Chapter 367: Change of state of mind

Li Qi felt a headache when he heard Kaiwen Chan Master explain the origin of the strange stone Buddha carving.

Theoretically, for Mahakala to hold it in his hand means the demonic blood within it should have been completely subdued; otherwise, how would Mahakala dare to drink it?

The blood of the Four Demons in his hand, once dripped out, should have nothing to do with other Demonic Overlords.

Which means… was this actually arranged by Mahakala?

It’s hard to say. Li Qi and Mahakala have no grievances. A mere Chan Zhi monk is irrelevant to Mahakala, whether he exists or not. There’s no need to specifically scheme against Li Qi for this, right?

Moreover, Kaiwen Chan Master also said that this isn't just Mahakala; in fact, Mahakala didn't care about this strange stone Buddha carving at all. It was Dakini Heaven who collected it.

Now, after an unknown period of time since this stone was collected, Dakini Heaven finally instructed Kaiwen Chan Master to send this stone to Baiyue…

Dakini Heaven is also a great Buddhist master. Did the matter originate from Dakini Heaven?

It’s perplexing.

To be honest, Li Qi couldn't distinguish it at all.

It could be a Heavenly Demon, or a Demon of the Five Aggregates, or a Demonic Overlord of afflictions or death, or it could be Mahakala, or perhaps Dakini Heaven.

There weren't enough clues to make a judgment.

So Li Qi simply gave up on the idea. There was no need to look for it; he wouldn't find it anyway.

Thus, Li Qi looked up and asked again, “May I ask, Chan Master, I previously meditated on this Buddha carving and comprehended many things from it. Is this a characteristic of the Buddha carving, or is it something you deliberately arranged on it?”

“I found that what I comprehended was different from what others comprehended, which shows that this Buddha carving doesn't have just one Legacy. In fact, just a few hours ago, I already comprehended seven or eight different visualization diagrams from this Buddha carving. I also saw others find the power of the Vajra White Elephant within it, which is not a visualization diagram, indicating that besides visualization diagrams, there are other ways to access the Buddha carving's power. What exactly is inside it?”

Li Qi's question was quite direct; generally, one wouldn't ask in such a manner.

However, this time Li Qi felt he could be more direct, as it involved Demonic Overlords, and being vague could easily lead to being tricked.

“So, Benefactor is troubled by this. Then, Benefactor, have you ever heard of the Demon of the Five Aggregates?” Kaiwen Chan Master asked.

“Of course, I know,” Li Qi nodded.

As a top student, Li Qi had read many, many books and knew more than most people in the world.

He immediately realized that Kaiwen Chan Master was saying that that drop of demonic blood was related to the Demon of the Five Aggregates.

The so-called five aggregates are form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness.

Form is all physical forms, feeling is all emotions, perception is all thoughts, volitional formations are all motivations, and consciousness is all cognitions.

According to Buddhist teachings, the five aggregates constitute the world that one perceives.

Because, Buddhism believes that humans cannot see the 'true' world.

Your eyes can see various colors, but are colors the reality of an object?

Obviously not.

You can eat salt and taste 'saltiness,' so is saltiness the essence of salt?

Clearly, it is not.

Humans can only perceive this world with their fragile senses and limited perception. The world seen by humans is ultimately shallow, one-sided, and false.

How one perceives this world is how this world appears in one's eyes.

A blind person thinks the world has no light, and a deaf person thinks the world has no sound; it's all like this.

The saying 'a mind without attachments, the Four Greats are empty' is also such a portrayal.

And the five aggregates are the reflections produced by limited perception in the human mind. Humans receive external information, then project it within the five aggregates, and ultimately perceive this world through the five aggregates.

Humans themselves cannot perceive what the true world is like; they can only partially perceive this world through the five aggregates.

Only through awakening and Buddha-Dharma can one witness the essence of the world, allowing one to perceive reality even without the corresponding organs.

This pursuit is the process of cultivation.

And the Demon of the Five Aggregates is a Demonic Overlord rooted in the five aggregates of sentient beings, capable of interfering with human perception of the external world and hindering people from perceiving the true world.

Wait, if that's the case—

Li Qi suddenly widened his eyes.

In other words, the Demon of the Five Aggregates is, to some extent, the Demonic Overlord skilled in illusions.

Then, what the Heavenly Demon said was true; his previous understanding of the Heavenly Demon was wrong.

The Desire Realm is not an illusion; things in the Desire Realm are real!

