given to him by his master, a Great Shaman, so he naturally believed it to be correct; this was a blind spot in his thinking.

Originally, this was nothing. He would naturally understand as he learned, so it didn't matter at all. As he cultivated and thoroughly understood all the causes and effects of that small world, all these doubts would be answered. That was probably also his master's arrangement.

The future is bright and promising.

But now Li Qi has pointed it out in advance.

It's similar to someone who does better than you telling you that you made a mistake.

Then you'll definitely start thinking about it.

This reflection shook his original conviction.

This caused his foundation to waver for a moment, and Li Qi cleverly forced him to withdraw and go back to think about whether what he had done before was right or wrong.

This is a good thing for him, so he won't become enemies after this incident, but it will also resolve the situation that was blocking his way.

From Zhu Fengdan's perspective, this was all part of Li Qi's original plan, so he was very satisfied.

Within minutes of meeting, they quickly discerned each other's intentions and the different purposes and threats posed by the five individuals.

First, subdue the Yan Ke of the group of people, cleverly get him to back down, thereby provoking the burly man in black and red. Then, use force to break through his defenses, which will scare away the two women.

Overall, Li Qi's vision and strategy were commendable. Apart from failing to deal with the blind fortune teller, everything else was quite good.

It was handled very well.

It's really boring that they didn't fight. It would have been much more interesting if they had fought.

Just as Zhu Fengdan was feeling regretful, Li Qi finally arrived outside the cave abode.

After traveling for half a day, Li Qi looked up and finally saw his teacher's spirit peak.

Honestly...

There's no difference between them and others.

It wasn't particularly unique; it felt quite ordinary, even more so than others—just a bare mountain.

Everyone else's decor is very unique, with all sorts of things.

But here at home...

It's just a country bumpkin.

Could it be that there's a hidden paradise inside?

Li Qi walked in curiously.

As they entered the mountains, Li Qi bowed deeply and said, "Teacher! I've arrived!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the scenery around him changed abruptly.

The surroundings seemed to be an endless void, pitch black, without a trace of light.

But there was no feeling of falling; it was as if I was floating in mid-air, unable to move.

Then, suddenly, a light came on, and Zhu Fengdan's figure appeared in front of him.

"Disciple, you've arrived?" Zhu Fengdan appeared in this void.

Before Li Qi could even greet him, he shook his head and sighed, "What's wrong with you? You're back here and you're still thinking about being kind to everyone and solving problems. You can't do that. Why didn't you just beat them up? Are you worried I can't handle this?"

Li Qi pretended not to hear what he said.

He respectfully performed the disciple's salute, and then said to himself, "Master, besides reporting back, I have something important to tell you."

"Tch, so serious, so boring. Just say it, what is it?" Zhu Fengdan waved her hand, rolled her eyes, and floated in mid-air waiting for Li Qi to speak.

Who taught this apprentice? He speaks and acts so rigidly, without any youthful passion.

He should only be in his early twenties. Even among Human Race, he should be full of Blood Qi. How did he become like this? There's not a trace of anger in him.

But Li Qi ignored all that and earnestly recounted how he had been attacked.

Then, he took out the Dragon Soul and the corpse of the man who called himself 'Ji Ding' and presented them to Zhu Fengdan: "Teacher, please look, this is it."

"Alright, alright, I got it." Zhu Fengdan looked bored. "There's something fishy about this, everyone knows that. Alright, leave it to me."

He looked at Li Qi with a disappointed expression. "You're just a kid, why are you worrying about the country and its people every day? Is this something you should be worried about? What good does it do to worry about it? Really, you're nothing like me."

Li Qi lowered his head.

Although the Cultivation Method and Technique Method I practiced were all given to me by my teacher... you haven't taught me a single thing...

To be honest, all my common knowledge in the cultivation world came from Shen Shuibi's teachings and from reading books.

I basically relied on my own understanding throughout the entire process.

It's perfectly normal that you don't look like me...

After silently complaining to himself, Li Qi heard the teacher cough twice, looking embarrassed.

Oh, I forgot he can read minds.

"Ahem, you little brat, you're really not likable. Oh well, I won't hold it against you." Zhu Fengdan waved her hand.

Li Qi felt ashamed.

No... you think you can argue with me? A dignified third-rank Great Shaman of Ceremonies, who knows how many years you've lived, and you dare to argue with a twenty-year-old like me?

No, I shouldn't think about these things.

Li Qi immediately composed himself and became solemn, silently counting one, two, three, four, five, pretending that he hadn't thought of anything.

But at that moment, Zhu Fengdan waved her hand.

But the scenery around them kept changing.

Suddenly, Li Qi found himself sitting in a chair, with many strangely shaped stones beside him, the purpose of which he had no idea.

Beside the stone, there were three tea trees, barely alive. The tea leaves had been pulled out and they looked withered and yellow, as if they were about to die.

Li Qi picked two leaves and smelled them, but found nothing special about them.

In the courtyard further away, there were many strange and unusual things piled up.

