Liu Junyi

Symbolic meaning often has a substantial impact.

Especially in the case of Shaman, whose Technique Method is based on a vast amount of 'symbols', the rituals are filled with various objects, each labeled 'to represent so-and-so'.

For example, "Set up 365 flags and sails to represent the number of days in the celestial sphere."

Or, to put it another way. "Set up a five-colored altar to symbolize the welcoming of the five directions and to unite the five deities."

Ritual such as Nuo Ritual, in which people wear masks and pretend to be ghosts being driven away, can truly ward off ghosts and diseases.

Therefore, in the eyes of Shaman, the symbolic meaning is not so simple.

Therefore, as the 'first battle of the vanguard,' it is indeed not simple. Above, on the side of the witch gods, they may even be waiting for this victory as the beginning of a huge ritual.

If we fail, the losses will be far more than just what we see on the battlefield.

Li Qi was solemn and immediately felt the responsibility on his shoulders. What a coincidence... his luck was a bit bad.

However, within the coincidences lies an inevitability.

Because Li Qi valued this war far more than others, he made preparations hundreds of years in advance and expelled the Human Dao envoy early on.

According to Li Qi's own knowledge, in many places, the Shaman Path and the Human Dao envoy fought fiercely against each other, some even for hundreds of years, and even after the two sides started their own wars, no victor had been decided.

After all, everyone is a formal member of the Dao Lineage, so the difference between them wouldn't be that great.

Only a few people are like Li Qi, who defeated his opponent extremely quickly and spent the rest of the time preparing.

Among these people, Li Qi was the most well-prepared. Since it concerned Shen Shuibi's safety, Li Qi naturally devoted all his energy to preparing for this matter.

The end result was that the world cluster he was in charge of was the first to arrive at the battlefield, had the greatest advantage, and the best terrain in the local war zone.

Therefore, the vanguard battle naturally fell on his shoulders, and the final result was that Shen Shuibi would join this vanguard battle.

Every coincidence contains an element of inevitability; however, Li Qi now believes it is truly just a coincidence.

Because he knew very well that even the God of War couldn't orchestrate these 'coincidences' in this great battle, so... he could only admit defeat.

So Li Qi immediately got straight to the point and said to Zhu Fengdan, "Si Rong, if that's the case, then the first battle probably won't be limited to my level, right? I should only be responsible for the local battlefield at my level. It concerns the vanguard battle, how many people above will be paying attention?"

"No, it's only at your level. There's no need to continue investing and turn it into a piecemeal tactic. That would no longer be a 'vanguard battle' but a 'full-scale war.' Therefore, we will provide some intelligence assistance, but we will not invest more high-level cultivators," Zhu Fengdan said.

Li Qi understood.

So, this was a ritualistic struggle from the very beginning.

What is ritualistic struggle? It means that although it is a fierce battle in which people die, it is actually governed by rules, and everything must meet the rule of 'vanguard battle'.

In this battle, the human and the witch are actually engaged in a 'bet' similar to that of underground boxing. In underground boxing, any means are acceptable, but it is always a one-on-one fight between two people, and no one else will be added.

The same applies to this localized war.

If Human Path wins, it can destroy the 'vanguard spirit' of Shaman Path and prevent Shaman Path from using this to launch a large-scale sacrificial ceremony.

Shaman Path wins, it can leverage the momentum of its vanguard to further expand its advantage.

If this battle were a game of chess...

So, Li Qi's war was like the rock-paper-scissors game before the main chess match, a little game to determine who goes first.

However, this little game determines who goes first, so it definitely affects the final outcome to some extent.

After all, in any game of chess, having the first move always gives you a significant advantage.

Li Qi immediately felt immense pressure.

Without support, for 'symbolic significance', this was a lone battle.

The good thing is that Human Path will not send support, so it is generally fair to both sides. After all, if Human Path were to send support, it would break the symbolic meaning and eventually escalate the conflict between the two sides, which would not only be of no benefit but also, frankly, meaningless.

Even if we were to increase investment to overturn the table, it would be when the outcome is about to be clear. Rather than letting Shaman Path gain the upper hand, it would be better for no one to have any.