Believing the Desire Realm to be false would, on the contrary, fall into the Heavenly Demon's trap.

And the things created by the Demon of the Five Aggregates are false; those are things without an objective entity.

Objective entity!

Li Qi immediately closed his eyes; he thought of something.

At this moment, Kaiwen Chan Master said with a hint of admiration, “Benefactor is truly remarkable, being able to comprehend seven or eight types. No wonder you can become the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain. Such Aptitude is truly outstanding.”

“However—” Kaiwen Chan Master seemed to want to say something more, but he noticed Li Qi had closed his eyes, so he suddenly stopped speaking.

Because he saw that Li Qi had suddenly fallen into a state of contemplation.

So, Kaiwen Chan Master did not disturb him, letting Li Qi ponder.

This is common for long-lived beings.

It's common for long-lived beings to discuss the Dao together for decades.

Especially when friends of Fifth-Rank or higher discuss the Dao, sometimes one party suddenly falls into deep thought, and it's not uncommon for them to ponder for seven or eight years before saying a single word.

But Kaiwen Chan Master was still somewhat surprised.

What kind of Aptitude is this? Even for the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain, isn't this a bit outrageous?

He merely mentioned the five aggregates, what on earth did this mere Seventh-Rank young man think of?

Logically, Epiphany is just a phenomenon; essentially, it's when countless past accumulations come to fruition, allowing for that flash of insight. So, no matter how great the Genius, they should first accumulate, then ignite, and finally sublimate.

If thought is a brilliant fire, then knowledge is the firewood beneath it. No matter how much inspiration, there must be sufficient foundation to support it.

How much foundation can a Seventh-Rank have?

His age was clearly discernible in Kaiwen Chan Master's eyes—just over thirty years old.

Even if it's thirty years, twelve hours a day non-stop, dedicating all his time to learning and accumulating, how much can he learn?

Compared to those who have studied for hundreds of years, his foundation is too shallow to support repeated Epiphanies.

That's why Kaiwen Chan Master was so surprised.

In fact, Li Qi had been under his observation ever since he arrived at Zunfo Mountain.

He personally witnessed this person having an Epiphany more than ten hours ago, just yesterday, when he comprehended many profound methods from the strange stone Buddha carving.

And now, he had another Epiphany?

What kind of Aptitude is this? Is he a Buddha Child?

However, what this monk didn't realize was that, for Li Qi, the matter of the strange stone Buddha carving couldn't even be considered an 'Epiphany.'

It was merely a matter of following clues based on existing information.

The so-called 'Epiphany' is deriving new, yet personally very important, things from existing information. For example, having a mathematical conjecture, then one day suddenly having an Epiphany of the answer, turning the conjecture into a theorem.

But piecing together the Thirty-Two Marks was something Li Qi did as a matter of course.

Turning a mathematical conjecture into a mathematical theorem can be considered an Epiphany.

However, merely solving a somewhat difficult math problem is far from an Epiphany.

For a Genius, it's that simple.

And the most terrifying thing is that Epiphanies in mathematics are difficult to have practical significance, but in a world of individual power, such Epiphanies bring terrifying improvements.

A mathematical formula requires many, many years of effort to be transformed into a practically usable mechanical tool. How to transform the formula's principle into tool production is a huge challenge.

However, for individual power, this process is almost nonexistent; almost all the work is actually completed in the mind. As long as the cultivator completes the Epiphany in that instant, he can make the principle he comprehended exert immense effects in reality, bypassing the toolization part.

Therefore, a Genius who can frequently gain insights also sees astonishing increases in their actual strength.

So Kaiwen Chan Master looked at Li Qi with envy.

He could only attribute Li Qi's repeated advancements to his Aptitude, and after attributing it, he would exclaim… as expected of the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain.

A Genius capable of standing alongside Buddha Children, the most elite Geniuses in the entire world, top-notch in all heavens and myriad realms, truly incomparable to himself.

However, this time Li Qi woke up particularly quickly.

Because he was merely contemplating the differences between the Thirty-Two Marks.

He disassembled the Thirty-Two Marks individually, then compared them one by one using Buddhist thought.

The thirty-two different marks, when pieced together, could generate many combinations, and then these combinations could be arranged and listed in a table…

Normally, this kind of work would require pen and paper, but now Li Qi could perform such deductions purely through mental calculation.

Reaching Seventh-Rank brought more than just changes in lifespan and Divine Ability; his thought speed also greatly accelerated.

