Chapter 753: The demon of the demon

During the battle, Li Qi's Dao sound echoed through the Universe.

As he spoke, the Demonic Qi swirled gently, forming a Demonic Qi nebula in the boundless Void Realm.

A voice came from within the nebula: "Even the title of a Heavenly Demon can't scare you. The Li Qi, who was rumored to be timid and cautious, has such courage after only a few years? Is the intelligence wrong, or are you truly such a Genius?"

Li Qi was somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected the other party to admit it directly.

Logically, someone using a hidden identity for secret schemes shouldn't be so forthright, but to admit it immediately after being exposed…

It means this disguise was just a casual act, right? It wasn't actually important.

Li Qi didn't say much, but instead, his Inner World expanded again, isolating the surroundings and locking the Demonic Qi within, preventing it from escaping.

Li Qi continued to unleash his power.

The previously fractured stars and planets, barely maintaining their forms, were easily blown away like feathers, their destructive power effortlessly overturning the orbital dynamics of the planets.

Many newly condensed young planets had their rotation axes overturned, forced to wobble into highly eccentric orbits, swaying in an unnatural posture. The rotation of their planetary cores collapsed, the geocore crumbled, and the magnetic field became chaotic as a result. Matter on the planets turned into flowing magma, earthquakes raged, and volcanoes erupted.

Massive amounts of matter were ejected into the Universe, the air in the atmosphere ionized and became incandescent, and even the celestial bodies themselves were torn apart, only to quickly re-gather under the influence of gravity, forming new celestial bodies.

Matter is indestructible; no matter how planets are destroyed and reshaped, they will always coalesce into new celestial bodies. But during this process, the spacetime continuum, under pressure, yielded to the surging energy and techniques, creating spectacular geysers of matter.

The Demonic Qi beside it adopted a corresponding strategy. The Demonic Qi began to devour kinetic energy and heat. If Li Qi's power came from 'creation from nothing,' then the power displayed by the Demonic Qi at this moment was 'reduction to nothing.'

The laws of conservation of matter and energy were easily broken, meaning nothing in front of the Demonic Qi. Li Qi continuously created new energy, like an exploding Universe. The power born from the Big Bang created new destructive power again and again.

And the Demonic Qi completely accepted all of this, then annihilated it, causing no impact whatsoever, because 'nothingness' itself has no impact. There was no light, no explosion, no spectacular scene, just cold darkness encompassing everything, then spreading into more and more darkness.

Li Qi looked at the Demonic Qi. No matter what technique he used, no matter how he twisted the rules, he could not cause any impact, because the opponent was originally 'nothingness.' Facing 'nothingness,' any 'existence' was meaningless.

Li Qi's techniques, no matter their effect—whether modifying constants, altering Karma, even manipulating time, or increasing/decreasing dimensions to create infinitely large or infinitely small power, etc.—were all meaningless.

All of this was, in essence, 'existence,' and 'existence' was useless in the face of this nihilistic Demonic Qi. The foundation for all logic and techniques was that this world must be built on the basis of 'existence.'

If everything were 'nothingness,' then naturally, all things would be meaningless.

Such was the Demonic Qi.

Li Qi looked at the Demonic Qi; he already knew where this power came from.

Indeed, the opponent was not a Heavenly Demon, but… also a Heavenly Demon.

The reason for this conclusion was the very essence of a Heavenly Demon—

What is 'nothingness'?

The Universe encompasses everything, all time and space; this is the Universe, and the Universe is all 'existence.'

What is outside the Universe?

Naturally, there is nothing, because the Universe must encompass everything; this is the definition of the Universe.

Therefore, 'nothingness' is that which is outside the Universe. Outside the Universe, that is all 'nothingness.'

The boundary of the Universe is 'existence' and 'nothingness.'

And what has the Heavenly Demon always been searching for?

That is the 'existence' outside the Universe.

Outside the Universe, outside all reality, 'existence' still exists—this is what the Heavenly Demon wants to find, but in reality, he has not succeeded.

Outside the Universe, he only found 'nothingness.'

This is the 'nothingness' he is showing Li Qi at this very moment.

This was clearly the answer the Heavenly Demon had found at this moment, and thus he completely restrained Li Qi. All of Li Qi's techniques were like a mud ox entering the sea, having no effect whatsoever.

Although this 'nothingness' also had no way to deal with Li Qi, they could completely trap Li Qi.

