Wrangling

Li Qi didn't care about any of that.

Even the fifth-rank realm lords, who were the actual leaders, wailed and raged, constantly saying that they couldn't hold on any longer, that the world couldn't hold on any longer, and requesting a retreat.

Some of them were threats, demanding that Li Qi make them retreat.

Some were notifications, clearly stating that they were just informing Li Qi that they could no longer persist.

Some pleaded and begged Li Qi to give them a chance to catch their breath.

Others were crying and complaining. Although they did not explicitly say they were retreating, they were always showing Li Qi their losses. Some of the fifth-rank worlds had even suffered more than half of their casualties.

Some have even suggested restarting the Blood Sacrifice.

But Li Qi ignored all of this.

Normally, Li Qi is a kind-hearted person. In the eyes of all the fifth-rank officials, he is a reasonable and easy-going person. He can initiate Blood Sacrifice and retreat just like that. As long as you cry and plead, Li Qi will agree.

But things are different now. This isn't the usual situation.

This time, I won't be playing the nice guy anymore.

Li Qi coldly replied, "Those who retreat without permission or disobey orders shall be executed."

In critical moments, even if everyone dies, we cannot retreat.

If they withdraw from the battlefield without authorization, Li Qi will teach them what military orders are.

He has already given orders to the Executioner Squad: no one is allowed to retreat. They can be rotated to different combat zones to take turns bearing the pressure, but they must hold on.

Li Qi delegated the authority to make the switch to the Executioner Squad and Shen Shuibi for discussion, while he himself would no longer accept any messages from the Alliance and the Formation.

He would no longer concern himself with these matters. The task of those outside was to hold the line, and his task was to step on their sacrifices and rush to Gansong.

As for Blood Sacrifice? Don't even think about it.

Li Qi is currently on the front lines. If he were to activate the Blood Sacrifice, he would have to bear the intense pressure it brings, greatly reducing his combat effectiveness.

Therefore, the tasks are clear, and everyone involved should be prepared.

He's already a fifth-rank official, and he's still doing this kind of thing. He deserves to die.

Li Qi continued forward, completely focused.

This advance took thirteen Chen.

After thirteen Chen, even on the outskirts of the War Fortress, the intensity of the battle had decreased.

It wasn't that they were unwilling to fight desperately, but both the humans and the witches were exhausted. The battle continued, but it was no longer the kind of frantic unleashing of powerful attacks that had started earlier.

Li Qi was delighted to see this; the lower the intensity of the battle, the more time he had.

Although the intensity of the battle has decreased, it is actually a result of increased casualties. With more people dying, the intensity naturally decreases.

In those thirteen Chen, the number of worlds that fell was almost countless.

Human Path damage is also very severe. Based on the damage caused by Shaman Path, and calculated at a war casualty ratio of 1:10,000, Human Path has already lost tens of millions of people.

Even if we include people from other worlds, not all of them are from the Tang Kingdom, the loss of millions of people is still far too heavy, at least for this war zone, it has reached an unbearable level.

And all of this is still going on.

But there is one benefit from Human Path perspective.

Their fighting spirit is far stronger than that of the world of Shaman Path, much stronger indeed.

Therefore, as the war damage continued to increase, many worlds in the Shaman Path began to fear war, be afraid of war, and avoid war.

It is believed that as the battle continues, Li Qi's orders will gradually become ineffective, and these fifth-rank realm lords will eventually reach a consensus and choose to retreat.

At that point, the law will not punish everyone, and Li Qi will be powerless to do anything about them, since Li Qi still needs them to risk their lives.

These worlds, willing to follow the Shaman Path, each have their own purposes.

Most people have two purposes: one is to find a way to survive, and the other is to seek promotion.

Those seeking a way to survive are those who, under the oppression of Human Path, either turn to Shaman Path or are killed directly by Human Path. They have no choice; Human Path truly doesn't take them seriously.

Those seeking advancement are thinking... if they follow the Shaman Path and defeat the Human Path, even if they can only eat the leftover scraps or the last drops of soup, their world and civilization will benefit immensely.

Others possess both traits: they fear the force of Human Path yet covet Human Path remnants, thus they flock to the Shaman Path, hoping this elder brother can lead them to victory.

There were also other thoughts, such as hatred, or simply wanting to follow the Shaman Path, but these were relatively few.

If Li Qi cannot fulfill their goals, then naturally they will not be willing to risk their lives to accompany the Shaman Path.

In reality, the number of true followers of the Shaman Path is very small; true 'shamans' are even rarer than 'humans' in the Human Path.

Just look at the students of the Imperial Academy and the young master of Wushen Mountain, and you'll know that the Shaman Path is truly passed down by chance, without large-scale training; it's all the most traditional master-disciple transmission.

