Chapter 382: Conversion

Beside the Celestial Devil, 'Li Qi' appeared.

The Demonic Clone… or rather, another Li Qi, thus brazenly appeared before numerous Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and even Amitabha.

"Your new toy? Young man, getting involved with the Celestial Devil is not a good thing," Amitabha said, looking at the Demonic Clone Li Qi before him.

He had seen too many 'toys' like this.

"Oh my! Why start with sowing discord? You're so annoying!" The Celestial Devil pouted and complained.

Then, she stood up and skipped to the Demonic Clone Li Qi, taking his hand.

Her posture was so innocent and adorable, like a beautiful girl, with her hands behind her back, leaning forward, pouting and blinking her eyes, which sparkled as if they could speak, saying to the boy, "You must always like me, always, always like me."

Anyone who witnessed this scene would involuntarily smile.

Of course, the premise was that they didn't know this innocent-looking girl was the most terrifying Demonic Overlord in the world.

"Greetings, Buddha..." The Demonic Clone Li Qi ignored the Celestial Devil and instead bowed to this great True Buddha.

The Demonic Clone Li Qi possessed a mind identical to Li Qi's, the exact same way of thinking, so... even if he knew he was a Demonic Clone at this moment, he didn't go mad because of it.

Evidently, like the real Li Qi, he began to plan for his future.

His gaze remained firm and composed, just like Li Qi's, always thinking, even the Celestial Devil couldn't stop such thoughts unless she killed him.

"You are still very clear-headed. It seems I can't persuade you," Amitabha sighed, shaking his head as he saw the Demonic Clone Li Qi's gaze.

"Please forgive me, Buddha, but this junior desperately needs her help, otherwise... my fate won't be too good," Li Qi confessed to Amitabha.

His tone, his attitude, were both calm.

He was also 'Li Qi', knowing what the true 'Li Qi' would do when facing another version of himself.

"Benefactor, those who associate with the Celestial Devil come to no good end," Amitabha admonished.

"It won't be worse than now," the Demonic Clone Li Qi showed a helpless, bitter smile.

All his expressions were identical to the real Li Qi's; if the real Li Qi had fallen to this point, he would probably also find a way... to return to the light.

And to be honest, the difference between the two of them was almost nonexistent, even their memories were the same.

He was well aware of how dangerous the Celestial Devil was, but at this moment, there was no choice.

He had nowhere to go.

"Alright, alright! You two are really something, why do you always say things that displease me!" The Celestial Devil bounced around in anger, her cheeks puffed out, looking both annoyed and playfully sulky.

Amitabha then looked at the Celestial Devil again: "So... what is the purpose of this conversation after a hundred thousand years?"

"I'm bringing you someone! Look at this one here, does he meet your requirements?" The Celestial Devil pointed at Li Qi, smiling mischievously at Amitabha.

As for the Demonic Clone Li Qi, his gaze remained fixed on Amitabha.

"Requirements..." Amitabha then realized what the Celestial Devil wanted to say. He looked at the Demonic Clone Li Qi, scrutinizing him carefully.

Then, Amitabha said with slight surprise: "Aptitude of a Buddha Child... and he's even opened a portion of the Celestial Eye. You're only Seventh-Rank, this is truly..."

The Demonic Clone Li Qi nodded slightly upon hearing this.

From the Buddha's words, he learned that Information Stream Vision was indeed a prerequisite for a portion of the Celestial Eye, wasn't it?

The Demonic Clone Li Qi also possessed Information Stream Vision, as he had also experienced that kind of information impact, and his wisdom was on par with Li Qi's. He had also, through his own independent thought and contemplation, retained a portion of Information Stream Vision as his inherent characteristic.

Therefore, he also possessed this vision, similar to a Celestial Eye prerequisite.

The Celestial Devil tilted her head and said, "See? His Aptitude is very good, I don't know why, but he has no obstacles in cultivating any Dao Orthodoxy. He perfectly fits all Dao Orthodoxy. Even if he's sent to the East Sea, those Dragon Clan members would probably think he's a good seedling for cultivating the Dao of Heaven’s Evolution. How about sending such a person to the Western Paradise Buddhist Kingdom?"

"Is this another one of your open conspiracies? Very well, I accept this move," Amitabha didn't hesitate much and directly agreed.

No matter what the Celestial Devil was planning, Amitabha was not afraid.

His game with the Celestial Devil had lasted for countless ages. During this time, countless suns were born and extinguished, countless races flourished and perished, yet the Celestial Devil always remained at a disadvantage.

Now, it was just another round.

