Chapter 334: Temporarily leaving Tang State

Li Qi’s thoughts immediately began to race.

He was something the Heaven Demon couldn't imagine…

In other words, his unorthodox Dao was something the Heaven Demon had not yet imagined.

Can humans imagine things that don't exist?

Not that they don't exist, but rather… things he had never seen, never understood.

Not a堆砌 of fragments of real things, but something that truly never existed.

For example, if someone imagined a cat-eared girl, and there are no cat-eared girls in reality, does that count as imagining something that doesn't exist?

No, this is just a combination of already existing things; it's not imagining something that doesn't exist. He merely assembled a cat and a girl together.

So, suppose a person with a very powerful imagination truly imagined something that didn't exist, and it contained no existing things or concepts.

Feasibility aside, even if he truly achieved it, no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to describe this thing in reality, unless he himself used his imagination again to establish a set of independent and highly autonomous information transmission mechanisms to describe this thing individually.

However, because he set up this mechanism to describe it, others couldn't understand it, because it was unrelated to any concepts in reality, he couldn't describe it metaphorically, and others couldn't even understand this mechanism, so the Heaven Demon naturally couldn't use his transformation method to manifest it in reality.

Even the Heaven Demon couldn't break through this barrier, right? This is a paradox that only exists in logic. As long as you still follow logic, you cannot break through.

This is a paradox.

Something you can imagine, you can explain clearly. Something you can't imagine, others can't imagine, and naturally can't explain, just like that invisible dragon in the garage.

(Note: There is a dragon in the garage. It is invisible, floats in the air, breathes fire without heat, and cannot be detected by any method, and only oneself can see it. Can others prove that this dragon does not exist?)

Then, for the Heaven Demon, Li Qi was that dragon in the garage.

And, Li Qi, this invisible dragon, appeared in the real world.

This was an existence that others couldn't imagine, couldn't describe, and couldn't even falsify—a dreamlike thing appearing in reality.

Moreover, it probably only had meaning for the Heaven Demon.

For Shaman Dao and the Human Dao, the "existence" and "non-existence" of a dragon were no different, so it was simpler to consider it non-existent. If it existed, it only needed to be included in existence.

Their will was real, rooted in matter, and they only needed to acknowledge things that existed in reality, without bothering with products that only existed in consciousness.

But the Demonic Dao was different. The Demonic Dao was a Dao built on absolute subjective idealism. The Demonic Dao could ignore all reality, but it absolutely could not doubt its own imagination, because in the view of the Demonic Dao, even this real world was merely a projection of their self-consciousness onto the external world.

In the world, only one's own will was absolutely real; everything else could be false.

He himself was something beyond his self-projection, something from beyond the Heaven Demon's imagination, the second verifiable real existence for the Heaven Demon besides his self-will.

A very simple logical deduction.

First, the Heaven Demon knows everything in the world. His eyes are spread throughout the Heavens, every world, perhaps even every person, so he knows everything. Even Chang'an has his eyes, and probably even the Human Emperor's Palace.

The Heaven Demon is the sum of all 'known' in the Universe. Everyone has demonic thoughts in their hearts, so… everyone could be the Heaven Demon.

Second, it is known that the Heaven Demon knows everything in reality, and he regards all of this as his projection onto the external world. The evidence is that he knows everything, and everything in reality can be replicated by the Heaven Demon in the Desire Realm.

So, what is the difference between the Desire Realm and the real world?

The answer is, there is no difference. A person living in the Desire Realm and living in the real world has no difference, and no difference can be found. It is absolutely identical, without any discrepancy.

Then, things in the Desire Realm are transformed by the Heaven Demon, which means things in the external world could also be transformed by the Heaven Demon, just not necessarily this Heaven Demon.

So, based on the first and second points, we come to the third point: if something appears beyond the Heaven Demon's self-projection, something the Heaven Demon doesn't know, then it proves that besides the Heaven Demon's unique spiritual entity, there is a second spiritual entity in the world!

This second spiritual entity might not be Li Qi; Li Qi might only be something extended from this second spiritual entity.

