Chapter 850: Secret Peering

Inside the ecological cabin, Li Qi, who had just been speaking so grandly, immediately sensed that something was wrong.

His daughter was in trouble.

The next moment, he stopped his casual conversation with Jing Wuzhen, and with a wave of his hand, a Divine Ability from the Third Rank appeared.

The Third Rank Divine Ability immediately permeated this Universe; the invisible fluctuations were barely perceptible, but they truly rippled out a movement that monitored all things.

Observing patterns in Heaven, discerning principles on Earth, encompassing the two fundamental forces, managing all phenomena, with supreme virtue hidden in the obscure, and divine transformation reaching the essence.

It was as if all matters were recorded in its pages, like a register of life and death, an archive of past edicts, and a collection of historical events.

This was power from the Grand Diviner, truly 'an archive of past edicts, and a collection of historical events'.

This was like a ledger of life and death; for any existence that lacked substantiality, all their past destinies and potential possibilities were recorded within it.

Everyone was in it; all beings that could not be 'natural' were recorded.

This was the Divine Ability of the Grand Diviner Chongnian, and it was also the help he had given to Li Qi.

Clearly, Li Shiwei was also included.

Li Qi began to peruse the information within.

This made Jing Wuzhen immediately realize that Li Qi had discovered something, and she also drew her heavy sword, guarding her surroundings.

Li Qi couldn't possibly activate a Third Rank Divine Ability for no reason; such a Divine Ability must consume a massive amount of Qi and bear a heavy burden. What exactly did he discover to play around like this?

And on Li Qi's side, he flipped through the book, arriving at Li Shiwei's page.

Here, many pieces of information were arranged.

Li Qi glanced at it, closed the book, and the Divine Ability dissipated.

"It's not time yet—" he said to Jing Wuzhen.

"Is that so? Then call me when it is." Jing Wuzhen put away her sword, completely trusting Li Qi's judgment.

Although she could tell that Li Qi was extremely anxious at the moment, seemingly on the verge of losing his composure, he still held back.

And at the same time...

Mystic Radiance Mountain, the location of Li Qi and his wife's Immortal Cave.

Here, Shen Shuibi was in secluded cultivation.

It had only been a little over a decade, far from the original thousand-year estimate; in fact, her organizational work had only just begun.

Although she had already discovered the rules of logarithms, calculating a usable logarithm table based on these rules still required diligent labor.

However, Shen Shuibi had done such things before.

For instance, in Alchemy, the essence of many Materials was quite exalted, their medicinal properties difficult to tame, and the energy and Qi within them were very high. It was hard to eliminate them quickly with ordinary methods; they had to be confined and suppressed, processed over a decade or more with slow, meticulous effort, exhausting one's strength and spirit, grinding down their medicinal properties, or exhausting oneself.

If one couldn't persevere, then naturally, a good furnace of pills would all be ruined.

Therefore, she was quite familiar with this, and such grinding work couldn't scare her.

However, just as the rabbit was diligently calculating the logarithm table, performing tedious calculations as a data laborer, a trace of demonic thoughts suddenly arose in her mind.

This shouldn't have happened; after so many years of cultivation, she had long since mastered the art of nurturing Qi and calming her Dao Heart. She could even maintain meditation for hundreds of years without a single ripple in her Dao Heart. If her thoughts were to be monitored, it might even be concluded that she was in a vegetative state, but in reality, her thoughts still existed, she remained conscious, and could even observe and analyze the outside world; she was merely 'without thought or desire'.

After only a little over a decade, she shouldn't have developed demonic thoughtss.

Something's wrong, what's going on? Shen Shuibi began to examine her inner Dao Heart, wanting to find the source of this trace of demonic thoughts.

It was better not to look, but as soon as she started searching, in an instant, the surrounding world suddenly turned dark.

Black mist enveloped her surroundings, and 'static' began to sound.

These sounds were sometimes deafening, especially when there were those hysterical shouts, which made her head buzz and her brain feel like it was trembling. But more often, these sounds were just quiet whispers, as silent as the buzzing of flies or tinnitus. Yet, no matter what kind of sound it was, they all lingered, never ceasing, and could not be ignored.

Cold whispers, indistinct phantoms, and the fear they brought were clearly imprinted on her mind.

Shen Shuibi knew something was wrong; these were signs of Qi Deviation.

Something's not right.

She showed no signs of Qi Deviation, and her Dao Heart was stable. When she underwent her Breakthrough, her preparatory work was also done very well; she didn't rely on 'guesses' to Breakthrough.

