Chapter 146: Force

As this treasure appeared, Li Qi could even feel gazes cast over from all of Qingwu City.

"One...two, three, four." Li Qi counted silently in his heart.

"Nine...ten."

"Twenty-four, twenty-five." Li Qi opened his eyes, having finished counting.

There were exactly twenty-five gazes, and he estimated they were all High Grade, otherwise they wouldn't have made him feel such a heart-pounding sensation, to the point that his miniature heaven and earth even began to tremble slightly.

This was not a good omen.

Li Qi cupped his hands: "Please, old sir, return this gift. There was only a small misunderstanding between your young master and me; it doesn't warrant such a valuable apology."

These treasures, though astonishing to behold, would have likely muddled the mind of anyone else.

It was like suddenly inheriting two hundred million from a distant uncle; few people would be able to remain calm.

But Li Qi's Dao Heart was clear and unmoved by external things, so he refused almost without a second thought.

Money wasn't important to him, and besides, that long blade wasn't important to him either.

He didn't know how to use a blade at all...

What good was even the best weapon if one didn't know how to use it?

Currently, he could only fight by punching.

So, what exactly did Jin Buhuan mean by suddenly giving him so many things? Was he truly afraid of him, coming to apologize?

There was no need for that; Li Qi himself didn't believe this explanation.

"This..." The gift official looked troubled, quickly bowed, and said tremblingly: "Mr. Li, please don't make it difficult for me. If I cannot make you accept it, then I will surely be punished by the young master."

"Your young master's punishment is his business; I cannot interfere, but I will do my best to plead for you before your young master," Li Qi replied seriously.

Saying this, he directly took out paper and pen and swiftly wrote a personal letter.

He always carried paper and pen with him to record his insights and experiences, as a good memory is no match for a bad pen, and daily cultivation was not just aimless practice but required thought.

Even a simple-minded path like Martial Dao required Comprehension Ability, needing one's own thoughts to be integrated during practice, let alone the Shaman Dao he cultivated.

This path was famously known for requiring a lot of brainpower; just the things to memorize were far more than what ordinary people needed.

Fortunately, he had a cheat, so he didn't need to put too much effort into memorization, but the time saved couldn't be wasted; he still needed to deepen his understanding.

Cultivation itself was a process of learning and improvement; mechanical, rote practice would certainly not lead to anything significant.

After writing these things, he tore off the page and handed it to the gift official: "Old sir, please take this. If your young master punishes you, just show him this, and he won't be able to blame you."

The gift official became even more flustered: "Mr. Li, you don't know...young master he—"

However, before the old gift official could finish speaking, he suddenly trembled all over, and then a blazing flame rose, engulfing him!

Li Qi was about to reach out to save him, but before he could mobilize the Qi within his body, the old gift official was already consumed by the flames, turning into ashes that scattered on the ground.

Li Qi's expression immediately darkened.

However, at this moment, a red-bearded, red-haired middle-aged man descended from the sky.

It was none other than that ‘Yan Jun’.

Yan Jun’s left sleeve was empty, the hand having been severed under duress by Shen Shuibi.

He bowed with one hand and calmly said to Li Qi: "Mr. Li, you should accept it. The young master has given orders that if Mr. Li refuses, it must be because the gift official was disrespectful. For such a servant who offends a noble, he must be killed as an apology in front of you, otherwise, it would mean we do not know how to discipline our subordinates."

Li Qi looked at this High Grade existence, and anger surged in his heart.

Thus, his tone also became stiff: "Yan Jun, he was not disrespectful; it's just that I truly cannot casually accept this gift..."

Before Li Qi could finish speaking, another person timidly stepped forward from the side. It was a forty-year-old woman with graying hair, trembling like a sieve, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, yet she bit down hard and bowed to Li Qi: "Please, sir, accept the gift."

Li Qi took a deep breath and turned to leave.

Yan Jun waved his hand, and the woman let out a wail, then was consumed by the fierce fire.

Among the gift-giving procession nearby, a young man immediately rushed out, crying out "Mother" in sorrow, wailing uncontrollably.

At this time, the entire street was filled with countless onlookers.

Some people couldn't bear it and shed tears, sighing softly.

Some people were angry but dared not curse, only glaring at Yan Jun.

Some people watched Li Qi with interest, wanting to know what he would choose next.

