Vanguard

In the darkness.

For a fleeting moment, Li Qi's confidence swelled to an unprecedented level.

He could feel that the formation had given him such great power that, as the center around which the world revolved, his every move was magnified.

Yes, Li Qi the word 'amplification'; his power, after passing through the formation, produced an illusory amplification.

However... he remained clear-headed and was not blinded by this powerful force.

Because he knew that he himself had not become stronger, nor could he completely master this formation. If he were to absorb all this power by himself, he estimated that he would explode immediately.

This formation is not meant for any one person to fight; not all formations are meant to be used as Law Treasure.

In reality, using a formation to enhance a person's combat power is a huge waste; unless there's no other choice, almost no one would do it.

The true purpose of these formations is to suppress the opponent.

Li Qi controlled the formation, and then suddenly pressed forward!

Countless worlds, a world cluster stretching for tens of thousands of light-years, suddenly surged forward, rushing toward the light band of Human Path.

Immediately, the Heavenly Dao of these worlds began to reverberate!

The Heavenly Dao of one world after another began to unleash its power, and one world after another fell into its 'rightful place'. Then, it could be seen that the speed at which the band of light spread slowed down significantly.

From a distance... although this distance is really quite far, probably tens of thousands of light-years away, through the mysterious action at a distance, we can see extremely minute changes over there.

It was indeed extremely small. Assuming the light band near the Heart Mansion was tens of kilometers long, Li Qi could only have moved it by a centimeter at most.

However... in reality, that light band is millions of light-years long, making this 'one centimeter' all the more terrifying.

But Li Qi remained unmoved; he simply pushed the great formation forward quietly.

Because it doesn't matter how much was moved.

Importantly, it was the light that caused it.

Even the slightest movement would Human Path to relocate their War Fortress, affecting their construction process.

This world-class formation is aimed at a Human Path War Fortress, the 'Spindle Tree'.

Faced with such oppression, Human Path cannot stand idly by; otherwise, they would be unable to build their own War Fortress.

And so, the light moved.

Li Qi could see that countless Human Path cultivators had emerged from within the War Fortress.

Flying cultivators, numerous World-Class Giant Ships, and single-person flying boats emerged from it, like vast, swirling clouds. Among these clouds were flocks of birds, which moved slowly forward, obscuring and softening the starlight.

Because spacetime is distorted, they are preventing Li Qi from continuing to observe what's behind him.

Li Qi unconsciously craned his neck to observe the sky.

The powerful figure on the other side has made a move.

In just a moment, the front line of the formation, the world that Li Qi had deliberately chosen, where all life had already evacuated, was met with the first wave of impact.

Li Qi couldn't even see who made the move; all he could see was that an area spanning thousands of light-years had turned red.

The crimson void was filled with falling stars, like an endless rain.

Every now and then, you can see a faint flash of light, as if the world were ending.

All the falling stars were heading towards each other. Staring at the point of disappearance, Li Qi began to feel another force.

At the same time, the 'alliance' that could be felt throughout the entire universe provided Li Qi with another piece of information in that instant.

A fourth-rank Shaman has arrived on the battlefield to help Li Qi withstand this wave of attacks, allowing Li Qi to continue disrupting the construction of the War Fortress.

Therefore, Li Qi stopped worrying and continued to control the formation to move forward.

The red light continued to flash, but immediately another white light descended.

The two colors disappeared simultaneously. Li Qi didn't know where they went, but he knew that he was no longer being interfered with and his formation could continue to move forward.

At the same time—the band of light suddenly broke!

The light bands that originally divided the universe in two seem to have been forcibly interrupted by some powerful being, forcing each light band to fight its own battles and losing the coordination that was part of a whole.

It seems that, in addition to the local battlefield on Li Qi's side, a higher-level battle has also begun, and some results have even been achieved.

However, although the light belt collapsed and split into thousands of segments, with each position having its own segment, seemingly weakening the force, Li Qi did not choose to continue advancing.

Continuing to push forward would cause too much damage to the world; now... it's time for a standoff.

