Chapter 1072: In the Three Realms

The Demonic Prince did not possess Taiyi. Instead, he independently achieved "half a First Grade."

As possibly the only Demonic Dao cultivator in this world who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Heavenly Demon, he personally denied the Demonic Dao.

He let go.

He no longer used his own heart to interpret this world, returning the world to freedom.

He acknowledged the Buddha-Dharma.

Thus, in this world without Buddha, Shang Fan achieved Pratyeka Buddha.

The Demonic Prince, a devil of obsession, ultimately walked the path expounded by the World Honored One Tathagata.

Almost immediately, Pratyeka Buddha and Radiant Light Buddha joined the ranks of those resisting the Heavenly Demon.

This clearly surpassed the Heavenly Demon's plan, causing him to fall into joy.

Yes, joy.

"Variations are truly good! Come, more variations! Everything you do will become a part of me! Your hearts, everything you propel! All of it!" the Heavenly Demon howled.

He was not anxious, because… it was merely a Pratyeka Buddha.

It didn't matter.

To the Heavenly Demon, who sought to guide the Age of Dharma Decline, everything was inconsequential.

Because…

To the Heavenly Demon, these were merely difficulties he added for himself, as this world itself was his illusory dream, and his heart was the driving force behind it all.

Perhaps some thought he was insane.

But to the Heavenly Demon, this world existed only because of him.

Everything was meant to be so.

The Heavenly Demon's power continued to sweep through all things.

Along with the connections and confrontations between them, they descended into the remaining possibilities, which not only included dialectical cooperation rich in thought but also the synthesis and coordination of various opposing Four Symbols.

The battle itself, reflected in the coordination and unity of thought, underwent a series of fragmentation processes.

In the eyes of all beings, this Universe was constantly shifting between idealism and materialism.

The situation, whenever it seemed to be in despair and near collapse, would suddenly halt, and doubts and confusion would gradually fade away.

The battle seemed to possess an exciting quality, becoming a vivid display of skepticism towards any spiritual knowledge, and all beings involved in the war would simultaneously experience both incompleteness and Perfection.

On one hand, in the Universe constructed by the Heavenly Demon, all answers were resolved, and a cosmic Perfection emerged, its unity and harmony incredibly unbelievable, even to the point where the choice of content didn't matter. Merely relying on the arrangement, interweaving, connection, and comparison of those possibilities allowed this Universe to break free from all chaos and enter a completely uniform and harmonious world.

This harmonious and perfect world was the Heavenly Demon's answer.

Do you care about the Ultimate Dao?

Do you want to pursue the answer?

Good, the Heavenly Demon has given you the answer.

The answer is the Heavenly Demon himself.

Just acknowledge the Heavenly Demon.

The rest, the Heavenly Demon will complete.

The answer to all problems.

The key to all doors.

The origin of all Dao.

The foundation of all cognition.

The Heavenly Demon is the ultimate explanation for everything.

The Heavenly Demon will bear the entire world!

His heart is the answer to everything!

Its essence, along with everything else, was so perfect and flawless, so beautiful that it brought tears to one's eyes.

You only need to wholeheartedly seek answers from within, for your heart will surely respond to you.

The Heavenly Demon is a world-creator who breathes and shares destiny with the world, the unifier of all things!

He bore the beauty and all the suffering of this world; he opened his heart, allowing the storms of the world to rage through his mind, and the disasters and crises of the era to enter his heart.

He participated in the various events of his era, sharing responsibility and blame for them.

He surveyed, summarized, and interpreted all events of past and present.

He also clearly knew the ideal concepts of all higher intelligences.

Imagine, what in this world has the Heavenly Demon not participated in?

Every matter involves things with demonic thoughts.

Therefore, all events were initiated, occurred, and completed by the Heavenly Demon himself.

Naturally, it was so perfect.

Therefore, he would not lose—

Or rather, he had no possibility of failure at all, because even if the Demonic Prince and others won, it was actually 'self-created' by the Heavenly Demon; after all, the Demonic Prince's victory was also his victory.

The answer Li Qi once spoke of actually aligned perfectly with the Heavenly Demon's understanding.

No matter what, the Heavenly Demon would win either way.

Regardless of the outcome, the Heavenly Demon was the ultimate winner, because all of this inherently belonged to him.

How could one refute the Demonic Dao?

