Chapter 166: Attacking

Inside the carriage, the General and Li Qi sat facing each other.

Shen Shuibi sat behind Li Qi, looking bewildered, as if sleepwalking; she just sat there, motionless.

Outside the carriage, the old horse and the General’s horse were competing, each raising its head higher than the other, whinnying incessantly, almost coming to blows, scaring the stableman, who quickly separated the two Dragon Steeds.

But inside the carriage, Li Qi was conversing with the General: “So, to summarize, General, your meaning is that the Swallowing Heaven Demon Nest is currently contracting its forces, and the reason is unknown? It’s very likely for the next Demon Nest assault, which is why you abandoned Zhenguan?”

“It wasn’t abandoned; rather, Zhenguan couldn’t hold. If there truly were a cluster of Demon Nests attacking, forming a tidal wave, holding Zhenguan would only be a dead end,” the General explained.

“Therefore, the Imperial Advisor has already made the decision to evacuate the nearby populace, abandon Zhenguan, and then set up a formation utilizing the terrain, relying on geographical advantages to hold the line.”

“Thus, as the Demon Nest is about to attack, although you, Young Hero, are performing a righteous deed, I must still warn you, lest you needlessly sacrifice your life,” the General said.

“Then, General, have you considered, what if… they are truly defending?” Li Qi reminded him.

Although the sudden contraction was indeed suspicious, the Green Mountain Kingdom Lord had already said that this should be because the Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord had gone to the outer Realms.

But that was, after all, news known only to Fifth Grade Lords; these people probably didn’t know yet.

Perhaps even the Lord of Bailin Kingdom might not know about this; the Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord leaving this world for the outer Realms, such news should be absolutely confidential to them.

He wondered how the Green Mountain Kingdom Lord got this news; his reach was truly heaven-defying.

“Indeed, some people think that, but we cannot gamble. If a demon tide surges forth, what will happen? It’s better not to joke with lives. You might as well come with me; when the demons pour out of their nests, you can naturally slay demons in my army,” the General reminded him.

“Thank you for the General’s reminder, but I have my own methods of self-preservation, so the General need not worry. Moreover, besides slaying demons, I also have a reason why I must go in,” Li Qi courteously declined.

“Since that is the case, I will not force you, Young Hero,” the General shook his head, having said all that needed to be said.

The two were merely acquaintances, so there was no need to say too much. Even if it was out of good intentions, in the end, everyone walks their own path. Since the other party had made his decision, there was no need to say more.

Li Qi bid farewell to the army, pulling the eager old horse, who was ready to fight with the other side’s mount, and left the army with Shen Shuibi.

That army also did not linger, quickly departing. Soon, the two sides could no longer see each other, having put distance between them.

Li Qi continued to rush towards Zhenguan.

On the way, he said to Shen Shuibi behind him: “Bailin Kingdom here doesn’t seem very warlike. When they encounter an anomaly from the other side, their first reaction is actually to run.”

Shen Shuibi thought for a moment and replied: “It must be because the Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord is too strong, so they’ve been beaten into submission, right? I heard that the three countries here, plus Orthodox Sword Palace, have a total of three Fifth Grades, and the Orthodox Sword Palace Master is extremely lethal, comparable to half a Fifth Grade. The four of them joined forces to ambush the Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord. Even if they had the advantage of planning, they returned without success, and the Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord is still alive and well. Even I have heard of this.”

“One against four? That fierce?” Li Qi was astonished.

He hadn’t heard of it; wasn’t the Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord also Fifth Grade?

Shen Shuibi explained: “There are actually big differences within each Grade. If you were to face ordinary Ninth Grades, wouldn’t you be able to fight dozens of them without a problem?”

“When you’re in a Low Grade, you can fight dozens. Although the higher the Grade, the smaller the difference between them, for Sixth Grades like the Orthodox Sword Palace Master and Green Mountain God Jin Chi, fighting a dozen ordinary cultivators of the same rank simultaneously is no problem. The Heaven-Devouring Demon Lord is the same.”

Li Qi realized this upon hearing her words; it was indeed true.

Because the differences between each Grade were too vast, he wondered what the great expert who established the Grades was thinking. One Grade, one heaven, so the differences within the same Grade would also be very large.

Those who had just entered Sixth Grade, facing a fierce man like Lu Mountain God who could directly fight a Fifth Grade, would probably be instantly killed in one encounter. They would have to gather a dozen or so to even hope for a draw.

“That’s true, but what’s this about the higher the Grade, the smaller the difference?” Li Qi asked again.

