Chapter 621: Situation slightly settled

Li Qi truly felt like he was about to collapse.

During the Blood Sacrifice, the countless deaths he endured began to surge out the moment he regained consciousness.

Li Qi controlled the life and death of countless people, using their deaths as the source of his own power. As a price, as the central figure, he would accumulate Death Qi.

Now, all this Death Qi surged into his Inner World and simultaneously enveloped his body!

Li Qi was drenched in sweat, and an intense pain began to surge, as if his skin had been flayed open in countless places, then boiling, crimson iron was poured into them, scalding his flesh and tendons!

The glowing hot iron melted his muscles and internal organs, causing unbearable agony.

A large amount of Death Qi would strip away life force and corrode life.

Unless one was a Cultivator of the Demon of Death lineage, capable of using this as cultivation resources, such a massive amount of Death Qi would certainly not lead to anything good.

But Li Qi completely ignored these things and began to deduce again. Using his 'self' as the gathering point, everyone connected to his 'self' through Karma could be traced outwards along the dense network of Karma, eventually plucking a certain thread to obtain a result.

If the deduction was wrong, plucking that thread would produce unexpected results, causing a great deal of chaos, and the resulting ripples would be difficult to calm, leading to a severe backlash for the plucker.

But even if successful, the vibrations between Karma would still cause a backlash.

Think about it: Karma is interconnected, with countless locations, people, and objects intertwined, acting as cause and effect for each other. Pulling one hair moves the whole body.

So, if 'I' am the central point, then plucking any thread will certainly cause a huge impact on myself and the outside world.

Li Qi didn't know how great this impact might be, but he seemed to have a faint feeling...

The great net of Karma is like countless crisscrossing threads, floating in the Universe, gathering and dispersing, occasionally intersecting. These intersections manifest as all things in this world, and 'I' am one of these intersections.

The birth of 'I' is essentially the convergence of Karma; one 'causal thread' converges with another 'causal thread'. The two threads intersect at a point, and their connection point is the 'effect point'.

A point moving forms a line, so when the 'effect point' moves, it becomes a new 'causal thread'.

Ultimately, all things in the world are all effects and all causes.

Everything foreseeable in this world is born from the intersection of Karma. With cause and effect, there exist all things that people see, hear, and feel, and people themselves.

So, if you treat these threads like piano strings and pluck them...

If the existence of 'I' is not strong enough, the connections not tight enough, and its importance in the Universe not sufficient, not 'heavy enough', then casually plucking other Karma at the cost of oneself could very likely cause one's own Karmic connections to snap off if one is not careful...

It is foreseeable that if such a thing truly happened, then 'I' would directly disappear from the great net of Karma, because 'my' Karmic threads would no longer converge.

What would be the consequences of 'my' disappearance from the great net of Karma?

Li Qi didn't know, but he couldn't imagine it being good.

Perhaps he would simply disappear.

Completely and utterly disappear, no one would remember him, he would have never existed.

Li Qi vaguely sensed this possibility.

Plucking the threads of Karma is not a simple matter, but an extremely dangerous tightrope walk. If even a slight mistake is made, the resulting backlash could be very, very severe, and one's own existence could even be erased.

But in contrast...

What if you vigorously pluck the threads of Karma, ensuring you are heavy enough not to snap off, but instead 'shake off' someone else's Karmic convergence?

Wouldn't that mean the other person disappears?

This thought echoed in Li Qi's mind.

He continued to consider various things as always, but his goal remained very clear.

His objective was simple: save Shen Shuibi.

Although there would definitely be a backlash, he didn't even consider the risk. There was no need to. He wanted to do it, so he would do it. If he didn't, even if he survived, his Dao Heart would be left with a huge flaw.

Just like the Disciple in Yunfang Great Shaman's mind.

True demonic thoughtss are not things like Demonic Qi.

Crushing Demonic Qi is simple, but are you truly willing to reach out and crush it?

So, don't consider those things, just do it directly.

Death Qi frantically poured into Li Qi's body. His life force was constantly being stripped away, and his physical body began to show signs of aging.

But it didn't matter. Li Qi's mind sank into the net of Karma he sensed.

This feeling was extremely wondrous.

