Chapter 617: Overall disadvantage

As Li Qi’s ace, Shen Shuibi truly had no options left at this moment.

She currently only had her Nascent Soul, without a physical body, so her strength was already partially diminished. In her peak state, she would indeed have been stronger than her opponent, but now she could only reach a stalemate.

Neither could do anything to the other.

She could only hope for external help. Shen Shuibi and the Mohist Cultivator before her were like the Fourth Rank Moro Yan and True Dragon Ao Guangxiao of the past, with almost identical strength. It was impossible to determine a victor within an hour.

Unless someone interfered from outside to break the balance, but in this Outer Void, all movable forces already had their own battlefields, and no one could interfere with the outside.

Since nothing could be done, it was better to wait patiently for the outcome.

Shen Shuibi thus simply stopped, no longer even probing, but instead sat cross-legged and began to meditate.

“Oh? Do you look down on me that much?” The Mohist Cultivator was surprised.

However, he suddenly realized that even so, he couldn't find any openings in Shen Shuibi. She was indeed meditating to recover Qi, but through some method, she also maintained the ability to react at any time.

This made the Mohist Cultivator shake his head slightly.

This was truly impressive; he himself couldn't do it.

But his cultivation wouldn't be exhausted even if he fought for a year or two. Since the other party began to recover Qi, he would just make more things as a backup.

Thinking this, a series of Puppets unfolded around him. Some remotely monitored Shen Shuibi, while others began to deliver Materials, allowing the Mohist Cultivator to assemble Materials and form new mechanisms.

This was not very useful for battle; it was more like his way of relaxing, a kind of puzzle game, and the things he made were only about Seventh Rank.

When doing this, he was more relaxed, and at the same time, he could divert some energy to pay attention to Shen Shuibi, so as not to be ambushed.

It was clearly the strongest battlefield, yet it was strangely calm.

But on the other side—

Surprisingly, Gou Lou traded lives with someone.

General Zhou, along with those two Human Dao Lieutenant Generals, were besieging him alone under the enhancement of Bing Qi…

It was a certain death situation.

But Gou Lou actually managed to hold them off for a full quarter of an hour and even tried to trade lives with one of them. Although he didn’t succeed, he severely wounded the opponent.

The ferocity of the battle was almost indescribable.

Of course, this ferocity was limited to Gou Lou; the Human Dao was only injured.

Gou Lou’s body was already utterly beyond description.

One could only say… if he were to turn to ashes, he might feel better.

He could no longer throw even a single punch.

What still shone now was only his Martial Dao Divine Intent.

Yes, he was not dead. His Martial Dao Divine Intent still shone brightly, even brighter than before. From it, countless anomalies could be seen, the progress of a civilization, their birth, ignorance, progress, pioneering, and—

Demise.

This was a Martial Artist, an unyielding Martial Artist, a Martial Artist whose Dao Heart was firmer than anything else.

General Zhou reached out and extinguished these Martial Dao Divine Intents, but he did not directly shatter them. Instead, he said, “You are a true human. Fighting you… is a tragedy.”

After speaking, he flung Gou Lou aside.

Already so injured, with his Martial Dao Divine Intent also crushed, there was no saving him. Unless a Third Rank descended from the heavens, he wouldn't survive. Let him die in Outer Void.

In that case… at least he could enter Reincarnation instead of being sacrificed. This could be considered General Zhou’s respect for a human.

Although he was an enemy.

Enemies must die, but there’s no need to humiliate them. Let them enter Reincarnation.

Moreover… General Zhou actually knew another thing.

The enemy before him, his Martial Dao Divine Intent shone brightly, but in truth, his Martial Dao Divine Intent had already died long ago.

It was just that he couldn’t move on.

After the world was destroyed, everything he did later was merely to construct a superficially beautiful, yet actually empty, tomb for his already deceased world.

That dazzling, splendid, never-yielding Martial Dao Divine Intent was the tombstone of Gou Lou’s civilization. Everything he did was merely in vain.

Thinking these thoughts, General Zhou casually tossed the enemy’s shattered remains, letting them drift towards Outer Void, and then said, “Divide into two paths. I will deal with Shen Shuibi, and you will encircle the enemy’s remaining forces.”

“Alright,” the other two Lieutenant Generals suppressed their injuries and immediately replied, then each led a division and charged towards the remaining People of No Return resistors.

As for General Zhou, the Great General, he quickly rushed to Shen Shuibi’s side.

At this moment, four and a half quarters of an hour had passed.

There were still three and a half quarters of an hour left until the array’s one-hour charging time.

Shen Shuibi rose from her meditation and recuperation.

The Mohist Cultivator, sensing her movement, also put down the mechanical parts in his hand.

No dialogue. In the very next moment, both their Dharma Idols immediately rose, and then they unleashed their life-threatening moves!

