Chapter 473: The underworld

The surrounding space suddenly twisted!

The entire world suddenly warped…

Demonic Qi, incredibly terrifying Demonic Qi, enveloped the surroundings.

The world quieted, and all light vanished!

Li Qi suddenly felt drowsy, as if his… Physical Body was sinking into water.

In the water… No, this warm feeling was more like an infant still in its mother’s womb, enveloped by something warm and dark, making him… feel so secure.

All sounds around him quieted.

Li Qi was immersed in that dark, warm ocean, his consciousness gradually sinking, vaguely on the verge of falling asleep.

However, at this moment, the amulet on his body suddenly lit up.

It was an amulet made from Shen Shuibi’s tail feathers. As the amulet lit up, Li Qi’s mind felt as if it had been pricked by a needle, and he abruptly regained clarity.

He was still very dizzy, but he had regained his senses and could vaguely see some light ahead.

“Where… is this place? The Demonic Qi is so dense; all other Qi is isolated. I can’t feel the natural world…” Li Qi struggled to maintain his consciousness, his mind beginning to calculate.

He only felt dizzy and lightheaded. Although he was awake, his thinking speed had slowed considerably.

Li Qi knew this was a manifestation of the Shaman’s cultivation being hindered after being cut off from the natural world.

As cultivation progresses, a cultivator’s thinking organ gradually moves away from the brain. Generally speaking, many different thinking organs emerge depending on the Dao Orthodoxy.

The most common choice for the Human Path and Dao Sect is the Spirit Soul. The Human Path uses the three souls as the primary thinking organ, so even if one’s head is cut off, it won’t affect one’s consciousness.

The Dao Sect, on the other hand, uses the Yin Spirit or Yang Spirit as the primary thinking organ; their Physical Body can be completely discarded.

The Divine Path will transplant its thinking organ into a ‘Golden Body’ exclusive to the Divine Path. If the Golden Body is not destroyed, the Divine Being does not die.

The Dao of Reason and the Spirit Dao both use absolute spirit as the vessel for their thoughts. For them, even the complete destruction of the Spirit Soul does not necessarily mean death.

The Martial Artist Path, however, places thought throughout the entire body. Li Qi generally refers to this as ‘using muscles instead of thinking.’ Their Physical Body’s instinctive reactions are faster than their brains, and in most cases, their decisions are correct, which is quite terrifying.

Precisely because of this, high-Rank Martial Artists can achieve ‘Rebirth from a drop of blood,’ because for them, all parts of the Physical Body can carry their thoughts and consciousness—a drop of blood or a single hair can suffice. Therefore, there was once a high-Rank Martial Artist whose head was cut off, yet he could still use his chest as eyes and his belly as a mouth, continuing to stand and fight fiercely against the enemy.

As a Shaman, Li Qi’s thinking organ, as his cultivation increased, would gradually shift to the ‘outside world.’

Yes, the outside world—the entire Great Heaven and Earth, not just limited to a certain miniature heaven and earth or the world itself, but encompassing the entire ‘Universe,’ including the outer regions, all time and space.

Therefore, some high-Rank Shamanes might even directly abandon their Physical Body and Spirit Soul, their entire body completely merging into a certain natural phenomenon, becoming an existence similar to an Innate Heavenly God.

Of course, they can create another body for themselves at any time; it’s no big deal, just like how Zhu Fengdan, after being injured, directly disassembled her body to repair it slowly.

Li Qi was naturally the same, but now, he felt that the external world was beginning to split, forcing Li Qi’s thoughts to return to his fragile Physical Body.

The direct consequence of this was that the brain of his Physical Body simply couldn’t bear Li Qi’s thoughts. This fleshy thinking organ immediately began to overload, and Li Qi’s thinking speed slowed down.

This gradual realization that one is becoming foolish is more terrifying than anything else; this fear is enough to make most people tremble.

You realize you are getting dumber, your thinking speed is slowing down, knowledge that was once easily understood is gradually becoming incomprehensible, memories are starting to blur, and ancient texts you could recite fluently are now hard to recall.

A strong sense of helplessness enveloped Li Qi. Around him, there was only the darkness he couldn't rely on, and the warmth that was gradually eroding his sanity.

“I can’t just sit here and wait for death.” Li Qi told himself this, but he couldn’t figure out how long it took him to reach this conclusion.

However, it didn't matter.

Because his sluggish mind quickly reached a second conclusion—

That is, he was a Seventh Rank, and lifespan held no meaning for him, so even if his thoughts were sluggish, he just needed to keep thinking and not worry about time.

Having clarified these two points, Li Qi immediately began to use his sluggish mind to sort out the current situation, attempting to find a way to break through this boundless darkness.

