So-called spells were really no different from machines.
Different kinds of qi were different kinds of materials; the various ways they were assembled were the machine's architecture, allowing them to achieve all sorts of different functions.
However, spells and machines worked because the Dao existed.
Machines could produce different functions because the laws of physics were set that way. Designers made use of those physical laws to create all kinds of changes. For example, when a solid became gas, its volume expanded; exploiting that fact gave rise to a lethal "gun."
But third-rank cultivators were themselves the Dao. Thus, many spells were unique, because that particular Dao could only function beside that particular third-rank cultivator.
Before another Dao, the process of a solid turning into gas might not result in any expansion at all. Naturally, a spell like a "gun" would not work. It would be useless, impossible to activate.
That was why spells from different Dao lineages could not be used interchangeably.
For someone like Li Qi, who could use spells from many different Dao lineages, the price was that his Dao was extremely chaotic. Those Daos were inherently incompatible, and Li Qi's forced attempt to make them compatible was actually quite dangerous.
Yet before Martial Dao, none of that made any difference.
No matter how precise your machine was, it would melt into the same molten iron as mine. Its power would naturally cease to exist, and all you could do was roll around in the mud with a martial artist.
Li Qi had already realized this.
As the martial artist's fists pounded him across the ground, he was not simply raging in helpless fury. He was continuously probing the limits of his opponent's abilities, feeling out the weight of those punches.
Though it truly hurt... It felt