Chapter 677: The way of Xiantian

In the darkness, Li Qi silently comprehended the Fifth Grades he had consumed.

These Fifth Grades were not dead yet.

However, they couldn't escape. Integrating with the Dao was not that simple. Li Qi's Inner World's Heavenly Dao was a complete Fifth Grade World Heavenly Dao, and to resist and break free, they had to defeat Li Qi from within, not by trickery, but by directly overwhelming him with their cultivation.

Speaking of overwhelming with cultivation, Li Qi's profound magical power was beyond their imagination; these people absolutely could not contend with him.

There was no other way. To contend with Li Qi, they were not facing just Li Qi alone, but an entire World. Furthermore, Li Qi had already refined himself into a Star Official, and his Inner World was exceptionally resilient. This was a Fifth Grade World constructed by absorbing the Jade Pearl from Bodhisattva Bai Chenhu King, making it even more formidable than that of an average Young Master of Shaman God Mountain.

Under these circumstances, it would be very simple for Li Qi to deal with them one by one.

It just required Li Qi to digest the Heaven-Penetrating Realms within his body.

As for eating people, while Li Qi had no psychological burden, the cultivation burden it brought was still immense.

If Li Qi's original Inner World was like well-trained soldiers, each obeying Li Qi's commands as if directed by an arm, then external cultivation was equivalent to other people's soldiers. Unauthorized absorption into the Ranks would not only fail to increase cultivation but would also lead to severe internal strife.

Therefore, eating people could not increase cultivation; instead, it would lead to severe conflicts. The only instances Li Qi had seen where eating people could enhance cultivation were among those monks who practiced Dual Cultivation of Buddhism and Demons. They claimed to be able to eliminate discriminating thoughts, allowing them to consume the Five Nectars, transform others into a part of themselves, and disregard the impact of the other party on their own cultivation.

Li Qi, of course, did not possess such ability, so he could only forcefully devour them.

However, this was also intentional on his part.

Although absorbing the opponent's cultivation would lead to conflict, he could carefully study the points of this conflict, using his body as a culture medium and collider to meticulously understand how the opponent's cultivation was assembled.

The essence of cultivation was various types of Qi, but the assembly methods, formulas, processing techniques, and even certain special, rare Qi that could only be brewed through specific cultivation methods, all constituted knowledge.

What Li Qi needed to do was to feel this conflict and then reverse engineer to deduce the opponent's cultivation method.

To completely restore it was impossible; that was too difficult. But to deduce it to about fifty or sixty percent similarity, that was achievable.

With fifty or sixty percent similarity, and by comparing it with the cultivation of others, he could then deduce the true foundation of the Fifth Grade cultivation methods in this World.

This entire process took Li Qi about a hundred years. One by one, Heaven-Penetrating Realms were devoured by Li Qi, bringing immense pressure upon him.

However, since it was gradually resolved over more than a hundred years, it was still somewhat bearable.

During these hundred years, this mine shaft was visited by many people, mostly Seventh Grade laborers, who seemed to have been ordered to search for useful mine pits.

However, Li Qi had already explored this area in advance, and it was almost entirely excavated. Although digging further down could still reveal new ore veins, that would require going down two to three thousand miles, which would be very difficult for these Seventh Grades.

Li Qi spent over a hundred years in such quietude.

Then, he opened his eyes.

The characteristics of the Immortal Heaven’s True World's cultivation method were now clear to him.

“So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is.” He looked up, realizing the fundamental difference between the Immortal Sky’s cultivation method and the cultivation method of the world.

After achieving longevity, the Immortal Sky’s cultivation method would also begin to comprehend the Dao.

However, the Dao they comprehended did not come from the essence of the World, but from the ‘Heavenly Dao’ of the Immortal Heaven.

They believed that comprehending the mountains, rivers, wind, rain, sun, moon, and earth of the Immortal Heaven was the true Dao; this was the fundamental operation of the World, encompassing all factors of their life, production, and cultivation.

But for cultivators of the world, this was too absurd.

How could the Heavenly Dao of just one World represent the entire Universe?

How vast was the Universe? It was the collection of all time and space. For cultivators of the world, the Heavenly Dao of one or two Worlds was merely a tiny fragment of this Universe.

However, such a distinction was normal. In the world, and even in many Worlds outside the domain, many people were born with the natural knowledge that many Worlds existed, and the Heavenly Dao of each World was different.

