Chapter 1019: Tai Sui

There is no past, no history; everything exists only in the present.

Do not think of using the tide of history to escape; an act of cowardice will receive no response at this moment!

Mu Yu also sensed this in an instant.

So he decisively joined the battlefield.

Ever since Qi Palace successfully operated and killed the Demon of Karma last time, everyone in Qi Palace clearly understood their capabilities, and Mu Yu also gained a lot.

Therefore, facing the challenge from the Demonic Dao, he didn't hesitate at all; after reporting to the second-rankers, he had already set off.

However—

In just an instant, the moment he plunged into the battlefield, his Inner World was severely damaged, his knees collapsing onto a thick layer of decaying leaves, his hands thudding against the ground in front of him, and his entire body falling onto the damp, decaying earth.

This battlefield must be on some primitive planet, which explains its appearance.

Demonic Qi circulated like mad pythons, causing stinging sensations on Mu Yu's skin.

He felt as if his Inner World and his own mind were entangled by chains.

If this were a flashback competition in a third-rank battle, he could easily withdraw from this spacetime and make other plans.

But now there is no retreat, only one reality, one battlefield; retreat means defeat.

This fact forced him to raise his heavy head.

He concentrated, dispelling demonic thoughts, healing his injuries, expelling the surrounding spells and Demonic Qi, and gathering his mind, trying to focus his swaying and wandering vision.

Before his eyes, colorful and black-and-white light and shadows intertwined and flickered, illusions layering one after another, but soon they became clear, coalescing into a complete picture.

He staggered to his feet, just noticing the ferns, vines, and trees around him…

But the next moment, the entire planet was directly melted by the Demonic Qi.

The land and oceans, and even the planet's core itself, were all corroded by the Demonic Qi.

Not only that, the power of the Demonic Qi began to divide all things, gradually spreading, and accompanied by the power of the third-rank, the surrounding 45 billion light-years completely fell.

Light, all things, everything, was cut into pieces and strips; the natural world seemed to be disassembled, completely different from the previous scenery.

Demonic sounds assaulted his ears, incessantly noisy, tormenting him.

And Mu Yu wiped his hands on his thigh, then wiped the sweat from his face.

The Demonic Qi was indeed troublesome, but… he was a Martial Artist.

A third-rank Martial Artist.

Martial Dao Divine Intent unfolded behind him, Qi and blood surging.

When it came to fighting for one's life, there was truly no one better at it than a Martial Artist.

Around Mu Yu, vacuum decay began to arise and vanish, and endless energy was released from the Void Realm.

He abruptly stood up and punched towards the six directions of heaven and earth.

A total of six punches, and all six directions submitted.

With the seventh punch, his Martial Dao Divine Intent fully erupted, dimensions were forcibly suppressed, and the seventh punch traveled through time and space, landing on the third-rank Demonic Overlord who had made the move.

The battle began, and the most intense close-quarters combat unfolded.

Not just among the third-rankers.

It also included everything from the unranked Mortal battlefields to the second-rankers themselves.

Fleets galloped through the Universe, galaxies still slowly rotating under the influence of gravity; viewed from the galactic disk, if one's eyesight was keen enough, one could see countless silver-gray shipyards scattered across the galactic disk, like pepper sprinkled on a fried egg.

The edge of the spiral arm, stretching five thousand parsecs, was one of the front lines of the war, and even the surrounding starlight seemed to radiate the madness of battle.

This was true, because normal starlight is calm, but the starlight here was filled with madness.

The stars, both chaotic and orderly, clustered together to form another entity more disordered and chaotic than themselves.

When one gazed at the starry sky, it was as if the starry sky was also gazing back at oneself.

Occasionally, one could even see stars splitting open in the middle, revealing reptilian-like eyes, with countless individuals looking in different directions within a void.

Stars winking was no joke.

When you looked through a telescope, the stars truly opened bloodshot eyes, winking at the observation station, as if laughing maniacally.

Anyone who gazed seemed to hear whispers in their heart.

These whispers made the observer reluctant to avert their gaze, because they could feel an intense desire within them to communicate with it, while lingering sanity constantly told them to close their eyes, as the starry sky in their vision rotated faster and more frantically than before.

These were planets corrupted and awakened by Demonic Qi, which meant… the demon race had also intervened, and a portion of 'Yao Demons' also used their power to enlighten the stars.