These were all common knowledge to Shen Shuibi, so she didn’t hide anything and spoke truthfully: “I haven’t seen the appearance of high Grades either, so let’s just talk about Fifth Grade. By then, when fighting, Cultivation is actually not that important. What’s important are resources, Divine Abilities, Spiritual Artifacts, and such things.”

“After all, Fifth Grade individuals live for a very long time. As long as they don’t encounter sudden misfortune, they can basically slowly grind their Cultivation up. However, Breaking through to Fourth Grade cannot be done through slow grinding, so most Fifth Grades have actually already reached the so-called ‘Peak’.”

Shen Shuibi seemed troubled by how to explain it here, even becoming a bit incoherent.

However, after a while, she simply said: “You can understand it this way: if you Breakthrough to Fifth Grade, wouldn’t you need to stabilize your Realm?”

“Certainly,” Li Qi nodded.

“Most Fifth Grades, during this stage of stabilizing their Realm, have already raised their Cultivation to a Bottleneck. After he Breakthroughs to Fifth Grade, his first task should be to enter seclusion. After seclusion ends, his Cultivation will already have reached Fifth Grade, and there will be little difference between him and others. With no difference in Cultivation, the only things that can show a difference are weapons, Divine Abilities, and such.”

“But in Ninth Grade, you cannot do this, because you are currently in a process of accumulation, and your lifespan is urging you to quickly improve. When your Grade increases somewhat and you accumulate to a certain extent, you will find that accumulation is already a natural process, and Breakthrough requires far more than accumulation; it requires a spark of inspiration.”

Shen Shuibi was not good with words, so her explanation was messy, which troubled her greatly.

Fortunately, Li Qi was quite clever.

He clapped his hands: “Oh, I understand!”

Li Qi helped Shen Shuibi clarify: “From zero to one is an infinite increase. From one to two is a twofold increase. But from one million to one million and one thousand, it’s only a small increase, and there won’t be much difference between the two.”

“Cultivation is like this: the higher the Cultivation, the harder the percentage increase, and the harder it is to create a large gap. So, the difference in combat power has to rely on coefficients, right?”

“In the early stages, the base number is most important, because if your Cultivation base goes from one to two, you’re twice as strong as someone with one. But later on, even if you Cultivate for a thousand points, it won’t make much difference. You have to rely on coefficient bonuses.”

“Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly what I mean!” Shen Shuibi nodded repeatedly; this was what clarified her meaning.

It still took Li Qi to speak for it to be clear.

In essence, it was a relationship between base and coefficient.

Once the base was raised to a certain point, continuing to raise it became too difficult.

In the early stages, if Cultivation was ten, and there was a Divine Ability with a 10% coefficient, then combat power would be eleven, because ten increased by 10% is eleven.

Instead of acquiring such a Divine Ability, it would be better to quickly Cultivate to Cultivation twelve, which would result in stronger combat power and an increased lifespan.

But later on, if Cultivation was one million, and one Cultivated one thousand points in seclusion, it would only be one million and one thousand, a negligible increase.

However, if it was still a Divine Ability, and the coefficient was still 10%, then combat power would be one million one hundred thousand, instantly increasing combat power by one hundred thousand, which was far stronger than the one thousand gained from arduous Cultivation.

Therefore, early-stage combat power primarily relied on the base number of Cultivation, while Late Stage combat power primarily relied on coefficients like Divine Abilities.

However, at this point, Shen Shuibi reminded him: “But combat power isn’t the only pursuit. Cultivation isn’t for fighting and killing, and Cultivation can also be used in other aspects. If you constantly pursue combat power, you will go astray.”

“Yes, I naturally know that. The existence of combat power is only to ensure that one can practice their Dao, not to improve combat power for the sake of combat power,” Li Qi nodded.

Ultimately, Cultivation has a purpose.

And the path and means to achieve that purpose are your Dao.

Combat power is for self-preservation, but the purpose of your Cultivation cannot be to increase combat power.

Of course, there are also those who simply become stronger for the sake of becoming stronger, but those are generally called martial fanatics and are different from most Cultivators.

Taking Shen Shuibi as an example, among Fifth Grades, she was particularly unskilled in combat, one could even say she couldn't fight at all, but she was a highly skilled physician and alchemist, and she could still earn the respect of others.

However, Li Qi also understood in his heart that while combat power was not everything, it was indispensable.

All peace, harmony, beauty, and the act of pursuing the Dao must be built on a sufficiently strong foundation, otherwise, it would only lead to self-destruction.

The two chatted about these casual matters of Cultivation; this was probably their usual daily interaction.