Both knew it was time to fight to the death!

General Zhou had arrived, and the balance had been broken, but… in a direction unfavorable to Shen Shuibi.

Shen Shuibi was confronting the Mohist Cultivator’s Dharma Idol, and at the same time, a long halberd flew in from the horizon.

Wherever the long halberd went, an Aura of overwhelming power continuously spread, as if a mighty overlord, wielding a halberd, was attacking!

Its strength was unmatched, its Aura invincible, its person unparalleled!

Overbearing, overbearing, overbearing—it was pure overbearingness, as if it wanted to crush everything with brute force!

There is a saying: He who borrows strength from others is a Hegemon.

This was exactly the case now!

There were no flashy spells or Divine Abilities, nor the ability of Martial Dao Inner Qi to devour other Qi; only brute force descended from thin air!

With just one strike, it blasted a huge crack into Shen Shuibi’s Dharma Idol!

But this was only a test.

After confirming that Shen Shuibi was indeed weakened, General Zhou no longer hesitated. He wielded ten-tenths of his strength, and his Dharma Idol rose behind him!

His Dharma Idol was himself.

It was a combination of the Military School of Thought and the Martial Dao. He integrated the conquering intent of the Martial Dao into his Human Dao Military School of Thought cultivation, protecting humanity with martial arts and demonstrating martial arts through humanity, forming a whole and becoming his Dao path.

He was the vanguard of the Human Dao, the battle blade of the Human Dao!

He existed for the conquests of the Human Dao, and he existed to step to the end of the Dao path!

The long halberd pressed down again, and the light distorted with it. That Aura was so immense, it seemed as if ten Fifth Rank worlds before him would be directly shattered with a single cleave!

The strong rise, the heroic spirit emerges.

The hero’s will, stirred by war drums.

Wielding the long halberd, shaking the nine heavens.

Shedding bloodstains, victorious in a hundred battles!

With another strike, Shen Shuibi was sent flying backward again, utterly incapable of direct confrontation, because the Mohist Cultivator’s attack had also arrived. A giant city enveloped the surroundings, and countless Spiritual Artifacts on it gathered power, projecting points of light like stars and rain. A series of explosions transformed an area of ten million miles into an ocean of shockwaves and flames.

Under the situation of fighting one against two, her calculations no longer held any meaning.

At this moment, what was being competed was no longer strategy or calculation.

Because there was no need.

What Shen Shuibi needed to think about was no longer how to win, but how to survive, how to last longer.

So how to persist?

She didn’t know.

By willpower?

The rabbit didn’t think that much, only continued to defend and face the enemy.

Anyway, it’s already like this, what else can be done?

Three and a half quarters of an hour…

Shen Shuibi cast aside all distracting thoughts, placing all her attention on the enemy before her.

Spells and Divine Abilities unfolded.

Majestic and vast, fluttering and graceful, boundless and ethereal, emerging from the azure sky.

The battle resumed, and Shen Shuibi fell into a complete disadvantage.

But at this moment, Shen Shuibi was not the only one at a disadvantage. On the other side of the battlefield, the People of No Return were also completely caught in an encirclement from both inside and out.

Previously, there were Gou Lou and Cha Xike, two Fifth Rank Cultivators leading the People of No Return to gang up on the Human Dao.

But at this moment, the situation was reversed: two Human Dao Fifth Rank Lieutenant Generals, leading the Human Dao, were ganging up on the People of No Return.

There were only a little over a million of them left. Facing nearly fifty thousand Human Dao soldiers, plus two Fifth Rank Cultivators, they could only barely hold on, and not for long.

The million people were suffering extremely severe losses, with almost thirty to forty thousand dying every minute.

Moreover, as the death intensity increased, the resistance and Bing Qi strength correspondingly decreased.

In other words, they would die faster and faster.

Calculated at this rate, within a quarter of an hour, at most a quarter of an hour, about a million people would die here.

But they needed to hold on for at least three and a half quarters of an hour.

Could they do it?

The answer was… no.

In this world, there are no miracles. All miracles are actually prepared beforehand.

In times of crisis, no one will suddenly power up, and no new strength will appear out of thin air.

If you can win, you can win.

If you can’t win, you can’t win.

The People of No Return began to crumble. In the face of absolute death, morale collapsed.

The military formation scattered, and the Bing Qi disintegrated. They didn’t flee, but… their resistance was significantly weaker.

They did not surrender. If they were willing to surrender, they wouldn’t have come here.

The People of No Return still chose to fight to the death.

However, such a fight to the death… was not really a ‘death fight’.

Rather than calling it a fight to the death, it was more like, just resist casually, and then let the Human Dao kill them.

They were already tired.

In just half an hour, the spirit and will of the People of No Return had been pushed to their limits.

