Chapter 834: Start the massacre

In a slum in City of Dreams, a Shaman wearing beautiful but very daring clothes knelt trembling before Li Qi.

Cultivators of the Demon of Affliction lineage were not as arrogant as those of the Heavenly Demon lineage.

For the Heavenly Demon lineage, it was almost impossible to make them submit so easily; the Heavenly Demon lineage was extremely solipsistic, and they did not believe that high-grade Great Powers were anything extraordinary, as they were merely a part of the world that they constructed.

As the sole subjective observer, they would never die; they merely had to contend with the world they constructed.

Because if he died, then the Universe would no longer have any meaning.

Therefore, there must exist a world that is meaningful to the subjective observer.

For example, a revolver with three bullets means there is a 50% chance of dying if one shoots oneself in the head.

This is like the cat in Schrödinger's Cat, where the chances of death and life are both 50%.

Only at the moment of truly pulling the trigger can a definitive answer be obtained.

However, in the many-worlds interpretation, two different Universes are created: in one Universe, this person dies, and in another, this person survives.

After several experiments, it will be found that there is always one Universe where that person never dies, meaning that through such experiments, one experimenter will never die, no matter how many shots are fired, he will live.

This is subjective immortality.

The principle is simple: only in Universes where the blank bullet misfires will the consciousness of the subjective observer continue to exist, because in all other possibilities, this person will be killed by the gun.

If this person continues to start the machine and observe the results, he will eventually find himself existing only in the ‘gun misfire’ Universe.

From this person's perspective, he has always survived, even though in reality they are dying in many ‘parallel possibilities’.

However, the Universe is only meaningful to the subjective observer, to the experimenter himself, because the experimenters in other Universes are dead, and those who are dead have no meaning.

So—

For the sole subjective observer, no matter what they do, they will not die.

Of course, this is what they believe; Li Qi could not say for sure what the actual situation was.

But from this, one could see how insane the Heavenly Demon lineage was.

Even among the Demonic Dao, the other three factions were far less deranged than the Cultivators of the Heavenly Demon lineage; generally speaking, the Demon of Affliction and Demon of the Five Aggregates, who fed on the heart, were still somewhat communicable.

As for the Demon of Death...

Cultivators of the Demon of Death lineage basically no longer existed, as the Demon of Death itself was already dead, so there were very, very few Cultivators of the Demon of Death, and even fewer who could grow stronger.

One must know that the Demon of Death pursued the return of all things to death, killing everything, destroying everything.

The Shaman kneeling before him did not answer Li Qi, but her surface thoughts had already exposed her completely.

Li Qi was noncommittal, merely pressing down on her head.

The next moment, their figures vanished from their original spot and reappeared under a beautiful night sky.

Surrounded by an endless grassland, under the bright moon and shining stars, all things flourished, birds chirped, and flowers and trees bloomed with fragrant blossoms.

The soil beneath their feet was already covered with vibrant petals and green leaves, fallen by the previous rain, like a carpet; this was an area of natural lush growth, possessing a harmonious beauty.

However, Li Qi could tell that this was actually an ecological dome, not very large, only about seven or eight li in circumference, which should be this Shaman’s private property, her ‘home’ in this City of Dreams.

At the Seventh Realm, one could claim a thousand li of land in Baiyue as home, but here, only a seven or eight li ecological dome was possible, showing the scarcity of land here.

“You were once a Shaman Dao practitioner, what caused you to fall into the Demonic Dao?” Li Qi asked, looking at the Shaman not far away.

Yes, this was why he chose this place.

From the beginning, he knew that before the Shaman fell into the Demonic Dao, she was actually a Shaman.

Falling into the Demonic Dao itself does not affect cultivation method or characteristics; in fact, many people have no change in their cultivation base or Inner World after falling into the Demonic Dao, such as Li Shiwei; despite being entangled by Demonic Qi, she had no other changes, and her cultivation method remained the same.

The Demonic Dao is a Dao Orthodoxy parasitic on other Daoisms; becoming a Demonic Dao practitioner is a completely subjective matter, so the Demonic Dao can be said to be the most mixed Dao Orthodoxy in terms of cultivation methods.

“...Is Senior here to punish me?” the Shaman said, lowering her head.

She was not surprised that Li Qi instantly found her home; the Divine Ability of Great Powers was unimaginable to them, especially for her who originated from Shaman God Mountain.

