Chapter 492: Talking to oneself

The Demonic Clone had been planning for an unknown amount of time, expending an unknown amount of effort, and using all his wisdom and abilities, all for this very moment.

He had already calculated that Li Qi would inevitably choose to advance to the Demonic Dao in the end. He had been maneuvering between various forces, circling among them, all to guide Li Qi here.

He was the scriptwriter of everything; although Heaven's Will was also very important, he was the guide for that Heaven's Will.

Ultimately, it was all to force Li Qi to abandon all his previous limitations and be compelled to advance through the Demonic Dao!

Moreover, in reality, he had never made a move against Shen Shuibi. He had the Demonic Prince say those words just to provoke Li Qi.

That was… a rabbit.

How could he bear to lay a hand on a rabbit?

He still 'remembered' all the things they had experienced together.

It was precisely because he remembered these things that he was Li Qi, and not some Demonic Clone.

He was Li Qi, so he racked his brains, abandoned all bottom lines, used every means, and exhausted his intellect to deduce a result.

He knew that he was a cautious person, but while cautious, he was also very passive, mostly choosing to retreat to the back and watch others perform.

The things he learned, those methods directly read through the True Knowledge Dao Resonance, he would absolutely not use them.

Caution and conservatism were Li Qi's personality; he was a hoarder. Before these methods were thoroughly digested, he would hide them if he could. Normally, just getting by was enough; there was no need to pursue anything too good.

Li Qi was the kind of person who would save his favorite things to enjoy last. If there was a strawberry on a cake, he would definitely eat the strawberry last.

The Demonic Clone Li Qi understood all of this perfectly. He understood himself better than anyone and knew what choices he would make under what circumstances.

Li Qi could be called a wise man, capable of planning the direction of a world, and his comprehension and planning abilities were commendable. Although he couldn't compare to those Great Powers who could manipulate the heavens and scheme the situations of endless worlds, at his grade, he was already considered top-tier.

Since Li Qi was like this, then 'he' was naturally also like this.

Therefore, he controlled everything, ultimately bringing about the current outcome.

He even knew that this was what the Heavenly Demon wanted him to do; the Heavenly Demon wanted Li Qi to willingly enter the Demonic Dao, and he was merely a chess piece.

But it didn't matter.

'He' himself was formed purely from Demonic Qi, and he understood Li Qi's physical structure and all his origins, including every detail of his Dao Foundation, as clearly and easily as lines in his palm. Therefore, integrating into Li Qi's Human Body Minor Heaven and Earth at this moment was natural and seamless, without the slightest sense of delay.

Even though Amitabha had cleared the Demonic Qi from his body, in order to successfully Possess Li Qi, he still chose to re-enter the Demonic Dao.

He entered the Demonic Dao Sixth Grade earlier than the true Li Qi! In the last battle with the Demonic Prince, he had already entered the Demonic Dao!

Possession seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

But at this moment, Li Qi suddenly stirred his cultivation, directly locking down the inside and outside of his Human Body Minor Heaven and Earth, sealing all his consciousness and cultivation! He seemed to be prepared!

This was a very dangerous thing, because the Demonic Prince was still nearby. For Li Qi to do this was to completely abandon all self-preservation abilities and entrust his life to the Demonic Prince.

If the Demonic Prince had ill intentions, then Li Qi would immediately die here.

However, to be honest.

Li Qi trusted the Demonic Prince. Even though he was of the Demonic Dao, Li Qi's sixth sense told him that the Demonic Prince would absolutely not attack someone who had lost the ability to resist.

And indeed, that was the case.

The Demonic Prince coughed twice, spitting out a pile of blood. His bamboo staff was almost shattered, but after all, it was formed from Earth Mother Dao Resonance, something he specifically sought out to compensate for his own physical defects, so it could temporarily maintain its shape.

Then, he patted the ink jade tiger pendant at his waist.

An ink jade fierce tiger leaped out from within.

It was actually a Fifth Grade!

This jade pendant was the Demonic Prince's Dao Protector!

However, the Demonic Prince did not command the fierce tiger to do anything, nor did he speak. Instead, he leaned against the ink jade fierce tiger, closed his eyes, and began to rest.

The battle between two wise men, what a pity it couldn't be seen, but… Li Qi was actually prepared for an invasion so early, truly impressive. He himself couldn't think that far ahead.

However, he should know the result after a nap, right?

As for losing this time… well, he lost. He wasn't someone who couldn't afford to lose. As long as he didn't die, it was fine.

He learned a lot this time, so next time he would go find the Little Heavenly Master.

