Chapter 781: End

As Li Qi spoke, the sacrifice was completed.

The ritual Li Qi performed was a death sacrifice, which was essentially a ceremony to honor the deceased.

He was sacrificing to the Di Qi (Earthly Qi).

However, for beings like the Di Qi (Earthly Qi), they are actually not sensitive to this; whether alive or dead, the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) can accept it calmly. As primitive spirits of natural itself, they can naturally easily accept death, which is inherently part of the natural Reincarnation.

Just like the Human-Ghost.

The earth gave birth to humans, but when humans prepared to destroy the earth, the earth would not even resist, only quietly die.

To give birth to children, then be killed by one's own children, and finally enter death together with all the children, this is a matter of course, but... when the world is destroyed, all living beings within the world will naturally be destroyed.

Humans themselves are part of the natural, and after the natural dies, they should naturally die with the natural.

It's just that humans rejected this natural process; they would not perish with the natural; they considered themselves to have transcended the natural.

Li Qi exploited this point.

He used his inner body spirits to withstand the gray flames brought by the death of the earth, and then used this as a sacrifice, with the Heavenly God as the object of sacrifice.

He presented the death of the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) to the Heavenly God.

Of course, the Heavenly Gods would not intervene. It was obvious that on this battlefield of Baiyue, no other forces from the Nine Lands Under Heaven would interfere.

This battle belonged solely to the Human-Ghost and Shaman.

But Li Qi didn't need the Heavenly God to intervene; he needed the blessing given by the Heavenly God. This was the Shaman's ability, and no one could say anything about it.

Communicating with the Heavenly God, Di Qi (Earthly Qi), and Human-Ghost was inherently the duty of the Invoker.

At this moment, he sacrificed the dying Di Qi (Earthly Qi) to the Heavenly God, using one of his inner body spirits as the price.

He wanted to present the death of the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) to the Heavenly God.

As the First Gods, the Heavenly Gods didn't even have a concept of death; they wouldn't be taken away by natural death, but... in Li Qi's prayer, he mentioned hoping for the Heavenly God's blessing.

That was... make a sound.

Make a sound with the power of the Heavenly God.

This was a completely reasonable request. The death of the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) touched the Heavenly Gods, and so, the Heavenly Gods granted it.

On the battlefield, sounds began to appear.

It was the wail of the Heavenly God, an elegy for the Di Qi (Earthly Qi).

The moment this sound was emitted, Li Qi also made a sound.

Li Qi began to chant, in unison.

As he did so, the illusion he maintained began to disappear.

Qiu Zhi emerged from the illusion and glanced at the battlefield.

Yes, the battlefield was pretty much as he had calculated. It showed that although Li Qi had obscured his senses, even without relying on his senses and relying entirely on deduction, he could still make the correct judgment.

Although the risk was greater, from the results, it was perfect; he had indeed simultaneously broken through both illusion and reality.

Scanning his surroundings, he saw that Li Qi's inner body spirits had died, but his sacrifice was complete.

After analysis and deconstruction, he already knew the root of the sacrifice. Although Li Qi had taken encryption measures, Qiu Zhi still discerned that it was a ritual to the Heavenly God, and the offering was Li Qi's inner body spirits, burned to death by the gray flames.

Then there was nothing to worry about.

The Heavenly God could not give too many blessings to interfere with this battlefield. They couldn't give Li Qi a nuclear bomb for a dollar; a dollar could only exchange for a lighter in the sacrifice.

If they insisted on sending a nuclear bomb to interfere... there would be Officials responsible for intercepting it.

And if it was just a blessing equivalent to the offering, then there was no need to worry; he could handle it.

The illusion disappeared, the inner body spirits died, and so the earth fell, and the gray flames continued to spread. Qiu Zhi raised his long ge, and the flames gathered at the tip of the ge.

He didn't know what Li Qi was doing, but he knew the other party was chanting, perhaps some kind of music.

Music has power, just as words have power.

Then it had to be stopped.

The sharp edge of the long ge gathered, representing the power of the Shaman's demise, and instantly struck down!

Li Qi either had to stop and dodge, or be struck.

Being struck would mean death; Li Qi had to dodge. If he dodged, then the chanting would naturally have to stop.

The sharp edge of the long ge swept across Li Qi's body.

Qiu Zhi was stunned.

Li Qi actually didn't dodge.

It struck!

His spirits lifted; Li Qi was going to die!

Wait, no, the sensation wasn't right.

The long ge didn't feel like it struck a Physical Body. This sensation... it struck a spirit body?

Where did it come from?

However, as this questioning thought emerged, Qiu Zhi immediately realized.

He knew where the spirit body came from.

The earth began to riot.

The Di Qi (Earthly Qi) of Baiyue had awakened.

Previously, Shen Shuibi had already verified that the lingering sound of creation could awaken the Di Qi (Earthly Qi), and she even gained a small lion dog because of it.

At this moment, the true creator, along with Li Qi, and Shen Shuibi in the back, simultaneously played this sound.

That's right, Shen Shuibi was also there, and... she was in charge of the Grand Ritual that Li Qi had already arranged.

