Chapter 743: Small battle

In the Myriad Demon Reservoir World, a desolate wilderness.

Li Qi looked at the situation before him.

Two Fourth-Rank opponents, both Demonic Creatures; one was a genuine Demon Dao Cultivator, appearing to be a power-type, and the other was a Demonic Creature who had entered the Five Aggregates Demonic Path.

As for the other Fifth-Rank and Sixth-Rank onlookers, they could basically be ignored.

But Li Qi didn't care about the enemies in front of him; he was sending a message to the mixed-blood Lu Wu from before.

He apologized to the other party, having promised not to act rashly, but now it seemed there was no other way, so he informed him in advance.

Li Qi finished transmitting his Daoist Art message.

Then, the next instant—

The bowstring emitted a clear cry, and the arrow, like a battering ram, accelerated towards Li Qi!

Its speed reached the speed of light—

Which meant it reached the Heavenly Dao's limit.

And when matter reaches the speed of light, its mass itself is “infinitely large.”

An infinitely large, infinitely fast arrow, at this moment, assailed Li Qi, leaving no time for any reaction; the moment this arrow was shot, the fact of ‘hitting’ was already determined.

Because the arrow's speed was the Heavenly Dao's limit, the instant one observed this arrow was the instant one was struck; there was absolutely no exception.

It was impossible to dodge this arrow, unless the arrow was initially aimed incorrectly. The arrow's speed was infinitely fast, so the arrow itself was supported by the Karma of the Universe; one had to overturn Karma to dodge before the arrow struck.

Actually, when Li Qi heard the clear twang of the bowstring, he had already been struck.

Even Li Qi couldn't dodge it.

The arrow violently smashed into Li Qi's Physical Body.

It could indeed only be described as a smash, because the arrow had already disintegrated; infinite power completely melted the arrow, transforming it into a chaotic stream of high-energy particles.

And the temperature of these particle streams was — 1.416833(85) × 10^32 K.

Roughly, it's 1 followed by 32 zeroes.

This temperature is the upper limit of the Universe's temperature, or it can be understood as… infinitely large temperature.

Although it wasn't actually infinitely large.

But even if it wasn't truly infinite, as long as it couldn't be surpassed and reached the world's upper limit, in a sense, it could be understood as already infinitely large.

This was different from the truly ‘infinite’ of Bodhisattva Bai Chen Fox King, but it still reached an extremely powerful level, with immense killing power!

The essence of temperature is the speed of particle motion; the faster the particles move, the higher their internal energy, and the higher the temperature. At this temperature, the speed of particles also reaches the limit of light speed, so this is the limit of the Universe's temperature, which has only appeared once in the Reality Universe: at the very moment the Universe began.

In other words, this arrow shot by the Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature before him could be called a miniature Big Bang!

He was using the arrow to simulate the instant of the Universe's beginning, the opening of Chaos!

A Big Bang, just like that, erupted within Li Qi's Physical Body!

Fourth-Rank battles were this terrifying; they themselves were already equivalent to the Reality Universe, just not as precise.

One must know, Li Qi, during those forty thousand plus years, had created many Universes of different natures.

None of these Universes could compare to the grandeur and intricacy of the Reality Universe, as the Reality Universe itself was created by ‘Hao Tian,’ but at their core, they were all new worlds born with ‘Dao’ as their core, worlds that Li Qi had personally opened up, customized from scratch.

In other words…

Just a mere Big Bang; Li Qi himself had practiced it many times.

His Inner World suddenly expanded, splitting off a small bubble.

This bubble was a brand new ‘Universe.’ Of course, the Universe encompasses all worlds and spaces; therefore, this small bubble could also be called a finite-sized Chaos World.

If life were to be born within this world, they would surely call their world ‘Universe,’ wouldn't they?

But there was no life at this moment.

Because a Big Bang occurred within this tiny world.

With a 'pop,' the bubble burst.

But those energies had mostly dissipated, having been neutralized into various miscellaneous Qi, no longer possessing lethality.

At the same time, these miscellaneous Qi, enough to explode a world, rapidly poured into Li Qi's Inner World.

Generally speaking, injecting miscellaneous Qi into one's body would instead cause fluctuations in cultivation, just like a military legion whose elite soldiers were all wiped out, and then a bunch of vagrants were recruited.

Even if the legion's designation was maintained, its combat power would be vastly different, and it would be prone to mutiny, or self-destruction.

