Chapter 348: Searched the house by order

Li Qi was stunned as he looked at the item handed to him.

What was that…?

What?

It seemed to be a jade pendant, carved with some profound runes, seemingly a Formation symbolizing extreme Yin, but only half of it.

Li Qi’s knowledge was limited; he couldn’t identify exactly what it was.

Yang Ning said, “It’s her Immortal Cave key. She still has a lot of luggage to pack. Since you two are already like this, it doesn’t matter if I give it to you. Go help her pack the remaining useful things.”

Li Qi stared at the jade pendant but didn’t reach out to take it.

What… did this mean?

Letting him take her belongings…?

In other words, was she going to let the rabbit stay with him permanently?

Then, Mount Luofu… could she still return? Would it be like spilled water, impossible to retrieve?

Li Qi didn’t want this, because he knew that if it truly came to that, the rabbit would definitely be very sad.

“Don’t make that face. She can come back anytime. That Immortal Cave has always been hers, and don’t you dare expect me to give her to you. No matter what, she will always be my sister.” Yang Ning looked at Li Qi with disgust.

“I’m just asking you to pack her things so she’ll be more comfortable staying with you.”

Li Qi relaxed: “So that’s it. I understand then. Leave it to me. Oh, this is just a key, no address…”

Yang Ning said, “You’ve been to the Immortal Cave where Mount Luofu is temporarily residing. Someone there will guide you. Anyway, it’s just packing things. Not many people have this key. They’ll know when they see it.”

Then, she got up: “Since it’s settled, I’ll leave first. It takes a lot of time to go to the outer domain. Besides, there’s nothing much to talk about with you. Getting her location is enough.”

After Yang Ning finished speaking, her body transformed into Sacred Flame and soared away.

What a free-spirited person.

Just a bit bad-tempered.

However… Li Qi weighed it.

This was also good.

He held the key but didn’t set off.

There was still something to do.

That village needed a sacrifice.

Although there were no survivors, it was… a reminder to himself.

He arrived at the ruins of that village.

He hadn’t killed the Li family village, yet over a thousand people from the Li family village had died because of him.

Today, how many people were being threatened by those errand-runners because of a casual command from him?

Influence.

His existence was becoming increasingly important among people, one could say it was crucial.

Every move he made, even just a breath, would have people working for him.

This was a lesson.

And this lesson was bought with over a thousand lives.

It was still bearable, he supposed.

Li Qi didn’t shy away from killing. In fact, once he decided to act, he wouldn’t show any mercy.

In the Holy Flame World, even more people had died because of him, and his blood debt was deeper.

But this time, it was different.

The choice in the Holy Flame World was his own, and no matter what the outcome would be in the future, he would bear it alone. Whatever choices he made, good or evil, he would take responsibility for.

But this time, he had merely given a casual command, not intending for this to happen. This was a completely unexpected turn of events.

Therefore, this lesson was to teach him to be more self-aware.

What is self-awareness?

It is having a full understanding of one’s own abilities, status, and knowledge level, so that one can act ‘appropriately’ and avoid blindly overstepping or timidly retreating in times of crisis.

Without self-awareness, one cannot recognize their true self, ultimately making mistakes and regretting them deeply.

Today’s lack of clarity led to the destruction of a village, which he could still bear. Aside from morality and conscience, there were no other losses.

If tomorrow’s lack of clarity led to the death of the rabbit, or other important people, how could it be compensated?

Therefore, one must think thrice before acting, and reflect on oneself thrice daily.

As for the people in this village…

It could not be undone.

Li Qi set up the sacrificial ground. The offerings consisted of fourteen different types of Qi, symbolizing sheep and pigs, which were then dissected into vessels and laid out with soup and rice before the altars of various gods and spirits.

He bowed.

He offered wine three times.

He read the sacrificial text.

The sacrificial text was burned with paper.

The sacrifice was complete.

Then, Li Qi stomped his foot on the ground and said, “I command the local Mountain God to preside over this sacrifice annually for ten years. After ten years, you may bring offerings to worship me, and you will receive a reward.”

Although no one could enjoy the blood offerings from this sacrifice, because these people had died very cleanly, even their Spirit Souls were extinguished.

However… it was self-consolation, he supposed.

One could see a Centipede Mountain God, who transformed into his true form and bowed from afar to Li Qi, clearly having heard and trembling with excitement.

The demise of this village had, on the contrary, given him an opportunity to connect with Li Qi.

Therefore, if he were to know about it afterwards, and the situation were to repeat… he would probably be very happy to watch those three Spirit Shaman destroy this village.