If this continued, soon, the rapid memorization effect brought by True Knowledge Dao Resonance would become useless; by then, he wouldn't need True Knowledge to achieve photographic memory.

Putting those things aside, about a quarter of an hour passed.

After performing such complex work, Li Qi reached a conclusion.

If it were the Demon of the Five Aggregates, then the Thirty-Two Marks should be set aside.

Because, if everything in the world cannot be correctly perceived and can only be observed indirectly through the five aggregates, then it implies one thing.

The Thirty-Two Marks are also illusory, also the 'emptiness' spoken of in Buddhism.

Emptiness generates doubt, asserting that sentient beings exist, ultimately failing to align with the pure original mind.

Li Qi suddenly opened his eyes, stood up, and said to Kaiwen Chan Master, “Chan Master, would you accompany me to the Buddha carving?”

Kaiwen Chan Master suppressed the surprise in his heart and said calmly, “It seems Benefactor has gained something. Then, a trip is no harm. Please.”

“Good.” Li Qi stood up, actively left the area, and headed back to the Buddha carving.

This time he didn't try to keep a low profile but flew directly over.

His speed was extremely fast, almost Li Qi's full-speed sprint. He transformed into a streak of light and, in just over ten seconds, slammed heavily into the vicinity of the strange stone Buddha carving.

This caused a huge commotion, startling everyone around. Many who were meditating were interrupted and glared angrily at Li Qi.

Among them, some short-tempered ones directly pulled out their weapons, intending to fight Li Qi.

However, Li Qi was in a hurry and had no mood to reason with them, so he simply waved his hand.

But he was already Seventh-Rank.

Suddenly, countless Divine Qi surged from within Li Qi, condensing into a rock giant several zhang tall!

This was his inner body spirits.

The rock giant suddenly appeared and punched the ground.

The ground suddenly seemed to turn into water, the earth obediently surging with Li Qi's inner body spirits. Rows upon rows of mud waves instantly swept away all the surrounding crowds, many of whom suffered broken bones and torn tendons, but no one died.

Li Qi had still controlled his strength.

No one continued to attack now.

Everyone sensed Li Qi's rank.

Seventh-Rank.

Almost higher than nearly everyone present.

“Clear the area, please leave, everyone.” Li Qi spoke, saying faintly.

For a moment, no one responded, but no one left either. Almost everyone simultaneously turned their gaze to another person present.

That was a middle-aged swordsman. Li Qi swept him with True Knowledge Dao Resonance and found that this person was the only other Seventh-Rank present besides himself.

This person must have been quite famous; everyone present probably knew him, which was why they all looked at him.

Under everyone's gaze, the middle-aged swordsman seemed to feel it was improper not to step forward, so he walked out: “Your Excellency is too overbearing. Even Fengde Temple has never said others are not allowed to observe. Your Excellency is merely a guest. Why be so aggressive? This object can be shared; why insist on driving people away and needlessly incurring public anger?”

Hearing his words, Li Qi shook his head.

Normally, Li Qi would probably patiently explain to him, saying he had reasons and difficulties, and that although this thing had benefits, its drawbacks were probably greater.

But now Li Qi was afraid that the flash of inspiration in his mind would dissipate; his inspiration might not last too long.

He had finally managed to pull out a single thread from the tangled mess of the Thirty-Two Marks, and this thread could disappear at any moment.

So, his inner body spirits erupted directly! It charged towards the opponent.

He wasn't going to kill anyone, but he had to clear the area. Instead of spending several minutes talking, a fight would only take a few seconds at most.

The middle-aged swordsman frowned slightly. He hadn't expected this person to be so overbearing as to directly attack?

However, a mere Shaman's inner body spirits, trying to fight him?

The sword from the scabbard on his back directly unsheathed, a flash of sword light, and it met Li Qi's inner body spirits head-on.

With a loud bang! The inner body spirits was directly shattered!

And the collapse of the mountain god only caused the middle-aged swordsman to lose a few strands of hair.

The surrounding people cheered loudly, then, while cheering, quickly fled.

With Seventh-Rank individuals fighting, they naturally had to run far away.

The middle-aged swordsman shattered the mountain god without stopping, quickening his pace!

Martial Dao Inner Qi burst forth!

The swordsman's sword tip directly erupted with destructive sharpness, piercing towards Li Qi without hesitation.

However, in Li Qi's hand, a few strands of hair had appeared at some unknown point.