Meeting Old Ma Again

After that, Li Qi chatted with Shen Shuibi about some everyday topics.

These are all private conversations between husband and wife, not to be Human Path.

After a short rest of two or three days, Li Qi finally recovered. After all, he had ample resources, and the Blood Qi essence had not been absorbed for too long, so the repair was not difficult.

There's also the issue of the fragility of cause and effect, which isn't something that can be resolved in a day or two. We'll take it slowly. Anyway, Li Qi can't continue using it, so it should be restored in a few hundred years.

During this period, the battle lines also leveled out.

Human Path is slowly shrinking, and Shaman Path slowly advancing, but after this bloody battle, neither side will have the strength for a decisive battle in the short term.

However, having more people does have its advantages.

Although the overall quality of the Shaman Path varies, there are so many of them that they can take turns.

Human Path have reduced the overall front line, meaning there are fewer areas to defend, and shift changes are barely possible. As long as there are two shifts, there will be time to rest.

But rather than calling it a 'rest,' it's more accurate to say it's a 'breathing out,' preventing us from being exhausted to death, though the mental pressure remains immense.

In comparison, the soldiers of the Shaman Path had a much more comfortable life. Their shifts were extremely long, and once they were stationed, it could take two or three years before it was their turn to be stationed again.

After all, the area behind the battle line is so large that it can't accommodate more people.

In short, the two sides are currently at a stalemate.

Li Qi also knew that the Human Path was shrinking like this meant they were waiting for an opportunity. They definitely had a backup plan, which might just be... Liu Junyi himself.

Once Liu Junyi breaks through to the fifth rank, according to Zhu Fengdan, he can single-handedly wipe out half of the combat power in Li Qi's war zone.

There might be some exaggeration involved, but what if there isn't?

Therefore, we need to speed things up as much as possible, but we can't speed things up right now, so let's continue to wear down the opponent.

The final assault will only begin when Human Path is worn down to its limit.

Having formulated the strategy, Li Qi began its practical implementation.

Shen Shuibi also left again.

Her injuries haven't healed yet; she needs to rest and recuperate.

First, there's the body. With a complete Yang Spirit, it's not difficult to reshape the body based on that. However, it will still take some time to nurture it back to its original strength and fully integrate it with the soul.

Her inner world was also riddled with holes, but thankfully it remained intact and didn't break; it just needed to be slowly nurtured.

Anyway, I didn't lose anything this time, which is much better than when I was on the run.

If he had the Imperial Flowing Sap from the Demon Race, he could probably recover completely with just a small bottle, but unfortunately Li Qi doesn't have that stuff.

Then we can only try to raise it slowly.

Shen Shuibi went to recuperate, while Li Qi resumed commanding the war.

This peace... doesn't seem quite peaceful, anyway, the war continues, and more than a billion people are still dying every day.

Yes, every day.

However, compared to the previous great battles when rank 5 soldiers fell en masse, this was indeed a relatively peaceful situation.

Two or three months passed like this—

At this moment, Li Qi, who was presiding over the formation and directing the army's deployment, suddenly received a strange message.

A realm lord reported directly to him that a Dragon Steed practicing demonic arts was requesting an audience. The steed called itself "Ma Ji" and claimed to be Li Qi's brother, and even produced proof.

This surprised Li Qi for a moment.

To be honest, he hadn't heard this name for over four hundred years, and even the memories associated with it were becoming somewhat hazy.

At the beginning of his cultivation, there was a Dragon Steed that often accompanied him and treated him like a brother.

However, since their Dao Path diverged, he sent the Dragon Steed to the outer realms for the other's sake, forcing him to attain immortality.

However, after being sent to a foreign land, Li Qi never saw Ma Ji again.

Now, more than four hundred years have passed.

For Li Qi, this is probably like... a man in his thirties, entering middle age, suddenly having a friend from kindergarten come knocking on his door.

This is really...

I miss it.

Four hundred years or so, thinking about it, that's probably the lifespan limit for Dragon Steed, right?

Without attaining immortality, even Dragon Steed can only live for a few hundred years, which is already a very long time.

Compared to the insect demons that live only a day, the Dragon Steed is already considered exceptionally gifted and blessed with extraordinary talent.

But it may not be the limit of lifespan. Perhaps Ma Ji attained immortality?

Thinking this through, Li Qi decisively ordered the other party to send Ma Ji to his command world.

A few days later, Ma Ji arrived.