As long as Li Qi was trapped, then Chen Jilang's illusionary dream would be completely under the Heavenly Demon's control. The Heavenly Demon could easily make him forget his past life, forget Sariputra, allowing the prenatal delusion to completely obscure Sariputra's wisdom, ultimately causing Sariputra's Reincarnation plan to utterly fail and disappear forever.

But facing such a disadvantage, Li Qi was not nervous. He stopped his meaningless attacks and instead looked up, facing the nihilism that was sweeping towards him.

So, in the midst of nothingness, Li Qi spoke. He vibrated space with his Dao sound and then said, "Indeed, it's pretty much as I guessed. You are not the Heavenly Demon; you are… a Nascent Heavenly Demon, disguised as the main body. Are you happy?"

A Nascent Heavenly Demon is formed from the Heavenly Demon's Demonic Qi. (For details, see Chapter 291)

And now, what lay before Li Qi was the highest Rank of Nascent Heavenly Demon, a Rank Four Nascent Heavenly Demon.

Even the Heavenly Demon's main body can only produce Rank Four Nascent Heavenly Demons, because essentially, Nascent Heavenly Demons are the Heavenly Demon's tentacles, and thus share the same reality with the Heavenly Demon.

And after reaching Rank Three, they will possess complete reality. Even the Heavenly Demon cannot simultaneously possess 'two realities,' because complete reality must be unique. Therefore, the highest Rank for a Nascent Heavenly Demon is Rank Four.

"As expected of Li Qi," the opponent, referred to as a Nascent Heavenly Demon, replied in the same manner, "I truly didn't expect that you would dare to attack me. Aren't you afraid of guessing wrong?"

"What if I guess wrong? I believe the Heavenly Demon wouldn't attack me, right?" Li Qi smiled and replied.

Even if the opponent were the true Heavenly Demon, Li Qi had already acted. What would the Heavenly Demon do?

"That's what you say, but you were trembling when you made your move," the Nascent Heavenly Demon said, teasing Li Qi in the same soft tone as the true Heavenly Demon.

Actually, he was right.

Despite saying that, even if Li Qi clearly knew the Heavenly Demon wouldn't do anything to him, that didn't mean he truly dared to attack the Heavenly Demon.

Even if the Heavenly Demon allowed him to strike, he wouldn't dare. This wasn't about whether he could win, but about overcoming the Heavenly Demon's oppressive aura…

Do you have enough courage to still draw your blade against the Heavenly Demon?

How many people in this world possess such courage?

Probably very few.

There's no need to truly understand the Heavenly Demon. Any practitioner, merely by simply perceiving the demonic thoughts in their heart, will forever be unable to face the Heavenly Demon directly.

Even just standing in front of the opponent, the demonic thoughts in one's heart would stir, seemingly wanting to devour the practitioner. This oppressive feeling is not only brought by the Heavenly Demon's prestige and pressure, but also by the entire reality, empowered by all the demonic thoughts in your heart.

Can you truly swing your blade at the Heavenly Demon? Can you truly swing your blade at the 'sum total of the real world'?

Most people probably don't have this ability. You see… most people, even when facing a bully or a boss who mistreats them, only dare to fantasize about beating them up, rather than actually punching them, let alone stabbing them to death.

All sorts of thoughts, various realities, and myriad reasons bind people, preventing them from delivering that blow. These reasons have no binding force, but at the same time… they possess complete binding force, which even high-Rank practitioners cannot overcome.

Such reasons can be called a 'Heart Demon.'

A Heart Demon obstructs you, preventing you from risking everything.

Stabbing a boss is already like this, let alone facing a Heavenly Demon…

The Nascent Heavenly Demon was genuinely curious. He was a tentacle of the Heavenly Demon, and although he possessed an independent will, there was no doubt that he was formed from the Heavenly Demon's own power. No one could tell whether he was the Heavenly Demon or not.

And Li Qi, he actually suppressed his fear, suppressed his Heart Demon, and attacked him!

This was truly an admirable achievement.

The Nascent Heavenly Demon's personality was exactly like the Heavenly Demon's, full of curiosity and mischievousness, viewing all things in the world as playthings. Li Qi's performance at this moment piqued his curiosity.

How did Li Qi manage to rush forward so resolutely even while trembling with fear?

