Chapter 1045: Restart

The Demonic Prince looked at Li Qi, wondering what this person was actually trying to do.

It seemed that since his resurrection, this person's initiative had become much stronger, and he wanted to do many things himself.

Seeing that the Demonic Prince was finally losing patience, Li Qi finally spoke up, revealing his purpose: "Then I'll speak plainly. Those things with substance in the Demonic Dao... they should die."

“Oh?” The Demonic Prince closed the Buddhist scripture. “Are you no longer afraid of the Heavenly Demon taking action?”

“The Heavenly Demon will not take action,” Li Qi stated. “The World-Honored One has entered Nirvana, and the Buddhist Sect doesn't seem to be gaining momentum. He won't care about these small matters. To him, the survival of the Second Rank, or even the existence of the entire Demonic Dao, is something he doesn't care about.”

“That is true, but in his eyes, the two of us are the back-up plans of the World-Honored One, so he will still keep an eye on us. Our attempt to exterminate all Second and Third Rank members of the Demonic Dao might become a fuse for some event, making the Heavenly Demon think we are planning something big,” the Demonic Prince reminded him.

Hearing the Demonic Prince's reminder, Li Qi laughed loudly: “Haha, have you noticed? Right now, you are more like me, and I am starting to be more like you.”

Li Qi chose to move forward aggressively, while the Demonic Prince began to carefully consider the possible consequences.

Truly interesting.

“Bravery is not recklessness. I used to simply know my own strength, but you now seem unable to distinguish yours,” the Demonic Prince said.

“No, I just know more now. Look at this.” Li Qi reached out and took out the Desire Realm.

The Desire Realm was still in a damaged state, though it had recovered about half; such was the self-restoration ability of this thing.

“The Desire Realm is broken? What broke it? You? Impossible, you don't have the capability.” The Demonic Prince was startled for a moment, then stared at Li Qi, hoping for an answer.

“The human emperor sword shattered it,” Li Qi answered.

The Demonic Prince's expression calmed down.

“After the Desire Realm was shattered, I saw some of the laws governing the operation of the physical Universe within it. From these laws, I saw the contradictory attitude of the Heavenly Demon.” Li Qi handed the Desire Realm to the Demonic Prince.

The Demonic Prince projected his consciousness into it.

He seemed to have noticed it as well.

Within, a principle, a law, or rather, a truth was revealed.

They were written by the Heavenly Demon in a unique style so that the reader could understand the meaning and finish all the content. If one knew how to use the principles within, they could do as they pleased and possess everything they wanted, because... everything was within it.

However, the sensation wasn't very clear, as if a layer of glass was blocking the perception.

This was because there wasn't enough stimulation. The Desire Realm would hide the existence of these laws. To see the hidden things, some stimulation was needed—for example, throwing in something like the remains of a Human Emperor to directly pressure the Desire Realm, forcing it to reveal its core while damaged so it could be seen clearly.

But there was no need; the Demonic Prince had no interest whatsoever in the laws of the physical world's operation.

Even if placed right before him, he wouldn't bother to look.

As stated before, the Demonic Prince only cared about his own world and not the external world. The laws of the external world were not what he pursued.

His Dao was different from Li Qi's.

But by sensing the state of the Desire Realm, the Demonic Prince could also clearly perceive one thing... what Li Qi wanted to tell him.

The Heavenly Demon should have been the same as the Demonic Prince.

The Heavenly Demon should be the one who completely disregards the external world. As one of the summits of the Demonic Dao, the Heavenly Demon is absolutely idealistic. In his view, everything in the external world is nothing more than his own hallucination.

External things don't exist at all; all external things are merely manifestations within the Heavenly Demon's own body.

So, how could the laws of the external world's operation appear within the Heavenly Demon's Desire Realm? Wasn't that something the Heavenly Demon created?

After the Demonic Prince realized this, he looked at Li Qi, knowing he must have an answer.

Li Qi didn't hide anything and said: “I learned from Cang Tian that the Desire Realm was transformed from the Heavenly Demon's former shedding—it's the Heavenly Demon's 'eggshell.' Yet the interior is filled with these laws. It's clear that for the Heavenly Demon, the existence of the Desire Realm is actually unnecessary. That's why he could bring out the Desire Realm for those plans; he actually doesn't care about the Desire Realm at all.”

