Chapter 558: Reflection (8K chapter)

Li Shiwei was currently lost in thought, eyes closed.

The Nine Lands Under Heaven, in fact, also considered itself a civilization.

But at the same time, the Nine Lands Under Heaven acknowledged other worlds as civilizations.

This could be clearly seen in Li Qi; in the Holy Flame World, Li Qi never disregarded the Holy Flame World's civilization. He even frankly acknowledged their 'Dao' and, in all his choices, Li Qi never thought of destroying and replacing the Holy Flame World's Dao, opting instead for cooperation.

Now, as a Sixth Grade world, the Holy Flame World had become the commercial hub of that cluster of worlds, and with its Sacred Flame specialties, its days were much better than before. They still maintained their 'traditions,' which was their own Dao.

The death of the Ancient Holy King still secured a good future for the Holy Flame World. The Holy Flame Clan remained the Holy Flame Clan, not cultivating the Dao of the Nine Lands Under Heaven.

The Nine Lands Under Heaven never forced other worlds to change their Dao Orthodoxy. All forced rule was actually individual behavior; even the Human Dao wouldn't compel these worlds to alter their Dao Orthodoxy. There was no need to force it, after all... either they joined voluntarily, or they became resources.

Of course, for the Human Dao, if you had no redeeming qualities, those civilizations were generally treated as 'natural resources.' When needed, they would be directly harvested, not even qualifying to join.

This feeling was somewhat like Li Shiwei.

Oh, Li Shiwei didn't qualify; it should be said that she was like the Human Dao.

However, broadly speaking, aside from the Human Dao, in the eyes of the many great Dao Orthodoxys of the Nine Lands Under Heaven, its own civilization and other civilizations had no fundamental difference, although the Nine Lands Under Heaven was generally much stronger.

Only a few First Grade worlds could match the Nine Lands Under Heaven' second-tier Dao Orthodoxy in terms of strength.

As for the great Dao Orthodoxy of the Nine Lands Under Heaven, it had no rivals. No one could contend with the Nine Lands Under Heaven, not even a First Grade world.

The most pinnacle First Grade worlds might have multiple First Grades, stronger than the Dao of Reason and Martial Dao, but still couldn't compare to the Nine Lands Under Heaven. Yet, the Nine Lands Under Heaven treated them all equally, calling them civilizations.

This meant that Li Shiwei... was at least more arrogant than the Eight Lands of the Nine Lands Under Heaven.

The Eight Lands of the Nine Lands Under Heaven viewed these worlds as equal existences, while Li Shiwei, like the Human Dao, regarded them as insignificant things, merely raw material and resources for her advancement.

Li Shiwei had never truly looked at civilizations, nor had she ever truly valued genuine civilizational history.

She called them civilizational histories, but... did she truly consider them civilizations?

A name doesn't represent the essence.

If she couldn't even properly observe and understand civilizational history, how could she hope to comprehend and discover the commonalities within it to serve as her Dao foundation?

Thinking of this, a cold sweat involuntarily broke out on Li Shiwei's body.

She opened her eyes, recalling the civilizational histories she had read, the ones countless worlds had respectfully presented to her when she worked in the merchant guild.

She had devoured these civilizational histories in a haphazard manner, believing she understood all of them, seeing all their history, conflicts, development, and progress.

But... did she truly see them?

She was merely imagining things, wasn't she? She didn't even know if all these research results were fabricated.

If she truly used such things as her Dao foundation, then... how unstable would this Dao foundation be? Would it directly collapse just by seeing a real civilization with her own eyes?

Was there any need for a Dao foundation that could collapse so easily? Was there any need to delve deeper? What Dao was she cultivating? What Dao was her current cultivation revolving around?

Upon careful reflection, the Dao her cultivation revolved around was actually the Dao Resonance she was born with. She had inherited her father's and mother's Dao Orthodoxy, was Ninth Grade at birth, and reached Eighth Grade after only a few years of cultivation.

To this day, all the power in her entire body stemmed from the Dao she was born with. These Dao were like the savage beasts born of Dao; they were her instincts, requiring no understanding. She would naturally act in accordance with these Dao, including her style of doing things, temperament, preferences, and even physical condition.

