Chapter 531: The Strange Western Paradise

Li Qi didn't delay too long. After dealing with the last of his affairs, he set off for the West. This time, he traveled alone, as the planned itinerary didn't require much time.

Four months of travel, then the remaining time to visit the Great Powers of the West, receive their guidance, and then return home.

It was that simple.

As for Mountain Xuan Jade and Li Shiwei losing control of their emotions, Li Qi told Shen Shuibi about it before he left, and the rabbit would handle those matters properly.

Who would have thought that a large stone that had stood for two thousand years without cultivation would actually contain a piece of Mountain Xuan Jade inside?

Or rather, Mountain Xuan Jade was the true body, and the outer stone obscured his mind, making him appear foolish.

How interesting.

But Li Shiwei was very uninteresting. Although she was only half a year old and displayed the characteristic of her parents' love for thinking, which Li Qi liked very much, Li Qi found that she really couldn't control her emotions.

Perhaps this is what's called 'the innocence of a child.'

It is precisely because of innocence that it is particularly easy to be controlled by emotions.

When she was happy, she was extremely happy; when she was deep in thought, she was extremely focused; so... when she was angry, she was extremely frantic.

The stone was her friend, yet when she was angry, she completely forgot about it.

Shen Shuibi had to teach her control.

Li Qi, flying in mid-air, thought to himself.

However, as he thought, he suddenly became lost in thought.

Li Qi realized something.

If childish innocence was the reason for their many unwise actions, then what was the reason for Li Qi's own habit of thinking thrice before acting, of cautious conjecture and endless worry?

Children are innocent, so is Li Qi's conservatism... because he is not innocent?

Li Qi was good at thinking, and immediately, because of a small action from his daughter, he connected it to himself. If not being able to control emotions is innocence, then does being able to control emotions indicate overthinking?

And if one overthinks, can emotions not penetrate? Will not experiencing emotions, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness all become lighter? Will some of the driving forces disappear?

Li Qi knew that emotions were the driving force behind many things, and perhaps even... the driving force behind courage.

However, lacking other clues and hints, Li Qi could not continue his line of thought.

Thought is fire, and fire needs fuel to burn, and that fuel is your knowledge, your insight, your various experiences.

Thought without experience is mere fantasy; experience without thought is no different from a dead thing.

That is why a Sage of the Dao has a famous saying: 'Learning without thought is bewildering; thought without learning is perilous.'

Li Qi was in this very situation now. He wanted to delve deeper from this angle, but he found that he lacked the corresponding knowledge and experience, making it impossible to continue his thoughts.

So he could only give up.

"Alas, I still don't know much, have lived too short, and seen too little," Li Qi sighed. He had a good idea, but unfortunately, he was limited by his own knowledge and couldn't delve deeper.

Then he would just keep these things in mind. As for the lack of knowledge, wasn't going to the West precisely for that reason?

Li Qi thought about these things and continued to speed up.

The West and Shaman God Mountain are directly adjacent, so most of the time was spent rushing to Star-Mansion Array.

Shaman God Mountain is in the Southwest, while the Buddhist sect is in the far West, meaning they are in direct contact.

Arriving at Star-Mansion Array, he skillfully activated it, and with a whoosh, he arrived at the border between Shaman God Mountain and the West.

Crossing the border between the West and Shaman God Mountain, Li Qi looked into the distance.

Wow...

A desert, eh.

It really was a desert. No... it couldn't be called a desert, because it wasn't pure yellow sand; there were actually simple blades of grass and some碎石 on it.

To be precise, it should be called... a Gobi Desert?

The world is a roughly circular continent, floating in the boundless Void Realm. There is no concept of a world barrier; it is merely enveloped by a layer of astral winds, maintaining inner peace, and there is a downward gravity from an unknown source. Outside the astral wind layer, two equally sized Lunar and Solar bodies float, revolving around the world.

The terrain of this circular continent is high in the west and low in the east, so water naturally flows eastward, eventually merging into the East Sea, and then at the end of the East Sea, it plunges downward into the Void Realm, forming an unprecedentedly massive waterfall, which is then swept up by the astral wind layer and recirculated throughout the world.

Therefore, as the highest point, almost all the water in the West flows downwards, converging into the Central Plains, Southwest, and Northwest. It's not that there's no water here, but that the water quickly drains away. Under such erosion, this area naturally appears as a mix of desert and grassland.

