Chapter 885: The fastest three-grade

On Mystic Radiance Mountain, in the sky, Li Qi looked at Shen Shuibi in astonishment.

“Ugh… you really went all out,” Li Qi said with a helpless expression.

“My methods are different from yours. You spoiled her, and what she did was truly excessive,” Shen Shuibi said calmly. “And you, you’re just as reckless. You two, father and daughter, really want to infuriate me.”

Despite her calm tone, Li Qi could only chuckle awkwardly, not daring to respond.

“So, let’s not talk about her. What about you? Using your daughter as a chess piece, are you trying to become like a Heavenly God?” Shen Shuibi waved her hand, setting up a barrier and shaping the surrounding space. Then, she sat down cross-legged and asked.

“Uh…” Li Qi didn’t know how to answer.

“Sit in front of me!” The rabbit raised her voice.

Li Qi silently sat opposite his wife, lowering his head without a word.

“I’ve already heard. You completely allowed Shi Wei to mingle with the Demonic Dao, then used her as a chess piece to lure the Demonic Dao into your Physical Body, thereby advancing to the Third Rank.”

“What exactly are you doing? I don’t remember you being the kind of person to do something like this,” Shen Shuibi questioned Li Qi.

As for Li Qi, he could only smile bitterly, “I had no choice, Yu’er. Many times, I truly had no choice.”

“You had no choice? I think you’ve lost your mind. If you hadn’t pursued the promotion, would this have happened? Why did you have to risk so much for this Third Rank? Now that you’ve succeeded, it makes me seem unreasonable, but looking back, every step was incredibly dangerous. With your talent and background, neither Shaman God Mountain nor Mount Luofu would lack support, and the Empress and others would also wholeheartedly assist you. Why did you have to push so hard? Even with success, there are endless future troubles, and you still have to go to the Desire Realm to resolve them—and this is the result of success!”

“If you had failed, both you and our daughter would be gone. How would I cope? This matter is so significant, yet you made the decision privately, keeping it from me and pushing it forward until the very end. I only found out about all this after I came out of seclusion!”

“Don’t you think you owe me an explanation, Li Qi!” The rabbit sat directly opposite Li Qi, her eyes fixed on him, not relenting in the slightest.

Li Qi chuckled, scratched his head, and said, “I had no choice, Yu’er. You think I was being overly ambitious, but in that situation, even if I didn’t seek promotion, others would have pushed me to. This matter wasn’t something I could decide.”

“However, I also know that this matter should have been discussed with you, but weren’t you in seclusion? It was an emergency, so I could only act first and explain later.” Li Qi stood up, walked to the rabbit’s side, and embraced her: “Now that I am Third Rank, I have gained some autonomy. This is the last time; it will never happen again.”

“Really?” The rabbit’s tone softened slightly.

“Really, really. When have I ever lied to you?” Li Qi held her tighter: “Some things are indeed beyond my control… but you know, I never—”

“Alright, don’t say anymore, I know.” The rabbit extended her index finger and pressed it against Li Qi’s lips.

In truth, how could she not understand what Li Qi was saying?

But she was still very angry, even to the point of giving rise to demonic thoughts.

Even a Nascent Heavenly Demon had come to her, which showed how critical the situation was. It was likely that a host of Great Powers had intervened at that time.

Shaman God Mountain probably wanted to use this opportunity to directly push Li Qi to the Third Rank, while the Demonic Dao likely had their own schemes, or perhaps… pushing Li Qi to the Third Rank was actually beneficial to them?

Shen Shuibi didn't know what the benefits were, but she heard that the Demonic Prince also advanced to the Fourth Rank because of this matter, and he was highly motivated before he left. Now, after reaching the Fourth Rank, he has suddenly disappeared, likely having received great inspiration.

It was clear that this whole drama was essentially the result of a struggle between the Demonic and Shaman factions. Li Qi and the Demonic Prince, as chess pieces, didn't have much choice. It was best if they succeeded, but if one side failed, the other would likely gain enormous benefits.

Unfortunately, both sides calculated too much, and the situation ended in a draw.

Li Qi successfully advanced, but left behind the hidden danger of the Demonic Dao. His inner body spirits and Dao Heart were born under the guidance of the Demonic Dao, so he needed to resolve this in the Desire Realm to truly establish himself in the Third Rank.

The Demonic Prince, on the other hand, advanced to the Fourth Rank, and his ambition was also stirred. The future Demonic Prince would likely be even more terrifying because he had found an opponent.

