Chapter 1054: Acknowledge all living beings

"Me, and the Heavenly Demon, you must eat both," Amitabha said.

Li Qi was stunned when he heard this.

Eat what?

Wait, sir, Li Qi only thought about carving a piece of meat from the Heavenly Demon, but Amitabha wanted Li Qi to eat both the Heavenly Demon and himself.

Did he really want Li Qi to ascend to the First Grade?

"My Buddha, you are... asking for the impossible. I cannot do it."

"If you cannot do it, there is only death. You have no choice now," Amitabha said.

"Wait..." Li Qi wanted to say something, but in the end, he gave up.

He could only sigh and ask Amitabha: "So, why? Do you feel that if you do not die, sentient beings cannot become Buddhas? Is it the same view as the World Honored One Tathagata?"

"Yes, it's not just that I feel this way, but that's how things are. The key isn't that sentient beings are dull, but because, whether it be Devil or Buddha, what they pursue is the 'Heart'," Amitabha said.

Li Qi had nothing to refute on this point.

Buddha and Devil, in a sense, possess consistency.

They both believe that this world can essentially be interpreted by the inner heart; the only difference is how you perceive the heart of this world.

The Demonic Dao believes only one's own heart is real, and the hearts of others are false.

While Buddhism acknowledges the existence of other 'hearts', believing that everyone's heart can interpret this world, and the communication and connection between hearts constitute this material world.

This is the so-called theory of 'Karmic Dependent Origination'.

Every person's heart is a point of 'Cause'. Due to the movement of time, this point naturally becomes a 'Line'. These lines intersect, and these points of intersection manifest as all things and events in this world.

Such intersection points can be called 'Conditions'.

The fundamental view of Buddhism is 'Dependent Origination and Emptiness of Nature', meaning everything in this world is born from Karma and Destiny. Because of Destiny, there are all the things you see, hear, and feel, and there are rules that can be observed, summarized, and thought about. These rules are called 'Dharma' by the World Honored One.

When speaking of Buddha-Dharma, it actually refers to this 'Dharma'.

In Buddhism's view, rules themselves can only be 'Dharma' and cannot reach the level of 'Dao Orthodoxy'. The true 'Dao Orthodoxy' is actually the 'Hearts' of countless people. These hearts form the web of Karma itself, leading to 'Dependent Origination', and thus developing into the entire world.

The world is decided by the 'Hearts' of sentient beings; it is the combination of their hearts that shapes all objective existence.

Although this viewpoint is fundamentally the same as the Demonic Dao, it is worlds apart in practical application.

Even though the material world itself is interpreted by the heart... there is more than one heart in the world; there are also sentient beings.

And now, Amitabha has realized that 'self-centered' compassion will ultimately affect the hearts of sentient beings.

Perhaps, Buddha should not have existed from the beginning.

In the hearts of sentient beings, there should be no such thing as Buddha.

"So, Li Qi, you have never believed the heart is real, nor do you acknowledge the existence of Buddha, right?" Amitabha said. "In that case, this is your opportunity."

He pressed his palms together: "Consume my Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, counteract the influence of the Heavenly Demon, and negate the Demonic Dao."

"If I do that, I will negate Buddha as well. Furthermore, I might not succeed, but you will definitely die," Li Qi said with a heavy tone.

"Is it not good to negate Buddha? If sentient beings attain enlightenment, then they are all Buddhas. There was never a need for a real Buddha to exist," Amitabha stated his purpose.

Negating Buddha—that would be for the best.

Amitabha felt this was for the best.

Thus, he disbanded the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, negated the greatest achievement of the Divine Ability lineage, and even hoped that by having Li Qi consume him and the Heavenly Demon, the conflict between Buddha and Devil would be completely negated.

Sentient beings cross over themselves; they do not need a Buddha to deliver them.

Whether there is a Buddha or not is actually unimportant.

Whether one attains enlightenment or not is the great undertaking of awakening the world.

Li Qi looked at Amitabha before him and seemed to feel the other's intent.

Time was running out, and Amitabha's final strength was fading away.

Li Qi let out a long sigh.

Who could have imagined things would develop to this point?

But since things had come to this, he could only risk his life.

"I don't guarantee success. Although this is an opportunity for the First Grade, the success rate is too low. I think it's unlikely; the probability isn't even one in ten thousand," Li Qi said. "However... even so, I can only try. I just want to ask, my Buddha, is a one-in-ten-thousand chance worth betting your life on?"

