Chapter 600: New understanding

An ordinary garrison from a Seventh-Grade world, due to a Great Power's transportation error, from top to bottom, through this one stimulus, came to understand what courage was.

Relying on this courage, they faced death without flinching and ultimately achieved victory.

They weren't just a surge of bloodlust after grief; instead, under the leadership of that Seventh-Grade World Master, the entire army underwent a sublimation, even changing their Dao path for it.

Many people had such experiences, but not everyone could transform, because they were only stimulated at the time, showing a fearless appearance, but that was just being manipulated by emotions, not truly understanding anything.

After that, Li Qi chose to withdraw this world for recuperation, while also beginning to publicize their deeds to boost morale, and at the same time, admonished the Sixth-Grade who had transported the world.

The one responsible for the transportation had directly moved the surface civilization with a Divine Ability, not even bothering to check if anything was left below, which was a dereliction of duty.

Then, Li Qi began to ponder from time to time.

Does he know what he is fighting for? Does he have enough courage?

Li Qi felt that he actually knew; he clearly understood what he was fighting for.

Because, that kind of awakening to live towards death, that kind of act of sacrificing oneself for important things, he believed he possessed, and was even stronger than these soldiers.

Then why could these soldiers comprehend 'courage' while he couldn't, instead feeling somewhat timid?

Li Qi initially didn't understand; he didn't know what he was lacking.

Li Qi clearly knew what he wanted; for his Dao path, or for the things he cherished, he often faced life-threatening dangers.

For example, going to the East Sea, and even maintaining his Dao Heart in front of the Heavenly Demon, were essentially the same, even more dangerous, more terrifying, and more difficult than what these soldiers experienced.

But why were these things not enough for Li Qi to comprehend what courage was?

Previously, Li Qi had never quite understood.

However, today, four hundred years later, Li Qi suddenly understood.

This is also the 'natural' that Shaman Dao pursues.

Under the guidance of the deities of the Celestial Court Lineage, he comprehended many things, and with the accumulation of these things, plus the story of this world, Li Qi's accumulation was finally sufficient.

He seemed to know what he was missing.

Previously, his 'adventures' and 'sacrifices' were essentially calculations.

Through his superb mental capacity, which he had maintained since his cultivation, he used calculations to approach the result he desired, and even 'courage' was no exception.

He calculated that doing so was correct, that doing so was beneficial, or rather, he had to do so, because if he didn't, he might pay a price more tragic than life itself.

Weighing the pros and cons, evaluating the various values between life and the Dao path, and then, he would act.

Just like he risked danger for Shen Shuibi.

He still subconsciously weighed his life against Shen Shuibi's life, decided that the rabbit was more important, and then acted according to the measured result.

From the results, there was no difference from courage; both were the same, both were sacrificing life without hesitation.

But what if he weighed it and found his own life more important?

The most crucial thing is, how is the act of 'weighing' itself done?

If the basis of a balance is gravity and mass, which can intuitively show the difference between two sides, then what did Li Qi use to make this balance?

Shen Shuibi's life and Li Qi's life, or rather, Li Qi's Dao path and Li Qi's life, which is heavier? By what right is one said to be heavier? Who stipulated this 'heaviness'?

Li Qi's previous answer to himself was: "Weigh it with the Dao."

Use the Dao to weigh, to make this balance, to see what matters more to the Dao.

But now, he seemed to have come to a different answer.

This answer is that the act of weighing itself is actually deceiving oneself.

You think you are weighing, but you are actually dominated by the Dao, forcing yourself to obey the so-called 'Dao'.

One must know that it is humans who pursue the Dao, not the Dao that restricts humans.

The Dao does not restrict people; people only sincerely recognize and practice it, and thus act according to the Dao's way.

This is a fundamental difference.

It's like obeying laws.

Evil people are forced to obey the law, good people obey the law voluntarily.

Although both obey the law, there is a world of difference between the two.

Using the Dao as a balance, and then weighing the importance of things, seeing what is close to the Dao, then that is important—this is like an evil person obeying the law, being forced to obey by the law, because the law exists, so they are afraid of punishment if they violate it, and thus, evil people have no choice but to obey the law.

Not obeying the law because of its existence, but doing so from the heart, and then suddenly realizing: Oh, it turns out that what I'm doing is actually lawful.

