Chapter 704: Rest

Li Qi heard these words, turned his head, and stared intently at Shen Shuibi.

He was somewhat puzzled, even somewhat confused, and the impulse born of this confusion made him fix his gaze on Shen Shuibi.

Li Qi's wisdom was enough to interpret a world, but at this moment, it seemed somewhat inadequate.

What was Shen Shuibi thinking?

Why, in this situation, was she still so calm?

Li Qi had drunk Chang Xi's wine, and after that, Li Qi conducted a self-analysis; the conclusion he reached was… that his emotions had been smoothed out by an overly long life.

What about Shen Shuibi?

What had Shen Shuibi experienced? Why could the Little rabbit also be so calm? She even accepted the fact that 'her importance in Li Qi's heart had lessened' very easily, showing no signs of dejection whatsoever.

Looking further back, one would also find that in most situations, the Little rabbit was always this quiet, as if she had no emotional fluctuations.

Usually, Li Qi was accustomed to this situation, but at this moment, she remained so calm, one could even say indifferent, which greatly surprised Li Qi with her demeanor.

Seemingly sensing Li Qi's gaze, Shen Shuibi remained as composed as ever. She merely leaned against Li Qi and said, "You and I should both realize this. Walking hand in hand on the Dao is inherently like this. When days stretch long, they are always mundane, but… what's wrong with being mundane?"

Hearing this, Li Qi felt a little dazed.

He suddenly remembered that Shen Shuibi had genuinely lived for ten thousand years; this was enough time for a normal Ninth-Rank world civilization to develop from primitive humans to exploring beyond their domain.

As for himself, excluding the time spent in retrospection and temporal distortion, the time he had truly experienced was only a little over a thousand years, and a considerable portion of that was spent in preparation for war.

So, Li Qi reached out and stroked the Little rabbit's fur, saying, "I don't want this…"

Upon hearing this, the Little rabbit's body suddenly shrunk, transforming into the Jade Rabbit form that Li Qi had barely seen recently. She was still round and plump, with glistening fur that emitted a faint glow, and occasionally, sporadic runes would appear. The entire Little rabbit was curled into a ball, and she was even wearing a small skirt.

Li Qi held this Little rabbit in his arms, stroking her ears, and said, "It's too mundane. I don't really want this kind of mundane life."

The Little rabbit huddled, not replying.

In this form, she basically gave up the desire to speak, completely listening to Li Qi.

Li Qi also knew this and continued, "I'm a little… afraid. As I understand more and more, you naturally become more mundane in my heart. Sometimes, when one grows up, they realize that the favorite toy from childhood was actually just a mass-produced item from an assembly line, with no special meaning."

"Little rabbit, do you want this? For you and me to become like strangers under the erosion of time?"

As Li Qi spoke, he tugged at Shen Shuibi's ears, seemingly wanting her to answer him.

The Little rabbit pawed at her claws, then looked up at Li Shiwei. In the sky, free from the silent halo beside Li Qi, the Little rabbit, whose personality was similar to Yang Ning's, was currently pummeling her peers in the game, almost making them furious. Now, the others were ganging up on her.

But Yunfang Great Shaman had taught her very well. She skillfully manipulated her Dao Resonance to cut through all the spells in front of her, dividing them, subtly giving off a sense of 'sword art'.

She was seen holding Dao Resonance in one hand and forming hand seals with the other, her spells and Dao Resonance complementing each other, both offensive and defensive.

Shen Shuibi still did not speak.

However, Li Qi understood her meaning.

Let's talk after this is over.

Her peculiar calmness seemed to have infected Li Qi as well.

Li Qi then also calmed down.

He didn't press Shen Shuibi further, because she had already turned into a Little rabbit anyway, and Shen Shuibi in her Little rabbit form wouldn't speak. It wasn't that she couldn't speak, but that she didn't want to. Was this some kind of… signal from her?

In any case, Li Qi understood. When the Little rabbit fully expressed her attitude, Li Qi, instead, calmed down and began to seriously participate in the Qi banquet as an outsider.

Although for him, serious participation actually meant serious spectating.

It was impossible for him to join in; just watching was enough.

After that, the banquet lasted for several days, and everyone had a great time.