For example, her eyes would change color according to the moon phases from birth. This was because the eyes themselves were the sun and moon of a person's small world, and her personal small world naturally carried the Dao Resonance of the Great Yin, thus causing this change.

Thinking of this, Li Shiwei opened her eyes, just as Li Qi had seen her when she was six months old, and fell into contemplation.

That... Lu De, right? Li Shiwei knew, because Shi Tou had mentioned his name.

Lu De could propose these things, but she hadn't seen them, which was enough to explain a lot.

In the decade or so she had been in Boundless Outer Domain, had she truly made any progress?

Had her cultivation improved?

No, she hadn't. All the methods, techniques, and skill she currently used were taught by her parents.

Had her thinking improved? She thought she had, but Shi Tou's angry rebuke suddenly made her realize that her ideas... seemed to be inferior to a native, a native she had completely ignored.

She didn't despise natives; rather, she... ignored them. She didn't think natives were worthy of contempt, but Li Shiwei also didn't think natives were worthy of importance. Her attitude was one of complete indifference.

To her, this was a game.

And she, incredibly, had the outlandish idea of using things from a game as her Dao foundation?

Right, that's it.

A Dao foundation was an incredibly solemn thing, a crucial and almost unchangeable choice in life. She actually knew this and remembered it very clearly, because both her parents had told her these things.

Therefore, back in the Hunter Sea World, after receiving the reverence of the entire world, she could have directly used faith to condense a golden body and reach Seventh Grade, but she directly extinguished the choice of the Divine Dao.

Because she knew that the Divine Dao was incompatible with her personality. If she walked the Divine Dao, her Dao Heart would surely become unstable and conflict-ridden in the future, leading to a host of problems.

But now?

Now... she was still choosing to use the commonalities of civilizational history as her Dao foundation, even though she knew such problems might arise.

She treated civilizations and civilizational history as a game, which was equivalent to building a Dao foundation with toys!

It was absurd. If anyone else had done such a thing, she would surely have mocked them mercilessly, but now she had unknowingly done such a foolish thing!

After self-reflection, the Little rabbit finally realized what she was doing.

Then, she directly reached out and slapped herself.

You can look down on native worlds, but you cannot look down on them while simultaneously relying on them.

Stupid, truly stupid.

If you truly intend to use this as your Dao foundation, then you must face these worlds with a serious attitude, because you are not facing natives, but the manifestation of 'Dao' in these native worlds.

Since these native worlds can serve as the manifestation of 'Dao,' it means they share commonalities with your cultivation and future Dao foundation!

Your attitude towards them reflects your attitude towards your own Dao path.

It's also like what Shi Tou said.

If she and that native named Lu De swapped Origins, could she compare to him?

If not, then why look down on others? Merely because of the Dao Resonance she inherited from her parents?

Li Shiwei suddenly woke up, slapping herself several more times.

She immediately got up, ready to leave.

She planned to dismantle her impractical Triangular Eye organization and destroy all the unannounced relics and forged records, documents, and the like.

This world had never had a Triangular Eye.

Doing such things was both deceiving the natives and deceiving herself.

Deceiving the natives was fine, but if she deceived herself as well, then it wouldn't be fun.

Thinking this, she quickly left her hiding place and rushed towards where she had set up the relics.

The place where the relics were set up was a four-day journey from her hiding place. If she hurried, she could get there in just two days. That place was located in the central area between two nations, a no-man's-land, very suitable for such secret relics.

Along the way, due to her urgency, she even forgot to reply to Shi Tou.

However, upon arriving at that place, which had been peaceful before, heavy troops had already amassed.

This made Li Shiwei frown. She cast a spell to notify Shi Tou, but saw in the spell that Shi Tou had already sent several messages.

Those messages were all urging Li Shiwei.

So, Li Shiwei stood outside the heavily guarded area and began to send a message to Shi Tou.

“I understand what you mean. I’ve decided to destroy the Triangular Eye. It’s just that the relics are surrounded by soldiers now. What’s the reason? Do you have any news?”

After a while, Shi Tou sent a message: “Ah? No way? Boss, you arranged your relics at the border? That seems to be a battlefield. This is bad, it seems this conflict was proposed by Lu De!”

