Chapter 585: Zhang You? Zhang Lan?

Li Qi opened his eyes, feeling his own power.

He could feel that his body was drawing closer to the direction of a ‘God’.

Moreover… about one-tenth of the Dao principles of the Human Dao had also dissipated.

It seemed insignificant, but that was one-tenth of the Third-Rank Great Dao that Li Qi had absorbed! The proportion might not seem like much, but the total amount was quite impressive.

The reason was simple: previously, all the Qi in Li Qi’s Inner World as a human was ‘meticulously planned’ by Li Qi.

This included the Human Dao Dao principles, which Li Qi also planned, to create a stable Inner World and prevent Dao conflicts.

But now, with the help of Chaos Qi, and based on Li Qi’s own ‘Dao’, the Inner World had self-evolved, and the traces of the Human Dao had imperceptibly disappeared by one-tenth.

At the same time, the self-evolved inner body spirits, while losing some regulatory functions—for instance, Li Qi had previously actively arranged for them to manage mountains and rivers and maintain internal tranquility—

these self-evolved inner body spirits did not constantly manage mountains and rivers; instead, they followed their instincts, actively tidying up anything that seemed out of order. It seemed that this task, which was once ‘work’ forcibly assigned by Li Qi, had become the ‘hobby’ of these inner body spirits.

This was also the most miraculous point.

The inner body spirits had no consciousness; in the past, they could even be said to be mere machines created by Li Qi. But now, these unconscious machines had developed ‘hobbies’.

In other words, they were ignorant and unaware, yet they possessed灵 (spiritual essence) and could react.

They had transformed into a form similar to the Heavenly Dao in an ordinary world, or a true ‘God’.

So, this was the true meaning of the name ‘inner body spirits’.

The inner body spirits were true ‘Gods’, not artificial imitations of gods. Previously, Li Qi’s inner body spirits had no divine essence; they were mechanical and full of craftsmanship.

But now, after being reshaped, these inner body spirits truly possessed the appearance of Gods, and their efficiency greatly increased, making the entire Inner World more vibrant.

Previously, a difficult problem had always stumped Li Qi: transforming the illusory into the real. Li Qi had pondered for a long time, not knowing how to transform his Inner World into a real world. He thought it was because his ‘Dao’ was not perfect; because it wasn't perfect, it wasn't close enough to a real world, and thus he couldn't transform the illusory into the real.

For this, he constantly debugged, constantly observed the real world, using his outstanding intellect to forcefully simulate and approach the appearance of the real world, using various methods to perfect it, imitating reality as much as possible, in order to transform the illusory into the real.

However, now it seemed… all these methods had actually taken the wrong path, the direction was completely wrong.

There was no need to use intellect to approach reality, because no matter how much you deduce with your mind, you can never deduce the conditions of reality. It’s better to return to the ‘beginning’ and let the ‘beginning’ evolve on its own. The final result will be the most natural and harmonious state.

Thus, what remained was not approximation, but supplementing the various Materials required by a real world. Once the Materials reached Perfection, then Fifth-Rank would be a natural progression.

Of course, it sounds simple, but it is also difficult.

On the path of cultivation, the most difficult part is ‘comprehension’. After all, this cannot be faked; if you comprehend it, you comprehend it, if you don’t, you don’t. No one can help you, at most they can give you a hint, and even then, they fear saying too much and leading you astray.

The second most difficult part is the effort of gradual accumulation.

Anyone can do this, everyone can do this. Theoretically, everyone can achieve many seemingly impossible things through their own diligence and hard work.

But, how many can truly achieve it?

Just like Li Qi’s current task of gradual accumulation, transforming the illusory into the real, if he truly wanted to accomplish it, Li Qi couldn’t even estimate the time it would take.

It might be much longer than all the time he had spent cultivating so far.

But…

At least there was hope. For Li Qi’s will, as long as there was a goal and a clear path, then no matter how many difficulties, they would not be difficult.

Having touched the threshold of Fifth-Rank, and incidentally alleviated the Human Dao Dao Resonance within his body, Li Qi let out a long breath and opened his eyes.

Fifteen years passed in but a blink of an eye.

He was now increasingly accustomed to the passage of time, just as a child feels a semester is endlessly long, but an old person feels that life passes in the blink of an eye.

As time passed, people became more and more numb to the perception of time.

After opening his eyes, Li Qi got up, set up an altar, offered sacrifices, and then, facing the Chaos Qi in the sky, performed a sacrifice to it with the rituals of offering to a god.