Li Qi and his wife were basically outsiders, just watching others enjoy themselves. After all, they didn't particularly like crowded places; they would just watch and then savor the memory. Shen Shuibi remained in her Little rabbit form throughout, not speaking again, but her eyes could be seen, occasionally sparkling with brilliance, clearly indicating she was also enjoying herself immensely, especially when she saw the Little rabbit showing off her skills, as if she were watching her own child win first place in a sports competition.

However, doing so seemed to have put Empress Luofu at ease. She no longer bothered Li Qi and his wife, but instead focused on her conversation with Chang Xi.

What they discussed specifically, Li Qi did not know.

This family banquet ended, and everyone said their goodbyes and departed. As for the Little rabbit, because she was too arrogant, she was ganged up on and pushed into the wine, gulping down an unknown amount, and was now fast asleep.

Li Qi carried her on his back, then made a pouch and put the Little rabbit inside, hanging it on his chest.

He could have used magic to transport them, but Li Qi simply didn't want to; this was fine. Although it looked a bit comical, it wasn't a burden for a Fourth-Rank.

However, as the banquet ended and they were about to leave, an unexpected person approached Li Qi.

Granny Mei, the sole surviving Fourth-Rank of Mount Luofu, found Li Qi.

"Granny Mei, I apologize… in this state, please forgive me for not being able to properly greet you." Li Qi was a bit embarrassed. His daughter was drunk and passed out, and Shen Shuibi was a Little rabbit hanging on him, which indeed made things seem a bit informal.

"Haha, it's just a family banquet, relax. Just chat about everyday things, no need to be too formal," Granny Mei said with a smile, showing no signs of blame.

Or rather, quite the opposite, she not only didn't blame him but seemed to rather like it, and her gaze towards Li Shiwei was quite benevolent.

After all, she was an elder Senior, and she was from the same generation as Li Shiwei's Ancestral Master.

Li Qi also had a very good impression of Granny Mei. Although they didn't have much interaction, Li Qi still clearly remembered that when he was initially suffocated by the Heavenly Demon and dealt with high-rank beings every day, thinking everyone spoke to him with deep meaning, it was Granny Mei who spoke to him and made him relax. It was then that Li Qi realized that not everyone would play word games or give hints; normal communication was entirely possible.

So, Granny Mei smiled gently, squinting her eyes, and said, "Li Qi, you might not know, but Little rabbit has been like this since birth. Don't be too demanding of her. If you ask me, hmm… I'll use an example that's easier for you to understand."

Granny Mei continued, "I just saw you talking to Yang Ning earlier, using the example of compressing information and flattening dimensions. I'll follow that and say this: you know that space-time itself is relative. At speeds completely approaching the Heavenly Dao limit, time is static, which is why the speed of light is infinitely fast."

Li Qi nodded. Of course, he knew this.

The closer you get to the speed of light, the faster external time moves for you. This is the 'time dilation effect'. When you truly reach the Heavenly Dao limit, time will stop, you will enter a state of time expansion, completely detached from the outside world, your mass will become infinite, you will become a 'Guixu', completely cut off from Karma with the outside world. Under normal circumstances, this requires infinite magic power, which is why only Fourth-Ranks can achieve it by reinterpreting the world.

In this situation, the time spent to travel any distance is zero, and the concept of 'speed' itself is distance divided by time.

At this point, any distance divided by zero results in zero, meaning that for an object at the speed of light itself, it can reach anywhere without spending any time.

This easily leads to the conclusion that the Heavenly Dao limit of speed is, in essence, infinite.

But… what did this have to do with what Granny Mei wanted to say? Li Qi didn't quite understand.

So he continued to wait, quietly anticipating Granny Mei's next words.

Granny Mei continued, "You see, even the Heavenly Dao limit reaches infinite speed, but what is actually displayed also has its limits. So what can grow infinitely?"

Li Qi thought for a moment and replied, "…Time, and thus existence itself, should be able to grow infinitely, right?"

"Exactly. You see, time itself can grow infinitely, and your time will also grow with it."

Granny Mei walked up to Li Qi, touched the Little rabbit hanging on Li Qi's chest, and said, "The confusion and unhappiness you are experiencing now, if stretched further, would they also amount to nothing?"

