Chapter 489: Human wisdom and natural evolution

In the sky, the two Fourth Rank observers—

Demon Lord Moluo Yan chuckled, “See? Didn’t I tell you? The Demonic Prince has already broken through the shackles of the Seventh Rank. Now, advancing to the Sixth Rank is just a thought away. However, the Overlord’s Momentum as his Dao Foundation is very important to him, so he’s temporarily suppressing his cultivation.”

“To be able to break the Seventh Rank’s limit at the Seventh Rank, and push his combat power beyond his rank to such an extent… Indeed, as you said, many Geniuses are like chickens and dogs before him. It looks like… Li Qi is going to lose. His combat power has barely touched the Seventh Rank’s limit.” Cang Hou shook his head.

—

Meanwhile, below.

Under the dual blessings of True Knowledge Dao Resonance and Information Stream Vision, Li Qi finally saw one of the Demonic Prince’s trump cards.

It must be one of them; it couldn’t be all.

He was truly a fool; how could he not have thought of this possibility?

As the Legacy holder of a great Dao Orthodoxy, he certainly would have trump cards.

Li Qi had True Knowledge, Bo Yue had the Demonic Seed; everyone was the same.

The Demonic Prince was too strong, so strong that Li Qi thought he had already displayed most of his strength, otherwise, he wouldn’t have pushed himself to such a life-and-death situation.

But Li Qi had greatly underestimated the gap between himself and his opponent. The Demonic Prince… hadn’t even used his own Dao Resonance.

He didn’t know what level that Dao Resonance was, but it surely wouldn’t be weaker than the Demonic Seed.

If the Demonic Seed could control the light of the cosmos, what effect could the Demonic Prince’s Dao Resonance have?

What was currently known was that the Demonic Prince was not omnipotent. He didn’t purely rely on himself to balance his Inner World, which was extreme Yang without Yin. He used that wisp of Yin Dao Resonance to suppress the Yang Qi within his body.

It made sense. Extreme Yang without Yin was like a race with only males and no females. No matter how strong these men were, they would eventually die out after one generation.

But now, that wisp of soft Yin Dao Resonance was like a reproduction machine, forcefully holding back the extreme Yang Inner World, allowing everything to operate naturally.

In other words…

If he could force out, or even snatch, the opponent’s Dao Resonance, then the Demonic Prince’s extreme Yang Inner World would undoubtedly cause him immense damage.

In this short time, countless pieces of information flashed through Li Qi’s mind, piecing together the most probable outcome under the current circumstances.

But the Demonic Prince’s attack had already arrived.

Without the suppression of the miniature heaven and earth, Li Qi could no longer evade such an attack on his own.

However, there was still a way.

Li Qi’s mind stirred, and he gently activated the Golden Crow Divine Qi he had buried nearby earlier!

The miniature heaven and earth had already collapsed, so these things, which were used for suppression, could now be directly used as consumables!

The Golden Crow Divine Qi erupted! A powerful explosion swept through the surroundings!

The Golden Crow was also a bird of extreme Yang. Its eruption at this moment further exacerbated the Demonic Prince’s imbalance, giving his already tilted Inner World a strong push.

Facing the sweeping Golden Crow flames, the Demonic Prince frowned slightly, and his bamboo staff paused, forced to interrupt his attack and raise a protective barrier.

The Golden Crow Divine Qi Li Qi used was of the Fifth Rank, inherently more noble than the Demonic Prince at this moment. So, even the Demonic Prince couldn’t directly withstand such an explosion at the Seventh Rank; he had to defend, and he couldn’t defend against it on his own.

Who could, at the Seventh Rank, purely rely on their cultivation to defend against Fifth Rank Qi? Especially when that wisp of Qi was self-destructing.

No one could, not even the Demonic Prince.

However…

Spiritual Artifacts, gifts from high-ranking beings, and various protective means weren’t exclusive to Li Qi.

The protective barrier the Demonic Prince raised glowed with an indescribable Yin softness, its overall color a dark black, identical to the bamboo staff’s color and appearance.

Li Qi was dumbfounded. He suddenly realized and understood.

That bamboo staff was the Demonic Prince’s Dao Resonance!

Truly, he had prided himself on his intelligence, but he was simply a brain-dead idiot!

All this time, the Demonic Prince had never tried to hide it. He disdained hiding his trump cards and weaknesses. With an arrogant posture, he laid himself bare, directly displaying himself as a strong person for everyone to see.

The Demonic Prince had a limp, so he needed a crutch!

This staff was his crutch, and it was crucial for supporting his limp. The meaning was originally very clear: he relied on this crutch to move normally, and that crutch was his Dao Resonance!

“Seize the root… Li Qi, seize the root.” Li Qi hypnotized himself, saying this to himself. He already knew his path to survival.

