Chapter 1049: Confrontation with Haotian

Demonic Overlords will die, and Mortals will die, countless beings always die—

It can even be said that they live only to wait to die.

Those Mortals who thought they had attained 'immortality' did not actually achieve true immortality; before gaining substantiality, their immortality was merely a slightly longer life, far from escaping death.

Because even the matter that composes them will perish, everything will be destroyed.

However, Haotian should not die.

This is wrong; the soul of the world cannot die, not even a single component of it.

The entire complete, eternal Universe.

All the stars and planets in the sky, every atom and molecule, the distances between them, the forces, the interactions.

All worlds, all time and space, all land, oceans, sky, and the life within them…

All days past, all days present, all days future—

Able to see all thoughts and all emotions, all regrets and all hopes.

A stone, a candle, a higher life form, a village, even a galaxy, and every Observable Universe, none are missing; every grain of dust at its true position in all things is here.

If Haotian dies, what will become of all this?

The soul of this Reality Universe will perish.

As if sensing what Li Qi was thinking at this moment.

Tai Sui suddenly began a 'Dao Demonstration'.

He was demonstrating what the world would become after a brand new 'Haotian' was born.

In Tai Sui's demonstration, a 'gentle' Haotian disappeared.

In its place was a strong will, a contradictory mixture of pulsating vitality and extreme tranquility, whose subjectivity was so strong that he had no 'gentle' meaning whatsoever.

Before this, every stone, sea, tree, air, and sun spoke different words.

But now, they spoke the same words, praising the same Haotian.

The sea shared everything with the sun, the trees and roads sang together, the earth was aware of the air, and the air noticed the sea.

Every element in the natural environment coexisted harmoniously with other surrounding elements; everyone was a unified entity.

At that time, all living beings would become a 'circle'.

However, the size of each circle was different, nested one layer after another.

Each self was like the center of a small circle, and the center of this small circle coincided with the center of a much larger circle.

All centers coincided, different circles, circles of different sizes, shared one center.

Therefore, everyone's self met this brand new 'Haotian'.

For everyone, they would face the arrival of the brand new Haotian.

Tai Sui displayed all of this.

Li Qi looked at these…

Then, he suddenly said, "I understand Haotian now."

Tai Sui's gigantic eye, which occupied half a planet, suddenly frowned.

"In this world, it's better to draw a few more circles, a few more rings," Li Qi said, then turned and prepared to leave.

"Are you going to abandon your Dao Path for Haotian?!" Tai Sui shouted loudly, somewhat in disbelief.

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is my Dao Path. If I have to destroy the possibility of all living beings for the sake of eliminating Devils, then I would rather shake hands and make peace with the Heavenly Demons," Li Qi replied.

"You can't shake hands and make peace with the Heavenly Demons; you're handing your life over to the Heavenly Demons!" Tai Sui continued to shout.

Yes, if Li Qi chose not to eliminate Devils and couldn't proceed to the next step, then after the Heavenly Demons finished this period, Li Qi would probably really be killed by the Heavenly Demons.

Could he wait for the next step? Could he wait for such a long time after becoming 'Archaic'?

However, Li Qi did not look back, merely waved his hand and said, "Our Daos are different, so we cannot work together. I will go and discuss with Haotian myself. If you have any objections to me, you can fight me here."

With that, Li Qi walked towards the 'Heavenly Court'.

If anyone wanted to stop him, then let them try.

Let's see if Li Qi is still as unskilled in combat as he used to be.

However, Tai Sui did not stop Li Qi.

He just quietly disappeared from here, and as he left, he stretched out his long tongue and licked and ate several nearby planets.

It was clear that he was not in a very good mood.

He somewhat didn't understand why Li Qi chose to give up.

Based on his past understanding, Li Qi was not a staunch supporter of Haotian.

Moreover, Haotian undoubtedly had a Dao dispute with him, and he had sufficient reasons and an unshakable determination to carry out the Devil elimination plan.

But now, for the sake of Haotian, he chose to abandon his Devil elimination plan, and one could even say he abandoned his own life in the distant future.

It was truly incredible. What prompted him to do this?

