Chapter 175: Follow-up

In fact, just like a Ninth-grade Martial Artist is called an ‘Innate Martial Artist’, the internal names for cultivation Realms in various cultivation methods, Schools, and Dao Orthodoxy are all quite different.

For example, Li Qi knows that the cultivation Realm divisions for traditional Dao Orthodoxy are as follows:

During the unranked period, it is divided into the initial Heart Seed Realm, which is the condensation of a heart seed, allowing one to sense believers.

Then comes the Incense Realm, where one can formally accept worship and incense.

After continuously accumulating incense, a Golden Body is shaped. Once the Golden Body is complete, it signifies formally stepping into the Ninth-grade, which they call the ‘Golden Body Realm’.

Following that are the Body Arrival Realm, the Mountains and Rivers Realm, the Oneness Realm, and the Spirit Soul Realm.

Upon reaching the Spirit Soul Realm, one is considered to have advanced to the Eighth-grade.

Li Qi’s Dao is actually similar; each time he finishes condensing a type of inner body spirits, his cultivation is considered to have advanced a Realm. The book briefly refers to these as the Five Mountains, Four Rivers, Sun and Moon, and Nascent Soul periods. The order of these four Realms is not fixed; you can advance in any order, but you must complete all of them.

Martial Dao also has five Realms: Skin Refining, Bone Refining, Tendon Refining, Muscle Refining, and Organ Refining. Only after completing all of these is one considered an ‘Innate Martial Artist,’ which is the Ninth-grade. After that, there are three Realms: Intent Refining, Heart Refining, and Spirit Refining. Then, one further tempers the Martial Dao Divine Intent, advancing to the Eighth-grade, and can be called ‘Divine Intent and Heart-Body Unity’.

Under heaven, there are countless Dao, countless methods, and countless such Realm distinctions. To truly unify and convert them one by one would be absolutely exhausting.

Therefore, there were Great Powers who unified all Dao into a single standard, dividing them into First to Ninth-grade. This act was called ‘Standardizing the World’.

One can imagine how difficult this act was.

To create a convincing standard, the first point was to understand the divisions of almost all Dao and Realms, to know why they were divided that way, and then to find the commonalities among all Dao at different Realms throughout the world.

With commonalities, there was a prerequisite for unified division. It’s unknown how much time the Great Power who did this spent to statistically analyze all Dao in the world and find the commonalities between different Realms and Dao.

However, since then, the world has had the Ninth-grade classification system.

Within your own Dao Orthodoxy, you can call it whatever you want, but when you are out and about and encounter someone with a different Realm division, it’s better to have a unified international standard for easier communication.

But clearly, for some lower-level cultivators, the Ninth-grade classification system itself is already an unknown secret.

What is common knowledge to Li Qi is an unreachable secret to these people.

The disparity in the world is truly that vast.

After communicating with this Water God, the other party tremblingly memorized Shen Shuibi’s Aura, then bowed to Li Qi, took the reward, and submerged into the water, using mountains and rivers to transmit the message.

Li Qi put away the severed finger and carefully put it away.

This item could be said to be the most valuable thing on Li Qi’s entire body—a body part of a Fifth-grade existence, something no one would believe if he told them, and it also held very important significance for Li Qi.

Every time he saw this finger, he would recall the despair and powerlessness he felt that day facing the Curse Demon Great King and the Bear Kill Great King.

Having finished this matter, Li Qi flipped onto his horse again and said to the old horse, “Let’s go, we’ll continue our journey.”

The old horse snorted, accelerated again, and headed towards the Guangyang Prefect’s residence in Guangyang City.

— — — — — — — —

A few hours later.

Day broke.

Li Qi squatted on the field ridge in the city outskirts, watching the morning sun rise, his brows tightly furrowed, his expression grave.

The old horse was gnawing on tender leaves nearby, occasionally turning its head to glance at Li Qi, finding him still squatting motionlessly like a wooden stake, so it continued to raise its head and nibble on the newly grown tender leaves on the tree.

As for why Li Qi had become like this…

It has to start from last night.

Last night, Li Qi visited the Guangyang Prefect.

He learned that the Guangyang Prefect had returned to the capital to report on his duties.

Then he turned to find Guangyang Situ, who was in charge of taxation and organizing production.

Guangyang Situ was indeed there, but he didn’t even speak to Li Qi, directly throwing Li Qi out.