A thin layer of rock fragments covered the earth, a trace of the massive water flow that had washed over it. Large expanses of sandstone, limestone, and chalk formed the ground, and some tenacious small grasses struggled to raise their heads from between the碎石.

The scenery was desolate. If people lived in such a place, it would probably not be very pleasant, right?

This reminded Li Qi of those desolate plateau rock deserts.

The Buddhist sect... didn't they say they were compassionate? Shouldn't they, like humanity, directly transform the natural environment to bring joy to everyone?

For the Great Powers of the world, altering the natural environment isn't too difficult, is it? Humanity's weather forecasts are divided by years; the weather for each day can be seen.

Then... why don't those compassionate Buddhas change the natural environment of the West? Instead, they let Mortals suffer in this environment?

Oh, perhaps he was overthinking; maybe it was only like this on the outside, and once inside, one would see the land made of seven treasures as described in the Buddhist scriptures.

Li Qi thought to himself.

So, he stepped forward and entered the West.

The surroundings were desolate, with some wild beasts and vegetation visible, but generally nothing special; it was a very ordinary place, and the great source of heaven and earth was not particularly strong.

Li Qi walked through the Gobi Desert for more than a day until he finally saw a bit of green. It was... an oasis in the rock desert?

If there was an oasis, there should be human habitation.

He quickly approached it, and in a moment, Li Qi saw the main body of the oasis.

It was roughly a few lakes, not very large, only about three or four li wide. In Shaman God Mountain, they would only be called bathing ponds, but in this place, they were already extremely precious.

Water is the source of life; for Mortals, water is indispensable.

Therefore, around this oasis, there were several markets, forming a settlement.

It should be a market, right? Li Qi could see many Mortals with rough skin and unnaturally flushed faces living inside.

Li Qi landed on the ground and, by blending into the natural world, walked towards it.

They were all Mortals, so naturally, they couldn't see him. Li Qi entered the market like this, observing their daily lives.

This observation lasted for two days.

Li Qi moved through the Mortal world like a mysterious ghost, examining the conditions of the Mortals everywhere.

However, no matter how he looked, these Mortals... were all very ordinary.

This was not an agricultural society but a nomadic life, moving with water and grass. From their appearance, this oasis was not always present; it only existed during this season.

When this oasis dried up, they would move to another place.

Li Qi inferred this from their houses; their dwellings were not of the permanent type, but tents and some makeshift structures that could be easily dismantled and moved.

At the same time, there were many livestock, clearly indicating a nomadic people.

Among these people, there were naturally cultivators, but most were around the ninth rank, predominantly practicing Martial Arts. Only a few Monks practiced Buddha-Dharma, or rather... the Dao of Enlightenment.

The strongest in the entire settlement was an eighth-rank Martial Artist, a middle-aged woman referred to by others as 'Mama.' She wielded two curved sabers, which were quite powerful for an eighth-rank, but in Li Qi's view, she still fell within the Mortal category, the kind who trained on her own and relied entirely on talent and luck for advancement. If she could reach the seventh rank, she might be able to come into contact with the true world of cultivators.

In other words, this settlement didn't even have a single truly systematic cultivator.

Li Qi was very, very confused.

Admittedly, whether ordinary people can embark on the path of cultivation depends on whether the Dao Orthodoxy itself is willing to spread its teachings.

For example, in the human Dao Orthodoxy, their academies offer completely free education, and it's compulsory. Everyone must go through the academy's education, where the human Dao Orthodoxy's philosophy and corresponding cultivation methods are imparted. From cultivation resources to cultivation methods to teachers, everything is handled by the imperial court.

In other words, for the human Dao Orthodoxy, these residents are born knowing the existence of the cultivator world, and everyone is a part of it, feeling nothing strange about it. Everyone can cultivate, and the cost and resources for cultivation are supported by the human Dao Orthodoxy's rampant plundering throughout the outer regions and even the entire world.

Within Shaman God Mountain, whether you can embark on the path of cultivation depends on your luck. Shaman God Mountain does not prohibit the spread of any Dao Orthodoxy, even including the human Dao Orthodoxy. You can theoretically come into contact with all Dao Orthodoxys, as long as the other party is willing to accept you. Shaman Dao does not actively spread, but it also won't stop you from cultivating. That's why Li Qi often sees mountain dwellers leaving the mountains to seek teachers.

With the human and Shaman Dao Dao Orthodoxys being like this, other Dao Orthodoxys naturally have different attitudes. The demon race is keen on enlightening all things and turning them into demons. Dao Orthodoxy, on the other hand, is extremely strict with Mortals, not only preventing other Dao Orthodoxys from spreading their teachings but also unwilling to cultivate new talents themselves. It is very difficult for Mortals living within the Dao Orthodoxy's sphere of influence to cultivate.

