Chapter 937: The Scenery of the Shinto

The Divine Realm before Li Qi's eyes truly opened his horizons.

If one didn't know that a Divine Realm Incarnation could be projected anywhere, anyone seeing this scene would suspect they had arrived at a cyberpunk virtual graveyard.

Countless people who had abandoned reality were piled together, immersed in a virtual world, ignoring everything outside.

The scenery here was exactly like that.

Li Qi saw numerous 'Divine Temples,' almost filling the entire world; as far as his eyes could see, there were only Divine Temples, with a density comparable to the buildings in the Demonic Dao's City of Dreams.

Dense, packed Divine Idols filled the interiors of these temples.

It was like a 'Pantheon' or a 'Thousand Buddha Pagoda.'

Inside, the walls were hollowed out, and an entire wall was covered with Divine Idols; these were all True Gods currently projecting their Incarnations outwards, their golden bodies placed here, uniformly at least Seventh-Rank, though higher-ranked ones were not absent.

Some powerful beings, however, enjoyed an entire Divine Temple to themselves.

Based on the characteristics of each Di Qi (Earthly Qi), the decoration of their Divine Temples also varied.

Some were azure-lined halls and vermilion-purple chambers, with Immortal maidens attending on the left and feather-clad youths on the right, treasure canopies reflecting light, and feathered banners shading the courtyard.

Some were pure and void, clear and profound, self-preserving and tranquil, far from worldly competition, without attendants, pure and elegant.

Some had floors paved with gold, hundreds of fragrant candles, gold and silver powder used to decorate the Divine Temple, and hung with colorful carpets; their designs were exquisite, further carved with gold, jade, and crystal into banners and tassels, incredibly splendid.

Some were underwater crystal palaces, with cold, translucent gauze curtains, a single small boat, and a jade person beckoning.

Some were merely small wooden houses, with a single wooden carving inside, nothing more.

Some were primitive and rugged caves, with bonfires and various charcoal paintings on the walls, and simple stone altars.

Some were towering palaces, with magnificent murals, golden frescoes on the upper parts, walls, stained-glass windows, and staircases, all meticulously carved and decorated; vast light burst forth from within, grand magic converged here, and elevated emblems floated in mid-air, bearing the entire glory of the church for thousands of years.

And some were a sea of blood, where many believers could be seen using sharp knives to gouge out their own hearts; hundreds and thousands of hearts piled together, putrid blood, foul blood, and fresh blood merging into one mass.

As the blades cut into their flesh, they seemed to feel no pain, but rather their faces were filled with joy, feeling that they had fulfilled the meaning of life; what could be happier than sacrificing themselves to the God?

All sorts of Divine Temples, on mountains, in water, in the sky.

Different doctrines, different legends, and the different Gods themselves, here formed countless indescribable ecologies.

This was... the Northwest of the Nine Lands Under Heaven, where the Divine Realm resided.

However, these so-called 'Gods' were, in fact, no different from Mortals.

A True God requires no faith, existing eternally and perpetually, needing no reliance on other things, while these so-called Gods are merely individuals who were once part of a certain race; they protected their race, and in return, those races repaid them with faith, gradually developing into various sects.

They need continuous sacrifices and faith to stabilize and enhance their power; it looks very formal, but in reality, it's far inferior to a True God.

Li Qi walked among these Divine Temples, though he had only arrived less than a minute ago.

But with just a sweep of his True Knowledge, the entire situation in the Northwest, except for the mountain gates where high-ranked beings resided, had already entered his view; below Fourth-Rank, there were no secrets to speak of.

From his observations, the current 'Divine Realm' was essentially like a 'secure internet café.'

For the lower-ranked Di Qi (Earthly Qi), this was the current state; the so-called 'Divine Realm' provided them with a safe place, a gathering place for Gods.

They stay here and project their Incarnations outwards, so that the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) will not die and can do their own things with peace of mind.

Anyway, for a Di Qi (Earthly Qi) who already possesses a golden body, Incarnations can be said to be as many as they want; as long as their main body is not touched, the death of an Incarnation will only make them weak or dormant for a period of time.

