Chapter 280: Civil War

Upon seeing the other party, Li Qi was somewhat surprised.

He… was wearing armor?

No, it couldn't be called armor; no armor could wrap so tightly; that was clearly skin!

Unlike the skin of any Sacred Flame Clan member Li Qi had ever seen, his carapace formed an armor-like appearance.

If ordinary Sacred Flame Clan members merely had plain black or red carapaces, his carapace had proliferated countless frills and extensions, providing more rigorous protection without hindering movement.

Moreover, the color was different; his skin was pristine white and gleaming, with only the edges appearing to be inlaid with an extremely thin black trim, the rest being pure white, without a single scratch, and extremely tightly sewn.

Li Qi looked at the other party's body, sensing a suppressed atmosphere.

Watching him sitting in a wheelchair, listening to the clicking sounds he made, scenes flashed before Li Qi's eyes.

The scene was like this:

"Twilight descended, the air after the rain was filled with a warm scent, the spice ashes in the stove grew cold, more and more mountains and rivers were drawn on the map, military dispatches reporting the enemy's defeat lay on the table, and peace treaties from other monarchs willing to pay annual tribute to prevent the blade of war from descending upon their lands."

Was this… the experience of an Ancient Holy King?

This Sixth-Rank Realm Lord seemed to be caught in some memory himself.

Li Qi found that his Sacred Flame Clan body, which he had manifested, inevitably followed him, wanting to sink into such memories, and he received a large amount of information!

This information came from the sounds the other party emitted.

Was this the Sacred Flame Clan's resonance?

This Ancient Holy King was attempting to resonate with him, pulling him into the same vortex of thoughts.

If it were another Sacred Flame Clan member, it would likely be difficult to resist such resonance.

Fortunately, no matter what, this body was merely conjured by Shen Shuibi's spell, so Li Qi was not too affected.

But the Sacred Flame Clan member beside him, named Lila, was stunned.

Not just the Sacred Flame Clan member named Lila, but the entire sanatorium, it seemed all Sacred Flame Clan members had fallen into some profound emotion.

With this resonance, a 'tick' sound occurred.

In front of this Ancient Holy King, a wisp of golden flame ignited.

It had no temperature, nor was it fire, but a pure aggregation of Divine Qi.

This… was Sacred Flame?

Li Qi looked at this object, slightly beckoned, and drew the Sacred Flame into his hand for observation.

This was the first time he had seen a true Sacred Flame.

At this moment, Shen Shuibi suddenly waved her hand, and a soundless zone instantly appeared around them.

This was a soundproof barrier; no sound could escape outside.

This directly caused the resonance to be cut off.

The Sacred Flame Clan members outside remained in resonance; they could not resist the resonance initiated by the Ancient Holy King, and since it had begun, it was difficult to stop, only ending when it ran its course.

And the Holy King's influence on the outside world was also severed.

Therefore, during this period, aside from Li Qi, Shen Shuibi, and the Holy King, no one in the sanatorium remained conscious.

"You noticed?" Li Qi looked at the Sacred Flame Clan's Ancient Holy King with some surprise.

As expected of a Sixth-Rank; even so severely injured, his mind was still very clear. He was still wondering how to speak, and the Holy King had already seen through the Fifth-Rank illusion.

Oh, no, he hadn't seen through it; he had deduced it.

The Holy King stopped resonating and looked at Li Qi, asking in a hoarse voice, "You disguised yourselves very well, but there was a tiny flaw."

"What?" Li Qi was curious; normally, he shouldn't have been able to detect the difference between him and the Sacred Flame Clan members.

Shen Shuibi's illusion had no flaws for them.

"Your demeanor… your bodies are straight. This place was built in the pure Immortal style. Current Sacred Flame Clan members coming to such a place cannot hold their heads high," the Holy King vibrated his wings, making a sound.

A simple answer, yet it left Li Qi silent for a long while.

Thinking about it carefully, it was true.

It was like someone who had always lived in a rural wooden thatched hut, who firmly believed his place was backward, and that the small Western-style houses where the city folks returned from abroad lived were for the noble.

Then one day, he suddenly came to that luxuriously decorated small Western-style house, and he would most likely not be able to hold his head high.