“No one manages the border, so of course I’d do it here. Also, he proposed it?” Li Shiwei was a bit anxious.

“It’s a long story. You should find a chance to withdraw. Don’t worry about the Triangular Eye; it’s useless anyway,” Shi Tou messaged.

“No, all my promotional Materials are ready inside. If I don’t destroy them, and they’re exposed on the battlefield, it’ll be counterproductive. Sigh, never mind, we’ll talk about it when I get back. These are just ordinary soldiers; they might not be able to find me. I should be fine if I sneak in,” Li Shiwei said, then abruptly cut off the communication spell.

Then, Li Shiwei wrote an invisibility Talisman, pasted it over her heart, and instantly vanished into the shadows, leaving no trace.

Ordinary soldiers, and even those so-called Senior Instructor, could not possibly see her.

After all, under normal circumstances, a Senior Instructor was already the top combat power in this world, but they were merely Ninth Grade or Eighth Grade, far inferior to Li Shiwei.

After making this judgment, Li Shiwei used an earth-traveling spell to move underground.

Invisibility combined with earth-traveling was very safe and covert.

Indeed, everything went smoothly. She easily arrived at the relics she had set up.

These relics were located inside an inconspicuous small hill, built in a cavity Li Shiwei had excavated within the hill.

“I must destroy them quickly.” She activated her spell.

But just at this moment—

With a booming sound!

A tremendous force erupted from outside, and a powerful shockwave swept through the surroundings, blowing the entire hilltop away!

Li Shiwei was also directly flung out. Startled, she finally managed to stabilize herself, floating in mid-air, and looked towards the source of the attack.

She saw a burly man in armor, standing on the relics, saying indifferently: “Ah, I wondered why there was a special energy fluctuation. Turns out there’s a rat... a Senior Instructor-level person? It’s impossible not to have a name. Speak, who are you, and why are you at the border between the two nations?”

Li Shiwei's pupils dilated.

Seventh Grade Martial Dao!

This was bad. Her previous guess was that none of the detection methods in this world could detect her.

But she forgot about the intuition of a Martial Artist! These muscular gorillas could even think purely with their muscles!

However, the Martial Artist's Divine Ability wasn't enough; she could still run!

Throwing out a stack of Talismans, she directly transformed into a streak of light and vanished, taking advantage of the Martial Artist's disadvantage in long-range combat to make a direct escape!

Li Shiwei fled quickly, and the Martial Artist did not pursue, because he himself knew that chasing a desperately fleeing Senior Instructor was very difficult, and he couldn't fly.

However, this Martial Artist looked at the surrounding relics—

“This place... is the Triangular Eye? What is the Triangular Eye?” He picked up a document from among the relics and shouted to the outside: “Issue an order to find out what this relic cluster is!”

This was a coincidence.

She had Shi Tou find someone to be the spokesperson for the Triangular Eye, so Shi Tou chose Lu De.

Because of Lu De's suggestion, she decided to destroy those relics and re-examine her Dao path.

However, also because of Lu De's suggestion, the Royal Guard decided to go to war, and the battlefield... happened to be in the area where the relics were located.

Then, she thought that Senior Instructor wouldn't discover her, so she stubbornly came to the outside of the relics, but who came was a Seventh Grade Martial Artist relying on intuition.

If she hadn't come in the first place, she might not have been exposed. If she hadn't looked for Lu De, nothing might have happened at this moment.

But everything she did, perfectly pushed her into her current predicament.

What a coincidence this was.

Now, these relics had been discovered.

The Triangular Eye was exposed. Her envisioned publicity, amidst a series of coincidences, was forced to begin.

Five days passed.

The existence of the Triangular Eye instantly spread everywhere.

The reason was simple: this organization was simply too shocking.

According to numerous ancient texts, this organization had infiltrated many nations, with a startling proportion of its members in high-level positions in various countries, acting as the behind-the-scenes manipulators of nations and their leadership.

In their own claims, they were the first organization to master 'techniques' and the closest to True Knowledge. Many deceased, legendary Senior Instructor were members of theirs.