The Demonic Prince said: “So, you think that for the same reason, he won't care about any of the Demonic Dao's Second Ranks and won't take action for them?”

Li Qi put away the Desire Realm and replied: “There's already evidence, isn't there? Even with the deaths of the Heart Demon and the Demon of Karma, even with the Desire Realm falling into my hands, he still hasn't moved. So, why should we still be hesitant?”

“Though it's a bit far-fetched, it can be taken as evidence. So, what does doing this have to do with the Heavenly Gods' plans? If we start exterminating the Demonic Dao's Second Ranks, will the Heavenly Gods stop targeting you?” the Demonic Prince asked again.

“Of course it's related. During our process of exterminating demons, these Heavenly Gods won't take action. If they insert themselves into our struggle with the Demonic Dao, the situation will no longer be under their control,” Li Qi said. “They can only wait for us to kill all the Second and Third Rank members of the Demonic Dao.”

Before Li Qi could continue, the Demonic Prince picked up the thread: “And after killing all the Second and Third Rank members, when our plan moves to the next step, these Heavenly Gods won't have enough power to interfere with us. So you want to play this time and information gap with them.”

“Exactly, that's it.” Li Qi nodded.

The Demonic Prince closed his eyes and began to deduce.

Li Qi waited quietly; in fact, he already knew the result.

The Demonic Prince's deduction abilities weren't much stronger than Li Qi's. If Li Qi's own deduction was correct, then there was a high probability the Demonic Prince's deduction wouldn't have any issues either.

So, finally, the Demonic Prince stood up and put away the Buddhist scripture: “Fine, it seems you've made much progress. Let me also test my current state.”

After saying this, the black jade tiger pendant at his waist twisted and came to life, transforming into the Ink Tiger.

He mounted the Ink Tiger and pounced forward.

Li Qi followed him out.

This time there was no need to search for other Second Ranks, because it wasn't necessary; this was a part of their plan.

Killing all the Second and Third Rank members of the Demonic Dao would be a crucial step in their plan. Before, they were just laying the groundwork, always in a state of 'everything is ready except for the east wind.'

Since that was the case, why wait for the east wind?

Couldn't they just blow the east wind themselves?

The two of them were extremely fast.

Almost instantly, they arrived at a Demon Realm, which was the lair of a Second Rank member of the Demonic Dao.

Don't ask how they knew it was here. In fact... this was Li Qi's current capability; the Eye of the Heavenly Demon on his forehead was still open.

Before a complete Eye of the Heavenly Demon, it was truly difficult for a Second Rank to hide.

However, discovering where it was didn't necessarily mean it could be destroyed, but it was still a huge advantage.

The Demonic Prince and Li Qi entered and walked within.

Though called a Demon Realm, the scenery here was actually quite good.

The place was as warm as spring, though being on a mountain, there was still a slight cold wind, but it wasn't biting.

One could see many academies here. From the academies came the scent of burning incense and smoke, mixed with the stench of burning corpses and the fresh fragrance of resin from the mountain forests, all blending together and wafting through the valley.

There were many people here, and most of them were studying diligently.

Li Qi and the Demonic Prince came to this place and saw a young man by the roadside who had failed in his cultivation but still maintained a peaceful state of mind, squatting by the road summarizing his failure.

Li Qi stepped forward and asked him: “You seem to have failed in your cultivation. Why do you still look like this? From your appearance, it seems you need to shatter your Inner World and reconstruct it? This is second only to restarting your cultivation entirely. Can such a failure not make you feel frustrated?”

The young man looked at Li Qi and said: “The Master has already said, do not dwell on success or failure. A person who has never failed must be a person who has never tried anything.”

As he said this, Li Qi could also clearly see the fluctuations in his heart.

He was thinking... the Master would surely be satisfied with him, surely be proud of him, because he did not give up halfway or return in defeat.

Spending fifty thousand years exploring a path that failed, leading to a restart—it was a long time, but he understood in his heart that if he could explore to failure in fifty thousand years this time, in the future he could learn from it to find a way in forty thousand years, then twenty thousand, ten thousand... a thousand, a hundred.

