Chapter 488: Strong enemy

Li Qi is a Shaman.

And Shamanes have their own understanding of the celestial phenomena.

Li Qi used the method of circulation to gather various miscellaneous Qi into a ball, transforming it into Martial Dao Inner Qi, which exploded the Demonic Prince's severed leg, and then these Qi condensed into a new spell, using the extreme Yang to activate the extreme Yang!

The Demonic Prince's Physical Body was already incomplete, lacking a right leg, so his Inner World naturally lacked winter Qi. Without the balance of winter Qi, the Yin and Yang fell out of order, and the seasons became chaotic!

As a result, the Demonic Prince's Inner World was like the 'ten suns in the sky' of old; extreme Yang Qi would not bring benefits, but instead trigger terrifying disasters, possibly even destroying the entire Inner World!

For most Dao paths, the Qi stored in the Inner World is the direct source of cultivation. All your Qi needs a place to be stored; it can't just appear out of thin air.

At the same time, besides storing Qi, the Inner World is also the location of the so-called 'foundation'.

If Qi is simply left there, it's meaningless miscellaneous Qi. It must operate according to certain rules to produce various divine wonders, and this rule is the 'Dao'.

The Dao you cultivate must have a place to manifest. For example, if you cultivate, understand, and internalize Newtonian mechanics, you certainly need a place to perform cycles that conform to Newtonian mechanics, so that all the Qi you've accumulated operates according to Newtonian mechanics, preventing chaos.

This way, when you encounter something, you can take it out and use it. If you have to construct it on the spot, it would take too long, like assembling a Gundam on the spot with a pile of parts.

Everyone else drives a finished Gundam, but you're holding a pile of parts, so how can you fight?

Therefore, the Human miniature heaven and earth, as an almost perfect space for storing Qi, can also excellently fulfill the function of 'manifesting the Dao'. Naturally, it has become the foundation of all cultivation, with only a few Dao paths choosing to abandon such a good thing and find their own way.

Obviously, the Demonic Dao is not one of those few.

Therefore, the insidious nature of Li Qi's move is this: this is the true attack on a weakness. The imbalance of the seasons will directly cause the Qi within the Demonic Prince's Physical Body to become chaotic!

Moreover, almost simultaneously, Li Qi directly rushed over!

With your Inner World imbalanced, activating spells will inevitably be delayed, and your Physical Body will even become rigid. Seize this opportunity to directly take his life!

This was Li Qi's plan.

With the help of the Spiritual Artifact exoskeleton, Li Qi's speed suddenly increased. Carp Current Intent erupted again, like a carp swimming against the current, doubling the strength of his Physical Body!

Taking advantage of the Demonic Prince's inability to resist, both fists aimed at his vital points: eyes, ears, temples, Adam's apple—not a single vulnerable spot was spared.

In this regard, Li Qi definitely had Zhu Fengdan's demeanor.

If you need to be killed, you will be killed. The method is not important at all. Li Qi is not a gentleman.

However, the Demonic Prince remained calm.

Because panicking was useless; he would still be hit if he panicked.

Although he indeed misjudged and continuously held back, giving Li Qi an opportunity to counterattack, he wasn't out of options.

Yes, the imbalance of the Inner World's seasons would lead to delayed spells, rigid Physical Body, and even sudden death.

The Demonic Prince, however, would not suddenly die. He had been accustomed to this feeling since childhood.

He was naturally incomplete; his Inner World had been imbalanced countless times during his cultivation. He was battle-hardened, and almost anyone with common sense would attack this weakness of his.

It was just that after the Seventh Grade, very few people could touch his weakness anymore.

It truly was a long-lost pain.

Delayed spells and a rigid Physical Body made it very difficult to parry against the aggressive Li Qi. The opponent's boxing was crude, but it was a proper Martial Dao boxing style, and in close quarters, it was truly not so easy to handle.

However, some things are very convenient; they require neither spells nor the Physical Body.

Then Li Qi rushed forward, and with one punch, he directly struck the Demonic Prince's temple.

The Demonic Prince's black jade mask cracked!

He was directly sent flying.

He also truly revealed his appearance: a handsome face that looked effeminate, but... it was quite horrifying.

Because the Demonic Prince only had one eye! It wasn't a hollow socket from an eye being gouged out, but rather, he simply had no eye socket at all; the position of his right eye was completely flat!

He was naturally incomplete, and he lacked more than just his right leg.

He also lacked a right eye!

The two eyes represent the sun and moon; the right side is Yin, and the right eye in the Human miniature heaven and earth symbolizes the moon.

The Demonic Prince's Inner World had no moon! Only the sun!

Coupled with his right leg, which lacked winter Qi, this meant that his Human miniature heaven and earth was even closer to the Yang extreme than Li Qi had imagined!

