Chapter 133: The Qi Refiner, A Being Who Could Decide a City’s Fate with a Single Thought

Li Zhao did not refuse Chen Xiyi’s suggestion, but he did not agree either. He said he would think about it. He was quite rational.

If Gui City had not experienced the three-month siege, he would have agreed without hesitation. But now, it was different. For a snake to swallow an elephant, the snake had to be healthy. His Gui City was not in good shape.

However, Chen Xiyi did not have much time to wait around with Li Zhao. He still had many experiments to do.

“Li Zhao, have you heard the saying ‘A man may not hurt a tiger, but a tiger may harm a man’? Although Gui City has temporarily overcome its difficulties, do you really think Commander Qian will let Gui City go? Not to mention the reasons you analyzed earlier, but just the fact that he lost eight thousand soldiers here in Gui City means this grudge is unavoidable.”

“If we don’t strike first, we will surely have to face the consequences later.”

“Besides, when do you think the right time will be? By the time you think it’s suitable, Commander Qian will probably have sent troops again. Next time, he definitely won’t just besiege the city; the attack will be extremely fierce.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xiyi began to analyze the situation for Li Zhao from the opposite perspective.

Eight thousand soldiers was no small number. Back when Li Hao was the warlord, he only had three thousand soldiers.

These eight thousand soldiers were likely half of Commander Qian’s assets. And now they were all gone. He would definitely want to fight you to the death; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to swallow this anger.

Don’t talk about having hundreds of thousands or millions of troops casually. Gui City didn’t even have a hundred thousand people. Where would so many soldiers come from?

Raising an army of over ten thousand soldiers was no small expense. Daily food and training, monthly pay, seasonal clothing, etc., all cost a lot.

It was only because Commander Qian controlled three cities that he could afford to raise an army of over ten thousand soldiers.

Remember, the previous warlord of Gui City only had two thousand soldiers. Otherwise, why would he have fled as soon as he heard Commander Qian was sending troops?

However, when he fled, he only took one thousand soldiers with him. The remaining one thousand soldiers found it hard to leave their homeland and stayed behind. If he had taken all the soldiers, Li Zhao would have been like a skilled housewife without rice—unable to cook a meal. How could he have defended Gui City then?

“Brother Chen, you are right. I was too naive. Min City will definitely not let us off.” Li Zhao took a deep breath. He was persuaded by Chen Xiyi.

Perhaps the high Favorability played a big part. After all, hearing this from someone close had a completely different effect than hearing it from an outsider.

“Right. Bring some men, and let’s go carry out a decapitation strike. One by one, we’ll kill them all. As long as—”

“Actually, we don’t have to kill them all. We can simply kill one to warn the others. With your abilities, Brother Chen, you could easily subdue these people and make them work for us.” Li Zhao kindly reminded him.

“Why would I want them? Feeding them would just waste food. But if you want them, they’re yours. You can make a list, and we’ll pick whom to kill. We can even bring them along to watch me kill the others.” Chen Xiyi had no interest in building a force. He had plenty of resources now.

What he lacked was Time and items with Historical Connotation, as well as the heritage of Qi Refiners. He had little interest in anything else.

Li Zhao could only say, “In that case, I’ll trouble you, Brother Chen. I feel ashamed for not treating you well and still making you go through all this trouble.”

“Don’t be ashamed. Bring your men, and let’s move immediately. We should try to finish this tonight. I have to go back tomorrow. If you really feel ashamed, send me more of the things I like next time.” Chen Xiyi had no time to chat about such things. Of course, it was better to finish quickly.

“So soon? Brother Chen, don’t you need to rest? You just got here. You can take a break.” As a friend, Li Zhao felt somewhat embarrassed.

“We’ve already wasted an entire afternoon. There’s no time for that. Hurry up.” Chen Xiyi didn’t have that much free time.

Seeing this, Li Zhao could only get up and prepare. Speed was of the essence in military affairs.

Half an hour later, a simple squad of twenty-one people was assembled.

“Brother Chen, here is the list. Take a look.” Li Zhao handed a list to Chen Xiyi.

Chen Xiyi took it and glanced over it. “Hmm, I see. That’s assuming they haven’t changed their names. Otherwise, if I kill the wrong person by mistake, it’s not my fault.”

The list only had names and some titles, but how was he supposed to know who was who? There were no photos. He could only rely on the names shown on his Game Map.

“Go ahead and do what you must. Don’t hold back.” Li Zhao had grand ambitions, but that didn’t mean he had no personal feelings. As long as the two didn’t conflict, he wouldn’t ask his good friend to restrain himself just because the enemy was talented. A dead enemy was still the best enemy.

“Alright, let’s go. I’ll drive. You sit next to me and explain how to drive. Otherwise, if we rely on you to drive, we won’t get there in one night.”

After saying this, Chen Xiyi jumped into the driver’s seat of the troop transport truck. Everyone looked at each other, and finally, their eyes landed on Li Zhao.

It was obvious he didn’t know how to drive.

“Get in the truck. Don’t forget what I told you.” Li Zhao took the lead and sat in the passenger seat. Seeing this, the others had no choice but to get in the truck as well. If their leader wasn’t afraid to die, why should they be afraid?

Moreover, these twenty-one people were not only all friends of Chen Xiyi but also members of the Salvation Society. Li Zhao had previously revealed some things to them.

Although they were somewhat skeptical, the sudden disappearance of the Min City Army served as strong evidence. They had already broken through the city gates, which meant they were 99% victorious. There was no way they would retreat at this point.

After everyone got in the truck, Chen Xiyi stared seriously at the vehicle.

“What’s the first step?” Chen Xiyi asked.