An evil person constantly wants to kill, but after thinking about it, killing will lead to punishment, so it's better not to kill.

A good person never had any concept of killing from beginning to end; he doesn't kill because of the goodness in his heart, because he doesn't want to kill, not because a 'law' exists.

This law can actually be seen as the 'Dao'.

Li Qi preemptively assumed a 'Dao' he should follow, established a set of laws for himself, and regulated his behavior.

Under this regulation, Li Qi did very well; he was very disciplined.

But this is 'evil people obeying the law'; he didn't do it from the heart, but looked at the regulations, felt that doing so was more in line with them, and then acted according to the regulations.

It seemed like he perfectly 'followed the Dao, obeyed the Dao,' but in reality, he was drifting further and further from the 'Dao'; he had merely built a cage for himself named 'Dao'.

He danced in the cage with shackles, even feeling smug, thinking he already knew that his behavior should be regulated by the 'Dao,' and if he overstepped, he might go astray.

Yet he never thought that the moment this thought appeared, he had already gone astray.

Thinking of this, Li Qi broke out in a cold sweat.

No wonder Zhu Fengdan said he was 'smart, but unfortunately too smart'.

This truly felt like a pity for Li Qi.

Because Li Qi's intelligence and his circumstances made him prematurely aware of the importance of the 'Dao', so he was too eager to follow the 'Dao', to the point of completely deviating from the path.

Like that Seventh-Grade world that defeated the human army, they completely didn't understand what the 'Dao' was, and even thought it was just different cultivation methods, but precisely because they didn't understand, they didn't deliberately try to follow it, and eventually, unknowingly found what they wanted, their desired goal, unconsciously aligning with the true meaning of the 'Dao', mastering 'courage', and finally defeating the human army.

No wonder someone arranged for him to go to the Great Fire to experience Chaos; it was because the natural evolution of Chaos might give Li Qi some inspiration.

Li Qi was very intelligent; he indeed comprehended 'natural', and finally, under the guidance of 'natural', discovered the shackles he had placed on himself.

True 'adherence to the Dao' is to follow one's true heart, not to use the Dao as a balance to weigh all things in the world, but to act solely from the Dao Heart, without considering gains or losses. In this situation, the actions taken still align with the pursuit of the 'Dao'; this is correct, this is 'adherence to the Dao'.

It's not about setting a bunch of rules for yourself and then saying: "As long as I don't violate these, then I'm adhering to the Dao."

This is not adherence to the Dao; this is merely a yoke.

Courage is also like this.

Li Qi could indeed make choices similar to 'courage' through 'weighing'.

But did he truly possess what is called courage?

He made choices that seemed to possess courage, but his 'heart' was still afraid, still terrified.

He was merely forced to do courageous things by the shackles he had created for himself, just like a soldier forced onto the battlefield by military law versus a warrior who actively plunges into battle.

Both joined the battlefield by choice and fought, and it's even possible that the soldier might achieve great merit and receive more praise than the warrior.

But no matter what, the two of them were worlds apart in terms of courage.

And so, Li Qi suddenly realized.

It turned out that courage was not important.

Whether it was courage or not was not the true essence Zhu Fengdan wanted to tell him.

What he truly wanted Li Qi to know was the method of adhering to the Dao.

Thus, Li Qi made a decision in his heart.

He no longer thought about those things; courage or not was simply not important. Even if he was a coward, then so be it. Everything... was merely a matter of the mind.

So, what should be done now? What is important?

The answer is to take responsibility.

To take on one's own responsibilities. One cannot just walk away after doing something, leaving it to parents, teachers, or wives and children to bear. Such a thing is unacceptable.

To save Mount Luofu and awaken Empress Luofu and the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron, Li Qi chose to join the radical faction and use his actions to make the moderate faction of Shaman God Mountain accept the consequences of war.

This was his doing, his choice, and he had to be responsible for it.

Even a wanderer like Zhu Fengdan chose to take responsibility and come to participate in the war, so could Li Qi really choose to abandon everything for Shen Shuibi's safety and let others bear the burden?

Leaving aside everything else, consider all the people in this Seventh-Grade world: those soldiers who stood up to fight against humanity, and the civilians who, seeing soldiers sacrifice themselves to protect them, also mobilized to support them.

