Chapter 816: The person who got in the way

Li Shiwei ultimately didn't say much to Li Qi.

She only spent some time chatting with Shen Shuibi, while Li Qi approached the Demonic Prince.

Before Li Qi could speak, the Demonic Prince preemptively said, "You're quite impressive, actually. To think you're already at the Fourth Grade, it truly exceeds my expectations. It wasn't in vain that I considered you a friend and went to great lengths to save you."

"I told you not to lay a hand on my daughter. Why did you do it?" Li Qi didn't respond to the Demonic Prince's words but instead asked his own question.

"I didn't lay a hand on her. She came to me herself. She wanted to save you, but she didn't have enough ability, so she found me, and I... seeing as we're friends, I came to help you."

"She has fallen to the Demonic Dao," Li Qi said, his voice tinged with suppressed anger.

"Is that so? Are you going to blame me?" The Demonic Prince tilted his head. "I never persuaded her. You know me, I never do such meaningless things."

"Moreover, if you ask me, her falling to the Demonic Dao was entirely forced by you. You put too much pressure on her. She urgently needed to improve her cognition and find her own path to help you."

"But she lacks experience and Comprehension Ability. She can't infer the whole from a small part, and she even overlooks the paths already available to her. In such a situation, it's impossible for her not to get stuck in a rut. And once she's stuck, for you, that naturally means falling to the Demonic Dao. After all, your world is too complex, unlike the simplicity of the Demonic Dao."

The Demonic Prince uncharacteristically spoke a lot, even directly using the adjective 'fallen to the Demonic Dao'.

Normally, with his identity on the Demonic Dao, it would be impossible for him to say 'fallen to the Demonic Dao', but Li Qi didn't care about that and instead said, "That's because... you are too strong."

Yes, Li Qi could guess what Li Shiwei was thinking.

Li Shiwei needed power; she wanted to help.

So, who would she most likely seek out?

Of course, it would be the 'strongest' in her perception, the one she considered the most powerful, which was the Demonic Prince.

In reality, it was indeed the case. No one in the entire Universe at the Fifth Grade was a match for the Demonic Prince. Even some weaker Fourth Grade cultivators who weren't skilled in combat or lacked powerful killing intent might not be able to defeat him.

It was just that unreasonable.

Just like now, facing the combined efforts of dozens of Human Dao Fifth Grade cultivators, he alone broke through their lines, sweeping through his opponents like a tornado, without even the slightest sense of difficulty.

And after finding the Demonic Prince, her mindset naturally changed.

The Daoist methods she originally cultivated involved slow, gradual advancement, refining her Dao Heart through the Mortal World, slowly summarizing her own Dao, and making steady progress. It was the Orthodox Sect of Xuanmen,光明正大, and although slow, every bit of progress was visible.

Her experiences in various worlds were all paving the way for these powers.

However, she began to doubt this.

Is this really useful? Why can't she make progress?

This doubt reached its peak after Li Qi and Shen Shuibi encountered danger, and even faced the possibility of being completely overrun by Human Dao.

Since outsiders couldn't be trusted, it was better to trust herself.

And trusting herself could indeed bring immediate results.

No need to communicate with the outside world, no need to refine the Dao Heart in the Mortal World, and no need to verify her inner thoughts with the real world.

What I think is real.

Even if my thoughts differ from reality, it's the world that's wrong, not me.

Under this mindset, no thoughts would affect the Dao path, and there would be no such thing as a 'Dao Heart collapse'. Even if one's own Dao path was completely negated, one could still move forward.

As long as your own belief is firm and you are convinced that you are right, that's enough.

Although to others you may seem 'fallen to the Demonic Dao,' 'impractical,' or 'completely insane,' only you know that you are right and everyone else is wrong; they simply can't understand you.

Just like... now.

The pursuit of power, the misunderstanding from her parents, yet she had something she absolutely had to do...

Even if the world didn't understand her, even if she was alone, walking alone, she still had to do it.

Under this mindset, the Demonic Dao was simply her best way out.

Extreme self, carrying out one's own will, unhindered by the outside world and others. In this world, only 'I' am correct, and everyone else is merely an obstacle.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Heavenly Demon, Li Qi actually didn't think the Demonic Dao was inferior, but it was precisely because of the Heavenly Demon's existence that the Demonic Dao became a public enemy.

The Demonic Dao, after all, is a Dao path that parasitizes other Dao paths.

You must first have a concept of the world, and only then can you 'fall to the Demonic Dao' due to obsession.