However, being found by him and him appearing to have so much to say made her tremble with fear; could this person be a Shaman Dao Senior from whom she fell into the Demonic Dao? Is he here to investigate her falling into the Demonic Dao?

It looked very much like it, because the aura he exuded was that of a Shaman.

“No, you’re overthinking it. Besides, Shaman Dao doesn’t bother with such things. Looking at your cultivation method, you shouldn’t have been some rural village Shaman before, so you naturally know the style of Shaman God Mountain. When has Shaman God Mountain ever cared about such things internally?” Li Qi waved his hand and found a tree stump to sit on.

Within Shaman God Mountain, there was no punishment, only revenge.

There was no rule of law to speak of; Shamanes, except when working in groups, generally went about their own business at other times. Their organizational structure was similar to a club, and they simply had no concept of ‘crime’. They only temporarily gathered during the Human-Shaman War.

And the Shaman before him, of course, could not have fallen into the Demonic Dao during the Human-Shaman War, so naturally, there could be no crime; at most, she offended someone before or after falling into the Demonic Dao.

This was also common; without some particularly great stimulus, how could one fall into the Demonic Dao?

“Junior was once… a Zegu.” Now that she knew he wasn't here to punish her, the Shaman seemed to relax a lot, still kneeling on the ground as she spoke to Li Qi.

“Oh.” Li Qi nodded.

‘Yu’ (虞) actually means ‘person wearing a mask’; the meaning of ‘er yu wo zha’ (尔虞我诈) is actually ‘you wear a mask, so your face cannot be clearly seen’, hence cannot be trusted.

And for Shamanes, masks were common tools; many rituals, including Nuo sacrifices, required masks.

In this context, Zegu (泽虞) literally means a person wearing a mask and walking in a swamp.

It is one of the branches of Shamanes, referring to those who primarily harmonize swamps and live within them. Their duties and abilities naturally involve maintaining ‘balance’ within the swamp environment.

Similarly, there is Shanyu (山虞), with a similar meaning.

“I was born in the swamp and grew up there, but later I encountered many things, and I… and that swamp, we both left.” The Shaman said.

She said nothing, but one could hear that there must have been many stories within it.

It was normal; everyone had many stories.

Everyone had experienced countless joys, angers, sorrows, and delights, and these together formed each person’s life.

“That’s truly regrettable, but I brought you here not for all that nonsense. I’m just curious, as a Shaman, what was the obsession that led you to fall into the Demonic Dao? And why did you become like this? Seeing you hesitate, do you not want to speak?” Li Qi asked.

At this moment, the Shaman touched her forehead to the ground and said, “Please, Great Shaman… kill me.”

“You’d rather die than speak, then don’t you know I can search your Spirit Soul?” Li Qi retorted.

The Shaman said nothing, but she also didn't get up.

This attitude already made it clear.

He could search her Spirit Soul, but she would not speak it aloud.

It seemed this was where her demonic thoughts lay.

To fall into the Demonic Dao directly because of it must have been an incredibly profound experience; having abandoned everything from the past, she naturally wouldn't care about life either.

This suddenly made Li Qi realize…

The Demonic Dao also had its own persistence, but this persistence was usually difficult for outsiders to understand because the Demonic Dao’s subjectivity was simply too strong.

Rather than calling it a ‘Dao Orthodoxy’, it was more like a cluster of crazy, obsessive fanatics.

They had no consensus with each other, let alone with other Dao Orthodoxys.

“Since that’s the case, then so be it.” Li Qi said, flicking his finger, destroying this nameless Shaman.

In an instant, her Spirit Soul was annihilated; he hadn't intended for her to live anyway.

To be precise… none of the Demonic Dao practitioners in the vicinity would survive.

Over a decade, Li Qi had mostly figured out the operating rules here, and with that, he made a decision.

Slaughter!

The Demonic Dao made Li Qi feel extremely displeased, and furthermore, he was in a very bad mood now.

If it were only the Heavenly Demon causing trouble in the Demonic Dao, then so be it, since the Heavenly Demon was too powerful for Li Qi to handle. And although other Demonic Dao practitioners were fanatical, Li Qi felt that the Demonic Dao was not united, and their concepts differed.

But now, it seemed that, if not the entire Demonic Dao, at least those within this City of Dreams were beyond salvation.

Then, let it begin.

After killing this Shaman, at this moment, Li Qi made the most violent decision he had made in his cultivation career, a rare occurrence.

