Chapter 807: Huo Dou

Li Qi and Huo Dou stood face to face.

It was noon, but the sky was somewhat overcast.

Although 'Burning the Daytime' was not completed, it seemed to have achieved some effect, directly leading to the current bleak appearance of the sky.

The罡 Wind layer in the sky was completely chaotic, and… the surrounding Yang Qi seemed to have been ignited prematurely, thus being severely depleted, with Yin Qi sweeping around, completely dominating over Yang Qi.

Because of this, in the visible distance, those occasionally revealed distant scenes clearly indicated the same chaos everywhere, the same Yin Qi rolling in, causing the Yin and Yang balance of all things to be completely disrupted, making the body involuntarily uncomfortable. This chaos and frenzy extended to the boundless horizon, an endless terrifying scene, with all living beings suspended alone within it.

However… this also perfectly aligns with Huo Dou's Divine Ability.

The Yanhuo are to its south, their bodies are black, resembling dogs, and they breathe fire from their mouths. They are named Huo Dou, spraying fire to cause disaster, which is very inauspicious.

Huo Dou, a beast of calamity. From its name, one can tell that the character 'Huo' (disaster) is in its name, indicating it is not an Auspicious Beast.

Its arrival brings fire disasters.

However, Huo Dou is also a follower of the ancient Great Gods.

To say 'follower' isn't quite right; to be precise, it should be a wild dog secretly trailing behind.

Although it sounds a bit unpleasant, that's roughly the case.

Because Huo Dou's sense of taste is very peculiar; ordinary food has no taste to it, like chewing wax. What it loves most to eat are various types of flames.

It can discern the taste of different flames and enjoys them immensely; it's generally one of Huo Dou's life's hobbies.

The quality of these flames cannot be too low, so Huo Dou usually forages for different flames in various places.

In other words, they love to eat exotic fires, and once eaten, they are completely consumed and will not regenerate.

While such flames are not too rare in the heavens, they are not too common either, making them difficult to find. Thus, Huo Dou often goes hungry, unable to find food.

Therefore, the simplest way for Huo Dou to eat a full meal is to follow the Heavenly Gods.

Whether it's the Thunder God, or the Fire God, or some other Heavenly Gods, their chariots are always followed by various heavenly fires.

The Thunder God's various lightning fires that sweep across the sky, and even the True Fires of Taiyi and that series of deities; the Fire God, needless to say, has countless different kinds of flames.

So Huo Dou became a wild dog trailing behind various Heavenly Gods, waiting to eat the flames they left behind to have a full meal.

Of course, calling it a wild dog is in comparison to the Heavenly Gods; the Heavenly Gods are powerful beings, so Huo Dou can naturally only be considered a wild dog. But compared to other creatures, Huo Dou's deterrent as a disaster beast is terrifying.

Putting that aside, since Huo Dou likes to follow behind the Heavenly Gods, then it's well known…

The Fire God's name is Zhu Rong.

Zhu Rong is not only the origin of 'Zhu,' but he is also one of the Heavenly Gods, and a high-ranking one at that, bearing the title 'Red Emperor.'

It has been said before that 'Emperor' is the leader of gods.

The Lord of the Star Officials, the leader of the Ziwei Heavenly Court, Taiyi, is referred to as the 'Heavenly Emperor.'

Correspondingly, Zhu Rong, as the Lord of the Fire Official, is also called the 'Red Emperor.'

There are also corresponding White Emperors, Black Emperors, Green Emperors, and so on, all of whom are leaders of different Heavenly Gods.

This series of clues instantly pieced together a rough truth in Li Qi's mind.

As Zhu Rong's descendant, Zhu Fengdan, might have some connection with Huo Dou because of Zhu Rong.

No sooner said than done, but these thoughts flashed through Li Qi's mind in an instant. Realizing this, Li Qi immediately reacted and said, "So it's Senior Huo Dou… I didn't expect it was you who helped me."

"Oh, no, I can't directly help you, otherwise it will cause many variables. As for these emperor fluid paste, it's already the limit, but… it should play a decisive role, right? After all, your opponent will probably take a long time to recover," Huo Dou said.

Li Qi nodded: "If there are no surprises, that's indeed the case, but… there must be other trump cards; it won't be that simple."

"A complete fourth-rank joining the battle will render many trump cards ineffective," Huo Dou said.

