Mutual Calculations

From Human Path perspective, they want to take another step on the path of 'Man replacing Heaven,' and the Sun and Moon Path is essential, which is the focus of their efforts.

For this reason, even the Human Emperor Sword personally intervened and shattered Mount Luofu.

However, at the last moment Sun Moon True Lead Cauldron unleashed a power beyond Human Path expectations, allowing Lady Luofu to escape with her people and reach the territory of Wushen Mountain.

After that, Human Path hesitated to act directly and seize the spoils, leading to a stalemate. After all, no Dao Lineage could allow Human Path to run rampant and even start a war.

Wushen Mountain didn't dare to swallow it directly, and internal wrangling began. But later, under Li Qi's actual operations and the final pressure from the radicals, Wushen Mountain chose to go to war.

From the perspective of Human Path, Wushen Mountain is trying to steal their fortuitous opportunity the Great Dao, and they need to pick up their bows and crossbows made of ox horns and Human Path to compete with humanity for that fortuitous opportunity.

In Wushen Mountain's view, Human Path is nothing but plundering everywhere, ultimately reaping the bitter fruits of its own actions.

But in any case, the start of war is a fait accompli; the only question is how it will be fought.

Therefore, Li Qi said to Liu Junyi, "If Human Path is willing to set betting rules and only compare high-end combat power, I think Wushen Mountain would be very willing."

Liu Junyi shook his head. "Although I can't bear to see this war, the situation within the Human Path is different. The Military School have long been sharpening their swords. They don't just want to win one battle, but to completely crush the arrogance of the Shaman Path. Although there are some criticisms within the Confucian community, and many people even think that caring about the ordinary world is too sentimental, I have no choice but to take action myself to preserve some embers."

"Womanly compassion... tsk." Li Qi couldn't help but click his tongue when he heard these four words of evaluation.

That really Human Path approach.

Human Path is not evil, it's just that... they don't care. They equally despise all unworthy civilizations. After all, a 'gentleman' like Liu Junyi, who is kind-hearted and unwilling to kill, is a minority.

However, even a 'gentleman' will not hesitate when it comes to taking action.

Hearing Li Qi's "tsk," Liu Junyi lowered his head, sighed slightly, and said, "However, I have already preserved the world maps of these worlds. After the war, I will personally come to sow the seeds. After a period of time, these worlds will be reborn, and their ecosystems will be exactly the same. Consider it compensation."

"Rebirth...? The world can be reborn, but the extraterrestrial life that perished as a result probably cannot be reborn," Li Qi said.

"Life is fleeting, and that is where my compassion lies. What I pity is not life itself. No matter how much I grieve for life, it cannot cover up the fact that life is meaningless. What makes a person a person is not simply living, but the light that shines while they are alive." As Liu Junyi spoke, he reached out and took the wine pot, refilling Li Qi's cup.

These words Qi Ingestion Li Qi.

As expected, it maintains the same Human Path approach as always.

For Liu Junyi, life itself was not important. What Liu Junyi lamented was civilization, the flames of the Dao that collided in the void. He was in great pain to personally extinguish these flames of the Dao that might grow in the future.

He never felt pain because of the lives he had taken. Life was not important to Liu Junyi. The only useful thing about life was that only life could generate the spark of the Dao.

If it's a waste to squander the preciousness of life, then it's better to just die.

Humans are destined to exist to climb to the top. Those who merely strive to survive in this world are better off giving up their lives.

Therefore, what he did was to preserve these seeds of the Dao, so that he could spread them out one by one in the future and restore everything to the state before the war.

As for preserving life in these worlds?

There's no need for that.

"Civilization may be beyond saving, but... there are always some brilliant individuals who are also destroyed along with it." Li Qi picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

Liu Junyi admitted. "Yes, I have done my best to protect these individuals who can be called 'humans'. In the past few hundred years, I have selected a portion of them and preserved them all when recording the world map. When I re-seed the world later, they will become new seeds. In this way, perhaps these civilizations can go further in the future."

Now it was Li Qi's turn to be speechless.

How should I put it?

It's hard to say, and I can't comment.

The two sides have fundamentally different understandings; if they are blaming each other, it only shows that there is a moral dispute.

However... this doesn't stop Li Qi from thinking that Liu Junyi is a good person.