"Compared to the vast Universe, a single cultivator's thoughts on the 'Dao' seem incredibly small. Even if these thoughts hold undeniable value to yourself, it doesn't change their fleeting and limited nature."

"You are making your own thoughts too big, and this world too small… so—"

Granny Mei wanted to continue speaking, but at this moment, Empress Luofu's voice clearly transmitted over.

"Silence!"

The tone of this voice was extremely severe! One could even say it was a reprimand!

Granny Mei immediately bowed deeply: "Niangniang… I overstepped."

"What right do you have to say such things? Do you even qualify to point fingers at Li Qi's Dao path? You are merely a Fourth-Rank, your concern has clouded your judgment, you speak too much, be careful not to regret it later."

Granny Mei sighed and apologized again, then looked at Li Qi: "Old people tend to talk too much, Li Qi, please don't blame me…"

Li Qi immediately returned therite: "Granny's intention is clear to me, no need to take it to heart, please rest assured, it's just a small matter, it won't affect me."

"It's good that you say so… Little rabbit is someone I've watched grow up since childhood. Her nature is soft but not timid, she's well-rounded yet principled; you just need to understand her more." Granny Mei said again, then didn't linger, quickly transforming into a streak of light and disappearing.

Just as she said, some of her words were indeed inappropriate.

But Li Qi only expressed gratitude, with no blame.

Sometimes, it's actually a good thing when someone is willing to say these things to you.

However, those words were indeed inappropriate, so Li Qi bowed again in the direction of Empress Luofu.

Immediately, the space-time around him instantly expanded its limits!

The limit of the speed of light is infinite!

In that instant, Li Qi's speed had already reached a certain limit, and the space-time around him was completely distorted, such that the time it took for him to travel anywhere was zero.

This is the Heavenly Dao limit, where space-time is completely distorted. Although for the outside world, time still flows, for Li Qi, it's just that the speed of these people has increased. This is time expansion.

After reaching Fourth-Rank, he finally mastered the power of time expansion.

However, in the usual sense… after accelerating to time expansion, he would still need to decelerate, and this deceleration process would cause time to start flowing, which would prevent the birth of the twin paradox.

This is the exquisite nature of the Reality Universe; it does not produce any bugs, paradoxes, or contradictions. Even in relative space-time, under high-speed conditions, it can still avoid almost all paradoxes.

After all, if there were too many paradoxes, the Universe would collapse.

However… Li Qi increasingly realized what 'the Universe full of holes' truly meant.

As he, and the Fifth-Rank, Sixth-Rank, and so on below him, could easily raise the Heavenly Dao limit, it indicated that Haotian's control was declining. Such an exquisite structure would sometimes be broken by some fools, ultimately leading to paradox disasters like vacuum decay, or even large-scale collapses of physical rules.

Or, it could also be called 'regional freezing'.

In such times, someone is needed to clean up, but fortunately, with the existence of the Heavenly Dao limit, these collapses generally do not cause too severe consequences and are quickly smoothed over by the arrival of Heavenly Gods.

But for a Fourth-Rank, he can now actively create the 'twin paradox', meaning his time expansion doesn't require deceleration. He truly achieves instant acceleration and instant deceleration, completely transcending the Heavenly Dao limit and causing the twin paradox. He has indeed created a temporal paradox. If there were a pair of twins by Li Qi's side now, with one brother staying put and the other going with Li Qi, then the time they experience would differ, their ages would no longer be the same, and a causal isolation would occur between them.

But it is precisely because of this temporal paradox that Fourth-Ranks can quickly traverse the distances of the Universe, achieving something akin to absolute space-time in relative space-time.

However, he must also smooth out this paradox and once again eliminate the ripples in the Universe.

This is the power of logic; paradoxes only exist within logic.

But… every time he does this, it feels like he's adding another handful of dirt to the ruins of the Universe.

Constantly creating paradoxes, then using his own reinterpretation of reality to eliminate them…

It's almost like a蛀虫 of the Universe.

Thinking these thoughts, Li Qi arrived at the Illusion-Reality Domain, where Yunfang Great Shaman was located, in the blink of an eye.

He planned to rest here for a while with his family.

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