"It's not that simple. By the way, according to this statement… Senior, does the Human Dao side know about your sudden arrival?" Li Qi suddenly realized something.

"Of course they don't know. If they knew, wouldn't I have come for nothing? This is your Master's backup plan, solely to win," Huo Dou replied.

This made Li Qi breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Very good, if that's the case, then it's excellent.

"It's just that, because of you, an unexpected opportunity arose. Originally, the Human Dao had already lost, but you insisted on waiting until night, wasting several hours for nothing," Huo Dou said with some dissatisfaction.

Yes, if Li Qi hadn't been so insistent on waiting until night, now that the daytime had been burned away and the silver moon had set, the emperor fluid paste would have poured into Li Qi's Inner World like a tide, directly healing him.

Of course, the inner body spirits could not be restored; the emperor fluid paste could heal the Inner World but could not restore the inner body spirits that had already been severed. This could only be done by Li Qi himself.

However, even so, it meant that Li Qi had recovered much of his combat power.

As long as it succeeded, victory would basically be declared.

"Burning the Daytime… the consequences will be very severe, right?" Li Qi asked.

"It won't be too severe. It's just an imbalance of Yang Qi. Baiyue will probably have no daytime for a few hundred years, and it will naturally replenish itself later. It's a small matter. If you do a good job in disaster relief, not too many people will die," Huo Dou said.

Hearing this, Li Qi shook his head repeatedly: "If that's the case, then it's better to wait."

"Why?" Huo Dou was curious, not understanding what Li Qi was insisting on.

She asked, "Directly winning the battle, who knows how much sacrifice can be saved, how many fewer people will die? Anyway, those who will be affected by the lack of daytime are basically just Mortals. Cultivators have strong risk resistance, and those above the seventh-rank will not be threatened by Yang Qi imbalance."

"Directly burning the daytime will save these few hours, which can not only effectively reduce risks but also save many lives at the front line. It's just a bit of hardship for the common people. Anyway, you are not without the ability to provide relief. As long as you win this battle, relief is but a single thought for you. Why take this risk?"

Li Qi shook his head: "Senior, that's not how it works. Now is a critical time for the Human-Shaman Dao Dao conflict. If I do that, can Shaman Dao still establish itself in this war? The Dao conflict at the grassroots level would immediately be lost, wouldn't it?"

Huo Dou chuckled: "Does Shaman Dao rely on Mortals to establish itself? Don't make me laugh. Who doesn't know that Shamanes have a laissez-faire attitude towards Mortals, neither stopping nor cultivating them, letting everything be their own struggle? In this situation, aren't you saying that you don't inherently value Mortals? Just like the Dao conflict now, your orders, in order to allow Shaman Dao to be implemented to the very bottom, directly led to the relocation and eradication of a generation! That's much harsher than burning the daytime."

What Huo Dou was referring to was what Li Qi had done in the previous sixty years.

In order to break the cycle at the bottom, Li Qi directly made the decision to have a generation of people, like those farmers such as Zhang Haoming, move away from their hometowns and circulate, thereby freeing them from the shackles of the land.

Yes, the shackles of the land.

For farmers, land is both a means of survival, and at the same time, they are firmly confined there by the land, constantly oppressed because of it.

Therefore, Li Qi's exile of them was essentially like executing the hostages, so the kidnappers naturally couldn't threaten these free people anymore.

However, doing so indeed caused many deaths. Although the next generation of Baiyue people were thus freed from the shackles of the land, Li Qi even promoted the public ownership of land for this purpose. All of this was to liberate people from the bondage of the land.

Therefore, Li Qi replied, "Indeed, many people died, but more people became better. Baiyue is flourishing. This is a way to strengthen the Great Source of Heaven and Earth. Life should not be subjected to such bondage, should it?"

"Then isn't winning this war good for Baiyue? Win quickly, it's just a small price to pay," Huo Dou, being of the demon race, seemed to not quite understand Li Qi.

"No, why win quickly?" Li Qi countered, "As I said before, this war is a Dao conflict, and… after I win, Baiyue won't be up to me."

"Without the Human Dao, what would I use to transform Baiyue?"

Without the Human Dao, what would Li Qi use to transform Baiyue?

These words made Huo Dou's eyes widen, pulling her out of her usual state of mind, which had been entirely focused on Zhu Fengdan.