Still others left in a hurry, seemingly not wanting to get involved in such matters, not even wanting to watch.

But most people were still just spectators, observing the scene with no extra emotion, purely watching a show.

After all, such things were rare.

In Piao Xu's inn, Qi Ya was too scared to move, all her fur bristling, shrinking into Piao Xu's arms, trembling.

Piao Xu was also full of worry, looking at Li Qi, anxious in her heart.

Even he could see that the newcomers meant ill.

The rabbit was still carving her Talismanic Incantation, unresponsive to everything outside, while holding a compass and paper and pen, writing and calculating, performing Yin and Yang numerology, as Formations, after all, had to strictly rely on numerology to be established.

She seemed to feel nothing at all, showing no reaction, as usual.

Outside, Li Qi's expression was grim, but he said nothing, walking straight back into the inn, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

Yan Jun watched from outside, shook his head, then gestured with his eyes for the next person.

Another young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, hurriedly stepped out of the line, kowtowing towards the inn, begging Li Qi and Shen Shuibi to accept the gift.

She was terrified, crying hoarsely, her forehead was bruised and bleeding all over her Face.

Li Qi remained unresponsive, his Face cold, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Without his word, no one dared to go out and open the door. The inn workers and Piao Xu looked at each other, standing stiffly in place.

The girl pleaded for half an hour, but Li Qi ignored her. Yan Jun waved his hand again, incinerating her.

Then, it was the next person.

The next was a young man, who was killed after his desperate pleas went unanswered.

Next was a middle-aged man in his forties, whose two young children desperately clung to him. He wiped away tears and hesitated to move forward.

Because he hesitated for a moment, his two children were deemed 'in the way' by Yan Jun and immediately killed.

The man froze, then roared and charged at Yan Jun, trying to fight him to the death.

However, he was not yet ranked; how could he contend against a High Grade? He was reduced to ashes with just a glance.

A High Grade, this was enough to become a Realm Lord in the Earth Oil Realm, a Great Power ruling over hundreds of millions of people, high above all.

After killing four or five more in succession, Yan Jun seemed to have grown tired of killing and looked towards the inn: "Mr. Li, don't you pride yourself on benevolence, even saving a tiger demon that had undergone Possession of a fox's body? Why do you now let them die?"

Li Qi still maintained that grim expression, but when he spoke, he deliberately adopted a relaxed and indifferent tone: "I don't save people out of benevolence; it's merely a matter of convenience. But weren't the people who just died all servants of Young Master Jin's family? You killing your own people is your own business, and I don't find it convenient to comment too much. After all, I'm just an outsider; how can I interfere with Young Master Jin enforcing family law?"

Li Qi said this, then sat down.

He was now very clear on two things.

First, to avoid being threatened, he could not be soft-hearted.

Second, to ensure more people survived, it was best to ignore them.

When human lives become one's weakness, one's opponent will only use more human lives to threaten you, eventually leading to either one's own demise or the death of more people.

How to act, Li Qi naturally understood clearly.

However, there were still a few problems.

First, the primary issue was Face.

To be precise, it wasn't just Face, but the ‘reason’ on the surface.

Just as it was once said, with reason comes strength of Qi.

When establishing matters and principles, one must rely on reason to determine them.

The transformation of Heaven and Earth Qi is the reason of the Dao.

Laws and proper affairs are the reasons of affairs.

Propriety and appropriateness are the reasons of rites.

The pivot of human emotions is the reason of emotions.

Being in accord with reason, and being clear in that accord, is how 'truth' is formed.

Li Qi upheld himself with righteousness and needed to pay even more attention to the word 'reason'. The reason of righteousness was to conform to popular regulations; this was the basis of trustworthiness, the foundation of his Shaman Dao. The other party's 'apology' was 'the appropriateness of rites'.

Li Qi already knew what the other party intended to do.

If he accepted such an apology, then in terms of 'reason', it would mean he had forgiven the other party. After that, whatever the other party did, there would be no talk of 'being in the wrong'.

This was not some metaphysics, but a truly existing matter. Being in the wrong represented people's hearts, and people's hearts were also a kind of power, which could even affect Li Qi's Dao path.