Therefore, the tension in Li Qi's heart was getting tighter and tighter.

He accurately estimated the limits of these worlds' endurance.

At most, the Executioner Squad will be unable to control the situation in one more day, after which Li Qi will need to promise more benefits.

But even if you promise benefits, you have to be alive to use them.

Therefore, at most four more Chen, most of the world will reach its limit.

It's not that they can't continue fighting; in fact, many fifth-rank worlds haven't even revealed their true strength yet. They just feel that continuing the fight would really affect the life and death of most worlds, so they want to run away.

There are indeed many who follow the ways of Shaman Path, but their paths are different, they cannot work together, and it is difficult for them to unite as one.

One day and four Chen —that's the time Li Qi has left.

"How much longer?" Li Qi gazed into the distance, where he could vaguely see pine needles.

Is it possible to get there in one day?

This is a distance measured in light-years, and it must be dealt with within a day, because time also needs to be allocated to destroy the spikenard.

Thinking this, Li Qi suddenly frowned. "Gentlemen, continue on your way and make it seem as if I am still in the main camp."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding fifth-rank realm lords were immediately taken aback. "Commander, you mean...?"

"Leading a large army would be too slow. I will advance alone. You will act as if I am still here, under the command of the alliance. I will proceed alone," Li Qi said.

At this moment, a fifth-rank Ice Toad warrior said anxiously, "No, Commander! You are going alone without the protection of Soldier's Qi. If you are surrounded by the army and suppressed by their Soldier's Qi, you will surely die!"

That's right, this is the most difficult point for a master when facing a well-organized army.

Soldier's Qi is an invention of Human Path.

In ancient times, the Human Race did not have many experts. Faced with the lofty gods, the demon Demon Race with innate supernatural abilities, and all kinds of ghosts and spirits, the Human Path, relying solely on a few martial arts masters and Shaman who were not good at fighting, had almost no way to survive.

Therefore, Military School eventually invented Soldier's Qi based on the Martial Dao Inner Qi.

Soldier's Qi possesses a unique and wondrous property; it can suppress all other types of Qi and is the complete opposite of Martial Dao Inner Qi.

Martial Dao Inner Qi is a manifestation of Chaos Qi, which is the ultimate state of Chaos Qi.

But Soldier's Qi is the practice of Human Path 'rules', an absolute order and absolute rules, even more stringent and absolute than the Legalist School 'laws'.

The law may tolerate sentimentality, but military law does not. This is the strictest "rule" of Human Path. Under this rule, people themselves have become tools and consumables.

Soldier's Qi is the foundation of Human Path, the reason why Human Path was able to carve out a place for itself in the primordial wilderness.

The Soldier's Qi utilizes the qi of many people to construct a strange set of rules. Under these rules, all different paths are suppressed, and only those with profound cultivation can forcibly break through the impasse.

No fancy spells will work; it all comes down to the depth of your cultivation. If you are stronger than the Soldier's Qi, you can break through it. Otherwise, all your Divine Ability powers and spells will be suppressed by the Soldier's Qi, with only a fraction of their effectiveness remaining.

Can your cultivation level alone compete with that of so many people, or even the combined cultivation levels of generals of the same rank?

Obviously, it is very difficult, so Soldier's Qi can achieve victory against the strong with the weak, and even crush some lone strongmen that were originally impossible to deal with with very few casualties.

A lone strongman will be suppressed by the Soldier's Qi when facing a large army, and if the opponent has a person of equal strength, it will be very difficult to win.

At this critical moment, Li Qi was still thinking of acting alone. If the Tang Kingdom discovered this and dispatched troops to surround and annihilate him, his own commander would die here.

These fifth-rank officials were well aware of the power of Soldier's Qi, and they would always bring soldiers with them when they went out, using their own Soldier's Qi to counter the enemy's Soldier's Qi, so that they could have a chance of winning in large-scale battles.

The dozen or so fifth-rank officials around him all firmly disagreed with Li Qi leaving alone.

With Li Qi dead, all their efforts would be in vain, and the huge costs invested in the battle would vanish instantly. They might even face Human Path retribution.

This won't do! Li Qi cannot die!

However, Li Qi remained steadfast in the face of numerous remonstrances from officials of the fifth rank.

"That's settled then," Li Qi said.

"Absolutely not!" the other fifth-rank realm lords exclaimed in panic.

One of the fifth-rank martial artists stepped forward and said, "If something goes wrong with the command, the situation will be beyond saving!"

"That's true."

I second that!

Everyone chimed in, trying to persuade Li Qi to stay and not go to his death.

Li Qi's life is directly linked to their interests. Without Li Qi, the World Cluster Formation will inevitably collapse, and the 'Alliance' in this region will lose its central hub.