Then, a faint Qi, like a layered window, spread out in smoke, and various anomalies appeared around, with celestial songs echoing and cloud dances filling the ceremony.

Then, numerous Spiritual Artifacts were arranged, with eight-tone harmony playing, six rows of dancers moving, painted beams spanning like clouds, and carved altars arranged like stars, musical instruments all around, and ceremonial procedures fully declared.

The ritual was complete, and the sacrifice began.

The mass of Chaos Qi in the sky quietly waited for Li Qi to finish his sacrifice.

Then, it silently disappeared from here.

Li Qi also felt the spell surrounding him suddenly vanish, and he suddenly felt a huge repulsive force!

He did not resist, but was quickly pushed out by this repulsive force, leaving that vast, empty space, returning to Boundless Outer Domain, standing atop the Great Fire.

The Great Fire, full of vitality, was warm and bright.

Standing upon it, Li Qi vaguely understood what that spell was, and also what the Great Fire truly was.

Great Fire, the everlasting star fire, rectifies midsummer.

The midsummer season, the beginning and end are also known. Its people follow, birds and beasts rarely change. ‘Follow’ means the old and weak follow the strong young men in the fields to help with farming. In summer, the feathers and fur of birds and beasts are scarce and change.

These already explained many things.

“Emergence of Fire” is when the Great Fire appears, it is the ritual of burning wasteland, primitive beings can set fire to the wasteland at this time, hold solemn sacrifices, and declare the start of the new year’s spring plowing and production.

Therefore, the Great Fire is where vitality lies, it is the manifestation of all vigorous life development.

However, this ‘seasonal’ aspect is merely due to the Great Fire’s inherent vital characteristics; its true purpose… is actually the nursery of the Divine Dao.

Such intense vitality and gentle light were all created for the Gods yet to be born. It was only because this vitality could manifest the world's vitality within the world's star map that it was designated as the season for spring plowing.

And the spell that the Shen Yijun obtained was probably his privilege as a descendant of a God.

The Shen Yijun was the descendant of a True God, but even as a descendant of a God, he couldn't be a True God. Gods could only be born naturally.

However, descendants could also enjoy the opportunity to come to the Great Fire.

That’s why that spell ended up in the Shen Yijun’s hands. If the Shen Yijun had come, he should have also received an opportunity to be lectured by a True God.

However, he followed the Martial Dao, so he had no use for it.

And Li Qi, holding this spell, also received a lecture from a True God, just like all young Gods, which allowed him to Breakthrough and understand some things about the Divine Dao.

However, perhaps because he wasn't a True God after all, he was expelled after it ended.

Hmm… that’s a good thing, right?

Moreover, this was not the only good news. The second good news was that the Divine Dao would likely adopt an absolutely neutral stance in this conflict, not favoring any side.

After all, this was the Divine Dao’s nursery. They couldn’t allow the staff here to participate in the war; who would look after the children? One must know that the infant state of Gods was a supreme tonic.

There was just one thing that made Li Qi curious.

From this perspective, the Star Official Lineage and the Celestial Court Lineage seemed… very harmonious. Look around the Great Fire; clearly, the Celestial Court Lineage’s infants were being nurtured, but both the Great Fire and the surrounding world clusters actually belonged to the Star Official Lineage.

Hmm…

Then what exactly was going on with the Human Dao? Why was its relationship with the Star Official Lineage good, but at the same time, it treated the Celestial Court Lineage as mortal enemies, when Star Officials and the Celestial Court had a good relationship?

Li Qi was a bit confused, but he was already used to confusion, so he wasn't too anxious.

He would know eventually.

Compared to these doubts, what he was more anxious about now was True Knowledge. After all, he had also released the Seal on True Knowledge. Unless he found the Demonic Prince again, it would be difficult to Seal it back.

Never mind, I’ll deal with it later. First, I’ll leave the Great Fire and go to the other world clusters of Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu) to gather them.

Thinking this, Li Qi began to move, returning to Lingchou Realm.

It took about four years, but Li Qi, rushing as fast as he could, finally returned to Lingchou Realm.

By this time, more than twenty years had passed since Li Qi left.

Everything had settled down.

Li Qi immediately went to the Chamber of Commerce, requesting them to provide him with intelligence from the past twenty years.

Facing their behind-the-scenes master, the Chamber of Commerce reacted very quickly, responding promptly.

Thus, Li Qi was able to sit comfortably in the office and read the reports that were delivered.

The report detailed the major events of the past twenty years in a chronological format.

