Human Ties

In the void, Shen Shuibi faced Li Qi's old friend, the Plague Lord.

The battle with this strange creature piqued Shen Shuibi's interest.

In retrospect, the life of the Plague Lord is truly a perfect embodiment of Human Path.

Because the Plague Lord's cultivation speed is very slow, his mind is too complicated. This is not like Li Qi's multi-threaded nature, but a super multiple personality, to an unbelievable degree.

Each of the millions upon millions of tiny insects is an independent Plague Lord. These Plague Lord may even fight and devour each other, which will seriously hinder the Plague Lord's path to enlightenment. Therefore, even though he may be tens of millions of years old now, he is still only at the seventh rank.

However, while his cultivation is slow, the Plague Lord's combat power is incredibly strong. Among the seventh-rank, the Plague Lord can be said to be 'invincible'. Fighting against the Plague Lord is like facing millions upon millions of seventh-rank individuals who have dropped in rank.

Each Plague Lord is unique, with independent thought and their own insights. They simply control too little of their cultivation level. Even if Plague Lord's cultivation level is hundreds or thousands of times higher than that of other beings of the same level, it cannot withstand being divided among so many people.

But this also means that to fight against the Plague Lord is to fight against countless brains with thousands of times more cultivation. It is almost impossible to win against an opponent of the same level, unless you are a super strong man like the Demon Prince, who can win against opponents with thousands of times more cultivation than yourself.

What shackles the Plague Lord is only his cultivation level and rank. While he is strong, his path is also difficult, which can be considered a kind of fairness.

But what does it matter from Human Path perspective?

Your cultivation level is not strong enough, and your rank is not high enough, so I'll just give you an official position.

Human Path will grant you cultivation and rank, allowing you to bear the power of the masses and use the 'official position' that Human Path has already forged to make up for the only shortcoming of the Plague Lord.

If it weren't for the fact that the seventh rank was too low to warrant a higher official position, Shen Shuibi would have no doubt about Human Path and might even have been willing to give him the third-rank official position.

After all, holding an official position requires one to be strong enough; official positions come at a price, and the short-lived emperor is the most typical example.

Therefore, Shen Shuibi is now facing a fifth-rank Plague Lord.

It's really... a bit difficult.

Shen Shuibi was already considered very powerful among the fifth-rank officials. At this moment, she was also controlling an array. With the power of the array, she should have been able to easily defeat a fifth-rank official who had been forcibly promoted. However, she now felt that she was at a disadvantage.

A fifth-rank official who has been promoted should be very weak, only able to suppress some native fifth-rank officials from outside the region. They would have a hard time winning against elite fifth-rank officials from outside the region.

But this doesn't apply to the Plague Lord.

Extremely rare, Shen Shuibi's computing power was actually suppressed by the other party!

Countless Plague Lord, each with their own agendas, exerted their computational power to the point of suppressing Shen Shuibi, making her feel constrained at every turn, as if all her actions were within the other party's expectations.

She made another Hand Seals, causing the sea of fire to boil again!

As Shen Shuibi wrote, she shouted, "I command the Boundless Mighty God of the Nine Heavens Fire Thunder Department, heed my command!"

She finished writing the divine talisman in her hand, then threw it into the void. The talisman suddenly burst into flames, the crimson book shone brightly, and wind and fire raged without ceasing. A phantom image of a deity appeared, responding to the command to receive the talisman.

And then, in the next moment.

The flames were no longer scattered, but were gathered together, transforming into a red city, the bottom of the Bagua constellation, spreading out in all directions, covering the Plague Lord, yet within, a fierce and powerful flame was seen, with different types of flames being generated simultaneously.

There were nine heavenly fires, thunder, lightning, Flying Fire, sudden fire, flowing fire, seven-star fire, thunderbolt fire, blazing fire, and fierce fire, as well as fire camels, fire elephants, fire horses, fire eagles, and countless fire beasts, all rushing towards the opponent!

Riding a fiery dragon with golden eyes and fierce lightning, holding a blazing fire god's light for ten thousand miles, eighty thousand fire calamities gathered into a palace, scattered to the ends of the earth, a giant fire a million feet long, flames filling the sky, suddenly ten million miles, in an instant three thousand times, in a flash, the world became barren, all things turned into Weichen!

Hundreds of billions of Plague Lord were incinerated, and a large number of Plague Lord personalities turned to ashes amidst their wailing.

Every minute and every second, Shen Shuibi was annihilating countless Plague Lords, but at the same time, more and more Plague Lord were being born.

These Plague Lord formed Technique Method, supernatural Divine Ability, and countless new Plague Lord.