An extremely old Dragon Steed, led by a proud seventh-rank official, passed through the Liesu and was rewarded here.

Upon seeing Li Qi, the seventh-rank official immediately bowed and respectfully said, "Commander, Ma Ji has arrived."

His eyes were filled with admiration and awe.

The seemingly ordinary man in front of you is the commander of this war zone.

The direct descendants of Wushen Mountain can command billions of worlds with a wave of their hand, and countless fifth-rank cultivators will die for them.

To be honest, even though he had attained immortality, lived for more than two thousand years, and witnessed countless imaginations and great achievements, the man in front of him was still the 'pinnacle of power' that he could understand.

His imagination was insufficient to support his idea of a greater being, even though he knew that Wushen Mountain always talked about things like witch gods and Great Shaman.

However, he couldn't even imagine or understand the state of the Witch God and the Great Shaman.

Just like the Outer God of Cthulhu, you can describe the Outer God of Cthulhu, but can you imagine what Cthulhu actually looks like?

You might be able to rattle off a bunch of words like 'infinite,' 'mental pollution,' and 'ancient god's body,' but can you really understand them? You're just saying them, but you can't possibly imagine what that scene would actually be like.

Therefore, for a seventh-rank official, Li Qi's current position is the highest position in the world that he can imagine and understand.

Therefore, he had no choice but to be respectful. Just by standing in front of Li Qi, this seventh-rank official immediately became respectful.

However, at this moment, he saw the Ma Ji he had brought with him.

Ma Ji had already cultivated into human form, appearing as an old man. At this moment, however, he seemed slightly lost in thought, his face showing no respect, only a complex expression.

This immediately angered the seventh-rank official who had brought him there.

A mere eighth-rank demon dares to be disrespectful to the Shaman before her?!

But before his anger could be vented, he saw Shaman suddenly stand up.

This is very rare. In his memory, Shaman was always immersed in the formation, surrounded by its aura, never leaving, and always under the guidance of the formation, commanding the wars of countless worlds.

But at this moment, he actually emerged from the center of the formation?

This made him take a closer look at Ma Ji.

At this moment, Li Qi said, "Step back, I want to talk to him alone."

Upon hearing this, the seventh-rank official suppressed his emotions, bowed again, and left through the nearby Liesu.

After watching the other person leave, Li Qi looked at Old Ma.

As a demon, he also learned illusion magic, which allowed him to transform himself into human form, but... he was old and frail.

What an old face it was.

Age spots covered his entire face, and his hair was no longer the snow-white of a sage, but a withered, grayish-white. His back was not hunched, after all, he was a cultivator, but his Qi and Blood had withered away, and he could hardly feel his heartbeat.

Most importantly, the death aura emanating from his body.

The dense aura of death even formed a kind of "old man's stench," and just by getting close, one could feel that he was being grabbed by death at any moment and dragged into hell.

Over four hundred years later, Old Ma has not been promoted to the seventh rank, and has already reached the end of his life.

When lifespan is exhausted and Qi and Blood is depleted, unless someone reverses time or forcibly infuses life force with something like Longevity Pill to extend life, there is no way to save them.

Life and death are the great principles of heaven and earth, and not only the great principles that exist naturally.

The natural order is easily modified and influenced. For example, travelers from other realms Upper Heaven adjust the speed Heavenly Way Limit, otherwise they simply cannot travel.

Influencing the outer world with one's inner world is a method that almost everyone possesses, differing only in skill level. The Shaman Path is an exceptionally high level, so high that others can only look up to it, but that doesn't mean others can't do it.

The cycle of life and death, besides being a natural occurrence, has also been rigorously forged by the combined efforts of several Dao Lineage.

Buddhism constructs the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Daoism creates the Ten Courts of Yama, the Shaman Path are responsible for the cycle of Houtu, the Ghost Sect is in charge of the operation of Hell, and the Spirit Way Heavenly Court.

Other Dao Lineage, except for the Human Path which explicitly states that it does not care about reincarnation and that it does not participate in the construction of reincarnation, and that death is death, all involve the matter of life and death and reincarnation to some extent.

Therefore, life and death are almost impossible to defy. Life extension is possible, but as long as one does not reach the seventh rank, there is always a limit to one's lifespan.

Even after reaching the seventh rank, one can still die due to things like dying in battle, but there is no lifespan limit.

So, at this moment, Old Ma...

