Chapter 302: Interrogation

However, just as she finished nodding, Shen Shuibi suddenly realized something.

Li Qi had very naturally said, “Wait a few decades.”

She looked at Li Qi again, tilting her head suspiciously as she asked, “You… are you starting to get used to your life? Weren’t you only a Seventh-Rank an hour ago?”

This indeed astonished Shen Shuibi; Li Qi was growing too fast, wasn't he? For a normal person to adapt to an endless life, there should at least be a few centuries of adaptation period, right?

For a considerable period, those newly entering the Seventh-Rank would not yet tire of worldly pleasures; although they were immortal, new long-lived beings would feel things like, “There are so many places worth visiting, so many things worth seeing, this world is truly interesting.”

They would also maintain the same concept of time as before, until one day they began to discover the repetitiveness of the Mortal world.

That kind of monotonous commonality among Mortals, the same animalistic nature no matter how many times it was observed.

Only then would long-lived beings turn their attention to truly challenging matters, those grand undertakings magnificent enough to allow them to fully devote themselves.

However, Li Qi replied, “Yes, although I just reached Seventh-Rank, Great Shaman Mi Xin reminded me not to dwell on temporary gains and losses, but to focus on the long term. I think it makes a lot of sense. Although I can’t directly understand it yet, to cultivate this concept of time, I should start making plans now.”

Shen Shuibi heard this and was about to say something, but quickly shook her head again.

She hesitated to speak.

It was actually useless to start planning at this point; she had originally wanted to remind Li Qi.

But there was no need; it was a good thing that Li Qi had his own ideas. Time was still long, and Li Qi had thousands of years to slowly explore the method truly suitable for him.

As for now, it was enough to be happy for him.

The rabbit thought, “That’s good then. Oh, right, I was actually thinking about how to celebrate after you reached Seventh-Rank, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon… it caught me a bit off guard. When you come to the Holy Flame World next time, I’ll prepare a gift for you.”

“Hmm, alright. I’ll go contact the Sacred Flame merchants over here first. If I come next time… it’ll be in half a year. You can prepare to collect some Sacred Flame using cultivation method and medical skills. When I come next time, I can just package it up and take it to the world.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but… are you going to contact people from the Divine Dao and trade directly, or sell it in Tang Nation for silver?” Shen Shuibi asked.

“Not necessarily. I plan to find some high-ranking Divine Dao exchange students at the Imperial Academy; maybe we can talk.” Li Qi replied.

“That works too.” The rabbit nodded.

The two chatted about some other miscellaneous things, exchanged some private words not suitable for outsiders, and then hung up the call contentedly.

Then, they each went about their own business.

Shen Shuibi continued to compile Secret Manuals, guide the Child of Destiny, and incidentally collect some Sacred Flame.

Li Qi, on the other hand, went to find a market for Sacred Flame and studied at the Imperial Academy.

There were still a few days until the Imperial Academy started, so Li Qi stayed cooped up in his room, conditioning his Physical Body.

After acquiring the True Knowing nature, the human body’s microcosm needed to be re-regulated. He consulted books to find solutions for different situations while tentatively beginning to adjust it.

As this work progressed, his internal consumption became lower and lower, and he became closer and closer to ‘Perfection.’

However, it was still too far from the frictionless Perfection that the Great Shaman had shown him.

He could only achieve water and earth circulation at most right now; to maintain vitality, he still had to constantly extract resources from the outside world, unable to achieve perpetual internal circulation solely by himself.

However, with this kind of adjustment, his internal consumption became lower and lower, and the power he could wield grew stronger and stronger.

He also took this opportunity to begin repairing the hidden injuries in his Physical Body, the weaknesses revealed by the three lives ancient mirror.

However, the areas that could be repaired in these few days were limited.

Li Qi estimated that this kind of conditioning to reduce internal consumption would take at least twenty years to show significant results.

This was a long-term project and could not be rushed.

It was like managing a flood: rushing would only worsen the problem. It required detailed understanding and slow guidance to achieve peace between water and land.

However, not rushing only meant not being anxious, not taking a holiday and slacking off; one still had to persist in daily conditioning.

This work continued for two days.

Just as Li Qi was concentrating on his cultivation, a knock suddenly sounded outside his room.

Li Qi opened his eyes.

Well, the Tang Nation people were quite efficient.

Thinking this, he got up, walked over, and opened the door.

