Chapter 20: That is?

South of the Central Plains, after traveling countless miles, lies the Shiwan Mountains. Within these mountains are hundreds of small countries that practice Shaman Dao and Gu techniques, revering thousands of deities. This region is called Baiyue.

In Baiyue, there are countless deities, and the countryside is filled with innumerable illicit shrines. The mountains have Mountain Spirits, and the waters have Water Monsters, mostly transformed from locals with some Spells, ghosts, demons, Anomolus Spirits, and such. They receive incense offerings from the local people for generations, thus becoming Mountain Gods and Water Gods.

This point is vastly different from the Central Plains, where all deities and temples are exclusively enfeoffed by the imperial court and are under government control, rather than being formed through sacrifices.

“We’ve all fled from the Central Plains to here. Could it be that the imperial court can still command Baiyue?” The delicate looking woman stood up, her expression fluctuating, and she couldn’t help but murmur to herself.

But after much thought, her expression changed several times, and she finally chose to stand up, muttering to herself, “These Shamanes are no longer the original Shamanes of Baiyue…”

“The Tang Nation imperial court governs the world with the Dao of Man, spreading it throughout the land. Even the Baiyue countries have begun to practice the Dao of Man, establishing prefectures and counties, and assigning official positions. The original temples, Shamanes, Grand Diviners, soothsayers, diviners of omens, and Invoker of various tribes are no longer the absolute controllers of Baiyue as they once were. If Tang Nation issues an order, it’s perfectly normal for Great Deer to have respondents.”

“It’s just… Ox Strength Technique, this is a Spell of the Grand Invoker. Have even the Baiyue Grand Invokers become lackeys of Tang Nation? I should go and see before drawing conclusions.” The woman paced back and forth in the temple, ultimately unable to rest easy. She voluntarily left the dilapidated temple, preparing to see for herself what was happening.

There are myriad cultivation methods in the world, but generally speaking, they are all disseminated by various Dao Orthodoxys. Although they are not strictly distinct from each other, they generally bear very distinct characteristics. If a cultivator has reached a certain Realm, they can tell at a glance where a certain method originated from and whose method it developed from.

Countless cultivation methods, when traced back to their source, are ultimately inseparable from those major Dao Orthodoxys.

The Ox Strength Technique is like this. This Spell originated from the Shaman Dao of the Baiyue Grand Invoker. It was initially formed from the desire for great strength, and it can bless one’s Physical Body with Divine Power. It is one of the most basic introductory Spells for practitioners of Shaman Dao.

Precisely because it is fundamental, this Spell is also extremely widely applied, combining defense, body strengthening, and offense into one, making it a very practical Spell.

The “Strength of Ten Thousand Beasts” that the Baiyue Grand Invoker are particularly skilled in originates from this. Besides Ox Strength, there are also hundreds of other strengths such as Tiger Strength, Elephant Strength, Eagle Strength, and Serpent Strength.

Baiyue has many gods, and most of them are Anomolus Spirits that have received incense offerings. So, initially, the Baiyue Grand Invoker traveled throughout the Shiwan Mountains, visited several hundred powerful gods who had achieved cultivation, and used various methods to ultimately gather the power of many great gods, adding blessings to form this series of Spells of Ten Thousand Beasts.

As long as it is cast, one can draw Divine Power from one of these great gods, granting the Physical Body various wondrous and miraculous divine abilities.

The origin of the Ten Thousand Beasts Spell is thus.

Because of this origin, it is impossible to accidentally cultivate this method. If one does not receive the Divine Will Legacy of a certain Invoker, then when you cast the Ten Thousand Beasts Spell, those great gods will simply ignore you. They made an agreement with the Grand Invoker in the past, and only then were they willing to lend their power. If just anyone casts it, even if all the steps are correct, it’s useless. Not only will they not be able to borrow power, but they might even suffer a backlash.

The woman stealthily infiltrated the black mist, but the black mist did not resist her at all; instead, it enveloped her tightly.

This woman secretly observed the battle of Li Qi and the others.

Li Qi and the strong man furiously eroded the black mist, reducing its volume by nearly one-third, but the black mist had no way to deal with them.

They could fight with all their might, but as soon as they showed a weakness and the black mist prepared to press its advantage, the Merchant group and A Du behind them would immediately step forward, forcing the black mist back and restarting the battle.

Li Qi and his companions could make mistakes freely and without restraint. As long as they fell into a disadvantage, their teammates behind them would immediately follow up, making them very reliable and practically invincible.

After only five or six minutes of fighting, the black mist already seemed to want to retreat.

And the woman, lurking in the black mist, cautiously watched the battle outside.

After watching for a few minutes, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“It shouldn’t be. If it really were a Grand Invoker… they wouldn’t just send such a small fry to probe.” She thought to herself.

A Grand Invoker, who controls the six misfortunes, the six prayers, performs the six incantations, distinguishes the six omens, distinguishes the nine sacrifices, distinguishes the nine bows, and wields fire and water to serve ghosts and spirits, is extremely skilled in divination and rituals. They are usually accompanied by ghosts and spirits, and are further blessed by many Divine Powers. Their strength is extraordinary, far surpassing ordinary people. If they had truly calculated her position, they should have descended directly.

Besides… a Grand Invoker wouldn’t even need to find me here. I’m just a small fry; they should be looking for the empress…

She breathed a sigh of relief, about to leave the black mist.

But at that moment, she suddenly felt a surge of danger!

What’s going on? Wasn’t that little Shaman who cast the Ox Strength Technique fighting that small beast just now? Why is he suddenly coming towards me?!

— — — — — —

Meanwhile, on Li Qi’s side.

He had been carefully observing his surroundings.

Mainly, he was watching the movements of the black mist to prevent any sneak attacks.

But halfway through his observation, he suddenly saw an extra progress bar, which read: “Observation: 1%.”

He immediately understood that the main target had arrived.

It might even be the instigator or caster of this black mist.

For example, this black mist might actually be the other party’s Spell or something similar.

In any case, someone who suddenly appears, yet remains silent and secretly hides in the black mist, is definitely not a good person!

So, Li Qi pretended to continue fighting the black mist, but suddenly changed direction and roared, “Come this way!”

The strong man heard this, knowing that this fellow must have discovered something, so without hesitation, he immediately shouted behind him, “Those behind, follow up!”

The two burly men charged in one direction, followed by a dozen strong men who were singing loudly and clanging their machetes together, creating a very chaotic scene.

Even the black mist didn’t react in time and was suddenly charged through by the crowd!

Li Qi was quick, grabbing a humanoid entity. By touch, it felt like a person, likely a woman or a child, because the skin was very soft and smooth, unlike a man’s rough skin.

Of course, some men also have very soft skin, but Li Qi was more inclined to believe he had caught a female.

“I caught it!” Li Qi shouted loudly.

Although the person in his hand was struggling, he had a massive strength of six thousand eight hundred catties, and his hands were like iron pliers. How could an ordinary person break free?

“Good!” The strong man also roared, then fiercely swung his machete at the surrounding, dispersing the surging black mist.

The black mist was about to counterattack, but the clanging of weapons immediately rang out, directly dispersing the black mist.

The black mist was powerless, and Li Qi pulled back hard, directly yanking a humanoid figure out of the black mist!