Chapter 602: The 599th Stick

At this moment, at the center of the People of No Return stronghold, the People of No Return were in discussion.

Just as Li Qi didn't trust the People of No Return, the People of No Return, in fact, also harbored some distrust towards the Shaman Dao newcomers.

They couldn't discern the Shaman Dao's true intentions; what if Li Qi was merely using them as cannon fodder?

Deceiving them into dying to fulfill the Shaman Dao's unspeakable secrets.

Not all Shamanes were good people.

At the center of the discussion were two Fifth-Rank Cultivators, the two highest-ranked among the People of No Return at present.

It wasn't that there were no other Fifth-Rank Cultivators, but these two were the strongest and represented the two opposing viewpoints of the People of No Return.

One of them was a Martial Artist, the four-legged gray-blue octopus that had previously encountered Li Qi's reconnaissance team.

He originally had a name of his own, but… some time ago, he abandoned that name and used his world as his new name.

If his name was Gou Lou, his world was called Ding Si Liu Gou Lou Realm, with Ding Si Liu being the designation number.

Gou Lou held the belief of “trusting the Shaman Dao.” It was he who chose to accept Li Qi's signal and personally appeared to receive the Shaman Dao's reconnaissance team, allowing Li Qi to send Shen Shuibi.

The People of No Return who sided with Gou Lou believed that to achieve victory, they must leverage the power of the Shaman Dao; fighting alone would never allow them to defeat the Human Race.

They should actively embrace the Shaman Dao to make the Human Race pay a heavy price.

The other faction, however, was generally distrustful.

Their world had already been destroyed by the Human Race, and the Shaman Dao, in essence, was just as dangerous as the Human Race, wasn't it?

Trusting the Shaman Dao meant allowing themselves to be manipulated by the Shaman Dao. The People of No Return were already miserable; to be treated as pawns and consumables, they might not even get revenge on the Human Race, but instead be played like puppets.

These major Dao Orthodoxys were all untrustworthy!

They could only rely on themselves to accomplish these things, truly achieving revenge against the Human Race, without being used as tools.

The leader of this faction was a humanoid creature named Cha Xike, who resembled the Human Race of the Mortal World. He practiced a Dao Orthodoxy unique to his world, similar to the Dao of Reason, primarily by discovering the laws of things, then using those laws to create artifacts, and then personally wielding these artifacts.

His Physical Body was very weak; although he had reached the Fifth-Rank, his combat power might not even defeat a Sixth-Rank. However, he was capable of piloting the last large Fifth-Rank artifact of his entire world.

This type of artifact placed an immense burden on Cultivators, making it difficult for ordinary Fifth-Rank Cultivators to control. Only Cha Xike's civilization had mastered the ability to control such artifacts. All of their cultivation was focused on learning how to integrate external forces into their artifacts, rather than fighting with their own bodies.

It was precisely because of this characteristic that Cha Xike's civilization placed extreme importance on unity. At its peak, this civilization could even transcend the limitations of a world, relying on collective wisdom and strength to create a massive semi-Fourth-Rank machine.

However, this object had already been dismantled by the Human Race, along with their world, which is why he harbored immense hatred for the Human Race, and at the same time, developed some suspicion.

Suspicion towards everything external. If Li Qi were to describe it, it would probably be PTSD combined with paranoid delusions. He believed that these powerful Dao Orthodoxys might harm him for their own reasons.

Perhaps it sounded absurd, but honestly, there were quite a few people with such a mindset.

Thus, a group of people gathered around Cha Xike, who did not trust the Shaman Dao. To be precise, they did not trust anyone outside of the People of No Return and only wanted to handle things themselves.

But due to a momentary lapse, Gou Lou had already welcomed the Shaman Dao's scouts last time. By the time Cha Xike noticed, the reconnaissance team had already appeared in person.

Cha Xike had no choice but to accept the Shaman Dao's involvement.

And so, the scene unfolded: Cha Xike and Gou Lou, leading many People of No Return, distinctly divided into two factions, yet waiting for the same person.

That person was Shen Shuibi, who was expected to arrive today.

“She hasn't arrived after all this time, could she have been intercepted on the way?” Cha Xike folded his arms across his chest, looking towards the edge of the world's dead zone.

The edge was desolate.

Actually, it wasn't like this before. Not long ago, in Outer Void, one could see numerous world-class giant ships and personal flying boats, and even various worlds in operation. If one got close enough, one could even see the flashes of light emitted by the worlds.

But now, nothing remained.

If one were to strain their eyes to look into the distance, they would only see the Human Race's immense war fortress, like a continent of light suspended in the Void Realm, shimmering with magnificent radiance, and one could even discern the pavilions, towers, sword-like structures, and spear-like Formations upon it.

