Parting Ways

Li Qi knew that in Baiyue, there was a method to identify whether certain people were truly ladies from noble families.

That is to make this young lady from a prominent family strip naked in front of a group of maids and servants.

Then, if this lady from a respectable family is comfortable with it and has no sense of shame, then she is.

You might think everyone is human and that you'd feel ashamed to expose your body, but in reality, they don't treat servants like human beings. Would you feel ashamed in front of tools?

For a maid, serving her master while dressing is an art. The master's arms and legs cannot move according to the servant's wishes. The servant must accommodate the master. The master can move his hands and feet at will, or even drink tea. The maid must make sure that the master does not feel awkward when dressing, and does not even feel that she is being dressed.

This is also a skill, and it may even require assessment.

For the master, there was nothing to be embarrassed about; those around him weren't people, just a few human-shaped tools.

However, Li Qi was still very surprised.

Since leaving Baiyue, whether it is the Shaman Path, the Human Path, or even many worlds beyond the realm, as long as the world exceeds the seventh rank, this situation rarely occurs. Only a very few special Dao Path will have this situation of treating humans as animals.

Even if it is Human Path, they will only regard the 'moral world' as a resource, and will not enslave their minds.

Some act out of morality, while others act out of pure self-interest.

Because only in uncivilized worlds that suppress the creativity of the lower classes and disregard basic group rules can such things happen. Anyone who can reach the seventh rank can understand one thing in these worlds: the thoughts of 'people' with higher intelligence are the greatest wealth.

To abandon such wealth and instead suppress it, treating it as meaningless objects, would be a tremendous waste and would severely hinder the progress of civilization.

Even the First Rank World, or even the entire realm, needs to cultivate this kind of advanced wisdom. Only by using this wisdom can more paths be opened up.

If any civilization has a visionary who attains immortality, they would not choose such a wasteful approach unless the Dao Path itself favors it.

So, after all these experiences, and because Li Qi hadn't been in contact with the lower realms for a long time, Li Qi almost forgot that such things existed in uncivilized worlds.

Even... the Yao Ji before them still maintained this attitude.

I really don't know what Wushen Mountain was thinking, actually letting me travel the same road as this kind of person? Just because the other party is very strong among the sixth rank?

Even if such a person embarks on the Dao Path Daoism, he will probably deviate from the peaceful State of Mind of the Shaman Path.

No wonder Zhu Fengdan took action; if Li Qi hadn't been so timid, he would have done the same.

This aroused Li Qi's disgust, so he shook his head and said, "You handle it yourself, I won't interfere."

After saying that, Li Qi ignored the other party and continued to Qi Gazing.

Yao Ji blinked.

Li Qi originally thought she would be angry or something, but he clearly underestimated Yao Ji.

The other person didn't seem to notice anything, and instead found a lake, took off their clothes, and left.

Li Qi was too lazy to care. He didn't care what she did. As long as it didn't involve the mission, Li Qi didn't want to pay attention to these trivial matters.

Using his ability to observe the Qi Gazing), Li Qi quickly realized that it was in the south... it should be in the south, right? Anyway, he determined it was in the south by the position of the sun, so whether the sun was actually in the south or not didn't matter, since directions are defined by people anyway.

In the south, there is a very, very typical 'popularity', meaning that there are cities in that area.

Then, Li Qi finished Qi Gazing and prepared to wait for Yao Ji to finish washing up before setting off together.

But during this process, he couldn't do anything for Yao Ji.

As Li Qi was thinking this, he noticed that a water god had appeared around him. The god had a human head and a snake's body, and four arms that controlled water. He was washing clothes.

He was somewhat puzzled. Was this the local water god? Had Yao Ji ordered the water god to do chores for her?

That's something she's capable of doing.

However, when Li Qi's True Knowledge Dao Charm swept across the water god's body, he was astonished to discover that this water god had no consciousness and was not the local water god.

These are deities that temporarily appeared in the heavens and earth, and they possess spirit but lack wisdom.

A god with spirit but no wisdom is a natural spirit that has not awakened. How could such a thing have subjective actions, or even wash clothes? But there was clearly no way to command the god in the surroundings.

Moreover, it should be noted that this is First Rank World, and the mountain and water deities here are very powerful. Even Li Qi does not have the ability to issue orders at will; he must make preparations and Sacrificial Ritual in advance.