The Heavenly Gods were extremely familiar with the sound of creation. After all... the First Gods had personally witnessed that moment, the so-called lingering sound of creation.

Li Qi provided the main power; he was responsible for maintaining this ensemble.

Shen Shuibi, in the back, after receiving Li Qi's message, was responsible for coordinating the sacrifices arranged by all the Baiyue states and consolidating their power.

The Heavenly God was responsible for giving Li Qi the simplest, but also the most important, part—the musical score itself.

The Heavenly God arranged the musical score, Li Qi was responsible for performing it, and Shen Shuibi was responsible for arranging the sound equipment.

That Grand Ritual connected the entire Baiyue, and Li Qi himself intended to forge the entire Baiyue into an impenetrable fortress.

One of the Shaman's signature skills—

Mountain and River Grand Formation!

Li Qi had once used the Mountain and River Grand Formation to achieve a beautiful comeback in Guangyang, and it was the same now.

A deity.

A deity of Baiyue, one that had never appeared before, had awakened!

This was the collection of all the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) of the entire Baiyue!

Before Li Qi came, he had asked Zhu Fengdan, saying, "What's the use of the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) of the Great Deer?"

At that time, Zhu Fengdan told him that he would know when he arrived. (See Chapter 766 for details)

Li Qi now indeed knew.

The Di Qi (Earthly Qi) could actually be split and combined at any time! The dormant nature of the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) actually allowed them to combine and fuse freely before Awakening; they wouldn't feel anything anyway.

Although these fused Di Qi (Earthly Qi) still had spirit but no consciousness, when awakened at this moment, their power was enough to force Qiu Zhi to retreat. If Qiu Zhi didn't retreat, he might even die here.

This was the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) of the world!

Although Baiyue was just a small place in the world, it also possessed the power of the fourth rank.

However... Qiu Zhi did not retreat.

The opportunity was right in front of him! He absolutely could not let it go!

"Ugh—!" A low growl escaped his throat, and he lunged forward fiercely!

The concentrated power of the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) swiftly washed away his protective spell with an extremely high rank, leaving indelible scars on Qiu Zhi's Physical Body!

Qiu Zhi ignored everything, unleashing all his power, wanting to Breakthrough the awakened Baiyue Di Qi (Earthly Qi) and forcibly kill Li Qi here!

However, Li Qi maintained the sound of creation, opening his eyes. All of his remaining inner body spirits, except for his Nascent Soul, surged out.

The Five Peaks Mountain Gods, the Four Rivers Water Gods, and the Sun and Moon Heavenly Gods all went to meet him.

Then, all connections were severed.

They had to be severed, otherwise, if they were tainted by the gray flames, Li Qi would have to die with them.

He only retained the Nascent Soul used to maintain his consciousness; everything else was severed, and then he sent all his inner body spirits forward to intercept Qiu Zhi.

Qiu Zhi stepped out, shattering three Mountain Gods. Including the two Li Qi had summoned before, all five Mountain Gods were destroyed.

Li Qi's Inner World was in chaos, having lost the harmonious regulation of the Heavenly God and Di Qi (Earthly Qi). He was like a person whose five vital organs had been removed, with his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all failing simultaneously, leading to kidney failure, liver failure, and heart failure all at once.

But Qiu Zhi was not feeling well either. While attacking, his body also suffered the impact of the Awakening of the awakened Di Qi (Earthly Qi), as well as the attacks from the four Four Rivers Water Gods.

All his protective Dharma bodies shattered, and his Physical Body, along with his Inner World circulation, suffered a huge blow.

He ignored everything and directly self-destructed his Dharma form. At the same time, the military Qi of Zhennan Prefecture soared into the sky!

Li Qi had the Baiyue Di Qi (Earthly Qi), and Zhennan Prefecture also had its own trump card! As a Commander, he had the authority to dispatch Dragon Veins and military Qi!

All attacks were consequently swept away, and even the newly awakened Baiyue Di Qi (Earthly Qi) was momentarily dazed by this.

This instant was enough.

He broke through to Li Qi's front.

Li Qi remained still, continuing to maintain the musical score.

Two Sun and Moon Heavenly Gods blocked Qiu Zhi's path.

The inner body spirits and the severely injured Qiu Zhi collided—

The long ge was as dark as water, faintly red with lingering blood.

This time, there wasn't even an aftermath.

Only an aura of annihilation pressed down on the surroundings.

All the surrounding Baiyue Kingdom Lords and Human-Ghost Generals felt a terrifying fear of death.

Their throats seemed to be choked by something.

There was clearly no visible scene, but merely that aura seemed to make these powerhouses, who commanded countless worlds, go limp all over. The terrifying fear made them unable to extricate themselves, as if all the blood in their bodies had congealed.

From the center of the battlefield, only coldness and cruelty emanated.

An inexplicable chill tightly gripped the hearts of these onlookers, and everything shrieked silently.

An inexplicable tremor appeared on their bodies, as if their Spirit Soul had been frozen.

Despair, fear, and the corpses of the sacrificed, along with countless withered trees.

