Chapter 1017: Semi-forced

“So, you got your hands on the Desire Realm?” the Demonic Prince said to Li Qi.

“Yes, it’s right here.” Li Qi reached out and displayed the Desire Realm.

It was the collection of all desires, the reflection of all living beings’ thoughts, the convergence point of all things’ ‘intentions,’ where the echoes of all thoughts resonated repeatedly.

The Demonic Prince nodded in satisfaction.

This was the Desire Realm, truly beautiful, the thoughts brewing within were difficult to describe, but indeed magnificent and splendid.

Li Qi looked around: “So, why are we meeting here?”

All around them were things like the ‘Scripture Pavilion’.

This was a Pagoda, transparent from top to bottom, with an unknown number of levels, enshrining three hundred million billion World Honored One Tathagata statues within, where immeasurable Buddha-Dharma was offered, respected, honored, praised, and widely proclaimed.

The ground was made of glazed tiles, rows of precious trees lined the paths defined by golden ropes, scattering precious flowers everywhere, pure and clean, with immeasurable light; the countless Disciples were also innumerable, without any demonic affairs; each level was over three zhang high, resembling a moving palace, adorned with seven treasures, draped with colorful banners and canopies, statues standing in chariots, attended by celestial beings, all exquisitely carved from gold and silver, suspended in the Void Realm, beating great drums, blowing conch shells, and striking bronze cymbals.

On each floor, there were countless books and Buddhist scriptures, and behind each World Honored One Tathagata statue of a different form, there were different scriptures, with the content recorded varying according to the posture of the Buddha statue.

Looking at the number of levels, the quantity was truly substantial.

“I’m reading the Da Sanzang here. Afterwards, I plan to go see the Da Zhengzang constructed by humanity. Perhaps I can compare some things, but… these are all the words of the World Honored One, so they should be more orthodox, right?” The Demonic Prince looked up at the Pagoda.

This was the storage place of the ‘Da Sanzang’. This Pagoda was a collection of all the World Honored One’s discourses, compiled from memory by the two Disciples, Ananda and Upali. Finally, this vast ocean of data was verified, checked, and then compiled into volumes by Kasyapa, sentence by sentence, categorized by type, and stored within this Pagoda.

Throughout the entire Pagoda, it was unknown if Li Qi and the Demonic Prince, along with many Monks, were here, but there were only a handful of them.

“You seem quite interested in Buddha-Dharma.” Li Qi put away the Desire Realm: “So, do I have to wait until you’ve finished studying all this Buddha-Dharma? Or should we start acting now?”

“Wait for me. I think I’ll have more confidence after I finish reading these. Besides, there’s no rush. It’s your style to prepare more, isn’t it?” The Demonic Prince continued to bury his head in the books.

Li Qi nodded: “Alright, then find me when you’re ready.”

With that, he rose and walked out of the Pagoda.

After exiting the Pagoda, one could see that outside was an ordinary world, and the Pagoda itself was just an ordinary seven-story Pagoda, not as exaggerated as it seemed inside.

This was a primitive world, not even in the feudal era yet, still in a peaceful primitive tribal period. The Pagoda was built here, existing as a kind of ‘divine miracle’ for this place.

The natives deeply believed in the divine miracle here, and the Buddhist sect could not possibly expel them.

In reality, the natives were latecomers; initially, these Buddhist remnants merely found a newly born planet to reside on, and now they had stayed for so long that this planet had even evolved intelligent beings.

Although still in the primitive, ignorant period, these natives had already gained a preliminary understanding of the Buddhist sect, and they were inevitably influenced.

The Buddhist sect did not reject them, taking them in as Disciples, and thus quietly lingered on this planet.

After Li Qi walked out of the Pagoda, he greeted Kasyapa: “Venerable One, you’ve worked hard.”

Kasyapa performed a Buddhistrite for Li Qi: “This is all my duty, and the Great Shaman is the same. However… if I may add, Maudgalyāyana has already died to eliminate demons. Both of you… should also consider it carefully.”

“When the World Honored One was alive, did he ever allow the Demonic Dao to be so rampant?” Li Qi retorted.

Kasyapa shook his head.