Every time he saw it, Cha Xike gritted his teeth.

“If she really was intercepted, then that's fine. At least then the two of us won't argue,” Gou Lou said, his four octopus legs swaying around him, speaking calmly.

To be honest, as fellow People of No Return, they didn't have any personal conflicts. They empathized with each other's experiences and knew they could trust each other.

However, due to the recent Shaman Dao matter, arguments had become quite frequent.

Nevertheless, Gou Lou always believed that the envoy descending from the Shaman Dao would surely convince Cha Xike.

There was no particular reason, it was just a Martial Artist's instinct.

As he thought this, a vortex of Yin Qi suddenly appeared in the sky.

Both men became solemn and stood up.

Even Cha Xike knew the power of the Shaman Dao. Although he didn't trust their sincerity, he also knew that the Shaman Dao's arrival wouldn't be simple, so he dared not be too negligent.

Without much extra fanfare, the Yin Qi vortex quickly dissipated, transforming into a Lunar Corona, shining on a small asteroid in the world's dead zone, taking on a human form.

It was none other than Shen Shuibi.

She floated gracefully, landing before the People of No Return.

The rabbit scanned her surroundings, nodding slightly.

There were more People of No Return than she had anticipated, roughly four to five million people.

This number wasn't large in a world-scale battlefield, as they were all survivors, but their quality was quite good. They were all people who had survived the Human Race's large-scale destructive attacks, with the lowest rank being Seventh-Rank.

After all, to survive in the Void Realm, one had to be at least Seventh-Rank.

The number of Fifth-Rank Cultivators even exceeded a dozen, and there were tens of thousands of Sixth-Rank Cultivators. Although they were a motley crew, unable to form Formations among themselves, and their respective Dao Orthodoxys differed, making them unsuitable for large-scale army combat, they were perfect for small-team guerrilla raids and surprise attacks.

Then she looked at the two leaders.

That four-legged gray-blue octopus must be Gou Lou, right? He seemed quite happy.

And the other one, more cautious, wearing a dark red robe, with weak cultivation and Physical Body, and short hair, that must be Cha Xike?

As Shen Shuibi observed them, Cha Xike and Gou Lou were also observing Shen Shuibi.

Their first reaction was, why is this a Daoist, not a Shaman?

As Fifth-Rank Cultivators, they naturally knew that the Dao Sect was generally neutral.

This neutrality didn't mean 'absolute neutrality', but rather that the Dao Sect generally had no fixed alignment. Various Dao Orthodoxys existed, and Daoists were always the type who enjoyed traveling alone in Outer Void. Many worlds had independent Dao Sect Cultivators traveling everywhere; they called this 'wandering the Mortal World'.

Daoists often appeared on the Human Race's side as well.

It's just... this was, after all, a crucial contact between the Shaman Dao and them! In such an important occasion, where they would later have to risk their lives, the Shaman Dao actually... sent a Daoist?

Gou Lou's heart instantly sank by half.

Perhaps Cha Xike was right; the Shaman Dao didn't take them seriously at all, just casually humoring them. He had made a bad decision.

Cha Xike even sneered directly. The Human-Shaman War, spoken of with such importance, yet they sent a Daoist to placate them. It showed how much sincerity they truly had.

Seeing their expressions, Shen Shuibi did not show much reaction. Instead, she quietly landed in front of them and said directly, “You two must be the two leaders of the People of No Return, correct? To cooperate with the upcoming actions, I would like to test your strength, if that's alright?”

Cha Xike scoffed, “We haven't even discussed anything, and you're already testing our strength? What do you take us for?”

Shen Shuibi replied calmly, “No matter what you are, to accomplish things, it must ultimately come down to strength. We are, after all, participating in a war, and I need to have a corresponding understanding of each of you.”

These words made Gou Lou frown slightly.

And Cha Xike, who was already discontent, spoke no more nonsense. His anger surged, and he stomped his foot on the ground, a red bead appearing in his hand, upon which a faint imprint of a Flood Dragon seemed to be visible.

This was a Flood Dragon Dragon Pearl!

Then, a belt with a missing piece emerged from his waist. He pressed the Dragon Pearl onto it, and the Flood Dragon's Qi and blood violently poured out, covering his body and forming a layer of blood-colored armor!

This blood-colored armor erupted with immense power over his body, Dragon roars resounding, and then it fiercely struck towards Shen Shuibi!

This was the unique cultivation method of his world. They could extract external Qi, study external laws, store them, and finally manifest them on their unique 'artifacts', thereby gaining the abilities of other things.

