Chapter 853: The Foundation of Existence

Things that have happened, even if rewound, are true and not false.

Suppose Li Qi, as he is now, was rewound to his initial ninth-rank state. Would his entire life then be empty and meaningless?

No.

None of this is fake.

Therefore, everything that has happened is real; it's simply a 'different kind of reality'.

To say 'like a dream' isn't truly accurate; dreams are false, but these things are real.

Why do people say 'dreams' are false?

Because in a dream, there is only you.

If, in a dream, you and a girl fall in love, does that girl truly love you? Or is it just your fantasy? That girl is actually just a part of you, essentially you talking to yourself, which is why it's considered false.

Even if you follow the Demonic Dao and can make illusions real, fundamentally, that girl doesn't have her own heart.

Whether feelings are false, whether all of this is real, doesn't depend on whether the girl is 'from a dream' or 'from reality', but rather on whether that girl also harbors the same feelings for you.

If that girl has her own will, and loves you by her own choice, what does it matter if she's an 'illusion'? Will dating a dream creature make you explode?

If that girl doesn't respond to you, and she's just a vegetable, what does it matter if she's made of organic matter from reality? Does that relationship truly exist?

The boundary between what is real and what is illusory becomes particularly blurred for a Great Power.

An illusion is an illusion because all the information within it originates from yourself, which is why it's a 'dream'.

And even if it's an 'illusion', as long as it's an illusion created by someone else, then it's 'true'; it's not that it's real, but that the illusion itself is the 'truth'.

Everything you experience is real; even a dream, isn't there a real, tangible 'dream'? All that information truly exists, even if the source has been erased, you genuinely received that information.

When your heart comes into contact with that information, you should understand that there is absolutely nothing false about it.

Even if everything starts over, what has happened has still happened.

Even going back to the past, it's the same.

Li Qi genuinely understood this point.

At this moment, Jing Wuzhen seemed to be deep in thought, and suddenly said, "Although the path of this life is overgrown with weeds from beginning to end, only oneself is the witness of one's own life... Is that right?"

Jing Wuzhen seemed to have always been a loner, which led her to this answer.

Li Qi, however, said, "I have a different perspective. Think about it, a person's life itself is a journey without direction. Searching for the meaning of life is actually just empty talk. Many people search alone for so long, and in the end, gain nothing..."

"The meaning of our lives, perhaps, has never been within ourselves."

"Is that so? Real, fake... Hmm, it's truly hard to understand, but I am quite impressed with you. Do you usually think about such difficult things?"

"No, what I usually think about is simpler; it's all this." Li Qi smiled, producing a large number of formulas, calculations, and pieces of information.

"Ugh... I hate this the most." Jing Wuzhen showed a look of disgust.

These are still a bit too difficult for a Martial Artist.

However, this is the most common foundation in cultivation.

Yes, distinguishing between real and fake is just a guideline; to truly put it into practice, a lot of foundational work is still needed.

The existence of gravity requires 'speculation' similar to universal gravitation, relativity, or string theory for explanation, but if one wants to put these 'speculations' into practice, create usable spells, Divine Abilities, or advance further research, then more tedious tools are needed.

Calculations, deductions, Divine Ability design—these things are not as interesting as speculation; they are tedious, boring, and monotonous, and also extremely difficult, requiring very high levels of engineering and intellectual knowledge. These are the stumbling blocks on the path of speculation.

A Genius is composed of one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Although that one percent inspiration is more important than ninety-nine percent perspiration, perspiration is also indispensable.

And this kind of perspiration is essentially like this.

Even speculative conjectures are not random guesses out of thin air; they are inferences that conform to mathematics or logic. Their essence is still rigorous, completely different from random guessing.

This kind of conjecture is more like corroboration than random guessing; it must have very strict logical self-consistency and be describable in a public language, able to withstand rigorous scrutiny.

In the face of rigorous logic, one cannot help but be convinced.

