Chapter 1021: One-to-one

He protected and blessed all the combat power of Qi Palace, and then destroyed all living planets.

In this process, Li Qi successfully achieved his goal: he captured the power behind the living planets.

That is, the exact location of the 'Grand Commander'.

However, when he probed into it, what he perceived was a strange thing.

Is this the Grand Commander?

Li Qi carefully distinguished.

Gold, abundance; Water, destruction; Wood, hunger; Fire, drought, like smoke clouds and rainbows, with Jia-yin in the heavens overseeing Yi-xin below.

These are the characteristics of the Grand Commander, right?

Li Qi probed deeper; he had to catch the last tail of the Demonic Dao.

He wanted to... exterminate them all.

However, at this moment, Li Qi suddenly felt Demonic Qi.

It was previously mentioned that the Demonic Dao had given Li Qi a coordinate, which pointed to the Immortal Heaven, but this coordinate was actually a false location brought about by the connection between the Heart Demon and the Immortal Heaven (details can be found in Chapter 1016).

As long as Li Qi had even a shred of curiosity, even if he just stayed far away and tentatively checked its authenticity, Li Qi would definitely fall into the trap.

Unfortunately, Li Qi never had a single distracting thought from beginning to end, not even the idea of 'going to see it'.

However, now, Li Qi was tracking the Grand Commander and had grasped its location.

At this instant, Li Qi suddenly realized.

This thing! It was a transformed coordinate, and it still pointed to the 'Immortal Heaven' address that the Demon of False Guidance had given him back then.

Now that Li Qi knew where the Immortal Heaven was, he naturally wouldn't believe that this address would truly point to the Immortal Heaven.

Therefore, this thing was packaged in several layers, using the 'Grand Commander' to trick Li Qi again!

However, before being forcibly locked by this coordinate, Li Qi gave a wry smile to the outside.

"You really went all out, didn't you? This must be your last bit of strength, right?" Li Qi said, looking at the many Demonic Overlords scattering like birds and beasts.

Taizi Changqin's judgment was not wrong.

When Demonic Overlords truly reached a desperate point, they would not die; they were extremely self-centered and selfish types.

Although extreme selfishness, due to the 'prisoner's dilemma', can actually lead to greater benefits through cooperation, so Demonic Overlords don't mind cooperating with each other or even sacrificing their lives unconditionally, when it truly comes to death, what they absolutely consider is their own lives.

However, after all, they were Second Grade Devil Heads; to say they had no means and could only take a beating would be quite impossible.

So, from the beginning, they knew they were not opponents.

Then... where was the chance of victory?

The chance of victory lay in whether the Heart Demon could possess the Immortal Heaven.

But now the Immortal Heaven was with Shamansan, and it was said that the Spirit Dao had also intervened.

So what should they do?

The Demonic Overlords ultimately came to only one conclusion.

Fight one last time, find the Grand Commander, and borrow its flesh and blood, using Li Qi's actions towards Yao Ji and Xiang Liu to persuade the Grand Commander to intervene.

However, the Grand Commander did not consider Li Qi an enemy, so it merely disguised itself using the Demonic Dao's transformation technique.

But no matter what, by borrowing the Grand Commander's flesh and blood, the Demonic Dao completed this scheme; the Demonic Overlords fought one last time, luring Li Qi into this place.

Then, they dragged Li Qi into the Heart Demon's Domain, and the other Demonic Overlords would scatter like birds and beasts.

Once Li Qi entered the Heart Demon's Domain, the Heart Demon would enter a decisive 1v1 battle with Li Qi.

The Heart Demon planned to... devour Li Qi's memories, devour the secrets of the Immortal Heaven, and then directly use these connections to forcibly possess the Immortal Heaven from Li Qi's position, directly gambling its life.

Although it was a narrow escape from death, dragging it out would mean certain death.

This was his First Grade opportunity.

This was also why those Demonic Overlords were willing to risk their lives to help the Heart Demon one last time.

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Li Qi was dragged into the Heart Demon by this coordinate hidden as the Grand Commander.

Then, he faced the 'self' in front of him.

The Heart Demon does not have a specific form; to be precise, no Demonic Overlords do. Their transformation techniques are all very powerful, differing only according to their respective Dao Paths.

