Chapter 1057: Three Realms

The Demonic Prince watched as the Heavens of the Formless Realm was taken from his hands.

The Heavenly Demon, meanwhile, looked at the Heavens of the Formless Realm with interest: “So, what else do you have that I haven’t thought of? Bring it all out, let me see what you can achieve.”

The Heavenly Demon smiled, looking at the two children he had created.

Shang Fan and Li Qi.

How should one put it…

In many people's eyes, being an enemy of the Heavenly Demon, though not immediately fatal, was certainly a death sentence. After becoming his enemy, you would have ample time to regret, but no way out.

You would have plenty of time to regret your recklessness, your cleverness, and why you ever provoked him.

After all, the Heavenly Demon only needs a thought to generate countless Nascent Heavenly Demons to trouble you, even if he himself forgets about it, the Nascent Heavenly Demons will not.

And once the Heavenly Demon truly remembers you, then you are finished.

You have provoked the most troublesome opponent in this Universe.

The Heavenly Demon might not be the strongest, but he is certainly the most troublesome.

However, at this very moment, as the Heavenly Demon spoke, the Heavens of the Formless Realm in his hand suddenly exploded.

It was such a violent explosion.

One hundred thousand times brighter than the birth and death of a Universe, like a high-pressure energy cooker exploding.

In this instant, the Karma sequence around them became chaotic.

Just now, the Heavenly Demon had displayed Li Qi's countless fates. At that time, all of Li Qi's possibilities were laid bare before him, then sealed by the Heavenly Demon.

However, because Li Qi at that time was actually disguised by the Demonic Prince using the Heavens of the Formless Realm, it had no effect.

But this time was different.

Because… Li Qi was blasted out by this explosion.

“Do you think I can’t see you, Li Qi? You’ve used my eyes, you should know how much I can see, right?” the Heavenly Demon said casually.

Then, Li Qi was dragged out.

With the explosion of the Heavens of the Formless Realm, he faced all of his own possibilities.

This was unimaginable. He was suspended in the countless outcomes that spread from himself throughout the Universe.

Li Qi was stunned. For a blinding moment, he could only feel helplessness.

Then, it was like the first cell leaping out of the primordial soup into the ocean for the first time, gasping for breath on the ancient beach, at the dawn of history when single-celled organisms had just emerged, directly facing the vast domains, realms, phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, and species of countless complex creatures of the future.

The Demonic Prince grew anxious.

He immediately rushed forward, attempting to pull Li Qi out of those infinite possibilities.

The Heavenly Demon did not stop him.

In fact, he watched the two men's performance with a hint of interest.

If another First Grade being were observing the battlefield at this moment, he would notice that another Heavenly Demon was suspended above it.

The so-called 'Heavenly Demon本体' inside was fake.

Even if Li Qi and the Demonic Prince used every trump card to kill this so-called 'Heavenly Demon本体' inside, it wouldn't harm the Heavenly Demon in the slightest.

Because the true Heavenly Demon was on the battlefield, watching Li Qi and the Demonic Prince struggle like crickets in a cage.

Just as the Heavenly Demon said.

From the very beginning, there was no chance of victory.

Challenging a First Grade was a reckless plan.

Challenging a First Grade had no chance of success; it was an impossibility, a zero-probability event.

The possibilities had already converged from the start. Li Qi and the Demonic Prince had no chance of defeating the Heavenly Demon.

Let alone defeating him, they couldn't even touch the Heavenly Demon.

The gap was too wide.

Amitabha’s thoughts were unknown. His departure at this moment would not only fail to give Li Qi a chance of victory, but would also allow his own power to be absorbed by the Heavenly Demon.

He trusted Li Qi too much, perhaps thinking that what he left behind was sufficient, yet Li Qi could not possibly obtain Amitabha’s legacy.

Both the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Buddha's body had already fallen to the Heavenly Demon.

But the Heavenly Demon remained intrigued.

It was all because of the identity swap just now, which made him anticipate that they could do more unexpected things.

Using the Heavens of the Formless Realm was quite astonishing.

So, now that the Heavens of the Formless Realm is in the Heavenly Demon's hand, what other moves do you have?

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And at this moment, on the other side…

Li Qi was grabbed by the Demonic Prince and pulled out of the constantly unfolding 'self'.

For the Demonic Prince, having experienced the Retribution of Black Karma, he wasn't afraid of such a cage. The Heavenly Demon's use of this move just now hadn't affected him.