If she had previously been a Young Miss trying to extract some information about Zhu Fengdan from Li Qi, now she truly returned to the demeanor befitting a third-rank expert.

"In other words, you are 100% confident you can win, and what you want to do now is to use the Human Dao's hand to change Baiyue? How can you be so confident? You should know that your opponent has a third-rank," Huo Dou straightened up, and all the 'human' micro-expressions that had filled her face completely vanished.

When she had those expressions before, she looked like a high-ranking but young Young Miss, full of curiosity.

But now, the oppressive aura from her suddenly intensified, so much so that Li Qi couldn't even maintain his previous composure.

Perhaps this was what Huo Dou wanted.

Through this method, she wanted Li Qi to expose his true and vulnerable side, rather than being as calm and boastful as he was now.

But Li Qi merely straightened up and then said, "It's not my confidence, Senior. This has nothing to do with confidence; it's simply something I must do."

"Changing Baiyue is something that must be done, and if I win directly, the Baiyue Kingdom Lords will not let me continue to interfere. If I want to forcefully continue to push for reforms, then what I will get is a complete mess, and I won't even be able to use violence as I can now, as the forces behind these Country Lords will also cause obstruction."

"This is the best opportunity to transform Baiyue," Li Qi said.

"You are too arrogant. How can you do these things in front of the Human Dao? Even if Zhu Fengdan asked me to help, giving you a huge chance of victory, you still can't do it," Huo Dou shook her head.

She had just deduced it.

If Li Qi followed his current approach, he would likely lose terribly.

"No, Senior, you're mistaken. It's only by doing this that I can defeat the Human Dao," Li Qi lowered his head, looking at Huo Dou, who was shorter than him: "Defeat the Human Dao, not just win against the Human Dao."

Li Qi continued, "I believe that even if I temporarily gain an individual power advantage in this local battlefield and win against the Human Dao, it will be useless, because the Human Dao's power is not limited to this. They will indeed have trump cards. Even if I attack now and invade the Southern Border, if the hearts of the Baiyue people collapse, then ultimately I will still lose, because Baiyue will inevitably progress due to my current actions. Where this progress happens… depends on our current situation. Baiyue does not necessarily have to stand on the Shaman Dao side."

Huo Dou, however, seemed somewhat disappointed. She sighed and said, "If you want to gain Baiyue's support and have Baiyue stand on the Shaman Dao side in the future, you must win. In Baiyue, the Baiyue Kingdom Lords are ultimately the ones who call the shots."

"You want Baiyue to stand on the Shaman Dao side, so you should make the Baiyue Kingdom Lords defect to you. As is well known, they always side with the winner, with whoever offers more."

Li Qi, however, shook his head: "The ones who call the shots in Baiyue should not be those Country Lords, but all the people of Baiyue. If those Country Lords truly have the final say in Baiyue, then wouldn't I have come for nothing?"

Huo Dou was surprised: "You—you brat, are you Human Dao or Shaman Dao? Equality for all? This doesn't sound like the usual style of Shaman Dao."

Li Qi, however, said: "I am Shaman Dao, but… Shaman Dao also emphasizes the natural order. If the Baiyue Kingdom Lords are without virtue or ability, then naturally, virtuous ones will replace them. Life and death, generation after generation of progress, is inherently the natural Dao. The Baiyue Kingdom Lords forcefully occupy and interfere with this process, attempting to rise above natural laws, unwilling to progress themselves, yet suppressing others. This is the style of the Human Dao's evil methods!"

"This isn't equality for all people; this is… equality for all living beings. All things should inherently have equal opportunities. At the beginning of my cultivation, in a world called the Earth Oil Realm, I already understood this point. Baiyue has not given the lives below them a chance, so they are not worthy of representing the entirety of Baiyue."

Finally, Li Qi retorted, "Senior Huo Dou, if I won't yield to the Human Dao, then why would I yield to the Baiyue Kingdom Lords?"

"…You really have chosen a difficult path for yourself, but your current demeanor reminds me of Zhu Fengdan in the past," Huo Dou's eyes held a complex expression.

"My former teacher?" Li Qi was startled.

He had heard of it before.

The former Zhu Fengdan, it was said, also conformed to the demeanor of a Invoker, unlike her current flippant self.