But it doesn't matter. Li Qi's existence proves that Li Qi is not a spiritual projection of the Heaven Demon, but a projection of something else.

Then, finding this second spiritual entity is the key for the Heaven Demon to Break through his self-imposed shackles.

In this world, the only thing the Heaven Demon can be sure of is the existence of his own thoughts, because the Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations can transform everything. He has sufficient reason to suspect that everything in the world is transformed.

Then, if there was nothing in the world to begin with, and everything was a dream, everything was a projection of his own thoughts onto the external world, then there could be no things in this dream that he couldn't imagine.

But it has been proven that Li Qi, and the unorthodox Dao behind him, are things the Heaven Demon cannot imagine, which proves: there exists a second spiritual entity beyond the Heaven Demon himself.

That's why the Heaven Demon cares so much about Li Qi, and only the Heaven Demon would value Li Qi so much, because Li Qi is something beyond the shackles of his self-consciousness's imagination, he is the key for him to Break through his restraints!

Even other First Grade Cultivators are within his imagination and understanding, so other First Grade Cultivators could also be the Heaven Demon's self-projection, but only Li Qi is not.

Then, it was only natural for him to place such a huge bet on himself.

Li Qi quickly sorted through his thoughts, and ultimately had to admit.

If that were truly the case, then… he could indeed make the Heaven Demon 'transcend'.

Not transcend this world, but make the Heaven Demon transcend himself, ultimately encompassing 'existence' and 'non-existence' within himself.

The Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations would continue to be full of change because of him, rather than remaining unchanging.

Because a perfect thing must be unchanging. After the Heaven Demon became a First Grade Cultivator, the Desire Realm had already become the sum of all real things. There was nothing in the present world not encompassed by the Desire Realm.

Therefore, the Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations was no longer free, and could not transform.

It's just…

Li Qi shivered, feeling his mouth dry.

The sum of all real things.

It sounds so easy to say…

But thinking about it carefully, what kind of existence, what kind of great power was this?

This kind of existence… was targeting him?

“Sigh…” Li Qi couldn't help but sigh.

After the Grand Tutor heard his sigh, he continued: “But you don't need to worry. The Heaven Demon used time-based statistical repetition to restore the sum of events occurring in the same space across different times and spaces, thereby forming the Desire Realm. But this also restricts the Desire Realm's ability to transform, preventing him from finding you. As long as you don't go to the Desire Realm and don't provide your information to the Heaven Demon, he won't be able to achieve his wish.”

“So… the way to ensure my safety is to not go too far from the world?” Li Qi looked up.

“Roughly so. However, we won't restrict you too much, after all, you are a Shaman God Mountain person,” the Grand Tutor said calmly. “If you truly insist on seeing the Heaven Demon, no one can stop you, unless Shaman God Mountain slays you to prevent future trouble.”

“Then, do you have any more questions?” The Grand Tutor asked, not waiting for Li Qi to continue thinking.

Li Qi was still immersed in shock at this moment. Hearing this, he shook his head: “I know what I need to know, but there's still one thing I don't understand. If everything before the three lives ancient mirror was done by the Heaven Demon to arrange for me to enter Tang Nation, then what was the meaning of sending me to White Horse Temple to exorcise demons afterwards?”

The Grand Tutor said: “I truly don't know about that. However, regarding White Horse Temple, the three lives ancient mirror has already had problems, so it's clear that Kasyapa Matanga, whether he knew it or not, is at least suspicious. Then the White Horse Temple built by Kasyapa Matanga… won't have small problems either. Sending you to White Horse Temple should also have similar things waiting for you.”

Li Qi shook his head.

It was difficult to move an inch.

So many things he couldn't control, and one wrong step would lead to death.

It was truly…

Hard to bear.

But, was this old man standing before him an ally?

Probably not.

The Human Dao and Shaman Dao were not friends, and in the foreseeable future, they couldn't be friends either.

In fact, Li Qi actually felt that what the other party told him might not all be true…

For example, was he just trying to induce him to reject the Heaven Demon? To keep him from going to the Desire Realm or something.

At this thought, Li Qi sighed again internally.