But Li Qi was different, so he merely took a few deep breaths and looked at the Demonic Prince: “What do you say… is there any other way now? Oh, and the Heavens of the Formless Realm is still in his hands, so he knows everything we’re saying and thinking.”

The Demonic Prince replied, “Should we call the Shaman God to rescue us? It seems there’s no other way.”

As the two spoke, the surrounding demonic thoughtss continued to swarm. They fought and dodged the incoming dangers while maneuvering within the Heavenly Demon’s body, maintaining their connection.

“The Shaman God wouldn’t get involved in this, would he? You want the Shaman God to clean up the mess we made?” Li Qi shattered an incoming demonic thoughts and said.

“Don’t you have a Shaman God Ancestral Master? Is he unwilling to help you? Give us a hand, or we’ll really die,” the Demonic Prince inquired.

“I don’t know, why don’t you find a way to get out and ask?” Li Qi really didn’t want to continue this topic.

Even if the Shaman God was willing to help them, they had no way to send a message out.

The possibilities were already blocked.

Alas, I shouldn't have fully trusted Amitabha back then. Who knew Amitabha had this in mind…

This thought amused the Heavenly Demon. Li Qi and the Demonic Prince could hear giggling sounds from all around, as if mocking their recklessness.

Just as the laughter came—

Li Qi and the Demonic Prince exchanged glances!

Then, the Heavens of the Formless Realm truly exploded!

This time, with the explosion, the Heavens of the Formless Realm unfolded in the Heavenly Demon’s hand!

The Heavenly Demon was pushed back by the explosion.

It was impossible for an explosion to push back the Heavenly Demon. In reality, it was the instantaneous unfolding of the Heavens of the Formless Realm, which repelled the demonic thoughtss that constituted the Heavenly Demon.

So, it appeared as if the Heavenly Demon was pushed back by the explosion.

And at the same time, the moment the explosion occurred, the bodies of Li Qi and the Demonic Prince also appeared in the center of the unfolding Heavens of the Formless Realm. All the surrounding demonic thoughtss withered away, and the unfolding Heavens of the Formless Realm quickly suppressed the surrounding Heavenly Demon body!

The Heavenly Demon opened his eyes, a serious expression on his face.

What lay before him was…

This was… the Three Realms!

The Three Realms combined, forming a Spiritual Artifact of immense power, and it was now unleashing its might!

The Three Realms in Buddha-Dharma.

They are called the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm.

The Desire Realm and the Formless Realm go without saying; one is a mental world forged by the Heavenly Demon, and the other is the 'nothingness' created by the World Honored One Tathagata.

And the third, the Form Realm.

The Form Realm is the Myriad Heavens forged by Li Qi!

Who would have thought,

Form Realm, where 'form' means obstruction or manifestation, and its beings are all born by transformation; they are born from the transformation of form, and everything is wondrous and exquisite. Because they still possess material form, it is called the Form Realm.

Who still remembers how the Myriad Heavens was forged?

Li Qi extracted the possibilities of all beings, allowing them to spread infinitely among infinite possibilities, until he forged one 'perfect' self after another.

This approach was actually inspired by the methods of Buddhism.

Who still remembers how Buddhism did it? They used Reincarnation to create 'Awakeners'!

Through countless Reincarnations, people are made to recognize the true nature of the world, to see through the current illusion, to awaken past wisdom, and to merge the memories of countless Reincarnations into one.

From then on, cattle, sheep, cats, and dogs are you; insects and butterflies are you; trees and weeds are you; demons and evil spirits are you; men and women, old and young are you; slaves and laborers are you; kings and generals are you; and the ultimate Awakener is also you.

All beings are equal, all beings are you. (For details, see Chapter 529)

Having departed from the defilements and aggregates of the Desire Realm, and having awakened the Manas consciousness, one can then see the true self. The self of past lives, the self of this life, and the self of future lives are all the true self. If one can see the true self, what difference does it make which life it is?

Therefore, Li Qi's infinite attempts at possibility were actually an imitation of everything Buddhism did in the 'Form Realm'!

So, the Heavenly Demon immediately realized what they had done.

All the 'thoughts' he had seen were fake!

Because Li Qi had already swallowed the Myriad Heavens into his body before, meaning Li Qi's Inner World had already merged with the Myriad Heavens.