Therefore, the only possibility is Yao Ji.

"This is... the Primal Gods?" This was probably the only thing Li Qi could think of.

No wonder Yao Ji developed this personality.

The Primal Gods, perhaps they were the 'heaven' of this universe? As the earliest life forms in the universe, the embodiment of Chaos Qi, they might even be higher than that. They are the 'Tao' pursued by other life forms. At the very beginning of civilization, including the civilizations of the world, they all worshipped them.

Therefore, the Primal Gods didn't need to do anything; they only needed to 'command' them, and the other lower gods would be forced to obey their orders, even if they were just spirits without intelligence.

Is this also a kind of 'Tao'? It is the favor that Heaven and Earth show to the Primal Gods. Even the First Rank World cannot escape this when no one interferes.

Recalling how Yao Ji simply waved her hand and the world barrier opened up, it was clearly a manifestation of this power, wasn't it?

It can only be said that, fortunately, the relationship between the Shaman Path and divine paths is very good. There are three lineages of Shaman: the Heavenly Gods, the Earthly Deity Human-Ghost Ghosts. There is also a lineage that deals with the Heavenly Gods and has a very good relationship with the Star Official and the Primal Gods.

Both major systems of Shintoism have a good relationship with Shaman Path, so Li Qi couldn't say anything.

He didn't really like the gods. The Earthly Deity had to make a living in the mountains and rivers, while the gods were high above and arrogant.

However, as Dao Pursuer, he knew that respect for other Dao Lineage was very important, so he didn't say much.

Just like abstract and figurative art, some people simply can't appreciate abstract art and think it's rubbish. But it's undeniable that abstract art occupies an important place in art history, and many people do like it.

You can't think something is garbage just because you don't like it.

Blind people cannot appreciate any painting, but that doesn't mean all paintings are bad; it just means that people have different understandings.

However, whenever I think of the leader of the Primal Gods, that lofty ruler of the Spirit Way Heavenly Court...

"Haotian... are you really 'Heaven'?" Li Qi looked up at the sky and couldn't help but murmur.

He then shivered.

He felt a sense of foreboding just from uttering the name, so he quickly shut up.

Soon, after about fifteen minutes, the ominous feeling dissipated from Li Qi.

Meanwhile, Yao Ji had already finished washing up.

Her clothes were laid out here, left for the water god to wash, and she herself calmly walked out of the water.

Li Qi immediately withdrew his senses and quickly retreated ninety miles.

"Don't look at what is improper." If someone doesn't treat you like a human being and doesn't care at all, then you, a married man, can't be indifferent.

After a while, Li Qi returned to the original spot, and Yao Ji had already put on her clothes.

Throughout the entire process, she wore a veil.

This puzzled Li Qi.

What kind of person is this? They don't care about their health, but their face is covered up completely. Do they have some kind of serious illness?

While wondering what was going on, he also habitually scanned his surroundings to see if anything was amiss, remaining vigilant.

However, as he scanned the area, he suddenly noticed...

The Spiritual Qi of the surrounding mountains and rivers has been completely drained.

The Spiritual Qi of this mountain has been depleted, and it is unlikely that any more monsters or mountain and water deities will be born here in the future.

What happened?

Was it caused by Yao Ji taking a bath?

Li Qi immediately realized that her bath was not about washing with water, but about absorbing all the Spiritual Qi of the mountain to Spiritual Qi her body and mind, directly draining the entire place dry.

This landscape has essentially become a mundane place. To restore it to its Spirit Water, it would take at least forty or fifty years of nurturing.

During this period, the demons on this mountain cannot cultivate unless they move.

Moreover, the earth's veins are dry, and whatever is planted will die. This mountain of vegetation looks lush and green, but in reality, it is already dead. It cannot absorb the earth's energy, and once the nutrients stored in the branches, leaves, and trunks are exhausted, it will only wither and die.

The animals had no choice but to move, otherwise they would starve to death. It could be said that the area within a radius of fifty miles was already a dead zone.

"What's wrong? Aren't you leaving? I think you've found a spot." Yao Ji remained the same, completely oblivious to anything amiss.

Li Qi sized up the other person.

As expected... I still can't stand the gods.

"Let's set off immediately. I need to hold a Sacrificial Ritual first," Li Qi said.

