Chapter 810: Cause and effect of debt

Qiu Zhi looked at Li Qi and said to him, “Ritual Reform is a symbol of the new era brought by the Primordial Sage Emperors to later generations.”

Yes, this was how the Primordial Sage Emperors defined ‘reform’; each succession of a Primordial Sage Emperor marked the beginning of a new era.

Therefore, Li Qi used Ritual Reform to symbolize his capacity, preparing to offer his ‘reform’ of Baiyue as a sacrifice, ultimately consuming the Holy Emperor Relic entirely.

When things reach an extreme, they must change. When solidity reaches its peak, it is time for change. The ‘Reform’ hexagram states that ‘reform’ is transformation, a mutual cessation of water and fire; water extinguishes fire, fire dries up water, they transform each other. When an old era ends, there must be a reformer who receives the mandate from Heaven, hence the transformation, which the world calls revolution.

Since Li Qi decided to create a new era—

“Then why can’t this new era be one for humans?”

After saying this, he launched his attack.

Just like that, Qiu Zhi unleashed his full power. Although this power was nothing compared to the battle sixty years ago, it was already enough to overwhelm the battlefield.

Endless slashes, continuous and increasingly surging, wave after wave, each higher than the last, forming long mountain ranges. The deep valleys in the mountains began to inspire fear. Under the increasingly gloomy sky, all this movement grew more violent, and the sound became louder.

——————

The war began.

Bai Di was severely wounded.

He could barely feel the passage of time now, only perceiving that he had seemingly been carried on various stretchers for a long time.

He was, after all, a seventh-rank, still able to receive a good amount of medical resources. Those eighth-ranks desperately sent him to the rear, only occasionally resting at field hospitals.

Physicians and apothecaries cared for him as much as possible, but under such harsh conditions, the side of his chest, punctured by a humanitarian mechanical beast, could not heal. It was filled with water and blood, and with each breath, air continuously flowed into the unhealed wound, making gurgling sounds.

Plagued by curses, he was enveloped by endless pain, pierced by indescribable agony, driven by curses from the Shaman, wailing towards death.

He had to use all his rationality to suppress his other emotions, lest his fingernails disobey him and tear his palms to bloody shreds.

However, this was futile, as his rationality had long since succumbed. In fact, not only were his palms pierced by his fingernails, but even his tongue was bitten off, forcing physicians to stuff his mouth with packages of herbs and cotton.

Now tormented by his injuries, Bai Di was no longer the decisive, deep-voiced, resolute, and straightforward warrior he once was. All his virtues and pride, all of it, had been worn away in the long torment and draining curses.

His body’s high fever persisted, and the damage to his Inner World could not heal.

This warrior had turned back into a child, longing for his hometown and family. He had almost lost the ability to communicate, only managing to answer others in a gentle, faint, almost inaudible voice.

His injuries were so severe, with the scorching heat of the fever and the whistling sounds from his injured chest.

The team transporting the wounded was attacked by the enemy. Although the enemy was repelled, many wounded still died. In just half an hour since setting out, more than one team of wounded had perished, and those still able to move had no choice but to discard their bodies.

Because of this attack, his injuries worsened, reaching the final stage. He lay on his injured side, using all his remaining strength to press his hands tightly against the wound, trying to keep the pus in his right lung from sloshing, but the other lung also became infected, and the agony of death began.

Coupled with the curses, various hallucinations appeared in his dying mind. In the hazy nightmares and darkness, many people or things he loved or hated swooped down on him, forcing him into a trance-like dream.

Bai Di was just one of them.

Tens of thousands of people were in this state.

The intensity of the war had reached its peak right from the start.

Two third-ranks fought with mutilated bodies. Zhu Fengdan’s other half of her skull also seemed beyond saving.

Fourth-ranks Li Qi and Qiu Zhi were also practically burning their lives.

The fifth-rank Kingdom Lords below were also fighting for their lives, knowing that if they couldn't hold on, they would be completely finished. But if they did hold on, they could continue to be Kingdom Lords in the Baiyue Kingdoms after the reform, relying on their merits.

The Kingdom Lords now understood the situation, and they had no choice but to continue fighting for Li Qi.

The Kingdom Lords were all intelligent people. The current situation was very clear, they had no choice, and Li Qi didn't give them one.