“Dragon Blood? Flood Dragon?” The rabbit glanced at it, drawing two lines in the air with her finger.

Dragon Suppressing Talisman!

A Talisman shot out, and Cha Xike immediately felt his body become incredibly heavy. The Flood Dragon blood all over his body rapidly splattered out, sinking to the ground. His armor turned pure white, its power greatly diminished.

But he immediately flipped his wrist, and a bead transformed from Pure Yang Heavenly Lightning appeared in his hand, which he slapped onto his waist again.

His armor was instantly filled with Pure Yang Heavenly Lightning, shaking for thousands of miles!

He soared through the clouds and thunder, leaping across rivers with wind and lightning! The Heavenly Lightning transformed into purple armor covering his entire body, instantly boosting his speed to five thousand times the Heavenly Dao limit, rushing to Shen Shuibi's front with a speed that surpassed all Mortal observation equipment and reactions!

Shen Shuibi reached out and lightly tapped.

Using lightning techniques in front of the Dao Sect?

Shen Shuibi's fingers traced several patterns in the air, Yin and Yang trigrams appeared, and behind her, the phantom of the Great Western Dark Earth-Subduing Lightning Emperor suddenly emerged, with bursts of Yin Lightning. The projection of one of the Five Directions Lightning Emperors descended.

Shen Shuibi's Divine Invocation Technique could also command the Lightning Emperor's Dharma Body!

The phantom of the Lightning Emperor's Dharma Body appeared, like lightning strokes outlining it, with black clouds like kiln smoke, instantly obscuring the sky, pouring rain like ropes. Immediately, wind howled and thunder roared. After a moment, the wind rose, and black Qi permeated, coiling and swirling—

Then, several rapid claps of thunder were heard, a flash, and Cha Xike was sent flying backward again, but the Heavenly Lightning bead appeared in Shen Shuibi's hand.

He did not lose heart, but his gaze became slightly more serious, knowing that his opponent was by no means an ordinary person.

Even if she wasn't a Shaman, among Daoists, she was still a very powerful type. Perhaps... she came from the Mortal World.

Thus, Cha Xike spread his ten fingers, holding eight beads between them, and slapped them onto his waist!

Shen Shuibi had originally intended to stop him, as she didn't want to make too much of a fuss, nor did she want to genuinely get into a heated fight with him, so stopping him beforehand would have been better.

However, as she tried to intervene, she found that there was a subtle Dao protection around him.

She actually... couldn't stop him?

Even though the action of changing the armor's attributes was so slow, seemingly easily interrupted with a light tap, the surrounding space-time seemed to be warped. Any action aimed at 'interruption' had to be countered, requiring significantly greater cultivation than the opponent to interrupt their actions.

Therefore, Shen Shuibi could only watch as he embedded the eight beads into his belt.

However, as she watched, she also identified the attributes of the eight beads.

The Pearl of the White Lion Auspicious Beast.

The Pearl of the Five-Colored Deer's Charge.

The Pearl of the Black Tiger's Roar.

The Pearl of the Divine Beast, Simian.

A portion of the Red Snake's scale pearls.

The Pearl of the Mountain-Moving Divine Ox.

The Pearl of the Evil-Devouring Bear.

The Pearl of the Cloud-Treading Heavenly Horse.

Shen Shuibi's pupils slightly widened, and her expression began to show surprise.

Lion head, deer antlers, tiger eyes, elk body, snake scales, ox tail, horse hooves, bear waist—

These characteristics, could they be...

But before that thought could fully form, a phantom of a Divine Beast emerged, accompanied by an ox-like roar, and his Aura instantly surged tenfold!

In the Mortal World, during the Primordial Era, various different life forms were categorized into Five Insects: naked, scaled, hairy, feathered, and chitinous.

Naked insects were beings like humans, without fur or carapaces, led by Sages.

Scaled insects were those with scales, led by True Dragons.

Hairy insects were those with fur, led by Qilin.

Feathered insects were those with feathers, led by Phoenix.

Chitinous insects were those with carapaces, led by Divine Turtles.

At this moment, it was the leader of the hairy insects, the Qilin, appearing!

He actually managed to piece together a not-so-pure Qilin using these characteristics!

Auspicious Qi erupted, beginning to surge outwards. Its speed wasn't as fast as the Heavenly Lightning, but it made Shen Shuibi's expression turn serious.

The Qilin's Auspicious Qi repelled all Dharma, preventing anything from approaching its body. This was a more powerful body-protecting Dharma than the Immaculate Body, because the Qilin was a benevolent beast that brought auspiciousness, so all Qi in the world was unwilling to harm the Qilin.

In other words, it couldn't be stopped!