“Therefore, what we are doing is merely this. As for the Legacy of Buddha-Dharma, Venerable Kasyapa and Venerable Ananda are more adept, while the matter of eliminating demons can be left to me,” Li Qi said with a smile.

Just as Li Qi and Kasyapa were speaking, a Little Monk walked in from the side.

Seeing Li Qi inside, the Little Monk hastily bowed, then retreated.

However, with just that one entrance and exit, Li Qi had already seen the clue.

He shifted his gaze to Kasyapa: “At a time like this, are there still people targeting you?”

A Rank Two could easily see the Little Monk’s inner thoughts, so as soon as the other party entered, Li Qi already knew all the causes and consequences.

“After all, the Da Sanzang is still very valuable. Many high-Rank civilizations want to see it. Seeing it is fine, but some want to take it, and that’s not permissible. However, let me handle it.” Kasyapa bowed slightly, then stood up, intending to deal with it.

“Leave it to me. I’ll make it a permanent solution,” Li Qi said, holding Kasyapa back.

The Dao Orthodoxy lineage that Kasyapa now controlled couldn't even find a single Rank Two. Kasyapa was already the highest cultivation, and although Rank Three had a foothold in the Universe, it was still difficult to be completely stable.

After all, there were still many Rank Three and even Rank Two civilizations in this Universe.

Kasyapa watched Li Qi depart.

Perhaps letting Li Qi make a statement was also a good thing.

After all, the current situation was indeed not very good.

As for Li Qi, he appeared outside the atmosphere of this planet.

Outside the atmosphere, Li Qi could see a fleet.

The Heavenly Demon Eye on his forehead opened and scanned it.

This was a Rank Three civilization, already very formidable, but they didn't have a single individual Rank Three powerhouse; rather, their civilization itself had reached Rank Three.

With just a glance, Li Qi could confirm that this was a noble race with integrity.

Their speech was gentle, and their demeanor elegant.

Their actions were quiet, reserved, and confident, and most importantly, they were extremely rational.

Li Qi read their minds and could confirm their logical actions, so this was basically a peaceful and friendly advanced civilization.

So why would such a civilization despise war?

Li Qi then continued to look down.

Then he suddenly understood.

So that’s how it is.

This civilization’s technology allowed them to Transmigrate through time and space, possessing incomplete reality even without Rank Three characteristics. They had a technology called ‘Eternal Time and Space’ that allowed them to glimpse the past and future, and a group of ‘Eternal Technicians’ were responsible for operating this complex control method.

Through their unique algorithms, they controlled reality and timelines within eternity.

Therefore, ‘Eternal Technicians’ were the actual rulers of their civilization, their authority even surpassing ‘leaders’ in different time and space.

However, Li Qi could see the suffering of those ‘Eternal Technicians’ here.

He discovered that these Eternal Technicians would select their successors in different world lines, and then, after training, they would become ‘Eternal Technicians’.

This process was extremely painful.

Generally, selected novices would completely leave their own world line, leaving their families.

They would spend many, many years slowly coming into contact with the truth.

Slowly, they would discover, through one mission after another, that they had become completely different from ordinary members of civilization.

Novices would have different reactions, but generally, none of them were good.

Many novices would become unable to eat at all; they would huddle together like wounded little beasts, seeking spiritual solace, making pale, powerless jokes about time-space ethics, pretending to be cheerful.

But they all knew that they had completely changed, and they might not even have parents anymore.

Because, if they returned to their original timeline, they would see that their parents had a new son. As for who they themselves were? Unknown. Anyway, their parents didn't recognize them, society had no record of them, they simply didn't exist.

Who gave birth to them?

How exactly were they born?

They pondered these terrifying questions again, then each laughed weakly at each other’s jokes, as if that would make them stronger.

These lonely young people found that they had nothing left but eternity.

It was absolutely impossible to return to the past; no law forbade them from going home, it was simply that they had recognized that terrifying and cruel truth—

Home no longer existed, or rather, had never existed, or even that they themselves had erased that reality.

Many years later, they would become excellent Eternal Technicians, able to calmly face their constantly reshaping past and future, but that experience would surely be something they could never forget.