Outside the door were several cultivators in black, tight-fitting clothes, all Seventh-Rank without exception.

After reaching Seventh-Rank, Li Qi’s perception became much sharper, and he also had two wisps of True Knowledge Dao Resonance fused into one, so he felt their auras even more clearly.

It was much clearer than the vague perception he had at Eighth-Rank; he could even infer their cultivation methods from it.

Li Qi didn't know how Human Dao Seventh-Rank cultivators achieved immortality, as this was their cultivation secret and not easily revealed. However, the auras he felt at this moment were different from any other Seventh-Rank cultivators he had encountered.

Shaman Dao creates something out of nothing, generating vitality that allows for immortality through a method similar to the creation of a Universe, seemingly out of thin air.

Li Qi had not practiced Daoist techniques, but he could sense through Shen Shuibi that it was a method similar to Shaman Dao, though not involving creation from nothing. Instead, it involved gathering the Qi of all things, meditating and absorbing external Qi, storing it within the body. After forming a Golden Core and Nascent Soul, the entire Physical Body became a unified whole, and natural aging completely ceased.

Similar to Shaman Dao, but with vast differences in execution, Li Qi was still constantly aging, but at the same time, continuously appearing vitality compensated, allowing him to age and extend his lifespan simultaneously, achieving a dynamic balance similar to the operation of the Heavenly Dao. This was also the ‘Perfect naturalness’ pursued by Shaman Dao.

But the Daoist sect perfected the Physical Body through the Primal Golden Core and perfected the soul through the Yin and Yang Spirits, making both completely solid, impervious to wind and rain, thus preventing the loss or evaporation of lifespan.

And the Human Dao cultivators before him…

Were even more peculiar.

Li Qi could sense that their human body microcosms seemed completely open.

A completely open System; even Li Qi could feel their bodies constantly communicating with the outside world.

But it was not a cycle, but pure plunder.

Impure Qi was constantly expelled, then external essence Qi was absorbed, with the necessary Qi becoming Materials and remaining, and the remaining impure Qi then being expelled.

This was after these people had restrained themselves; if they were to go all out, wantonly absorbing, they could probably quickly plunder all the vitality of an unranked world, turning it into a dead land.

Even a Ninth-Rank world could probably only support their wanton absorption for a few hundred years before quickly depleting.

This was truly… a method of achieving immortality characteristic of the Human Dao.

If it broke, they replaced it; if they ran out, they demanded it from the outside world, maintaining their immortality through continuous plunder.

As for the external world…

It would naturally recover quickly. After thousands of years of deposition and circulation, these impure Qi would eventually become nourishment for new Qi. At that time, they could just absorb the new Qi.

These black-clad men saw Li Qi open the door, first bowed, then presented their credentials.

They were all from the Dali Temple, but only one had an official position.

The one leading them had an official position, wore an official uniform, and his credentials were verifiable.

He was a Dali Temple Registrar, of the Upper Seventh-Rank, and besides his official rank, he himself was also a Seventh-Rank cultivator.

The rest were clerks, working at the Dali Temple but without official positions, though all had Seventh-Rank cultivation. They were probably similar to an external special investigation team.

“Young Master Li, we are here to investigate the assassination attempt on you. Is that correct?” The Dali Temple Registrar looked at Li Qi and said with a smile.

The Registrar, in charge of documents and records, was likely there to personally record Li Qi’s file.

“Ah, so it’s the esteemed officials from the Dali Temple. Please, come in.” Seeing this, Li Qi quickly welcomed the black-clad men into the courtyard.

However, not all of them entered; two remained standing outside, guarding the door.

While they claimed to be guarding, Li Qi noticed that his courtyard was suddenly isolated from the outside world.

Was this a unique spell of the Dali Temple?

He couldn't discern the method, but besides his True Knowledge Dao Resonance, no other means could detect the outside situation.

It certainly had something to it.

The rest of the personnel followed Li Qi into the house.

As soon as they entered, the Registrar sat to one side, indicating that he would not conduct the questioning himself, but would hand it over to a professional criminal officer to communicate with Li Qi.

Li Qi understood.

So-called criminal officers were those truly experienced criminal investigators, right?

But… instead of an official ‘questioning,’ it was a criminal officer ‘interrogating.’ Was this a warning?

But he still maintained an unperturbed demeanor, quietly awaiting the interrogation.

One of the black-clad men stepped forward, dressed in a capable manner, with an ordinary but alert appearance, nothing particularly striking.