Some cultivators have an unstable foundation.

But Shen Shuibi was different; her Breakthrough was a natural progression, so she shouldn't have fallen into such a dangerous situation.

In other words...

Was someone plotting against her?

Realizing this, Shen Shuibi did not panic. She formed hand Seals and chanted a mantra: "Supreme Grand Star, ever-changing and ceaseless. Expel evil and bind demons, protect life and body. Wisdom clear and bright, Dao Heart peaceful. Three souls eternal, no loss of spirit—"

This was the 'Purifying Heart Divine Mantra'.

As mentioned before, 'language' itself holds power. Divine Abilities like 'mantras,' 'calligraphy,' 'Talismans,' and 'invocations' essentially borrow the power of certain existences through a ritual using language.

Using established techniques means utilizing the wisdom of predecessors to empower oneself.

The Purifying Heart Divine Mantra before her was also like this.

'Supreme' means the highest, and 'Grand Star' refers to the Three Platforms of the Big Dipper. This phrase means to invoke the Dao Ancestor. 'Supreme' is omnipresent and omnipotent, ever-changing and ceaseless, thus invoking the power of the Dao Ancestor.

Expelling evil and binding demons, protecting life and body, directly follows the previous line, "Supreme Grand Star, ever-changing and ceaseless," meaning that the Supreme responds to all sensations, is omnipresent, and those who sincerely cultivate the Dao will naturally have their body and Dao Heart protected, and no evil spirits or demons dare to invade them.

As the mantra was chanted, an invisible barrier rose around Shen Shuibi.

The surrounding sounds diminished significantly.

"Nascent Heavenly Demon, is that right?" Shen Shuibi looked around. "You're truly bold; this is Shaman God Mountain's territory."

"You're truly... perceptive. We once surrounded Li Qi, and it took him quite some time to recognize our true forms, but you only needed a glance," the Nascent Heavenly Demon's voice replied.

"If this is all you are, it's impossible to drag me into the Demonic Dao. Moreover, this is Shaman God Mountain's territory; your ability to infiltrate your thoughts in must be your limit. If you were to truly act... you probably couldn't do it."

"So, after expending so much effort, breaking through so many Seals, and coming before me, what exactly is your purpose?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"To deliver a message." The black mist outside stirred, and the Nascent Heavenly Demon's image materialized, transforming into a small, adorable Xiao Gou.

"Deliver a message? Oh, you want to corrupt my Dao Heart and force me out of seclusion, right? That's certainly the Demonic Dao's style. But... speak freely." Shen Shuibi didn't panic; instead, she told the other party to speak directly.

"Li Shiwei has been abandoned by the Devil King, and Li Qi is currently being jointly attacked by ten Demonic Lords, with slim chances of victory. You need to hurry. If you really drag it out for another thousand years before Breakthrough, everything will be too late when you come out," the Nascent Heavenly Demon said.

His voice was playful, with a hint of jest, not serious or formal.

However, it was normal. Nascent Heavenly Demons were not true Heavenly Demons. In fact, they possessed independent wills and personalities, and some even disliked Heavenly Demons greatly.

But no matter what, they were all essentially the tentacles of the true 'Heavenly Demon', derivatives of the Heavenly Demon, or one could understand them as... the demonic thoughtss within the Heavenly Demon's mind.

The Heavenly Demon constantly generated countless demonic thoughtss every moment. A portion of these demonic thoughtss would naturally differentiate into 'Nascent Heavenly Demons', a portion of more important thoughts were Fourth Rank, and many tiny demonic thoughtss were even lower, with the lowest being Ninth Rank.

Normally, these 'more important thoughts' were things the Heavenly Demon recently wanted to accomplish, similar to: "I'm so annoyed... I want to take a bath but I don't want to move..." "I really want to eat at that new restaurant downtown, but I can't go."

At such times, 'Nascent Heavenly Demons' would naturally be born, and these Nascent Heavenly Demons, differentiated from thoughts, inherently possessed the instinct and motivation to fulfill this 'obsession'.

They would proactively go take a bath, go eat at that restaurant downtown, even though the Heavenly Demon didn't ask them to, and might not even be aware of their existence. But they would indeed proactively do these things, as if this task was the goal of their birth.

However, it is said that even if they took a bath or ate at the restaurant, the Heavenly Demon itself wouldn't feel anything.

Nascent Heavenly Demons didn't do these things for the Heavenly Demon, nor did the Heavenly Demon care if they did. Many demonic thoughtss were merely fleeting moments, and could not truly be called 'goals'.