Their long-term strategic goal was to establish a unified force that would unite the world. They believed that the division between nations was a deformity. The names of their contemporary members were not recorded in ancient texts, but from the names of their ancient members, it could be seen that their influence spread quite widely.

If what they said was true, then... this 'Triangular Eye' was an indescribable monstrous organization.

— — — — — — — —

It was widely known that this world was divided into seven parts by world barriers, forming seven layers. They called each layer a 'nation'.

At this very moment, in the borderlands of three nations, the true ancients, those great Seventh Grade beings, had gathered because of this matter.

“The Triangular Eye is absolutely a lie. I’ve lived for a thousand years and have never heard of any Triangular Eye. Besides… he said Qifen was also a member of the Triangular Eye, but I personally watched him grow up and then die. He absolutely couldn’t have joined this organization,” the reclusive sage said.

“Perhaps, but there were people in that ruin, and a legendary hero who had already Broken through the shackles of the mortal body couldn’t keep that person, which means the other party is at least a Senior Instructor or above,” another person chimed in.

However, another hero who had long since gone into seclusion spoke with concern, “And, everyone has seen these techniques. These are… techniques that point directly to the Origin. Have you ever seen anything like this? Look at this rune arrangement, look at this extremely simplified design. Who among us here can create such a thing?”

These words caused the atmosphere to freeze.

Yes, no one could do it. The techniques found in that ruin completely surpassed the level that this world should possess, just like if Earth dug up usable blueprints for a controllable nuclear fusion power plant from the ground.

You say the other party is fake?

Then how do you explain this controllable nuclear fusion generator?

At this moment, a Martial Artist dressed simply, looking like a villager, said, “The other party might be some strange organization, but it’s definitely unrelated to history. You and I both come from history, especially God Emperor. You’ve lived for twelve thousand years, watching over our three kingdoms since the dawn of civilization. Do you think… the traces of this Triangular Eye in history are reliable?”

The man called God Emperor, dressed in luxurious robes, propped his chin with one hand, his eyes deep, and whispered, “In history, I have never seen such an organization. It should be fabricated, but those ruins and the documents within them are certainly not fake. They are indeed technologies beyond ours. So, I think there are two possibilities.”

“First, ‘Beasts’ are trying to do something, and we discovered it. But there’s a problem: Beasts… they can’t have Senior Instructors. No Senior Instructor would ever defect to the Beasts.”

“Second, do you remember, about a year ago, the sky fell once?”

As soon as these words were spoken, all the immortal legends present were startled.

Yes, they had almost forgotten about this matter.

It wasn't that their memories were poor, but because after that sky-falling incident, there had been no further news, and even the vague illusions had disappeared.

Even Heavenly Dao itself no longer reacted to this matter.

After all, Heavenly Dao has True Knowledge but no consciousness. Although it has instinctive reactions, it doesn't possess any thinking ability. After the world barrier was breached, it didn't continue to feel threatened, so it gradually calmed down.

The calming of Heavenly Dao also meant that the feeling of vexation in the hearts of these local First Grade existences would disappear.

When Heavenly Dao was in turmoil, they could feel the world's unease. As part of the world, various ominous premonitions would appear. But nearly a year had passed, and there had been no natural disasters, no wars, and certainly no actual invasions… Naturally, when encountering such internal world matters, they subconsciously ignored this possibility.

But now, the ancient one known as God Emperor brought up this possibility.

This truly was… “Could it be that there really is an eighth kingdom?” others asked.

And God Emperor shook his head, looking up at the sky.

Are there really only… eight kingdoms?

Meanwhile, where Li Shiwei was located.

The Little rabbit was completely dejected.

With the exposure of the Triangular Eye, the reason why her cultivation hadn't advanced an inch for the past decade or so was also found.

But such a blow made her instantly feel… like she was a waste.

Li Shiwei wandered aimlessly through this world. The invisibility Talisman made her unseen by those around her, so she roamed like a ghost.

Her mind was deep in thought, a kind of contemplation that made her completely forget about the outside world, much like the deep thoughts Li Qi often fell into.