This was the Eternal method of this Rank Three civilization. They had no individual Rank Three powerhouses, but through the sacrifice and Legacy of such individuals, they also constructed their own Eternal Time and Space.

However, this was also the flaw in their ‘Dao’.

The method of becoming an Eternal being planted a flaw in their Dao Heart, and even if they later became skilled and excellent Eternal Technicians, these demonic thoughts still lingered in their hearts.

This flaw made them especially vulnerable when facing demonic thoughts; the Demonic Dao was their natural nemesis.

“So, they sought the help of Buddha-Dharma? But they don't trust these Monks, so they chose to take it themselves,” Li Qi muttered to himself, then stood before the fleet.

Countless fleets, spanning tens of light-years.

Within the fleet were star-sized motherships and single-person spacecraft, and all the fleets combined formed a huge Formation capable of influencing Rank Three existences.

Calling it a fleet, it would be more appropriate to call it a Formation.

Li Qi stood at the edge of the Formation.

He gently waved his hand, and countless portholes showed a faint light flashing, the beginning of all things, the end of Chaos.

These time ships were forced to move forward, the atmosphere gradually thickening. Water, fire, and mud, carried by sweeping gales, impacted the surface of the spacecraft, cracks gradually appearing on the thick portholes. The spacecraft lost control, constantly vibrating and swaying in the scorching mud.

But, the next moment, a second before Li Qi made his move, the spacecraft launched an attack.

They attacked before Li Qi attacked, so they could interrupt Li Qi’s action, and then everything Li Qi did would be canceled.

That’s how it should have been.

After all, for them, creating reality from history was the act of pursuing their ideals from an infinite number of possibilities, which was the work of continuously removing from infinite patterns to finally form a finite and unique outline.

However, Li Qi was different from them.

In Li Qi’s view, all histories existed simultaneously, and there was no conflict between world lines. There was never an option to ‘erase reality’; you merely chose history, rather than erasing history.

Therefore, attacking Li Qi and interrupting Li Qi’s actions could not cancel the consequences Li Qi caused.

This was a Rank Two’s suppression of a Rank Three. In the reality that Li Qi recognized, the reality that the Rank Threes believed in no longer took effect. They mistakenly thought they could interrupt Li Qi’s actions in the past and cancel Li Qi’s future, unaware that in Li Qi’s Dao, the future he shaped had nothing to do with Li Qi.

The self-existence of things.

The future existed on its own; it wasn't that Li Qi created the future, so if Li Qi was killed, the future would cease to exist.

So, Li Qi was interrupted, but the future was not interrupted.

Thus, this civilization’s fleet on this timeline was destroyed.

The Eternal Technicians still existed, and they were panic-stricken, immediately realizing that the person before them was not someone they could defeat.

However, Li Qi waved his hand again.

Because reality existed simultaneously, whether alive or dead, this fleet’s existence was vague and its life or death could not be determined until the possibility of its existence reached zero.

So, under Li Qi’s Divine Ability, this fleet returned.

They still retained their memories, so they immediately looked at their bodies in horror.

Then, they used all their observational capabilities to look at Li Qi over there.

Li Qi waved at them.

This civilization immediately understood what had happened, and then they quietly retreated.

Li Qi frowned.

He quickly chased after them, shouting as he ran: “Stop! Don’t leave!”

He just wanted to persuade the other party not to use force. If they wanted to come and learn Buddha-Dharma, everyone could discuss it! Those Monks were very easy to talk to! If you said you wanted to see the Da Sanzang, they definitely wouldn't refuse!

In the end, Li Qi still chased them back.

Until the very end, these people were full of vigilance, disbelief, and even felt that they were being forced to study the Da Sanzang.

However, when they actually obtained permission to enter the Da Sanzang, they wondered… did they make a mistake?

Kasyapa was also puzzled by Li Qi’s way of doing things…

If it were Kasyapa, he would probably let the other party choose for themselves, rather than using such a semi-coercive method.

But no matter what…

Li Qi was sending out a signal to the outside.

The Da Sanzang, all the records of the World Honored One Tathagata’s words during his lifetime—

Now, it is freely open.

Anyone can come and see.