Chapter 1048: How long will it take?

A part of the Dao Orthodoxy dispute has once again manifested here.

Li Qi and Haotian had no conflict whatsoever; in fact, Li Qi was full of admiration for Haotian.

It was precisely because of Haotian's tolerance and magnanimity, and his unique gentleness, that this Universe became the vibrant and diverse place it is today.

Haotian is gentle; even those who dislike Haotian intensely cannot deny this.

If it weren't for Haotian, a second First Grade would not have appeared in this Universe.

Haotian was willing to give all sentient beings a chance, and only then did sentient beings have the qualification to embark on the so-called ‘Dao Path.’

If Haotian had been narrow-minded or even malicious from the start, then the fate of the sentient beings in this Universe would naturally be imaginable.

The Immortal Heaven once existed in such a way; sentient beings living in the Immortal Heaven basically existed as food for the Immortal Heaven, and to gain the qualification to become food, they even had to engage in cruel competition among themselves, devouring each other to gain the qualification to ‘Merge with the Dao.’

This situation was still because the Immortal Heaven lacked imagination and was relatively笨, using this method.

For example, the Hell Dao and Hungry Ghost Dao that Li Qi once saw, their production lines for Longevity Pills, and the Demonic Dao's various strange methods for extracting demonic thoughts…

If Haotian had started doing this from the beginning, no one in this Universe could have stopped him.

All cultivation began with Haotian.

Whether it was the earliest Shaman Dao, or Heavenly God, or other cultivation methods that did not contain Dao Orthodoxy thought, all of them were imitating Haotian.

Even the bodies of sentient beings, whether they were humanoids born with the Innate Three Treasures, or demons and various beasts, all imitated the operation of Haotian's body to embark on the initial path of cultivation.

It can be said that if it weren't for Haotian's indulgence, there would be no such multitude of cultivation methods in this world; all Mortals would only be able to prostrate themselves at Haotian's feet, worshiping the great Heavenly Emperor and being grateful for the Heavenly Emperor's grace.

But Haotian didn't want these graces.

He abandoned grace and gave sentient beings true freedom.

Haotian merely quietly observed these very unique, diverse life forms that enhanced the possibilities of the world. All of this was so vivid, resonant, mysterious, and beautiful.

Once, many Mortals believed that they were being kept by the Heavenly Gods and had lost their freedom.

However, when they truly came into contact with the truth of this world, they would realize…

‘Freedom’ meant they had to live in an environment with much fear but little food, needing to constantly defend their territory, and forever enduring unknown threats.

In a ruthless and cruel world, everything life does is entirely out of compulsion for survival; in such circumstances, what is the meaning of freedom?

If Haotian did not protect them, then they would experience all the cruelty of the natural state, and after the compulsion of life and death, freedom would become complete nonsense.

It was Haotian who allowed Mortals to have a practical sense of freedom.

He treated Heavenly God and Mortals equally, preventing the Heavenly Gods who were originally loyal to him from exterminating Mortals.

Many Heavenly Gods were angered by this; originally, all Mortals should have been domesticated pigs and dogs, but because of Haotian, these pigs and dogs were able to stand on equal footing with them, even engaging in armed conflict with them, and even killing their relatives and friends.

They retaliated against the Mortals.

Sacrifices, blood offerings, ten suns, floods—when Mortals were truly on the verge of extinction, when Mount Buzhou collapsed, Haotian intervened to stop the enraged Heavenly Gods.

Just like now, Haotian stopped the Demonic Prince and Li Qi.

Haotian's envoy, the Golden Star, quickly departed.

The Demonic Prince was severely wounded and needed to recover; he had suffered a Dao injury.

Directly confronting Haotian was indeed too risky, but this also confirmed Haotian's actual attitude.

Then… after calculating, about thirty percent of the Demonic Dao Mortals are still alive.

That's probably enough.

If they wanted to continue exterminating demons, it was unrealistic.

However, there was a problem.

Li Qi waved his hand, creating a sealed area to have a private conversation with the Demonic Prince.

“So, with this last bit of the Demonic Dao unable to be eradicated, your Dao foundation cannot be established, and you lack the opportunity to proceed further. What do you say, defy Haotian?” Li Qi said to the Demonic Prince.

Now, Haotian blocked the paths of the Demonic Prince and Li Qi.

