The Rabbit's Dao Path

Yes, Li Qi wants to start a war.

"War...?" Shen Shuibi seemed to want to frown.

Unfortunately, the Sacred Flame Tribe's body and face were extremely stiff, devoid of any expression; she couldn't even frown.

"Well, war, after all, can't be won back by negotiation, right? And if we're going to take action, we can't be left to do everything ourselves, can we?" Li Qi smiled.

"If they want to reclaim their own path and rebuild their own path, they cannot rely on others; they can only rely on their own strength to reclaim it, and we can only be their assistants."

"The previous person certainly wouldn't be willing to give it up so easily, so the only option left is to resort to violence."

"War is inevitable, and we cannot help them fight it. This war is a calamity for the Sacred Flame Realm and an obstacle to their Dao Path."

Li Qi said in a relaxed tone.

Shen Shuibi nodded.

That's true.

Li Qi is right.

The Dao Path can only be walked by oneself, even for the world and races. To escape the struggles of immortals, one must strive for self-improvement.

"If that's the case... then how are we going to make money?" Shen Shuibi asked, puzzled.

If Li Qi's plan is like this, then the speed at which he makes money is too slow.

Selling Cultivation Method and Law Treasure alone, not to mention where these goods should come from and how to price them, is obviously not as profitable as directly and violently occupying the Sacred Flame Realm and then enslaving it.

If the real goal is to make money, the priority now should be to understand the other party's strength, then see if it's feasible to take action, or find a way to drive them away and then seize the Sacred Flame Realm.

Getting involved in arms dealing these days is really short-sighted, and it's a slow way to make money.

"You don't understand, do you? Jade, war, famine, disease—these are always the most profitable situations; there are no exceptions." Li Qi said with a smile, "Look, what is the source of wealth?"

"Labor," Shen Shuibi replied.

She understood this as well: all value comes from labor; even raw materials need to be unearthed and processed to have value.

"Our plundering is nothing more than plundering the wealth they accumulated through their previous labor. That's digging up the roots, and it's too much of a loss for us who are empty-handed now. But we also don't have the ability to build a world on our own." Li Qi shrugged.

"The best method, of course, is to do what those immortals in the Sacred Flame Realm did: directly use their own Dao to erode this world and make it completely their vassal. However, this is not something we can do now. We don't have that many preachers, nor do we have a complete set of Daos that we can use to carry out this invasion," Li Qi said.

As they talked, the two found a roadside stall, ordered some food, and continued chatting.

However, no one else could hear what they were saying.

Li Qi gestured to express his meaning.

First of all, they lacked the resources to conduct large-scale missionary work.

To spread the word on a large scale, you need many followers, or disciples, who understand your way and are willing to follow it.

The Dao Lineage originates from this.

If many small sects come together to form groups because of mutual interests, then these larger orthodox Dao Lineage all come together because of similar philosophies.

Those who share the same path are closer than father and son.

Even fathers and sons can turn against each other, but as long as those who share the same path remain on the same path, there will never be any rift between them.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi, being solitary individuals, certainly didn't have enough disciples and followers to support such a large-scale undertaking that would last for one or two hundred years.

Even though, in reality, a hundred years is not a long time.

Li Qi explained, "Therefore, if we want the Sacred Flame Realm to maintain its ability to produce Holy Sacred Flame Realm, we must preserve its original production mechanism and the operation of the Great Dao. This is the fundamental reason why we support their resistance. If we plunder directly, we can only plunder the wealth of the past, but we cannot earn the wealth of the future."

"But there is another problem. If the Sacred Flame Realm maintains its original Great Dao rules, then they cannot be used by us. They will use their resources and wealth for their own development, which will not achieve our goal."

Shen Shuibi listened quietly from the side without offering any opinion.

Although she was very intelligent, she was not familiar with this matter because she had been living in Mount Luofu for over nine thousand years, and her path was inherited from Mount Luofu.

Mount Luofu is one of the branches of Daoism, the one that lives in seclusion.

The Daoist school is also divided into two major branches and many minor branches. The two major branches are the Huang-Lao school and the Lao-Zhuang school, which are the Manifest World Faction and the Hidden World Faction, respectively.