He seemed to be able to see countless star-like specks of light floating in the Universe. These light specks were attached to all things, subtly extending countless threads.

Through this network, he could 'access' countless things, extending countless lines little by little.

It was as if... he could see the 'essence' of things.

Each person, each object, they all exist because of a certain 'cause'.

And the 'causes' that brought them into existence were themselves born from other 'causes'.

In other words, by simply finding the corresponding cause, one can create the corresponding effect.

By simply tracing back the corresponding effect, one can find all the causes.

Creating a cause can give birth to an effect.

Repeating this cycle, one can perceive all the relationships around oneself.

His relationship with Shen Shuibi, his relationship with Zhu Fengdan, his relationship with Li Shiwei, his relationship with the Demonic Prince, his relationship with Liu Junyi, his relationship with Shaman Dao, the Human Dao, the Demonic Dao—

Including various objects, such as his relationship with the Ghost Carriage, and his relationship with Shen Shuibi's hairpin.

It also included locations, such as his relationship with Mystic Radiance Mountain, his relationship with Shaman God Mountain, and his relationship with Chang'an Imperial Academy.

Innumerable and diverse.

All of this was clearly visible. Li Qi could clearly perceive the foundation of his entire existence. It was precisely because he had formed connections with these things that Li Qi was Li Qi.

If a brand new Li Qi were to appear out of thin air, even if he possessed the same memories, this 'new Li Qi' would not have experienced these Karma, nor established these connections, so he would be fake, while Li Qi was real.

At the same time, through these Karmic connections, one could trace the Karma of other people. For example, by tracing Shen Shuibi's Karma, one could trace back to Empress Luofu.

However... when Li Qi tried to trace back, he only felt a hazy mist before his eyes.

At the same time, a voice came from his ear: "Hmm? Li Qi? How is that possible? You're only a sixth-rank, aren't you?"

"Quickly retreat, lest you be affected. Do not trace me, it's very dangerous."

After speaking, Li Qi was directly repelled by the mist, forced back into Shen Shuibi's Karmic threads.

Indeed, a third-rank was not something he could touch, and... it seemed the other party was very busy.

They should also be on the battlefield, just like him.

Forget it, don't consider these. Now, I should find the Karma around Shen Shuibi and observe what 'coincidences' can occur near her.

Li Qi disregarded his own backlash and forcefully searched within the Karmic network.

Even searching required enduring backlash. Regardless, for him to investigate and manipulate Karma, he had to start from 'I', pulling and launching a certain 'thread' himself.

These actions would all affect 'I', weakening 'my' presence on the great net of Karma.

It was like, the connection points of this net were originally fine, and if you didn't move them, nothing would ever go wrong. But Li Qi insisted on moving them vigorously, twisting them around for no reason, so the connection points of this net would naturally loosen, and in the end, they might even fall off.

If they fell off, that would be a complete disappearance.

As he investigated and searched, he could clearly feel his own 'existence' gradually weakening.

He was only a sixth-rank. He was still too 'light', not heavy enough to anchor this great net of Karma.

To truly be a heavy anchor on the great net, making it extremely difficult to be swayed by other things, that would probably require at least a third-rank, becoming the greatest cause in one's surroundings.

This also linked Li Qi to his previous understanding of 'influence'. (See Chapter 346)

It turned out that what was called influence was actually a side manifestation of 'the heaviness of Karma'.

When you become the 'cause' of more and more things, you can create thousands of 'effects' with a wave of your hand. Under the pull of these 'effects', you become more and more important. Countless things happen every moment in the Universe, but among these many things, a considerable portion, if traced back to their causes, would eventually lead back to you.

Thus, you appear increasingly heavy and increasingly important, capable of influencing more things.

Li Qi was simultaneously comprehending the mysteries of the net of Karma, because it was only after the Blood Sacrifice that he truly had the ability to use this powerful force, and it was also his first time truly manipulating Karma.

This was not a power a sixth-rank could access. If not for the Blood Sacrifice of many world clusters, he would not have been able to investigate the net of Karma; he simply didn't have the capability.

But Li Qi did not stop.