In the Nine Lands Under Heaven, under the protection of the Divine Realm, these Acquired Gods, formed by Mortals, can obtain the greatest protection they can get; enemies from outside the Universe would likely never be able to pursue and kill their main bodies in the Nine Lands Under Heaven.

Other than that, Li Qi saw nothing else within the Divine Realm's scope.

Other things, the Divine Realm seemed to completely disregard.

Mortals were all outside the domain; in this area, only Gods and God-servants existed.

"This is truly extreme, a stagnant pool of a Divine Court of Gods, who came up with this?" Li Qi asked Yao Ji again.

"No one came up with it; it just naturally developed this way. I'm too lazy to manage it, and Haotian won't manage these things. But if you're talking about who fanned the flames... probably Taiyi, he likes sacrifices," Yao Ji said with a pout.

Li Qi nodded.

That made sense.

Unlike the calm Haotian, who had no needs from the outside world, Taiyi indeed enjoyed sacrifices.

Star Officials all liked the 'little lives' within their bodies, feeling like they were raising hamsters; as 'Heavenly Dao Incarnations' of various regions, although they didn't need these little lives, as the 'primates' within their bodies, they still maintained a friendly and gentle attitude towards Mortals.

And the way Mortals expressed 'gratitude' was through sacrifices, communicating with Di Qi (Earthly Qi) through various rituals to convey their gratitude or other emotions.

The earliest sacrifices served this purpose.

Communicating with Gods and conveying one's intentions—this was the entire meaning of sacrifice and ritual.

Later, after Shaman Dao separated from primitive God worship, sacrifice became a means of 'communicating with all things'; anyway, the original purpose of ritual was only communication, and it didn't matter what was communicated.

Taiyi liked it, so the Star Officials followed suit, and coupled with the extremely vast influence of Star Officials, the areas covered by these sentient Heavenly Dao were not small.

And so, 'Mortals aspiring to become Gods' also began to use the method of sacrifice; they originally became Gods by simulating the Heavenly Dao through something akin to condensing the thoughts of all living beings.

Thus, for these incense-burning Gods, sacrifices and believers became a crucial part.

It was like cause and effect were reversed.

For true Star Officials, faith was merely something they liked; collecting incense was for fun, for amusement.

But the Mortals' incense-burning Gods believed this was necessary for Di Qi (Earthly Qi), so they began to imitate this behavior, like a group of monkeys seeing humans playing soccer and thinking that as long as they could play soccer, they could become human.

However, as it now appeared, this group of monkeys played soccer surprisingly well!

A very small portion of them learned to play soccer, learned to read books, learned to pick up tools and screw in screws; as they learned, they became like the 'Planet of the Apes' scenario.

Although unable to become naturally born Gods, they could keep pace with True Gods, so much so that the incense-burning Gods indeed became an undeniable part of the Divine Realm.

The 'Human-Ghost' lineage, one of the three branches of the Divine Realm, was thus born.

Although most incense-burning Gods were still imitating monkeys, a very small number of individuals among them could indeed sit as equals with True Gods; the delusion of Mortals aspiring to become Gods was indeed realized by them.

In a sense, it could be considered a good ending.

After all, Heavenly God and Di Qi (Earthly Qi) were too few in number; if there were only Heavenly God and Di Qi (Earthly Qi), the Divine Realm might not have survived until now.

To become one of the Nine Lands Under Heaven of the Universe, the Human-Ghost lineage was indeed an indispensable component force.

However, this situation must displease Yao Ji; according to what Yao Ji said before, she would surely wish to kill all these people.

"Don't waste time on these Mortals; it's time to find Xiangliu," Yao Ji urged, not wanting to play a Mortal observation game with Li Qi here anymore.

Although they had only just arrived less than a minute ago, Yao Ji had no patience for Mortals, even if these Mortals bore divine names.

However...

Li Qi ignored her and continued to observe the 'Gods' before him.

This was something he loved to do, and it had been this way since he was a child.

Li Qi, long ago, enjoyed moving from one world to another, understanding the Dao in this way, and in these explorations, his ability to use these Dao powers would continuously strengthen.

Each world he visited expanded Li Qi's imagination, allowing him to further explore the truth of the entire Universe.