Currently, the Huang-Lao school, which focuses on Manifest World Faction, advocates three points. "Cultivation, governance, and application." It has a strong sense of purpose and will actively try to change the world, which is "governance and application." For some unknown reason, it is currently fully supporting the expansion of Human Path. They are honored guests of the emperor and High Officials. The emperor Perfected Person built Daoist temples for them in Chang'an and bestowed upon them the official title of Imperial Preceptor.

Mount Luofu is Hidden World Faction advocates tranquility and inaction, opposes struggle, Dao Emulates Own Inherent Spontaneity, and lives a carefree life. Currently, this branch is distributed in various places. One branch is researching the 'mathematical universe' with the North Pole Spiritual Way, while many more live in seclusion in the deep mountains, quietly doing what interests them, with no need to change the world, living a life of leisure and freedom.

For the Hidden World Faction of Daoism, what Li Qi said was outside her scope of knowledge, and she did not understand these things, so she could only listen silently to Li Qi's analysis.

She was well aware that one shouldn't speak carelessly about things one doesn't understand.

But she was still a smart person, so she was able to understand what Li Qi meant.

Li Qi continued, "Therefore, we need to create an external enemy, and one that is already in place."

"Look, this immortal's Great Dao erosion has not yet fully taken effect. There are still a group of people who maintain a rebellious spirit. If we support the Holy Sacred Flame Tribe in their resistance, we can force them to continuously produce Holy Flame for us."

"We don't have much need for other resources in this world. The Holy Flame is the only thing of value to us, and it is a product created by the Sacred Flame Tribe."

"Once the war begins, they will not only give us the Holy Flame they previously stored to purchase military supplies, but they will also continuously produce Holy Flame to ask for our help. We just need to find a place to sit and wait for them to deliver the Holy Flame to us."

"As for what we need to do, all we need to do is contribute some Cultivation Method and Law Treasures, and prevent the other side's fifth-rank experts from interfering. We can maintain the balance of this war. We don't need to invest too much; the Sacred Flame Tribe will take care of those trivial matters themselves."

This is Li Qi's line of thinking.

It's actually quite simple. Without external pressure, the Sacred Flame Tribe won't obediently contribute their Holy Flames.

There are only two of them; it's impossible for them to swallow all the resources and abilities of the Sacred Flame Tribe at once. They have to take it one step at a time.

To accumulate initial capital, you still need to use your skills to acquire capital.

First, obtain the first batch of Holy Flames.

Then use the Holy Flame to travel the world and exchange it for the Law Treasures or low-level Cultivation Method you need.

Making that round trip can earn you at least a hundred times your initial investment.

As a global specialty, Li Qi divine methods to value the Sacred Flame. He believed that if it were produced on a large scale, its price would not be cheap, at least not for Shen Shuibi, a fifth-rank official.

If one were to truly and completely occupy this Sixth-Rank World, it would be a considerable fortune.

This can be considered the first pot of gold.

Although we are still far from repaying the debt to Mount Luofu, if we want to earn a trillion, the first small goal should be to earn a hundred million.

Let's take it one step at a time.

Having understood Li Qi's plan for the next steps, Shen Shuibi nodded and then asked, "So... what are we going to do next? You're going to the Imperial Academy in less than twenty days, right?"

"Moreover, that Sacred King rejected your proposal. He doesn't seem to regret it. How can he be supported like this?" Shen Shuibi asked.

Did she not realize it? Or did that Sacred King really want to go back on his word?

"No, judging from his appearance, you can tell that even his bones have been broken, even though the Sacred Flame Tribe doesn't have bones." Li Qi shrugged.

That Sacred King probably really couldn't muster the will to rebel.

He's currently in a state of being both subdued and unwilling, yet too afraid to resist; he's genuinely unable to stand up.

To heal his emotional wounds, we need to take it slowly.

"So what are you planning to do?" Shen Shuibi asked, puzzled.

"There's more than one person who's rebelling. There's always someone with a burning desire. Let's eat something, and then... go kill someone tonight," Li Qi said lightly.

In other words, the Sacred Flame Tribe's body has no expression; otherwise, it would be obvious that he was smiling.

Li Qi is no saint.