These should have been accustomed to; for some of the more brutal Human-Ghost Generals and Baiyue Kingdom Lords, the tragedies they personally caused were definitely no less than this temporary battlefield of four thousand five hundred li.

But they just... couldn't stand up.

However, a few seconds later, everything dissipated.

The Baiyue Di Qi (Earthly Qi) that was about to awaken lost the Awakening of the musical score, continued to fall, re-merged into the earth, and fell asleep.

But correspondingly, the gray flames and Li Qi's Sun and Moon Heavenly Gods had all vanished without a trace.

From the Human-Ghost side, a fifth-rank general suddenly rushed out, seemingly Qiu Zhi's adjutant.

From Li Qi's side, Shen Shuibi also immediately abandoned what she was doing, forcibly breaking into the outer heavens, and then descending to Li Qi's side.

The two powerhouses of the fifth rank merely exchanged glances but did not choose to fight. Instead, they quickly went to the incapacitated Qiu Zhi and Li Qi respectively.

The adjutant carried Qiu Zhi and retreated without hesitation towards the direction of the Southern Border.

Shen Shuibi embraced Li Qi and retreated to the area covered by the Baiyue Great Formation.

Clearly, this battle was a draw at this moment.

But if no one had come to rescue them, Li Qi and Qiu Zhi would probably be lying on the ground, face to face, competing to see who recovered faster, because Li Qi's Shaman characteristics would make him recover much faster than the Human-Ghost.

In this regard, Li Qi had a great advantage. If this were an unattended extraterritorial battlefield, Qiu Zhi would die, and... in an extraterritorial battlefield, these gray flames would not be able to harm Li Qi.

The Human-Ghost's targeting of his foundation indeed worked.

It's just that this was not the extraterritorial battlefield after all, so the advantage of recovery was not demonstrated, as both sides had rescuers.

The Human-Ghost's dual rank, although it couldn't deepen their understanding of the Dao, indeed provided extraordinary boosts to combat power.

Shen Shuibi didn't care about those things. She immediately took him back to the palace they had built earlier.

Then, she immediately took out hundreds of silver needles.

The silver needles pierced into the brain, then into the hands and feet, and then she infused her own essence Qi into his Meridians, transforming it into blood, which flowed into Li Qi's five vital organs, passing through his heart and lungs to regulate his breathing.

Nourishing Li Qi's fourth-rank Inner World with a fifth-rank essence Qi was practically courting death, but at this moment, it was the only way.

Li Qi's inner body spirits, except for his Nascent Soul, were completely destroyed. Such injuries meant the decline of all five vital organs and the exhaustion of his Bloodline.

The Five Peaks Mountain Gods were actually the five vital organs of the Inner World, while the Four Rivers Water Gods were the Yin and Yang Meridians, or rather, the veins and arteries. Now that these had all burst, it meant Li Qi had completely lost the ability to regulate his five vital organs and Meridians.

While Shen Shuibi replenished Li Qi's greater Yin and bright Yang with her own essence Qi, she also began to regulate his internal organs and Meridians, making the Qi flowing within them return to normal.

Li Qi's current situation was that if the five vital organs were not in harmony, the orifices would be blocked. If the six internal organs were not in harmony, they would form carbuncles, leading to Yin contraction and muscle spasms, inability to lift the ribs on both sides, withered hair, and a faded complexion.

At this moment, the spring Qi was not generated, the lesser Yang was not generated, the liver Qi internally changed, the summer Qi was greatly reversed, the greater Yang did not grow, and the heart Qi internally hollowed out.

Looking further, the autumn Qi was too damaged, the greater Yin did not gather, the lung Qi was parched and full, the winter Qi was chaotic, the lesser Yin did not store, and the kidney Qi was turbid and sinking.

Shen Shuibi carefully controlled these chaotic营气 and 卫气, making their Qi follow the four seasons and adapt to cold and heat, harmonize joy and anger and reside peacefully, regulate Yin and Yang and adjust rigidity and softness, thus preventing evil from arising.

Of course, theoretically, that's how it worked.

But in actual operation, she found that she simply couldn't control the chaos within Li Qi's body.

Li Qi's cultivation was too high.

Every wisp of Qi was like a red-hot branding iron; just touching it would burn her.

Her own cultivation was too low; she had to improve her cultivation.

However, to improve her cultivation, she first had to lay a solid Dao foundation.

Shen Shuibi had actually reached the threshold of the fourth rank. As long as she spent about a thousand years solidifying her Dao foundation, verifying her conjectures, and preparing herself, she would naturally reach the fourth rank.

But if she forcibly improved her cultivation when her Dao foundation was unstable, there would be consequences. At best, her cultivation would be unstable, and the time for Breakthrough would be greatly extended.

At worst... if she improved when her Dao foundation wasn't solid, and then found that her Dao foundation was wrong, she would directly take the wrong path and fall into a cliff.

The reason for delaying for a thousand years was that during these thousand years, Shen Shuibi needed to slowly refine her conjectures, verify and practice certain details, certain formulas, and calculations, to see if they were correct. If correct, then it was fine; if not, it was also okay, as she could change them in time.

It was like checking every screw before launching a spacecraft.

If it was launched without a thorough check... the consequences might not be too good.