After all, he had promised the Heavenly Demon to defeat ten people in a row, accumulate victory, and ascend to the Sixth Grade with a Hegemon's posture as his Dao Foundation…

He had underestimated the people of the world; he still needed to work hard. If one Li Qi was like this, then others probably wouldn't be easy to win against either, right?

Unfortunately, he lost the first match. Fortunately, no one knew.

As the Demonic Prince closed his eyes to rest…

At the same time—

Li Qi's consciousness sat at the head of his Human Body Minor Heaven and Earth, where the Sun and Moon Heavenly Gods resided at the top of the sky.

Dark Demonic Qi quietly spread here, then condensed into the appearance of another Li Qi.

“Sigh, I really didn't guess wrong.” Li Qi looked up at himself, formed from Demonic Qi.

Back then, the Five Aggregates Demonic Blood pushed him to the brink of death. He had no choice but to try to transmit his entire mind into the Demonic Clone, wanting to temporarily abandon his original body and act as the Demonic Clone, then break the Five Aggregates Demonic Blood's seal from the outside.

However, the result was that he did not transmit his mind, but rather copied a portion of his mind, giving birth to this Demonic Clone Li Qi. He possessed a body personally replicated by the Shaman God and a mind copied by Li Qi himself.

From a material perspective, he and Li Qi were exactly the same.

Of course, Li Qi, who could now view the world from the informational and Karma levels, could clearly distinguish the difference between the two.

Therefore, he had been guessing where this Demonic Clone had escaped to and had made many emergency plans, which were now coming into use.

The Demonic Clone also sat down, facing Li Qi's mind, and said, “Yes, but I also didn't guess wrong. You no longer have the strength to defeat me. As long as I cover your consciousness, then I will be the true Li Qi.”

“That's difficult. You calculated very accurately. I really can't kill you right now, but you can't do anything to me either.” As Li Qi spoke, lotus flowers suddenly rose around him, protecting his mind.

The Demonic Clone frowned slightly. He could naturally see that this was Buddha Qi protecting his body, the Medicine King Buddha's Buddha Qi…

Were the Buddhas watching here?

Was this also part of Heaven's Will?

The Demonic Clone and Li Qi's thoughts were almost synchronized; there was no difference between them, so they could even guess what the other was thinking, just like a person asking and answering himself.

However, Li Qi, out of caution, still prepared to communicate with the other party.

What he thought was, after all, what he thought; it wasn't necessarily truly the same as the other party. Even if it was the same, it had to be confirmed before speaking.

Obviously, if Li Qi thought this way, then the Demonic Clone naturally thought the same way.

Both sides decided to communicate through language, rather than playing their own game of “I guessed you” and “I guessed you too.”

So, the Demonic Clone said, “Yes, now the two of us seem to be trapped here. You've locked me here, but with me here, you can't come out either. You just advanced, and your Minor Heaven and Earth are unstable. If you show yourself, I will devour you.”

“How about it, stuck here? Waiting for rescue? See if they can distinguish between you and me?” The Demonic Clone laughed.

But Li Qi shook his head: “We are waiting for rescue, but not for those strange things, but for Yu'er.”

Hearing these two words, the Demonic Clone's smile faded, and he looked coldly at Li Qi.

“Alright, let's not talk about Yu'er. Why don't we exchange information? After all, no matter how similar we are, we are still two people.” Li Qi appeared even more composed than the Demonic Clone, without any sense of urgency about potentially being Possessed.

When the Demonic Clone saw him like this, although he wanted to get angry, he also knew the reaction after getting angry, so he shook his head and sighed: “Indeed, we two should communicate, but the content of the communication is not insights, but what happened to each of us. So, who goes first?”

“You start, since you initiated this.” Li Qi said.

The Demonic Clone nodded. Neither of them had any objections to this, nor did they care who spoke first, so the Demonic Clone Li Qi spoke first.

He said, “Hmm, after I separated from you, I met the Heavenly Demon, and then he took me to the Desire Realm.”

“In the Desire Realm, I experienced some things. My cultivation speed was roughly similar to yours. I understood what the true Demonic Dao was like, and then I saw the true Spirit Dao. After not long, the Heavenly Demon took me to a world cluster outside the domain.”

“Not simple, right? The Heavenly Demon personally took you.” Li Qi said.

“It's indeed not simple. I don't know if you've heard of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, the legendary Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss.” The Demonic Clone asked. “I've heard of it. I recently met a Buddhist disciple and heard about it from him.” Li Qi nodded.

The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, also known as the 'Amitabha Pure Land,' is a legendary place created by Amitabha.

To assist the Buddha in achieving the grand goal of 'Tathagata Awakening the World,' Amitabha made forty-eight great vows, guiding those who had awakened with lotus flowers and placing them in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, a world of solemnity, purity, and equality. All beings in this world cluster are 'supreme good people,' so they are free from all suffering, hence the name 'Ultimate Bliss.'