Clearly, Jin Buhuan had seen that Li Qi was following the Shaman Dao path, so he deliberately used such methods to disgust him, making Li Qi in the wrong, and even affecting his credibility with certain Spirit Soul because of it.

Li Qi could even hear Jin Buhuan's mockery of him through this play.

"Save them, you saved the person this young master wanted to kill in the market, aren't you benevolent? This young master wants to see how many you can save!" Jin Buhuan was using this drama to mock him in this way.

Furthermore, Li Qi had ample reason to suspect that the gifts had been tampered with, and that after he accepted them, there would likely be other follow-up measures, only leading to more trouble.

He didn't want to gamble on whether his insight could discern the flaws in the gifts, although Li Qi was confident in his breadth of knowledge, and he also had Shen Shuibi to help him identify goods.

But he was no longer the fledgling who had just left home; he already knew the principle of 'never underestimate the heroes of the world,' so he would not let down his guard.

Besides the above problem, there was also a secondary problem.

That was, if he truly let the other party keep killing like this, after a certain point, he would probably be in the wrong.

He could even feel a sense of resentment hanging over him.

That was the resentment of the dead, resentful of why he didn't agree.

'If only you had agreed, then not so many people would have died. Why didn't you agree?'

'Our deaths are all your fault.'

'You, a person with a heart of stone, why do you just watch us die without batting an eye?'

He seemed to hear the voices of ghosts, though in reality, there were none.

Because Yan Jun's flames would incinerate even the Spirit Soul, no ghosts would exist; these voices were merely the resentment he felt.

Li Qi stood up and shook his shoulders.

These resentments also shook off and dissipated.

He was already a High Grade, extraordinary and refined; these resentments could not cling to him at all.

Ordinary people were always like this; they usually blamed those who didn't stand up for them, rather than blaming the true perpetrators.

Just as when women and children are trafficked, people are always heartbroken, but the direction of blame is usually towards the authorities for not solving it sooner, rather than pointing the finger at the evil doers.

So he didn't blame the occurrence of such things.

However, Jin Buhuan also made a mistake.

This drama would not make Li Qi feel in the wrong. As for any Spirit Soul who would have an opinion of Li Qi because of this, frankly, Li Qi looked down on them even more and bothered not to care.

Everything that was happening now only had one effect.

That was, it made Li Qi add a new goal to his Qingwu City objective: "Overthrow Jin Buhuan."

Originally, he had thought of letting Jin Buhuan spare Piao Xu, and then he would quickly leave, not wanting to cause trouble.

But now, it seemed he couldn't just walk away like that.

"Shen Guniang, how is the Formation coming along?" Li Qi turned to look at Shen Shuibi, who was carving Talismanic Incantations.

"Three hours, give me three more hours!" The rabbit raised her hand, then continued busily tapping and drawing in various places, scurrying all over the room.

Li Qi nodded, then looked at Piao Xu: "Piao Xu Guniang, there will likely be some fighting here, which might damage your inn. I'm telling you in advance that I will compensate you at full price afterward. For now, I'm afraid I need to ask you all to leave temporarily, to avoid injury or death."

But Piao Xu firmly refused. She said: "Sir, you have offended Jin Buhuan to save my life. How could I possibly let you compensate me? Please retract those words. Although this humble woman has no great abilities and is not as powerful as your Divine Ability, I still have this much integrity."

Then, she took out a small flying dagger: "This humble woman's cultivation method is not refined, but I had some fortuitous encounters. This is a Divine Weapon formed from a wisp of Jin Qi (Metal Energy) I obtained in Green Mountain when I transformed into a demon. It was left behind after that tiger demon died. It can move as I wish, traveling two li in an instant, reaching the pinnacle among High Grade items. If it's used in a single explosive burst and destroyed, its power can increase tenfold. My cultivation is shallow and my strength is meager, so I cannot join the battle, but I am willing to offer this item to you for combat."

Li Qi looked at the flying dagger; it shimmered with golden light and exuded Evil Qi. It was indeed a High Grade among High Grade items, comparable in quality to his Tang blade.

It's just that this blade always looked a bit familiar...

He always felt as if he had seen something similar somewhere.

But he didn't dwell on it here and instead said: "Then I shall accept it. This might come in handy."

Li Qi pointed to the back door: "You all hide in the backyard. Shen Guniang's Formation in the backyard should be complete, and the aftermath won't affect you."