It was just that when Li Qi was in deep thought, he would subconsciously activate True Knowledge Dao Resonance to scan his surroundings, but Li Shiwei didn't have that luxury or that function.

In her contemplation, she reflected on every single event that had happened during her decade or so away from home.

She went to Hunter Sea World to be a hero, she presided over justice for various civilizations, she became a middle-level executive in a business association, and she easily read thousands of civilization histories.

These so-called achievements… was Li Shiwei truly indispensable in them?

It seemed not. Even if it wasn't Li Shiwei, but another child born to Li Qi, even if that child was incredibly stupid, they could still achieve these things, because these matters were actually accomplished by borrowing Li Qi's power.

After realizing this, she found a desolate patch of land and sat down.

Aside from relying on her father's legacy, she had achieved nothing on her own, not even surpassing that native named Lu De. At least Lu De had entered the research institute on his own, and although he was bullied there, it was still a class ascent.

Everything she had done in Boundless Outer Domain for the past decade or so was like the lie of the Triangular Eye she had single-handedly created—superficial and unreal.

It was called a Dao foundation, but the word 'foundation' must be solid.

Were the things she had done solid?

At this thought, she clutched her head.

Was she… truly useless?

But at this moment, wind began to blow around her.

Li Shiwei immediately tensed up!

These winds were unnatural; they were winds caused by spells!

She immediately stood up, without a moment's hesitation, directly clasped her hands in a spell, pulled out a Talisman, and struck it towards a direction.

The Talisman ignited in the air, and then a bird's cry was heard. A golden crow's phantom flashed past, and suddenly a divine light erupted, half-gold and half-white, rising slowly and round like the midday red sun.

In an instant, wind and thunder roared! The phantom smashed in front of the approaching figure with a boom. A figure was directly sent flying backward, the protective spell on his body shattered layer by layer, and he flew through the air for a while before falling to the ground, his spirit and vitality wilting.

However, he didn't die.

Li Shiwei was also stunned, frozen in place, and did not pursue.

According to the style she had cultivated among Boundless Outer Domain civilizations, she should have immediately followed up with a killing blow.

Because she had sensed that this strike should have been enough to instantly kill the opponent, turning him into dust, but a layer of defensive spell had flashed on his body.

It was the World's Mountain Condensation Spell. She knew this move. Were there other people from the World here?

Li Shiwei retracted her hand and cautiously approached that direction.

But then she saw a streak of light fly out, speeding towards Li Shiwei!

Seeing this, Li Shiwei, however, breathed a sigh of relief and allowed the streak of light to fly towards her.

Indeed, it was Stone.

“Boss, you hit a bit too hard. Do you have any Ambrosia Talismans? I need them to save someone,” Stone said.

Li Shiwei relaxed, found a wooden stake to sit on, then took out a stack of Talismans, searched through them, found the Ambrosia Talisman, threw it to Stone, and then asked, “That… is that Lu De you mentioned?”

Stone floated in mid-air, vibrating the air as he said, “Yes, that’s Lu De. I couldn’t reach you these past few days, so I asked Lu De to find you. Luckily, he found you. I’ll talk more later; I need to save him first.”

Stone flew over again and placed the Ambrosia Talisman on Lu De's body, and Lu De's injuries began to heal.

Seeing this, Stone flew up and went towards Li Shiwei.

There was no need to worry about Lu De anymore, because for those below First Grade, as long as they weren't dead and their physical Origin wasn't too depleted, the Ambrosia Talisman could save them, though it would take an hour or two to take effect.

And during this time, he could have a good talk with the boss.

Stone flew in front of Li Shiwei: “I couldn’t reach you these past few days. From what I know of your personality, Boss, you should be assessing the situation, right?”

Li Shiwei nodded upon hearing this, then sighed, “Yes… but after assessing it, I feel it’s absurd.”

Stone sighed and said, “How should I put it… Boss, you were with me right after you were born. It’s no problem to say we grew up together. I think I understand you quite well.”

“Hmm? What do you want to say?” Li Shiwei asked.

“I just wanted to say that you initially overestimated your own importance, and now, you must be underestimating your importance again. Your best friend, Zhang You, I think she’s very good. Why don’t you… reminisce about her?” Stone said.