Therefore, it actually required selection and then training, transforming miscellaneous Qi into pure Qi. This is commonly known as ‘regulating breath,’ which can replenish one's consumed cultivation by absorbing external Qi and then regulating breath.

However, for Li Qi, it was not like this.

He had once absorbed the Buddhist method of eliminating discriminatory thoughts; although he couldn't fully grasp it, he had some understanding, and he was also a Shaman, with a very strong tolerance for various miscellaneous Qi.

And now, his body contained the energy after an entire world exploded.

Li Qi's Inner World opened, swallowing these energies in one gulp.

Immediately, Li Qi's cultivation rapidly recovered.

By devouring the opponent's energy, Li Qi also recovered to his peak state.

But the next instant, just as Li Qi was devouring the opponent's attack, Demonic Qi had already entangled Li Qi's Physical Body.

The five aggregates were obscured, and Li Qi's senses became disoriented.

The second arrow had already pierced through Li Qi again.

All of them were Fourth-Rank, and their judgment was good; they could clearly tell that Li Qi was actually stronger than either of the two Fourth-Rank Demonic Creatures individually.

Therefore, it was only natural that Li Qi blocked one arrow.

Next, attacks like a neutron beam bombardment covered Li Qi.

The five aggregates obscured his senses, and Demonic Qi covered his thoughts. Li Qi's mind, his will, were all obscured; his entire being was muddled, unaware of where he was or what was happening.

Time seemed to stretch out greatly; he instantly lost his sense of time, just like when he was controlled by the Five Aggregates Demonic Blood before.

“He has lost his mind. First, shatter his Physical Body. A Shaman without a Physical Body will have reduced control over his Inner World,” the Demonic Creature immediately said, transmitting the information to the other Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature in a flash of lightning.

No sooner said than done, from the start of the battle until now, not even a picosecond had passed, meaning that everything happened within a mere one trillionth of a second.

In the next picosecond.

Five consecutive arrows, respectively, pierced into Li Qi's ‘five limbs.’

Power erupted, and Li Qi's two hands, two knees, and head each exploded.

Li Qi offered no resistance.

Because he had already been obscured by the Demon of the Five Aggregates, losing all proper perception of external matters, naturally, he couldn't have any reaction to the outside world.

The five limbs were pinned, forming a formation that locked down the energy flow within Li Qi's Physical Body.

Immediately after, Demonic Qi entered his brain, filling Li Qi's thinking organs, and the power of the five aggregates completely twisted Li Qi's senses. From then on, Li Qi would fall into the endless Hell of neither life nor death, unable to react to the outside world anymore.

At the same time, the ox-bodied Demonic Creature put away his bow and arrow, took out a large spear, and fiercely stabbed towards Li Qi's heart!

The heart is the source of power; destroying Li Qi's heart, once his heart meridian was severed and the five aggregates sealed, Li Qi would have no more chances.

They didn't know what other trump cards Li Qi had, but since they decided to act, they had to be decisive and swift.

When experts clash, either they probe for a very long time, or they act decisively and finish it in one go!

Dragging it out would only create more trouble.

None of the Fourth-Rank were fools. Li Qi's recent actions had already shown that he must have obtained a rare item here, a rare item capable of resisting a Fourth-Rank's full power, and this Fourth-Rank's combat power was also very formidable.

Such a thing could also resist perception, preventing the present Fourth-Rank Cultivators from noticing the treasure here, which showed its preciousness. Then… if Li Qi wanted to keep it for himself, naturally some people would be unhappy.

Of course, not every Fourth-Rank was so fond of seizing treasures. In fact, for many Fourth-Rank Cultivators, treasures were: best to have, but fine without. Perhaps they would be envious, but few would be so crazy as to snatch from others.

For instance, there were at least seven or eight Fourth-Rank Cultivators observing the battle now, but only two had entered the fray.

And these two who entered the fray were themselves fond of doing such things; their Dao supported them in doing so, and their recognized Dao and their own values led them to believe that doing so was perfectly fine.

So they did it.

Everyone's Dao is different; not everyone is a gentleman. Even villains have their own Dao.

With a combo, the two instantly pinned Li Qi to the ground. The next instant, an endless array of Daoist Art enveloped Li Qi.

These were Demonic Path Daoist Art.

They had confirmed that Li Qi had lost his senses and that the Five Aggregates Demonic Path was working, otherwise Li Qi wouldn't be so unresisting.