"In other words, this is a vanguard battle limited to the fifth rank, and... I am fully responsible for it. We must win; there is no need to consider anything else," Li Qi summarized.

"Yes, if we win, many fewer people will die," Zhu Fengdan said. "This war can be said to have been brought about by you and me. Fewer deaths will lighten the burden on both of us."

"Understood, I will see you off, Commander." Li Qi bowed.

"Be careful, the other person is someone you know," Zhu Fengdan said.

"An acquaintance?" Li Qi asked in surprise. Human Path if there was anyone among his acquaintances who could fight him. Yan Ke and the others were only seventh-rank, and Liu Shenzhi should be around the same rank as well.

Could it be the Plague Lord?

The Plague Lord's cultivation should be very slow; it's unlikely that he could break through to the sixth rank in a few hundred years.

Who else could it be?

However, Zhu Fengdan didn't keep anyone in suspense at all, instead using a riddle-like approach and saying things like "you'll find out later."

He stated the name simply: "Liu Junyi".

"Liu Junyi? He was only an eighth-rank official back then, and now he's a sixth-rank official?" Li Qi's eyes widened. What kind of speed is this?

I risked my life and almost ruined my future. Now I'm burdened with debts that I might have to repay as a third-rank official. That's how I reached the sixth rank. What makes Liu Junyi think he can?

"What? You think you're the only one who can be fast? Let me tell you, you'll never be able to match him in terms of cultivation speed. Liu Junyi is now on par with the Little Heavenly Master and the Demon Prince. His cultivation speed will only get faster and faster. The time it takes him to break through to the fifth rank might even be shorter than the time it takes to break through to the sixth rank," Zhu Fengdan said.

Zhu Fengdan's words left Li Qi completely bewildered.

What the heck? What is this thing? It's getting faster and faster?

"What, you look down on others who are upright gentlemen? The lower the level of this cultivation path, the slower the cultivation and the more emphasis it places on the foundation. You don't think it's easy to reach the standard of a 'gentleman,' do you? However, once the self-cultivation is completed, the cultivation level will advance by leaps and bounds, and there will be no obstacles in advancing straight to the fourth rank, because when he was at the eighth rank, he had already broken through all the bottlenecks below the fourth rank." Zhu Fengdan explained casually.

This left Li Qi dumbfounded.

Eighth rank, having overcome the bottlenecks below fourth rank?

What kind of monsters are all the geniuses in the world!

However, when Li Qi was feeling sentimental, he forgot that in the eyes of 99% of people, he was also an absolute monster.

That's just how the world is.

No matter how strong you are, there will always be someone stronger than you. In the almost 'infinite' void beyond the realm, nothing is unheard of. In this infinite realm, monsters and prodigies will only emerge one after another.

It is likely that only those who reach the third rank or above are qualified to claim that they are 'unique'.

Zhu Fengdan clapped her hands. "So, hurry up and fight. Be careful that if it drags on for ten years or so, others will be at the fifth rank. At that time... no one under your command, except for that rabbit, can defeat him. He alone can hold back half of your army. You will definitely lose then. Alright, enough of this chat. Get lost."

After saying that, Li Qi's separated consciousness returned to his body.

Okay.

Known intelligence—

We must finish this quickly. If it drags on, the BOSS will enter the second phase, at which point it will be virtually impossible to win.

However... since he is an old friend, why not go and pay him a visit?

Liu Junyi is a gentleman and doesn't play too many tricks. Going to talk to the other party is also a way of saying goodbye?

After all, after this battle, it's likely that we won't be able to have proper conversations for the rest of our lives.

Moreover, talking to each other can help you understand the other party's situation and make corresponding strategies.

Li Qi felt that visiting the other party to learn about their background would give him an advantage, because no matter what, even if the two sides exchanged information, Li Qi was confident that he could change his approach at any time, but Liu Junyi probably couldn't do that.

Even after his consciousness returned to its original form, Li Qi continued to deal with those "problems that one would only encounter once in a lifetime".

He's like an ICU doctor.

Most ICU patients only enter the ICU once in their lifetime, and that one time is unforgettable enough. Entering means facing a life-or-death situation and preparing for the worst, just waiting for the doctors to use their skills to see if they can be saved.

That's true for patients, but for doctors, they can see many such patients every day, and they have to deal with each one.