Firstly, the foundation of Baiyue was not actually in themselves, but in the conflict between humans and Shamanes. The reason it had such a deformed position before was primarily because neither the human nor the Shaman side wanted direct conflict, leaving this buffer zone.

And they, utilizing this buffer zone, harnessed the inherent cosmic status of the world and the native lives of these lands, using humanitarian methods to gather their power, thus becoming fifth-ranks.

Originally, before the battle began, if they had chosen to surrender directly and join the human faction, they would have lost Baiyue and their Dao foundation would have collapsed, causing them to drop in rank. However, they would certainly have retained their sixth-rank status, and by hiding in the outer regions afterward, they wouldn't necessarily have died.

Humanity had promised not to kill them, so as long as they fled in time, they would definitely not be killed. Humanity's credibility was well-known.

However, on the other hand, the choice Li Qi gave them was that if they could win, Shaman Dao would preserve Baiyue.

To be precise, Shaman Dao merely helped Baiyue resist humanity, not to invade Baiyue.

From the perspective of the Baiyue Kingdom Lords, humanity was invading, and Shaman Dao, to maintain Baiyue as a buffer zone, chose to intervene and protect it.

Moreover, Shaman Dao's promise was clearly credible.

It was precisely for this reason that the Baiyue Kingdom Lords chose to stand with Shaman Dao. They hoped to preserve their Dao foundation.

However, after Li Qi killed Lingxiao Kingdom Lord, some Kingdom Lords surely wavered, until—Li Qi began to release information, revealing the true purpose of Shaman Dao.

They discovered that Shaman Dao's protection of Baiyue was essentially to protect the Holy Emperor Relic.

This immediately calmed the Baiyue Kingdom Lords' minds. Since there was such an important matter, then by standing with Shaman Dao, given Shaman Dao's promises and usual conduct, they would not be controlled after the war.

After all, everyone knew that Shaman Dao's tolerance was almost infinitely vast. As long as something existed naturally and had a rational reason for its existence, Shaman Dao would not interfere much.

Perhaps some Shaman would modify certain things out of personal will and moral conviction, but the entire Shaman Dao would not be mobilized. Shaman Dao's organizational structure was incredibly loose. Basically, before the Human-Shaman War, Shaman Dao had not organized any collective action for billions of years.

All actions of the Shamanes were individual actions, for which the Shaman performing the action was personally responsible. The Shaman Dao as a whole had never moved.

This world is already good enough as it is, there's no need to add superfluous details, is there?

As complex as this world is, so too are the Shamanes. From the benevolent Yunfang Great Shaman, to neutrals like Li Qi, and certain evil Ghost Shamanes, Shaman Dao can tolerate them all.

The Human-Shaman War was the first time Shamanes had acted together in billions of years.

All this information piled together gave the Baiyue Kingdom Lords a clear message.

If they protected Baiyue, they could preserve everything they had.

So, they weren't afraid of their Dao foundation wavering; it could be rebuilt later. It was all for the present. As long as no fifth-rank appeared, they could suppress all this resistance.

Shaman Dao would not abandon them; everything was a temporary measure, all to endure the oppression of humanity.

With this mindset, they passed many decades, and now, there was no turning back... surrender was meaningless now.

They had gone too far, so much so that even surrender now would not be accepted by humanity.

Now that Li Qi revealed his fangs again, showing the true purpose of the Grand Ritual, they had no choice.

Even if they realized that the essence of the Grand Ritual was ‘reform,’ and that the era was bound to change, they were helpless.

The Baiyue Kingdom Lords, in the future, would either accept the new era, continue to accept this Baiyue, and then continue to serve as Kingdom Lords, maintaining their fifth-rank, or they could only flee afterward.

No matter what they chose, they could no longer be as carefree as before.

They could no longer passively become fifth-ranks, nor could they enjoy a Baiyue that would never resist, no matter what.

From now on, if they wanted to continue being Kingdom Lords, they would have to put in corresponding effort.

Yes, just like humanity.

Humanity was also like this; those in power, while enjoying the strength of the masses, also had to bear the responsibility of the masses. It was impossible to just enjoy like the Baiyue Kingdom Lords.