It is known that this is an entity called a ‘Demonic Lord.’ This Demonic Lord was invited by at least a Fourth Rank True Dragon to resolve a Fourth Rank powerful being of the Dao of Reason.

Within the world, large-scale battles above Fifth Rank are not permitted, so this entity, called the ‘Demonic Lord,’ released Demonic Qi, submerging the entire research vessel. It seemed to want to throw the entire ship into the outer regions.

“Something’s not right… If that were truly the case, then this rule would be too much of a joke.” Li Qi shook his head, thinking this in the darkness.

If merely taking someone to the outer regions could circumvent this rule, then would the act of ‘taking to the outer regions’ count as ‘making a move’?

If taking them to the outer regions doesn't count as making a move? Then if the opponent is unwilling to go and resists, how is the resistance counted?

Therefore, Li Qi felt that the opponent must have other means to bear the Heavenly Punishment or other consequences; otherwise, it would absolutely be impossible to achieve this so easily.

As for the evidence, it was this seemingly endless darkness that would last for a long time.

Li Qi had no absolute sense of time and couldn’t tell how long had passed without a reference point, so he didn’t know how long he had been immersed in darkness, but it must have been quite a while.

After such a long time, still enveloped by Demonic Qi instead of directly arriving in the outer regions, it indicates that both sides are entangled. The Dao of Reason’s Fourth Rank is also not easily defeated instantly.

In other words… although the Demonic Dao is involved, it’s not yet a dead end.

Li Qi took a few deep breaths, inhaling the surrounding Demonic Qi to calm himself down.

Demonic Qi was not poison to him; after all, Li Qi had even reached a point where his entire body was composed of Demonic Qi. The Demonic Dao… was actually a characteristic he possessed.

After calming down, he began to construct a spell.

He used the ‘Circulation’ method he had comprehended a few days ago, using the Qi of the Human miniature heaven and earth to begin construction.

The Qi of Qian reaches Kun, and all things receive it to be born. Kun is pure Yin, matching Qian to create life, also the beginning of goodness, the image of earth. All receive their beginning from Qian, and are born from Kun. Life originates from Kun, just as all things take shape and emerge from the earth.

This was simulating the birth of all things after ‘Creation.’

Li Qi planned to artificially construct an external world to restore his thinking ability!

This was very difficult, but Li Qi also had a certain degree of confidence, and he also prepared to use this to test whether the Dao of Reason’s Fourth Rank existed.

Because the Dharma Form around that Fourth Rank powerful being of the Dao of Reason was ‘Heavenly Principle.’

If the opponent was still protecting this ship, then Li Qi, using the Circulation method to influence and communicate with the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and with the aid of this Fourth Rank powerful being’s ‘Heavenly Principle,’ would be able to generate a temporary external world to house his mental abilities.

Of course, if he couldn’t communicate, it meant that the Fourth Rank powerful being was no longer around Li Qi, and the spell would fail. After all, Li Qi alone had no ability to open up an external world purely by himself.

To create a world and generate a miniature heaven and earth on one's own, one would need at least a Fifth Rank. If there were special talents or treasures to assist, perhaps a very few Sixth Rank could achieve it, but Li Qi certainly couldn't do it now.

Li Qi began to construct the spell.

The meaning of the cosmic union, reaching up to the heavens above, and welling forth from the earth below, extending beyond the four seas, binding heaven and earth into a single whole, where sun and moon, cold and heat, darkness and light, the celestial movements are ceaseless, and all things take form.

At this moment, in such darkness, opening and closing one’s eyes made no difference.

Such darkness and profundity, making one feel helpless, not even knowing when some terrifying thing might come and swallow oneself whole. This feeling of floating in an unbreathable darkness, surrounded by endless warmth, yet seemingly lurking with unknown entities…

Such a sense of oppression, it made Li Qi’s heart race and filled him with extreme tension, coupled with his already slowed thoughts, making it particularly painful.

This kind of pain was like being submerged in water, the air in his body completely depleted, his blood and lungs filled with waste gas, his head aching and feeling dizzy.

This pain even caused Li Qi’s muscles to twitch uncontrollably.

And he, under these circumstances, had to complete the construction of the spell.

One can only say, he hoped he hadn’t overestimated his endurance limit.

The spell constructs: All things fill the space between heaven and earth; when heaven and earth and all things, moving and still, great and small, are brought forth, they are all categorized and attached to the five elements. This means that heaven and earth and all things flow ceaselessly, converging and changing, thereby giving rise to the proper movements of the three luminaries, the regular cycles of Yin and Yang, cold and heat, and rain giving birth to things, not producing mists, rainbows, or strange lights.

To equalize life and death, so that the mind is not intimidated; to unify changes, so that perception is not confused. To be still with the virtue of Yin, to move with the wave of Yang. Neither distant nor close, at the boundary of the Dao, neighbor to virtue, with principle as its pillar.