Then, he had the doorkeeper relay a message, telling Li Qi that the White Rhinoceros Army’s commander had defied orders on the battlefield and disregarded military commands, and had been dismissed from his post and was currently awaiting trial in prison. He told Li Qi to relay the message for the White Rhinoceros Army to immediately withdraw and encamp in Guangyang, as Guangyang City had its own military provisions.

Immediately, he treated Li Qi as a messenger for the White Rhinoceros Army and issued new military orders to the White Rhinoceros Army, telling them to abandon the common people and immediately rush back to Guangyang City.

If the White Rhinoceros Army’s military provisions were only for themselves, they would definitely be enough to get back to Guangyang City.

Li Qi was again denied an audience and could only retreat, coming outside the city. He squatted from evening until now, until the sun rose, without changing his posture.

Until a farmer came out to hoe weeds and loosen soil, and saw the old horse gnawing on the tender leaves of his jujube tree.

“You, over there! What are you doing!?” The old farmer rushed over, driving away the old horse.

The old horse whinnied twice, and Li Qi quickly stood up, “Excuse me, Uncle, I didn’t watch my horse well. Here’s compensation!”

Saying that, Li Qi quickly handed over a few copper coins, getting the upper hand and suppressing the other party’s Aura.

Then, after a good deal of apologies, he led the old horse away.

The old horse, however, looked unconvinced.

He only nibbled on tender leaves, not flower buds; he had already shown enough Face!

Li Qi could only smile bitterly, then let out a long sigh.

After a night of contemplation, he had a clear understanding of the situation in Guangyang City.

Guangyang City, no… it might even be Guangyang Prefecture of Bailin Kingdom, had ordered the abandonment of all common people near the Pass.

Therefore, when he first encountered that army with a commander, they didn’t have any common people with them, because they had all abandoned them!

The White Rhinoceros Army had indeed protected some common people, but it was clear that the White Rhinoceros Army’s commander had personally gone to Guangyang City for this, seeking permission from the chief official to allow them to bring the common people along.

However, this move was not approved; instead, he was directly stripped of his position and imprisoned.

After that, it was the events Li Qi encountered.

The general sequence of events was deduced, but Li Qi didn’t understand, what was the purpose of doing this?

Could Guangyang City truly not support those hundreds of thousands of common people? Impossible. Guangyang City definitely had enough grain, and as for land, they could just let them reclaim wasteland.

There might not be many cultivated fields, but wasn’t there plenty of wasteland?

Since they could support them, why didn’t they accept them?

Moreover, judging by Guangyang City’s military preparations, they were not lacking in strength. The Pass was entirely defensible for them, so why abandon it? On what grounds?

Ultimately, for what purpose did Guangyang Prefecture choose to abandon the common people outside the Pass? Furthermore, if a general wanted to rescue the common people, he was directly stripped of his position and imprisoned.

This indicates that they had zero tolerance for aiding the common people.

Li Qi couldn’t figure out why Guangyang Prefecture would act this way.

There was no reason.

This was the point Li Qi found most incomprehensible, but all that didn’t matter anymore. Since the official channels were blocked, Li Qi had to first find a way to solve the temporary food problem, and then the long-term survival problem.

He could also choose not to solve it, and just abandon those hundreds of thousands of people, similar to the attitude of the Guangyang City government.

However, it was clear that Li Qi couldn’t do that.

He didn’t necessarily have to desperately do this, but he had to try. What was wrong with trying?

So, Li Qi led the old horse and entered Guangyang City again. This time, he didn’t go to any government office, but instead headed to a large restaurant.

He didn’t eat there; he just went outside the restaurant and watched the delivery people.

It was early morning now; he had stayed outside the city all night, and the sun had just risen, with a thin mist still in the sky. It was the time of cockcrow; the entire city hadn’t fully woken up yet, but some people had already started working.

The first to start working were the delivery people.

Every day, various restaurants, pleasure boats, and large mansions would receive fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat to supply the day’s business.

Li Qi planned to see where these delivery people came from and locate Guangyang City’s grain and vegetable distribution center.

This was not difficult; grain distribution centers were inherently public, and even nearby residents would go in to buy groceries.

Through these grain merchants who delivered goods, Li Qi quickly found this place.

Guangyang City’s grain distribution center.

Over a hundred thousand piculs of grain gathered here. The daily throughput here alone was enough for all the grain Li Qi needed.

Of course, that was based on the premise of the entire Guangyang City going hungry for one day.

However, with good regulation, demand could be met without affecting anyone.

Li Qi squatted by the roadside, watching grain continuously being transported in and out of the distribution center.

