Chapter 111: Tough battle

At this thought, Li Qi suddenly stood up: "Rabbit! I have a way!"

Li Qi was so excited that he blurted out "Rabbit."

He usually only called her that in his head; outwardly, he always respectfully addressed her as "Shen Guniang."

Unfortunately, Shen Shuibi no longer cared what he called her at this moment. Upon hearing that he had a way, she immediately asked, "What way!?"

"It still requires you to make a sacrifice, but you won't die."

Li Qi stood up, took out his long sword, and began digging at the rocks, saying as he dug, "I will set up an altar here to sacrifice to the White Snake Mountain God, using you, Shen Guniang, as a sacrifice to summon it, create a disturbance, and send a signal to Shaman God Mountain."

"With Shaman God Mountain's capability and Empress Luofu's importance, Shaman God Mountain will surely act the moment they detect it. Shen Guniang, do you think Shaman God Mountain has the ability to instantly arrive here, crossing who knows how many tens of thousands of miles?" Li Qi asked.

Shen Shuibi immediately replied, her face filled with pleasant surprise: "It might take some time for people to arrive, but striking from afar should be instantaneous! Li Qi, you really are smarter than me. I'll help too. What do we need for the altar?"

"To sacrifice to the Mountain God, as I mentioned before, it's still those things: pure mountain spring water and a corresponding sacrifice. You are a pure white rabbit, which falls into that category! However, it might require a part of your Physical Body," Li Qi said as he continued to dig at the rocks.

"No matter, it's just a part of my flesh and blood; it will grow back in a few hundred years. My cultivation level is still high, and the White Snake Mountain God probably isn't qualified to bear too much. This should be enough," Shen Shuibi said, directly twisting off her thumb.

No blood flowed, and Shen Shuibi didn't even make a sound, yet Li Qi felt an indescribable sensation.

Her body seemed to detach from that ethereal, dust-free aura, transforming into that of an ordinary person.

Li Qi watched with his own eyes as the numerous 'Qi' that had been previously isolated began to rush into her body like a torrent. She was no longer impervious to heat or cold, nor immune to all poisons.

"Your Immaculate Body?" Li Qi frowned.

"With my Physical Body damaged, it naturally broke. No matter, there will be a chance to cultivate it again in the future. The thumb should be the most suitable," Shen Shuibi, however, didn't care at all about the loss of her cultivation.

An achievement that would take thousands of years to cultivate was just directly discarded like that.

Indeed, for Empress Luofu, she was even prepared to sacrifice herself on the altar. She had already given up her cultivation before, so what did it matter if she broke her Immaculate Body again now?

"The thumb belongs to earth, earth is the great earth, it is the Kun trigram, Kun is mother, so it's called the thumb, it aligns with the earth, it should be just right for sacrificing to the Mountain God. And pure mountain spring water, I'll go get it now, Old Horse! Come with me!" Shen Shuibi burst out with extreme initiative at this moment, pulling Old Horse along to gather the other items needed for the ritual.

And Li Qi, looking at the thumb Shen Shuibi had torn off herself, felt a mix of emotions in his heart.

Most of all, it was anger.

Then, he shook his head.

"This isn't the time to think about such things, hurry up and get to work!" He slapped himself and continued to dig for rocks.

As the saying goes, 'earth values Yang, sacrifices to it must be made on a circular mound in a marsh,' meaning that the earth's nature favors Yang, and sacrifices to it must be made on a circular mound in a low-lying area.

Li Qi dug for rocks, found the corresponding location, and began to set up the site.

Time was pressing; there was no leisure for anger.

Only half a day's work, so he had to speed up.

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Not far away, Yang Ning was struggling to hold on.

Three hours had already passed, and it was almost half a day.

Through the female phantom, a woman with golden-red eyes was seen within the treasure banner.

She had lustrous, waist-length hair that seemed to glow with a dark red light, golden-red eyes, fair skin, and an assertive aura with a strong Yang Qi. She was a head taller than Shen Shuibi and had a more voluptuous figure.

She was the Golden Crow, the Moon Essence, one of the Sun and Moon Essences around Empress Luofu.

"What is Shen Shuibi doing?! Didn't she say she had a way? Why isn't she here yet!" Yang Ning cursed angrily, then bit her index finger, and a drop of vital blood gushed out, merging into the phantom before her.

Her Magic Power had long been exhausted; her current endurance relied entirely on burning vital blood and Spirit Soul.

Like Shen Shuibi, her injuries were also extremely severe, only she didn't need to cripple her own cultivation.

Yang Ning's self-inflicted damage was no less severe than Shen Shuibi's.

Everything was just for... Empress Luofu.

She turned her head, her beautiful eyes fixed on a丹鼎 (Pill Cauldron) not far away.

A second-grade Spiritual Artifact, the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron.

Its meaning is derived from: "Molding the crow and rabbit with one's hands to form the sun and moon," capturing True Lead with true intent, returning it to the central palace, and mixing it with True Mercury; this is called the 'revolving wind mixture,' as the saying goes, "A cup of immortal wine, poured into the Jade Cauldron."

The Sun Essence and Moon Essence were refined from this cauldron. One could say that Niangniang was the mother of both of them.

Niangniang's remaining True Spirit was deeply hidden within it, undisturbed by the outside world.

No matter what happened, Niangniang was always the most important.

She only hoped that the foolish Shen Shuibi could truly come up with a solution!

Yang Ning gritted her teeth and then faced the two Demon Kings before her.

"How much longer can you hold out!" Bear Kill Great King manipulated military Qi, using his subordinate demon soldiers as a guide to fiercely assault the treasure banner.

"It's better to hand over Empress Luofu's information sooner, lest you suffer the pain of soul-devouring by my curse worms later!" Curse Demon Great King threatened again, his purple curse poison already spreading onto the treasure banner.

On the murals of the treasure banner, those lifelike Spirit Beasts and Daoist Masters fled deeper in terror, pushing and shoving each other in a chaotic mess, fearing even a speck of the curse poison.

Seeing this, Yang Ning cast another spell, holding a mantra in one hand and chanting: "Luofu keeps peace, proclaiming to all spirits, Left Altar and Right Altar, do not be alarmed. Return to the Righteous Path, inside and out purified, each in its place, guarding the residence, Yang Ning commands, do not err!"

She issued a decree with her own being, and countless murals were forced to surge out, each displaying their methods to resist the curse poison, seemingly even fighting back at first glance.

But some murals let out miserable wails, tainted by the curse poison. While seemingly resisting the erosion for now, it was consuming the Origin of this treasure banner. This sixth-grade Spiritual Artifact would likely drop in grade after this.

Meanwhile, the two Demon Kings outside exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

The opponent was already at the end of their rope, beginning to consume the Spiritual Artifact's Origin to resist.

Then there was no need to fight desperately; they only needed to wear her down slowly and exhaust her.

It wouldn't be too late to find what they wanted then.

The two Demon Kings made up their minds.

After all, it was only a matter of a few hours, more than enough time. A hasty attack might provoke the opponent's desperate measures; after all, she was once a fifth-grade cultivator, and even though she was severely injured now, with only one percent of her strength remaining, caution was still necessary.

However, at this very moment, a divine light suddenly surged from a canyon not far away, drawing all eyes!