Chapter 424: Return to Chang'an

Li Qi was stunned.

But Yang Ning had already left.

Li Qi was dazed for so long that the mountain wall, which had been shattered by the shockwave, directly collapsed, falling onto him.

Fortunately, it was only a mortal object.

The current Li Qi could chew ordinary iron like biscuits without an issue; the impact of a collapsing mountain peak could only make him stumble.

Coming back to his senses, he immediately formed a hand seal, his body lifted by a gust of Qi, and the碎石 scattered from around him, floating in the air.

Just now, he seemed to have heard…

Yang Ning softening?

Was he seeing things? No, to the current him, ghosts were nothing.

This must be an evil encounter.

However, after being stunned for a moment, he floated down, landing on the ground.

It’s better to continue planning the Child of Destiny’s matters; as for the world-cluster cutting in the Outer Domain later, let’s take it slow, there’s no rush for a year or two.

Just Shen Shuibi weaving the Formation alone would take at least several decades; if they encounter any difficulties, it could easily be hundreds of years, and that's still considered fast.

For such a large Formation, a thousand years or so is nothing to complain about.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to do this himself; he just needs to memorize the principles roughly and tell Shen Shuibi.

In fact, Mount Luofu itself should have had such Formation diagrams, but neither Shen Shuibi nor Yang Ning knew them. As for those who did… they probably all died. As for the existing Formation diagrams themselves, they should have already become spoils of war.

However, the most pressing matter is to seize this opportunity to expand the channels in Tang Nation. This is also an opportune moment.

After all, Liu Donghe seems to have been promoted because of the Heavenly Demon incident. Now, using his official position to advance to the Third Rank, he can be considered a high-ranking noble. This connection cannot be abused, but it also cannot be left unused.

After all, Liu Canzhi’s Dao Foundation is already linked to Li Qi’s cooperation; Karma has already been formed. Who can escape? Unless Liu Donghe directly disowns his son.

But is that possible?

Therefore, the current production capacity of Holy Flame World is mainly supplied to the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact production line.

Everything is arranged.

So, the next step is to arrange for Ga Ga to defeat the final enemy.

The Lu Mountain God's pontiff in this world, the strongest Seventh Rank in this world, he is Ga Ga's final obstacle to achieving his destiny, and also the final omen.

Killing him requires Ga Ga to experience more fortuitous encounters, obtain some treasures, and grow more—

Wait, what's going on?

While Li Qi was still planning how to arrange fortuitous encounters for the Child of Destiny, he suddenly felt a sharp Sword Qi!

This world began to rejoice for it!

Li Qi could clearly feel the Heavenly Dao’s cheer, the joy when destiny was fulfilled!

Without another thought, Li Qi immediately got up and called out to Yang Ning.

Yang Ning, who had just disappeared, immediately reappeared in front of Li Qi, grabbed him, and then, with a whoosh, instantly vanished from the spot.

In a Sixth Rank world, a Fifth Rank Cultivator could already be considered capable of 'teleportation,' able to move to almost any place instantly.

So, in just a few breaths, Li Qi arrived at the place where the Sword Qi erupted.

Yang Ning also arrived here, and she looked astonished, staring at the center of the battlefield with great surprise.

There, a sharp Seventh Rank Sword Intent pierced the sky. Ga Ga held a broken sword, standing proudly towards the heavens.

At his feet, a Seventh Rank Holy Flame Clan native lay severely wounded, on the verge of death.

That was precisely the 'final challenge' Li Qi had previously prepared Ga Ga to face. Li Qi had even planned to arrange some fortuitous encounters to help Ga Ga deal with the opponent better.

But now, it seemed, it was no longer necessary.

“Breakthrough in battle… How is that possible? How much foundation do you have? How long have you been cultivating?!” The Holy Flame Clan Seventh Rank, a loyal believer of the Lu Mountain God, roared loudly, his voice filled with disbelief.

Ga Ga looked up at the sky and slowly sat down on the ground: “I just figured out one thing.”

But he didn't say what it was. Instead, he thrust his sword down, piercing the head of this greatest enemy, his long-time nemesis who had always obstructed him, the Lu Mountain God's lackey, and the instigator of this great war.

“Wow, that’s truly amazing. I didn’t even think you could Breakthrough at this stage, and even kill the enemy commander outside of the plan. How did you do it?” Li Qi floated forward, asking curiously.

Although Yang Ning brought Li Qi here, she had no interest in getting involved in these matters, so she simply floated and watched from a distance.

“Immortal… you arrived so quickly.”