But Li Qi naturally knew that being able to reach Seventh-Rank already indicated these people's abilities; appearance and clothing meant nothing.

The seasoned criminal officer began to question, “Young Master Li, according to the information provided by the Mayor of the Capital, Great Shaman Mi Xin said before he left that the Shaman God Mountain claimed this was an assassination attempt against you, orchestrated by Imperial Academy Vice-Chancellor. Is this true?”

“That is correct. Imperial Academy Vice-Chancellor attempted to assassinate me using Demonic Qi and the three lives ancient mirror.” Li Qi replied.

The criminal officer remained noncommittal, not caring whether Li Qi's words were true or false, only asking, “At that time, you were Eighth-Rank, and he was Sixth-Rank. With such close proximity, how did you survive his attack?”

Li Qi answered plainly, “He wasn’t on a suicide mission, so he naturally had to find a way to frame someone. When the three lives ancient mirror reflected my weaknesses, he released Demonic Qi, only providing support and not personally attacking, merely intending to make my Dao Heart shatter and kill me.”

“Then how did you resist the Demonic Qi?” the criminal officer asked again.

Li Qi frankly replied, “I did not know the mysteries of the three lives ancient mirror and was invaded by Demonic Qi, but my Dao Heart was firm, and the Heavenly Demon could not harm me. However, after the Heavenly Demon’s invasion, the three lives ancient mirror underwent a change. The mirror surface cracked, and I was enveloped by chaotic cosmic light, unable to perceive the outside world. The Heavenly Demon was also cut off, unable to exert even half of its full power, and thus I survived.”

There was not a single false statement in this, merely omitting some of Li Qi’s personal conjectures.

For example, the matter of Earth; Li Qi himself wasn’t sure, and he didn’t know if it was true or false.

How could he tell a criminal officer about something he wasn’t sure was true or false? Wouldn’t that be misleading?

So Li Qi only stated the facts, but said nothing about any personal guesses.

The criminal officer, from beginning to end, did not ask any other follow-up questions, only requiring Li Qi to state the facts.

All they needed were the facts.

Only facts; they could infer the specific circumstances themselves, without needing any imagination.

This inquiry lasted for two quarters of an hour.

From the specific details of the three lives ancient mirror to the appearance of the chaotic cosmic light, to the Imperial Academy Vice-Chancellor’s reaction, including the Imperial Academy Vice-Chancellor's subsequent active sacrifice of the Heavenly Demon, and so on and so forth.

But Li Qi appeared extremely impatient from beginning to end, though he remained polite, repeatedly urging them and expressing his urgent need to stabilize his cultivation, even demonstrating his recently Breakthrough and chaotic Physical Body for this purpose.

This was also true; Li Qi's Physical Body microcosm had indeed become chaotic due to the Breakthrough, acquiring a True Knowing nature.

These complaints made the criminal officer speed up the questioning, but they still asked very detailed questions. After the questions were finished, they briefly thanked Li Qi, then packed up their documents and recordings, and left decisively.

As for Li Qi, he also got what he wanted.

Although Li Qi did not ask any questions from beginning to end, only answered them.

But the Dali Temple’s attitude had already told him many things.

What the Dali Temple inquired about in detail was what they did not know.

What they skipped over was what they considered unimportant, did not need to ask, or already knew.

Li Qi repeatedly stated in his words that he had no time and urged them many times.

This was how he obtained the first piece of information.

After the other party left, Li Qi did nothing else but continued to regulate his Physical Body in the room, stabilizing his newly Breakthrough cultivation.

Thus, time flew by quickly.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these few days, he managed to stabilize his human body microcosm, so he no longer needed to constantly pay attention to it.

However, to reach the current most Perfect state, it still required painstaking effort.

In between, he also took some time to handle some documents and finalize his official admission assessment.

Ultimately, he was admitted to the Imperial Academy.

His test score was calculated as Top Grade A, because he had broken through to Seventh-Rank.

Breaking through during a test was uncommon even at the Imperial Academy, especially to Seventh-Rank; most Imperial Academy students didn't reach Seventh-Rank even after graduating.

Having confirmed these matters, a few days later, Li Qi stood up from his room.

This was… ending his seclusion?

Anyway, that was the gist of it.

After coming out of seclusion today, he was to report to the Imperial Academy.

Officially starting school!

From today onwards, he was officially enrolled.