Unable to distinguish, unable to see clearly.

It was as if everything was shrouded in fog, as if he himself was walking blindfolded on a tightrope. One wrong step and he would fall into an abyss, dying without a burial place.

Who could he trust? What could he believe?

Li Qi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed these distracting thoughts, and then asked again: “Then… what about what the Grand Tutor said about the Shaman God?”

The Grand Tutor shook his head: “You'll have to ask the Shaman God about that. As for you… Ah, your Master is here. You can ask him the rest.”

With that, he disappeared without even saying goodbye.

At the same time, Li Qi suddenly felt a huge pressure from outside!

He felt like he had been hit by someone, and then, with a crash, the entire roof was blown away.

Amidst the wreckage, carried by the shockwave, Zhu Fengdan, disheveled, appeared before Li Qi in the next instant.

He looked quite different from his usual appearance.

The usual Zhu Fengdan was sloppy, wearing loose and comfortable robes, fond of fashion, usually wearing the most popular clothes.

He even wore armor, but there was a huge gash in his chest, piercing through his armor and emerging from his back, with Demonic Qi still clinging to the wound, constantly eroding it.

Besides that, other scars could be seen, but also many spells were simultaneously active, repelling all of this.

“Master!” Li Qi immediately got up, not bothering with formalities, and hurried to help him.

But Zhu Fengdan pushed him away: “You don't need to help me. Have Bo Yue and the others ask for leave for you, and return to the sect.”

“Yes.” Li Qi immediately took out his terminal, sent a flurry of messages, and also sent a string of messages to Shen Shuibi.

After confirming that they had all received the messages, he then directly twisted the terminal with both hands, crushing it, and threw it aside.

Seeing this, Zhu Fengdan grabbed Li Qi's shoulder, and Li Qi only felt a strange wave surge out.

Chang'an's anti-air Formation shattered directly.

Energy streams like electric sparks crackled throughout the sky within a thousand-mile radius.

“Zhu Fengdan!” An angry roar came from afar.

Li Qi recognized the voice; it seemed to be the Mayor of the Capital of Chang'an.

But Zhu Fengdan ignored him completely, quickly traversed the distance, and disappeared from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Li Qi couldn't even see clearly, only feeling his vision blur for a moment. In just a few seconds, he found himself sitting on a roc.

It was the roc his Master kept.

Oh, it seemed it wasn't kept, but hired.

Inside the pavilion on the roc, another half-dead Shaman Senior was lying.

That was Great Shaman Mi Xin. He looked heavily injured, half of his body had turned black, emitting black smoke, and he had turned entirely black and white like a panda.

Before he could even sit still, the roc accelerated directly.

With a flash of lightning and thunder, the layer of strong winds in the world was torn open, affecting countless flying machines, which were overturned to the side. Who knows how many people cursed.

But Zhu Fengdan still didn't care. The roc quickly broke through the strong winds layer, and then, in a dazzling light, left the world barrier and entered the Outer Domain.

In the Outer Domain, one could see the sun and moon, rotating around a giant continent.

This was the second time Li Qi had viewed the world from this perspective. The last time was when he was taken to Shaman God Mountain by a Fifth Grade Shaman.

It's just… this time, he found that something seemed wrong.

In the Outer Domain, countless corpses were floating…

They seemed to be the corpses of Devils.

There were Demonic Dao Cultivators, and also pure Demonic Overlords.

The largest among them was even one-third as large as the sun of the world. Its body remains floated in the boundless Void Realm, as if casting a shadow over the sun.

But there were even more other corpses.

Hundreds of millions…?

Probably more, at least tens of billions of Demonic Overlord corpses, like a black river, attracted by the sun's gravity, circling and falling towards the sun.

This scene was like a black ring hanging around this giant star.

While he was trapped in that boundless darkness, what on earth happened outside?

Li Qi immediately looked at the two Great Shamanes lying like corpses on the roc beside him.

Zhu Fengdan slumped weakly: “Don't ask, I'm too lazy to talk. Let me rest for a bit––”

(End of Volume Four, new chapter begins. Li Qi will officially come of age hereafter.)