It doesn't require any single Plague Lord to rack their brains; rather, it's countless Plague Lord their own choices, constantly pooling their wisdom.

Faced with such collective will, Shen Shuibi began to lose ground.

Initially, it was because a flaw was discovered in her Alchemy Fire.

It must have been discovered by some unforeseen Plague Lord.

But in the next instant, all the Plague Lord immediately shared this flaw, and the Alchemy Fire was directly pushed flat for 300 million miles!

This is one of the ways the Plague Lord fights.

Endless trial and error, risking one's life to try and fail.

A person with only one consciousness can only try and fail again and again. Perhaps the speed of trial and error is very fast, thousands or tens of thousands of times per second. With the brainpower of a fifth-grade person, it is not impossible to do millions of times per second. But this consumes a lot of creativity because there are not many things that people can think of.

But the Plague Lord are different; they're even faster.

Countless Plague Lord, each making different attempts every second, even if many of these attempts are similar, the sheer number of them makes their trial-and-error speed far, far faster than other fifth-rank lords.

In response, Shen Shuibi immediately made the corresponding adjustments.

Then, Plague Lord adjusted his actions, even faster than Shen Shuibi.

Sweat began to bead on the rabbit's forehead as she strained her brain to calculate and decipher the opponent's Technique Method, creating a more perfect and flawless Technique Method.

But the Plague Lord, countless Plague Lords, are all doing the same thing as Shen Shuibi.

This is true 'brainstorming', with countless ideas and directions. Every Plague Lord can mobilize resources to try different approaches.

Multiple personality disorder? No, no, no, it's called a brain cluster array!

Collective wisdom surpasses individual wisdom.

The Plague Lord, on the other hand, is a collective in itself; he is a single civilization!

Shen Shuibi then realized that she had overestimated herself.

She believed that with her own strength and the formation, no one among the fifth rank could stop her, and she could easily test the reserve strength of Human Path.

However, the appearance of the Plague Lord has kept her here!

Even with the help of the formation, she and the Plague Lord were at best evenly matched, or even at a disadvantage. The pace of the battle was dragged down to that of a normal fifth-rank battle, which meant it could very well last for a month.

Can it last for a month?

I'm afraid that in another half Chen at most, other fifth- Human Path cultivators will join the battle.

Oh no, what if we get bogged down and captured this time?

Shen Shuibi began to get impatient, and at the same time, she made more and more mistakes.

She won't be defeated anytime soon, but if Human Path aid arrives, the pressure on her will only increase.

Yes, the rabbit is very clever and learns to fight very quickly, but she has always had the personality of a researcher and has not experienced many life-or-death battles of equal strength.

To put it bluntly, she's a training ground champion, a simulator champion, very strong, with excellent awareness and incredibly fast hand speed, but she's never actually played a single ranked match.

Now in ranked matches, I've encountered a true Challenger rank player who can hold his own against me. Plus, this is a timed challenge, and if I don't defeat him before time runs out, his reinforcements will arrive...

Shen Shuibi's composure was starting to waver.

With their minds and Technique Method unstable, the battle lines crumbled once again.

Shen Shuibi took two deep breaths, and her whole body emitted a silvery light like the moon, which then flickered and finally disappeared.

Calm down... calm down, Yu'er. Although the opponent is strong, they are not overwhelmingly strong. The two sides are still evenly matched. Learn from Li Qi's approach. Li Qi is best at this kind of thing...

Yes, in Shen Shuibi's mind, Li Qi was the best at handling pressure, and that was indeed the case. Li Qi was already very used to touching high-voltage wires, and now he didn't feel anything when he saw a third-rank official.

Despite the tension of facing a ninth-rank official against a seventh-rank official, and vice versa, the ninth-rank official remained calm and made sound decisions, avoiding mistakes due to their own shortcomings.

This is also why Shen Shuibi initially looked at Li Qi with new respect.

Even when he was trembling with fear, Li Qi's movements remained perfectly still.

So... learn from him.

The rabbit forced itself to calm down and began to deal with the other party.

One Technique Method after another was cast, weaving a web of strategies, breaking the opponent's situation, and neutralizing any attempts by the enemy to control the situation. He constantly calculated his moves and predicted the enemy's attack points.

This is what it means to fight across thousands of miles.

But she still became anxious.

If this fight continues, it's normal for it to last for ten days or half a month, and for a while, no way to escape will be found.

But in a little while... the enemy's reinforcements will arrive, and then we'll be even more helpless.

What should I do? What should I do?

But, at this very moment—

The Plague Lord has suddenly stopped.

He stopped attacking and even made way for them.

Shen Shuibi was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

However, a voice came. "Greetings... Madam Li."