Therefore, when they sought the Dao, they would not pursue the Heavenly Dao of their own World, nor would they worship natural phenomena or indigenous deities.

To put it plainly, the world pursued something more fundamental.

They pursued something ethereal, the cornerstone of all existence, including the unity of thought, logic, objective reality, and rational thought-world.

The commonalities behind all Worlds, principles applicable to all realms, logic that must apply under any circumstances, and from this logic, a real World could develop—this was their pursuit.

The Great Powers of the world were never concerned with tangible things like sentient beings or civilizations, because these so-called ‘tangible’ things were, in fact, not tangible.

To them, the real World was merely an illusory thing that existed or ceased to exist with a single thought. The concepts and logic supporting the real World were the truly tangible things.

Concepts and logic could self-perpetuate and possess reality, but the real World could not.

However, these actually existing materials were, conversely, not real; they were ethereal things.

Therefore, what the Great Powers truly cared about was the continuation of the objective world's underlying principles, the completeness of logic, and ultimately, the real substance or laws behind the objective world.

Just like how Shaman Dao pursues ‘naturalness,’ the naturalness pursued by Shaman Dao is not the narrow protectionism of ecosystems or natural balance, but the natural state of the entire ‘objective world.’

The naturalness of the Shaman is not the narrow definition of an ecosystem or animal and plant protection. Naturalness is a state of the entire objective world, a reasonable form that is not interfered with, rather than the animals and plants of a certain ecosystem.

However, cultivators in the Immortal Heaven did not have such a broad vision.

For them, the Heavenly Dao of this First Grade World was the greatest pursuit. Even their method of Breakthrough to Fifth Grade was ‘Integrating with the Dao,’ which meant becoming a part of the Heavenly Dao.

Li Qi felt that this method of advancing to Fourth Grade was simply cutting off one's own Dao path.

After Integrating with the Dao, one becomes bound to the World. Although one will not perish as long as the World exists, it is ultimately a lesser path, difficult to change easily thereafter, and being bound to the Heavenly Dao of a single World is simply meaningless.

But… perhaps this was why the Immortal Heaven remained stagnant?

People of the Immortal Heaven, with Integrating with the Dao as their goal, naturally wouldn't care much about external matters.

However, the people of the Immortal Heaven were not fools. Even if these Fifth Grades were not, higher-Ranked Great Powers of the Immortal Heaven, such as those of Second Grade or First Grade, surely knew of the existence of the Heavens Beyond Heavens and the existence of Dao Orthodoxy. Why did they still choose this path?

Li Qi pondered this question endlessly, and finally, he temporarily set it aside.

If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it for now. There must not be enough clues yet, so he could go find more.

For the next clue, he would first look at the Immortal Heaven’s True World, searching for an opportunity to enter the true ‘Immortal Heaven.’

Thinking this, Li Qi rose from the mine shaft.

Having not moved for over a hundred years, he was covered in dust, almost merging with the rock.

As he stood up, a gentle breeze stirred, and the dust on his body fell away. The next moment, Li Qi's body was clean, and he walked out of the mine shaft.

Upon exiting the mine shaft, Li Qi immediately flew towards a nearby city.

The True World of the Immortal Heaven was much more orderly than the mortal realm, primarily because the Heaven-Penetrating Realms maintained social order.

Regardless of the order, having order was always better than having none, even if that order meant most people were mining.

Chaos always led to more tragic events; even slavery was far better than a primeval forest.

Therefore, under such circumstances, cities naturally emerged.

But Li Qi did not yet know how these cities specifically operated. When he arrived here, his first priority was to find the root of the Immortal Heaven' cultivation method. As for the cities, understanding them temporarily was not urgent now.

After all, he had plenty of time.

This time, Li Qi did not hide his identity or blend into naturalness.

There was no need for that; this was the True World, and it could fully accommodate him.

Having consumed over twenty Heaven-Penetrating Realms, Li Qi could now fully display the same cultivation as a Heaven-Penetrating Realm of the Immortal Heaven; one without a certain level of skill would not be able to see through him.

He simulated the opponent’s cultivation pathways, emitting such an aura, not deliberately hiding his cultivation, but simply ordinary suppressing his pressure, just like all normally acting Heaven-Penetrating Realms.

If Li Qi's previous actions were secretive and sneaky, now he was like a normal person, strolling leisurely, and flying into the city normally.

But even so, it caused the city to tremble.