His lifespan is nearing its end. Unless he breaks through to the seventh rank himself, there is no way to save him. Even if his lifespan is extended, he will only die a little later.

Judging from his appearance, he only has three to five months left to live.

Three to five months...

For someone like Li Qi, who is immortal, it really is just a matter of blinking an eye.

Li Qi opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But once he actually opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say.

Four hundred years ago, he sent Old Ma to the outer realms and instructed him to cultivate diligently, as staying by Li Qi's side would never allow him to advance to the seventh rank.

But four hundred years later, Old Ma still hasn't overcome that hurdle.

After all, he was just an ordinary Dragon Steed with a bad personality and mediocre talent, but he was lucky enough to meet Li Qi.

But Li Qi could only provide him with supplies and Cultivation Method; he couldn't help him with anything else.

On the Dao Path, you can only walk it yourself. Others can at most lend you a hand, but if you can't take the first step yourself, no one can save you.

Just like students in school.

Those from poorer families cook for themselves every day and study on the bus. They can't afford tutors, so they have to work twice as hard.

If your parents are wealthy, they can prepare a bright study room for you, buy a bunch of top-notch reference books, hire excellent teachers, and use the best stationery. You don't have to worry about the family's food and drink; you can just focus on studying.

But in either case, the prerequisite is that 'you've actually absorbed the knowledge.'

If you can't concentrate on your studies, no matter how capable your parents are, they can't do anything about it.

Of course, for those who follow the Dao Lineage, they can also directly brainwash you.

But what's the point?

After being brainwashed, it's uncertain whether you'll still be yourself.

If I can't grant you the Dao, but instead give you immortality, I might as well kill you.

The cultivators of the world have witnessed far too many people who, in pursuit of immortality, have severed their own Dao Path to cultivation and forcibly advanced in order to achieve immortality.

In the end, most of them chose to commit suicide.

The length of life is not the decisive factor.

Soil is not more radiant than gold because of its abundance, nor is life superior because of its length.

If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening.

If one cannot hear and follow the Way, what is the point of living as a thousand-year-old tortoise?

Therefore, Li Qi felt only sorrow and regret, but had no intention of helping Old Ma life.

It has been more than four hundred years and it is still like this; even extending lifespan is of no use.

Seeing Li Qi's hesitant expression, Old Ma gave a wry smile, dispelled the illusion on himself, and returned to his original form.

It was still that majestic Dragon Steed, surrounded by azure lightning.

But... he's gotten thinner, shorter, and hunched over. His once handsome mane has also fallen out, and there are streaks of gray hair mixed in.

He strode over to Li Qi's side and said with a wry smile, "Boss... I've embarrassed you."

Li Qi didn't know what to say, but he reached out and stroked the Old Ma's mane. "Nothing of the sort. Everyone has their own path. Will you stay here with me for the next few months? Or would you like to go somewhere else?"

"I'll stay here with you," Old Ma said, bending down and lying down to sleep.

"Okay, get some rest." Li Qi said, got up, returned to the formation, reconnected to the world group, and began to deal with those 'once-in-a-lifetime problems'.

To be honest, I'm already very familiar with it.

Two months passed quickly like this.

Two months later, Shen Shuibi was almost fully healed, except for some stubborn internal injuries and the fact that her newly grown body had not yet fully integrated.

This was thanks to a large amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. She refined the pills herself and consumed a large quantity, even developing pill poisoning.

However, everything is under control; at least what could be handled has been handled.

Then, she went straight to Li Qi.

But then they saw that Old Ma was resting there.

Upon seeing Shen Shuibi, Old Ma immediately stood up and went to greet her.

More than four hundred years ago, in Guangyang, Old Ma and Rabbit were munching on a basket of radishes together, and he certainly remembered the timid and reserved Rabbit from back then.

Only...

Now that her cultivation has recovered, Shen Shuibi was also taken aback when she saw Old Ma.

However, she immediately realized Old Ma's situation.

But she didn't say anything.

In fact, Shen Shuibi's understanding of life and death was much deeper than Li Qi's.

She didn't give Old Ma any special treatment, but chatted and laughed with him as always, and gave Old Ma some pills to keep him more energetic and prevent him from being so sleepy.

Not long after that, Old Ma died of old age, and Li Qi buried him on a hilltop in this dying world.

Li Qi remained silent as he looked at Old Ma's grave.

The Dao Path your own; only you can take that step. No one can help you.