For example, sometimes the Heavenly Demon would glimpse a world, a peaceful and happy world. A thought to destroy this world would pop into his mind, and then the next second, his own chaotic thoughts would immediately pull him away. He would directly cast this thought aside and not act on it. This was just like a Mortal's thought of 'wanting to jump off a cliff when standing on one'; it just suddenly appeared in his mind, and then he would forget about it immediately.

A minor matter, completely forgotten afterward.

But... if this world was unlucky, a Nascent Heavenly Demon would be born, and this Nascent Heavenly Demon's lifelong goal and instinct would be to destroy this world.

The Heavenly Demon himself, if he didn't specifically pay attention, might not even know that a Nascent Heavenly Demon was helping him fulfill this fleeting thought.

But for that world, they would inexplicably gain a terrifying enemy, an enemy who would use every means to destroy them, even if it meant mutual destruction.

However, limited by the unique nature of 'substantiality', the strongest Nascent Heavenly Demons were only Fourth Rank. Third Rank was necessarily unique, and a large number of Nascent Heavenly Demons were only Ninth Rank, all small demonic thoughtss that the Heavenly Demon himself might not even notice.

Yet, even so, one can imagine how much the Heavenly Demon had messed up this Universe, and how many people were affected by the countless Nascent Heavenly Demons... it was simply impossible to count.

And Shen Shuibi also understood that the sudden appearance of a Nascent Heavenly Demon indicated that the Heavenly Demon had a thought, wanting to interfere with her.

And this thought was very important, even giving birth to a Fourth Rank Nascent Heavenly Demon, indicating that the Heavenly Demon was truly troubled by it for a while. Even if he later cast it aside, at least at that time, he still valued this thought greatly.

In other words... herself.

Shen Shuibi's Dao Heart turned, and she looked at the Nascent Heavenly Demon, saying, "So, your purpose is related to me. What is it?"

The Nascent Heavenly Demon who appeared before Shen Shuibi chuckled lightly, then said, "Hmm... how should I put it? I just saw something. You want Li Qi to understand your entire self, but you also want to keep some fresh secrets. A woman's Dao Heart is truly hard to understand."

He completely skipped Shen Shuibi's question and started a new topic.

"Mind reading? What you read may not necessarily be true," Shen Shuibi said.

"It doesn't matter. Regardless of truth or falsehood, that is your 'Dao Heart.' Hmm... my objective has already been achieved," the Nascent Heavenly Demon before her said.

"Oh? In other words, the Heavenly Demon's thought at that time was to know what I was thinking, right?" Shen Shuibi keenly caught the implied meaning.

"Exactly. The Heavenly Demon very much wanted to know what you and Li Qi were thinking, and so I was born. Although I dislike this purpose very much, but... Mortals will fall asleep no matter how much they dislike it; it's an instinct, irresistible."

No matter how strong your willpower, you can never resist the instinct to sleep with willpower; you will always fall asleep.

It was the same for Nascent Heavenly Demons. No matter their subjective consciousness, they could not resist the 'reason for their birth'; they would definitely complete that goal.

However, the good thing was... if they completed it, then the shackles would be removed, and the compulsion from their birth instinct would disappear. They would gain freedom.

Although they were still Nascent Heavenly Demons, still the extended tentacles of the Heavenly Demon, they could at least decide what to do themselves. The Heavenly Demon's attitude towards these Nascent Heavenly Demons was basically indifferent.

As long as the Heavenly Demon himself did not interfere, all these Nascent Heavenly Demons were actually free.

However... Shen Shuibi had heard from Empress Luofu that a portion of Nascent Heavenly Demons would fanatically pursue the Heavenly Demon, gathering around him, and even imitating his every move.

This imitation even included self-harm. The Heavenly Demon was Sealed in the Heavens of the Formless Realm by the joint efforts of the Buddhas of Buddhism, suppressed by the Purification Method. So, many Nascent Heavenly Demons would proactively apply the Purification Method to themselves, just to experience the Heavenly Demon's feelings.

This fanaticism also caused countless Nascent Heavenly Demons to surround the Heavenly Demon wherever he went, as if they were divine envoys accompanying a deity.

Although neither this deity nor these divine envoys were particularly friendly.

After Shen Shuibi confirmed the Nascent Heavenly Demon's identity, she suddenly stopped the Purifying Heart Divine Mantra.

"Since your purpose is to know what I'm thinking, why don't you come over? Let's have a good talk," Shen Shuibi said to the Nascent Heavenly Demon.