They asked each other questions and learned from each other. Shen Shuibi often asked Li Qi about human affairs and various stories, while Li Qi asked more about difficulties in Cultivation.

Although the value of their topics was not quite the same, it was clear that both sides were quite happy.

Perhaps, asking questions was just an excuse.

Leaving that aside, as Li Qi and Shen Shuibi chatted while heading towards Zhenguan, suddenly, he and Shen Shuibi simultaneously looked up.

“There’s human Qi; is there a village? Didn’t they say everyone had been evacuated?” Li Qi frowned.

That General had clearly told him that Bailin Kingdom was preparing to evacuate everyone, so why would there be human Qi in such a place now?

“Not only is there human Qi, but there’s also Death Qi and Blood Qi. Oh… and Demon Qi and Military Qi; it seems like a battle is taking place,” Shen Shuibi’s perception was much sharper than Li Qi’s, so she detected more things.

“The Demon Nest really dared to launch a surprise attack? And at such a precise moment?” Li Qi frowned.

After Shen Shuibi explained the situation, he almost immediately understood what was happening there.

Military Qi, Blood Qi, Demon Qi, human Qi, Death Qi mixed together—wasn't this a battlefield?!

A large amount of human Qi indicated a large number of common people. Was Bailin Kingdom evacuating the residents here?

Were they attacked by demons during the evacuation process? Was the defending army responsible for the evacuation fighting?

Many things were said, but Li Qi’s realization happened in an instant. He made a decisive decision: “Let’s go, we’ll take a look.”

“Okay,” Shen Shuibi nodded, and then the two changed direction, rushing towards the source of the human Qi.

Before they even arrived, Li Qi had already gazed into the distance and saw the battlefield.

It was as he had expected.

Large groups of civilians were being forcibly relocated, numbering around one hundred thousand.

There was also an army of over ten thousand soldier, resisting the demons in front.

Demons, coming from who knew where, were led by two Eighth Grade demons, with dozens of Ninth Grade and tens of thousands of small demons below, howling and charging at the army.

Casualties had already begun among the civilians, and they had lost order, fleeing in all directions, disrupting the army’s formation, forcing the officers to kill to intimidate them and compel them to stay put.

The dark red earth, soaked in blood, reeked, and countless spells unleashed the unique artillery of this world.

Large numbers of war spells, amplified by Military Qi, stirred up brilliant flames and black, smoky clouds on the battlefield. Each synchronized volley made the earth tremble violently, and the lingering flames scorched the entire sky. Dense, pungent black smoke spiraled in the sky like beacon smoke.

However, the number of demons was too great, and they also had their own Military Qi above their heads, like black sacrificial oxen and green-tailed beasts, like a herd of cattle and sheep under a yurt, their Qi continuous, resembling a shuttle, dim and turbid.

This Military Qi greatly weakened the soldier’s spells, sharply reducing their lethality and range, some even being directly neutralized by the Military Qi.

Accompanied by the thunderous footsteps of the demons, the crackling of nearby stones, and piercing shrieks, these demons, under the bombardment of spells, only lost a dozen or so in number before plunging into the soldier’s positions like a sharp knife.

They slammed together with a bang.

The scene was like two clay pots filled with blood, colliding with a crisp shattering sound, splattering countless amounts of fresh blood.

The soldier and the demons officially engaged in combat.

Flesh splattered, shouts and roars filled the air, and severed limbs and broken bodies were scattered everywhere.

The front row of spear formation, they faced the charging demons directly, their spear shafts blazing with fire, thrusting forward while maintaining their formation.

The spear winds roared mercilessly in the confined battle zone, attempting to shatter the demons’ charging formation, but the demons, thick-skinned and tough-fleshed, endured the thrusts. After suffering considerable casualties, they tackled the spearmen blocking their path, throwing them to the ground, their equipment scattered.

The battle formation devolved into chaos, transforming from a direct charge into a disorderly melee.

Above the demon horde, two Eighth Grade demons stood, each employing their methods to suppress the army. Divine Abilities were unleashed continuously, but they held back some of their power, not harming the civilians.

It seemed their goal was to abduct the population.

The army had only one Eighth Grade, who struggled to maintain the Military Qi, constantly scrambling and unable to resist.

In a large-scale battle, without Military Qi as the backbone, the outcome would inevitably be a massacre. If the army’s morale collapsed, it would become a disorganized rabble, unable to form an army.

This was the difference between an army and a disorganized mob.

“We need to hurry up, otherwise these people might not be saved,” Li Qi said.

“Okay,” Shen Shuibi nodded decisively.