Different perspectives lead to different choices, and different moods.

The joys and sorrows of people are not interconnected. The death of a village brought joy to the Mountain God of this place.

Li Qi seemed to have been subtly touched by something again, but he was too lazy to delve deeper at this moment.

He was indeed a Genius, and it seemed every event could inspire his cultivation.

But at this time, he was not in the mood to continue.

After dealing with the matters here, Li Qi got up and departed in a rainbow light.

He had to go find Old Ma.

The journey to find Old Ma was smooth, as Shaman God Mountain was generally peaceful, and all conflicts were basically limited to individuals or very small groups.

There wouldn’t be widespread chaos that affected a large area.

If such a thing did occur, disciples of Shaman God Mountain would come out to settle it.

A distance of over ten thousand li, to be honest, wasn’t very far. Li Qi, transforming into a rainbow and riding light, traveled at a speed not much different from Old Ma’s full-speed run, perhaps even faster.

But this also showed the absurdity of a Dragon Steed.

A Ninth-Grade Dragon Steed could match the speed of a Seventh-Grade Li Qi.

Of course, in terms of instantaneous speed, Li Qi could accelerate to dozens of times Old Ma’s speed in an instant, and Old Ma wouldn’t even react before being caught by him.

But for long-distance travel like this, similar to a slow run, with a Dragon Steed’s endurance and speed, it could even keep pace with him.

If Old Ma reached Eighth-Grade, his speed would definitely be faster than Li Qi’s current speed.

No wonder many Great Powers kept mounts. Before, he thought it was just for show, since their grade was higher than their mounts.

But now it seemed that those chosen as mounts were definitely much faster than their masters for long-distance travel.

However, Li Qi didn’t treat Old Ma as a mount.

Old Ma had been traveling with him since he first started cultivating, truly as a good friend.

Once Old Ma’s cultivation progressed further, he should be able to speak human language, making communication much easier then.

Thus, Li Qi traveled all the way.

After a day and a night, plus a little more time, he finally landed at Old Ma’s location.

The East Ridge Mountain Range.

It was said that this mountain range was the gathering place of Wu Yu.

Wasn’t that a kingdom of women? It was like a dance class at an art school, full of graceful, beautiful girls.

Well, forget it, it’s better not to go in.

Li Qi stopped outside the East Ridge Mountain Range, whistled, and flicked a ball into the sky.

A ball composed entirely of Great Forest Wood Qi.

It was a small secret signal with Old Ma.

The ball exploded silently, releasing countless vitalities.

Countless green threads hung down, swaying gently as they moved through the trees.

The distant cry of a crane, the quiet mountain moon, the roar of a crocodile, and fresh clouds in the sky.

One could see that all the trees, flowers, birds, beasts, and insects within a hundred-li radius burst forth with vigorous Life Qi.

Wild beasts howled, birds chirped joyfully, flowers, grass, and trees trembled at their tips, and insects silently wriggled their bodies.

Li Qi’s casual action brought great benefit to all life in this area.

However, not everyone was happy. One could also see some demon race with gloomy aura, cultivating Yin Qi or Death Qi, wailing loudly. Such intense Life Qi directly negated months of their cultivation.

Regardless of whether the outcome was good or bad, it was only a part of Li Qi’s influence. A Seventh-Grade cultivator could already easily affect a very large area.

Of course, within the entire East Ridge Mountain Range, a hundred-li radius was just a small dot.

This mountain range stretched for tens of thousands of li, hundreds of times larger than White Snake Mountain, which meant… this mountain range must be the size of dozens of Earths. A mere hundred-li radius was truly nothing.

But as a message, it was enough.

Soon, a streak of green lightning was seen soaring from a thousand li away, traversing the vast space, and arriving before Li Qi in about a quarter of an hour, having rushed urgently.

This must have been Old Ma running desperately, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so fast.

Li Qi also moved towards that direction.

When they were still dozens of li apart, Li Qi looked closely and saw that Old Ma was carrying a woman.

It was Yu Mengniang.

Compared to before, she hadn’t changed much, just changed her clothes, but it was still that style, with a slit in her skirt revealing her thigh, giving her the feeling of a dancer.

Before long, the two people and one horse met on the mountain peak.

“Mengniang greets Young Master.” Yu Mengniang bowed gracefully upon meeting, her eyes filled with uncontrollable shock.

The last time they met, this Young Master was stronger than her, but they were still in the same grade.

But now, she only felt that this Young Master was a Mortal.