They could all bear all of this, so how could Li Qi escape?

Therefore, regardless of life or death, since he chose the radical approach, he must bear the radical consequences.

It was at this moment that Li Qi understood why Shen Shuibi could calmly face the war, even happily participate, completely disregarding the possibility of her own demise in the conflict.

The reason was simply this.

Mount Luofu was saved, the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron had probably already awakened, and Empress Luofu should have also joined the battle, though Li Qi couldn't see them at their level.

Then, as a part of Mount Luofu and Li Qi's wife, Shen Shuibi had no reason not to participate in the war.

Since she was going to participate, then she would go.

Li Qi, naturally, was also like this.

This had nothing to do with anything else; it was purely what he ought to do. He would use all the power he possessed to contribute to the final victory.

Thus, Li Qi was finally able to calmly face all of this and do what he ought to do.

His thoughts were clear, his Dao Heart unhindered, free of shackles, no longer bothering with trivial matters like courage.

Now, his sole focus was on achieving victory.

So, Li Qi called Shen Shuibi. He had made up his mind to send the rabbit to People of No Return, to seize this only possible chance of victory.

As long as the rabbit and People of No Return successfully forced the human Dao to retreat, it would be Li Qi's turn.

The two thought of different things, and then, they finally met.

After so much time since the war began, it was Shen Shuibi's first time returning from the front lines.

Li Qi's position was near an Star-Mansion Array, so if the Tang Nation launched a decapitation strike, as long as his guards could hold them off for a while, he could escape through the Star-Mansion Array.

However, he couldn't actually station several high-end combatants there to guard him; the Shaman's high-end combatants should be deployed on the front lines as much as possible.

Therefore, Li Qi placed an already emptied Sixth-Grade world here, residing near the world's core, ready to detonate it at any time.

This world was already a complete shell; all life had been transferred out. If anyone came to ambush Li Qi, detonating this world would buy time for the Star-Mansion Array to transport Li Qi away.

Normally, the only living thing in this world was Li Qi, making it very desolate and lonely. And Li Qi was here, bearing the immense pressure of the entire world cluster Formation alone, constantly sending out Incarnations, dealing with countless problems of the world clusters, and continuously battling with the human Dao.

Fortunately, Shen Shuibi returned, though she would soon leave again.

"Want to rest for a bit?" A moonbeam condensed beside Li Qi, and the rabbit reached out, stroking Li Qi's ear.

"I'm distracted enough; I can't rest. If I rest for a second, countless people will stay in despair for another second." Li Qi smiled, dedicating a wisp of his mind to converse with Shen Shuibi, while most of his energy was still focused on processing the myriad intelligence feedbacks from the 'Alliance' and the world cluster Formation.

"Hmm, you look... much more open-minded, and you're progressing so fast." Shen Shuibi sat beside Li Qi, hugging her knees, and gazed into the distance.

The entire world was a dead land, without even plants. Bare rocks and large amounts of dust and sand made up this Sixth-Grade world. Even the sea had dried up, the Five Elements Qi was imbalanced, temperatures were chaotic, and it was filled with constant storms and acid rain.

This was inherently a dying world, but the death process of the world was too long; in the next forty to fifty thousand years, this world would not undergo any significant changes, making it perfect for Li Qi to use as his 'flagship'; even if it exploded, nothing would be wasted.

"Yes, my progress is so fast that even I'm a little surprised," Li Qi said with a smile.

In just a few hundred years, he had successfully overcome his previous troubles. Now, he was truly only a matter of cultivation accumulation away from the Fifth-Grade.

His state of mind was already completely sufficient, his Dao Heart unrestrained, acting as he pleased, everything following its natural course, yet perfectly appropriate, just like his human body's small heaven and earth, already at Perfection and natural, turning the ethereal into the tangible, lacking only the accumulation of time.

"Hmm, what was the mission you specifically called me back for this time?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"I've gathered some resistors on the human Dao side, preparing to organize guerrilla warfare, seizing opportunities to ambush The Axis of All Realms, but I'm not entirely at ease with that side, so I need you to lead this operation."

"Because the operations are all on the human Dao side, there's no supply, and I won't know what you're doing. Everything will be entirely your responsibility. After thinking it over, only you can handle it."