Chapter 843: Zhu Family’s Third Son

On the clear waters and beautiful peaks of Mount Yao, Prince Changqin faced the Demonic Prince. Despite the vast difference in their ranks, one being a Fifth Grade and the other a Second Grade, the Demonic Prince, as an envoy of the Demonic Lord, showed no timidity due to the Demonic Lord's message. Instead, he faced Prince Changqin with an attitude of equality.

"Senior, are you preparing to negotiate with the Demonic Dao?" the Demonic Prince asked.

"Is it not the Demonic Dao preparing to negotiate with me? I merely agreed. The Demonic Lord must be very eager for Shaman God Mountain to abandon its protection of Li Qi, no?" Prince Changqin said with a smile.

The Demonic Prince frowned slightly and said, "Indeed, you consider things much more thoroughly than I do."

Prince Changqin then said, "Then let's use that as leverage. We don't need to constantly pull at other things excessively. Four thousand years will be the limit."

"Shaman God Mountain, for the next four thousand years, calculated by Li Qi's time flow, will not protect Li Qi. Of course, if someone wishes to protect Li Qi out of personal feelings, we can't control that. As you know, Shaman God Mountain is very loosely organized. I can only guarantee that we won't force others to protect him."

The Demonic Prince shook his head: "No, if we agree to that, then anyone could come and help Li Qi out of 'personal feelings.' At that point, the entire agreement would be as if it never existed."

Prince Changqin then said, "You and I both know that we won't play such petty tricks. What is said, is what is done. Shaman God Mountain will not dispatch anyone to protect Li Qi under the guise of official duty. Other Shamanes who are not acquainted with him will most likely not intervene. In other words, the Demonic Dao will only have to deal with Li Qi's lineage."

"But you know, even if it's just Li Qi's lineage, there's still a Shaman God. How much power can a Shaman God involve, and how many resources can he mobilize? If we agree to this, it's essentially no different from protecting Li Qi, isn't it?" the Demonic Prince replied.

"Is Li Qi worthy?" Prince Changqin retorted.

Yes, is Li Qi worthy?

Is a Fourth Grade worthy of a Shaman God personally intervening to protect him? One must know that Shaman Gods are not idle. In fact, during the Human-Shaman War, the busiest ones were probably the Shaman Gods. They had to directly face the Human Emperor, the Three Dukes, and those Sages of the Human Dao. The intensity of these hidden struggles was even beyond the Demonic Prince's imagination.

It could be said that the battles on the surface were maintained entirely by their life-and-death struggles outside the table.

However, the Demonic Prince said with a stiff expression, "Li Qi is not worthy, but the Demonic Lord is."

This statement immediately brought the conversation back.

Indeed, Li Qi himself is certainly not worthy of a First Grade's protection, but if the Demonic Lord intervenes, then Li Qi's value would instantly skyrocket to the point where a Shaman God's intervention is required.

The Demonic Lord's single gaze once directly caused Shamansan to personally intervene, precisely because of this.

To put it bluntly, Li Qi's many identities—this Genius, that Genius, this potential, that future—all of these combined are not as valuable as one identity.

That is, "the one watched by the Demonic Lord."

Merely being watched by a First Grade will cause one's value to greatly increase, bringing a large number of First Grades along with it.

"Then how about this: the Demonic Lord doesn't intervene, and the Shaman God also doesn't intervene. Anyway, the Demonic Lord is currently in the Heavens of the Formless Realm, and coming out again should come at a heavy cost. In this way, let's limit the matter to within the Second Grade." Prince Changqin said.

The Demonic Prince, however, shook his head, rejecting this proposal, and instead offered his own view: "That's not good either. I suggest... the Shaman Dao completely refrains from interfering, and even forbids relatives and teachers from interfering. But at the same time, the Demonic Dao will also forbid high-grade individuals from acting. Let the matters of the Fourth Grade be resolved by the Fourth Grade. There's no need to involve too much, after all, with the Human-Shaman War ongoing, everyone's energy is limited. There's no need to make it too big, is there not?"

"Oh... you mean, in four thousand years, you can Break through to Fourth Grade?" Prince Changqin showed a slightly amused expression.

"Why must it be me? The Demonic Dao still has other Demonic Lords, and among them, those referred to as Geniuses are not few." The Demonic Prince said calmly.

"With all due respect, among the Fourth Grades, there are not many Demonic Lords who can contend with Li Qi. Currently, even fewer can consistently defeat him. Li Qi now has a good Dharma Protector who helps him bear the frontal combat he's not good at. As for a pure contest of Divine Abilities and foundations, breaking through moves and finding methods of restraint, I think... besides you, no other Fourth Grade of the Demonic Dao is his opponent." Prince Changqin reached out and gently plucked a string of his zither, saying softly.

