Chapter 628: Wrangling

Li Qi didn't care about these.

Even if the Fifth-Rank World Lords, who were the actual leaders, wailed, raged, and constantly complained that they couldn't hold on, that their worlds couldn't hold on, and requested to retreat.

Some were threats, forcefully demanding Li Qi to let them retreat.

Some were notifications, clearly stating that they were just informing Li Qi, as they could no longer persevere.

Some were pleas, begging Li Qi to give them a chance to breathe.

Others were tearful complaints, though not explicitly asking to retreat, they continuously showed Li Qi their casualties, with some Fifth-Rank Worlds even having more than half their forces dead or wounded.

Some even proposed to restart the blood sacrifice.

But Li Qi ignored all of these.

Normally, Li Qi was a kind person; in the eyes of all Fifth-Ranks, he was understanding and easy to talk to. He could initiate blood sacrifices, and he could allow retreats; as long as they cried and complained, Li Qi would agree.

But now it was different. Now was not normal times.

This time, he would no longer play the kind person.

Li Qi merely replied coldly: "Those who retreat without authorization, those who defy orders, will be executed."

At a critical moment, even if everyone died, they could not retreat.

If they withdrew from the battlefield without permission, Li Qi would show them what military orders meant.

He had already given orders to the Zhang Lu Small Team, forbidding anyone from retreating. They could switch battle zones and rotate to bear the pressure, but they had to hold the line.

Li Qi delegated the authority to switch zones to the Zhang Lu Small Team and Shen Shuibi for discussion, while he himself stopped receiving any messages from the Alliance and the Formation.

He would no longer concern himself with these matters; the task of those outside was to hold the line, and his task was to step over their sacrifices and rush to Gansong.

As for the blood sacrifice? Don't even think about it.

Li Qi himself was currently on the front lines; if he were to initiate a blood sacrifice, he would have to bear the immense pressure it brought, severely reducing his combat power.

Therefore, the task was clear. Everyone participating in the battle should be prepared.

They were already Fifth-Rank; if they still pulled such stunts, they deserved to die.

Li Qi continued to advance, completely single-minded.

This advance lasted for thirteen hours.

After thirteen hours, even on the outskirts of the war fortress, the intensity of the battle had decreased.

It wasn't that they were unwilling to fight desperately, but both the Human Race and Shaman Dao sides were already exhausted. The battle continued, but it was no longer the initial mode of wildly unleashing powerful Divine Abilities.

Li Qi was happy to see this; the lower the battle intensity, the more time he had.

Although the battle intensity decreased, it was actually a result of an increase in casualties; with more people dying, the intensity naturally went down.

In these thirteen hours, the number of fallen worlds was almost countless.

The Human Race's casualties were also very severe. Based on the Shaman Dao casualties, calculated at a battle damage ratio of 1:10,000, the Human Race had already lost tens of millions of people.

Millions of people, even if it included people from other worlds and not just those from Tang Nation, this loss was truly too heavy; at least for this battle zone, it had reached an unbearable point.

Moreover, all of this was still ongoing.

But for the Human Race, there was an advantage.

Their morale was far, far firmer than that of the Shaman Dao worlds.

Therefore, as casualties continued to mount, many Shaman Dao worlds had begun to fear battle, dread battle, and avoid battle.

It was believed that as the battle time continued to increase, Li Qi's orders would gradually become ineffective, and these Fifth-Rank World Lords would eventually reach a consensus and choose to retreat.

At that point, the law would not punish the masses, and Li Qi would also be powerless against them, as he still relied on them to fight desperately.

These worlds, willing to follow Shaman Dao, each had their own objectives.

Most commonly, there were two objectives: one was to survive, and the other was to ascend.

Those seeking survival were under the oppression of the Human Race; they either joined Shaman Dao or were directly killed by the Human Race. They had no choice; the Human Race truly didn't treat them as important.

Those seeking ascension were thinking... if they followed Shaman Dao and defeated the Human Race, even if they could just get some leftover meat scraps, or even a few drops of soup, it would immensely benefit their world and civilization.

Some had both, both fearing the Human Race's military power and coveting the Human Race's remains, so they rallied around Shaman Dao, hoping this big brother could lead them to victory.

There were also some other ideas, such as hatred, or simply wanting to follow Shaman Dao, but these were relatively few.

If Li Qi could not fulfill their objectives, then they naturally would not be willing to sacrifice their lives for Shaman Dao.

In reality, the true followers of Shaman Dao were very few; genuine 'Shamanes' were even rarer than 'Humans' in the Human Race.

Looking at the Imperial Academy scholars and the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain, one could see that Shaman Dao truly relied on 'natural' Legacy, not large-scale cultivation. It was all traditional master-disciple Legacy.

