Chapter 329: Appearance

Darkness suddenly enveloped this Immortal Cave.

Even the flow of time seemed to halt.

But Li Qi didn’t feel anything, though he sensed that the door had been slightly damaged by his out-of-control Qi; he didn’t think much of it.

If it were someone who frequented such places, they would immediately know that someone would come to investigate, so if no one came, something must have happened.

However, Li Qi didn’t know, because he didn’t understand the rules here; he only knew that although the Formation was slightly broken, it could still operate normally, and at worst, he would just pay a little money when he left.

So he continued to dissipate his Cultivation, allowing the Dao Principles within his body to conflict with each other.

This was mainly because Li Qi’s life was a bit too ‘aloof from worldly affairs,’ so he was completely unfamiliar with these common urban places used by Cultivators; he had never even been to one.

Under normal circumstances, Cultivators of the Martial Dao, Human Dao, or other Dao Paths require a lot of resources for their Cultivation.

They need places to train, to absorb various Qi, and they require various Heaven And Earth Treasures for assistance.

For example, Li Qi knew that the Daoist sect had a Five Elements Sword Qi technique, which required five Five Elements treasures as medicinal guides for Cultivation, such as Geng Metal Lung Sword and Yi Wood Liver Sword; it didn’t require a physical sword, and once refined, one would have five sharp swords within their chest and abdomen, capable of great power with a breath, and it could also assist in refining the organs, making one’s breath long and extending one’s lifespan.

Cultivating such a method requires a venue, Heaven And Earth Treasures, and there’s a certain risk of backlash, where the Five Elements Qi of the ultimate treasures could harm the internal organs.

Therefore, coming to such an Immortal Cave was very suitable for them; there were doctors on standby, one could buy Materials with money, and there were people to handle the aftermath of any issues arising from their Cultivation.

But Shaman Dao is different; the Cultivation of a Shaman doesn’t have so many complications; they pursue more of the ‘inner’.

Seek within your heart; do not seek outside.

Theoretically, as long as his wisdom and True Knowledge were sufficient, he could push his rank above the seventh simply by sitting in a study chair.

It might even be possible above the seventh rank, but he hadn’t tried it, so he didn’t know and couldn’t draw a conclusion.

Of course, that’s just the rank; Cultivation still requires external things to fill it, but it’s only filling; whether one levels up has nothing to do with these resources.

However, simply cultivating in isolation is quite difficult to make progress internally, so Cultivators of Shaman Dao still travel extensively, but not for Cultivation resources; rather, like Li Qi, they travel to witness this world and gain more inspiration.

He deliberately let the Dao Principles within his body conflict, tearing his human body’s microcosm apart bit by bit, while enduring intense pain, wholeheartedly using True Knowledge Dao Resonance to scan any place that might contain Demonic Dao Dao Principles.

Then, suddenly—

He felt it!

Within his body, some extremely tiny Qi was affected by a certain rule!

That was neither a rule of the Human Dao nor a rule of Shaman Dao, but a Dao Principle Li Qi had never Cultivated or seen before, and it even differed from his understanding of the Demonic Dao!

But Li Qi couldn’t hold on any longer; if he continued in this state of Dao Principle conflict, he would soon truly self-destruct.

So he immediately reined in his Qi, his human body’s microcosm surged, his inner body spirits all emerged, manifesting Divine Power, and through the gods’ ability to command the natural, forcibly suppressed the riotous Dao Principles within his body!

This Dao, that Dao, fundamentally, were all Li Qi’s own choices! Li Qi’s will was the ‘Heavenly Dao’ of his human body’s microcosm!

This is my human body’s microcosm!

What rules to use! I decide!

At this moment, with Dao Principles in conflict, to suppress them, one must use thunderous means!

Suddenly enraged, he thundered with fury!

His body established order, acting in accordance with heaven, and Li Qi’s inner body spirits within him began to dance individually.

Mountain gods resisted the five sounds, water gods perfected the six pitches, Heavenly Gods sang the nine merits, and the Nascent Soul danced the eight rows; the four barbarians played in harmony, and virtue spread far and wide—this was a Grand Ritual covering the entire body!

As the farmer’s auspicious morning began, the fertile earth pulsed.

With reverence and solemnity, all evils were driven away.

Blazing fire streaked like stars, chasing the red plague to the four corners.

Then, transcending the Heavenly Pool and severing the Flying Bridge, the eight spirits were awed and trembled!

