First Meeting with the Plague Lord

To be honest, this was extremely rude, so much so that Li Lieqi stood far away to the side, seemingly not wanting to pay any attention to Yu Zao, lest he incur Li Qi's wrath.

The male classmates also gave Li Qi apologetic looks, but spread their hands, indicating that they couldn't stop him.

Indeed, although Li Qi only met this classmate named Yu Zao once, he was still deeply impressed by her.

This girl's audacity is truly masterful. When she first met Li Qi, she immediately revealed her true identity to Li Qi, showing no sense of social cues whatsoever.

To be honest, this kind of personality is quite rare.

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything? You're just standing there blankly." Yu Zao stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Li Qi's eyes.

Then, she squatted down, turned her head back, and said with a smile, "No wonder this person's advancement speed is so fast, he's a cultivation maniac! He doesn't even look at what he's eating when he's eating!"

"Uh, classmate, so is there something you need?" Li Qi finally snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the Yu Zao in front of him with a helpless expression.

This girl... I think she's only a teenager?

According to ordinary people, she should call him uncle.

"Ah, you're awake." Yu Zao turned her head, squatted down, and looked up at Li Qi who was sitting. "What was wrong with you just now? You weren't faking it, were you? Can someone really get that absorbed?"

"Uh, classmate, so, is there something you need?" Li Qi repeated, emphasizing his words.

"Wow! He's angry!" Yu Zao immediately stood up and excitedly shouted to the other classmates.

Li Lieqi suddenly slapped his forehead and let out a long sigh.

The other male students also silently took two steps back.

Li Qi also realized something.

Don't argue with a child. Liu Shenzhi once mentioned this person's situation; he's just a brat.

So he put on a smile, nodded slightly to Li Lieqi as a greeting, packed up his food box, and prepared to eat somewhere else.

However, seeing him like this, Yu Zao came up and grabbed him, saying, "Wait, wait! Don't go, don't go!"

Li Qi rolled his eyes, turned around and stood up straight. "So, classmate, what exactly do you want?"

"It's nothing, I'm just a little curious, are all Shaman like you?" Yu Zao curiously circled around Li Qi, scrutinizing Li Qi appearance.

"What do you mean, 'like me'?" Li Qi asked, puzzled.

"I've heard many people say that Shaman are all mysterious and sinister, like to scheme against others behind their backs, are gloomy and strange all day long, play with insects and gu, research Technique Method like life lamps and soul flames, are often accompanied by ghosts, manipulate spirits to harm people, like to deal with demons and monsters, don't like to talk to people, are reclusive, and getting involved with them will definitely not bring good things." Yu Zao said in a serious tone.

"So I wanted to come and see, and then I found out it seems to be true! I've been watching you from behind for three days!" Yu Zao said, holding up three fingers and widening her eyes.

This expression, combined with her appearance, is quite cute at first glance.

But she was also very annoying, Li Qi really wanted to punch her.

"For three days, I've seen you come here on time every day to get your food. After eating, you go to the kitchen to do something, then walk back. Your eyes are vacant the whole time. It's scary. Did you do some kind of supernatural magic and damage your soul?" Yu Zao asked, tilting her head.

"No, I was just thinking, that's all. Classmate, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now," Li Qi said.

I have no interest in dealing with kids.

"No, you can't leave. You look very unwell. I specially invited the Plague Lord over. Both of us are skilled in treating injuries to the soul. We need to at least examine you," Yu Zao said.

Li Qi paused for a moment, looked at the classmates over there, and then at the Yu Zao in front of him.

Hmm, something's not right.

How did the story turn into him being a reclusive weirdo who was being cared for by a kind female classmate?

"Ahem, Li Qi, she was just being silly, and we really couldn't stop her. We're really sorry." Li Lieqi stepped forward at this moment. "However, it is indeed a bit strange that you suddenly took half a month off and then were immediately suspended from class when you came back. After we told Yu Zao about this, she became interested in you and observed you for three days. She felt that there was something fishy about you, so she suddenly came to bother you for dinner today."

"It was indeed a bit reckless, but he's just a child, and we're relieved to see you're alright."