Before even reaching the city, he saw several streaks of light flying out from the city, arriving before Li Qi. There were hundreds of people, who respectfully bowed. Then, a person who looked like a city lord stepped forward and said, “Senior—”

He seemed to want to say something, but Li Qi directly interrupted him.

“I’m just here for a casual stroll, to find a place to rest and eat something. There’s no need to be overly concerned,” Li Qi said, waving his hand.

Thus, the City Lord swallowed the rest of his words and said no more. He merely gestured backward, and a timid young woman stepped forward.

“Senior honors us by gracing our city with your presence for a few days, but the interior is desolate, with few good places. Let this girl guide Senior and introduce the scenery, so as to avoid any idle chatter,” he said.

Li Qi did not refuse, merely nodding, “Good. Don’t make such a grand display. Do what you need to do.”

The others exchanged glances, and finally, upon the City Lord’s order, they all bowed and transformed into streaks of light, departing.

Li Qi glanced at them.

They were mostly Sixth Grade. Clearly, Fifth Grade was still very rare, and… having eliminated over twenty earlier, it was estimated that there were no more Fifth Grades in this area.

Then he looked at the woman.

Hmm…

She didn't look like a maid. She should be a member of the City Lord's family, right?

It was evident at a glance that although she was nervous, she didn't have that obsequious feeling.

Sending her over was, first, to curry favor, and second, to monitor, right?

After all, letting a Heaven-Penetrating Realm like himself wander around freely would probably make them uneasy.

“Then I shall trouble this young lady to lead the way. Please, I would like to find a place to sit and eat something,” Li Qi said.

As he spoke, he observed the one leading the way.

A typical humanoid creature, but with subtle differences in body structure compared to people of the world, though these were at a microscopic level. The overall four limbs and five senses were largely unchanged, with extremely high similarity.

This indicated that the other party was indeed a native species of a First Grade World.

Humanoids themselves possess extremely strong competitiveness, naturally conforming to the Great Dao, so the more they resemble this, the more convenient their cultivation becomes, unless one can reach the level of a True Dragon, opening up a new path entirely.

“Sen… Senior.” The other party stammered a bit, but being a Sixth Grade after all, she immediately forced herself to calm down and cleared her throat: “Senior, I am Ling Xiao…”

“Oh.” Li Qi nodded. “Then let’s go.”

Seeing Li Qi’s reaction, the young woman named Ling Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed the other party wasn't very interested in her.

She could tell that when the Heaven-Penetrating Realm Senior looked at her, he wasn't paying attention to her face at all. He was scanning her cultivation, physique, and the foundation of her cultivation method.

Such an old monster, having cultivated to the point of being foolish, was already detached from worldly affairs.

However, it was also a good thing… better than being defiled.

Ling Xiao thought these thoughts as she led Li Qi downstairs.

Then, with a wave of her hand, a strange wind arose, dispersing the pedestrians and clearing a path. Then she respectfully said, “Senior, this way is the best in Shuiling City—”

“Don’t drive them away, it’s too troublesome. Just lead the way,” Li Qi said.

“Yes.” Ling Xiao nodded, no longer taking action, but unhurriedly led Li Qi into a large building.

The building was luxuriously decorated. Upon entering, it covered a vast area, with various unusual phenomena constantly appearing. Mechanical dancers spun continuously by the door, and at the entrance was a pond spanning a hundred miles, where fish monsters constantly churned, and people fished by its side.

Further inside, there were various exotic flowers and trees, Anomolus Spirits, and Spirit Beasts, a scene of pure fantasy.

Perhaps due to Ling Xiao leading the way, Li Qi encountered no obstacles and smoothly reached the top floor.

On the rooftop, two scrolls hung. From within the scrolls, two beauties gracefully descended, bowing to Ling Xiao and Li Qi: “Welcome, esteemed guests—”

Before the scroll beauties could finish speaking, Ling Xiao skillfully cast two magical spells, and the two scrolls automatically rolled up, the beauties within them also disappearing.

Then, she led Li Qi to the top of the building, which stood a thousand zhang high, with floating clouds nearby. The view from the rooftop was exceptionally beautiful.

Li Qi found a place to sit. From here, he could overlook the entire city.

Ling Xiao stepped forward and introduced, “This is the best scenic spot in the entire city, Senior. What do you think?”

Li Qi said nothing.

He felt… there was no difference.

There was no difference from the mortal realm; the social structure hadn't changed at all.