So he stopped asking about these things and changed the subject, saying, "Let's not talk about these things anymore. By the way, I heard from my teacher that Brother Liu has overcome all the bottlenecks below the fourth rank at the ninth rank. How did you accomplish such a feat?"

This question can be considered as probing the other party's background.

However, Liu Junyi said quite frankly, "Nothing more than self-cultivation."

Nothing more than self-cultivation.

A simple and straightforward answer.

But the simpler something is, the more difficult it is to achieve.

"Brother Liu's foundation is... indestructible." Upon hearing this, Li Qi sighed and shook his head.

He figured it out.

Liu Junyi's foundation in Dao is his Dao heart.

If one takes the Dao heart as the foundation of the Dao, and the Dao heart does not collapse, then the foundation of the Dao will remain steadfast.

To be employed at dawn and to reflect on oneself at dusk, to rectify one's mind and be sincere, and to prioritize one's conduct and self-cultivation—it sounds simple, but who can actually do it?

One's adherence to righteousness, the rise and fall of the world, the thickness or thinness of customs, and the purity or depravity of people's hearts all depend on the body and the heart. To be like Liu Junyi, one must wholeheartedly implement one's own way and never go against Dao heart in any matter or circumstance.

He couldn't even have any doubts or inner struggles; he wholeheartedly believed in his own path, working hard when needed and facing death when necessary.

Everything was so natural and so logical.

To be honest, Li Qi himself couldn't do it.

Absolutely not going against one's conscience? Isn't that absurd? Just as Li Qi often lamented, people are always powerless to control their own destiny when they live in this world.

Crossroads are always changing, and there are always some paths you don't want to take.

However, Li Qi can choose to walk a path he doesn't want to take. Just like in the Sacred Flame Realm, he doesn't want to start a civil war, but in order to save money to help the rabbit, he can still choose to do it against his will after some hesitation. It's just that it's uncomfortable. If he does this often, or even gets used to it, Li Qi's Dao Path will change, and he may even fall into demonic possession. But that's a matter for later. It doesn't really matter if he wavers a little.

But for Liu Junyi, there wasn't even the option of 'wavering'.

For him, if he were to hesitate, his foundation of Dao would waver; if he went against his conscience, his foundation of Dao would collapse.

Correspondingly, as long as his Dao heart remains firm, his Dao foundation will never waver, and his cultivation speed will become faster and faster. As long as he has enough resources, he can quickly surpass the fifth rank and fly directly to the fourth rank.

Even among Human Path, those who can be called gentlemen are few and far between.

"If everyone were like me, there wouldn't be this battle today. War would be limited to duels between the strongest, not such a total war," Liu Junyi sighed, shaking his head.

A gentleman's duel? That certainly fits the character's persona.

After that, Li Qi stopped talking about cultivation, because he had already realized it after their conversation.

Liu Junyi has no weaknesses; he is a pure all-rounder, just like his Dao heart, which is so perfect that it is frightening.

If you want to beat him, you have to crush him with sheer strength.

So, Li Qi simply drank and ate, reminiscing with Liu Junyi about their school days in Chang'an.

Liu Junyi also talked with Li Qi about the past, and the two had a very pleasant conversation.

About half Chen later, the wine and dishes were finished.

Li Qi stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Then... Brother Liu, farewell. After this parting, I fear we may never meet again. From now on, we shall each follow our own paths, and let life and death be of no concern to us."

Liu Junyi also stood up and solemnly returned the greeting. "Take care, Li. If we meet again, we will be enemies, not friends, and I will not hold back."

"Even so, if one of us dies, could we perhaps collect each other's remains?" Li Qi said with a smile.

Liu Junyi replied earnestly, "If that's the case... I certainly won't be the one to collect your remains. However, I will write a eulogy to commemorate you."

These words sounded taboo and impolite, but Li Qi knew that this was already a very high honor.

"Thank you." Li Qi nodded slightly, then turned around and left the area encircled by the band of light, returning to the normal outer void controlled by the Shaman Path.

Liu Junyi watched Li Qi leave.

He's very strong. Even among those of the sixth rank, Li Qi is a formidable enemy. It's truly fortunate for Shenzhi to have such a friend.

It's not just about strength. In fact, only martial artists would judge a person based on pure strength. In Liu Junyi's view, Li Qi was not only very strong, but also had similar qualities to him.