In the original plan, after the extermination of the Demonic Dao, this action would be able to verify a certain answer for the Heavens of the Formless Realm and the Demonic Prince.

If there were no problems, the Demonic Prince might even advance further, finding possible methods to restrain or even suppress Heavenly Demons from the Formless Realm and Buddha-Dharma.

“Isn’t that up to you? I have no reverence for Haotian, but you are different. Oh, by the way, aren’t those Heavenly Gods led by Emperor Jun and Emperor Hundun inviting you? I think, with the extermination of demons going so smoothly, they might have contributed a lot behind the scenes, just waiting for you to cross Haotian’s line,” the Demonic Prince said casually.

“So, you support me in helping them, or even killing Haotian?” Li Qi retorted.

“Our goal is to kill the Heavenly Demon,” the Demonic Prince said without hesitation. “Before that, trying our hand against other First Grades is not out of the question, is it?”

The audacity of this statement was terrifying; presumably, only someone like the Demonic Prince could utter it.

To this, Li Qi could only shake his head and say, “You haven’t finished reading Da Zhengzang and Da Sanzang, have you? Go back and continue studying them. I need to think.”

With that, Li Qi lifted the seal, greeted the other Second Grades, such as the Golden Monkey and great Bodhisattvas, and then left the place.

The Demonic Prince, on the other hand, left directly without even a greeting.

Everyone could see that Li Qi was caught in some kind of dilemma.

Fairly speaking, Li Qi supported, even revered, Haotian. He had always believed that maintaining the diversity of the Universe was correct, and so was preserving the existence of more things and Mortals.

However, in Li Qi's view, the Demonic Dao was utterly harmful and without benefit. He felt that eradicating the Demonic Dao would give rise to more possibilities and make this Universe better.

But Haotian didn't think so, and even intervened to block his path.

In a sense, this was a Dao Orthodoxy dispute.

And it was a rather terrifying Dao Orthodoxy dispute.

A conflict had arisen between Li Qi and Haotian, not due to any personal feelings, but because of their differing views on the world, stemming from the divergence of their two Dao Paths.

It was obvious that this conflict was fundamentally irreconcilable.

Li Qi even felt a desire to unleash his madness at this moment, to let himself make decisions based on instinct.

There is a saying that all living creatures possess a degree of madness that causes them to act strangely and sometimes inexplicably.

This madness often saves their lives; madness is a necessary component of adaptability, and without it, no species can survive.

For example, when a situation becomes turbulent, many people choose to flee; they are not fleeing to a specific place, but fleeing from something.

But in the end, he gave up.

He was not a Mortal; he could not act solely on madness. As a higher intelligence, a great existence with substantiality, Li Qi's decisions should, of course, be derived through thought and deduction.

As he thought this, an unfamiliar yet very familiar existence appeared before Li Qi.

At this moment, Li Qi was in the Void Realm, drifting and contemplating.

And before him, a living, pulsating star made of flesh appeared, eerily unsettling. It seemed to shimmer with a play of light and shadow, a vibrant color, with red being particularly striking, like some kind of pink skin peeling back.

On the star, there was an eye.

Undoubtedly, this was the…

Calamity Star, Grand Duke Jupiter, that had appeared before.

One of the Heavenly Gods who advocated for the extermination of Mortals.

The power of Grand Duke Jupiter that Li Qi had encountered in the Demonic Dao before was merely a glimpse, but what stood before him was the true Grand Duke Jupiter.

“Li Qi,” Grand Duke Jupiter spoke, “Have you figured it out?”

Looking at Grand Duke Jupiter before him, Li Qi shook his head helplessly. “More or less. So, the reason Heart Demon lost was because of you all. Last time, the sky full of flesh and blood stars seemed like you were helping them, but in reality, you were helping me.”

“Is my smooth operation this time also because of you all?”

“Yes, Emperor Hundun personally blurred the heavenly secrets, so no one could know the reason, and my intervention left no traces. We are helping you exterminate demons,” Grand Duke Jupiter said.

Then, he continued to speak to Li Qi, the flesh and blood star emitting fluctuations in the Void Realm: “We are helping you, but… Haotian is your enemy.”

“This is a Dao Orthodoxy dispute. It has nothing to do with personal likes or dislikes, does it? Are you still going to stick to your guns?”