Law Treasure, tools, strange objects, all sorts of bizarre materials, including his own game console—these things were piled up into a small mountain, and he had no idea how many there were.

Is this... where the teacher lives?

Were those things outside stolen?

As soon as Li Qi thought of this, an air cannon exploded on his head, completely stunning him.

There was no injury, just a clap of thunder.

"How dare you talk like that? Is that robbery?! Treasures exist in this world, and those who are destined to possess them will obtain them. I have a slight connection with this item, and I'm just taking it to play with for a few days. I'll return it later. It's not like I'm forcibly taking it." Young Master Zhu held a round plate in his hand and glared angrily at Li Qi.

After Li Qi returned home and regained his composure, he immediately bowed and replied, "Teacher is absolutely right; I was too superficial!"

Young Master Zhu simply sat down, gripping the plate. "Forget it, I won't argue with you about this. It's pointless to talk to you like that. I might as well let you find some youthful passion."

"You're quite worried about that jade rabbit, aren't you? I see that's all you have left to look like a young man. I'll give you a task. After you complete this task, I'll take you to visit Luofu's cave abode. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qi was startled and immediately stood up straight. "Teacher, please give your instructions!"

"Go to the banquet," Young Master Zhu said, narrowing his eyes.

"The banquet I invited you to earlier wasn't made up. It was organized by a Dream Divination. Its original purpose was to predict fortuitous opportunity and dangers for you children, so that you could avoid misfortune and seek good fortune. But those people just wanted to use this to trick me and make me lose face."

"Now that you've thwarted those children's tricks, let's go to the banquet openly, hoping to secure some fortuitous opportunity for you. Don't hide in the crowd or avoid conflict. Just offer words of advice. If anyone tries to provoke you, smash their head in!"

"If you do this, after the banquet I will take you to visit Luofu's cave abode, and you can go find the rabbit yourself, how about that?"

Zhu Fengdan said boldly, staring at Li Qi to see his reaction.

Upon hearing this, Li Qi gritted his teeth. "I will obey your orders, Master! But, Master, what about the mastermind behind it all..."

Zhu Fengdan was even more straightforward. "Why are you worried about those things? Don't I know better than you that there are hidden forces behind this? Just enjoy your childhood. If the sky falls, your master will hold it up. Anxin wait for the delegation to be formed and then go to the Tang Kingdom to study."

"As for those who plot against you, I'll twist their heads off. You don't need to worry about that."

Li Qi remained silent, could only bow, and then asked, "When shall we leave?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Fengdan beamed with joy. "Right now! Let's go, let's slap them in the face!"

Zhu Fengdan is known for her decisive and efficient nature; she always leaves without hesitation.

He grabbed Li Qi, waved his hand, and a large cart automatically drove up. He threw Li Qi into the back seat, sat in the driver's seat, and cracked the whip. Two vehicles appeared in front of the cart...

Uh, two Iron-Eating Beasts?

Li Qi wiped his sweat; his teacher's aesthetic taste was truly...

Regardless of what was pulling the cart, the speed was still quite fast, and the vehicle began to move quickly toward its destination.

Inside Wushen Mountain, fast flight is prohibited, and the space itself is protected by restrictions, making it difficult to teleport through folded space. Therefore, most of the travel is done on foot or by means of transportation.

Li Qi sat in the vehicle, watching his teacher happily sucking on the Iron-Eating Beast's buttocks.

The meat jiggled.

She's kind of cute.

I have to say, it's so fat, yet it runs so fast...

Wait, this aura...

This Iron-Eating Beast is a fifth-grade beast!?

Li Qi immediately put away his disrespectful thoughts, sat obediently in the back, and fell into deep thought.

Since the teacher told me not to worry, that he would handle it, and that I should just enjoy my childhood, then so be it.

I'm not going to worry about the conflict between Wushen Mountain and the Tang Kingdom anymore. Anyway, it's none of my business, so I'll just leave it to the teacher.

And that charlatan...

It seems the prediction came true; I actually went to the banquet.

Damn it, I hate these riddle makers.

Forget it, I should think about what I'm most worried about right now...

Miss Shen... what exactly happened?

Since the grand festival, their attitude seems to have changed somewhat.

Although there are only four or five days left until the grand ceremony, a lot has happened in those four or five days, and each one makes Li Qi feel somewhat unfamiliar with it.

What's the reason?

Since it happened after the grand ceremony, it means that the event also occurred during that period.

Before the grand ceremony, Shen Shuibi even rushed to the altar to heal her wounds, indicating that nothing had gone wrong yet.

After the grand ceremony, what important events happened during that period?

The third-ranked attacker was stopped by the teacher and Senior Yun Fang.

Then, Senior Yun Fang said, "Wushen Mountain and Lady Luofu are not of one mind."

Wait, is it because of this?

I myself had doubted whether I was on the same page as Shen Shuibi.

Shen Shuibi also had this question?

And it's an even more serious suspicion.

For example... Wushen Mountain used her as a bargaining chip to persuade Lady Luofu... or something like that?