After enduring a barrage of attacks, Li Qi's hands were covered in the Demonic Prince's blood. He was about to attack again, accelerating further, but with a sudden acceleration, he actually stumbled and fell to the ground!

It was unimaginable that a Seventh Grade cultivator would fall!

Li Qi himself was stunned, but this fall directly gave the Demonic Prince an opportunity to counterattack.

He completely disregarded the imbalance of his Inner World, and countless Demonic Overlords surged forward, black Qi biting into Li Qi!

The most primal fire ignited in his soul. Li Qi's consciousness, memories, and even his personality were forced to burn. Demonic Qi and extreme Yang Qi mixed, scorching his Physical Body. This pain was like a poisonous viper devouring his own flesh, a hungry eagle pecking at his own marrow, his bones and flesh rotting away completely!

It was then that Li Qi realized why he had fallen, because he saw his exoskeleton catch fire.

That was the extreme Yang Qi leaking from the Demonic Prince's Physical Body, a symbol that his Inner World had absolutely no Yin attributes.

The Demonic Prince actually used the imbalance Li Qi had triggered to transform his Physical Body towards the Yang extreme, completely abandoning Yin Qi.

What Yin and Yang balance! Completely unnecessary!

Such intense Yang Qi, even activated by Li Qi's own spell, made Li Qi completely unprepared for the Demonic Prince's terrifying natural incompleteness, where there wasn't a trace of Yin Qi in his entire body, not even a moon!

Therefore, this activation caused the Demonic Prince's blood to carry extreme Yang Qi. As the blood burned, Li Qi got it on him, and his temporarily assembled exoskeleton melted.

Without the exoskeleton, when he tried to activate his Martial Dao techniques, his Physical Body couldn't keep up, and he immediately fell to the ground, submerged by countless Demonic Overlords, scorched by demonic fire, his Spirit Soul burning completely!

Li Qi's eyes widened. This was not just pain, but also shock.

This is impossible!

Yin and Yang balance is the standard of the world, the key for a world to take shape. How could a Human miniature heaven and earth grow in a purely Yang environment? This is like a magnet having only one pole, something completely contrary to common sense.

However, there was no time for Li Qi to ponder further. The surrounding demonic fire continued to burn, not only bringing endless pain but also beginning to reduce Li Qi's thinking ability.

The demonic fire brought endless demonic thoughtss. Li Qi only felt a fluttering sensation near his ears, like the clamor of human voices, like a bustling market, or a million ducks suddenly rising and squawking.

His mind became increasingly difficult to control, unable to do anything, helpless, as if falling into the Mortal World, vast and boundless.

demonic thoughtss assailed him, and Li Qi was momentarily unable to extricate himself. He only felt countless voices and thoughts constantly intertwining and eroding his normal thoughts, making it impossible for him to think normally.

Such pain was even more agonizing than the demonic fire scorching his Physical Body!

But on the other side, the Demonic Prince did not pursue.

Compared to Li Qi's insidious, ruthless, and unscrupulous fighting style, the Demonic Prince was truly a gentleman to the extreme. His every move came head-on; there were no sneak attacks, no pursuits. He met every move, purely using an imposing, grand Aura to pressure his opponent, crushing them with absolute power.

He looked at Li Qi.

Li Qi was trying to escape, activating a phantom array to conceal his figure, and suppressing the demonic thoughtss, desperately trying to withdraw from the battle, preparing to regroup.

That was the posture of the weak, the posture of a weakling racking his brains, forced to use every means for survival.

There was nothing special about it; the weak had to be like this to survive.

He himself used to be like that, struggling to survive as a weakling, using every means.

Therefore, at this point, that posture no longer belonged to him.

He was a strong one, an absolute strong one, a high-ranking existence destined for the future.

And a strong one must maintain the dignity of a strong one.

He still stood in place, leaning on his staff, waiting for Li Qi's next attack, if Li Qi could still attack.

The Demonic Prince didn't wait too long.

The surrounding miniature heaven and earth suddenly collapsed, and along with it, the demonic thoughtss and demonic fire on Li Qi's body also collapsed.

Li Qi gasped for breath. The collapse of the miniature heaven and earth also meant that all his pre-battle preparations were gone, and even his Human miniature heaven and earth suffered a backlash.

However, he finally got rid of the persistent demonic thoughtss.

"Oh? Is this the Shaman's substitute technique? Interesting." The Demonic Prince leaned on his bamboo staff, looking at Li Qi, who was concealing himself with a phantom array not far away, and said, "Truly amazing. As long as you have something connected to yourself, you can transfer damage to that thing. What a convenient thing."

"It's just, this kind of spell can't help you win against me," the Demonic Prince said.

