Qi

Li Qi didn't go to eat breakfast. Instead, he took a stroll to test his ability to observe "qi."

He could see the water qi in the river.

This qi flowed through the city, drawing the yin qi within it into the river, and then being carried away together.

He could see that the beggar coughing by the roadside, sleeping in the open, had sickness qi mixed into his body and breath.

It was probably sickness qi; he didn't recognize it and was just guessing.

Normal people had yin and yang qi, as well as protective qi, nutritive qi, vital qi, and so on. Many types of qi were mixed together, but he couldn't distinguish them at all.

It was like a forest; at first glance, it appeared lush and green, just a patch of green. But only by venturing deep inside could one realize that the forest was actually an ecosystem, possessing countless species, with an innumerable number of plants and animals, making it impossible to distinguish each one.

Qi seemed to be like the atoms of another world, the fundamental components of all matter in this world. Everything was composed of qi, and the properties of qi determined the properties of matter.

It was a pity that the book "Zhu" did not describe the principles of qi in detail. It only wrote about the properties of qi commonly used in sacrifices or cultivation, and the methods to utilize it.

According to the book, the Daoist Sect were the experts in studying qi, while the Shamanic Way was rather inferior in this regard.

Li Qi strolled along, studying the book in his mind, learning its knowledge with great thirst. He knew this was the foundation of his future livelihood, so he didn't dare to slack off even a little.

He could also see the progress bar for his reading of this book...

Of course, it was very, very, very, very slow.

After reading for three hours from waking up that morning, and carefully reading for another two hours outside, the progress bar was still at 0%.

In other words, he hadn't even finished 0.1%.

How much did this book contain... Was it really a massive database?

He figured it would take at least half a year or more to finish.

He continued reading like this until the sun had fully risen.

Then, the entire city came alive.

Bustling crowds, some heading out of the city, some entering from outside, horse-drawn carriage drivers, delivery workers for various shops, wisps of cooking smoke rising – the entire city suddenly sprang to life.

The weaver started her loom, the farmer carried his hoe and walked out, shops opened their doors, government offices rang their bells, everyone woke up and busied themselves with their daily livelihoods.

The city at night was like a sleeping behemoth, and now, it had awakened.

Li Qi was deeply shaken by this scene!

Qi! Qi that shot straight into the sky!

He didn't know how to describe it, but it was just that shocking.

It was as if a colossal beast was awakening, its qi so magnificent, so terrifying, shooting straight into the sky.

The qi of the constellations in the sky could not compare, and the qi of the Earthly Deities on the ground could only yield. The qi of countless people formed a unique qi with an indescribable pressure.

What should this be called... Human qi?

Li Qi seemed to see laws, regulations, human hearts, and vitality.

These qi flowed slowly according to certain regulations, supporting a "city"!

A city is not just a collection of buildings placed together.

A city is for the prosperity of its people, like millet in a vessel.

For the first time, Li Qi understood the meaning of "she ji" (state and altars of soil and grain) so directly, and at the same time, he understood more clearly what "city" meant.

"This... this, is this 'Human Way'?" Under such might, Li Qi couldn't help but mutter to himself, but his speech became involuntarily a little stammered.

He was very intelligent and almost immediately found clues from the books he had read and the previous discussion with Young Master Zhu about the conflict between the Human Way and the Shamanic Way.

He guessed that perhaps he could call it...

This was the Human Way.

This qi was the power of the Human Way!

At this moment, as a Shamanic Priest, he was deeply shocked by the power of the Human Way.

And this was just a county town! Feng County only had about two hundred thousand people!

What concept was Lishui Prefecture City?

What concept would a prefectural city of the Tang Kingdom be? And what kind of spectacle would the capital of the Tang Kingdom be, which could be called the center of the Human Way!?

Li Qi wiped away the Azure Dragon Spirit Qi that had attached itself to his eyes.

Everything before him immediately returned to normal.

Traffic flowed, crowds surged, and Feng County began a completely ordinary day.

It was like this every day.

But Li Qi's heart remained unsettled for a long time.

Was this... the world of cultivators?

The power of just a county town was already so immense, what about his guess from last night... if it turned out to be true?

What level would the nine-tier grading system, which regulated cultivators throughout the world, be?

What would it look like if he could see it?

If he could see the laws that governed the entire Tang Kingdom, what would they look like?

Li Qi didn't even dare to imagine. He felt that all of this had already surpassed the limits of his imagination.

He started to miss the capital city of Lishui Prefecture.

Even the morning market opening in a normal county town was this spectacular.

What kind of grand occasion would the annual River Opening sacrificial ceremony be if he were to witness it now!?

"Is this... the world of cultivation?" He took a deep breath.

Then, he couldn't see it now, but would he never be able to see it in the future?

As long as he climbed up step by step, there would always be a day when he could see it with his own eyes!

At this very moment, Li Qi had never been more eager to cultivate. It was as if all his motivation had ignited, and he couldn't wait to become stronger.

Not for any glory or wealth, not to become superior to others, nor did he have any deep-seated hatred or ancient grievances. He wasn't oppressed, nor was he being chased by any calamities.

There were no such strange things.

He just wanted to see.

He wanted to see the "Dao" above!

If the Human Way in a county town in a border region was already this magnificent.

Then what about the others!

He wanted to climb up and see, to reach the summit, to the very top, and take in the "Dao" of the entire world!

Li Qi, his heart filled with excitement, could only feel his heart pounding.

His blood was boiling.

He clenched his fists, trying hard to calm his emotions.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

No matter how grand his dreams were, he was now just an insignificant Shamanic Priest of no rank, probably at the level of a village shaman.

Maybe not even that. A village shaman had a lifetime of experience, what did he have? He had to flip through books and follow them step by step just to perform his cultivation rituals.

"I still need to study, read, and accumulate progress every day." He thought to himself.

Unfortunately, daily cultivation only needed to be done once a day. Doing more was useless and served no purpose.

Therefore, to improve quickly, he would have to rely on other things.

"A horse doesn't get fat without night fodder, and a person doesn't get rich without ill-gotten gains," Li Qi muttered to himself. To improve quickly, at this stage, he needed to cling tightly to his benefactor, which was Young Master Zhu.

Then, if he could find Lady Luofu soon, she was also a big shot, and he might be able to get some benefits.

He had to set off as soon as possible!