Chapter 845: The Meaning of the Unreal

Li Qi was suddenly stumped by Jing Wuzhen's question.

If the Universe was illusory, then there was no need to change anything, because if one wanted to change it, it could be changed at any time; this was true for himself, and even more so for a First Grade being.

So, what exactly was this war for?

If everything was an illusion, what was the meaning of action?

He fell into deep thought.

Jing Wuzhen immediately fell silent.

She realized that Li Qi, in front of her, had once again fallen into a state of 'Epiphany', and her single sentence seemed to have inspired him again, causing him to start pondering.

This made Jing Wuzhen smile bitterly.

For ten years, she had seen Li Qi in this state almost every few months, and each of his meditations would bring a corresponding new Breakthrough.

Whether it was in terms of spellcasting, Dao Orthodoxy, or cultivation, it was always like this.

It was terrifying; for people like him, cultivation was simply like...

She didn't know what it was like; Jing Wuzhen could no longer find the words to describe it, only that... the direct Genius of a great Dao Orthodoxy was truly terrifying. Even though Jing Wuzhen herself was somewhat well-known in the martial Dao, she found that her cultivation speed was like a snail's crawl compared to Li Qi's.

At this rate, even Third Grade seemed 'within reach'.

It was truly hard to imagine; that was Third Grade, a decision-making level within the great Dao Orthodoxy, a great existence that could truly decide the fate of the Universe.

Even in the world, they were absolutely top-tier, terrifying great powers capable of judging all living beings, transcending Karma and the mundane world, a mysterious power hovering above the dust of the world.

Such existences were crucial everywhere, yet in front of this top-tier Genius, they had to be described as 'within reach'.

This must be what people outside called 'destined high-ranking existences', similar to the Demonic Prince, the Little Heavenly Master, Li Qi; from the moment these people were born, it was already destined that they would reach that position.

What was normally a once-in-a-lifetime Epiphany for ordinary people, one that could change a person's entire life, transforming them completely, usually appearing as a 'great awakening' after much experience and countless life setbacks, frequently manifested in him.

The gap in Comprehension Ability was simply too vast. Although Li Qi kept saying that his Comprehension Ability was not good, and only his Comprehension Ability was presentable, Jing Wuzhen only felt that this was merely 'the modesty of a Genius'.

Thinking about these things, Jing Wuzhen could only shake her head and continue with her own tasks.

After a while, Li Qi would wake up on his own, act as if nothing had happened, and continue his usual daily activities.

And on Li Qi's side—

Because of Jing Wuzhen's remark, Li Qi suddenly realized that he still had a habitual way of thinking about all things in the world, which was to habitually assume that all existences possessed 'substantiality', and habitually assume that they should possess the same degree of existence as himself.

But in reality, that was not right.

This was a kind of cognitive barrier; Li Qi clearly knew that their existence was illusory, capable of being erased at will, yet he still subconsciously treated the other party as an existence that 'would not be erased' when conversing.

And by breaking this thought pattern and standing on this premise, Li Qi could see that everything he did was actually meaningless. Li Shiwei's matter did not need to be touched or managed at all. Anyway, as long as Li Qi reached Third Grade, with just a thought, she would immediately return to being seventeen years old, just leaving home, full of curiosity about the world, that lively and cute daughter, rather than the reclusive and gloomy Demonic Dao cultivator she was now.

This wasn't even a change; it could only be called a 'rollback'.

For existences without substantiality, such things even happened frequently. Every rollback of the Universe, every reshaping of the light cone by a Third Grade being, especially during the current war, had been modified countless times.

This was a war of continuous saving and loading. So... this reality had been changed countless times. What difference would it make if Li Qi changed it one more time?

His daughter became a Demonic Dao cultivator, so what?

With a gentle wave of his hand, she would transform back into that obedient and lovely daughter. This was not brainwashing, nor self-deception, but rather that the other party had truly returned to the past. For her, she had not changed at all.

If Li Qi refused such a thing, he should also refuse his own existence, because Li Qi himself had been rewound countless times.