“Too light? Is it too light? But look, if I swapped places with anyone, they could achieve all my current accomplishments. Is that light?” Li Shiwei looked up and asked.

“Yes, that’s correct. If you swapped places with anyone, they could achieve what you have done now, but the question is, would they do it?” Stone countered.

Then, without waiting for Li Shiwei's reaction, Stone continued, “If it were someone else, would they go to the business association? Would they become a hero? Would they preside over justice for thousands of civilizations? They might receive Invoker's legacy, but they wouldn't necessarily do the things you've done.”

“You were able to do these things because of Invoker's legacy, there’s no doubt about that. But… you didn’t choose to do these things because of Invoker's legacy. All the causes of these things were your own choices, weren't they? I think that choice and process are equally important.”

Stone spoke these things, which were also his own recognized views.

Indeed, almost all of Li Shiwei's abilities so far came from her father, but what she did with those abilities was her own business; no one forced her.

Therefore, whether it was the ‘hero’ on the giant ship or the fool who concocted the Triangular Eye at this moment, these were all things she did using those abilities.

If it were someone else, even with the same abilities, they wouldn't do the same things.

So, Li Shiwei wasn't without anything. Her experiences weren't bestowed by her father but were forged through her own endeavors.

Hearing Stone's words, Li Shiwei was stunned.

Then, she fell into deep thought again.

Only this time, she seemed to feel something… genuine.

Yes, she felt a ‘sense of participation’ for the first time.

Recalling the past, those hero games no longer seemed like hero games. This world, too, seemed to have become real.

Though not solid, it was genuine.

At the same time, Stone saw Li Shiwei, who had fallen into contemplation, and like Li Qi in the past, he set up a force field to block out the surrounding noise and disturbances.

Let her think for herself.

And he himself had to go check on Lu De. The effect of the Ambrosia Talisman should be good, right? After all, the Talismans on the boss were all personally written stroke by stroke by Moon Goddess.

Although they were all low-level Talismans, they were First Grade handwritten items, considered treasures even in the heavens, and quite valuable in the World. They were Moon Goddess's protective items for the boss, and they weren't consumables; they could be used repeatedly.

Thinking this, Stone floated to the other side.

Thus, time continued to move forward.

After a day of contemplation, Li Shiwei had a Breakthrough. Her Dao Heart became clear, and her decade-long experiences finally underwent a transformation at this moment.

She… wanted to witness true civilization, not a game, but to personally come into this world and see all aspects of a civilization, to witness how a race, in this Boundless Outer Domain, shines its own light of civilization, and to see how they, in their own way, make the 'World' willing to share the same appellation with them.

Li Shiwei left, but Stone continued to follow Lu De.

Lu De's body was perfectly intact, lively and energetic, and even his Origin Qi had been replenished. The First Grade handwritten Talisman had greatly improved his Aptitude.

He didn't ask who Li Shiwei was, because he was almost convinced of the Triangular Eye.

The reason… was also very simple.

News of the Triangular Eye had spread, and a legendary hero had truly found the ruins of the Triangular Eye.

Visibly, this world… was about to descend into chaos.

Because the technologies and high-end techniques from the Triangular Eye ruins had already spread.

Lu De felt that he needed to prepare quickly, otherwise, he might not be able to keep up with the times.

This world, because of such an accident and coincidence, was about to progress.

Regardless of what those things actually were, Li Shiwei would no longer think about them.

She was preparing to view a true civilization from the perspective of a real, distinct, living person, to observe firsthand how a civilization stands in the starry sky, how it pioneers its own knowledge system in the wilderness, and how countless people collectively create a brand new ‘Dao’.

Their Civilization’s ‘Dao’.

This was actually what Li Qi initially did in that First Grade resource world, the Earth Oil Realm.

In the Earth Oil Realm, Li Qi very seriously observed the civilization of that world.

This was observing the Dao.

Observing the Dao does not necessarily mean observing a Great Power.

How many so-called Great Powers can contend with an entire civilization, with the wisdom of countless people?

Li Shiwei had previously thought that a Great Power was stronger than the world.

But Lu De's existence had slapped her in the face.

The native saw things she couldn't see.

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