This was an indescribable sight, with activated planets flying wantonly through the Universe, opening their massive mouths to devour planets along the way, their tongues licking other normal planets, then turning them into accretion disks, transforming into streams of light in the Universe.

However, Qi Palace was not to be outdone.

World-class gigantic ships continuously rumbled their engines, and along their orbits were one gigantic vessel after another, surrounded by smaller aircraft and more fighter jets.

Inside these gigantic vessels, suns were ignited, unaffected by the Yao Demon stars; these suns were entirely self-made and completely controllable.

The battle between the fleet and the starry sky made astronomical observation chaotic; the vibrations of high-speed flight extinguished countless suns, and every pilot could see yellowish-brown stars appearing intermittently on their dashboards, clustered by stars and dust, hanging in the sky, but also disappearing from time to time.

The instruments clicked and clacked, displaying the marvel of their rapid flight.

Warships hurriedly departed from all sides of the dock, rushing to other ships in need of aid; this was a touching and magnificent sight, fully demonstrating the noble spirit of mutual care and assistance within Qi Palace.

Perhaps so.

Many innocents suffered; some civilizations still on the surface, just gaining the ability for astronomical observation, suddenly saw their starry sky turn into a Shura field, with groups of living demonic planets moving at superluminal speeds, devouring planets everywhere.

Some were very lucky, receiving help from Qi Palace before being devoured, while others, in fear and madness, had their entire world swallowed whole.

A massive number of cultivators also joined the battle, not just Qi Palace; those civilizations affected by the Demonic Dao also joined the struggle against the Demonic Dao.

Furthermore, some cultivators who found the Demonic Dao interesting also joined it, as this world isn't necessarily full of good people; perhaps they found Qi Palace repulsive instead.

But no matter what, the Demonic Dao had officially entered the fray.

Unlike the minor skirmishes of eradicating City of Dreams before, this was a true deathmatch where no retreat was allowed.

The war lasted only one thousand nine hundred years.

In one thousand nine hundred years, three third-rankers had already fallen.

The second-rankers personally took action, and even Li Qi himself entered the fray.

The Demonic Prince's progress in studying Da Sanzang was forcibly interrupted, and even the Demonic Prince was compelled to join the war.

Several Bodhisattvas supporting Li Qi, along with Yang Zhenqian, also directly joined this massive free-for-all after realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Zhu Fengdan, however, did not come; she needed to finish up the aftermath of the previous theft from Shamansan, so she truly couldn't make it.

But it didn't matter without her; the second-rankers were already in a chaotic mess.

Li Qi had joined the battle the moment the Demonic Dao's concealment failed; he was currently battling the Demonic Dao's second-rankers within the Universal laws, but he couldn't achieve a decisive victory.

A dozen second-rankers were in a chaotic melee.

Yin Demon, Contaminating Demon, Heart Demon, Good Root Demon, Samadhi Demon, Demon of False Guidance, Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Yang Zhenqian, Taizi Changqin, Li Qi, Golden Monkey.

A total of fourteen second-rankers.

After the Dao conflict, it was rare for this Universe to have such a lively grand melee, even attracting collective observation from the Nine Lands Under Heaven and other second and third-rank civilizations.

Everyone was watching the spectacle.

Such a battle would last for some time.

And Li Qi, while fighting, drew out a portion of his mind to communicate with his allies.

Currently, he was talking with Golden Monkey.

Li Qi inquired, “Monkey brother, you should know more about Yao Demons. Besides these Demonic Overlords we're fighting, what's the origin of those supporting Yao Demons? Surely no one will suddenly break through?”

“From my perspective, the opponent hasn't personally taken action yet, so these Yao Demons are likely just a casual move. If it's a casual move, judging by the scale, it should be… Grand Commander.”

Grand Commander, presiding over misfortune, tainted by all disputes, death, extinction, decline, failure, ill omen, compounded by entanglement, void, salaciousness, tomb, illness, death, white tiger, and malevolent stars; misfortunes abound, and malevolent deities descend.

Hence the saying: “The Grand Commander is the master of all malevolent stars.”

Li Qi frowned slightly and said, “Is that so… Grand Commander? Planets coming alive and becoming Physical Bodies does fit the appearance of Grand Commander, but why would Grand Commander help the Demonic Dao?”