“Insert the key, then like this…” Li Zhao quickly inserted the key and began explaining the necessary steps for driving to Chen Xiyi.

The truck slowly started moving. At first, Chen Xiyi was a bit unfamiliar with it, but as he kept learning and practicing, within ten minutes, he was handling it as if it were an extension of his own body.

Chen Xiyi was sure it was the Six Arts at work.

He seemed to understand something: why the Six Arts appeared to be six separate abilities but were summarized as one.

It was because the six abilities complemented each other; they didn’t exist independently. The Six Arts were essentially one set of skills, not six separate abilities.

Half an hour later, Chen Xiyi was like a seasoned driver from Mount Akina, drifting around corners on muddy, bumpy roads in a truck, and even accelerating while doing so.

What should have been an overnight journey was completed by Chen Xiyi in just five hours.

Everyone in the truck looked pale and terrified.

Chen Xiyi’s driving was stable, but the road was just too terrifying.

The roads in this era were nothing like the cement roads from Chen Xiyi’s previous life, with streetlights and all. Outside the city, most roads were dirt paths with various obstacles. One careless move could lead to an accident, which was why the journey normally took so long.

But for Chen Xiyi, it was no problem at all. He activated his Qi Sensitivity skill, kept the Eye of Qi Observation above his head, turned on the headlights, and simply floored the accelerator. Whether it was a person or a ghost, anything blocking the road would be run over.

“This should be the place. Any thoughts now?” Chen Xiyi glanced at the stunned members of the Salvation Society, who were also his friends.

“Let’s go with your plan, Brother Chen.” Li Zhao’s face was also weary and pale. No one in the truck could handle Chen Xiyi’s reckless driving.

Especially since he was driving a truck.

To this, Chen Xiyi said that it didn’t matter if it was a truck, a donkey cart, or even a bicycle—he could drive them all at high speed.

“Alright. Give me two minutes. I’ll go in and catch them one by one. Then, in front of the ‘monkeys,’ I’ll spill the ‘chicken’s’ blood.”

Killing a chicken to warn the monkeys—it wasn’t about wiping everyone out, so he couldn’t kill them all.

With that, Chen Xiyi rolled over the city wall as if he were jumping a hurdle. He couldn’t jump over it, but he could climb over it.

Once inside the city, Chen Xiyi walked along the main road. But after just two steps, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

It was too quiet. Not only was the city quiet, but even the Qi Mechanism was eerily still.

In the distance, a person stood smiling at him.

[Sima Mei, the Qi Refiner. Health Points: 100%. Status: Curious.]

[Ability 1: Art of I Ching Divination.]

[Ability 2: Qi Manipulation and Spirit Wandering.]

[Ability 3: Longevity Dharma Form.]

[Ability 4: Divine Grotto-Heaven.]

[Experience]

[December: Sensed a disturbance in the Qi Mechanism and came to investigate.]

[December: Returned after discussing the Dao with a fellow practitioner.]

[December: …]

“Greetings, Fellow Daoist. Please come over for a chat.” As Sima Mei spoke, he pinched the air casually, and chairs and teacups materialized out of thin air.

Chen Xiyi finally understood why the city was so quiet. Sima Mei had frozen the entire city—both the people and the Qi Mechanism.

“Fellow Daoist, you went through a lot of trouble just to have a cup of tea, freezing the entire city.” Chen Xiyi remarked with amazement.

The power of this Qi Refiner was somewhat exaggerated. Freezing an entire city was something he couldn’t do.

He could kill everyone in the city, but he absolutely couldn’t freeze both the people and the Qi Mechanism.

“Just some Nourishment Resources. Why call it trouble? Fellow Daoist, your technique of devouring souls today truly opened my eyes. Even though you’re only in the Qi Controlling Realm, you possess such skills. Truly extraordinary.” Sima Mei began brewing tea.

Chen Xiyi unceremoniously sat down opposite him, watching with interest as Sima Mei brewed the tea.

Sima Mei’s tea wasn’t brewed in the usual way; it was more like a vegetable soup.

“A Rogue Cultivator with no sect affiliation has no choice but to rely on such methods. What skills could I possibly have?” Chen Xiyi said casually, watching Sima Mei’s unhurried movements.

“Fellow Daoist, you are new to the path, so you may not know that all Qi Refiners in this world started without sects or schools. Moreover, for you to become a Qi Refiner at such a young age truly shows exceptional talent.”

Sima Mei’s words shocked Chen Xiyi. He immediately said in disbelief, “That’s impossible.”

“Why is it impossible? Do you think those heritages are shortcuts? No, they are merely Nourishment Resources used to support other fellow practitioners. The ‘Book of Changes’ is the foundation for Attaining the Dao.”

Sima Mei’s meaning was simple: to become a Qi Refiner, one must use the extremely simple yet impossibly difficult method of Qi Refinement and Spirit Cultivation from the ‘Book of Changes.’ Otherwise, one is not a Qi Refiner but merely Nourishment Resources for Qi Refiners.

In other words, the heritages were essentially traps.

The true path to heaven was hidden in the ‘Book of Changes,’ in a method with no technical complexity, relying solely on innate talent to advance.

Chen Xiyi fell silent.

He never expected things to be like this.

Sima Mei seemed to sense Chen Xiyi’s thoughts. As he prepared the tea and poured water, he said, “Do you find something improper about this?”

“No, I think it’s very normal. If the world is like a pie, having one more Qi Refiner means one more person to share the pie. It’s only natural.” Chen Xiyi replied.

“Fellow Daoist, you are indeed clever. But now, the world’s pie has already been divided, and there is one more Fellow Daoist.” Sima Mei continued along Chen Xiyi’s line of thought.

These words were sharp because they involved interests.