Seeing Li Qi fall silent, the Demonic Prince didn't stop speaking but said, "I didn't entice her in any way. I didn't even tell her what the Demonic Dao was. She came to me for help, and I extended a helping hand, nothing more."

"To say why she fell to the Demonic Dao, your reason is much greater. Besides, from my perspective, the Demonic Dao isn't a bad thing, is it? You live more freely, instead of being bound by Dao Orthodoxy."

"The freedom of the Demonic Dao... forget it, I don't want to discuss this with you. I only know that this matter is definitely not that simple. The Heavenly Demon is still watching me, and you on the Demonic Dao have no good intentions." Li Qi was a bit tired, but just as the Demonic Prince said.

The Dao path is one's own; it was Li Shiwei's own choice, and no one could interfere.

Moreover, entering a certain Dao path is not an option.

This isn't like playing a game where you have a few buttons in front of you, and you press one to join a certain Dao path and gain certain abilities.

Quite the opposite, you must wholeheartedly believe in certain things, feel that certain things make great sense, and then practice these principles, fully dedicating yourself to discovering this way of looking at the world, this method of transforming the world. Only after doing all this, when you look up, will you realize... Oh, so this is my Dao path.

Everyone's Dao path is completely unknown. Dao Orthodoxy is just a classification. Even cultivators of the same Dao Orthodoxy have completely different views of the world. For example, the Dao Sect is divided into many, many factions, and each faction supports different views. It's just that they don't have disagreements on core views, which is why they are grouped together.

Li Shiwei was no longer a child. Through all her past experiences, she had already summarized and formed her own worldview, her own summary of values, and her own life plan.

And all of this came from her own thoughts; no one could interfere or change it.

Li Qi and the Demonic Prince both knew this, and Li Qi deeply understood that the Demonic Prince was not lying.

That's why he was particularly angry.

Yes, no one did anything wrong, but things just turned out this way.

If this isn't the work of the Heavenly Demon, what is it?

Li Qi was all too familiar with 'coincidences.' Although he had no evidence, and not even his sixth sense stirred, as long as the outcome favored the Heavenly Demon, Li Qi would bet his head that it was absolutely related to the Heavenly Demon.

Li Qi's mind was in turmoil, but the Demonic Prince was utterly simple.

Yes, utterly simple. He hadn't thought that much at all. His thinking organ was completely blank. He just watched Li Qi's face fluctuating between green, black, white, and red, which the Demonic Prince found quite interesting.

He leaned on his cane and watched it all. As for anything else... he simply didn't care.

As he said, his Demonic Dao was very simple. Whatever the Demonic Prince wanted to do, he would do. Whatever his view of the world, that's how the world should be.

Holding this attitude, the Demonic Prince was naturally incredibly simple. His motives and actions were all so direct, crude, and straightforward.

Li Qi's convoluted thoughts could never appear in his mind.

Of course, this is by no means saying that the Demonic Prince is foolish. In reality, he is quite intelligent, incredibly absurd in all aspects, with every attribute unbelievably strong, and capable of breaking the 'theoretical limit' at every grade.

This was an almost unimaginable feat. The 'theoretical limit' of the world was summarized and practiced by countless people across the entire Universe. While not an absolute truth, it was certainly an ironclad rule.

But the Demonic Prince completely disregarded it. At every grade, he could break these ironclad rules and create brand new 'standards.'

His wisdom was not weak at all, but his wisdom told him that he only needed to use his power to solve most things. For example, now, a heavily injured Li Qi was no match for him.

A full-strength state would be another matter; a complete Fourth Grade was still difficult to challenge.

However, for him, Baiyue was simply not important.

Watching Li Qi's expression change, the Demonic Prince spoke, "Alright, don't waste time. This side is resolved, so I'll be leaving now."

"As for finding the culprit... go find the Heavenly Demon. You and I both know that if there's a problem, just throw it at the Heavenly Demon. I like using this trick too. Anyway, just dump it on him. He's just a scapegoat; no one will care if everything is dumped on the Heavenly Demon." The Demonic Prince waved his hand and then turned to leave.

Li Shiwei followed him.

Li Qi didn't stop him, but he stopped Li Shiwei.

"Father... I just wanted to save you, but it seems I've gotten in your way again. Don't worry, it won't happen again," Li Shiwei said, looking at Li Qi.

Li Qi was about to say something, but he noticed Li Shiwei's attitude.