The act of tracing caused him immense pressure. Although the consumed cultivation was replenished by the Blood Sacrifice, the Death Qi from the Blood Sacrifice was also constantly eroding Li Qi.

Finally, through his connection with Shen Shuibi, Li Qi traced all the Karma around Shen Shuibi. Li Qi even saw General Zhou.

Just as he began to try to create an 'effect', Li Qi suddenly stopped.

A new 'cause' had been established.

He directly exited the tracing state.

The massive consumption stopped, and the Death Qi on his body also began to recede.

There was no need anymore; Shen Shuibi could now survive.

This time, he had won.

What good luck.

But luck is also a form of inevitability to some extent.

The detector did not find the Shaman Dao reinforcements because they were hidden very deeply.

But the Shaman Dao reinforcements found the detector and successfully used it to pinpoint his location, and were already heading towards the detector's direction.

As long as the rabbit held on, General Zhou and that Mohist Cultivator would face the encirclement of over a dozen Shaman Dao fifth-ranks.

On the Human Dao side, they had already been pushed back into the war fortress. The previous situation, where they used their superior troop quality and high mobility to lead the Shaman Dao around, had disappeared.

Now that they were at the war fortress, the initiative of the war had come into Li Qi's hands.

Emerging from the Karmic network, Li Qi forced himself to stand up and began issuing orders to the World Lords through the Alliance: "Reduce the intensity. Reserve forces can withdraw. From now on, maintain the attack intensity such that the Human Dao must hold their ground. Specific execution will depend on local conditions. I will now cancel the Blood Sacrifice, but war spoils will still be decided by each war zone and do not need to be handed over."

After issuing the orders, he began the actual allocation of combat power, deciding which specific world would garrison a certain war zone to maximize everyone's advantages.

Now, the Human Dao had been forced to gather and defend. Next, they only needed to besiege the city in shifts.

Even Cultivators have limits to their energy. The Human Dao had limited manpower and severely insufficient troops. They only needed to have the worlds under Shaman Dao continuously attack the city, making them continuously defend it.

When one side got tired from attacking, they would withdraw and be replaced by a second batch of worlds.

Let tens of millions of combat worlds take turns teaching the Human Dao what troop advantage meant.

Even if you are strong, you can only do so much. You'll be exhausted to death.

If they couldn't hold on, they would only be able to continue shrinking their defense line.

Eventually, they would be gradually forced closer by Li Qi, either being worn down to death or having to fight a final decisive battle.

This was Li Qi's plan: to fully utilize Shaman Dao's troop advantage, even if it meant trading lives, they could still wear down the enemy to death.

The situation had reversed.

Before, Shaman Dao was suppressed by the Human Dao's mobility, with each side fighting separately, easily being contained, led around like dogs, and unable to raise their heads.

But after this battle, the Human Dao would be forced to abandon their mobility advantage and could only confront Li Qi head-on.

Because if they gave up a direct confrontation, it would be equivalent to handing over the The Axis of All Realms base stations to Shaman Dao. Once those were destroyed, the Human Dao would completely fall apart, all connections would be terminated, war zones would be unable to link up, and the command System would completely collapse.

Compared to Shaman Dao's 'Alliance', The Axis of All Realms was much more convenient. Everyone could use it, and it had nearly infinite information flow. No matter how complex the information, it could be transmitted without worrying about signal loss. The Axis of All Realms existed in every corner of the Universe.

But the cost was that The Axis of All Realms had to rely on base stations to be used; otherwise, you couldn't connect.

The Alliance had poorer functionality, but it was decentralized and had no restrictions. Although only World Lords above seventh-rank were qualified to participate, leading to poorer communication capabilities, it was still sufficient.

At this point, the outcome of the battle was becoming increasingly clear.

However, Liu Junyi had not yet reached the point of surrender.

Through The Axis of All Realms, he issued a new order.

"All forces, abandon the outer defense lines, shrink the war zone, and allow our soldiers a chance to rest in shifts. Hold on."

This order was strategically useless; it was merely a slow death. As long as they couldn't break the stalemate and force Shaman Dao to continue being led around, it was meaningless.

But...

Who said they couldn't break the stalemate?

He continued: "Everyone, hold on, hold on until... I advance to fifth-rank."