Li Qi couldn't help but imagine, how solemn must the Amitabha Pure Land be? It was probably beyond what ordinary worlds could compare to.

But he still listened intently as his Demonic Clone continued to speak.

“There, I obtained the Death Qi from the collapse of a Fourth Grade world, and then I met Amitabha.”

“You're really lucky, Amitabha…” Li Qi couldn't help but exclaim.

“It's very good. How about you switch with me?” The Demonic Clone sneered.

“No thanks, you continue.” Li Qi waved his hand.

“After that, I cultivated with the Buddha for a long time, suppressed my demonic thoughts, reorganized my Human Body Minor Heaven and Earth, then bid farewell to the Buddha and began to set up the plan to guide you here. Of course, it might not even be guidance, because I knew you would definitely come here.” The Demonic Clone Li Qi said.

“How did you guide me?” Li Qi asked again.

“Not difficult. I found Lord Tianhong in advance and, on the condition of helping him with his water problems, had him contact many people for me. Then, through these things, I guided you here step by step, including you boarding the Dao of Reason's ship, because I knew you would definitely go to the Ghost Gate to worship Shen Tu Yu Lei, so I also made a wish in advance, allowing you to comprehend the method of circulation.”

“So… Shen Tu Yu Lei didn't respond because of you? Then it seems there's no need for me to tell my story; you've probably already found out everything yourself.” Li Qi was speechless.

In other words, the Ghost Emperor's approval must have come this way, right?

The Demonic Clone Li Qi went to fulfill his wish in advance, and with the demand of fulfilling the wish, plus the True Dragon's request, Shen Tu Yu Lei then opened the Ghost Gate, allowing the entire treasure ship to be sent here.

So when Li Qi went to Mount Dushuo to worship, he didn't receive a direct response, because Shen Tu Yu Lei felt that the favor had been repaid and no longer intervened.

Many times, the two of them were essentially one person.

Everything had a traceable origin: the Human Dao dispatched the Dao of Reason's treasure ship, the True Dragon intervened, and the Demonic Dao acted in secret. It seemed that his continued survival at this moment also had a Great Power from Shaman God Mountain manipulating and planning behind the scenes.

It might even be Zhu Fengdan, though Li Qi himself didn't quite believe it. Given Zhu Fengdan's personality, she probably wouldn't know what was happening right now, either lying at home playing dead or going out to dig up someone's backyard.

“So, you're also a chess piece, just like me. We're no different. You did so much, but wasn't it all just to make a wedding dress for others? Ultimately, everything we did became a part of their plan. Don't you feel despair?”

“Are you asking yourself? Don't you know the answer?” The Demonic Clone Li Qi scoffed: “No matter how many people are manipulating our actions from behind, as long as the decision is mine, it doesn't matter.”

Li Qi nodded: “That's true. Then you should also be very clear, right? Your existence, that is the Heavenly Demon's goal. Haven't you discovered it yet? The meaning of your existence is to force me to advance to the Sixth Grade with the Demonic Dao as my Dao Foundation. The Heavenly Demon wants me, not you, but for this, you actually willingly entered the Demonic Dao. Why didn't you Possess me when I was Seventh Grade? Were you afraid of a fallback plan?”

The Demonic Clone stood up: “If I had acted when you were Seventh Grade, I wouldn't have been able to truly replace you. As for the Heavenly Demon… if I win, then what he wants will be me.”

“So after all that talk, you still can't wait? Didn't you say we should wait for Yu'er?” Li Qi watched him, making no move.

“Anyway, we can't get a result by fighting. Let's try it. What if there really is a gap between us? What if I'm really stronger than you?” The Demonic Clone said.

“Forget it, if you're happy, you can try.” Li Qi also stood up.

However, when Li Qi actually stood up, the Demonic Clone sighed.

Li Qi laughed: “See, we both think the same way. Neither of us likes to fight. Let's wait for outside help and see who they'll help.”

“You're right, let's wait then.” The Demonic Clone simply stopped his invasion: “However, it's your turn to tell your experience.”

Li Qi naturally didn't hold back and told him about his time at sea.

After such an exchange, the two of them simply passed the time.

After about six hours.

The Demonic Prince stretched and woke up from his slumber.

“Hmm? These two haven't decided a victor yet?” He looked at Li Qi, who was still floating in place, in surprise.

But at this very moment—

Suddenly, the space of the Underworld was abruptly torn apart by a violent force!

The entire plane shattered explosively, and a large gate was forcibly opened from the Human Realm. A furious rabbit with red eyes rushed out from within!