Chapter 1061: First-class War

Yang Zhenqian wanted to break through the blockade of the Heavenly Demon and chose to take the initiative to attack.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Demon acted to stop him. Although the Dao Ancestor intervened in time, Yang Zhenqian's possibilities had already been sealed; his consciousness was wounded, and his body was obliterated, no longer able to reassemble.

It was clear that the Heavenly Demon was serious; this strike was intended to be lethal.

But it didn't matter anymore.

Li Qi looked at Yang Zhenqian beside him and immediately cried out, "Father-in-law!"

He appeared completely normal, not only recognizing Yang Zhenqian but also showing a visibly anxious expression.

But Yang Zhenqian knew that Li Qi was already dead.

What remained was nothing more than a zombie.

But... this was exactly the effect he wanted.

Yang Zhenqian finally landed beside Li Qi and whispered softly, "It's good that you died. If you were still alive, you certainly wouldn't have accepted this."

With those words, Yang Zhenqian shattered, his mind completely sealed within Chaos.

Beside him, 'Zombie Li Qi' naturally picked up the Sun-Moon Orbit.

A zombie possesses full thinking capacity, full wisdom, and full memory; it simply lacks self-awareness.

So, what would a zombie with full thinking capacity do?

The Sun-Moon Orbit was entirely beneficial to Li Qi with no drawbacks. No matter how one thought about it, he should take it, right?

Anyone using even a bit of logic and memory would not pass up such a windfall.

Only a foolish self-awareness would refuse such a good thing.

Only self-awareness, for the sake of some nonsensical persistence or inexplicable meaning, would choose to decline.

Li Qi had been robbed of his self, but this instead facilitated his proactive acceptance of the Sun-Moon Orbit!

The Heavenly Demon also noticed this.

He wanted to turn back and deal with Li Qi's situation.

However, the Dao Ancestor stopped him.

"Yang Zhenqian is already dead. Why must you still press him regarding his final wish?"

"Hey, do you really want to stop me?" The Heavenly Demon stared at the Dao Ancestor with ill intent.

"Why not?" Shamansan also entered the fray at this moment.

"It seems you need some help. Can there be a chaotic battle of First Grades this time too?" At the same time, the Demon of Death appeared.

The First Grades watching from the sidelines realized that the situation was becoming problematic.

From this moment on, the battle intensified.

Shamansan, the Dao Ancestor.

The Heavenly Demon, the Demon of Death.

Shamansan hoped for another First Grade to emerge in Shaman Dao, even if it was just a possibility.

There was no need to speculate on the Heavenly Demon's goals.

What about the Dao Ancestor? What was he trying to do?

And the Demon of Death—he had likely been hoping for another war to sweep the Universe for a long time, preferably one where a First Grade would fall.

Yang Zhenqian was dead, and Li Qi's remains were absorbing the opportunity for the First Grade.

The Universe... was about to fall into great Chaos.

———————————

The chaotic battle of four First Grades once again swept through the Universe.

This caused even greater destruction than the previous battle between Li Qi and the Heavenly Demon.

Shen Shuibi was within the world, inside Luofu Mountain, observing the battle itself through Empress Luofu's Divine Ability.

After the fall of the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron, the entire Luofu Grotto Heaven was deathly silent.

The only audible sound was the excited, wild laughter of the Demon of Death amidst the First Grade battle. Indeed... all things eventually return to death, and he wanted to slam down the accelerator.

He didn't care about the Heavenly Demon's goals; all chaotic warfare and death were the objectives the Demon of Death pursued.

And the Heavenly Demon seemed to have become enraged as well; the interference of Shamansan and the Dao Ancestor infuriated him beyond measure.

In the eyes of other First Grades, perhaps the death of Amitabha was a good thing to the Heavenly Demon. If given the chance, he also wanted to drag down the Medicine Buddha, the Lapis Lazuli Radiant King and Maitreya Buddha together; his actions against Li Qi were partly intended for this.

But the interference of Shamansan and the Dao Ancestor brought new variables.

Humanity had just experienced a great tribulation and did not have much energy to intervene.

The battle situation remained suspended in the air.

Yang Ning and Shen Shuibi held Empress Luofu's hands, but she too was speechless.

Yang Zhenqian was dead, killed by the Heavenly Demon's own hand.

In other words, to release him from the state of 'locked possibilities,' the Heavenly Demon had to be killed.

Even killing the Heavenly Demon wouldn't be enough; one would also have to resolve Yang Zhenqian's current state of Chaos, which required a deeper understanding of the Demonic Dao than even the Heavenly Demon possessed.

Both were impossible.

Therefore, Yang Zhenqian could be declared beyond saving.

Only Shen Shuibi suddenly spoke up at this time: "Lady, I am going to visit the Grand Director of Music."

The Grand Director of Music—the Grand Director of Music of Shaman Dao was Changqin.