As he spoke, he waved his hand to set up an altar, using his own life force as a guide to condense a portion of the earth's energy from his own microcosm into it, and then offered it as a sacrifice to this landscape.

This vital energy and the earth's energy will slowly permeate this barren land. Although some plants will inevitably die, it should be able to recover in a little over a year.

This can be considered cleaning up the mess for this young lady.

Li Qi had expected Yao Ji to comment on his actions, but when he turned around, he found that she was completely distracted and didn't care at all what he was doing.

How can I put it? He truly lives up to his reputation as a god.

Human Path and Heaven are at odds, but now he understands Human Path better.

"Let's go," Li Qi said.

Yao Ji didn't answer, she just followed behind.

Li Qi also activated his escape technique and flew swiftly into the distance.

Along the way, Li Qi vaguely sensed that there were eyes watching him all around him. The level of these eyes was not high, but some of them were close to the seventh rank, and some had even reached the middle level of the seventh rank or above. However... they seemed to be suppressing their cultivation and had not yet advanced.

Yao Ji seemed indifferent, simply following behind Li Qi, taking advantage of his escape light and wind wall to save energy.

But Li Qi was very wary, exuding the aura of someone who belonged to the fifth rank.

So, everyone looked away.

This made Li Qi nod slightly, and he had a plan in mind.

Clearly, this is the mortal realm.

Moreover, this attitude clearly shows that these people know they might have to mine after ascending to the True World, so they are not in a hurry to break through, but instead are accumulating strength so that they can mine less for two days when they ascend, and at least become strong enough to rob others.

That's really true...

That's a bit mercenary.

As they were thinking this, a city appeared before Li Qi and Yao Ji.

Yes, the First Rank World is indeed inhabited by humanoid races.

Although they were still about 40,000 to 50,000 miles away from the city, Li Qi could already observe the situation there, so he quickly put away his escape light and prepared to blend in silently.

"Conceal your presence and don't attract attention," Li Qi said to Yao Ji.

With that, Li Qi activated his Body Merged with Nature mode, preparing to stealthily move forward.

But Yao Ji seemed not to hear, and continued to fly straight into the distance.

"Hey, Yao Ji, conceal your presence. Don't be too conspicuous. This is a First Rank World." Li Qi immediately sent a message.

To everyone's surprise, Yao Ji only glanced at Li Qi, and still did not reply, continuing to fly forward.

Li Qi looked into her eyes and read a message in them.

'I heard you, but why should I listen to you?'

Yao Ji didn't say it, or perhaps she was too lazy to say it, but Li Qi still understood her thoughts.

Damn it, you bitch.

Li Qi couldn't stand this kind of godlike behavior. He shook his head, deciding to ignore it and not care whether the gods lived or died.

I've never seen anyone so hateful.

With this in mind, Li Qi stopped insisting that the other person follow him.

I can do it all by myself.

With that in mind, Li Qi decided to fly towards the city alone, acting entirely by himself.

I just hope that this parting of ways won't affect the other person's opinion of us, since theoretically, we're both currently under each other's observation.

Oh dear, why Teacher Zhu leave halfway through? I'm under so much pressure now.

Li Qi felt mentally exhausted, and he was swearing more than usual in his inner monologue. You should know that he is actually a very cultured person.

Regardless of those things, Li Qi calmed himself down and continued working.

As long-lived beings, patience and Hengxin are essential qualities. Even the most impetuous long-lived being can calmly face unexpected situations; otherwise, they would have been driven mad long ago after living so long.

After flying for a while, we arrived in the city.

Li Qi was surprised to find that Yao Ji was gone.

Did she not come to this city? Or did she just fly away?

Fine, I said I wouldn't take care of her, so I won't.

Li Qi was quietly observing the city from outside its walls.

This city is heavily fortified, a veritable military fortress. The entire city, when put together, should resemble a giant Seventh Rank Magic Treasure, making it impossible to conquer easily.

It covers a vast area, roughly two thousand li in circumference, which is an extremely large scale for a mortal city. It is divided into four sections, each with sixteen gates. The openings allow passage between the city and the outside world, and there are restrictions on flight; anyone below the seventh rank cannot fly here.

Millions of people were coming and going inside, creating a lively atmosphere. Various Law Treasure and mythical beasts were used as means of transportation.

Li Qi glanced around briefly, then quickly blended into the crowd and headed towards the city gate.