Not only did the Demonic Prince use the Heavens of the Formless Realm to conceal his thoughts, but Li Qi also used the Heavens of the Formless Realm to conceal their thoughts when the Myriad Heavens and the Desire Realm merged.

Everything before was an act, a scheme, designed to draw the Heavenly Demon into the fray, to trap him in the current situation!

So, from the very beginning, all the thoughts the Heavenly Demon saw were fake. Those thoughts were meant to guide the Heavenly Demon's power, as the Heavenly Demon was too confident in his ability to spy on the thoughts of all beings.

The Heavenly Demon toyed with all beings. The Demonic Prince and Li Qi were well aware of this, so they had already planned this scheme within the 'Three Realms'.

Now the Heavenly Demon had fallen into the trap; he had come too close this time.

Indeed, the Demonic Prince and Li Qi could not have had any chance of victory, but with the help of the 'Three Realms', it might be worth a try.

As long as the Heavenly Demon could be confined within the Heavens of the Formless Realm, sealing him was not impossible.

“The Three Realms in Buddha-Dharma? An idea, but unfortunately, can your Form Realm support it?” The Heavenly Demon’s expression grew slightly more serious. He had realized that he could no longer perceive the thoughts of the Demonic Prince and Li Qi.

The Formless Realm obscured the Heavenly Demon's perception.

But there was still a problem.

The Desire Realm and the Formless Realm were both First Grade creations.

One was essentially the Heavenly Demon’s eggshell, and the other was the ultimate creation forged by the World Honored One Tathagata to counter all Demonic Daos.

Could Li Qi's Myriad Heavens support these two?

If it couldn't, it would be like an iron rod with a paper middle; such a rod, when used to strike, would only break itself.

Could Li Qi's capacity, and the Myriad Heavens he created, truly stand alongside two First Grade creations and simultaneously affect the Heavenly Demon?

The Heavenly Demon was very curious.

Therefore, the Heavenly Demon no longer held back.

The power of a First Grade was unleashed at this moment.

He intended to completely overwhelm Li Qi's Three Realms.

There was no earth-shattering display, only… an indescribable, unnamable thing.

How to describe such a posture?

Perhaps it was the torrent of all thoughts, the convergence of all 'human hearts,' a tsunami-like surge of ideas, imaginations, emotions, the sum of everything and all things.

The human heart is like a trash can; if anything goes wrong, just throw the human heart into it, and you can shut others up. After all, you can find anything in a trash can, and everything can be justified.

World wars happened because of 'human heart'.

Dynasties changed because of 'human heart'.

Wars are ugly, killings are constant, and various things that fall below moral standards happen because of 'human heart'.

However, someone stepping forward to save the world is also because of 'human heart'.

Someone creating a new era is still because of 'human heart'.

Someone risking their life to save others, to make this world a little better, to become a hero, is also because of 'human heart'.

Seeing something bad, sighing: “This is the human heart.”

Seeing something good, singing praises: “This is the human heart!”

Some civilizations launched many rockets into space.

Other civilizations launched many rockets at their own planet's surface.

This is all because of the human heart.

Everything good, evil, beautiful, ugly, all things, seem to be attributable to 'human heart', as if by blaming the human heart, everything makes sense.

It's unreasonable, right? No matter what happens, it can be blamed on the human heart.

So what is the human heart?

The Heavenly Demon had the answer.

It's like the Universe.

The Universe contains everything. The Universe is the combined force of all thoughts, concepts, and realities. The essence of the Universe is static; without interference, it maintains a state of 'net force equals 0'.

When the net force is zero, nothing moves. All things are relatively static, reaching a state of absolute stillness in some sense.

However, if another component force is applied to a moving object, as long as the magnitude and direction of this component force are appropriate, the net force can be unbalanced, and the trajectory of this net force will change.

Thus, motion is generated.

This 'force' being applied is the 'human heart'.

The human heart, or rather, desire, thought, and concept, is the first and only driving force that makes the static Universe move.

The originally static Universe, with a net force of zero, began to move because of the heart.

The heart is the cause of all things.

The heart is the driving force of all things.

Everything is driven by the 'heart'.

The 'heart' is behind all actions.

The heart generates desires, and then desires drive life to change this world. All life is driven by those most primitive desires.

So, Li Qi…

Can your Three Realms bear the driving force of this entire world?

Can it bear the very desires of 'all things'?

(End of Chapter)