"Li Qi, is it? It seems you have had an extraordinary experience and developed some doubts about your self-identity," Amitabha said, looking at the Demonic Clone Li Qi.

"I will introduce you to a Master who can fully answer your questions. Follow him, and then pursue 'enlightenment'."

The Celestial Devil looked very happy, clapping her hands and saying, "Ah~, you agreed, good! Then the things I prepared for Li Qi will also be useful."

The Celestial Devil opened her mouth excitedly, and then, energy like ten million suns exploding simultaneously rushed out!

From her mouth, the remains of that Fourth-Rank world were spewed out! It was the residue after being chewed up!

Then, the Celestial Devil extended her soft, delicate hand and gently grasped.

Countless Spirit Souls, trillions of them, were condensed together.

"I just spat out all the souls of a Fourth-Rank world; let Li Qi be responsible for their salvation. See how much Karma this would be? You Buddhists value this kind of Karma, don't you?" The Celestial Devil said gleefully to Amitabha.

The Demonic Clone Li Qi fell silent.

He had thought about what the Celestial Devil would do, and he knew in advance that the Celestial Devil would give him a gift...

But he had never imagined that the Celestial Devil's gift would be like this.

All the unjustly deceased souls of a Fourth-Rank world, and then for him to 'save' them.

It was truly... indescribably brutal and cruel.

A Demonic Overlord was indeed a Demonic Overlord.

Li Qi subconsciously looked at Amitabha.

"Accept it. Only by doing so can those Spirit Souls who died at the hands of the Celestial Devil find peace. Otherwise, the Celestial Devil will make them perish, body and soul," Amitabha said.

This could also be considered a threat.

If he didn't accept this 'gift', then the Celestial Devil would truly easily annihilate all the Spirit Souls.

Of course, accepting the gift also meant you followed the Celestial Devil's suggestion, which might lead to greater negative consequences in the future.

However, you couldn't be sure whether the Celestial Devil wanted you to accept or not. If you didn't accept, it might be more likely to fall into the Celestial Devil's trap, because you actively abandoned so many people.

This was like a story that was told.

A general held a bird in his hand and asked a high monk whether the bird in his hand was dead or alive.

No matter how he answered, it would be wrong, because the general could crush the bird at any time.

And the high monk had only one choice, which was to save the bird.

As for the general's subsequent difficulties...

Let them come.

Let's see if the Celestial Devil's ability could achieve her desired goal.

The Celestial Devil smiled happily when she saw Li Qi accept the gift.

She responded to Li Qi's action with a brilliant smile, then said, "Mm, then study well in the Western Paradise. I'll come pick you up in a while; this Clone can't hold on much longer."

The Demonic Clone Li Qi nodded, then gazed at the Celestial Devil's Physical Body.

This body 'withered' right in front of everyone.

Other than withering, it was hard to describe the scene.

Her beautiful maiden's body instantly hunched over, her dewy skin turning into the appearance of a wrinkled old hag in just a few blinks.

Her face, full of moisture and collagen, quickly shriveled and twisted, yet it still bore an expression that seemed like a smile, but was also chilling.

A few more seconds passed, and she directly turned into a black-yellow skeleton, with only a layer of dry, thin skin clinging to the bones.

Finally, as if tens of thousands of years of weathering were compressed into an instant, even the skeleton quickly turned into dust, then scattered with the wind, becoming ordinary sand and dust.

This Clone of the Celestial Devil died.

The Buddhist Kingdom itself, as well as the suppression caused by those Bodhisattvas and Arhats earlier, was no joke.

That was the result of over a dozen Third-Rank, and hundreds of Fourth-Rank and Fifth-Rank individuals working together. For this Clone of the Celestial Devil to resist so long as if nothing was wrong was already quite terrifying.

And the Buddhist Kingdom itself was within Amitabha's Dharmakaya palm, holding unparalleled suppression over Demonic Overlords. If it were a weaker Demonic Overlord, they wouldn't even be able to get close.

As previously stated: "Among the sentient beings in countless worlds, under the Buddha's light, no thoughts of desire, anger, or harm arise; they are not attached to form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas. They achieve the power of endurance, disregard all suffering, are content with little, free from defilement, anger, and ignorance, always abide in samadhi, and have no false or flattering hearts."

Without thoughts of desire, anger, or harm, unattached to form, sound, smell, taste, or touch, naturally no demonic thoughts would arise.

But only a Clone had died.

Once upon a time, the Celestial Devil's Clones were infinite, spread throughout all heavens.