Therefore, the line in Li Qi's heart was becoming tighter and tighter.

He had accurately estimated the endurance limits of these worlds.

In at most one more day, the Zhang Lu Small Team would no longer be able to suppress the situation, and after that, Li Qi would need to promise more benefits.

But even if benefits were promised, they would need to be alive to use them.

So, in at most four more hours, most worlds would reach their endurance limit.

It wasn't that they couldn't continue fighting, and many Fifth-Rank Worlds hadn't even brought out their true foundations yet; they just felt that continuing to fight would truly affect the survival of most worlds, so they wanted to flee.

There were indeed many worlds following Shaman Dao, but with different Dao, they couldn't conspire together, making it difficult to be of one mind.

One day and four hours, this was the time Li Qi had left.

"How much longer?" Li Qi gazed into the distance, seemingly able to vaguely see Gansong.

Could he reach it in one day?

This was a distance measured in light-years, and it had to be accomplished within one day, because time also needed to be set aside to destroy Gansong.

As he thought this, Li Qi suddenly frowned: "Gentlemen, you continue to travel, giving the impression that I am still in the main camp."

At these words, the surrounding Fifth-Rank World Lords were immediately stunned: "Commander, are you going to?"

"Leading a large army is too slow. I will proceed alone. You will act as if I am still here, commanding through the Alliance. I will go alone," Li Qi said.

At this moment, a Fifth-Rank Ice Toad, anxious, immediately said: "No, Commander, if you go alone, without the protection of military Qi, if you are surrounded by a large army and suppressed by military Qi, it will be a dead end!"

That's right, this was the most difficult point for a master facing a well-organized army.

Military Qi was an invention of the Human Race.

In ancient times, when the Human Race didn't have so many masters, facing the high and mighty Divine Dao, facing the naturally gifted demon race, and facing various ghosts and spirits, the Human Race, relying solely on some Martial Artists and Shaman who were not good at fighting, almost couldn't survive.

Thus, the Military School of Thought eventually invented military Qi based on Martial Dao Inner Qi.

Military Qi possessed peculiar and wondrous properties; it could suppress all other types of Qi and was the complete opposite of Martial Dao Inner Qi.

Martial Dao Inner Qi was a manifestation of Chaos Qi, and Chaos Qi was the extreme of Chaos.

But military Qi was the practice of the Human Race's 'rules,' absolute order, absolute rules, even more stringent and absolute than the 'laws' of the Legalists.

Laws could be lenient, but military law was not; this was the Human Race's most stringent 'rule.' Under this set of rules, humans themselves had become tools, consumables.

Military Qi was the foundation of the Human Race's existence, the reason why the Human Race was able to carve out a territory in the primordial wilderness.

Military Qi utilized the Qi of many people to construct a set of strange rules. Under these rules, all different Dao would be suppressed, and one could only rely on the depth of their cultivation to forcibly break through.

Any fancy spell would be ineffective; one could only compete on the depth of cultivation. If you were stronger than the military Qi, you could break through; otherwise, all your Divine Abilities and spells would be suppressed by military Qi, with their effectiveness reduced to less than one-tenth.

And could your cultivation alone compete with that of so many people, and even the combined cultivation of generals of the same rank?

Obviously, it was very difficult. Therefore, military Qi could achieve victory with the weak against the strong, and even crush some previously unmanageable lone powerhouses with very few casualties.

A lone powerhouse, when facing a large army, would be suppressed by military Qi, and if the opponent had an existence of the same rank, it would basically be very difficult to win.

At this time, Li Qi still wanted to act alone. If he were discovered by Tang Nation and besieged by their military forces, their commander would surely die here.

These Fifth-Ranks all knew the power of military Qi; they would always bring soldiers when traveling, using their own military Qi to counter the opponent's military Qi, only then could they have a chance of victory in large-scale army operations.

The dozen or so Fifth-Ranks around him firmly disagreed with Li Qi leaving alone.

If Li Qi died, all their efforts would be in vain, and the huge combat costs they had invested would instantly turn to nothing; they might even face the Human Race's reckoning.

This wouldn't do! Li Qi couldn't die!

But facing the many Fifth-Ranks' remonstrances, Li Qi's attitude was firm.

"It's decided," Li Qi said.

"Absolutely not!" The other Fifth-Rank World Lords immediately said in a panic.

One of the Fifth-Rank Martial Artists stepped forward and said: "If something happens to the Commander, then the tide will be irreversible!"

"Indeed."

"Seconded!"

Everyone chattered, trying to persuade Li Qi to stay, not to go to his death.

Li Qi's life was directly linked to their interests. Without Li Qi, the world cluster Formation would inevitably collapse, and the 'Alliance' in this region would also lose its core.