"The Divine Ability lineage is wrong. Guanyin, myself, Ksitigarbha, and others—the practitioners who hoped to save sentient beings through divine abilities were all wrong. Since we were wrong, we must change."

After saying this, Amitabha closed his eyes. His last trace of power dissipated, turning into the force that counteracted the Heavenly Demon.

Li Qi personally witnessed a First Grade give up his power and pass away.

Although it is often said that a Seeker of the Dao Orthodoxy only wishes to see their Dao Orthodoxy proven, even if it is proven false, as long as they can reach the end of the path.

Taking the wrong path is also an answer. In the primordial era before the Nine-Grade classification system appeared, countless people took the wrong path, but each wrong path served as a signpost for the correct one.

That being said... seeing a First Grade prove a path wrong and then pass away deeply shocked Li Qi.

The First Grade took the wrong path, so he passed away satisfied.

He was a First Grade, after all.

But at this moment, he was just like any ordinary Seeker of the Dao Orthodoxy.

So, how many people in the entire space-time are like this?

How many Seekers of the Dao Orthodoxy had Li Qi actually seen?

Even with the memory of a Second Grade, recalling them now felt like an overwhelming amount of data.

Jing Yan, who took the wrong path without realizing it.

Monk Chan Zhi, who thought the Buddha-Devil lineage was the only correct path and looked down on other Daoist traditions.

Li Lieqi, who had unwavering faith in the Human Dao Orthodoxy.

Zhu Fengdan, who hesitated between the fate of a Heavenly God and Shaman Dao.

Wang Dun, who supported the Dao of Reason because he felt the Great Dao Orthodoxy did not exist.

Encountering 'Number One' in the Earth Oil Realm, who, despite not knowing what 'Dao Orthodoxy' was, was determined to protect his world.

Yang Zhenqian, who gave up seeking the Dao Orthodoxy for the sake of family.

The two brothers, Liu Canzhi and Liu Junyi.

The Imperial Academy Vice-Chancellor, who targeted Li Qi for the sake of his school.

The Holy Emperor of the Holy Flame World, who struck at the Lu Mountain God with his final Martial Dao Divine Intent, sighing at the end: "The blood-qi is long gone, and the courage too. All that remains are a few things I 'cannot let go of'."

And Ga Ga, as well as the Lu Mountain God who tried to rule the Holy Flame World.

The self-righteous Lingxiao Flower Goddess, and Iron Begonia, who seemed malicious but knew her limits.

The clam-people ruled by the Flood Dragon.

The Peng Hai Cauldron.

Geniuses like the Demonic Prince and the Little Celestial Master, and even Li Qi's own Demonic Clone.

The down-to-earth Mountain God Niuhuang, and his son-in-law, Shi Tou.

Qiu Zhi, who died in the Human-Shaman War.

The members of People of No Return who chose to resist the Human Dao Orthodoxy.

Old Ma, who eventually died of old age due to neglecting his cultivation.

Young Miss Ling Xiao, who painted a portrait for Li Qi.

Chang You, who walked alone in the Immortal Heaven and opened the Heavenly Gate.

Mo Long, whose home planet was invaded.

Those upside-down little people underwater in the Myriad Demon Reservoir World.

Xiao Chan of the Baiyue, Bai Di, Zhang You, and Zhang You's grandfather, Zhang Lan of the Orthodox Sword Palace, who died for his righteousness without breaking through to the Seventh Grade.

The god, Jian, who was killed by his own believers.

La Qi.

The bird with a shattered Dao Heart.

Liu Zheng, who refused to accept his past life.

The Golden Monkey, who still does not know if he is Sun Wukong, the Six-Eared Macaque, or just a monkey hair.

So many, so many.

How many people are there?

In the Nine Lands Under Heaven, how many are there? How many different civilizations, how many different possibilities?

The Universe is like the night sky, and sentient beings are like stars. The starry sky is incomparably clear and deep. The galaxy spanning the sky and the endless twinkling stars form the grand picture one sees.

Occasionally, a meteor streaks across, leaving a momentary brilliance on the canopy of heaven.

Amitabha was now such a meteor.

Then, Li Qi took a deep breath and growled in a suppressed voice: "Heavenly Demon... in this world, there is definitely more than just your star."

Yes, the Demonic Dao is wrong.

The Demonic Dao must be wrong.

Because Li Qi had personally witnessed that sky full of stars, that galaxy composed of sentient beings.

He saw the moment the most dazzling meteor streaked across the sky.