Grand Duke Jupiter questioned.

Li Qi felt a headache coming on.

How should this be calculated?

Grand Duke Jupiter quietly looked at Li Qi and then said, “You all want to use the extermination of demons to achieve a certain goal, right? It should be related to the Dao Path, and it seems to have a significant impact on your next plan.”

“Yes,” Li Qi nodded, admitting this.

“But Haotian stopped your plan. If he doesn't concede, you might never achieve your goal. Either you keep dragging it out until the Demonic Dao revives, or until Haotian dies, and who knows how long that will take,” Grand Duke Jupiter said.

“Do you know how many Great Powers in this world are ‘waiting,’ just waiting for a breeze to come, and then they can continue to act? But sometimes, opportunities might never come, so they need to slowly plan and create opportunities.”

“Now, the best time to create an opportunity is right before you. If you miss this one, how long do you want to wait until another group of people dares to challenge Haotian? Perhaps, even if you wait until you die, or until the Demonic Dao completely revives to encircle and suppress you, you still won't wait for it. What you've seized now is merely the gap after the great battle between the Heavenly Demon and the World Honored One. The Heavenly Demon should be in the midst of recovering and savoring the battle with the World Honored One Tathagata. If you don't seize this opportunity now, I'm afraid you'll never get this window of opportunity again.”

“After all, in this world, there is only one World Honored One, and the Heavenly Demon might only reveal this weakness once.”

Grand Duke Jupiter calmly persuaded Li Qi, without lying, exaggerating, alarmist talk, or any profound rhetoric; he simply stated the truth plainly.

But just stating it was enough to exert immense pressure.

Li Qi listened to these words.

Did he not understand these things?

Of course not; he was very clear about these matters, which was why he knew that what Grand Duke Jupiter said was entirely correct.

“So, what will you choose?” Grand Duke Jupiter said.

Although it was a question, he seemed very certain that Li Qi would choose them, just as Xi had persuaded Li Qi back then.

No coaxing was needed; the facts were laid bare.

But Li Qi did not rush to agree.

He simply closed his eyes, sensing Haotian's presence.

Indeed, Haotian's presence permeated all things; in every place, Haotian's existence could be clearly felt.

When you perceive Haotian in this way, you can feel the existence of what seems to be the soul of the world.

The soul of the world, or rather… the personality of the Reality Universe.

This extraordinary existence, he wove the fabric of existence across the Universe with warp and weft, becoming its supporting framework. On the canvas of the Reality Universe, he personally adorned it with definitions of various spaces and times.

As for himself?

Massless, incomprehensible, indescribable, unattainable, we have sewn an outer garment for it with our pitiful language—Oneness, Truth, Unity, Absolute, Supreme Reality, Foundation of Existence, or…

‘Haotian.’

Haotian's existence was undoubtedly great, and at the same time, his power was astonishing.

Only by truly experiencing Haotian could one comprehend his colossal power. According to Li Qi's knowledge, the First Grades of the Human Dao once launched an attack on Haotian.

This attack was called ‘Shooting the Heavens’ by them.

Ultimately, this operation ended with the Human Emperor's death in battle.

The Shooting the Heavens operation involved many First Grades, with all Human Dao First Grades participating in a confrontation with Haotian.

In the end, Haotian, fighting one against four, struck down that generation's Human Emperor with the thunder of divine retribution.

Haotian's power was fully displayed in that operation. As the one who personally shaped the Reality Universe, a subtle space-time that no one could replicate, as the first First Grade, the soul of the Reality Universe, his power was unfathomable. First Grades cultivated Acquired could not even compare.

Of course, that was in the primordial era; whether later First Grades could match Haotian is unknown.

However, ever since that time…

No one challenged Haotian again.

The Human Dao was still ‘waiting for an opportunity’ to achieve the replacement of Heaven by Humanity; they were still preparing for the matters of the Zodiac and the ‘Throne.’

They waited from the primordial era until now.

Li Qi looked at himself.

Did he also have to keep waiting?

The Human Dao waited from the primordial era until now, spanning hundreds of generations of Human Emperors, with countless people striving, yet still unable to find this opportunity.

And him?

How long would he have to wait?

Would this very moment also be referred to as ‘primordial’ by future generations?