The Heavenly Demon is self-actualizing, ever-changing, perfectly mastering all transformations, while the Demon of Death generally manifests as a pure concept.

As for the Heart Demon, he usually appears in the state of 'all things themselves'; no matter who looks at the Heart Demon, they will see a perfect replica of themselves.

It is often said that one must 'face their Heart Demon'; in reality, what is often seen is one's own reflection.

In other words, Li Qi was facing himself.

"You went to such lengths, used every method, just to drag me here. Are you so confident you can defeat me? Besides, even if you defeat me, are you truly certain you can get the Immortal Heaven' weakness from me? This plan is too naive. Unless you're at your wit's end, I don't know how to find an excuse for you." Li Qi sighed, speaking to the Heart Demon.

The Heart Demon, with Li Qi's identical appearance, also sighed identically to Li Qi.

Their expressions, states, thought processes, and even their True Spirits were identical. Unless one manifested their Dharma Body, no one could distinguish between the Heart Demon and Li Qi.

In fact, this was also one of the Heart Demon's Dao foundations.

The Demonic Dao believes that all sentient beings are their own illusions, and one manifestation of this is 'I can understand and transform into everyone.' The Heart Demon's transformation is the manifestation of this projection.

The Heart Demon spoke, saying to Li Qi: "Yes, I am very certain that after devouring you, I can directly find out the situation of the Immortal Heaven. As for our confrontation, the winning rate is probably around four to six, with me at six."

"How so?" Li Qi was a little curious. "I don't quite understand."

"It's simple, you probably don't know yet." The Heart Demon smiled. "But... don't expect me to tell you. Come, come, if you want to know, just see for yourself."

"Indeed." Li Qi nodded.

He said no more. Since the Heart Demon thought this was useful, then let their actions speak for themselves.

As for the outside?

There should be nothing left outside. The Demonic Overlords have probably scattered like birds and beasts. The Impure Demon has been beaten into three pieces, and the other Demonic Dao members will likely not continue to fight to the death for the Heart Demon.

So, Li Qi suddenly felt a sense of emotion.

This was the last battle of the Second Grade, wasn't it? If he won this, and without First Grade intervening, Li Qi could truly achieve 'allowing all sentient beings to be free from demonic disturbance'.

But how to defeat the Heart Demon?

Li Qi didn't know, but with a joyful mood, he manifested his Dharma Body in this place.

And the Heart Demon chuckled softly, enveloping the entire world.

In a daze, Li Qi felt his consciousness dissipate, and he was born as a baby.

"Reincarnation Tribulation, is this all the means you have?" Li Qi thought to himself.

For a Second Grade battle, this was truly unwise.

Reincarnation Tribulation, as the name suggests, is a method of casting a person into something similar to Reincarnation. Generally, there will be a 'gate of life'.

But this gate of life will not be revealed to you, nor will there be any hints.

Among the Fourth and Fifth Grade cultivators with unstable minds, this move is very effective; in Reincarnation, weaknesses will always be exposed.

But for a Second Grade cultivator, this move is completely meaningless.

No matter how many times he undergoes Reincarnation, Li Qi's mind will not waver in the slightest. Even the Retribution of Black Karma that once destroyed the Demonic Prince's personality could only barely slow down a Second Grade cultivator, let alone something like the Reincarnation Tribulation, which cannot be compared to the Retribution of Black Karma at all.

And the Heart Demon did not respond.

The Heart Demon's desperate battle had already begun; there was no need to waste words with Li Qi.

Li Qi merely cooperated, letting out a loud cry.

Anyway, for Li Qi, his consciousness still existed, so after he was born, he could return to the Second Grade in an instant.

However, Li Qi suddenly felt... pain.

Not just pain!

His Divine Ability and cultivation had also completely dissipated.

The pain was just a side effect; essentially, it was because Li Qi was regressing, including his thought speed, processing ability, and even his Divine Ability and cultivation, all of which were 'offset' by something.

"Is that so? So this is the Heart Demon's method." Li Qi gradually understood everything, even though his thought speed had become similar to that of a Mortal, and his brain had started to become dull.

Although he still retained full consciousness, the current Li Qi could no longer process all information in the entire Universe within a second. In fact, now he struggled to read ten characters in a second.