The World Cluster Formation halted its advance and began to confront the fleets that surged in like clouds.

Li Qi certainly couldn't face them directly, because the enemy's fleet, centered around world-class warships and flanked by numerous single-person flying boats, included many fifth-rank officials.

If he were to collide head-on, he would be the first to be shattered. The formation could not protect him, since most of the formation's power was used to offset and counteract the effects of the opponent's War Fortress.

However... in war, formations are only an aid; the final battle still comes down to the people themselves.

Once the formation is solidified, the enemy fleet will likely arrive in about half a month, and our own army will arrive around the same time.

These were all calculated long ago; this is the earliest place that a large number of cultivators can reach.

Li Qi maintained the formation and began a standoff with the War Fortress.

He has the advantage of location.

That beam of light was incredibly powerful, capable of slicing through the entire universe. However, it had been interrupted, and now he was only facing this small section.

The remaining light bands were no match for Li Qi's World Group Array.

When the battle begins, Li Qi's army will have a significant advantage.

Li Qi continued to deploy his troops, which were the armies accumulated over the years by these world groups, and were troops from various worlds.

These will serve as flank support.

As for the regular army of the Shaman Path, they will arrive after some time.

However... Li Qi had some doubts about this. Did the Shaman Path really have a regular army? It seemed that the Shaman Path didn't have an army at all...

However, the higher-ups must have made preparations, and Li Qi doesn't need to worry about those things. He just needs to wait for orders from above and then carry them out.

While waiting for the army to arrive, Li Qi controlled the formation while contacting leaders from various worlds.

The various worlds temporarily ruled by Li Qi will face the Human Way army head-on, and frankly, none of these worlds are afraid.

However, despite their fear, no one chose to retreat, because they all saw the fate of those worlds after the arrival of Human Path not far away.

They were ruthlessly torn apart and turned into raw materials for war.

If they fail, this will be the same outcome.

Human Path showed them no mercy; their only chance of survival was to side with Li Qi. Moreover, Li Qi had said that the Shaman would also have regular troops coming; they were merely there to provide support and deal with Human Path's ragtag army.

With a massive army mobilized on a global scale, there were many things to be responsible for. Li Qi used Shaman abilities to mediate and communicate between the various leaders, maintaining the overall combat effectiveness of the army.

Maintaining the formation and the army, Li Qi began continuous command work, which he was quite adept at.

Back when he was at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an, his elective course was 'Military Strategy'.

"Fu Cao Yi Realm, you shall proceed to the designated Jia Chen location, traveling from the northeast to the southeast for three days and fifty-three quarters."

"Clear."

"Envoy, our ship can't keep up and may not be able to reach the designated location." At this moment, a message came from a world called Bailing Wan Realm.

"The nearest supply convoy will arrive in seven Chen," Li Qi replied, while simultaneously dispatching another fleet to change course and fill the gap.

Reports poured into Li Qi at a rate of tens of thousands per second, from various places. While the quantity might seem large, all of these matters were indeed 'extremely important' and required Li Qi's personal attention.

Not all reports, but reports that are 'extremely important'.

Ordinary worlds will be solved by higher-level worlds, and higher-level worlds will be solved by fifth-grade worlds. Only when even fifth-grade worlds cannot solve the problem will it be handed over to Li Qi.

Because trillions of people participated in the war, and countless worlds were involved, even if each world only reported a "once-in-a-lifetime difficulty"—the kind of unfortunate coincidence that a normal person would only experience once in their lifetime and that they couldn't solve—the sheer number of participants would still be terrifying.

What Li Qi had to deal with were these countless problems that no one else could solve.

However, even if a fifth-grade world cannot solve a problem, Li Qi can, because he can allocate resources from other worlds. He has ample reserves, and even if he cannot solve the problem in the end, he can simply stop that world and let other worlds take its place.

Of course, there are also things that Li Qi cannot handle. For example, Li Qi couldn't deal with the fourth-rank opponent's attack before. In such cases, he just needs to report it.

After the report is submitted, the fourth-rank Shaman will take action.