The First Grades' war continued.

The Three Dukes of the Human Dao had already gone all out.

The Shaman Gods were also fighting fiercely against the Demonic Dao.

Huang Long, unexpectedly, chose to join forces with the Demonic Dao along with other First Grade True Dragons.

Perhaps the True Dragons believed that in a world where Origin Qi was decaying, they would find new adaptations.

And the Demonic Dao's helpers, besides the True Dragons, also included Yao Race beings.

Demons and Yao Race beings once again colluded, causing Golden Monkey to break with many Great Sage of the Demon Race, and battles frequently occurred.

As for the Heavenly Gods, like the Spirit Dao, they completely stood by.

The Spirit Dao had no interest in this struggle; the decay of Origin Qi had no impact on their 'world.' The world of concepts was immortal, and even the decay of Origin Qi could not hinder them.

And after Haotian displayed complete indifference to mortals, those tyrannical Heavenly Gods chose to submit.

Perhaps, from the beginning, they did not want to defy Haotian.

After all, for all Heavenly Gods, Haotian was their creator and the reason for their differentiation.

And Haotian himself sat by as Origin Qi decayed, watching with great interest as new 'Qi' was born.

To him, as long as there were enough types of Qi, this Universe would be prosperous; as for other things, they were merely superficial.

On the other side, within the Dao Sect, two True Immortals chose to help the Demonic Dao: Yuanshi and Yuchen.

This choice shocked many people.

Only Yuanshi stated his reason.

He publicly declared that he merely wanted to see a Universe with 'answers,' to see what a 'Yuanshi' from within truly looked like.

It is well known that the two characters 'Yuanshi' themselves refer to the origin of all things, and the 'Yuanshi' constructed by the Heavenly Demon seemed to greatly interest Yuanshi.

However, the Dao Ancestor himself chose to help Shaman Dao, but did not state the reason; for them, there was no need to say too much.

The Dao Sect, with a noble attitude of renunciation, abandoned explaining its actions, like a perfect elegy, merely lamenting the fleeting nature of beautiful things and the dubious nature of all noble spiritual pursuits.

The Nine Lands Under Heaven were thus embroiled in chaos.

A long, long time later, Taiyi, defeated by Haotian, finally perished due to his severe injuries.

To be precise, due to such heavy injuries, he had to curl up in his own space-time, unable to interfere with the outside world in any form.

However, this was irrelevant.

Because there was more than one Taiyi.

Taiyi… was inherently the Lord of Star Officials; there only needed to be one Lord of Star Officials. After all, the Lord of Star Officials itself was not an independent entity, but a collection of all Star Officials.

Taiyi itself would rotate.

However, who would become this collective?

It was initially conceived to be the Demonic Prince; if he possessed Taiyi's body, he could inherit the position of Lord of Star Officials.

But the Demonic Prince failed. Even with the Demonic Prince's resilience, he could not bear such immense pressure.

However, out of misfortune came fortune; he let go of Taiyi's power and the heavy burden of carrying the entire world, ultimately achieving Pratyeka Buddha.

But Taiyi's body still lay there, and no one could take it.

It seemed no one was qualified to be the Lord of Star Officials.

For a period, Emperor Hundun made a move, seemingly wanting to inherit Taiyi's body.

However, when Emperor Hundun began to acquire Taiyi's seven apertures, he died.

Other Heavenly Gods tried, such as Beichen, as part of the Star Officials, but were still crushed by Taiyi.

It sounds ridiculous, but the only one who bore Taiyi's body without collapsing was actually the deceased Li Qi.

So…

At this moment, Li Qi's body moved.

Li Qi's 'heart' had long been destroyed, and his body, carrying Taiyi, was originally unable to move.

But at this moment, it suddenly moved.

Almost all First Grades participating in the battle noticed this at this instant.

Around Taiyi's body, the First Grades' powers began to collide.

Because everyone had discovered it!

The 'heart' controlling Li Qi's body was not Li Qi's, but another Demonic Overlord's.

That was… the Heart Demon revived by the Heavenly Demon.

After an unknown period of preparation, the Heart Demon finally began to act.

The Heart Demon had once been defeated by Li Qi, failed to possess the Immortal Heaven, and its possibilities were ultimately sealed off.

However, later, when the Heavenly Demon revived, he had revived all Demonic Dao Second Grades, giving them new possibilities and making them reappear in the present.