"Hmm?" Shen Shuibi immediately realized that this was someone calling her.

Is this title implying that he is Li Qi's friend?

"It really is Madam Li. Why are you here?" the Plague Lord actually struck up a conversation.

Shen Shuibi was at a loss for what to do, but since the other party had stopped, she could use this time to chat and think of a solution.

So she replied, "I will simply go to war with my husband."

"So that's how it is... Alas, after we parted that day, I knew I might have to face Brother Li again. I never imagined that day would come so soon." The Plague Lord sighed.

"However, it seems now... never mind, let's not talk about this. Please, Madam Li, leave as soon as possible," said the Plague Lord.

"You want me to leave? Why? Won't you be court-martialed for doing this?" Shen Shuibi asked in surprise.

"I promised Brother Li Qi that if we ever meet again, I will definitely retreat and not confront him directly. Since Madam Li and Brother Li are husband and wife, how can I possibly intervene? Please leave quickly, otherwise it will be difficult to leave once others arrive," said the Plague Lord. (See Chapter 424 for details.)

Upon hearing this, Shen Shuibi glanced at the other person.

Then, without hesitation, she turned and left, disappearing into the distance.

So the Plague Lord simply stood there and watched her leave.

About fifteen minutes after Shen Shuibi left, the Plague Lord was still standing there, not having left.

As the illusory image of Golden Platform appeared, Liu Junyi appeared there.

"Plague Lord, do you know your crime?" Liu Junyi's tone was gentle; he said "do you know your crime," but his tone sounded more like "Are you alright?"

However, Plague Lord knew that the other party would not show any mercy because of this.

"Plague Lord have committed a crime by allowing the enemy to escape." The Plague Lord cupped his hands, gathering the surrounding misty clouds and bringing all the 'Plague Lord' together.

"Sigh, if I punish you now, you'll be transferred out of this war zone. Is that what you're after?" Liu Junyi asked.

"General, you are wise. The Plague Lord has indeed made a vow and does not wish to be an enemy of Li Qi. Transferring me away is the best decision," the Plague Lord replied, while looking at Liu Junyi.

He knew this decision would not be easy to make.

Because... to be honest, if the Plague Lord stays here, then Li Qi's chances of winning will be zero.

Liu Junyi had long known of the existence of the Unreturning Disciples, and also knew where Li Qi's chance of survival lay. He knew that the other side would definitely target the base station of the Nexus of All Realms. Therefore, as a reserve force, the Plague Lord was responsible for guarding the base station of the Nexus of All Realms, and at the same time, he also assumed some of the responsibilities of the reserve forces.

Liu Junyi had already taken precautions against Li Qi's plan, but... Liu Junyi was unaware that he was facing Li Qi.

Yes, Liu Junyi didn't know at first that his enemy was Li Qi, so he chose the Plague Lord as his helper, after all, the Plague Lord was really strong.

Unexpectedly, this became a weakness on the battlefield. The Plague Lord would never attack Li Qi, after all... his foundation was built on Li Qi's research results.

So Liu Shenzhi sighed, "Well, so be it. Every action has its consequences. This is just paying back the price. But this war is too important. If you withdraw, it will be hard to explain to the Ministry of War."

"General, there's no need for instructions. Just let the Ministry of War decide," the Plague Lord said with a smile.

"...Alright, I will explain." Liu Junyi nodded. "Then let's go. Go back to the curtain first, and then you can go to Chang'an to receive your punishment."

"I am foolish and ignorant, inflexible, and have dragged the general down with me," the Plague Lord said, bowing.

"It's nothing, just bad luck. Who knew you'd run into Li Qi? Of all the war zone commanders in the Shaman Path, it just so happened that you ran into him. Such a coincidence. It's not your fault, but since it was a vanguard battle, your retreat... will indeed have a significant impact. The Ministry of War probably won't be too lenient. You need to be careful. Some guys in the Ministry of War... think you're not even worthy of being called a human being," Liu Junyi advised.

"I understand. My situation is indeed special and it's difficult for me to be fully recognized." The Plague Lord didn't seem to think there was anything special about it and simply nodded.

"However, after this incident, although the punishment will be severe, I estimate that many people will look at you with new respect, and more people will recognize your abilities. By the way, you will probably be transferred from the Human-Witch Battlefield to the True Dragon side. You don't have any acquaintances there, do you?"

The Plague Lord lowered his head in shame and did not answer.

"Forget it, these are all things of the future. Let's not talk about them anymore. Let's go." Liu Junyi waved his hand, ending the conversation.

Without saying a word, Plague Lord followed Liu Junyi and left the place.