"The Sect Leader is dead. What can the Grand Director of Music do?" Empress Luofu sighed.

"I know. I want him to take me to seek an audience with Haotian. At this point, the only one I can think of is Haotian," Shen Shuibi said.

"Haotian?" Empress Luofu and Yang Ning were both stunned.

Also surprised were the high-level members of Luofu Mountain nearby, such as Granny Mei and Mr. Qingjing; they didn't quite understand what Shen Shuibi meant.

What did she mean by finding Haotian?

Would Haotian care about this matter? It was well known that the Heavenly Emperor did not interfere with sentient beings unless one was doing something massive that destroyed the balance of Heaven and Earth.

And clearly, it hadn't reached that level of intensity yet. Would the Heavenly Emperor care?

Shen Shuibi's eyes welled with tears, but her voice remained steady as she said, "Whether it was my father or Li Qi, they both did it for the sake of sentient beings. The Heavenly Emperor should not ignore this."

These words were truly a bit far-fetched, especially coming from a Fourth Grade; it seemed even more out of place.

Whether Yang Zhenqian did it for sentient beings was a question mark.

As for Li Qi, although he had made his declaration and indeed intended to fight the Heavenly Demon for the sake of sentient beings, Haotian might not necessarily care. Rashly going to the Heavenly Court might result in being turned away at best; if it provoked Heavenly Punishment, the problem would be even greater.

Looking at everyone's expressions, Shen Shuibi stood up and wiped her face with her sleeve: "If he gives me Heavenly Punishment, then he is not Haotian."

With that, she set off directly.

Yang Ning froze for a moment, then immediately chased after her.

Since she was going to find Haotian, then she would go too.

The others did not stop them; in fact... there was no need to stop them.

Shen Shuibi soon found Zhu Fengdan.

Zhu Fengdan took them to find Changqin without any hesitation.

He knew himself that his reputation was too poor, and he feared it would be difficult to deal with the Heavenly Court, but Changqin's reputation was very good.

On the way, Zhu Fengdan looked at the two sisters and said to them, "I am usually not a good person and it's not easy for me to go to Heaven. It's a good thing you came to remind me. However, meeting Haotian might be fatal for you. If things don't work out then, use this to send a message, and I will come to get you."

"Thank you, Teacher." Shen Shuibi bowed in thanks, then stood up and said to Changqin beside her, "This time, I must also trouble Senior Martial Uncle..."

"It's no trouble. To be honest, I usually don't like dealing with Fengdan. But for this one time, I feel that this disciple he taught has some spirit; at least today's action shows courage."

"I was born a Heavenly God and don't understand how Mortals feel. So, in truth, I don't quite understand why he did what he did. However, acting with integrity is worth me giving him a hand. This time, it wasn't because Fengdan persuaded me, so you don't need to remember his favor," Changqin said with a smile.

Zhu Fengdan scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward.

Previously, the reason Changqin was willing to help Li Qi destroy the demons was actually through his relationship with Zhu Fengdan; he didn't feel much about Li Qi's goals and was only helping his brother, Zhu Fengdan.

However, Li Qi's current actions had indeed made him look at him with new respect. He was happy to visit Haotian this time.

But in any case, it was a huge gamble for a Second Grade to rashly bring people to visit a First Grade with whom they didn't have a good relationship; some preparations were still needed.

Just as when the Heavenly Demon wiped out the Buddhist Sect, he still left many Buddhist sons without pursuing them.

Because the Heavenly Demon himself knew that total extermination would draw Haotian's attention. As long as he ensured the Buddhist Sect remained in that state, it was enough.

And beyond that, Haotian let almost everything else take its course.

Trying to persuade Haotian was an utterly impossible task.

However, while they were still on the way... Demonic Qi blocked their path.

Good Knowledge Demonic Qi.

Heart Demon Demonic Qi.

And Demon of Karma Demonic Qi... ———————————

The First Grade battle soon escalated to an uncontrollable level.

Shamansan and the Dao Ancestor, the Heavenly Demon and the Demon of Death—their direct combat had already drawn in more First Grades.

The Demon of the Five Aggregates entered the fray, leading Wu Geng to also join the battle.

But the other Celestial Worthy, 'Yuanshi,' remained nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he simply didn't care about this matter, just like Da Tu and the Cang Tian.

They didn't care about the things Shamansan was doing at all; no matter how this matter ended, it would not affect their arrangements.

But as the saying goes, pull one hair and the whole body moves. A battle between six First Grades would certainly lead to changes in more possibilities.

The biggest event resulting from this was the resurrection of many Second Grades of the Demonic Dao.

With Li Qi and the Demonic Prince dead, the Second Grades of the Demonic Dao they had killed were all resurrected after regaining their possibilities.

Perhaps... this was also one of the Heavenly Demon's arrangements.