Shen Shuibi could hardly imagine the extent to which a goal-oriented Demonic Prince’s progress would be exaggerated.

One must know that the news had spread: about half of the Fourth Rank Patrolling Envoys in the world had been killed, and the Demonic Prince’s prestige had greatly intensified.

Of course, he still couldn't surpass Li Qi, because Li Qi's current reputation was even more widespread.

He was now known throughout the Nine Lands Under Heaven by the title of “the fastest to reach Third Rank since the creation of heaven and earth.”

From the birth of Haotian, the ancient Heavenly Gods and Emperors shaping all things, to the chaotic wars of ancient stars, then to medieval development, the Universe’s structure gradually stabilized, entering a new world, and finally developing to its current state.

All of this time, even including retrospection, recreation, and all the time from shattering everything and starting over, countless possibilities combined.

Considering everything, Li Qi was still the first person in the entire Universe.

Perhaps he wasn't strong among the Third Rank, and couldn't even be considered a 'complete Third Ranker.' He still needed millions of years to slowly accumulate, explore, and finally lay down his Dao foundation.

Although he had accumulated a lot of knowledge, compared to the truly knowledgeable individuals among the Third Rank, he still seemed too shallow.

In terms of martial combat, while he was strong, he wasn't outstanding, especially after reaching the Third Rank, where his 'Dao Orthodoxy direct lineage' status would become less valuable, making his disadvantage even more pronounced.

Li Qi used to beat up weaker opponents, mostly by bullying others who weren't direct Dao Orthodoxy descendants, and relying on his cheats and cultivation method, but in direct fights with Geniuses at his level, such as the Little Heavenly Master, Demonic Prince, and Little Overlord, his disadvantage was very obvious.

Among Geniuses of the same rank, cultivated with equivalent resources, Li Qi was truly not good at fighting; he could be said to be the worst student among the top scholars.

He wasn't particularly good at either scholarly or martial arts, however, Li Qi still had one particularly remarkable advantage.

His Cultivation speed was incredibly, incredibly fast.

Unfathomably fast.

The fastest Third Ranker in the entire Universe, having cultivated until now, even counting time reversal, it has only been over a hundred million years.

If not counted, he has only cultivated for a few hundred thousand years, and that is where the true value lies.

A few hundred thousand years, many Seventh Rankers are also this age.

For a Great Power, a few hundred thousand years is even just the time they spend in seclusion doing minor tasks.

This is actually quite absurd, because there are many races in the Universe with very fast Cultivation speeds, such as the previously mentioned 'Jisu Realm.' (See Chapter 643 for details)

Their natural movement speed is extremely fast; if they don't cultivate, a Jisu Realm life form only needs three-millionths of a second from birth to reproduction to death.

Even if they achieve longevity after the Seventh Rank, they generally only live for eight days. After eight days, they will die from Dao Heart collapse caused by excessive longevity.

In other words, from an ordinary person's perspective, they would advance to the Seventh Rank within a second, the Sixth Rank within eight days, the Fifth Rank within sixty days, and then from the Fifth Rank to the Fourth Rank within a hundred years.

If they couldn't do it, they would die.

However, once they reach the Fourth Rank and have substantial support, they can take a breather and adjust their perception of time, allowing themselves to go from picosecond-level reactions to the patience of a billion years in an instant, achieving true longevity.

But actually, it's not truly 'longevity' yet; true 'longevity' is only achieved at the Third Rank. At the Fourth Rank, one can only control one's mind to make time pass less quickly.

For these races with extremely fast Cultivation speeds and life processes, they can accumulate a considerable number of strong individuals in a very short time. For example, the Jisu Realm has the most Fourth Rankers in the entire Universe; their number of Fourth Rankers even exceeds that of all nine forces in the Nine Lands Under Heaven combined.

However, in this situation, their number of Third Rankers has not increased proportionally; in fact, it is even much smaller than that of each of the Nine Lands Under Heaven.

Because at this level, time's influence on rank is almost negligible.

The lower the rank, the more one cares about time and the greater the influence of time. For example, at the Ninth Rank, as long as one is a person, with enough time and a cultivation method, even the lowest talent in the Universe can slowly climb up through time.

Without relying on retrospection, in a few hundred thousand years, he reached the Third Rank.

The fastest in the history of the entire Universe.

Li Qi thought of this evaluation and smiled, but his smile was not happy, but rather tinged with melancholy and self-mockery.