The changes Li Qi and humanity brought over these sixty years were actually all about spreading the Dao, transforming them from heterodox human methods into orthodox human methods.

Unfortunately, even if they reacted now, it was too late. It was already too late.

So, sixty years had passed, and only a few hours remained. Moreover, they still had the opportunity to maintain their fifth-rank afterward.

All the Kingdom Lords were intelligent people; they all knew the saying, “He who walks a hundred li considers ninety li to be half.”

Now they had reached ninety-nine—

At this point, no Kingdom Lord would give up.

Furthermore, among the Kingdom Lords, there was still someone like Yunluo Kingdom Lord, who would certainly not betray them.

As for the other Kingdom Lords, Li Qi had given them a way out: continue to fight for him. Although their lives would be harder than before, it was better than dropping in rank and being hunted by enemies all over the world.

Outside, the war continued.

Inside, the struggle for the Grand Ritual was also in full swing.

The struggle for the power of the Grand Ritual was mainly between Li Qi and Qiu Zhi.

These two, over the past sixty years, had tirelessly reformed the ‘world’ of Baiyue, and both were changing it in the same direction.

Although there were differences in the minute details, the general direction was consistent.

Therefore, Qiu Zhi was determined to win this struggle.

He felt that victory was within reach. The two great Dragons in the sky were not fighting each other, but rather merging in their struggle, because essentially, the power they represented was the same: the orthodox human method.

No matter who it was, without a doubt, what Baiyue was implementing now was the orthodox human method.

Moreover, Qiu Zhi still had a trump card. This was a detail that the Heavenly Supervision Bureau had dug up from who knows where, but it was enough to secure his victory. However, it was not yet time to reveal it.

He still needed to outwit and outmaneuver Li Qi. Both sides, dragging their injured bodies, racked their brains and used all their strength to fight, vying for ownership of the Grand Ritual.

Qiu Zhi felt his life burning away rapidly.

And Li Qi, on his side, was timing it carefully, preparing to find a good moment to take the second bottle of medicine.

Both sides were calculating and deducing.

A large amount of information flowed through their minds. There was more time spent on planning and less on action, often moving only once every tens of seconds.

They constantly probed, deducing each other's actions.

It was as if... they were fighting in their minds.

Originally, battles between fourth-ranks, though not as brutal as martial arts, would not be this peaceful; the intensity should be higher.

Both sides were heavily injured and had little power to use. The cost of trial and error was something they could not afford now, so every move was made with extreme caution, considering all possibilities.

Neither side could afford to lose.

Another clash occurred, and all variables were within calculation. From the release of the two spells, to their collision, and then to their aftermath, there were no surprises. Everything had happened thousands of times in their minds.

There was no need to act; the result was already known. Even a thousand more times would be the same.

In other words, this kind of battle was not enough to determine a winner.

Li Qi was happy with this. If the other party wanted to drag it out with him, he was willing to drag it out with the other party. Come on, let's all procrastinate. Drag it out for two and a half hours. When the bright moon rises and the emperor fluid paste descends, Li Qi will recover, and then Qiu Zhi can die.

So, only Qiu Zhi would be anxious.

Li Qi only needed to be prepared and wait for an opportune moment.

Clearly, Qiu Zhi also knew this.

He had to break the stalemate proactively. A balanced situation actually meant he lost, because he was the attacker, and he couldn't afford to drag it out.

Then there was no choice—

He could only reveal his trump card early.

The next instant, the Grand Ritual suddenly showed a one-sided trend.

The two sides were originally evenly matched.

What does evenly matched mean?

It means the two sides of a scale are perfectly balanced. Even if a single strand of hair falls to one side, it will cause the entire scale to tip completely.

And now, there was an extra strand of hair.

Li Qi's eyes widened abruptly!

What's going on!?

In Great Deer Kingdom, there was a Mountain Spirit, not even a Mountain God, but an ordinary ‘Mountain Spirit’ that had not yet awakened its consciousness.

This Mountain Spirit clearly showed hostility towards Li Qi.

This hostility even had a source.

A very obvious Karma connection appeared at this moment!

Li Qi owed a Karma.

And it was this very Karma that caused the Mountain Spirit, as the main body of the Grand Ritual, to distance itself from Li Qi, becoming that single strand of hair.

The situation suddenly reversed!