But Li Qi knew that he did not believe this should be forbidden. In fact, he himself often used his Third Grade traits to 'determine the future', re-opening worldlines to gain an advantage in combat or achieve desired results in life.

For Li Qi's 'determination of the future', a random outcome was like drawing cards. The probability of drawing an SSR was very low, but as long as the probability was not zero, he could easily choose the future where he 'draws' it.

And for others, Li Qi could always draw it every time; probability was meaningless to him.

But from Li Qi's subjective perspective, he actually drew many times; it was just that those 'futures' where he couldn't draw a card were erased by him.

The final result presented was that he could draw it every time, but in Li Qi's view, this was not the case; he merely re-drew as he pleased.

So, what was the difference?

The only difference was his own cognition.

Whether he was unwilling or willing.

Thinking of this, Li Qi was horrified to discover—

Once the illusory nature of this world was discovered, then the Demonic Dao seemed to become logical.

Li Qi seemed to understand why the Heavenly Demon was so carefree, why the Heavenly Demon was so indifferent.

Because... it didn't matter at all.

All sacrifices, regardless.

Any cost, a joke.

Everything done, without consequence.

Everything in this world was originally illusory. Everything was merely his own subjective cognition, and everything he sought was nothing more than his own subjective peace of mind.

What exactly was objectivity?

In this world, does 'objectivity' truly exist?

Li Qi had once received an answer. He had had such doubts, and eventually resolved them. His answer to this was: "The person viewing the scenery is often also the scenery in someone else's eyes."

That is to say, one's own subjectivity is objectivity in the eyes of others, and at the same time, the subjectivity in the eyes of others is also objectivity to oneself. (For details, see Chapter 721)

By acknowledging the subjectivity of others, one then confirms the existence of 'objectivity', thereby ensuring the stability of other things.

But now, he suddenly found that when other insubstantial things existed, their 'subjectivity' was actually very illusory, because the 'subjectivity' of these people heavily relied on Li Qi's 'subjectivity'.

In other words, even without brainwashing, Li Qi could easily change their perception of the world, and even their so-called 'subjectivity' itself depended on Li Qi to exist.

In a sense, they were not on the same narrative level as Li Qi at all.

For existences without substantiality, Li Qi was the 'high-level narrator'.

Substantiality refers to matter, or the objective world, the property of existing independently of any subjective will and independently of the observer's cognition.

All observers' perceptions and cognitions of matter belong to the subjective realm. Observers cannot observe things beyond their own subjective will, and naturally cannot discuss what is objective.

The observer himself can only be subjective. Our description of any objective must pass through our cognition, our measurement. If the measurement itself is not objective, objectivity does not hold. If it cannot be measured or verified, naturally no cognition can be discussed.

In other words, reality is essentially relative. From any perspective, it is impossible to avoid discussing reality from the perspective of subjective cognition and interaction, and only through this perspective.

We cannot escape the fact that we are cognitive subjects, and we cannot exclude the influence of cognitive abilities and measurement tools.

If that is the case, then what is real?

Apart from being able to assert that oneself is real, there is no other judgment.

But is it really so certain?

A Fifth Grade being believes they are real, but Li Qi knows they are not. Li Qi even knows that space-time is not real; time actually does not exist.

The empirical reality of time, that is, its objective validity with respect to all objects that can be given to our senses at any time.

And since our intuition is always sensible, it is therefore impossible for any object not subject to temporal conditions to be given to us in experience.

On the contrary, we reject all claims of absolute reality for time, because even without considering the form of our sensible intuition, this reality is absolutely attached to things as a condition or attribute.

Such attributes belonging to things themselves can also never be given to us through the senses.

Therefore, the transcendental ideality of time lies in this: according to this ideality, if one abstracts from the subjective conditions of sensible intuition, time is nothing at all, and can neither be ascribed to objects themselves as self-subsistent nor as inherent.

And how does Li Qi himself judge whether he is real?

Subjective, objective, unprovable, unjudgeable.

And all of these have a common 'solution'.

That is... the Demonic Dao.

There is no need to consider those things; one only needs to acknowledge one's own substantiality, acknowledge that one's own subjectivity is absolute, and then there is no need to consider those things.