The first thing these resurrected Second Grades of the Demonic Dao did was to block the path of Zhu Fengdan and Changqin.

It was another battle of Second Grades.

The Golden Monkey also took action, but this time, the Demonic Dao had the upper hand.

Because... Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva's paths were severed. When Amitabha entered Nirvana, proving the failure of the Divine Ability lineage, their paths were already severed, and they ultimately chose to enter Nirvana along with Amitabha.

When a path is proven wrong, few practitioners can withstand such a blow.

Even though Yang Zhenqian's path was only severed and not yet proven wrong, he still felt he couldn't quite hold on.

But in any case... with the Golden Monkey's help, they at least wouldn't lose. However, the Golden Monkey fought three hundred rounds with the Demonic Overlords opposite him, yet a victor could not be decided, and they could not get close to Haotian.

The situation seemed to have reached a stalemate.

But it only lasted for a few decades.

The Heavenly Gods launched an attack!

The monsters, those Great Sages of the demon race, led by the Great Sage Who Levels Heaven, joined forces with the brutal faction of Heavenly Gods to launch an offensive against the current Heavenly Court!

The monsters were led by Taiyi and the Great Sage Who Levels Heaven.

Almost instantly, many Great Powers turned their gazes toward the Heavenly Demon!

"Why are you looking at me? It's not like they've only disliked Haotian for a day or two, right? I merely offered some advice; as for what specifically to do, they did it themselves," the Heavenly Demon responded, while simultaneously dispelling a Divine Ability from the Dao Ancestor and dodging a curse from Shamansan.

The catastrophe that Emperor Hundun and Emperor Jun had been brewing for a long time finally unfolded.

The lowest level of the battle was Third Grade.

Shen Shuibi wanted to visit Haotian, but the Heavenly Court was already surrounded by demons and monsters.

Why were the monsters rebelling against Haotian?

No one knew; perhaps this was another secret.

But in any case, Li Qi was that little butterfly; the disturbance he triggered had already brought about a massive tornado, even though he himself was now gone.

How was this situation supposed to end?

Clearly, Emperor Jun and Emperor Hundun's rebellion against Haotian had reached this stage.

All Four Demons had now entered the fray.

For some reason, Taiyi was also rebelling against Haotian, and acting alongside Taiyi was the Demon of the Five Aggregates.

This made one recall that many years ago, Taiyi had once helped Li Qi.

When Li Qi was trapped and unable to wake up, it was Taiyi who revealed his own body, letting Li Qi understand that the individual and the collective might not be so opposed. Thus, he gathered all his 'selves,' unified them, stabilized his self, and was no longer nihilistic, thereby stabilizing his path to the Second Grade.

Now it seemed that Taiyi, as a Heavenly God and also as an awakened 'Yao' of the stars, was he also targeting—

As everyone knew, Taiyi was the 'Imperial Star of Ziwei.'

But in reality, there was more than one Imperial Star of Ziwei.

The Imperial Star of Ziwei itself was constantly changing.

From the current perspective, the Imperial Star of Ziwei would turn into another star every once in a while. Thus, the Imperial Star of Ziwei itself was a manifestation of 'Impermanence,' representing that the change of all things is eternal; even the 'Center of Heaven' would constantly change.

And for Taiyi, as the Imperial Star of Ziwei, this change was a form of succession because Taiyi did not have a fixed self; he was composed of all things together, the ultimate aggregate of all things.

Was this also a concrete manifestation of a 'Yao'? Li Qi had actually made such a guess before (see Chapter 983 for details).

Yao are Impermanence.

So... was Taiyi opposing Haotian, and what he was actually opposing was the 'Constant Dao'?

The path followed by Haotian had already become the 'Constant Dao,' even suppressing the existence of other possibilities. So, did the Yao want to oppose Haotian?

And the brutal faction of Heavenly Gods had long disliked Haotian.

Therefore, led by Taiyi, these Heavenly God emperors and the monsters were all interested in rebelling against the Heavenly Court led by the Haotian, The Supreme God of Heaven.

So, was their help in reviving Li Qi back then also because of this conspiracy? They needed Li Qi to help them take certain measures against Haotian, just as Emperor Jun had recruited Li Qi.

It was just that Li Qi ultimately chose to stand on Haotian's side and did not join their action to overthrow Haotian.

But... that was because Li Qi's 'self-awareness' was foolish.

As mentioned before.

Only a foolish self-awareness would refuse such a good thing.

Only self-awareness, for the sake of some nonsensical persistence or inexplicable meaning, would choose to decline.

And now, Li Qi no longer had self-awareness.

One could see that the zombie named 'Li Qi,' holding the Sun-Moon Orbit, had already joined the ranks of the demons and monsters.

His wisdom readily agreed to the conditions of the Yao and the Gods. (End of Chapter)