Then, he stood quietly in place, waiting for Li Qi's surprise attack.

This was the gentleness of a strong one.

If strong ones were as unscrupulous as weaklings, then weaklings would have no right to exist.

On the other side, Li Qi began to take continuous deep breaths.

Troublesome!

Truly troublesome!

The opponent hadn't even unleashed his full power yet and had energy to spare, waiting for him to take the initiative to attack!

In all his cultivation until now, the Demonic Prince was absolutely the most troublesome enemy he had ever encountered!

In the past, he could hardly imagine an enemy so difficult to contend with at the same grade. Even though the opponent had obvious flaws and weaknesses, he just couldn't do anything.

Li Qi realized something.

Li Qi himself was best at learning. The number of spells he mastered, the depth of his foundation, his reading of knowledge, and the expansion of his horizons—he had a library-like reserve of knowledge. This was his greatest reliance. In contrast, Li Qi's combat talent was a mess. Without exoskeleton assistance, he would even fall when using Martial Dao techniques. He had to plan ahead; his on-the-spot reactions were limited to dodging and fleeing.

Although his mind worked quickly and he only needed a few seconds to make a plan, in this kind of battle, planning a few seconds ahead basically meant giving up the initiative. His recent plan was forcibly gained by using a phantom array.

This was Li Qi's characteristic: not good at combat, but good at collecting knowledge and processing information.

And the Demonic Prince was clearly not like this.

One must know that in the previous magical combat with Li Qi, separated by four grades of cultivation, competing in wisdom and foundation, he had already fought Li Qi to a draw, which was why he personally appeared to fight Li Qi.

But now, he also showed a very strong combat side. His use of spells, movement techniques, and even his control over combat itself were quite formidable.

Just now, his breaking of Li Qi's trap, using his extreme Yang blood to counterattack Li Qi, and thereby breaking open the miniature heaven and earth, was truly brilliant.

These were not plans, but on-the-spot reactions.

That is to say, the Demonic Prince was more skilled in combat than in wisdom and knowledge.

He had just been evenly matched with Li Qi, but in reality, he was using his weakness to attack Li Qi's strength, using his less skilled wisdom to compete with Li Qi, and still ended up drawing with Li Qi.

Now, he was using his stronger combat skills to counter Li Qi's weakness, almost bringing Li Qi to the brink of collapse.

Countless pieces of information flashed through Li Qi's mind. True Knowledge Dao Resonance was fully activated, and combined with all the information he had gathered before, it was analyzed and arranged in his mind.

However, no matter what he did or thought, he could not find a chance to win.

In the past, when Li Qi was at the Ninth Grade and faced Chan Zhi, he could still figure out a way to survive, but at this moment, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a solution.

Can't beat him...

He really couldn't beat him. The Demonic Prince... was truly too strong. His shortcomings could contend with Li Qi's strengths without falling behind. Who knew if combat was even his true strong suit?

Both sides were silent for almost over a minute.

The Demonic Prince seemed to think too much time had passed, so he said, "If you don't make a move soon, then surrender. I won't obliterate your True Spirit; you can still reincarnate."

"However, this is a life-and-death battle. If it were peacetime, I would have let you go, but unfortunately, not now."

"I'll wait for you for twelve more breaths. You'd best hurry," the Demonic Prince said, then closed his only remaining eye.

Li Qi was sweating profusely, seizing the time to conceal himself and observe the opponent.

Upon observation, Li Qi also discovered that the Demonic Prince's Human miniature heaven and earth, which was intensely Yang, had actually... calmed down.

Without Yin and Yang balance,

Why? How did he do it?

Li Qi frowned deeply, cold sweat dripping from his forehead into his eyes, yet he seemed not to notice.

Unfortunately, there was no last-second breakthrough.

Twelve breaths passed in an instant.

The Demonic Prince tapped his staff and whispered, "Time's up. It seems you're still struggling. Then let me choose for you."

With that, his only remaining eye stared in Li Qi's direction.

Li Qi was horrified!

His phantom array was seen through?!

You've got to be kidding? He hadn't seen through it just now!

But there was no time for Li Qi to think further. The Demonic Prince directly reached out to him, and at the same time, grasped his crutch with his other hand, supporting his Physical Body.

At that very instant, as the Demonic Prince unleashed his power, Li Qi suddenly perceived something within the Demonic Prince's Physical Body.

That was... Dao Resonance!

And it was the Dao Resonance of Yin power.

Could it be this!?

(I'm going to the mountains to pay respects to the elders tomorrow. I might not update, but whether I update depends on how quickly I work when I get back. I don't know if I'll update. Afterwards, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope I can continue writing for everyone next year and finish this book well.)

(PS2: Is it New Year's? Why is the subscription halved? This New Year might not be good.)