This method was like absorbing all the experiences of other civilizations little by little through a 'snowball' effect; this was very important. Wandering from one world to another, Li Qi's experiences accumulated layer by layer like geological strata, eventually forming rich geological layers, each deeper as one dug down.

Such insights made Li Qi's abilities increasingly powerful; by the time he cultivated to his current level, many of his accumulated experiences had undergone a qualitative change, easily surpassing the scope imaginable by any single, isolated mind without external help.

Li Qi's various insights and understandings were themselves enriched and substantiated by the influx of various different thoughts, allowing him to support his thinking, and thus he could once again begin to write the entire world.

Thought is fire, knowledge is firewood.

Fire without firewood cannot ignite at all; occasional flashes of inspiration will turn into a wisp of smoke due to lack of fuel.

Firewood without fire is just a pile of garbage, slowly decaying, or occasionally utilized by others, made into houses, driven by others, becoming a 'human library' type of character.

Only when the two combine can the most dazzling fire burst forth.

That fire is enough to dispel the darkness on the Dao-seeking path, allowing blind worms to face this dark continent and find a small path within it, moving forward along that path.

Perhaps one day, they can reach the end.

Yao Ji looked at Li Qi.

How to put it, at this moment, Yao Ji somewhat missed the Human-Ghost.

Although she hated Human-Ghost, hated these self-righteous Mortals, no matter what...

At least, working with Human-Ghost meant not having to grit her teeth and observe these groups composed of low-level animals with no advanced pursuits.

And being with Shamanes would most likely mean dealing with these low-level animals.

Forget it, anyway, Li Qi didn't say he had to look; she could just close her eyes and play dead until the time passed.

Li Qi was also well aware of Yao Ji's attitude, so he didn't force her to study with him.

He just swept his True Knowledge over and over again, reading stories from it.

Li Qi possessed True Knowledge Dao Resonance; he could preserve stories that no one remembered, and that had no witnesses or participants.

Of course, he also knew that these stories could not fully interpret reality, because he understood that he was dealing with various accounts; for the same event, each narrator had their own version, and it was from all versions, from their number and intersections, that the true appearance of this world emerged.

Among all living beings, everyone loudly spoke their own truth.

And Li Qi heard all of this, integrated all of this, and then became all of this, without losing himself.

Everyone had something to say; this person said two or three sentences, this person said half a page, that person had more to say, saying two or three pages.

These stacked up, then observed, recorded, and interpreted by a peculiar being named 'Li Qi,' ultimately forming a set of books that could explain all of this.

These books then gained power.

Li Qi stood here and watched for about five months.

Yao Ji was annoyed during this period, but she wasn't without patience; Li Qi had come to see Xiangliu, so waiting a bit longer wouldn't hurt her.

So, time slowly passed.

During this time, Gods continuously noticed that something was amiss here; there were Seventh-Rank minor Gods, and also Fifth-Rank ones, and even some Fourth-Rank and even Third-Rank great Gods passed by, felt Li Qi's scan, and came to check the situation.

However, after seeing Yao Ji and Li Qi, they all chose not to interfere too much, but rather pretended not to see them and fled.

Clearly, while Yao Ji's identity was very secret in other places, it was no secret to the Third-Rank within the Divine Realm.

Everyone knew that Yao Ji was the Reincarnation of that former being; although a Reincarnation and the former main body cannot be directly considered the same person, it was still better not to provoke her.

Especially since Yao Ji was with Li Qi.

Li Qi was a very famous person; his entanglement with the Heavenly Demon, plus his talent that ranked among the top in the entire Universe, as well as his origin and Dao Orthodoxy, were all quite famous, even more famous than Yao Ji.

So, when these two were together, there was no need to think; it was a big deal, and it was better not to get involved.

This was Karma; even Immortals feared it.

Many times, getting involved with certain big events, if that big event was a 'key node,' then if important figures made a move later, it would be difficult to escape.

The Immortals of the Reclusive Daoist Faction feared this point, which is why they basically all retreated into bitter cultivation, unwilling to stir up trouble.

Only a very small number of reckless individuals actively invited Karma.

For example—

Now, a reckless individual was coming towards Yao Ji.