This answer suddenly jolted Li Qi awake, bringing him out of his Epiphany.

Unbeknownst to him, he was already covered in sweat.

With a gentle wave of his hand, he summoned a cool breeze to cleanse his body, then found a place to sit down.

Unconsciously, he had once again begun to lean towards the Demonic Dao.

It was truly terrifying.

The more he thought, the more he realized the terror of the Demonic Dao. It seemed that whenever these matters were involved, one had no choice but to lean towards the Demonic Dao, because... apart from the Demonic Dao, it was difficult to find such a concise and clear explanation.

The more he thought, the closer he got to the Demonic Dao.

Moreover, Li Qi couldn't find a way to refute it, so he decisively interrupted his 'Epiphany', even though this might be something others could hardly achieve in a lifetime, he still gave it up without hesitation.

"Demonic Dao, Demonic Dao... it's the Demonic Dao again." Li Qi repeated 'Demonic Dao' three times, feeling an immense headache.

The Demonic Dao had too deep an influence on him.

From the moment he began cultivating until now, it might have always been... no, it should be said that his cultivation itself might have been guided by the Heavenly Demon, and even the True Knowledge Dao Resonance might have been the Heavenly Demon’s Dao Resonance.

However, in reality, Li Qi also knew that the Heavenly Demon probably couldn't see through him.

This was also Li Qi's confidence in facing the Heavenly Demon.

It's easy to understand: if the Heavenly Demon could see through Li Qi, it would mean Li Qi held no allure for him. An ordinary person, even a Genius, could not attract such intense attention and high-intensity interference from the Heavenly Demon.

In other words, as long as the Heavenly Demon maintained this unusually persistent attitude towards Li Qi for even one day, it meant he still couldn't see through Li Qi.

Since he had this chip, Li Qi was naturally not without stakes. Holding his stakes and sitting at the same gambling table as the Heavenly Demon, what he had to do was not lose himself.

But according to current understanding, once one fell into the Demonic Dao, they might directly become a Heavenly Demon Clone.

"Sigh." Li Qi sighed.

How could he avoid losing himself?

By holding firm to himself?

Joking aside, if it were that simple, why would so many Geniuses fall into the Demonic Dao? The Demonic Dao still existed despite various suppressions; even Yunfang Great Shaman's Disciple, that Young Master of Shaman God Mountain, Li Qi's Senior Brother, had fallen into the Demonic Dao.

Falling into the Demonic Dao was not a matter of whether you wanted to or not. Li Qi could deceive everyone else in the world, but he couldn't deceive himself. No one could deceive themselves.

You can't deceive yourself, so when you believe in the Demonic Dao, it's not something you can decide whether you want to or not.

Li Qi knew that he was currently in this state.

The ideas of the Demonic Dao invaded again, blurring his previous view of the unity of subjective and objective, causing Li Qi to lean one step closer to the Demonic Dao again.

Li Qi could only lament that his wisdom and True Knowledge were still insufficient.

Life is like walking in a vast, dark wilderness, with only a single thread of lamplight by one's side. But by virtue of this single thread of lamplight, the surrounding darkness turns into light, and one can then bravely move forward with it.

Wherever one goes, the light follows, dispelling all the surrounding darkness.

This light is the 'Dao', it is 'True Knowledge', it is 'wisdom'. In the vast darkness of the Universe, only the 'Dao light' can illuminate everything.

And this single thread of light is possessed by everyone, so everyone can have light. But if one wants to dispel all the darkness in this vast wilderness, no one can.

But people always want to dispel more of the surrounding darkness, so they do not seek light from within themselves, but turn to seek light from outside. (For details, see Chapter 521)

Li Qi felt that relying solely on his own thoughts, he temporarily couldn't solve this problem.

So, he could only seek externally.

Or, one could also say... seek internally.

Because, at this moment, a Heavenly Demon Heavenly Demon Lord was sealed within Li Qi's Inner World.

"Let the wisdom of another Fourth Grade being enlighten me," Li Qi thought, and his mind sank into his Inner World.