This indicated that the other party’s cultivation had reached a level she could not hope to match.

And only half a year had passed since then.

Truly…

Unbelievable.

“Ah, Mengniang, you received the Dao Resonance, right?” Li Qi nodded in greeting, then returned the bow.

Yu Mengniang was flattered and quickly said, “I have received it, along with the reward. Young Master’s promise is indeed trustworthy.”

“It’s good that you received it. Then I’ll take my leave. Thank you for helping me take care of Old Ma and bringing him here.” Li Qi thanked her again, then without further delay or wanting to continue chatting, he immediately rode Old Ma and left.

This made Yu Mengniang feel insecure.

She touched her face and looked at her clothes.

Why… was he so cold?

Alas, never mind. She probably couldn’t climb high branches anyway. Such a person had seen too many. She shouldn’t think about those things anymore.

— — — — — —

As for Li Qi, riding Old Ma, he chatted with him about the Tang Nation while heading towards the Immortal Cave of Mount Luofu in Shaman God Mountain.

Back then, on the Great Roc, it only took a few minutes to fly there.

Over fifty thousand li, reached in a few minutes.

Now, flying with Old Ma, he found it would take a whole week.

This was mainly because the distance was too far, so the speed would slow down.

Old Ma at full speed, just like before, could cover a thousand li in a quarter of an hour.

But if he ran for a day and a night, he would only cover about ten thousand li.

A person running a hundred-meter dash and running a marathon certainly couldn’t maintain the same speed.

Old Ma’s endurance, after running for a day and a night, would require rest, and the next day would definitely be slower.

There must be time for rest and replenishment in between, and consideration for how to distribute stamina.

Therefore, although the Immortal Cave was less than fifty thousand li away, Old Ma would have to run for more than a week, possibly even ten days, to reach it.

The greater the distance, the slower the average speed.

Of course, as the distance increases, this slowdown also has a limit, eventually reaching a critical point for long-distance travel, and then one travels slowly at that speed, because only then can one sustain travel for years on end.

The same was true in the outer domain.

Long-distance journeys in the outer domain often took years, easily covering billions of li. In such times, having a good mount was extremely important.

Of course, Old Ma was not a mount.

Along the way, Li Qi sat on Old Ma: “Old Ma, do you have any thoughts on your future Dao Path? The Unmatched Song can only be cultivated to Eighth-Grade, and then it breaks off. You can’t keep using this. The Shaman Dao methods of Shaman God Mountain… I looked at them before, and none of them are particularly suitable for you.”

“Roar! Roar!” Old Ma let out a few Dragon roars, indicating for Li Qi to continue.

Although Li Qi couldn’t understand his words, they still had some tacit understanding and could sense each other’s emotions to a certain extent.

“So I’m thinking, since you’re a Dragon Steed, the cultivation method of the East Sea Dragon Clan must be useful to you. When I have time, I’ll take you to the East Sea. You should be able to find a suitable cultivation method there. As for the Unmatched Song, you can cultivate it for now, but don’t rush to Breakthrough, so as not to enter a dead end.” Li Qi said.

Old Ma snorted and rolled his eyes.

Don’t rush to Breakthrough?

He wanted to Breakthrough but had no way to do so.

Did you think Breakthrough to Eighth-Grade was a simple matter? It would take at least a decade of accumulation to even qualify to say the words ‘Breakthrough,’ wouldn’t it?

First accumulate foundation, and then look for the opportunity to Breakthrough. Most people do it this way.

Sometimes, this ‘opportunity’ might not be found even in a lifetime.

Oh, this monster in front of him only took a year to go from Ninth-Grade to Eighth-Grade.

Damn it, cough, spit!

Old Ma, like a donkey, spat outwards, his eyelids drooping, squinting at Li Qi, his horse face full of displeasure.

“Alright, then it’s settled. When I have time, I’ll take you to the East Sea to see if we can get some useful cultivation methods. It’s just… I don’t know what the Dao Path of the East Sea is like, and if it’s compatible with Shaman Dao.”

“If it has a strong conflict with Shaman Dao, then we’ll probably just have to come back and look for demon race cultivation methods, or go to the southeast of the world to look into the Demon Dao.”

Old Ma nodded, acknowledging this statement.

The man and horse conversed, and after a while, Old Ma landed on the ground to rest and recuperate.

After resting for a while, they set off again.

They traveled like this, stopping to rest every now and then.

After exactly seven and a half days, they arrived at Mount Luofu’s temporary驻地 in Shaman God Mountain.