Shen Shuibi was like an isolated island, out of place with this world.
Both cold Qi and heat Qi were blocked by her. In fact, all the Qi that Li Qi himself could see had nothing to do with her.
Perhaps other types of Qi were visible, but that was already beyond his observation range.
Just as he couldn't see the progress bar on Mister Zhu.
Perhaps it was beyond his capabilities.
The power of the outer path wasn't omnipotent after all.
Li Qi tried to apply his knowledge, using the contents of the Zhu book in reality.
He used this perspective, widening his eyes, trying to see into the distance.
Then, he suddenly saw the light of the setting sun shining over the horizon.
And on his own head, so wisps of cloud Qi.
The evening glow of the sunset dyed the cloud Qi above Li Qi's head blood-red!
Moreover, it seed to be breathing, expanding and contracting, still wriggling.
"Green signifies insects, white signifies mourning, red signifies war and famine, black signifies water, yellow signifies abundance..." Li Qi muttered, eyes wide, repeating those words.
The cloud above his head... seed to be red, didn't it?
Red for war and famine, a military disaster?
No way, right? It must be an ordinary, sunset-tinted cloud?
It was normal for sunset clouds to be red, wasn't it?
Li Qi tried to reassure himself.
But then, he suddenly felt a jolt of alarm.
Cold sweat imdiately broke out and his heart thumped, unconsciously starting to accelerate, making his skin flush slightly.
"This is... a premonition?" Li Qi wiped away cold sweat.
The divination thods recorded in the Zhu book could never be baseless!
This ant the danger hadn't been avoided!
"Old Horse! Miss Shen! Get moving! Soone is definitely coming towards us! Co help
prepare!" Li Qi shouted loudly!
"Think... think. What did the Zhu book say?" Li Qi forced himself to calm down.
He quickly flipped through the book, this ti reading cursorily, specifically looking for solutions or other divination thods.
Then he suddenly read a passage of interpretation.
"Wood born in spring, when the ti is right, it flourishes. Even if it encounters a palace of death and stagnation in the pillar, if it moves into a realm of vitality and flourishing, it will not be considered dead." Li Qi slowly recited these words.
Wood born in spring...
Wood born in spring…
...
He fell into deep thought.
Night fell. The houses and village in the valley were hidden in the deep darkness of the night, not clearly visible.
Baiyue was mountainous, this particular area was even called the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, so most wild villages were located deep in the dense mountains, and the forest coverage was also highest in the mountains, so the surroundings were mostly forests.
However, there was a difference between forests.
Places with permanent human habitation couldn't be considered "true forests."
Humans instinctively transform their surroundings to suit their existence.
Further away from "humans" and "villages."
In the place of "true forests."
The surrounding rocks held giant cracks from which spring water gurgled forth. Trees grew thickly, so towering trees twisted and coiled, while others were even split in half by lightning. Vines and plants tangled together, looking from afar like scattered fragnts on a spiderweb.
The air felt humid and stuffy, which was normal. In a forest, dense leaves, tall tree trunks, and marsh gas could all prevent heat from dissipating, causing the temperature to rise further and beco muggy.
In the prival jungle of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains of Baiyue, all trees and shrubs crowded together without restraint, utterly formless and without any discernible pattern.
Every corner was filled with bizarre patterns, as if the very place had been twisted. It was a place that would dizzy city dwellers accustod to orderly streets.
It was in such a prival jungle that the last rays of the setting sun illuminated the mountains, dyeing the forrly green ravines and forest a brilliant red, as if flas were burning, or dazzling fresh blood was flowing down the valley.
The dayti heat quickly receded and the night wind, carrying a hint of chill, grew stronger, stiffening hands and feet.
In the pitch-black valley, this was a prival place. Ubiquitous moss-covered rocks, broad-leaved shrubs, and climbing vines made the terrain exceptionally complex. Beyond the valley lay an expansive, sky-obscuring forest, while to the right were several cave entrances, seemingly split open by a blade, dark and leading nowhere.
This place had almost never been trodden by humans; it was a paradise for demonic beasts.
Vines and plants tangled together, making the path extrely difficult to navigate. Even professional hunters would find it overly treacherous, and fierce beasts and carnivorous plants proliferated, making it a very dangerous place.
However, in this paradise of demonic beasts, a squad of soldiers had appeared.
A squad of about ten soldiers, clad in black armor!
Every soldier was equipped with a horse, and the leading captain's horse was even seven chi tall, calm and vibrant, with an air of haughtiness that one could feel just by looking at its raised head.
Among them was a standard-bearer, with a flag attached to his long spear, fluttering and snapping in the oncoming wind.
The flag was emblazoned with sprawling branches, like those of a pine tree.
"??Little Banner, this is where the dragon steed was last seen. The bloodstains are still here, but he took a halberd from you, so he must be seriously injured," a soldier said to the officer.
"I used malevolent Qi in that halberd strike. He must be seriously injured and couldn't have run far. There must be traces within a five-hundred-li radius. Keep searching," the officer said coldly.
"By the way, Zhang Wu, your divination technique has always accurately predicted locations before. Why isn't it working now?" The officer turned and asked a soldier nad Zhang Wu.
The soldier, Zhang Wu, smiled bitterly: "Little Banner, my father was a rural shaman, so I just picked up so divination techniques by osmosis. I'm hardly a true diviner.
"However, I suspect that since it was effective before but isn't now, perhaps that dragon steed encountered a high-level expert. A high-level expert's cultivation can naturally disturb karma, making divination techniques easily ineffective."
"I've heard that so high-level experts possess Immaculate Bodies. Filth cannot approach them, evil spirits and demons cannot touch them, they are impervious to hot and cold, and all kinds of spells are greatly weakened against them. Even curses cannot affect them, making them even harder to divine. Being near them naturally creates a shield..." the soldier explained.
The officer, however, scoffed: "Immaculate Body? That would be at least a fifth-rank expert of the Daoist sect. They could crush us all with one finger. Would they even care about a re dragon steed? They ride true dragons!"
"So it definitely can't be that reason. It must be sothing else. What other possibilities are there?" he asked again.
"Then... it's also possible that the dragon steed encountered a place with surging Qi, for example, running into a city with strong human vital energy, or a graveyard with strong death Qi. Being influenced by such Qi could obscure its tracks," he replied.
"That's possible. Then follow that direction and search," the officer commanded.
(Chapter End)
??Little Banner; A lower-ranking military officer comparable to a squad leader, sotis literally serving as a standard-bearer.
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