Of course, that was no longer the case. The current Celestial Devil was suppressed by the Heavens of the Formless Realm, and each attempt to extend a tendril was extremely difficult; most Clones would perish just like the one just now.

Seeing the death of the Celestial Devil's Clone, the Demonic Clone Li Qi let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, he pressed his palms together, calmly bowing to the Buddha before him, and uttered a Buddhist chant: "Amitabha..."

"You are very confused," Amitabha said.

The Demonic Clone Li Qi nodded; he cherished this opportunity.

He knew that this was probably his only chance in this life to face Amitabha directly and ask him questions.

"I am very confused, Buddha," the Demonic Clone Li Qi said.

Like the true Li Qi, he was steady, methodical, and thought more than he spoke. Even now, he was still in deep thought.

Clearly, Li Qi knew.

"I still don't know if I am... him, the original body."

"My memories, thought patterns, and even my entire mind are 100% replicated from Li Qi himself. My mind and even my body include a complete scanned version of his, and it was done by the Shaman God personally, so there will be no difference. The moment I woke up, I believed myself to be Li Qi..."

"However, after I believed myself to be Li Qi, many clear things kept reminding me that I am merely a 'Demonic Clone'..."

"Amitabha, please enlighten me. What exactly is 'I' as 'I'?" The Demonic Clone Li Qi bowed in a posture of Buddhist reverence, asking with sincerity and pain.

Amitabha shook his head and smiled, saying, "Foolish child, you once glimpsed the Thirty-Two Marks; you should know why you still cling to this form now? What is 'I' as 'I'? Does this 'I' necessarily have to be Li Qi?"

Then, Amitabha chanted in a low voice: "Therefore, to seek the Buddha through form and sound is to walk the Evil Path; how can one see the true nature of the Buddha, the Permanent Dweller, the Right Enlightenment? When I speak of 'I', this refers to the true, permanent, pure 'I' of the Dharmakaya, spoken according to the flow. If one seeks by seeing form or hearing sound, the mind wanders outside the principle, all are called邪见 (evil views), unable to see the Dharma. Therefore, it is said one cannot see the Tathagata."

As the Buddha spoke, the numerous Arhats and Bodhisattvas behind him all nodded, then all pressed their palms together and chanted in unison:

"All forms are dazzling but not form, eight sounds fill the ear but are not sound. Seeing form and hearing sound is common in the world, but it's like one layer of frost upon another!"

Immediately, boundless Sanskrit chants erupted from all around!

The Sanskrit chants permeated the ears, light and color shimmered, fragrance permeated everywhere, its splendor extended four hundred miles in circumference, and celestial maidens in the Void Realm jointly played heavenly music, praising the Buddha's virtues with subtle sounds. The assembly of listeners scattered flowers and incense, played various music, listened to the sutras, and rejoiced boundlessly!

Li Qi was struck by the Sanskrit chants, and his body directly dispersed into a mass.

On the contrary, the Demonic Qi that composed his body was dissipating.

An indescribable power was breaking down the Demonic Clone Li Qi from the very foundation of matter, then reassembling him.

However, there was no pain, and it even felt somewhat comfortable.

It was warm, like soaking in hot water, making one involuntarily relax.

But the Demonic Clone Li Qi did not give up thinking; he observed the strange phenomena around him.

The Demonic Clone Li Qi quickly understood.

This was not only a reminder for him but also a convenient way to transform his body.

The Demonic Qi was being dismantled, and then, normal, brand-new Qi was filling his Physical Body.

Before long, the Demonic Clone Li Qi's body had reassembled, and he had also taken in Amitabha's Buddhist verse.

Did he... necessarily have to be Li Qi?

Though he didn't want to admit it, he still had to say... not necessarily.

But he still wanted to be Li Qi.

Because his memories, his thoughts, kept telling him that he was Li Qi, he was no one else...

Unfortunately, reality did not allow for such willfulness.

With the Demonic Qi dispelled from his body, the Demonic Clone Li Qi stood still, awaiting his fate.

Judging by this method of handling, they must be preparing to accept him, which is why they needed to specifically dispel the Demonic Qi from his body and even reconstruct a new body.

"Li Qi... is it? Let's call you by this name for now. Are you willing to convert to Buddhism? You don't need to worry about what the Celestial Devil behind you is thinking; as long as you yourself do not fall into the Demonic Dao, then you need not worry," Amitabha said.

"Disciple... I am willing," the Demonic Clone Li Qi sighed, pressed his palms together, and said.

"Then, shave your head and receive the precepts, abandon your worldly name, and receive your Dharma name," Amitabha's voice resounded.