“Don’t look like that.” The rabbit saw him, propped herself up, moved the hand that had been pressing Li Qi’s lips to his face, and used two fingers to pull Li Qi’s left cheek outwards: “I just wanted to throw a tantrum, you’re not angry, are you?”

“Of course not. Alright, how many people wish they were like me but can’t? Being a chess piece, how many people beg for it and can’t even get a foot in the door? Why feel sorry for yourself?” Li Qi shook his head. “It’s just that since I’m Third Rank now, I’ll have some ability to stand up for myself in the future.”

“Go see Shi Wei,” Li Qi said. “Locking her pipa bone is a bit too much, isn’t it… How about—”

“I’m refining the Demonic Qi in her body. What, do you really think I’m torturing her? That’s Demonic Qi transformed by a Demonic Lord, it’s very troublesome. The head of the house isn’t home, and has gone to the Desire Realm, only returning in a few thousand years. Besides this method, what else can I do?” Shen Shuibi said.

Li Qi was helpless: “That’s good then. I’m here. Clearing Demonic Qi isn’t too difficult. Let’s see if she can adapt after finally breaking free from her role as a chess piece.”

As the couple spoke, they had already arrived at the base of the mountain below.

Two chains extended from the base of the mountain, piercing through Li Shiwei’s pipa bone, firmly locking her Cultivation.

She hung there like a cured meat, and the Qi of the mountain’s earth veins was constantly washing over her Inner World, purging the Demonic Qi from her body.

This was actually quite painful.

Li Qi watched all of this.

Li Shiwei was completely engulfed in pain, so she had no leisure to notice her surroundings and was completely unaware that her parents had arrived.

This made Li Qi feel a bit emotional.

Young people, these creatures, always think they can see what life will be like ten years from now, but they don't even know what they'll eat tomorrow.

They fantasize a lot in their minds, but in reality, they are completely out of touch with reality; it's simply wishful thinking.

This situation is actually very similar to Li Qi's current state.

Li Qi and Li Shiwei are actually facing the same thing.

For example, Li Qi’s Cultivation. He is not bound by time, naturally, he cannot receive help from time, and even if he accelerates himself to the limit, he cannot gain any benefit.

Although theoretically he could slowly stabilize his Cultivation over millions of years, that is actually impossible.

What Li Qi needs is not ‘millions of years of time,’ but ‘information calculated in units of millions of years,’ and this information is actually calculated based on the circulation of his ‘Dao’ in the entire external Universe.

To be precise, Li Qi’s ‘progress’ is actually the process of his Dao, and the Dao of the external world, rubbing against each other, intertwining, and even opposing each other. In this process, Li Qi can comprehend more.

And this cycle needs to last for millions of years.

Li Qi now easily distorts his own time, allowing himself to pass through millions of years out of thin air, but it will not have any use at all. Although he has passed through millions of years, he is out of sync with the external world's time, and the external information he receives has not changed at all, so there is no talk of any gain.

Similarly, the same goes for Li Shiwei.

She wanted to use things like ‘acceleration’ to strengthen herself and quickly raise her rank, but in reality, all of that was illusory.

Unable to recognize one’s true heart, unable to discover the process of constant friction between the external world and one’s Inner World, unable to perceive—

Yes, all things are Dao. This is what Li Qi discovered as the reason for his rapid Cultivation progress.

Dao is contained within all things: a flower, a blade of grass, a drop of water, a piece of wood, every action.

If it is said that Dao gives birth to all things, then doesn't that mean that all things are a part of 'Dao'?

Then, when interacting with the outside world, one naturally receives information from the outside world, which means receiving a part of the 'Dao.'

Every moment of experience naturally increases wisdom and insight, which in turn leads to an understanding of the 'Dao.'

Everyone thinks of taking shortcuts, but they never thought that letting oneself integrate with this world is one of the fastest shortcuts.

Abandoning the perception and exploration of the external world, and instead pursuing unorthodox methods, is simply losing sight of the greater good.

Spending millions of years alone and integrating with the world for millions of years yield completely different results.

Li Qi looked at Li Shiwei like that, and couldn't help but put down the spell in his hand.

“I feel like it’s unnecessary,” Li Qi said. “This is also a kind of experience.”

“Hmm? Aren’t you heartbroken?” Shen Shuibi asked, puzzled.

“Heartbroken, yes, but this is a good thing. After this, let her truly experience this world,” Li Qi said, turning and leaving the base of the mountain.

Someone had come to visit.