Li Lieqi forward to explain.

Li Qi thought about it after hearing this.

Indeed, to others, I do seem a bit strange.

Not to mention, Li Qi himself knew that he had a pretty good reputation in the Imperial Academy, and there were many legends about him, such as getting an A grade on his first class and being personally taught by the Chancellor.

Therefore, when the notice of his suspension from classes was posted, quite a few people probably noticed it.

Although he doesn't usually pay much attention to such things, he still looks somewhat conspicuous at this moment. However, he usually doesn't care about these things at all, and now he is completely immersed in thinking about the boundary between spiritual and material entities, so he basically ignores the outside world, which is quite normal and makes people worry.

But...

Li Qi subconsciously began to have doubts.

Even if someone is worried about your expression, does that mean you have to come up and actually treat their illness? Isn't that a bit too eager? You don't even know this Yu Zao; you've only met her once.

However, just as Li Qi was pondering these things, Yu Zao had already been carried away by Li Lieqi. As they walked, Li Lieqi greeted Li Qi, saying sorry for disturbing him.

Even after all this, Li Qi felt a little embarrassed.

So he immediately said, "Wait, Yu Zao meant well. Checking won't hurt. Besides, those three over there, aren't they the Plague Lord?"

As he spoke the name of the Plague Lord, Li Qi looked at the 'three' male classmates not far away.

They have different appearances, different bodies, different cultivation levels, and even three different souls. No matter how you look at it, they are three different people.

However, in Li Qi's data stream view, these three people had almost identical minds and there was a subtle connection between them, just like three different computers connected together by a network cable.

In a sense, these three can form a 'fourth person'.

This characteristic, coupled with the name 'Plague Lord', made Li Qi think of something.

He was somewhat interested in making contact with this Plague Lord, so he might as well just agree.

Yu Zao, on the other hand, struggled happily at this moment. "See! I told you he definitely needed treatment. We're classmates, so we should definitely help each other!"

"Helping each other isn't like this, sigh... never mind, Li Qi has already agreed, so I'll just leave you be." Li Lieqi shook his head helplessly, swayed his ponytail, and put Yu Zao on the ground.

However, it was the Plague Lord who stepped forward at this moment. "You could tell? No wonder you are Li Qi. The Fierce Cavalry has told us many stories about your extraordinary abilities. Seeing you today, you are indeed amazing."

"Aside from a few teachers, you are the first to see through my true nature."

As the Plague Lord spoke, his three bodies suddenly merged together.

It's strange; three bodies merged perfectly, becoming a fourth person.

The strength of the soul, the toughness of the body, and even the cultivation level were all directly integrated and increased threefold!

He has completely become a different person!

Li Qi's pupils contracted.

Because he saw that even their minds had changed, and the original three spiritual entities had merged into one, which meant that... the three people in front died, and a brand new person was born from their corpses.

What's going on with this Plague Lord?!

He died just like that. Didn't he care about the continuation of his mental state?

In reflecting on "who I am," Li Qi once summarized a characteristic called "self-identity," which means that no matter what, a person must maintain causal and temporal continuity in order to say: one is always oneself.

But the Plague Lord in front of him didn't care about this at all. He had just committed suicide without hesitation and then created another being with his own memories.

To draw an analogy, he... voluntarily relinquished the identity of 'Plague Lord' to someone else.

Li Qi had heard a metaphor.

There is a type of teleportation machine that can transport a person to another location at extremely high speeds. However, the principle behind it is to duplicate a person at the destination and then destroy the original person, thereby achieving the purpose of teleportation.

That's what the Plague Lord is all about.

This relationship is even similar to that of Demonic Energy Clone!

Li Qi is now committing suicide, allowing his Demonic Energy Clone Li Qi take his place, just like what the Plague Lord just did.

Li Qi was dumbfounded; he had destroyed his own sense of identity and didn't care at all.

"Wait, Plague Lord, what's wrong with you? Do you know what just happened to you?" Li Qi walked up quickly and asked Plague Lord in astonishment.

"Huh? What's wrong?" The Plague Lord looked at himself. "Classmate, is there a problem?"