Thus, the spell can be completed.

As Li Qi persisted, amidst the pain and dizziness, a peculiar fluctuation was stirred.

Li Qi’s heart rejoiced!

Indeed, Heavenly Principle was still around and willing to respond to Li Qi.

In other words, Li Qi was still on that ship, and the Fourth Rank powerful being of the Dao of Reason was also still there.

Li Qi relaxed.

This indicated that his safety was temporarily not a concern; both sides should still be in a standoff. It was just that under the shroud of Demonic Qi, they had lost the ability to perceive each other.

Then, an external world suddenly propped up. This was a temporary miniature heaven and earth composed of ‘Heavenly Principle’ and ‘Myriad Qi.’

This layer of miniature heaven and earth was extremely small, only able to envelop Li Qi within five feet, and it didn't even have a physical form, only ‘Qi’ and ‘Principle’ symbolizing the many properties of the world, without any actual significance.

But with this, Li Qi was able to withdraw his thinking ability from his narrow and inefficient brain and place it within this invisible world, allowing him to engage in full-speed thinking.

After doing so, Li Qi immediately felt a surge of clarity, as if he had suddenly woken up, and all his thoughts became incredibly smooth.

As soon as his thinking ability recovered, Li Qi immediately began to analyze the surrounding Demonic Qi.

Analyzing such things required immense brainpower, which was impossible under the previous conditions of restricted thinking ability.

But now he could, which was why Li Qi’s first priority was to restore his thinking ability.

No matter what he did, a clear mind was essential, even if Li Qi’s mind wasn’t clear at the time, he knew this.

With the support of his mind, and through the analysis of True Knowledge Dao Resonance, the boundless Demonic Qi before him allowed Li Qi to discern the origin of the ‘Demonic Lord.’

Demon of the Five Aggregates!

The opponent was definitely from the Five Aggregates Devil lineage within the Demonic Dao. Under the shroud of Demonic Qi, everyone’s five senses were stripped away, losing their perception of the outside world. This was a typical Demon of the Five Aggregates tactic.

Others might not be able to identify it, because the Demonic Dao is skilled at disguising its origins to deceive others, but Li Qi, as a second-generation Disciple of the Heavenly Demon, recognized it very clearly—this was absolutely the Demon of the Five Aggregates’s method!

“I must find a way to inform that Dao of Reason powerful being, and I also need to extract my own senses.” Li Qi immediately made a decision and then began to act.

At such a time, there was no room for delay.

Fortunately, he was only enveloped by Demonic Qi; Li Qi could still handle it.

He decisively chose to reconstruct the five aggregates using the Heavenly Demon method, combined with Information Stream Vision, to bypass the Five Aggregates Demonic Qi before him.

If that ‘Demonic Lord’ were to focus all his attention on Li Qi, these minor tricks would not work.

But Li Qi was certain that the Demonic Lord’s main energy was definitely being tied up by that Fourth Rank powerful being. He was confident that by using the Heavenly Demon method, he could regain his five senses.

As Li Qi, who had once been enveloped by Five Aggregates Demonic Blood, he was quite adept at breaking through sensory blockades.

This ‘Demonic Lord’ merely cultivated the Demonic Dao cultivation method of the Five Aggregates Devil lineage. What Li Qi encountered back then was genuine Five Aggregates Demonic Blood.

Li Qi began to apply the Buddha-Dharma, especially the series of methods used to suppress Demonic Overlords, combined with Information Stream Vision and True Knowledge Dao Resonance, to break through the five aggregates.

Clapping hands and beating time, not doing it for oneself, nor teaching others, constantly cultivating oneself, following the righteous Dharma, the Eight Inconceivable Divine Ability are attained.

The inherent nature of people is pure. All phenomena are within one’s own nature. The mouth does not speak of taking, the mind does not think of taking. The eyes do not covet colors, the ears do not covet sounds, the nose does not steal fragrances, the tongue does not steal tastes, the body does not covet clothes, the mind does not steal desires. The six senses are unattached, constantly upholding expedient wisdom, which is why the five aggregates cannot obscure one’s eyes.

Li Qi applied the Spirit Dao and Buddha-Dharma, along with his past experience in dealing with Five Aggregates Demonic Blood, against the Demonic Qi before him.

This time, it worked!

The Demonic Qi before him receded, and Li Qi once again saw the deck beneath his feet, as well as the treasure ship itself.

However, the place he was now in…

was somewhat strange.

The sky was red, as if all the ugliness and fear of the world were woven together, such a repulsive nightmare, presented before his eyes.

Bizarre and grotesque.

Nowhere could be more maddening than this place.

Li Qi’s eyes widened!

This… is the Underworld?!

It’s the last day for double monthly votes! If you have any, please cast them!