He has principles, but he has never hesitated to kill people; this is something he has to do to pay off the debt to the rabbit.

If there is Karma, then so be it; the cycle of Heavenly Dao is what it is.

The rabbit sat on the other side, nodding slightly.

"Kill someone... How do I do it?" She nodded, without much resistance, and accepted it directly.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Rabbits are inherently neither good nor evil.

She doesn't intentionally do bad or good things. Most of the time, like all Hidden World Faction, she honestly immerses herself in her own world and only does her own thing.

But if it's about doing good or bad things, she's not really resistant to either.

This is the way of the Hidden World Faction.

Neither good nor evil, it is the true nature of reality.

Don't care about the outside world, just pursue your own improvement and progress. When everyone improves, the whole world will naturally become a better place. There's no need to do anything else deliberately.

This is the "doing without doing" pursued by the Hidden World Faction.

As for interference with the outside world?

A True Immortal from the Hidden World Faction once said, "Do good without seeking fame, do evil without incurring punishment."

It means that doing good deeds won't bring you immediate fame, and doing bad deeds won't bring you immediate punishment.

Good and evil are simply choices you make. The world doesn't care what you do; just be yourself.

"It's very simple, we need to erase the myth of immortals being invincible," Li Qi said.

"The reason why the Sacred Flame Realm has not resisted is simple: those immortals can indeed suppress this world. There are only two generations of people with Heart Qi. In another hundred years, the 'refining' of this world will be over."

Refining is the process of replacing the other party's Dao with one's own.

From this perspective, although the Heavenly Dao of this world has not changed hands, the civilization within it has been 'refined'.

Li Qi continued, "We didn't find any Rank 5 individuals when we arrived, which means that the remaining suppressors are basically the ones we can handle relatively easily."

"I just had someone do a divination, and they found one of the weaker ones. He's my target tonight."

"You just had someone do a divination? Where did you get it from?" Shen Shuibi asked curiously.

"This." Li Qi took out his terminal and pointed to the chat history. "I asked Bo Yue and Zhong Minglou to help me. Although there is some delay, I can still use the terminal here."

"Wait, so what you're saying is that it's Human Path that wants to invade this world? They've extended the Nexus of All Realms here!? Otherwise, how could there be a signal?" The rabbit exclaimed in astonishment.

"That's not right. I looked at that Great Dao mark. Although it has some Human Path aura, its foundation is still divine. How could the terminal have a signal?" The rabbit pondered, then quickly took out its terminal.

Then, to her surprise, she discovered that there really was a signal.

This indicates that there are separate base stations for the Nexus of All Realms in this world!

Seeing Shen Shuibi's surprise, Li Qi smiled and said, "Don't worry, the other party is not a force of the Tang Kingdom. It's just that they need a avatar of the Nexus of All Realms to communicate, so they probably paid to rent a base station of the Nexus of All Realms to use."

"What do you know?" Shen Shuibi looked up when she heard Li Qi's words.

What does Li Qi, this charlatan, know?

That's not right. Shen Shuibi knows he's always by her side, so he shouldn't have had time to gather intelligence.

"It's not that I know anything, it's just that I'm really familiar with it. It's hard not to recognize this aura," Li Qi said, shaking his head and speaking jokingly.

"Huh—?" The rabbit looked bewildered. She tilted her head and made a puzzled gurgling sound.

What is Li Qi still keeping secret for?

However, this time Li Qi did not explain to the rabbit.

This made the rabbit very angry.

However, she didn't dwell on it for long. She quickly regained her composure and curiously followed Li Qi, waiting for him to unravel the mystery.

After all, no matter how hard they try to hide it, it won't be over until tonight.

After the two finished their meal, they prepared to leave.

Rice is a common food found all over the world, but the ingredients are local.

Even food has been eroded to this extent.

It's like never eating braised pork again, and only eating steak in the future.

Fortunately, their diet also consisted of meat, although it was unclear what kind of meat it was. It might be a problem for ordinary people, but Li Qi and Shen Shuibi's physical bodies far surpassed those of ordinary people, so there was no need to worry about it at all.

For them, eating is purely a matter of satisfying their appetite, not a necessity.