His and Shen Shuibi's nonchalant demeanor was indeed a flaw.

Hmm, note that down; it might be useful later.

After all, Li Qi had no infiltration experience; he had never been a spy before, so a slight oversight was quite normal.

As for Shen Shuibi, she was purely an idle player; Li Qi told her what to do, and how to arrange, plan, and strategize were all Li Qi's matters.

After all, everyone has their specialty; she truly wasn't good at these things.

"Indeed, that was an oversight. As expected of a Realm Lord, you can detect it even with almost all your senses lost. Truly keen," Li Qi praised, then pulled over a stool and sat in front of the other party.

Then, Li Qi said, "However, such vigilance is useless. This world of yours, so precious, has already become an endless, shapeless ruin; the corrupt gangrene has spread to a degree your scepter cannot heal."

"I am not very vigilant; it's purely that you are too relaxed… You never intended to hide much, did you? This… should I call you an Immortal, or something else? What do you want to do by telling me this?" The Holy King's voice was low.

He could tell.

The two people in front of him were completely careless about their disguise, as if being discovered was no big deal.

In reality, it was indeed so.

Li Qi didn't care about being discovered because Shen Shuibi had the ability to handle everything after discovery.

Besides, ordinary people wouldn't be able to discover it anyway.

"I am not the Immortal you speak of; you should be able to tell that I am not with them," Li Qi said, sitting.

"You are not with them, but your goals are the same; you are both coveting this world," the Holy King directly pointed out Li Qi's objective.

"Not with them, yet having the same goal, this means I am their competitor, an object you can use," Li Qi smiled.

"Use for what? Will it make a difference to me no matter who wins? Am I supposed to choose a master for this world?" The Holy King retorted calmly.

Li Qi smiled, looked at the Holy King, stood up, and pointed to the time outside: "Hmm… of course there's a difference. Let me put it this way, Holy King, have you seen the changes in this world? They don't just want this world; they are here to spread their Dao."

"You see, all your things are changing, even your aesthetics are changing. With the Immortals' abilities, you will, after a dozen generations, even look like Immortals."

"This is the power of spreading the Dao. The change of Dao will produce this power. Your philosophy will be modified, your labor will create a form for your Dao, and the Dao will simultaneously create a form for your labor. While you think you are enjoying the Immortal's Dao, you are actually just its slave."

"As long as those Immortals succeed, there will be no more Sacred Flame Clan. They will flow with Sacred Flame Clan blood, but from their hearts, they will have completely become the Immortals' kin."

Li Qi pointed to the city outside and said so.

The city here had already begun to be rebuilt.

They wanted to tear down their earthen houses and replace them with beautiful Western-style houses.

This was 'spreading the Dao'.

"I know, so what?" The Holy King's voice became cold.

He knew everything Li Qi said. At first, he hadn't fully understood, but now it was very clear.

"Therefore, my goal is different from theirs. They want to spread their Dao, and I merely seek wealth," Li Qi smiled. "I have no interest whatsoever in making you a part of them. In fact, I'm just here to sell something."

"I can provide you with the foundation for resistance: weapons, equipment, cultivation methods, and even their weaknesses, intelligence, and so on and so forth."

"All of this, you can exchange for Sacred Flame. What do you think, Holy King?"

Li Qi turned around, looked at the Holy King, and said in a gentle and enticing tone.

Shen Shuibi turned her head and glanced at Li Qi.

A bit strange; this wasn't what they had agreed upon. Had Li Qi changed his mind?

But… well, he was better at this kind of thing. It should be fine to let him handle it, right?

"Can I refuse?" the Holy King replied in a muffled voice, his wings vibrating lightly, as if in contempt of Li Qi.

"Of course, you can." Li Qi spread his hands.

"Then I refuse." The Holy King's choice was very decisive.

"I'm truly sorry for disturbing you. Well then, please enjoy your retirement." Li Qi was also very straightforward, bowing slightly, then turning to leave.

However, he had only taken two steps when he turned back: "Oh, right, I can't just take this wisp of Sacred Flame from you for nothing."

"Yu, heal his eyes. This is a suitable price," Li Qi said.