Unravel the root of that bamboo staff, and based on its root, find a way to counter it. This way, losing the Yin softness of the bamboo staff would truly imbalance the Demonic Prince!

However, during the time the Golden Crow Qi exploded, both had to remain in place. Neither could easily survive in the raging Golden Crow flames, nor could they even move. They could only stare at each other.

But, the Demonic Prince had that bamboo staff for protection, and Li Qi had put Shen Shuibi’s protective talisman back on himself, using it to resist the sweeping Golden Crow flames.

The deck was filled with golden-red flames. Before the flames extinguished, Li Qi and the Demonic Prince couldn’t move. If they touched, they might directly hand over their heads to the other.

Detonating the Golden Crow Qi would buy about a minute of time. After one minute, the paused battle could resume.

However, with a minute of buffer, Li Qi could once again plan. He wasn’t good at improvising, but if he prepared in advance, he also had a chance to suppress the Demonic Prince.

If he could touch that bamboo staff… he would have a chance to directly use True Knowledge Dao Resonance to probe it, instead of just observing it from a distance like now…

By fully probing with True Knowledge Dao Resonance, he might be able to find the root of the opponent’s Dao Resonance and then seek a method to counter it.

However, while Li Qi was racking his brains, the Demonic Prince appeared quite at ease.

He unhurriedly took out another mask, covering his soft Yin and handsome face, and once again resumed his former majestic appearance.

Then, just like before, he began to speak to Li Qi: “Such a trump card… you probably don’t have many left, do you? Fifth Rank Golden Crow Qi, and it even faintly carries a higher-grade aura. From your root, is this the Sun Essence from Mount Luofu?”

Li Qi completely ignored him, merely closing his eyes and beginning to deduce and plan his subsequent actions.

In a skirmish, Li Qi was completely useless. In close-quarters combat, Li Qi’s subconscious reaction was always to run away.

But if he planned in advance and fought a prepared battle, Li Qi believed that he wouldn’t lose to the Demonic Prince in the short term, and might even gain the upper hand.

Didn’t he gain a temporary upper hand the moment he created the dual illusion array? Although it was quickly overturned by the opponent’s pure on-the-spot reaction.

The Demonic Prince, however, didn’t care whether Li Qi responded or not and continued, “I heard that the Golden Crow’s sister, Moon Essence Shen Shuibi, is your wife, right?”

Originally, Li Qi didn’t want to bother with the Demonic Prince and just wanted to focus on how to defeat him.

But the topic suddenly involved Shen Shuibi, so Li Qi immediately looked up and said, “Why suddenly mention her?”

“Nothing, just a… humble weakling once mentioned her to me, saying that if you were at your wit’s end, I should mention this person to you.”

“He also introduced Shen Shuibi’s situation in detail, saying that threatening you with this would make you more interesting. I find you quite boring in your current state, so I brought it up to provoke you.” The Demonic Prince stated his purpose frankly.

Then, he continued, “Of course, don’t worry, Li Qi. Although you are not as good as me, however… I also know that being able to persist this long, you are already very respectable. The strong do not threaten the weak; that is an insult to themselves. So I will not do anything to Shen Shuibi, you can rest assured of that.”

“It’s just that this can remind you of some things, making you slightly more vigilant, isn’t it?” The Demonic Prince said with a smile.

He was wearing a mask, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but the amusement in his tone was audible.

Li Qi’s face instantly darkened.

Although he had been troubled by demonic thoughts before, making him somewhat slow and unable to timely discern the Demonic Prince’s Dao Resonance during the battle, missing a good opportunity to understand the opponent’s root, that was because his combat sensitivity was not high.

However, Li Qi was quite sensitive to such subtle hints in words.

The Demonic Prince’s words were very simple.

Yes, the Demonic Prince had said that he would never attack those around Li Qi. He had the dignity of a strong person and would never do such insidious and despicable things. On this point, Li Qi’s sixth sense told him he could believe it.

Moreover, looking at the Demonic Prince’s grand and sweeping posture during battle, it could be seen that he was not someone who liked to play small tricks. Li Qi constantly schemed against others, but the Demonic Prince never did; he always crushed them directly.

However, someone wished the Demonic Prince would do so.

There was someone behind the Demonic Prince, and that person orchestrated all of this. This hidden person wanted to provoke Li Qi and also wanted the Demonic Prince to target Li Qi.

The Demonic Prince brought up this person’s existence, and this person’s existence itself was a provocation to Li Qi.

Just because the Demonic Prince wouldn’t do it didn’t mean that person wouldn’t.

The Demonic Prince saw Li Qi’s expression.

He nodded with satisfaction, then fell silent, no longer speaking.

Weaklings whose fighting spirit is not fully aroused cannot display their true strength; this is also the essence of weaklings.

Weaklings are not necessarily truly weak, but they tend to avoid. They do not face challenges head-on, so weaklings gradually become truly weak.