And the Heart Demon's Dao opportunity reappeared.

You see, although the Immortal Heaven were gone.

There were still the 'Three Realms.'

And the Three Realms were firmly embedded within Li Qi's Inner World.

And Li Qi's heart had been annihilated by the Heavenly Demon.

So, wasn't the Heart Demon's Dao opportunity right there?

Possess Li Qi, take the Three Realms, and achieve First Grade with the 'Heart Demon's' Dao foundation.

The Heart Demon's Dao foundation was actually the hearts of other things.

To prove other things to be oneself.

Thus…

Li Qi's body began to move.

Radiant Light Buddha seemed to want to stop it.

But the Heavenly Demon was there, backing the Heart Demon.

Other First Grades also made their moves.

However, Li Qi's body, under the Heart Demon's control, began to possess Taiyi.

This was one of the Heavenly Demon's trump cards.

If the Demonic Prince couldn't do it, then let the Heart Demon.

Let the Heart Demon become the new Taiyi; although not as useful as the Demonic Prince, it was not unacceptable.

Invade the Three Realms.

Then…

Taiyi's body moved.

Zombie Li Qi, under the Heart Demon's control, was merging into Taiyi's body.

Radiant Light Buddha's power was blocked by the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon's arrogant voice came: "So, how will you deal with Taiyi's body?"

As he spoke, Taiyi's majestic body began to expand.

The Universe erupted.

Hundreds of billions of worlds, countless possibilities and timelines burst forth from Taiyi's body, each timeline having its historical evolution.

Countless values, countless worldviews, countless moralities, all arose in the unique living environment of that time, all traces of countless beings pursuing happiness.

There would be countless kinds of happiness, countless kinds of benefits, countless different kinds of beings.

This appearance was like a fully evolved version of Li Qi's 'Myriad Heavens.'

This was Taiyi's body.

Looking up, the transparent and clear cosmic starry sky and the towering nebulae like mountains.

This sky seemed to display its endless height to the observer.

It was finally about to officially begin.

All Star Officials were unified at this instant.

The new Taiyi was born amidst the Heavenly Demon's wild laughter.

"Come—" the Heavenly Demon stretched out his hand.

But what responded to him…

Was the Heart Demon's terrified wail: "Papiyas!! There's something inside Taiyi!"

With that sentence, the Heart Demon was annihilated.

Annihilated before Taiyi's power.

It was normal; the Heart Demon could not occupy Taiyi's body. The Heart Demon, like the Demonic Prince and Emperor Hundun, failed.

But…

Another person succeeded.

This time, it was Shamansan who laughed aloud.

Because, from within Taiyi's body, the image of the 'Three Realms' emerged.

That was the Three Realms, that was the perfect Desire Realm, Form Realm, and Formless Realm.

There, it seemed one could see the reflections of all things.

Whether it be language or spirit, everything in the world naturally possessed its rich meaning.

Every symbol and every connection between symbols, these things did not necessarily have to witness some power or reality, did not necessarily have to have meaning, and did not necessarily have to lead to any kind of exemplification, experiment, or evidence.

It was merely to observe the appearance of the Three Realms, to observe the appearance of Li Qi's Inner World, to enter the mysterious center of the world, to enter a primordial understanding.

Every change in tone and melody in a piece of music, the evolution of a legend or religious worship, every formation of classical art, was no different.

It seemed that in an instant flash of insight, the situation within Taiyi was completely understood.

Like things observed through meditation and introspection, they were all direct paths to the inner mysteries of the Universe, completing their own eternal divinity in the continuous alternation of inhale and exhale, heaven and earth, yin and yang.

That was…

Evolution, development, propulsion.

Strengthening, deepening, and increasingly perfecting.

Complementing each other, coexisting harmoniously, with a brand new quality, radiating brilliant light.

A mysterious entity, certainly not of the human world, absorbed everyone who entered its magical circle, just as a song sung by many absorbed every new voice, thus radiating an increasingly brighter and more subtle brilliance.

Li Qi, all his spirit, his internally consistent thought, that is, his all-encompassing thought, was perfectly expressed in this radiance.

This was Li Qi.

Li Qi's heart was within the Sun-Moon Orbit.

And now, he had revived.

Because… he had already transcended his subjectivity. (End of Chapter)