At this moment, what was Li Shiwei thinking?

He realized he couldn't stop her.

But what Li Shiwei and the Demonic Prince said indeed made Li Qi feel somewhat uncomfortable.

The Demonic Prince had made it very clear.

The Demonic Prince believed that it was Li Qi who forced Li Shiwei to fall to the Demonic Dao.

Just like now: "I've gotten in your way again, it won't happen again."

Li Qi didn't even know how to respond to that sentence.

Blame his daughter for being over-concerned and meddling? Blame himself for not being able to decisively defeat the enemy? Or blame the Demonic Prince for helping?

It didn't matter. Just as he said earlier, Li Qi could freely dump everything on the Heavenly Demon. Anyway, let the Heavenly Demon bear everything; it was originally the largest trash can in the entire Universe, the collection of all demonic thoughts.

This made Li Qi sigh.

Yes, there was no need to throw it at the Heavenly Demon.

It was regrettable. If he could have decisively defeated Qiu Zhi and won this battle, he wouldn't have made Li Shiwei worry about him to this extent, to the point where she chose to beg the Demonic Prince and fall to the Demonic Dao herself to save her parents.

Li Shiwei and the Demonic Prince turned and left, without even pausing.

At this moment, Li Qi felt someone embrace him from behind.

He turned to see Shen Shuibi.

"Don't worry too much. She's a good child, and that won't change because of her Dao path," the rabbit said.

Li Qi held her hand and said with a sigh, "The calamity Shi Yan spoke of is probably this... To be honest, I'd rather the calamity fall upon myself, let me face a Great Power, than this current situation."

"This isn't something we can control... Don't let it affect you," Shen Shuibi said.

"It's fine, it won't affect me. But what about you? You're on the verge of Breakthrough. Is your body alright?" Li Qi turned and looked at Shen Shuibi.

"I'm fine. Also, don't dwell on family matters for too long. There are many new Fifth Grade cultivators from Baiyue around; everyone's watching," Shen Shuibi reminded him.

With the rabbit's reminder, Li Qi snapped out of his thoughts about Li Shiwei.

He turned his head to look.

Indeed, many Fifth Grade cultivators had broken free.

Moreover, it was already night.

The moon began to dominate the sky.

From the moon, emperor fluid paste descended like a river or sea.

"Everyone, you are all newly promoted Fifth Grade cultivators. I imagine you are curious about Baiyue, even if you have some conjectures in your hearts, and you have all experienced many thrilling adventures."

"Then, please listen to my Dao lecture, and incidentally, listen to the story of Baiyue."

Li Qi smiled, then left Shen Shuibi's side, sat down cross-legged, and welcomed the descending emperor fluid paste.

At the same time, he began to preach.

However, he didn't speak profound truths, but rather plainly narrated the history of Baiyue.

Li Qi spoke of his own experiences during the Boat Towmen era, up to the background of the Human-Shaman war, and then the sixty years of war and progress before that, as well as the Baiyue people's own wars.

This war, which lasted for sixty years, thus came to an end.

The beings of Baiyue, in this war, proved with their actual combat results and spirit that they were not only people who deserved freedom but also people capable of creating great deeds.

The wisdom of life, under their unyielding spirit, advanced step by step with tenacious progress, like a rising tide of advancement, allowing Baiyue to ultimately withstand the torrent of Human Dao.

Of course, they couldn't have done it alone. They had wisdom and determination, but Human Dao possessed far greater wisdom and determination than them. However, with the help of Shaman Dao and the Demonic Dao, they succeeded.

But this is by no means to say that they only rose up with the help of Shaman Dao and the Demonic Dao.

Knowledge of Shaman Dao and Human Dao poured in, but knowledge is just knowledge. If no one learns it, and no one can derive correct answers from it, then knowledge is actually meaningless.

However, the beings of Baiyue diligently and willingly learned all of this.

Their beliefs supported them. Even if they couldn't see the hope of victory for their cause, this momentum still encouraged these beings who were oppressed by the power of Human Dao.

When they lost their oppression, when they could decide their own destiny by their own strength, they would immediately feel a heartfelt exhilaration.

This was the exhilaration of breaking free from 'worldly oppression.' Everyone before was bound by the worldly order, but now they had broken free.

This feeling of exhilaration made them feel that they had escaped the unfortunate situation of being trampled like dust by various oppressors, and had regained their full dignity.

And to prevent this dignity from falling and becoming stained with dust again, they were willing to do anything.