Chapter 195: Terrible Rabbit

Outside the Pagoda.

Two days had already passed.

Shen Shuibi was engrossed in drawing a Formation diagram.

Wang Baiyan, standing beside her, looked distressed: "Shen Ma Wang, the resources you're mobilizing are things that the entire Guangyang City can't afford. I had to speak to the main Family to gather so many Materials..."

"Isn't the 'Profound Gate Treasure Sea Scripture' enough? No way, is that eighth-rank expert behind you really that ignorant?" Shen Shuibi replied casually, without lifting her head.

"Enough... it's enough." As soon as this was mentioned, Wang Baiyan felt a pang of discomfort, his expression becoming even more bitter.

He was now a little unclear about the true identity of this new Ma Wang.

Wang Baiyan had investigated the methods of this new Ma Wang.

Her schemes were complex and vast, intricately linked, like orchestrating a game on a chessboard.

She only used eight hours to effortlessly seize control of the entire Xi Jiu Men, firmly grasping everything in her hands.

According to rumors, she had planted informants in every branch and every business opposite the Xi Jiu Men.

She was well aware of all conspiracies against her and constantly maintained an air of mystery, always unpredictable, yet she held knowledge of everyone's weaknesses, even upon their first meeting.

She could always grasp the crucial point in complex power struggles, and her thinking was wildly imaginative, leaving her subordinates unable to predict her next move.

Therefore, both her subordinates and enemies were constantly in a state of fear and worry.

If the difficulty of killing every person in the Xi Jiu Men was one, then completely controlling the Xi Jiu Men was at least ten.

Because not everyone was willing to be controlled; some preferred death to uphold tradition and Gang rules.

But none of this could escape her notice.

No one could forget that after she became the new Ma Wang in two hours, the Xi Jiu Men immediately launched a series of counterattacks, including power struggles, assassinations, poisoning, using tradition to depose her, inciting the lower ranks, and so on. Yet, she suffered no harm, even turning the tables, converting or destroying all her enemies, which undoubtedly proved to others the cunningness of this new Ma Wang.

Especially during conversations, she always liked to use a casual, almost accidental way of mentioning things, causing most people involved to break out in a cold sweat.

For example, when facing Wang Baiyan, she subtly mentioned the Wang Family of Sword South.

When such things happened, those 'warned' people would quickly find themselves clueless as to how this new Ma Wang knew these things, and immediately realized they had no choice but to be respectful towards her.

She seemed to possess everyone's secrets.

She would even sometimes release absurdly false information, yet these rumors would inevitably turn out to be true, as if they had been true from the start.

For instance, upon their first meeting, she said the old Ma Wang looked like he was about to die.

This instantly startled the old Ma Wang, who became enraged and wanted to kill her, but due to his overwhelming anger, he lost consciousness and collapsed before he could finish giving his orders.

No one believed the old Ma Wang simply succumbed to anger; he was an eighth-rank expert, how could he be so fragile?

This was definitely a trick of this new Ma Wang!

But no one knew how she did it. She even went to save him with a helpless expression, saying that the old Ma Wang's cultivation method had gone awry, hurting his heart meridians the more he practiced, and suggested he submit to her, offering to help improve it.

This was clearly a threat!

Countless people found that their weaknesses and vulnerabilities had already been seen through by her, and the only path to liberation had long been locked.

And the key—was in her hands.

She played everyone like puppets.

This was a terrifying woman.

Wang Baiyan had deeply understood the terrifying nature of this person, so her words made him feel a pang of discomfort.

When did she know that an eighth-rank expert from the main Family had arrived?

Did the Grain Alliance also have her informants?!

What else did she know?

Wang Baiyan didn't know any of this. The only thing he knew was the unfathomable and unpredictable nature of this new Ma Wang.

She was truly unpredictable; you could never grasp whether she trusted you, liked you, or disliked you.

Most of the time, she was extremely indifferent to everyone, but occasionally she would suddenly bestow a generous gift upon someone, such as an advanced cultivation method or guidance on a long-standing dilemma, which were immense favors, capable of changing a life... or even the fate of a Family.

How many generations would a Family have to strive for a better cultivation method?

But now, she casually threw it away.

Yet sometimes, she would become extremely irritable, especially when her eyes turned red. Many people suffered because of this; although they weren't beheaded, they lost their positions.

Don't assume that if she gives you a cultivation method, it means she values you. When you presumptuously try to flatter her, she will most likely give you a cold look, perhaps not even remembering who you are.

Unpredictable, yet controlling the whole situation, knowing countless people's secrets, as if her spies and scouts were by everyone's side.