The warp and weft of two extremes: one warp, the landscape; the second weft, human reason.

Governing the vast principles of the eight directions, uniting the six harmonies and illuminating the abode, human reason and the natural principles once again subsided, returning to their previous state of balance.

The conflict was no longer sharp; although countless air currents still swirled outside, impacting the Formation, Li Qi, at the center, had already calmed down.

Numerous Dao Principles vibrated, and under Li Qi’s full suppression, the disputes gradually subsided.

Li Qi’s mind still had sufficient control over these Dao Principles, unlike when he was in front of the three lives ancient mirror, where his Heart Demon had entered his body, and he had lost control over these Dao Principles.

This was also the confidence that allowed him to do such a self-destructive thing.

These days of stabilization had made it so he wouldn’t easily die from this.

He had always been confident that his control was enough to make him stop.

Of course, if his confidence failed, he would now explode into a pool of blood with a bang.

However, it was clear that he succeeded this time; even if he walked a tightrope, he wouldn’t walk one he wasn’t confident about.

While controlling the Qi that followed the strange Demonic Dao, he restored his Cultivation.

Then, he extended the perception of True Knowledge Dao Resonance into those strange Qi.

At that very moment—

Li Qi suddenly found that his perception… had sped up.

The swirling Qi that was still scattering around him seemed to slow down in his eyes, just like when one concentrates their attention and feels that time around them has slowed down.

However, Li Qi immediately realized—

No, it wasn't his perception that sped up.

Rather, the world around him! It truly slowed down! It genuinely and tangibly slowed down.

Darkness descended, and in this darkness, everything except Li Qi himself began to slow down, even to the point of stagnation.

Li Qi’s heart skipped a beat.

No way, sir, this is Chang’an!

This is the center of the Human Dao in all the Heavens and Myriad Realms, a vital stronghold personally suppressed by the Human Emperor!

Didn’t they say that the Heaven Demon…

But before Li Qi’s inner roar could burst out, a vortex suddenly appeared before him.

Then, from within the vortex, walked out… Shen Shuibi?

One could see the rabbit walk out.

However, it wasn't the familiar, perpetually adorable rabbit Li Qi knew, but rather… how to describe it…

A less human-like rabbit.

Cold, arrogant, expressionless, with sharp eyes, looking down on everyone; one could feel that arrogance, that sense that even if her eyes swept over you, you knew she wasn’t truly looking at you at all…

She was simply engrossed in her own world; everything before her was unimportant.

Li Qi frowned. Was this… Shen Shuibi from before he met her?

Then, why would this happen?

Is it a Heaven Demon? This definitely isn’t the rabbit herself; is it a Heaven Demon that has transformed into this image?

For what? To shake his Dao Heart?

Surely not; to try and shake his Dao Heart with something like this would be too much of an underestimation of himself.

But Li Qi had already begun to strategize in his mind.

He was planning how to escape and how to call for help.

He stared at Shen Shuibi’s figure, quietly watching her approach.

This ‘Shen Shuibi’ walked over, then, with a wave of her hand, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.

Li Qi found that everything had disappeared.

He seemed to be floating in Boundless Outer Domain; all objects, light, and gravity had vanished, and everything had become complete nothingness.

The entire world was left with only him and the ‘Shen Shuibi’ who was gradually approaching him.

Li Qi was filled with dread, but he suppressed his emotions and spoke first: “Change your appearance. You’ll only annoy me like this.”

“Is that so? If I changed my appearance, I think you would unleash all your firepower on me as soon as I appeared. While it’s irrelevant, this way at least allows you to calm down, doesn’t it?” The ‘Shen Shuibi’ suddenly changed from her original aloof demeanor and became seductive.

This made Li Qi’s expression darken.

But he thought back carefully, and it seemed that what she said was indeed true.

If a black ball or some other monster had appeared, he probably would have just attacked directly, fighting first and talking later.

But it was the rabbit who appeared, which was why he didn’t act but instead pondered whether it was real or fake.

Li Qi took a deep breath, maintaining his sitting posture, and said: “There’s no need for such pretense. You’ve set up so many things around me, you must have a motive, and now you’re even risking coming to Chang’an… Don’t waste time, just say what you want.”

“I will certainly speak, but before that, I need to make you sober up first,” said the ‘Shen Shuibi’.

Then, she hooked her finger.

Li Qi immediately felt that the Qi he had just found, which was influenced by the Demonic Dao, was directly drawn away.