Upon hearing this, Shen Shuibi didn't say much. After all, it was just healing his eyes, not healing all his injuries.

So the rabbit observed the other party's injuries.

The other party's injuries were not ordinary; they were Dao injuries. Someone had used their magical power to engrave their Great Dao onto his body.

This directly caused the Sacred Flame Clan Holy King's Cultivation Base to be completely废废. Whenever he tried to circulate his own power, he would be interfered with by this other Great Dao engraving.

The Great Dao engraving would operate according to the way it was originally inscribed, forcing the injured person's power to only circulate according to its own method.

The Dao, externally, is the rule by which all things operate.

Your Cultivation Base must operate according to the method of this Great Dao engraving, otherwise, a 'Dao conflict' will arise.

There are two solutions: either completely destroy this engraving, leaving only your own Dao.

Or, surrender to the other party's Great Dao engraving, changing your internal cultivation method to theirs.

If stuck in the middle, the outcome is that the Cultivation Base becomes ineffective, no different from being crippled.

It's a very common tactic.

Because when conflicts reach a certain level, 'injuries' do not exist for high-level Cultivators.

For example, Li Qi's Retrospection Divine Talisman can even retrospect the flow of time. Do you still expect physical or Spirit Soul injuries to be effective?

They are truly Immortal.

All injuries must directly affect the other party's Great Dao, crushing their Great Dao to cause actual harm.

Of course, Sixth-Rank is still far from this stage.

Therefore… Shen Shuibi could guess that this was the purpose of the person who inflicted this Great Dao engraving: he wanted to force this Holy King to surrender.

As long as this Holy King honestly comprehended this engraving and then changed his cultivation method and Cultivation Base to that of the Immortals, this engraving would not only cease to be an injury but would instead become a benefit.

The person who left the engraving… was a Fifth-Rank.

Quite interesting, it was a Metal-element cultivation method, a Divine Dao method, a rare type.

Diagnosis concluded.

It wasn't very difficult.

She lightly flicked her finger, and a wisp of moonlight flashed by.

With a 'ding' sound, a portion of the Great Dao engraving on the Holy King's body was directly shattered.

He let out a sound of profound shock because a small part of the mark that had been binding him had shattered. This small part happened to be the one that had obscured his eight eyes.

His eight compound eyes recovered, and the surrounding scene became clear; he could even clearly see dust particles flowing in the air.

Sacred Flame Clan members are not sensitive to colors, but their dynamic vision is excellent, being compound eyes after all.

However, when he began to observe his surroundings with his compound eyes…

The two people who claimed to be historians had disappeared.

He hadn't noticed when they left, not even a trace, even after his vision recovered.

These two… were also Immortals.

But from another faction of… Immortals.

The Holy King fell silent, stopping all sounds and movements.

Thinking, he needed to think.

This was not a decision to be made lightly.

— — — — — — — — — —

Meanwhile, on the other side.

On the streets of the Sacred Flame Clan's hometown, which was this city, the two were strolling along.

Still maintaining their Sacred Flame Clan forms, they looked like an ordinary couple.

To be honest, walking on the street, aside from being very backward and the lack of widespread extraordinary powers and Spiritual Artifacts, Li Qi and Shen Shuibi felt like they were still in their own world.

Anyway, the architectural styles were quite similar, and the aesthetic styles were extremely close, with only occasional places showing Sacred Flame Clan aesthetics.

The Sacred Flame Clan's Dao had already been defeated and eroded to the brink of collapse by the Dao from their world.

Yet it had only been a hundred years, which was only two generations for the Sacred Flame Clan members.

Walking on the street, Shen Shuibi looked at this world, which was very new to her, and asked, "Li Qi, how come it's not what we agreed upon? Have you changed your mind?"

"No, the established goal is still the same, just a different approach," Li Qi said with a smile.

"How so? Didn't we say we were going to establish an organization and then mine resources for profit?" Shen Shuibi asked, tilting her head.

"That's for later. We can't do that now. Look, someone has already gotten a head start. We're here to poach. Being able to interfere with matters outside the domain indicates that there's at least a Fifth-Rank great power behind this, so we still need to be careful."

"Therefore, I plan to incite a civil war first," Li Qi said.