One must know that all 'Alliances' must rely on a Shaman as an intermediary; this was also how Shaman reconciled 'Heaven, Earth, Human, God, and Ghost.'

Without Li Qi, there would be nothing; they could consider fleeing, otherwise they would be slaughtered like pigs by the Human Race.

But amidst a chorus of opposition, a Fifth-Rank with golden fur and a slender body suddenly said: "Invoker, do you think the Human Race no longer has the ability to deploy large armies?"

This Fifth-Rank was the Balancer from before, the vanguard world that Li Qi initially arranged for the vanguard battle, because he was among the strongest of the many Fifth-Ranks not directly affiliated with Shaman Dao.

Now, as one of the strongest, he naturally also joined Li Qi's surprise attack army.

His question made Li Qi nod slightly. Li Qi had originally prepared to explain thoroughly, but he didn't expect someone to have already said it.

So, Li Qi nodded and said: "That's right, I believe the Human Race no longer has enough troops."

Upon hearing this, the other Fifth-Ranks frowned.

You believe?

If your belief was wrong, everyone here would be buried with you. You're the leader; you can't treat your life as a joke, can you?

The Balancer also had this question, but his personality was very calm, and he didn't directly object. Instead, he asked: "Then, none of us here are foolish. We all know that there is currently no reason or evidence to show that the Human Race no longer has combat power. Perhaps we are unaware, so please, Commander, provide concrete evidence, otherwise we absolutely will not allow you to personally venture into danger."

For Li Qi to move with the main force meant competing on speed and time. Victory depended entirely on his own efforts, and if he lost, he couldn't blame anyone else; it was just that his legs were slow. They were all Fifth-Ranks, so they no longer had the idea of blaming others.

Those who could cultivate to Fifth-Rank had already experienced countless life-and-death situations, so they naturally knew the risks and benefits of their actions and would weigh them themselves, not casually shifting blame to others.

But if Li Qi sneaked out and caused himself to lose... this would be equivalent to being killed by Li Qi, which would be very unjust.

The Balancer's words also made the other Fifth-Ranks nod. So, everyone maintained high-speed flight and simultaneously said to Li Qi: "Please, Commander, provide concrete evidence, otherwise we will not agree."

At this moment, a hothead also said: "If you can't convince us, we will definitely keep you here. Commander, you probably won't be able to leave."

These words made the others glare at him, and he quickly covered his mouth, knowing he had spoken out of turn.

It seemed that even among Fifth-Ranks, there were still significant personality differences.

Li Qi, however, didn't really care about these things. Instead, he nodded: "Since you want to hear it, then I will tell you."

Saying that, Li Qi didn't use words to narrate.

Because words were too pale; it was difficult to describe the basis for Li Qi's decision.

He just waved his hand and unfurled a light screen.

Within the light screen was the scene of Li Qi's ascension to Fifth-Rank.

When Li Qi ascended to Fifth-Rank, he used something that was overkill: the jade bead given to him by White Fox King Bodhisattva.

At that time, Li Qi saw his future self, a self in seclusion, and 'borrowed' a portion of his cultivation, integrating it into his body.

This scene was witnessed by many Fifth-Ranks.

All Fifth-Ranks held their breath.

Oh my god! Is this what a great Dao Orthodoxy is?

Can such a thing be done?

Stealing power from the future?

Is time just a plaything?

They were all Fifth-Ranks, so they could naturally distinguish between true and false. Even if some couldn't, they could clearly feel the unique power of a Third-Rank within it.

But at this moment, Li Qi said: "You see, even after I became Fifth-Rank, I am still in seclusion."

"This means that we won this battle, which means all the decisions I made were correct."

Li Qi said.

This logic... left everyone else speechless.

But... it couldn't be refuted.

What could you use to refute it? Do you understand Third-Rank better than others?

In other words, are you even worthy of questioning the power of a Third-Rank?

"It seems everyone has no objections, so it's settled. You continue to advance, and I will go to Gansong alone." Li Qi, seeing their speechless expressions, immediately made the decision.

As for the truth of this logic?

It was false; he was just showing off.

He didn't need to convince these people; that would waste too much time. He only needed to subdue them and suppress their resistance.

This was a drawback of Shaman Dao wars...

Bickering, endless bickering.

When there were too many people, and their hearts weren't united, it could only lead to continuous bickering, internal friction, and easily delay opportunities.

Li Qi didn't have time to slowly discuss and persuade them.

Even if it was nonsense, he would use the tiger skin of a Third-Rank to forcibly subdue these people.

I will be holding a Q&A session on settings in the reader group all day today. Friends who are unclear about the plot and settings can go there to inquire. The group number is 815632723, and there's a one-click join link below the introduction.