It is not uncommon for a Second Grade to voluntarily choose to give up their life.

Without talking about distant matters, Yang Zhenqian, due to his Dao Path being cut off, voluntarily chose to seek death.

For example, when the Human Emperor fell, some Human Dao Second Grades died as martyrs.

Another example, the Second Grades of Shaman God Mountain, in order to get closer to the Great Dao opportunity, all the Second Grades suitable for the Sun-Moon Orbit perished.

Dying for the Dao is very understandable for a Second Grade, and can even be said to be one of the few causes of death for Second Grades.

But Li Qi's case is too strange.

How could someone abandon their Dao Path and take it upon themselves to protect Haotian? As if that supreme reality and the structure that supports all things were weak and helpless.

One could even say that Li Qi's attitude was a form of disrespect towards Haotian.

Haotian didn't need his pity, didn't need him to 'show mercy'.

Just a Second Grade, sacrificing his life to protect Haotian, what could he protect? Does Haotian need your protection?

What exactly is going on?

What answer did Li Qi get?

Tai Sui didn't know.

However, he knew a universal answer.

People sometimes choose to migrate.

Sometimes it's migrating their residence, sometimes it's migrating their work, sometimes it's migrating their thoughts.

This is called 'change'.

People's ideas can change; a former atheist might become a devout believer in a deity because of something.

People's residences might change; sometimes they move from one place to another.

People's jobs also change; today they might be doing this job, and tomorrow they might very well go do another unrelated job.

So, why do these changes occur?

What makes them leave their homes?

What makes their thoughts change?

What makes them voluntarily leave all familiar work and go to a completely unfamiliar place?

They even have to endure all the hardships in between, endure all the unfamiliarity, and go through layers of procedures piled up like mountains and various difficulties, many of which will make people lose their dignity and feel like beggars.

Why leave one's familiar Domain and go to that strange and difficult foreign jungle?

The universal answer is the same: people migrate and change due to dissatisfaction with the current situation and hope for the future.

People migrate because anxiety torments them.

Because that tormenting feeling is that no matter how hard they work, all their efforts will yield no results, and whatever they build over a lifetime will be torn down by others in a single day.

Their efforts are useless.

Their path to the future is blocked.

Nothing will change; happiness can only be found elsewhere.

This happiness is not necessarily wealth; it could also be a comfortable environment. For example, if Li Qi were to live in the Demonic Dao's City of Dreams, he would inevitably feel uncomfortable all over, and he would want to raze that place.

If a Human Dao Cultivator were to stay with a group of ignorant demon race members who had no great ambitions and just lived to eat and die, this Human Dao Cultivator would also be full of disdain.

This is because this environment is not suitable for them; in this place, they will never find peace.

They might be doing a very familiar job, but this job gradually becomes a torment, so much so that they are willing to give up the remuneration of the job to leave this torment and go to another job.

So, they will seek change.

This change may not be good; no one knows if the new place is good enough, but at least the current place is not good enough and is unbearable.

Heavenly Gods defy Haotian for this reason.

So, did Li Qi abandon the Devil elimination plan for this reason as well?

Tai Sui was not clear.

But it doesn't matter.

Report the matter to Emperor Jun and Emperor Hundun; let them decide.

Even if they are both Second Grade, having the title of 'Emperor' makes a world of difference.

Among the Heavenly Gods, those with the 'Emperor' title are all terrifyingly strong; even Human Dao officials with dual cultivation ranks are rarely able to resist the 'Emperor' among the Heavenly Gods.

Emperor Hundun is like this, and Emperor Jun is even more so.

Even 'Genius' like Demonic Prince and Li Qi, with terrifyingly deep foundations and accumulations, and such high-level Second Grades, cannot contend against 'Emperors'.

Rather, Genius is merely the entry threshold.

If you don't reach the level of a Genius, you're not even qualified to face the 'Emperors'.

Even for many beings, the 'Emperors', even if they are not yet First Grade, it is only because the path to First Grade is too long.

But when facing ordinary Second Grades, the difference with the 'Emperors' of the Heavenly Gods is absolutely overwhelming.