Compared to the strong, the weak are more fragile because of their hearts. They lack the heart to challenge and advance. Even with the same starting point, the strong can ultimately look back at their opponents from the finish line.

Li Qi was a typical example. His fighting style showed that evasion and dodging were what he preferred. His occasional counterattacks were merely a the little rabbit biting back when cornered, and even then, he had to plan in advance.

The Demonic Prince hoped to see an invigorated opponent. Even a weakling should exert all their strength and fight him.

Now, Li Qi had a minute to plan. He also had a considerable understanding of himself. The upcoming battle should be the real deal, right?

The Demonic Prince’s heart couldn’t help but fill with anticipation.

Because another person identical to Li Qi had brought him unparalleled surprise, he chose to abandon seeking the Little Celestial Master and instead face this true Li Qi.

The true Li Qi should bring him new surprises, right?

A minute passed in a flash.

The two exchanged no more words and immediately re-engaged!

During this time, Li Qi had already used the last remnants of his cutlery to reconstruct a new Spiritual Artifact body within his capabilities.

It wasn’t an exoskeleton made in a few seconds, but a Spiritual Artifact body that enveloped his entire Physical Body.

Thanks to his meticulous study of such matters with the Dao of Reason, he had some insights into Spiritual Artifact bodies, which allowed him to do this.

However, since it was temporarily made from cutlery, its function was barely adequate, and its durability was severely lacking. For what Li Qi was about to do, it could probably only last for about three minutes.

Just like Ultraman’s light, if Li Qi couldn’t complete his plan within three minutes, he would be utterly defeated.

The Demonic Prince wore a mask, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but he was likely full of anticipation.

As soon as the two engaged, their figures instantly vanished!

They left the protective barrier and the deck, directly entering the space outside the Underworld.

Because the deck’s space was no longer sufficient for their battle.

One from the Demonic Dao, one from Shaman Dao, yet they fought with the spirit of Martial Artists!

Their Dharma Idols simultaneously rose. As their Physical Bodies clashed, their Dharma Idols also clashed! It was as if two giants stood behind them. When the people moved, their Dharma Idols also moved with them, and the storm-like battle aftermath poured out. The huge shadows behind them gradually solidified, reaching to the heavens and standing on the earth, striking with a single punch as if thousands of thunders exploded at once, making the clear sky tremble and the earth bow!

In Li Qi’s hands, tens of thousands of different spells were simultaneously unleashed!

And the Demonic Prince used none of them, only pure power, crushing Li Qi, but Li Qi always escaped using various means.

Those tens of thousands of spells seemed to melt the sky, energy constantly surging, various miraculous abilities unleashed, possessing both Yin and Yang, with the Five Elements present, and shadows of various Dao Orthodoxys!

Relying on such a multitude of methods, Li Qi actually fought the Demonic Prince’s pure power to a standstill!

The Demonic Prince exuded a feeling of exhilaration.

That’s right! That’s right! This is it!

This is your true power, Li Qi!

It’s not about your foundation or knowledge, but the true secret of your achieving Seventh Rank in such a short time.

That terrifying learning ability, that exaggerated Comprehension Ability that almost constantly experiences Epiphany!

It’s just that your weakling mentality makes you prefer to hide these achievements, only taking them out when you’re absolutely certain.

Now, bring out all those ‘experimental abilities’ you’ve accumulated, those achievements you consider not stable enough, prone to failure or explosion, just like that person who is identical to you.

No, it’s different. I shouldn’t insult you like that.

You are different from him. He has reached a dead end, which is why he became like that. He is not a lion driven into a corner, but merely a defeated dog struggling for its life.

But you still have a path to walk, so with your personality, you wouldn’t take risks.

Now, by pushing you to this extent, making you a lion in a predicament, you will surely give me a surprise, won’t you?

Come on, I want to prove to the Heavenly Demon that I, this imperfect thing, am her most perfect offspring!

The excitement in the Demonic Prince’s eyes was immense, causing his Dharma Idol to expand even further!

On Li Qi’s side, after learning that someone had already drawn Shen Shuibi into the game, he somewhat regretted calling her for support via the terminal message.

However… he thought that this was also someone else’s scheme, and his action of calling Shen Shuibi was also accounted for within it.

He needed to speed up his actions.

The two collided in the air, creating countless airwaves.

However, as they fought, the Demonic Prince suddenly felt that his attacks… seemed less effective?

Wait.

“True Dragon Physical Body? Simulating a Dragon body with a Spiritual Artifact body?” The Demonic Prince immediately recognized Li Qi’s current method.

This Li Qi, Li Qi, wants to forcefully deduce ‘Heaven’s Evolution’ with human intellect!?

Can he do it?

Impossible.

Happy New Year, auspicious Year of the the little rabbit. This year is the the little rabbit’s earthly branch year, with the blessing of the heavenly timing!