Hmm... he's a good opponent.

How wonderful it would be if we could sit Discussing the Dao and discuss principles and reason with each other! We are all beings who have been freed from constraints, yet we are still forced to fight. This is also a kind of constraint.

Unfortunately, the conflict between humans and sorcerers was destined to end in war, turning all differences in their Dao Path into reasons for conflict.

Human Path's act of "acting on behalf of Heaven" must succeed.

The 'Ecliptic' must be in the hands of Human Path. Only in this way can all beings in the universe have the possibility of transcendence, and all civilizations and all life have the possibility of escaping that vicious restriction.

Life must break free from the shackles of birth and step into absolute freedom. This is something that the 'Great Source' cultivated through Shaman Path can never achieve. The Great Source is a product of compromise and can never truly end all struggles.

Complete overthrow is necessary; Man replacing Heaven must replace divine authority in order to achieve true freedom and victory.

It is precisely for this purpose that the Reason Way and Daoist sects choose to Human Path, as do some branches of martial arts, the Source of Buddhism of the Central Plains, some demons, and even some 'true dragons'.

This is for true freedom, for true transcendence.

After watching Li Qi leave, Liu Junyi's body slowly disappeared into the void.

Those who follow different paths cannot make plans together.

When they meet again, they are enemies, not friends.

Li Qi's golden body disintegrated, and all his consciousness returned to his original body.

It's a bit of a pity that we didn't get to see what the War Fortress looked like, nor did we get to find out Liu Junyi's weakness.

As for Liu Junyi's background, it was found, but finding it or not made no difference. This background was completely unusable, had no weaknesses, and could not be targeted.

Liu Junyi's weakness is also his strength; it cannot be overcome, it can only be forcibly suppressed.

His weakness and strength both lie in his Dao heart.

As long as Liu Junyi's Dao heart can be broken, his Dao Path will collapse instantly. But his Dao heart... Li Qi felt that even if the Demon Prince came, it was unlikely to have any impact on Liu Junyi.

What kind of experiences would it take to break Liu Junyi's Dao heart?

It's hard to say, but Li Qi certainly couldn't have imagined it.

Therefore, the only way to defeat Liu Junyi is through physical means, but we don't yet know the strength of the Human Path side.

To be honest, Li Qi has yet to encounter a truly Human Way army.

What he initially encountered in the Song Kingdom was merely a Human Path auxiliary army, a local contingent established by the Tang Kingdom in the Song Kingdom, not a real Tang Kingdom army.

This time, we should be able to see it for ourselves, right?

With that thought in mind, Li Qi manipulated the formation, and at the same time, his main body began to fly towards the front line.

In the context of the entire human-shaman battlefield, Li Qi's assigned area was the vanguard battle.

For Li Qi, the battlefield that Shen Shuibi is about to participate in is also a 'vanguard battle'.

For such an important battle, he was prepared to personally go to the front line to command, fight alongside the rabbits, and also witness firsthand the power of the Human Way army.

As for overall control, he can manage it in his mind, which won't affect his ability to go to the front lines.

If there is any problem, it is that he is easily Decapitation Strike, which could cause the World Cluster Formation he controls to collapse.

However, if they could actually Decapitation Strike someone, then they should still lose.

In this vanguard battle, Li Qi and Shen Shuibi were both involved, and the other side must have done the same. Although they did not commit all their strength, it was definitely a contest of high-level combat power.

If we can gain the upper hand and cause the opponent to lose some high-level combat power, then the following battles will be much easier.

However, risks and crises coexist. Our side may also suffer some losses, but in return, we can test the enemy's strength.

How much they actually discovered and how much they exposed themselves depends on the game of strategy played by both sides on the battlefield.

After making up his mind, Li Qi continued to control the advance of the world army while quickly passing through the Liesu and arriving at the two worlds that served as the vanguard.

This is a twin world that surrounds each other, called the Jiayang Three Realms and the Jiayin Three Realms, which is the vanguard battlefield specially chosen by Shen Shuibi.

These two worlds can help Shen Shuibi gain a geographical advantage.

Li Qi quickly arrived at the location and found Shen Shuibi.

The rabbit was sitting on the moon in this world, gazing at the distant band of light.

When you reach the band of light, the war will begin.