"You really don't feel anything?" Li Qi grabbed the Plague Lord's shoulder, looking very agitated.

He couldn't help but get excited.

The Plague Lord before us is another interpretation of 'who I am'!

It breaks free from Li Qi's mental constraints and disregards the solution of self-identity.

Li Qi had never thought about this before, because in his view, this was tantamount to directly denying his own existence and killing himself.

However, judging from the reaction of the Plague Lord, he did not think there was anything wrong with it. There must be Plague Lord own logic and opinion in this, which may be another way of solving the problem.

Li Qi knew very well that there was no right or wrong Dao Path. As long as you could keep going, it was all right. All people were pursuing was to keep going, to go further and further, until they reached the end, until they reached that supreme and unique Great Dao.

Therefore, being able to learn from others' ideas may also be a way to solve the problem.

"Feeling? What feeling?" The Plague Lord asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Ahem, sorry, I got a little excited just now. Let me explain in detail." Li Qi coughed twice, took two steps back, and first carefully examined the Plague Lord.

The Plague Lord... has no distinctive features.

Unlike his astonishing background, he himself was really hard to describe as special, so ordinary that Li Qi had previously treated him as a stranger.

Moreover, anyone from the Imperial Academy would stand out from the crowd, for those who are well-versed in Literary Qi. Everyone there is a genius and a scholar, so it is quite rare to find someone so unremarkable.

It's fair to say that it has so few distinctive features that it could be considered a distinctive feature.

However, through True Knowledge Dao Charm, Li Qi almost immediately discovered the reason why it lacked any distinctive features.

Because... this is a 'simulation'.

The Plague Lord's body is not composed of cells, but of countless tiny insects.

It can't be called an insect either, as it doesn't have the structure of an insect. In fact, it has an extremely microscopic structure, similar to a single-celled organism, but even smaller than a cell.

These countless things, similar to single-celled organisms, make up a multicellular body and constitute the microcosm of the human body.

An incredible structure, completely different from common sense, even a body from another form of cognition.

Therefore, his human form... must have been learned through transformation.

He must have put in a lot of effort to be able to build a non-frightening human figure out of these small things.

Li Qi was talking to the Plague Lord.

On the other side, Yu Zao seemed to have suddenly discovered something. She pulled Li Lieqi, "Hmm... it seems that I can solve this problem without you. Let's go, Sister Lieqi, let's go eat first and then come back to see them."

"Huh? Didn't you insist on dragging us here? And you even insisted on bringing the Plague Lord along, now?" Li Lieqi looked at Yu Zao with a puzzled expression.

"I just had a sudden urge~ Let's go eat, let the two of them chat by themselves." Yu Zao pushed Li Lieqi and left excitedly.

It was as absurd as when she arrived.

It's just like the ancient scholar who "rose with high spirits, only to return defeated."

Before going to bed in the middle of the night, I wanted to visit a friend, so I got up and left. I walked all night and arrived at my friend's door, but then I realized I wasn't in the mood anymore. So I turned around and went home without saying goodbye.

This is the saying, "Starting with high spirits, ending in defeat."

However, Li Lieqi always felt that it wasn't that simple.

But when she glanced at Li Qi and Plague Lord over there, the two were indeed having a pleasant conversation and had even found a place to sit down.

Do these two... get along very well?

Is this the reason why the Yu Zao insisted on dragging the Plague Lord over?

Li Lieqi thought about these things, then finally shook his head and decided to stop thinking about them.

There's no need for that. She's not good at these things. Maybe she's just overthinking it. Yu Zao is straightforward and innocent; she doesn't overthink things.

On the other hand, Li Qi and Plague Lord began to value each other more.

Because, the Plague Lord discovered that Li Qi could actually see his own vulnerable parts!

He could succinctly define the boundary between the individual and the collective of the plague-infested insects within his body, a boundary he had never been able to grasp, which resulted in a significant dissipation of his power.

Just now, this classmate named Li Qi revealed the truth in one sentence.

This is truly the Immortal Realm! This is truly Chang'an!

This place is truly full of hidden talents; any one of them could solve the problem that has been bothering me for so long!

Moreover, he seemed to want to get something out of himself.