Ultimately, the civil war was suppressed, but it wasn't a clash of ideologies. Instead, Fu Cao Yi Realm eventually intervened, cooperating with the Chamber of Commerce and with the tacit approval of Lingchou Realm Lord, to forcefully suppress the Human Dao ideology.

Because there was no one to back them, these ideologies quickly subsided and were eventually ‘judged’.

Yes, judged. This Human Dao ideology would not be simply destroyed. To resolve it in a short time… the only way was to resolve the problem of the people.

Once the people were dealt with, the problem was solved.

If it were Li Qi, he certainly wouldn’t have done this, but it was too late; the suppression was already complete.

Lingchou Realm naturally couldn't re-invest in the Human Dao. The nearby world clusters also began to break away from Lingchou Realm’s colonization. Only a few of the destructive Spiritual Artifact assembly lines were kept, the rest were sealed away.

Then, they began to use Shamanic Silkworm Artifact to reduce damage to the world and increase profit margins.

Although the words ‘profit margin’ were already very un-Shaman Dao, there was nothing to be done; Lingchou Realm was like this, and they couldn’t truly detach from commerce in a short time.

Li Qi didn’t force them; he himself still had Human Dao Dao principles mixed in. It was fine for everyone to have their own paths. As long as they didn’t stand on the opposite side in the upcoming war, Li Qi didn’t care what methods they employed.

The twenty-year timeline wasn't long, and Li Qi quickly finished reading it, then looked at the young woman who had delivered the report.

He knew this young woman.

Zhang You, a friend of Li Shiwei.

“You are Zhang You, right?” Li Qi asked.

Zhang You was a little surprised to hear this; she hadn't expected the mysterious mastermind behind the Chamber of Commerce to know her. So she nodded repeatedly: “Yes… it’s me, Young Master.”

Zhang You looked very nervous. This terrifying existence before her controlled millions of worlds, and he could even hold and play with this Fifth-Rank world in his hand. She truly hadn’t expected him to remember her name.

However… perhaps for these Great Powers, remembering everyone’s name was just a blink of an eye.

Moreover, the other party was a ‘Young Master’.

As a cultivator from this world, she had naturally heard much about the formidable reputation of Shaman God Mountain.

To be honest, she didn’t have a direct understanding of how powerful Shaman God Mountain was; it was too distant to even form a concept, just like ordinary people can grasp that twenty thousand yuan is a lot, but find it hard to grasp how much two hundred trillion yuan truly is, unable to form a corresponding concept.

But she had a direct understanding of the Chamber of Commerce, knowing how many worlds it controlled, so she felt a sense of awe towards this pillar of the Chamber of Commerce and the Shaman God Mountain behind him.

“No need to be so nervous. Speaking of which, you and I have some connections,” Li Qi said with a smile, putting down the timeline and walking over.

“Connections?” Zhang You was stunned for a moment, then asked, “May I ask, Young Master… what sort of connection?”

“There are two layers of connections. Your grandfather and I were old acquaintances,” Li Qi said, holding up one finger.

“My grandfather? Young Master knows my grandfather?” Zhang You was surprised.

“Zhang Lan, right? Back in Guangyang, I once befriended that swordsman with a heroic spirit. I originally thought it wouldn’t be difficult for him to Breakthrough to Seventh-Rank, but I didn’t expect him to eventually fall to time,” Li Qi sighed, saying this.

At this point, Zhang You suddenly said, “It wasn’t time, but rather his penchant for stirring up trouble, always provoking powerful enemies. He endured countless battles but also suffered numerous hidden injuries, eventually his Qi and blood withered early, leading to his death. It was… his own doing.”

“Hmm… that’s also true. You must have suffered a lot, following a grandfather like that, constantly on the move since childhood. It’s natural for you to harbor some resentment,” Li Qi nodded.

He certainly knew that.

Someone with Zhang Lan’s temperament, if alone, could be called free-spirited and heroic, but if he had a wife, daughter, and family, he could easily bring disaster upon them.

Judging by Zhang You’s appearance, she must have suffered a lot when she was young. It’s likely that when Zhang Lan got into trouble for others and was pursued by enemies, he wasn’t very good at protecting his family.

Is a chivalrous spirit good or bad?

It’s really hard to say.

“Never mind, let’s not talk about your sad matters. Let’s talk about something that will make you happy. Our second connection is Li Shiwei,” Li Qi said.

Li Shiwei?

This made Zhang You slightly stunned.

Then, she suddenly realized that Young Master Li Qi and Li Shiwei shared the same surname.

Shi Wei… was she this Young Master’s daughter?

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