You don't even know if your friends, brothers, or even your wife are monitoring you; are they obeying this new Ma Wang?

Because many things were clearly known only by the most intimate people.

But this new Ma Wang also knew them, and would softly speak them, startling people.

Hard to understand, impossible to describe.

What kind of person would do such a thing?

But Wang Baiyan only dared to keep these thoughts to himself.

Before this new Ma Wang, he could only reply with a bitter smile: "Shen Ma Wang, the price is enough... but to transport things from Tang Nation to Baiyue, we have to bypass many informants in many places. Slowly, it might be fine, but now you need it urgently, which is beyond my capabilities. It's not something that can be done just because the price is enough..."

"Then send as much as you can," Shen Shuibi replied without lifting her head.

"That's natural. It just needs two more days. You need it so urgently, even I can't do anything about it," Wang Baiyan complained.

"Good," Shen Shuibi said concisely.

Seeing that the other party agreed readily and was still engrossed in her work, Wang Baiyan said no more and respectfully retreated.

That day, Shen Shuibi was busy with matters here, specifically the Formation diagram she was drawing.

This Formation could bypass the Pagoda's blockade and contact Li Qi inside.

The most urgent task was to restore contact with Li Qi, so Shen Shuibi basically put aside all other matters. She even paused her deduction of the Yang Spirit cultivation method restoration and fully dedicated herself to developing this Formation diagram.

Somehow, without Li Qi by her side, she felt terribly anxious.

She used to be alone, after all.

However, the rabbit had never realized that, in fact, she wasn't alone before.

When she was in Luofu Grotto Heaven, no matter if she was alone or not, she always had a sense of security.

She knew that the empress was always watching her, and Yang Ning could always find her no matter what.

So, having been at Mount Luofu since birth, even when she was alone, she wasn't afraid and felt very relaxed in her heart.

But now it was different.

Mount Luofu was gone.

The empress was no longer there.

Yang Ning had also gone to a very distant place.

Previously, Li Qi was still by her side, helping her solve many, many problems.

But now, Li Qi was also gone.

Shen Shuibi encountered this situation for the first time since her birth.

For the first time, truly alone.

Therefore, her heart was filled with an inexplicable anxiety, a desperate desire to re-establish contact.

Fortunately, she still maintained her basic Dao Heart and understood what needed to be done at this moment.

She still had a way to contact Li Qi, through a method that Chan Zhi would never think of, bypassing the blockade of Chan Zhi's Pagoda.

So, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

— — — — — — — —

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Qi was also engaged in strenuous mental labor every day.

He was also pondering how to establish contact with the outside world.

In fact, after two full days, he had already figured out a way.

The next step was implementation. Currently, he was under Chan Zhi's nose and couldn't do anything that would arouse suspicion, otherwise, things could easily go wrong.

Chan Zhi was very kind to him, but Li Qi dared not be presumptuous.

His life was important.

Another ten hours passed, and Li Qi finished analyzing the third Demonic Overlord, named the Violent Devil.

Like the Lustful Heart Devil, the Violent Devil also manifested a 'tendency' in one's mindset.

It was the 'tendency' of a mindset to gradually shift from order towards disorder.

Even the best patience would gradually wear away, and anger would only grow, accumulating more and more, eventually needing an explosion to subside.

Li Qi had already analyzed three Demonic Overlords, and these three Demonic Overlords all shared this commonality.

They all represented a kind of tendency...

No, not represented; they were the tendency itself.

These Demonic Overlords naturally existed within all thinking, intelligent beings.

This was... a Heaven of Others’ Emanations Kin?

According to Chan Zhi, what he devoured were the kin of the Heaven of Others’ Emanations Son Devil, commonly known as Heaven of Others’ Emanations Kin.

These Demonic Overlords could hinder human goodness, envy the methods of sages, and cause various disturbances. They most liked to sneak into the hearts of cultivators, devour their Dao Heart, become part of their demonic thoughts, and ultimately completely destroy the cultivator's Dao Heart, causing them to fall into the Demonic Dao.

Moreover, these were merely kin.

The true Heaven of Others’ Emanations was terrifying beyond compare, not simply a ninth-rank being.

According to what Li Qi read in books, the Heaven of Others’ Emanations's minions were spread throughout the myriad realms, forming a vast and terrifying force.

But none of that concerned Li Qi now. Heaven of Others’ Emanations were very rare in the world; it was said that a great power had expelled them, causing them to only run rampant in the outer realms now.

As for the method to resolve the Violent Devil, Li Qi developed it shortly after completing the Demonic Overlord analysis. It was also a Shaman Dao balance method, using the accumulation of Winter King's Qi to purify the mind and suppress violence.