There would come a day when he could find many ways within an hour. At that time, his cultivation would truly be successful.

He now understood why others were unwilling to take this path, but he still firmly believed that tomorrow he would be under a lucky star and his luck would turn.

Whenever he suffered failure, he would remember that others had once advised him, saying there was no path to take here at all. But, the Master said that failure is also a part of success.

He closed his eyes and recalled the countless rejections, setbacks, and insults he had encountered, treating them only as trials.

Li Qi shifted his gaze from this young man and looked at everyone in the entire Demon Realm.

The people here were all persevering and unafraid of failure.

This really is... excellent fodder.

“Is this what a meal for the Demon of False Guidance looks like?” the Demonic Prince was the first to speak.

Yes, this entire Demon Realm was a meal for the Demon of False Guidance.

He brewed failure here, using these people's perseverance to brew a pot of fine wine for himself.

The people here all believed that the path they chose was full of opportunities, even though there would be bitterness and despair, even though the companions who failed before them were innumerable, piled as high as a mountain.

However, they would not fail like the others, because they had the knowledge in their hearts to guide the way, to lead them across surging seas, desolate deserts, and dangerous wildernesses, finally reaching the shore of their dreams.

Do not fall into the abyss of ignorance and self-pity, and do not believe in the so-called experience of others, for the value of experience is often overestimated; when people are old, most of what they say is nonsense.

In truth, experience can indeed teach us many things, it just takes too long. By the time people gain wisdom, its value has diminished with the passage of time. The result is often that experience has grown, but little of life remains. Experience is also related to the era; behavior suitable for one era does not mean it will still work today.

These were the things the Demon of False Guidance passed on to these young people.

Was it wrong?

Not necessarily.

But these young people believed it.

Thus, from their failures, the demonic thoughtss that the Demon of False Guidance liked would be born.

But it didn't matter anymore.

This place was about to be destroyed.

“Let's begin,” Li Qi said.

“Good.” The Demonic Prince took out his bamboo staff.

He still had a maimed body, but as a Second Rank, he no longer felt it was a deficiency; he still kept his most commonly used bamboo staff.

Then, the two Demon Princes struck simultaneously.

In the eyes of the young man nearby, in just an instant, the surroundings sank into cold darkness.

He didn't know what had happened; he only knew that everything around him had turned black.

The darkness was so absolute that the young man who had cultivated for fifty thousand years found himself moving backward at high speed. But because of the darkness, he couldn't see any reference points at all, almost making him think he wasn't moving at all.

Until, in the heavy night curtain, a solitary glimmer of light appeared.

Later, a tiny bright spot appeared in the distance, growing much larger within just a few seconds. Only then did the young man realize that something was approaching him at an extremely high speed.

No, wait!

It wasn't approaching him!

Something was expanding!

The speed of expansion even far exceeded his own speed of retreat, which was why he could see the thing growing larger while he was flying backward!

Something was wrong with the speed of light!

At such a distance, he shouldn't have been able to see it!

The current speed of light... was close to infinite!

He desperately wanted to figure out what the expanding thing in front of him was, but after staring for a long time, he still couldn't see any clear outline.

However, suddenly, he gasped sharply.

He had realized that the relative velocity between himself and that point of light was incredibly large.

And that point of light was actually a hole in a wall.

He had just flown out of this hole backward.

For a moment, he felt dizzy with shock.

Just now, he had crossed an open space at an incredible speed, leaving that wall behind him, and that point of light was just a tiny, invisible hole in the wall.

That wall... that wall defied all imagination—

Because it was so incredibly large! Even if the speed of light were infinite, he still couldn't see the top, bottom, or sides of the wall. In fact, he could only see a small hole in it.

This size was almost impossible for the eyes to capture. The dizzying shock of facing it was enough to kill, and it was still expanding.

This size even gave the young man an illusion, as if he had discovered what infinity looked like and gained a clear concept of it.

Though, in reality, it wasn't infinite.

It was just very, very large—so large it gave the feeling of infinity, perhaps even larger than infinity itself.

What on earth was that thing?