At the same time, a full five wisps of Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance surged forth from his body!

A full five wisps!

One wisp each for his four limbs and head!

Then, in his mind, certain memories suddenly began to resurface.

The Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance from the time of the three lives ancient mirror…

The Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance attached to that young Dragon soul…

The Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance obtained during Chan Zhi the monk’s time.

The Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance obtained from facing the Heaven Demon directly.

And, when he was still a Lifter, when he was afflicted by the Water Gu, with his belly full of worms… the Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance he obtained.

Li Qi’s cold sweat instantly poured down; even though he was already seventh-rank, and his control was extremely strong, he still lost his composure at this moment.

Damn it, five years ago, the first wisp of Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance had already resided in his body!

So, calculating the time, what was meant by five years ago?

It was when Teacher Zhu Fengdan had just begun the Grand Ritual!

The result of that Grand Ritual prompted her to leave Shaman God Mountain and come to find him, an outsider, eventually finding him through the Strongmen Gang, and through the Strongmen Gang, finding Li Qi.

In other words, ever since Li Qi came to the world, he had been secretly watched by the Heaven Demon for a very long time.

This made Li Qi suddenly feel uncomfortable all over.

However, in the next second, Li Qi suddenly looked up: “No… only twice. The others, you’re lying to me. Those memories are fake, and my current perception is also fake.”

Only the time with Chan Zhi the monk and the time with the three lives ancient mirror were real, truly reliable; the other additional memories were all fake.

“Oh? Why do you say that?” The ‘Shen Shuibi’ tilted her head, asking in a tone Li Qi was very familiar with.

Li Qi, however, seriously said to the Heaven Demon: “Memories can deceive, perceptions can deceive, but facts cannot. A Heaven Demon can guide thoughts, obscure or implant memories, but it shouldn’t be able to affect reality, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been forced out by my method of inducing Dao Principles.”

“Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance is different from a simple demonic thoughts; its quality is too high, its influence too great, it will inevitably cause corresponding changes in my human body’s microcosm. Although the changes are very small, and won’t even cause the slightest reaction in an ordinary person’s body, there will definitely be some.”

“Therefore, in extreme situations, Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance will inevitably produce corresponding fluctuations, and my self-destructing my Cultivation is the most typical extreme situation.”

“And my Cultivation has been on the verge of self-destruction due to Dao conflicts more than once or twice. In so many situations, these Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance haven’t reacted? They haven’t caused the situation of spontaneously attracting various Qi to establish a Demonic Dao cycle, like just now?”

Li Qi retorted to the Heaven Demon.

However, the Heaven Demon merely smiled, pointing to the five wisps of Dao Resonance circling in her hand: “Then are these fake?”

“Just a Mortal's trick. When you drew out that one wisp, you simultaneously added four more, making it look like you drew out five,” Li Qi immediately said with certainty.

Why was he so certain?

There was no why. When facing a Heaven Demon, if you’re not firm and keep doubting, you’ll definitely be played to death.

So Li Qi made up his mind: even if he was wrong, he would absolutely not overthink it.

Li Qi firmly believed in his heart that with a Heaven Demon, the more you think, the happier it gets; it’s better to stick to one path. When liars go out, the ones who get conned are the smart ones and those who think they’re smart.

As long as you’re single-minded, the liar has no way.

Hearing Li Qi’s words, the ‘Shen Shuibi’ in front of him let out a laugh, a laugh that sounded quite pleasant and made one’s heart flutter.

Immediately, the ‘Shen Shuibi’ suddenly dissipated.

In her place, another ‘Li Qi’ appeared.

Transforming Freely, this is a characteristic of a Heaven Demon.

Otherwise, its name wouldn’t be ‘Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations’.

This suddenly appearing ‘Li Qi’ spoke eloquently to the real Li Qi: “Do you know, I can manipulate perception, obscure memories, and alter thoughts, but I never truly manipulate someone’s will.”

“Because will is the fundamental basis of every person’s existence; all ways of thinking, memories, and perceptions are merely auxiliary tools of will. Will… or rather, a spark of true spirit, is a fundamental existence that even I cannot touch. So your idea is correct: as long as your will remains resistant, no demonic thoughts can do anything to you.”

Li Qi was confused; what was this Heaven Demon saying all this for?

However, in the next second, the Heaven Demon changed the subject: “However, I always have a way to make you cooperate with me of your own free will.”

“Young Master of Shaman God Mountain, Li Qi, come sit down and let me tell you properly.”