It should be understood that all "alliances" must rely on Shaman as intermediaries, which is also the means by which Shaman reconcile "Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Spirits, Ghosts".

Without Li Qi, there's nothing left. It's time to run away, or we'll be slaughtered like pigs by the Human Path.

But amidst the chorus of opposition, a tall, golden-haired fifth-rank official suddenly spoke up, "Shaman, do you think that Human Path is no longer capable of commanding a large army?"

This fifth-rank individual was the Balancer, the vanguard world of the vanguard battle initially arranged by Li Qi, because he was among the strongest of the many fifth-rank individuals not directly under the Shaman Path Cult.

Now, as one of the strongest, he naturally joined Li Qi's raiding force.

His question made Li Qi nod slightly. Li Qi was originally prepared to explain properly, but he didn't expect that someone had already said it.

Li Qi nodded and said, "That's right, I think Human Path no longer has enough armies."

These words caused the other fifth-rank officials to frown.

What do you think?

If you think you're wrong, then everyone will have to be buried here with you. You're the boss, you can't treat your life like a game, right?

The Balancer also had this question, but his calm nature prevented him from directly objecting. Instead, he asked, "Well, none of us here are fools. We all know very well that there is no reason or evidence to suggest that Human Path is no longer capable of fighting. Perhaps we are simply unaware of the situation. We urge the Commander to provide solid evidence, otherwise we will never allow the Commander to put himself in danger."

The idea of having Li Qi act alongside the main force was to test their speed and time. Victory depended entirely on their own efforts, and if they lost, they couldn't blame anyone else; it was simply because they were slow. As fifth-rank officials, they were no longer inclined to complain or blame others.

Those who can cultivate to the fifth rank have already experienced countless life and death, and naturally know the risks and benefits of their actions. They will weigh the pros and cons themselves and will not easily shift the blame to others.

But if Li Qi sneaks out and causes you to lose... that would be considered being killed by Li Qi, which would be very unfair.

The Balancer's words resonated with the other fifth-rank officials, who nodded in agreement. They maintained their high-speed flight and said to Li Qi, "Please provide conclusive evidence, Commander, otherwise we will not agree."

At this moment, a hothead said, "If you can't convince us, we will definitely keep you here and make it difficult for you to get out."

His words drew glares from the others, and he quickly covered his mouth, realizing he had said the wrong thing.

It seems that even among those of the fifth rank, there are still significant differences in personality.

Li Qi didn't seem to care much about these things, and nodded instead. "Since you want to hear it, then I'll tell you."

Li Qi then spoke without elaborating.

Words are too weak to describe the basis for Li Qi's decision.

He simply waved his hand, unfurling a curtain of light.

The scene shown on the light screen depicted Li Qi's promotion to the fifth rank.

When Li Qi was promoted to the fifth rank, he used something that was a waste of his talents, namely the jade Jade Bead that the White Chen Fox King Bodhisattva had given him.

At that time, Li Qi saw his future self, a version of himself in seclusion, and 'requisitioned' a portion of his cultivation from him, merging it into his own body.

This scene was witnessed by many fifth-rank officials.

All the fifth-rank officials held their breath.

Holy crap! Is this the Dao Lineage?

Is it even possible to do something like this?

Stealing the power of the future?

Is time merely a plaything?

They were all fifth-rank, so they could naturally distinguish between the real and the fake. Even if they couldn't tell the difference, they could clearly feel the unique power belonging to the third rank.

But at this moment, Li Qi said, "Look, even after I reached the fifth rank, I am still in seclusion."

"This means we won this battle, which means all the decisions I made were correct."

Li Qi said this.

This logic... left everyone else speechless.

But... there's no way to refute it.

What do you have to refute this? Do you understand the three grades as well as others?

In other words, do you even have the right to question the power of a third-rank official?

"It seems everyone agrees, so it's settled then. You all continue on your way, I'll head to Gansong alone." Seeing the speechless crowd, Li Qi immediately made the decision.

As for whether this logic is true or false?

It was fake; he was just showing off.

He didn't need to persuade these people; that would be too much of a waste of time. He just needed to intimidate them and suppress their resistance.

This is the drawback of Shaman Path warfare...

Bickering, endless bickering.

When there are too many people involved, and everyone is still angry, the only thing that can happen is constant bickering, internal strife, and missed opportunities.

Li Qi didn't have time to discuss things with them slowly, so he persuaded them.

Even if it's nonsense, he'll use the third-grade tiger skin to forcefully subdue these people.

I will be hosting a Q&A session on plot and settings in the book club group today. Those who have questions about the plot or settings can join the group (group number 815632723). There's a link to join the group below the description.