Finally, he found a sufficiently large grain convoy.

Sufficiently large—this was very important.

Then, he began to follow this grain convoy, wanting to see where the grain of these convoys came from.

According to the Baiyue customs and traditions Li Qi was familiar with, these grain convoys were backed by Gangs or interest groups that did this business.

These groups, centered around cultivation methods, coalesced into a single entity, then submitted to a higher-tier group, escalating layer by layer until they reached the level of true cultivators, at which point they finally dispersed and formed another social structure.

Therefore, as long as he could trace back layer by layer, he should be able to find the ultimate origin of Guangyang City’s grain.

Once he found that, he would then figure out a way to negotiate with the other party to solve the grain problem.

This was Li Qi’s idea, so he was currently following the grain convoy.

However, as he walked, he left the city, turned past several rivers, bypassed several mountains, and suddenly, the grain convoy stopped.

A burly man stepped out from inside, came to the back of the convoy, cupped his hands, and said, “May I ask who this hero is? Why do you keep following us? Have you lost your livelihood, or do you harbor ill intentions?”

“If you’ve lost your livelihood, we’re all in the Jianghu, and it’s not easy for anyone. Here are ten gold coins as a road toll, for our brothers to buy wine. Let’s go our separate ways in peace.”

“If you harbor ill intentions, my Jinlang Sect is not to be trifled with! You are welcome to try!”

As he spoke, he took out a bag of gold with one hand, and with the other, he fiercely drew the scimitar from his waist, unleashing a blade wind that directly split a large rock by the roadside in half, its power considerable.

Li Qi was somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected to be discovered.

Although he was following openly at the moment, in reality, his miniature heaven and earth and the external Great World were harmoniously integrated, subtly giving a feeling of being one with all of nature. His own Aura was greatly diminished; while not invisible, as long as he concealed his figure well, it should be very difficult to detect him through sensing his Aura.

At least Li Qi thought this group of people couldn’t do it.

But, he was actually discovered.

Li Qi frowned and walked out, “Gentlemen, I mean no harm.”

The middle-aged strong man saw Li Qi walk out on his own, and that he was alone, and visibly relaxed. He cupped his hands and said, “Hero, you’ve been following us for at least two quarters of an hour. Such a statement might not be easily believed.”

“My Jinlang Sect does legitimate business. Although we don’t have much entanglement with friends in the Jianghu, we once had a couple of drinks with the Black Mountain Bees. We all understand the rules, so there’s no need to hide, hero.”

Li Qi’s expression was awkward, and he coughed, “Cough, cough, I really am not a highway robber. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you.”

With that, Li Qi extended his hand and pointed gently forward.

Suddenly, two golden lines instantly circled the entire convoy several times.

In just one breath, the golden lines advanced a full five li, circling the nearby woods and rocks around the convoy two or three times.

The golden lines solidified in the air, shining brightly and splendidly.

Then, the source of the golden lines flew back into Li Qi’s body.

Before others could react, another breath of time passed, and the golden lines slowly receded, vanishing without a trace.

A rumbling, cracking sound came, and around them, trees fell in swathes, rocks shattered all over the mountains, and even the cliff Face bore a blade mark.

It was as if someone had drawn a circle nearby, and then this circle expanded outwards.

Everything within this circle was cut in half, the cuts as smooth as a mirror.

Trees toppled, giant rocks split apart, chickens and dogs scattered everywhere, a heap of small animals fled in all directions, escaping deeper into the forest. Startled birds flew from the woods, snakes, insects, rats, and ants panicked, and various small beasts were terrified.

Of course, not just small beasts.

Humans were the same.

The man who had been speaking “Jianghu talk” so confidently earlier plopped to his knees.

But his expression remained unchanged, and he immediately shouted loudly and powerfully, “Senior’s benevolence! This junior is impressed. Whatever you command, I dare not disobey! It is our honor to serve Senior!”

Li Qi’s toes curled in embarrassment.

He wasn’t used to ordering people around solely based on power.

So he walked out, “No need for this. I was just following because I didn’t want to show myself. How did you all discover me? I should have hidden my Aura.”

The strong man said admiringly, “Senior, you don’t know, my Jinlang Sect’s cultivation method can observe a person’s life force. Although Senior did not leak your Aura, your life force is strong, like a blazing sun, difficult to look at directly, like the light of a bright moon in a dark night sky. It truly cannot be concealed!”

Li Qi felt his heart twitch.