“For this world, I can appear anywhere at any time. You should be used to it by now. How does the Breakthrough feel? I had to adapt for quite a while to get used to my body’s transcendence back then.” Li Qi walked among the piles of Holy Flame Clan corpses, speaking to Ga Ga.

This was a battlefield, so naturally, corpses lay everywhere.

But Ga Ga didn't answer Li Qi's question. He just said, “Immortal, I have the answer to your question.”

“Oh? I’m all ears.” Li Qi immediately became solemn and listened intently.

This was about a person's understanding of their own Dao; even if he was a Ninth Rank, it should be taken seriously, let alone Ga Ga who was already a Seventh Rank.

Although he was a Child of Destiny, a Seventh Rank forcibly nurtured by the world, reaching this point essentially meant his Dao path was cut off.

“That problem you mentioned, that thing called a car, it always runs over some people, but I can stop the car, so no one gets hurt,” Ga Ga said, struggling to support himself.

“That’s very difficult. You can’t stop all cars. There will always be a car that exceeds your ability, and in the end, you’ll be run over in front of it,” Li Qi shook his head and said.

There is no definitive answer to such a question, only one's own answer, but… the answer Ga Ga gave seemed a bit too idealistic.

“I have already taken the first step,” Ga Ga said.

Li Qi heard this and looked around.

The surrounding battlefield could be roughly divided into two areas: one was the army protecting the civilians, and the other was the main army. From the looks of it, the enemy seemed to want to intercept Ga Ga and prevent him from taking the population, so they split their forces and attacked where he would surely defend.

This, then, was a typical trolley problem.

Who to save?

Protect the main army, or protect the civilians?

The choice before Ga Ga at that time must have been bitter.

However, it was because of this that he arrived at this answer.

He took the initiative to attack, acting alone, ambushing a Seventh Rank with an Eighth Rank cultivation, breaking through during the battle, and slaying the opponent.

Although this achievement had a lot of caveats, such as Ga Ga cultivating the methods of the world, while this Seventh Rank was merely a native who couldn't even achieve longevity, and also that Ga Ga was a Child of Destiny, so Heaven and Earth would naturally favor him, regardless, he did it.

This achievement even made Yang Ning show a surprised look, let alone others.

Even as a Child of Destiny, accomplishing this one thing was enough to prove much.

“Then I wish your future Dao path goes smoothly. Your answer… is actually not bad,” Li Qi nodded.

No need for too much explanation, Li Qi already knew Ga Ga's choice, and since that was the case, there was no need to say more.

However, if it were Li Qi, he felt he wouldn't choose as Ga Ga did.

Ga Ga’s choice… was very difficult.

He completely disregarded the 'big picture' Li Qi had planned for him, and with his own actions, chose the 'best outcome'.

Just like most people, everyone actually knows what the right path is. Everyone knows that studying hard, working diligently, exercising, living healthily, and striving for improvement are the correct choices.

But very few people choose that path.

Nothing else, just too difficult, too苦.

That's all.

For example, Li Qi decisively gave up Martial Dao back then.

However, there are always some who defy convention and want to try just how difficult and苦 it truly is.

Then let Ga Ga try, after all, he has already taken the first step.

Li Qi could clearly see that Ga Ga’s Martial Artist Heart, his Dao Foundation, was this answer.

It was precisely because he obtained this answer that his Dao Foundation was laid, and thus, with the world's reckless infusion, he broke through to Seventh Rank in battle.

It’s admirable, but his future path won’t be as easy as it is now.

The reason is simple: his rapid improvement was due to the world's reckless infusion, and Seventh Rank was the upper limit that Holy Flame World could infuse. The path thereafter… he would have to walk on his own.

Li Qi noted this answer. Since someone chose this way, there was something to learn from it. Perhaps in the future, he could see the consequences of this answer from Ga Ga's fate.

“So, from now on, you are the new Holy King. Yang Ning, have the people of Mount Luofu take over here. You should have people who can communicate well, right?” Li Qi turned his head to look at Yang Ning.

Yang Ning instantly appeared before Li Qi, saying in astonishment, “You want Mount Luofu to manage this place?”

“Not manage, but liaison. Also, I remember I said that Mount Luofu should participate in this matter. Otherwise, will I live here forever? I still have to go to school; I’ve been skipping classes for several months and haven’t even been to school this semester,” Li Qi shrugged.

Ga Ga, who was listening with his ears perked up, felt his heart tighten.

This Immortal, is he still in school?

“But you conquered this place,” Yang Ning frowned.