This is also where the power of a Genius lies.

Because verification and deduction are hard work—tedious, boring, indispensable—but ultimately, diligence is the path to knowledge. Hard work can yield results.

But inspiration can only rely on luck.

A Genius progresses quickly because they can make bold assumptions based on their intuition derived from their talent and experience.

Proposing conjectures is entirely a difference in thought processes; this leans towards intuition, is fundamentally untraceable, and requires keen intuition and a bit of luck.

Proving conjectures, however, requires in-depth research and labor akin to a hard worker.

Clearly, Jing Wuzhen likes the former content, but doesn't like doing data drudgery.

Although in Li Qi's view, she must have done a lot of hard labor, because after all, she is a Martial Artist; hard labor uses physical memory, while Li Qi relies more on mental effort.

Clap, clap—Li Qi clapped his hands twice.

"Alright, the temporary treatment for City of Dreams is concluded. The rest is at the execution level below." Li Qi said, "So, I still need to wait for the Demonic Dao to make the first move. What about you?"

"Me? As for me... I'll find a few proxies and have them hunt down the remaining Demonic Dao cultivators." Jing Wuzhen said.

"Indeed... That's right, it should be so. I'll also find some people to help. If I act personally and just suppress my power, while it won't attract the Patrolling Envoys, it's not very dignified, and it's easy to be resented." Li Qi nodded.

It should indeed be so.

Coincidentally, he does know some familiar sixth-rank and fifth-rank cultivators. He can ask them to come and help him clear out the Demonic Dao in this City of Dreams.

As long as a fourth-rank Demonic Lord doesn't make a move, then Li Qi can indeed do whatever he wants with this City of Dreams.

City of Dreams, frankly, the high-ranking Demonic Dao cultivators simply don't care about it. The Demonic Dao's main base is the Desire Realm, it's the Heaven of Others’ Emanations, not this City of Dreams.

As for whether the Demonic Dao cultivators might intervene here for certain reasons...

One can only laugh.

The Demonic Dao's internal struggles are quite severe; in terms of infighting, even True Dragons might be more unified than the Demonic Dao. After all, True Dragons also recognize the power of a group, while the Demonic Dao's 'only me' doctrine makes it very difficult for them to work together.

For Li Qi to force ten Demonic Lords to join forces, that was already quite an impressive achievement.

However... since those Demonic Lords are temporarily unable to act, now is the chance to reshape this City of Dreams.

After all... how should I put it.

Everything that happens is real; there is no falsehood in this world. Although everything can be reset, that information is truly real.

Li Qi's understanding of the world had deepened once again.

At first, he thought this world was real and not false, so he always worked very hard.

Then, after gaining substantiality, he felt that this world was empty, and thus his attitude also became empty.

But now, he knows that even if the world itself can be changed, everything that has happened has happened, and this will not become false because it is altered.

It's like falling in love with someone and then losing your memory.

Even if you don't remember the feelings from that time, that emotion was real and undeniable, absolutely not false. Even if everyone else forgets, and you yourself forget, it still truly existed.

Jing Wuzhen was actually right. Although this answer was full of a sense of 'independence', it was not wrong.

Although the path of one's life is overgrown with weeds from beginning to end, only oneself is the witness of one's own life. Even if one doesn't remember, only oneself has witnessed it.

It's just that Li Qi added some understanding to it,

It's not just witnessing alone... but witnessing with everyone.

When you search for the meaning of life, there might be many answers, such as dreams, paths, love, family affection, but without exception, these answers... are not within yourself.

You cannot simply find meaning within yourself. Think about it, if a person were born, developed consciousness, and remained in absolute nothingness, could that person find the meaning of life?

If everything around him was absolute nothingness, and he felt nothing, even if he developed consciousness, could he find what the so-called 'meaning' was?

Therefore, Li Qi felt that... the meaning of life has never been within oneself.

Li Qi had once comprehended what Karma was.