Although directly stating the Demonic Dao's disadvantage like this wasn't a good choice, it didn't really matter. Both sides were very clear about the current situation.

When Mortals play chess, they desperately hide their pieces and cheat, calling it 'scheming,' hoping to gain an advantage through trickery.

But at this level, for the Divine Abilities and wisdom of both sides, schemes are not useless, but rather... their effect is relatively small.

It's not to say they're useless, because if a scheme succeeds and creates an information asymmetry, it can still establish an advantage. For example, Zhu Fendan's previous hidden move with the Huo Dou indeed secured victory in a local battlefield.

But clearly, the Human Dao side had detected the existence of the Huo Dou and the Demonic Dao. They simply chose to abandon the local battlefield after weighing their options, in exchange for advantages in other areas.

This strategy directly led to Li Qi and Zhu Fendan being drawn into conflict with the Demonic Dao afterward, naturally resolving the Human Dao's local defeat.

Countless wise men, many great powers, are doing precisely this.

Although from a local perspective, schemes often play a role, thereby accumulating tiny advantages, on the entire Human-Shaman battlefield, the general trend, the overt strategies, hold sway.

Everyone is basically playing with open cards, after all... the outcome of local battles can rely on schemes, but the grand overall battlefield can only slowly determine victory or defeat based on the wins and losses of local battles, and the wins and losses of battles are very difficult to fake.

"It's rare for Senior Changqin to think so highly of me, but... it is indeed true. Four thousand years might be a bit rushed, but a bit of variability is a good thing. If it were extended to ten thousand years, the outcome would be fixed, and that would be uninteresting." The Demonic Prince chuckled.

"Truly worthy of being the Demonic Prince, so confident. So... that's why you accepted Li Shiwei, right? As long as Li Shiwei is by your side, you're not afraid of Li Qi refusing to fight?" Prince Changqin asked.

The Demonic Prince, however, shook his head solemnly at this point: "I won't use such methods. I want to defeat Li Qi without relying on anything else. As for his daughter, she just insisted on following me, and I'm completely indifferent."

"You're indifferent, but is the Demonic Dao also indifferent?" Prince Changqin asked again.

"The matters of the Demonic Dao are the matters of the Demonic Dao. I don't really care much. The Demonic Dao inherently has no organization to speak of. You say Shaman Dao is loosely organized, but the Demonic Dao is beyond loose; we only gather together to avoid being annihilated. If possible, every Demonic Dao practitioner is an enemy to other Demonic Dao practitioners," the Demonic Prince said. "However, since the Demonic Lord has already spoken, we can only obey."

The so-called Demonic Dao is an organization that was born entirely out of submission to the violence of the Four Demons.

However, now that the Four Demons have disappeared or scattered, the one who truly likes to speak and command is still the Demonic Lord. Although the Demonic Lord has been Sealed, he always finds a way to extend his reach outwards.

"Interesting. Then it's settled. Matters of the Fourth Grade will be resolved within the Fourth Grade. I will restrain Zhu Fendan and the others, forbidding them from acting. The time limit will be Li Qi's four thousand years. Do we need to sign a contract or anything?" Prince Changqin said.

"No need. A verbal agreement is sufficient. We completely trust your credibility. However, for personal reasons, I humbly ask Your Excellency one question. Could you answer it for me?" The Demonic Prince's tone became humble.

Once it became a personal matter, rather than him acting as an envoy of the Demonic Dao, his attitude immediately changed, as basic respect was still due to a Second Grade.

"Alright, speak. I will answer as appropriate." Prince Changqin did not refuse.

"May I ask, how does Shaman Dao view Li Qi? It is well known that Zhu Rong has three sons: Prince Changqin, the second son Gonggong... and the third son. As a descendant of Zhu Rong, Zhu Rong is both the Heavenly God's 'Fire Master' and one of the origins of 'Zhu,' making him an important link between the Divine Dao and Shaman Dao. Yet Li Qi has not activated his Divine Attribute to this day. Have you not truly accepted him yet?" the Demonic Prince asked.

"Divine Attribute? Hahaha, you think too much. But I can't say more. When you face him yourself, you will know." Prince Changqin played coy, only laughing.

The Demonic Prince nodded, then said, "Alright, I understand. Then I shall take my leave first."

"Farewell." Prince Changqin said, then gently plucked the zither strings.

With a melodious zither note, the surrounding mountains and rivers began to 'stir.'