They had witnessed countless sacrifices, to the point where sacrifice itself had become numb.

They had personally experienced brutal combat, to the point where brutality had become completely commonplace.

They were still resisting now, but facing that inevitable outcome, the People of No Return did not possess the same will as the Human Dao.

If they could achieve what the Human Dao did, never giving up even in the final desperate situation, never being discouraged, fighting with all their might, then holding on for a quarter of an hour would definitely not be a problem. After all, there were over a million people, and they had formed a military formation; it would take some time to kill them all.

Just like two quarters of an hour ago, when Gou Lou and Cha Xike besieged those tens of thousands of Human Dao soldiers.

Over a million People of No Return, two Fifth Rank Cultivators, besieging tens of thousands of Human Dao soldiers. Those tens of thousands of Human Dao soldiers stubbornly held on, miraculously persisting for a quarter of an hour, and finally waited for reinforcements.

This was the Human Dao, this was the will of true humans.

However, the People of No Return could not do it; they no longer had that spirit.

Their so-called desperate resistance now could even be said to be intentionally seeking death.

What is so difficult about death?

What is difficult is to persist.

They couldn’t hold on any longer, so they chose to die.

The destruction rate of the entire military formation suddenly increased.

They died faster and faster, faster and faster.

That was no longer a suicidal battle; it was a mass self-detonation, completely disregarding whether it could cause effective harm.

One must know that even self-detonation requires precise planning; it needs to force the opponent into a corner, making it difficult to avoid the self-detonation. Otherwise, given the vastness of Outer Void, if you explode, you explode; they can easily dodge it anyway.

Just like Shen Shuibi seizing the opportunity, using Evil Qi to pressure a Great General to unleash a blow with all his Qi and blood, making it impossible for others to escape. Only then would throwing out a Golden Core to self-detonate be effective.

A simple explosion, and one could dodge it with a flash.

Now, the People of No Return had a feeling of a simple explosion.

But unexpectedly, it still caused some casualties.

Because… too many people self-detonated.

So many that it reached the point of ‘carpet bombing.’ A large number of people self-detonating at different times and locations, instead, created a kind of chain reaction. The Human Dao’s vanguard was hit by the aftershocks of the self-detonations, and when they tried to retreat, they found that people were also self-detonating behind them.

This unexpected result caused heavy casualties among the Human Dao’s vanguard. The simultaneous self-detonation of about two hundred thousand people resulted in the loss of over ten thousand soldiers from the Human Dao’s vanguard.

To be honest, a ratio of one to twenty, this was the most astonishing battle loss ratio the People of No Return had achieved throughout the entire battle.

Before, it was never this high; they could only slowly wear down the enemy with high-ranking existences.

The Human Dao didn’t have many people in total, just those tens of thousands of remaining soldiers. Losing ten thousand at once, their offense slowed down.

It wasn’t that they were scared, but rather they believed they shouldn’t be so reckless, otherwise, they would suffer heavy losses. They should approach slowly.

Anyway, victory was already within sight, and it would be bad to lose more people.

It didn’t matter if it took a little more time. As long as there was a Fifth Rank Cultivator, it wouldn’t take much time to dismantle the detector. If a Great General acted, it would only take a few minutes.

The remaining People of No Return also had their spirits lifted a little by this strange battle loss ratio.

Perhaps… using this move could buy a little more time?

But in reality, it couldn’t be delayed any further.

Because the Fifth Rank Cultivators had made their move.

The Human Dao soldiers retreated, merely condensing Bing Qi and performing martial arts in place, no longer engaging in combat. Instead, they concentrated all their power into the Bing Qi, and then transformed the Bing Qi into Qi Intent, integrating it into their respective Fifth Rank Cultivators’ bodies.

Then, the two Fifth Rank Cultivators personally charged forward.

With Bing Qi protecting them, they were not afraid of the opponent’s Bing Qi suppression. In this way, although the efficiency of the Fifth Rank Cultivators entering the fray was lower than tens of thousands of people acting together, the advantage lay in safety.

In this manner, efficiency returned to its initial state, with the two Fifth Rank Cultivators charging into the People of No Return and slaughtering them en masse.

After eliminating everyone, there would still be two and a half quarters of an hour left, more than enough time.

Here, the Fifth Rank Cultivators began their slaughter.

On the other side, Shen Shuibi was struggling to hold on. Her injuries began to appear in large numbers. It was normal for battles between Fifth Rank Cultivators to last ten days to half a month, but she was barely able to hold on for even two quarters of an hour now.

Although the Mohist Cultivator and General Zhou were slightly inferior to Shen Shuibi in her peak state, their combined efforts posed no problem at all against Shen Shuibi in her current condition.

The overall situation was decided; there was no chance of victory left.