That was the light of a First Grade falling.

In this world, it is absolutely not the case that only the Heavenly Demon is real.

Sentient beings, including Mortals and Great Powers, are all important elements that constitute this world. This world is neither entirely dictated by the material world nor decided by the mind of a single individual.

There is no ultimate Dao Orthodoxy in this world.

There is no ultimate decider who can interpret everything and determine all things like fate.

The fate of things is decided by themselves.

The development of the world emerges from the mutual interference of sentient beings.

All things, sentient beings, everything—you contribute a bit, I contribute a bit.

You change a bit, I change a bit, and thus, this world is born.

Therefore, high intelligence itself, the 'Hearts' of sentient beings themselves, are components of objective reality; this point transcends subjective consciousness itself.

All Daoist paths are like this.

Therefore, there is no noumenon.

Therefore, there is no ultimate.

Therefore, nothing can replace sentient beings themselves, and nothing can replace those countless high intelligences.

Man cannot replace Heaven because both man and Heaven are elements of the world.

The ultimate concept pursued by the Spirit Dao does not exist; all things have their own forms of unfolding.

Natural selection has no perfection; an ultimate organism that adapts to everything fundamentally does not exist.

The 'Nature' pursued by Shaman Dao is viable because Nature is all of this, and the form of existence of all this is natural.

The 'Carefree' state of the Daoist Sect is too ethereal and has no possibility of realization.

The 'Transformation' of the demons is too narrow; although they acknowledge all objective existence, they refuse to acknowledge the objectivity formed by all subjectivity.

The Heavenly Gods, especially Haotian, have actually done well. What Haotian wants is also a world composed of sentient beings, a world where objectivity is formed by different subjectivities, similar to the answer Li Qi obtained.

The Heavenly Demon wants to deny this. He does not want a world composed of sentient beings; he wants to decide everything with his own will. All things are the Heavenly Demon himself; he is the ultimate end of everything, the answer to everything.

Li Qi will not accept such an answer.

In the Nine Lands Under Heaven, as Li Qi watched Amitabha pass away, he seemed to realize his own answer.

Yes, from the very beginning, Li Qi wanted to acknowledge the existence of sentient beings.

But to acknowledge the existence of sentient beings, one cannot escape the two points of the material world's objective foundation and subjective perception. Furthermore, he must sufficiently understand the objective foundation of the material world.

In other words, you must explore science and mathematics to a certain extent to have enough depth to support your exploration of the world's objective foundation; otherwise, it is just nonsense.

If you don't even understand this world, how can you explore its specific composition?

You must first know what has happened in this world, confirm these occurrences, and have a certain level of cognition of this objective world before you can judge the relationships within it.

And this process of cognizing the world is generally regarded by sentient beings as the exploration of truth and the advancement of science. This advancement, when reflected in technology, is the improvement of science, technology, and spells.

Exploration of subjective perception touches upon another level, concerning how your own 'Heart' perceives this world and through what means you interpret the objectivity you see.

When the subjective and objective are unified, the 'Dao Orthodoxy' emerges.

Li Qi's exploration of science, technology, and spells has already surpassed most Mortals. This is the power of 'Technology'. Formulas that Mortals cannot figure out, he has long since clarified; technologies that Mortals cannot control, he has long since mastered.

With the foundation of cognition of the real world, he gradually stepped into the inner world, beginning to explore the status of his own subjective will and the subjective will of sentient beings within objective reality.

Now, having witnessed the death of Amitabha and absorbed a portion of the Heavenly Demon's body, Li Qi felt it was time to truly acknowledge sentient beings.

It was time to acknowledge the answer regarding the mutual influence between the subjective will of the world's sentient beings and objective reality.

Just as Li Qi had once realized.

My own subjectivity is another's objectivity, and another's subjective will is, in my view, an objectively occurring fact.

Sentient beings each pull out a line, perceiving their own time through their subjectivity, constituting the objective space-time of the external world. From their respective relative perspectives, they obtain their own relative time.

All basic units in the Universe are 'realities' frozen in time. Each 'reality' is an indivisible basic unit, containing different possibilities of cosmic history. Arranging these 'realities' allows one to see the activities of all 'realities' in the Universe, depicting its history, present, and future.

The positions and moments of these 'realities', and every change they produce, give birth to the complete Universe seen by all living beings.

So, how to acknowledge sentient beings?

It's simple.

Li Qi must transcend subjective space-time... but obviously, he cannot do it.