He would slaughter the Demonic Dao of this City of Dreams, starting from the lowest level and going all the way to the top.

Even if this was the world, even if Shaman Dao and the Demonic Dao were still allied, even if there were many Fourth Realm Demonic Dao practitioners here.

It didn't matter.

After Li Shiwei fell into the Demonic Dao, Li Qi’s ability to remain calm was already the result of his utmost restraint.

But now, he could no longer bear it; he clearly realized that the Demonic Dao was doing this on purpose, intending to pressure him step by step in this manner.

The Alliance between the Heavenly Demon and Shaman Dao probably had this goal in mind.

Since the Demonic Dao had already gone this far, Li Qi could not be blamed.

The next instant, clattering and crashing noises drowned out all other sounds. In an instant, in the pipes, factories, slums, various buildings, narrow places, the hidden rats, those Demonic Dao Cultivators who had fallen into the Demonic Dao, suddenly shivered with a chill.

A cold dread rose from the bottom of their hearts, as if a great disaster was about to befall them.

All Demonic Dao Cultivators within a hundred thousand li radius had a single thought—

“Could it be… am I going to die?”

As this thought appeared, countless Dharma Bodies also emerged; although Li Qi was not in his peak state, creating a few million Dharma Bodies was still no problem.

These Dharma Bodies advanced coldly; some were Ninth Realm, some were Eighth Realm, and the highest were Fifth Realm.

Every Demonic Dao Cultivator had their own Dharma Body, and no one could escape.

Of course, if anyone could defeat Li Qi at the same Realm, Li Qi would not bother to pursue them; you would have found a way to survive on your own, and then you could flee freely, Li Qi would not pursue.

This could be considered ‘the wolf leaving a glimmer of hope for the sheep’.

After all, no matter how deranged, Li Qi was essentially a Shaman and would not exterminate completely.

Gloom enveloped the city.

Even the ‘light’ dimmed.

As if in the deep-colored seabed, brown mountains traversed the ocean floor, and energy torrents penetrated the pipelines within a million li.

The entire city was pitch black, and above the darkness, even the stars were unwilling to open their eyes.

Countless battles began.

There were car crashes everywhere, explosions, various buildings burned, huge fires seemed to rush into the sky, many buildings collapsed as a result, factories exploded, various pollutions, artificial sun leaks, fires spreading in continuous patches, large numbers of energy pipelines collapsing, rumbling sounds echoing continuously.

Bodies lay everywhere, riots erupted, and the descent of millions of Li Qi’s Dharma Bodies instantly turned this place into Hell.

Wastewater pipes burst, and the liquid inside turned into a brownish-green ribbon, splashing onto the ground with water, emitting waves of foul odor.

Water droplets splattered on faces, causing people around to flee in panic.

But where could they escape to? This place was very, very narrow.

A large vehicle, like a rail subway, derailed, crashing a beautiful flying Spiritual Artifact into pieces.

Its outer shell exploded, like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, carrying the passengers inside, red, white, blue, scattering in an arc across the sky, and then falling to the ground.

The rushing sound of water, the booming sound of explosions, the crackling sound of electricity, people's screams, Demonic Overlords' strange cries, all kinds of sounds reverberated in their ears, filling their surroundings.

Wind raced crisscrossing through the narrow tunnels, the waste treatment System began to be overloaded, and the breaking of pipes also brought about air pollution. The super-large fans automatically increased their power, using vortices to gather debris and dust.

In the burning underground buildings, flames flickered, and thunderous explosions roared like a fire god. From the burning factories, one or two charred humanoid objects occasionally fell. Fire waves dyed the surrounding mountain-like billboards golden, as if a beautiful sunset had descended upon this perpetually dark underground.

Demonic Dao Cultivators began to die in large numbers, and there were no accidental injuries; the non-Demonic Dao dream chasers were only terrified but found no Dharma Bodies pursuing them.

Li Qi had no inquiries, nor any prior accountability or judgment.

This was Li Qi’s willfulness as a Great Power.

That's right, this was an abuse of power, an abuse of Divine Ability.

So what? What then?

With his daughter having fallen into the Demonic Dao, himself severely injured, his wife in secluded death cultivation, and being targeted by the Heavenly Demon, and defined by high-ranking Divine Dao figures as “having a great calamity,” Li Qi was no longer the Li Qi who always maintained calm and restraint.

To be honest, the current Li Qi was also a bit mad.