Of course, if the higher-ups can't spare the resources... then it means they've already lost ground, and the entire war zone could be wiped out.

Anyway, soldiers fight soldiers, generals fight generals, and kings fight kings; cultivators at each level have their own tasks to complete.

I don't seek perfection, I only hope that everything proceeds smoothly.

He continuously receives and solves difficult problems, while simultaneously implementing a reward and punishment system, providing corresponding feedback based on errors and successes. With the help of the array's power, Li Qi, as the central figure, begins to regulate all things.

This is the duty of those Shaman, and the source of Shaman strength.

Within the formation, countless complex forces and trillions of troops each coalesced into a single group, which then formed an even larger collective. Ultimately, the Shaman regulated and maintained the 'balance' in the center.

Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Spirits, Ghosts —all are in their positions and perform their duties.

Li Qi had long since learned to regulate such complex Qi. Back when he was a ninth-rank official, he presided over a grand ceremony in Guangyang and managed to regulate the entire prefecture smoothly.

Now, the complexity has only increased by hundreds of millions of times, but Li Qi is still many times stronger than before.

With True Knowledge Dao Charm's help, he handled these matters methodically, guiding the army to its proper place.

This burden lasted for seven days.

Seven days later, nearly half of the army had landed on the ground, began to solidify their lines, and waited for the Human Path offensive.

Shen Shuibi is also among them. She will face the battle directly, unlike Li Qi who will command from behind.

At this time, Li Qi also received orders from his superiors.

A part of his consciousness was suddenly summoned by the massive 'Alliance' to meet his direct superior.

As the highest-ranking commander of a grassroots war zone, and a 'staff officer,' Li Qi naturally had his own superior, and that superior was his mentor, Zhu Fengdan.

Li Qi was in charge of a basic war zone, while Zhu Fengdan was in charge of... a large war zone. The difference was like the difference between Li Qi and the world he now controlled.

Li Qi controls a group of worlds, some of which will clash with each other's worlds. At this time, the world lords will command the battles, and the two sides will begin a world war.

For those realm lords, they also need to control the strategies and tactics of the entire world in order to defeat the opponent. If they encounter a problem that they cannot solve, they will report it to a higher-level world. If it still cannot be solved, they will continue to go up, all the way to Li Qi.

If Li Qi can't solve it either, then it will be moved up.

However, sometimes Li Qi would also issue orders to his subordinates, requiring them to accomplish a certain strategic goal.

Now, the order has been issued to Li Qi.

"Teacher." A portion of Li Qi's consciousness was extracted, allowing him to communicate directly with Zhu Fengdan.

This was only a part of his consciousness; he was still dealing with those matters and couldn't stop for a moment. He was just distracted by receiving orders, and he believed Zhu Fengdan was the same.

Zhu Fengdan had far more information to process than Li Qi.

"In wartime, there are no master-disciple relationships; titles and ranks will suffice," Zhu Fengdan's consciousness spoke from the other side.

"Yes, Junior Scribe, what are your orders?" Li Qi asked.

Junior Scribe is Zhu Fengdan's current position, which is responsible for military affairs.

The Shaman Path also has officials, but they are not used in normal times. This is because the concept of officials was originally proposed when the Shaman Path set up its 'positions'. However, although the Shaman Path had officials to differentiate responsibilities, it did not continue to develop into official positions.

"Your side was the first to make contact in all the war zones; you were the vanguard. Can you predict who will be the first to engage the enemy on your side?" Zhu Fengdan asked.

"It's Shen Shuibi," Li Qi said.

This should just be a coincidence, because Li Qi believed that Zhu Fengdan's mental energy would not be wasted on the 'Heaven's Will' at this moment. She needed to calculate more things, and it didn't really matter who was the vanguard.

"That's quite a coincidence. We must win the first battle, but neither side will commit too much strength. The outcome will be decided by yourselves. This is the 'first move', understand?" Zhu Fengdan said.

"Understood." Li Qi nodded.

He did understand, because... many things have symbolic meaning.

In the conflict between humans and witches, symbolic meanings are sometimes not so simple.

Monthly Pass