However, he still managed to take some time to condense a golden body.

Now that he has witnessed and understood how the divine way works, his golden body has become even more powerful. This is what Li Qi is best at: gathering information and then making use of it.

Anything that Li Qi has seen will have the effect of being "usable for the next time". He is good at finding useful things in the smallest things.

He is now preparing to use this trait of his to exchange information with Liu Junyi.

Even if the exchanged intelligence is of equal value, Li Qi believes he can apply it better and make it more effective.

As the golden body solidified, Li Qi's consciousness split into two parts.

In fact, he could directly separate the consciousness of the golden body and make it into an avatar, so that he wouldn't need to multitask.

However, Li Qi is now allergic to the ability to create clones, so it's unlikely he'll ever be able to use the Movement Method again.

The golden body detached from the body, descended into the distance, and then quickly departed.

At this moment, the Liesu are already at full power, so all that is needed is to find an opening in one of the Liesu to quickly reach the Human Path War Fortress 'Gan Song State', without having to use one's brain to pay the fare as before.

Unfortunately, the large army could not pass through the Liesu, as it was simply too large.

Even the world is measured in hundreds of millions, let alone people. With so many people, even if the overall burden on the Liesu is negligible, the queues alone would kill people. By the time they get to the front of the line, it will be too late.

This situation is similar to relocating a server; you can either transmit it via fiber optic cable or transport the entire server group directly by truck.

In reality, trucks are much faster than fiber optic cables.

Even if these separated Liesu interfaces can transfer dozens of worlds at once, it is still far from enough. It would be faster to let the worlds run on their own.

The same applies to Golden Platform, which is Human Path, so there's not too much to worry about in terms of troop transport speed. However... we need to be careful of highly skilled elite assault teams that might use Golden Platform's resources to launch surprise attacks in various locations.

But those are things for later, let's talk about them later.

After traveling for several Chen, Li Qi quickly arrived at the nearest entrance to Liesu.

Then, accompanied by a sound, the golden body quickly arrived in front of the band of light.

Once you cross here, you will reach the realm of Human Path.

Without any hesitation, Li Qi stepped directly through the band of light.

The moment he crossed over, his golden body crumbled for a split second. Li Qi immediately made adjustments, using Technique Method to suppress the surrounding laws and stabilize his golden body once again.

"...The rules have all changed, the combination of Qi has collapsed, and it is impossible to form a world." Li Qi muttered to himself.

Matter is formed by the aggregation of gas, but here, the aggregation rate of gas is slower, so the formation rate of matter is also slower, making it more difficult to form matter.

As a result, the density of matter will decrease, all material structures will eventually disintegrate and fall apart, and the splitting temperature will also decrease.

Those countless worlds disintegrated for this reason, scattering matter, which eventually coalesced under the influence of gravity, becoming suns, which Human Path can then easily collect and utilize.

That's right, it's just for 'convenience'.

Now, Li Qi passed through the band of light, and the energy that formed his golden body dissipated as a result. However, he used Technique Method to forcibly anchor his golden body so that it would not dissipate too quickly.

However, after arriving here, Li Qi did not first explore the Human Path War Fortress, but instead stood still in place.

Because...

Liu Junyi landed here amidst a burst of light emanating from the Golden Platform.

Sometime later, Liu Junyi seemed to have anticipated Li Qi's arrival, so the moment Li Qi arrived, he also came here via the Golden Platform to face Li Qi.

He remained as gentle and kind as ever, his expression calm with a smile. He cupped his hands and said softly, "Student Li, it's been a long time since we last met."

"... Brother Liu knew I was coming?" Li Qi asked.

"It's not hard to guess that, given Li's personality, he probably wouldn't refuse to come after learning that I'm in charge of this war zone. So I've kept a few eyes on him, so I can come and greet him directly when you arrive," Liu Junyi said politely.

"Hmm... Brother Liu couldn't refuse to see me, but he was also afraid that if I went to visit him, he would read the War Fortress thoroughly, so he chose to meet me here?" Li Qi asked in return.

"This is better for everyone. It avoids disrespecting Li and me, and it also prevents the exposure of state affairs, doesn't it?" Liu Junyi replied with a smile.