However, for a baby, being able to read ten characters in a second was also very impressive.

After his brain became dull, Li Qi was surprised to find that his 'sensations' had become clearer.

How to put it... it's like 'capacity'.

When a person's capacity reaches a certain level, they don't feel minor stimuli as deeply. For example, failing a midterm exam might feel like the end of the world to a primary school student, making them cry sadly.

But for an adult, failing an exam is just failing an exam; they'll try again next time and don't feel anything special about it.

And now, Li Qi's 'sensations' had become sensitive. The pain of being born, even for just that instant, made him 'sad'.

An urge to cry welled up in his heart, making him wail uncontrollably.

And everything, all sensations, were so clear.

This made Li Qi's consciousness realize something while crying sadly.

He was 'offset' in all aspects. This was the Heart Demon's method. The Heart Demon did not confront Li Qi head-on but pulled Li Qi into the Reincarnation Tribulation, using its own cultivation to offset Li Qi's cultivation, making Li Qi weak again, and thus allowing the Reincarnation Tribulation to take effect on Li Qi.

What a truly... creative way of fighting.

Offsetting cultivation indeed had something to it. Li Qi could feel that although he still maintained his self, his mind, perception, and various processing abilities were rapidly regressing to that of an infant.

In a short while, he became a true infant with 'self-awareness'.

His thoughts became incredibly slow, his attention span was poor, and he easily succumbed to various impulsive instincts, such as crying or eating.

But he still knew he was Li Qi and understood his situation; he just couldn't control himself.

Just like many adults, they know that lying around is wrong and that they should work hard, but often they can't control themselves.

Li Qi was the same; he couldn't control his instincts, and his self-control and willpower declined across the board.

Thus, he was controlled by instinct, spending his infancy in a daze, barely retaining any memories.

When he finally escaped his instincts, he found himself sucking on a breast.

Looking back carefully, he found that he was already seven months old.

And his mother... her family seemed not very well-off. The surrounding houses were dilapidated, seemingly a world that had recently entered the industrial age.

However, although it didn't look prosperous, it was still neatly kept. Feeling his diaper, it wasn't wet, it was dry, indicating that it was changed frequently and he hadn't developed any problems.

There was very little furniture. He could see electric lights, indicating at least the electrical age had been entered, but there were almost no appliances in the house. They were truly poor.

His mother in this Reincarnation also looked very thin and weak.

Hmm... that black and white photo on the wall wouldn't be his father, would it? Below it were various items resembling a sacrificial ritual.

Then it wasn't hard to understand why they were poor.

Outside, he could hear rumbling and honking sounds similar to vehicle engines, which should be the most common type of humanoid world.

The surrounding walls looked very thin, and wind could blow in, but the house itself was not made of wood, indicating basic industrial synthesis capabilities. The civilization itself had moved beyond using natural Materials.

There were some books on the table, but he couldn't understand the writing. However, after scanning all the books around, he found that the most frequently appearing symbols were just those characters, indicating that the learning difficulty was not great. Common characters were estimated to be around four to five thousand, a common character count for a civilization in the electrical age.

Li Qi deduced where he was born, observed the surrounding situation, and judged future developments.

Once he could move, he would definitely start cultivating, but he couldn't sense the surrounding Heaven and Earth's Great Source, which meant that the native species of this world did not have organs to sense the world's Spiritual Qi.

Then he could only start with martial arts.

After thinking about these things, Li Qi found himself hungry.

So hungry... too weak to think.

The Heart Demon's move was truly ruthless. Any force is essentially a resultant of countless component forces, so as long as the resultant force is always zero, meaning whatever Li Qi does is offset, Li Qi can do nothing.

Although the Heart Demon couldn't truly offset all of Li Qi's power, it could make him a weak Mortal of no grade, and this weak Mortal would be constantly tormented in the Reincarnation Tribulation until he revealed a flaw.

However... since he understood the Heart Demon's move, then he would accept the challenge.

Since he was hungry, he would eat!

Li Qi simply settled down and began to suckle.

Eat well, sleep well, and grow up later.

However, as he suckled, the milk became increasingly diluted, and his mother, as if exhausted, suddenly collapsed.

Oh no!

Mom was sucked to death by him!