In the ancient past, most Heavenly Gods were basically similar in style to Tai Sui now.

Blood sacrifice, cannibalism, fond of warfare.

To say that the current Demons are actually not as extravagant as the Heavenly Gods of that time.

The various blood sacrifice methods of the Shaman were all passed down from that time; the Heavenly Gods' blood food and various cruel habits were all similar to Tai Sui's current ones.

Except for a few inherently benevolent and gentle deities, most of the primitive Heavenly Gods were tyrannical, and this tyranny did not come from their nature, but from a 'social atmosphere'.

At that time, Heavenly Gods would eat high-level intelligent beings at gatherings because the entire atmosphere was violent and狂虐.

In such an atmosphere, how could the leaders of the Heavenly Gods be chosen?

Obviously, it couldn't be by voting.

The group of Emperors basically fought their way up.

The Archaic Emperors were all fiercely renowned ruthless individuals; they had no shortage of heads of various Heavenly Gods in their hands. Perhaps more Heavenly Gods died at the hands of the Emperors than Mortals killed.

For example, Emperor Yu, records about him state: "Yu summoned the gods to Mount Kuaiji. Fangfeng-shi arrived late, so Yu killed and mutilated him. His bones filled a cart. This was a great deed."

Emperor Yu summoned the Heavenly Gods for a meeting, and Fangfeng-shi arrived late, so Emperor Yu killed him, tore him apart, and used his bones to make his own carriage. This act was even praised and admired by the Heavenly Gods.

Emperor Gaoyang also had a record: "The Emperor killed the Azure Dragon in the east with Jia-Yi, the Red Dragon in the south with Bing-Ding, the White Dragon in the west with Geng-Xin, and the Black Dragon in the north with Ren-Gui. This was to forbid all movement in the world."

One can see what kind of style these 'group of Emperors' were.

In the past, Mortals resisted the Heavenly Gods, slaughtering gods today and shooting at the sky tomorrow. These all had traces to follow, and even the eventual parting of Human Dao and Shaman Dao, with their completely opposite relationship with the Heavenly Gods, is inseparable from these tyrannical Heavenly Gods.

It was not until later generations that the group of Emperors finally restrained themselves somewhat.

Only when Mortals began to consistently produce high-grade existences did the group of Emperors truly change.

Part of this was due to deterrence, and another part was a true realization of change. For example, after Emperor Gaoyang realized the potential of Mortals, he chose to become the Human Emperor, and then directly cut off the connection between heaven and earth, helping Mortals find a way to survive.

Of course, there were other transformations. For example, Emperor Jun was once friendly to Mortals until he saw Mortals gradually grow stronger and then began to slaughter them.

The differences among them are too numerous to mention.

But in any case…

In the present day, with the group of Emperors fragmented, later generations seem to have forgotten the might of the group of Emperors.

Tai Sui shook his fleshy Physical Body, flicking his terrifying tongue, wandering in the Universe Void Realm, spreading madness and death.

Since that is the case, it is time to let all living beings witness the power of the group of Emperors.

Although… he himself knew very well.

Among the group of Emperors, that supreme existence.

The leader of all 'Emperors', the supreme 'Heavenly Emperor', is not so easy to get along with either.

Everyone only saw the gentle side of the Heavenly Emperor.

But who still remembers the might of the ancient internecine wars among the Emperors, when Haotian suppressed all of them?

However, those are matters for Emperor Jun and Emperor Hundun to consider.

Tai Sui merely helped run errands and do some things that they could not personally undertake.

The specific Heavenly Emperor replacement plan is only known to the 'Emperors'.

——————————

As for the other side…

Li Qi, at this moment, arrived at the Heavenly Court.

Above the Heavenly Court, Li Qi met Haotian.

In this place, everything seemed to be ethereal.

The outlines of objects became difficult to discern, all things vanished, and Li Qi felt as if he was floating in pure, abstract darkness.

Then…

The sky dawned.

Daylight arrived so swiftly, yet it was imperceptible; the surrounding darkness suddenly transformed, illusion condensed into reality, and everything suddenly became daytime.

Then, a great being sat before him.

The Heavenly Emperor.