“It’s ‘us,’ and we didn’t conquer it. We just helped Holy Flame World expel external enemies. Remember, we just said that this is Mount Luofu’s new starting point, but not a stronghold.”

“Alright, Ga Ga, this is Yang Ning. The matter of your enthronement will be left to you two to discuss. The order of this world depends on how you two negotiate. I’ll be leaving now.” Li Qi waved his hand and departed from the spot.

Ga Ga’s expression instantly became serious. He knew what ‘order’ meant; it was something he had been pursuing for several years.

Now, was it finally going to be realized?

Only Yang Ning was left, frowning, and after a few seconds, Yang Ning sighed.

She wasn't a fool either; she had fully understood Li Qi's intentions.

Then so be it. Perhaps Shen Shuibi was right; she was indeed a bit too worried.

The matters of Holy Flame World concluded, leaving Li Qi with a small lingering interest.

Choosing the most difficult path, huh…

Li Qi returned, deep in thought.

— — — — — — — — — —

But no matter what, everything had to develop slowly.

Li Qi returned to Imperial Academy, continuing to be a student. The time flow in Holy Flame World was faster than in the world, so although Li Qi stayed in Holy Flame World for more than half a year, only three months had actually passed in the world, and Li Qi only missed one month of classes.

Moreover, for Imperial Academy students, skipping classes was commonplace, so no one found it strange.

It was just Bo Yue and Liu Canzhi who complained more; without Li Qi, many research projects had to be temporarily shelved.

Li Qi’s True Knowledge Dao Resonance was practically a cheat in research, directly analyzing the essence of a certain object. Although the intensity of the analysis couldn’t be too great, and the so-called ‘essence’ also had to be understandable by others, these essences posed no problem at this current stage.

Who couldn't understand?

There was also no situation where Li Qi couldn't analyze even Seventh Rank objects, so with Li Qi present, progress could be pushed forward rapidly, just like being able to directly look at the answer key for homework.

Directly seeing through the very 'underwear' of the Materials, knowing all its properties at once without needing to test, making it so convenient that once used, it's hard to let go.

Furthermore, Bo Yue’s inclusion also significantly accelerated the progress.

As for why, it was simply that it drastically reduced research costs.

Many times, certain experiments are 'probabilistically successful' rather than guaranteed, and there's a chance of errors. Sometimes, extremely important Materials have to be risked, which could lead to failure.

All of this, however, was nothing in Bo Yue's hands.

Using the Demonic Seed, he could easily steal knowledge from the seams of time. The fragments of宙光 created by the Demonic Seed contained real worlds; if he failed, he could restart, and a precious Material could be tried repeatedly until successful.

Although this was very taxing on Bo Yue, causing his cultivation to begin to drop recently and his Spirit Soul to be萎靡, it must be said, it was indeed very powerful.

As for Liu Canzhi, he didn't possess the various mysterious abilities of the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain, but after all, Tang Nation was his hometown, and with a Third Rank father, basically the entire research facility was supplied by him. Various Materials and necessary equipment couldn't be obtained by Li Qi and others, but with the help of Liu Donghe, these matters could be easily handled.

The three joined forces, simultaneously having the Sacred Flame supply of the entire world. After a period of accumulation, production capacity exploded by over a thousand times.

The Human Dao method played a huge role at this time.

The people of Mount Luofu, those Daoists, had now settled in Holy Flame World, responsible for collecting Sacred Flame from various sources and local resources, then sending them to Li Qi.

At the same time, they also received Granny Mei's approval, becoming Li Qi's assistants. With the help of these Mount Luofu Daoists, Li Qi finally realized that some things were actually very simple.

Production and sales involve many steps, from raw Materials, manufacturing, selling, and various liaisons, all requiring people to do. Previously, Li Qi handled everything himself, but now with the Mount Luofu Daoists, these steps can be delegated to them.

As for the final profits, including those converted from Sacred Flame and the price at which the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact was sold, after deducting the portions given to Bo Yue and Liu Canzhi, Li Qi gave his remaining share to Mount Luofu.

He didn't need these external possessions; the Dao of the Shaman only sought inward.

Thus, a virtuous cycle finally began.

The debts of the Mount Luofu people finally began to lessen, rather than increase.

In this way, Li Qi also gained the trust of Mount Luofu, no longer being the 'lewd scoundrel who came to snatch a bride'.

Another day ended.

Li Qi stretched, leaving Liu Canzhi’s courtyard, preparing to go home.

At this moment, a voice sounded behind him:

“Son-in-law.”