All actions are causes, and they will surely bear fruit in the future.

The great net of Karma is like countless crisscrossing strings, fluttering and swaying, gathering and dispersing.

These strings sometimes intersect, and their intersections manifest as all things in this world, representing the 'contact' between people.

These intersections are called "Destiny."

The fundamental doctrine of Buddhism is "dependent origination," which essentially means that all things in this world arise from Destiny. Because of Destiny, all things you see, hear, and feel exist, and there are rules that can be observed, summarized, and contemplated. These rules are called Law.

In this world, nothing is absolutely independent; everything is inevitably connected to other things on the invisible web of strings. Things are linked through various Laws, and one movement affects all. For example, if you plant a tree this year, others can enjoy its shade next year. Such entanglements of Laws constitute Karma. There is cause, there is effect; the effect then becomes a new cause. Karma flows, ceaselessly renewing itself.

All Laws arise from Destiny, and all Laws cease from Destiny.

Between the arising and ceasing of Destiny lies this vast Mortal World, from ancient times to the present.

Therefore, it can also be applied here.

The meaning of life is born from 'Destiny', and 'Destiny' must intersect with other 'realities'.

"Yes, Destiny, Destiny, the Buddha had great wisdom." Li Qi sighed.

The more he came into contact with the Demonic Dao, the more he felt the Buddhist restraint over demons.

This was among the many revelations that conversing with the Heavenly Demon Lord brought to Li Qi.

The Heavenly Demon Lord wanted to use his own existence and the emptiness of all things to prove the correctness of the Demonic Dao, thereby pulling Li Qi down, but Li Qi, in turn, through time sequence and his own cognition, confirmed the existence of the external objective world by connecting with the Buddhist 'Destiny'.

The current Li Qi would no longer be confused by 'emptiness'; from this illusory reality, which was like a dream and could be erased by a Great Power at any time, he firmly grasped the foundation of existence.

"The foundation of existence... Is this something even more real than substantiality... Or is substantiality dependent on this foundation?" Li Qi pondered unconsciously.

Perhaps... a deeper answer lies within.

—

Li Shiwei turned back and glanced at the Demonic Prince's flying boat.

Then, she bowed to the Demonic Prince and said, "Then... Uncle Mo, I'll take my leave."

"Although you're not likable, your manners are very thorough. In that regard, I don't dislike you." The Demonic Prince stood at the entrance of the flying boat and said.

"Manners... Hmm, my father taught me this from a young age." Li Shiwei replied.

When she was young, Li Shiwei was not a conformist, but in terms of etiquette and demeanor, she was indeed impeccable. From her straight back, efficient movements, and elegant posture, one could tell that she was a well-educated girl.

Regardless of her Dao, at least in this aspect, Li Qi had taught her very well.

"Since you've made your choice, go on your own. I also need to hurry; I can't let Li Qi get too far ahead." The Demonic Prince said, then closed the flying boat's door.

The next moment, the flying boat vanished without a trace.

Watching the Demonic Prince leave without hesitation, Li Shiwei sighed.

She felt a tightness in her heart, but... it was neither joy nor disappointment, an indescribable emotion.

But she quickly cast these feelings aside.

Now, it was time to confront the Demonic Dao.

So, Li Shiwei turned and looked at the Heavenly Demon Lord beside her, asking, "So, where do we go now?"

"The Star Gate is this way; just follow me. We are going to... return to the world." The Heavenly Demon Lord said, "I won't force you. You can change your mind at any time, but you should know... once you set off, even I can't change my mind. You'll probably only be able to regret it in your heart."

"No, the decision was my own." Li Shiwei said, then stepped forward.

She was very lucky.

Some people take one wrong step and fall into eternal damnation—

And she was falling, falling.

But she had room to fall.

There was still hope of returning to the original starting point. She didn't want her parents to shake their heads and sigh at her, nor did she want to see herself in the mirror, decadent and despairing.

So, she had to go. (End of Chapter)