“Grand Commander is inherently a malevolent deity; it's normal for Grand Commander to intervene if the Demonic Dao wants to act. However, Grand Commander is also a Star Official, you understand?” Golden Monkey said.

Li Qi naturally understood.

Grand Commander is a Star Official, Grand Commander is a Yao Demon.

By the same logic…

Taiyi is the same; Taiyi is inherently a Yao, as the awakened consciousness of the stars, Taiyi is also a star transforming into a Yao, and Grand Commander clearly possesses similar characteristics to Taiyi, which are all the characteristics Li Qi now possesses.

At this moment, Grand Commander helping the Demonic Dao must be related to this; perhaps it's because of Li Qi that Grand Commander chose to intervene.

“It can't be, can it? Although I have the nature of a Star Official, if Grand Commander becomes my enemy because of this, then wouldn't it be—” Li Qi frowned slightly.

“That alone certainly isn't enough to be sure, but don't you have another identity, brother? Don't forget Xiangliu.” Golden Monkey reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Li Qi nodded slightly.

That was true.

Li Qi had once reached an agreement with Xiangliu, and this agreement concerned the situation of those deities who were hostile to Mortals.

Was Grand Commander involved because of these matters?

Truly… these secrets, where one move affects everything, and siding with someone instantly creates a host of enemies and friends, which then gradually become apparent in subsequent actions.

“I understand. Then for such secrets, I need to ask a Senior Martial Uncle.” Li Qi bid farewell to Golden Monkey, and his mind descended to Taizi Changqin.

Taizi Changqin was fighting Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom.

Bodhi Wisdom refers to all Dharmas as demons. When a cultivator, in the practice of Bodhi Dharma, develops intellectual attachment, stubbornly clinging to it, obstructing the Righteous Path, and thus losing the life of wisdom, this is called Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom.

Your attachment, your pursuit of a goal, your unwavering craving to grasp a dream, that is the ‘Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom’.

And Taizi Changqin's method of resistance was also very simple.

He grasped the ‘strings’ within the Universe and played music.

Living beings listened to the music, utterly enchanted, their attachments instantly vanishing; civilization stagnated in a flash, losing its forward momentum by losing attachment, but at the same time, Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom was trapped in the tranquility constructed by the music.

While called tranquility, it was actually similar to ‘lying flat’.

It was akin to making everyone think: ‘My brain structure is different from a Genius, and it's irresponsible to make untalented people work hard in subjects like mathematics.’ So they would comfortably not study mathematics.

In this way, the ‘obsession’ where Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom resided was trapped.

For Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom to break through the blockade, he had to shatter the ‘tranquility’ constructed by the music, so he needed to play jarring discord. Thus, in the Universe, tranquil string sounds and jarring demonic sounds alternated, echoing in the vast Void Realm, and living beings, caught in the aftermath of both, either went mad or found tranquility.

But none of them were in a normal state; what Taizi Changqin did was not psychological therapy, he merely used the peaceful minds of living beings as a cage to trap Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom.

As for the life and death of Mortals, he actually didn't care much.

He was of Heavenly God lineage, the son of Zhu Rong; in Shaman Dao, he recognized natural itself, not a specific group of living beings, so he would neither actively harm them nor bother to protect them.

Let it be natural.

Li Qi's thought appeared near Changqin, and he began to communicate with Changqin.

“Senior Martial Uncle Changqin, Golden Monkey believes the second-rank Yao Demon who enlightened those stars might be Grand Commander.” Li Qi went straight to the point.

Taizi Changqin glanced at Li Qi, suddenly realizing: “Grand Commander? Oh, so you're here to ask me about the relationship between Grand Commander, Emperor Jun, and Chaos?”

“Yes, Senior Martial Uncle, can you tell me these secrets?” Li Qi asked.

“There's nothing to hide about this. Since you're already involved, telling you is no problem.” Changqin said.

Meanwhile, Taizi Changqin suddenly unleashed his Dharma form.

The Dharma form pulled up cosmic strings from the Void Realm and began to play them.

The cosmic strings vibrated, and the most fundamental rules of the entire Universe also vibrated with them; all elementary particles and fundamental laws danced accordingly, and the world fell into Chaos.

All particles are composed of ‘strings’; when the strings are plucked, all things naturally change accordingly.

Changqin increased his output against Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom, which forced him to expose his Dharma form.

The secret was also revealed.