The battle continued. Li Qi did not answer the Nascent Heavenly Demon's question. He tightly closed his mouth, resisting the constantly eroding Demonic Qi.

Although the Heavenly Demon was curious, he wasn't desperate for an answer, so he indifferently continued to advance the erosion of nothingness.

While this couldn't kill Li Qi, it was enough to prevent him from leaving. He had ample time to control the illusionary dream and seize Sariputra's remaining wisdom.

But as time progressed, the Nascent Heavenly Demon began to feel a little anxious.

Because Li Qi showed no signs of anxiety.

Logically speaking, Li Qi was at a complete disadvantage. His rash attack had caused him to be trapped by the Demonic Qi the Nascent Heavenly Demon had set up in advance, and the Nascent Heavenly Demon had also begun his process of manipulating the illusionary dream.

But was it really that simple?

This was Li Qi!

Didn't he have other trump cards? One must know that to guard against trump cards, the Nascent Heavenly Demon had made many, many plans to ensure he could completely suppress Li Qi.

But Li Qi hadn't used a single trump card, rendering his prepared countermeasures meaningless. Li Qi even sat there, perfectly calm.

This wasn't right; this definitely wasn't right.

Li Qi wasn't a mere pig for slaughter. The Nascent Heavenly Demon had heard about his fighting spirit and wisdom. Such a person wouldn't sit idly by and wait for death.

However, everything displayed before him clearly showed that Li Qi had no solution.

Had he overestimated him?

He was a Genius at Rank Five, but that might not be the case at Rank Four.

Many Geniuses are astonishingly brilliant at lower Ranks, but when they advance to a certain Rank, they quickly lose their original Genius aura. The reason is simple: everyone who can reach that Rank is a Genius.

It's like attending elementary school. Among a group of gorillas, there is one human.

This human is smarter than all the gorillas, and he considers himself a Genius, even self-learning elementary school curriculum from books found in a discarded backpack.

But when he comes to the human world, he will find that everyone has an elementary school education. He is just an ordinary member, perhaps a little more resilient than those who followed the standard elementary school path, but that's all.

Everyone is a Genius, so naturally, there are no Geniuses.

But… is Li Qi really only like this?

No, that's not right. Li Qi had already displayed extraordinary means when fighting two other Rank Four opponents. It's impossible for him to be so useless now.

There's a problem.

The Nascent Heavenly Demon began to increase his efforts, starting to use other moves.

Under the Demonic Qi's devouring, the surrounding Universe began to accelerate its cooling, space began to expand, all things were dissipating, and the existence of the speed of light began to strengthen. A great tearing began to unfold around this small star system.

In the endless expansion, all matter was torn apart.

First, matter was torn into Qi, then the Qi also began to decompose, gradually becoming smaller than protons, but the disintegration and tearing had not yet ended.

Soon, all the Qi turned into a cloud of light-like particles, smaller than the smallest particles, almost reaching the limit of space, and the expansion from space would continue to pull these remnants apart, letting them fall completely into 'cold death.'

In a short while, every wisp of Qi was about to become the sole existence in its own cosmic horizon. Their light cones were completely restricted, and their Karma was completely severed from the outside world.

At that time, the complexity of the Universe would drop to zero, all known things would cease, and even time itself would vanish without a trace.

This was the end of time.

The Nascent Heavenly Demon easily created an environment close to 'nothingness.' This was probably the closest image to 'nothingness' in the entire Universe.

Li Qi was also within the scope of the tearing. His body was torn apart as a result, but his consciousness still transcended Karma, existing beyond the light cone.

This was a manifestation of reality. Reality does not depend on spacetime or physical rules for its existence; reality is 'self-existent,' capable of existing by itself, and thus does not require anything external.

The Nascent Heavenly Demon stared at Li Qi.

Why, why?

Why was Li Qi still not flustered?

Li Qi was so calm, but the Nascent Heavenly Demon was starting to lose his composure.

However, at this moment, a voice suddenly came to the Nascent Heavenly Demon's ear.

It was truly right beside his ear.

"Do you know what my trump card is now?" Li Qi said.

The Nascent Heavenly Demon's body suddenly disintegrated!

He knew why!

demonic thoughts!

While he was in doubt and uncertainty, demonic thoughts had also arisen in his own heart!

Was he a Nascent Heavenly Demon, or was he himself? Why were his Demonic Dao techniques so proficient?! (End of Chapter)