Then, he once again went up to the fifth floor to perform a Dao demonstration for Chan Zhi.

Chan Zhi, of course, smiled and waited for him, presenting him with a brand new bed, bedding, and some food.

These were all things Li Qi had requested earlier, saying he wanted something to eat and a bed to sleep on.

Chan Zhi probably thought these were very normal requests, so he prepared them for Li Qi.

After the performance, Li Qi exchanged a few pleasantries with Chan Zhi, then carried the bed downstairs and set it up in the center of the second floor.

Then, he obediently lay on the bed and went to sleep.

At this moment, Chan Zhi's mind should be entirely focused on experimenting with the new method.

However, Chan Zhi, who was unfamiliar with Shaman Dao, would never have guessed.

A bed was also a type of altar.

It even had its own specific deity, just like the household god and kitchen god. As the saying goes, "Buy candy to welcome the Kitchen God, pour water to worship the Bed Lord," all speaking of the bed's wonder.

The Dao of Shaman Dao had numerous and wondrous methods, always catching people off guard.

This was a characteristic of Shaman Dao; no one else could learn it.

Li Qi placed the bed in the center of the second floor, with the head of the bed facing north. This also had its significance; the center of the room was the 'Five Yellow' of the Luo Shu, which was the revered position of the Nine Palaces.

This was called 'holding up the four corners, the four directions are one with the bed.'

Originally, the bed should face east or south. This was called "sleeping always facing east, meaning sleeping in accordance with Life Qi." The 'Family Sayings' states: "The living face south, the dead face north."

All these arrangements were to make this altar more inclined towards the 'Yin' aspect.

This way, Li Qi could achieve what he wanted.

That is, Soul Emergence, and even attract ghost messengers!

He wanted to attempt a Soul Emergence beyond the heavens with his ninth-rank cultivation!

Normally, doing so would be certain death, because going beyond the heavens presented three main problems.

Firstly, the soul leaving the Physical Body itself would lead to death. Only the Yin Spirit of the Dao Sect and the Golden Body of the Divine Path could leave the body. Shaman Dao did not have this technique; forcibly leaving the Physical Body would definitely result in death.

Secondly, the soul needed to resist various dangers outside the realm. A soul separated from the body was extremely fragile and would be severely damaged by a gust of wind. Only a few Dao paths could resist this: the Yin Spirit was not afraid of wind, the Yang Spirit was not afraid of fire, and the Golden Body was not afraid of external stimuli. After reaching the Yang Spirit stage, one could freely roam spiritually, and external forces could not harm the soul.

The soul of a Shaman was very fragile and would be injured by even slight stimulation.

Thirdly, one needed to find a way to locate oneself.

If one got lost in the outer realms, they probably wouldn't be able to return for a lifetime.

If lucky, they might find another miniature heaven and earth to stay in, and then slowly figure out how to locate the world. If unlucky, they would just drift in the outer realms until death.

The outer realm scenes Li Qi saw were the type that looked vast but were impossibly far, like 'running a horse to death just looking at the mountain.' Li Qi estimated the distances to be in light-years; even flying at the speed of a soul, one would never reach it in a lifetime.

But precisely because doing so would lead to death, Chan Zhi would not be on guard.

He had confined Li Qi's Physical Body, and Li Qi's soul couldn't escape either, which made him feel at ease.

Li Qi had also honestly helped him resolve demonic thoughts for the past two days, using Shaman Dao and True Knowledge Dao Resonance to help him resist the Demonic Overlords.

In Li Qi's opinion, this monk probably wouldn't think he would actually risk his life to go out.

And even if he guessed, Li Qi still had to try.

Trying didn't cost anything. He had already demonstrated his value these past two days, and Chan Zhi wouldn't easily kill him.

Li Qi was also confident he wouldn't die.

Because he still had a trump card.

He now had a Family shrine from tens of thousands of households.

Those one hundred thousand commoners, some had devoutly prayed for Li Qi and erected shrines to worship him, thanking their benefactor!

Li Qi was preparing for Soul Emergence beyond the heavens, sacrificing himself as a god!

With the prayers of these commoners, he could use Divine Path methods to temporarily form a Golden Body for himself, resisting external dangers.

Then, using the prayers of those commoners, he would locate the world again and contact Shen Shuibi.

At that time, everything would be easy to discuss.

This was Li Qi's plan.

It was a case of good deeds being rewarded. If Li Qi hadn't helped, he certainly wouldn't have this trump card now.

But if he hadn't helped, perhaps Chan Zhi wouldn't have touched him at all.

Every action has its consequence, who can say for sure?