Li Qi is still very curious about their talent screening mechanism. Could it be... that there isn't one?

And the Buddhist sect here was even stranger.

Li Qi had never seen such a strange scene; there was no one blocking anything, truly no one. Li Qi roamed the vicinity and found that the original cultivation Dao Orthodoxys in this place were quite numerous.

He saw some shamans who could communicate with spirits, which were essentially primitive Shaman, but Shaman Dao had long since moved beyond this primitive stage and had already progressed. He didn't know how the shaman Legacy here had been preserved.

He also saw many Daoist Art, not the kind from Dao Orthodoxy, but a primitive technique similar to Talisman, very much like the embryonic form of Talisman, but vastly different from the Divine Talisman of today's Dao Orthodoxy, like the difference between a single-celled organism and a blue whale.

This situation reminded Li Qi of something Shen Shuibi told him a long, long time ago, when they first met.

Spreading the Dao throughout the world.

Once, many great Dao Orthodoxys decided to spread their teachings throughout the world, but later a great disaster occurred, so they canceled it. However, this event caused fragments of many Dao Orthodoxys to scatter everywhere, becoming cultivation methods that many ordinary people relied on for survival.

In places like Baiyue and those areas under Dao Orthodoxy where cultivators were hard to access, the productivity of ordinary people was almost entirely maintained by these fragmented cultivation methods.

"No way, the Buddhist sect is compassionate and extremely enthusiastic about spreading the Dharma, building temples all over the world, so why is their own territory like this?" Li Qi muttered to himself, feeling bewildered.

The Buddhist sect's fondness for spreading the Dharma is known worldwide; they even take pleasure in it, which is why many people view it as a way of orchestrating Karma.

On the demon race side, they produced a Buddhist Son, and later cooperated with the Heavenly Court, forcefully converting a Great Sage of the Demon Race into a Buddha.

On the human Dao Orthodoxy side, the eminent Monk Kasyapa Matanga, single-handedly traveled to Luoyang, established the White Horse Temple, and founded the famous 'Buddhist Source of the Central Plains,' spreading the Dharma in the Central Plains.

On the Divine Qi side, the Buddhist sect also has a close relationship with the Heavenly Court. The legendary Four Greats Heavenly Kings—the Guardian King, the Growth King, the Wide-Eyed King, and the Much-Hearing King—are the Four Greats Dharma Protector Gods of the Buddhist sect and also the guardians of the Heavenly Court's great gate, eternally guarding the Heavenly Court's gate with their vast and boundless magical power, showing the connection between them.

There's no need to mention the True Dragon side; the Eight Dragon Kings are well-known, and many Dragon Kings have become forces under the Buddhist sect. In the past, Li Qi even saw that visualization diagram, which contained the thoughts of fifty-seven billion True Dragon.

Not to mention these, even on the Dao Orthodoxy side, they also had a high-ranking Bodhisattva who went to apprentice under a Heavenly Venerable, achieving the status of both Bodhisattva and Heavenly Immortal through the method of "Buddhist Immortals are of the same origin, the Mani jewel condenses from Divine Qi, and refining the Golden Core leads to enlightenment."

Furthermore, there's no need to mention the entanglements with the Demonic Dao. Buddhist scriptures even widely publicize the weaknesses of the Demonic Dao, pointing out its origins, even revealing the origins of the Four Demons and methods to break them.

This kind of behavior, scattering seeds all over the world, spreading the Dharma everywhere, as if eager to grab a loudspeaker and shout in the streets, would they do nothing in their own territory and let these Mortals grow naturally?

Li Qi was at a loss, but after observing for a few days, he couldn't see anything wrong.

Perhaps lifting the True Knowledge Dao Resonance's restraints would reveal something else, but it wasn't necessary.

These matters should be answered when he encounters a true Buddhist cultivator.

Li Qi already knew where the Buddhist cultivators here came from; they all obtained it from an organization called 'Nyingma.'

This organization, Nyingma, always wears red hats and spreads Buddha-Dharma everywhere. From time to time, Nyingma Monks would come to these settlements to preach, and if there were intelligent ones, they would be able to comprehend Buddha-Dharma and embark on the path of cultivation.

Li Qi did not plan to wait for Nyingma in this settlement.

He decided to go find them himself.