Reality itself became unstable, like a reflection in water, beginning to sway and dissipate.

Yes, this 'Mount Yao' was inherently an illusion; everything was built upon the 'zither strings' of a Second Grade. When the zither's sound fluctuated, this 'Mount Yao' would also dissipate without a trace, turning into nothingness.

Mount Yao vanished without a trace, and the Demonic Prince was once again suspended in the air, his flying boat behind him. Everything he had just experienced was 'gone without a trace.'

Yes, everything!

If one did not possess 'substantiality' and could not transcend, then even memories would be erased.

That period of time had even been wiped away.

The essence of time is to describe the movement of matter; as long as the movement of matter returns to its origin, then time naturally returns to its origin.

The Mount Yao just now, and everything within it, experienced such a thing.

Only beings with substantiality can escape from this nothingness.

"The word 'transcendence' is truly fitting," the Demonic Prince sighed.

Yes, Fourth Grade is transcendence.

Transcending the Mortal world, transcending Karma, transcending everything in the world, existing independently, existing only because of oneself.

If one were to ask how the Demonic Dao could be called 'Demonic,' it would be at that moment of the Fourth Grade, because only after the Fourth Grade can a Demonic Dao truly exist without relying on others.

And this point is also a hurdle for the Demonic Dao; a large number of Demonic Dao Fifth Grades will suffer Dao Heart collapse here.

Imagine a Demonic Dao Fifth Grade of the Demonic Lord's lineage realizing that he is nothing, merely a 'subordinate' thought attached to some great existence, that his previous self was false, lacking substantiality, and could be extinguished with a wave of a hand.

Then, if one acknowledges this fact, does one not acknowledge one's own illusory nature relative to the real world, and thus acknowledge the meaninglessness of one's Demonic Dao cultivation?

Large numbers of Demonic Dao practitioners who couldn't turn this corner suffered Dao Heart collapse on the eve of their Breakthrough from Fifth Grade to Fourth Grade.

But correspondingly, once they Break through, the Demonic Dao will truly transform into an existence similar to a 'Fourth Calamity.' They will become extremely difficult to kill.

Of the four Demonic Lords, even with Li Qi and Jing Wuzhen teaming up, three still managed to escape. Even if they didn't escape, it would be difficult to destroy their true spirits. For the Demonic Dao, as long as the true spirit remains, reincarnation is like eating and drinking. They don't even need to recultivate; they can recover the moment they reincarnate, becoming a Demonic Overlord directly from the womb.

As for the Demonic Lord who was captured alive, he essentially lost because of the Purification Method. Without the Purification Method, it would be hard to say how much effort it would have taken.

So, this was the Demonic Prince's plan.

Li Qi had once defeated the Demonic Prince, and it was even the Demonic Prince's first battle. Li Qi directly Broke through during the battle, using his Sixth Grade cultivation to beat up the then Seventh Grade Demonic Prince.

While the Demonic Prince didn't mind this, if he had a chance to get his revenge, he certainly wouldn't pass it up.

After he reached Fourth Grade, he would go find Li Qi and show him the qualitative change in power that the Demonic Dao undergoes.

As for whether there was a hidden hand behind all this, the Demonic Prince didn't care at all.

It didn't matter.

He understood that all of this stemmed from his own ideas. As for whether anyone would benefit, that was not within his consideration. There was absolutely no need to care about those things.

Thinking these thoughts, the Demonic Prince pushed open the door and entered his flying boat.

Li Shiwei looked up in surprise.

What was going on? The Demonic Prince had just left less than two seconds ago, and now he was back? Did he go to the wrong place?

The Demonic Prince ignored her, simply controlling the flying boat and beginning the return journey.

It's difficult to explain the truth of this world to beings without substantiality. It's better to keep quiet; talking more is useless.

The Demonic Prince, filled with anticipation, continued his practice.

Li Qi, who was said to be not good at fighting, actually had terrifying battle records.

He was the type who would claim he couldn't fight while beating others to death.

The Demonic Prince was already impatient, eager to meet his former opponent after reaching Fourth Grade.

And before that, he would quietly enjoy the anticipation before the battle.

It was like going to a restaurant one could only visit once in a lifetime, ordering an expensive meal. The most delicious, most anticipated moment isn't when it's in one's mouth, but the few minutes before it's served, when the aroma drifts over.

Li Qi was that grand meal.

After defeating Li Qi, the Demonic Prince would dare to say that among the Fourth Grades, he would have few rivals.

As long as he maintained his progress to Third Grade, there would be no possibility of wavering again.