This was normal. In a Fourth-Rank battle, a tiny difference would instantly determine victory or defeat. The opponent was a Shaman, not skilled in direct combat, so it was natural for him to be caught off guard by the Demon of the Five Aggregates.

Losing one move meant losing the entire game. You are an expert, and I am also an expert. I will not give you any chance. A righteous two-on-one, instantly sealing Li Qi again.

Countless demonic thoughtss enveloped Li Qi!

Sinking sand and withered bones, bloody wandering souls, cries of resentment and pain, swirling within. The sounds of agony shook the earth, and obstacles of terrifying, inverted illusions of mouth, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind instantly filled the surroundings!

This battle had no aftermath; all the damage was fully poured onto Li Qi, not a single bit was missed!

Another instant passed—

The long spear twisted, ten thousand golden snakes rolled within the void, countless energies transformed into electric snake-like energy chains piercing into Li Qi's heart meridian! They very strictly controlled all of Li Qi's energy pathways, blocking every possible trajectory of his actions.

Every strand of Qi that made up Li Qi was sealed by a corresponding strand of Qi. This was a complete blockade, totally sealing him off.

One person sealed, the other attacked; although they were two unrelated Fourth-Rank Cultivators, they cooperated tacitly, directly subduing Li Qi within a picosecond!

Li Qi's Physical Body directly exploded, and his Inner World was also sealed.

A combo, incredibly smooth.

However…

The next picosecond.

Li Qi's figure silently appeared outside the blockade.

And that Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature was horrified to discover—

Reality had changed.

His own five limbs were pierced by arrows, and his heart was impaled by the long spear.

It was as if… the focus of the attack just now wasn't Li Qi, but him.

However… it was indeed so.

It was always like this; everything that just happened had been distorted.

Li Qi ‘selected the future.’

Of course, merely selecting the future couldn't distort already realized outcomes, much less distort an opponent who was also Fourth-Rank.

But, using the substitute method was different.

The substitute method transfers Karma lines.

Things had changed, history had been altered. From now on, what they had just attacked was this Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature; they had never attacked Li Qi.

They hadn't noticed this before.

This was also natural, because… this was power from the Demon of the Five Aggregates.

Obscuring senses, twisting consciousness, creating ‘real illusions,’ completely isolating consciousness from reality—this was precisely what the Demon of the Five Aggregates was best at.

The other Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature's Demon of the Five Aggregates power was silently appropriated by Li Qi; they failed to detect any signs of Li Qi using the substitute method.

The Karma lines were severed and then reconnected; all effects on Li Qi were borne by the Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature.

As for the Demonic Qi and Daoist Art Li Qi himself suffered?

Useless. Li Qi was very familiar with this feeling.

The feeling of the five aggregates being obscured and twisted was actually quite nostalgic.

Sense of time being twisted? Sorry, this point was just resolved a few hundred years ago.

Li Qi had personally tasted the Five Aggregates Demonic Blood; this was the demonic blood from Mahakala's Kapala hand. Although its intensity wasn't high, its essence wasn't low, yet Li Qi still managed to break it.

In other words… a mere Fourth-Rank's five aggregates Demonic Qi was simply not enough to obscure Li Qi's perception. Li Qi's current perception of the world could not be blocked by five aggregates Demonic Qi.

For Cultivators, perhaps they can not rely on the five aggregates, but there always needs to be something for consciousness and matter to interact, if not the five aggregates, then they must construct their own set, such as Dao Principle readers, or the Buddhist ‘mind's eye’ or ‘mind's ear’ and such.

These could similarly be manipulated by five aggregates Demonic Qi, but the difficulty of manipulation would increase significantly, just like cracking a Windows System versus cracking a self-written System.

And Li Qi simply could not be obscured by the opponent; it was Li Qi who gave him the illusion that he ‘could be obscured.’

This illusion, in turn, led to the subsequent mistake, eventually collapsing like a domino effect, ultimately leading to the outcome of ‘defeat.’

Just as mentioned before.

In a Fourth-Rank battle, a tiny difference would instantly determine victory or defeat.

The moment the opponent didn't realize Li Qi activated the substitute method, the battle had actually already ended; everything that followed was simply a matter of course.

The Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature was pierced by his own teammate, his five limbs and heart meridian were simultaneously sealed, and his Physical Body shattered.

And at this moment, Li Qi's attack arrived as promised.

The remaining Fourth-Rank Demonic Creature holding the long spear was pressed on the head by a hand that Li Qi suddenly brought down.

Dimension collapse, become a paper person.