Chapter 950: Lost composure

Cultivation and composure both refer to the same thing.

That is the ability to control emotions, the 'capacity' to tolerate many things, and thus sometimes it is also called 'magnanimity'.

People with sufficient magnanimity appear unperturbed; no matter if the sky falls and the earth cracks, they can contain and endure it in their hearts, thus appearing calm.

There's a saying praising cultivation: 'When Mount Tai collapses before him, his expression remains unchanged; when a deer rises to his left, his eyes do not blink,' which refers to this mental composure.

And Li Qi has always believed that his cultivation and magnanimity were top-notch.

He had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations.

Strolling through an ordinary civilization, sitting on a small hill, gazing east, looking at cities and oceans, with islands scattered across the sea.

Li Qi could, through the distance of space, sit there and directly see continents on several planets fighting, where a certain race, using newly developed technology and the power it brought, controlled other races.

Progress and tradition began to collide, and an ancient new world was born so unremarkably; ancient new lives and ways of thinking began to radiate outwards along roads and through slavery.

In New York, in the afternoon, under dim sunlight, Li Qi sat on the beach, facing the glow of the setting sun, watching the holds and decks of ships transporting other enslaved races glow red as they cut through the waves.

Shipbuilders toiled in front of furnaces, sweating profusely, while several sailors stood on the watchtower, eyes wide, observing the shipping lanes; the cabin doors were open, and the wails of the enslaved drifted out, only to be immediately drowned out by the wind.

On a tiny rocky planet, among its teeming masses, in cities and villages, countless thatched huts and shanties, and every habitable nook and cranny, this backward civilization, where every life was focused only on its small comfort and success, yet everywhere brewed great struggles from the civilized era; the Dao struggle spread across this small rocky planet, though they remained utterly unaware.

Ancient and new Dao collided, and Li Qi simply appreciated their sparks, without any interference.

But Li Qi didn't interfere with nothing; he had witnessed 'battlefields' in the Universe where Mortal races were crushed by 'Humanity.' To be honest, he wasn't even sure if that scene could be called a 'battlefield,' because there was simply no battle to speak of.

Although those Mortals tried to resist with all their might, their opponents were Humanity, possessing not only invincible术法 and technology, but also wisdom, knowledge, and dedication far superior to theirs.

More importantly, they had a grand collective in which all individuals participated, which was a huge advantage and the fundamental reason for Humanity's power, so they were easily crushed by Humanity.

In Humanity's view, those backward natives were crude and uncivilized; these local natives were dull, ignorant, and superstitious; they endlessly slaughtered each other; mentally they were sluggish and coarse; if left alone, they would only waste their lives and the Universe's resources, and might even self-destruct in civil war one day, thus wasting even time, so it was better for Humanity to end it all.

However, Shamanes and the demon race would sympathize with these native races; in them, Shamanes could see the power Humanity had lost—a naive, unstable, yet spiritual wisdom, an animal-like cleverness, a mental prospect.

And these invaders, Humanity, though incomparably excellent, were like madmen; therefore, in the eyes of Shaman Dao, these conflicts became fully armed, ruthless killers attacking a mischievous, underperforming but potentially promising rascal.

At such times, Li Qi would choose to act, though not personally; his direct intervention would inevitably attract other Third Ranks, so he would go around in circles, cultivating some proxies.

And these were merely a small part of Li Qi's long experiences.

He had also resided in certain utopian worlds, staying there with Shen Shuibi for hundreds of years, as part of their journey.

Those utopian worlds were, literally speaking, free of ill intent, war, and were utterly peaceful, with incredibly developed productivity, allowing everyone to live a good life.

However, development had stagnated.

Their civilization's Dao had been severed, so they built a large spatiotemporal shell to seal themselves off.

This way, no one would disturb these worlds; from Li Qi's perspective, they had protected themselves, like prisoners locked in a cell, and undoubtedly the cell was safe.

Over billions of years, they would face no crises; living there was a comfortable experience, and this beauty would last until they were suddenly destroyed one day.

It was a sweet death; they wouldn't even realize they had died, because ordinary civilizations couldn't even discover them, and existences capable of destroying them wouldn't waste time on them.

Li Qi had also witnessed extreme situations like the Immortal Heaven, which could be called a typical example of wasted effort.

The Immortal Heaven operated in cycles; Li Qi knew that civilizations within the Immortal Heaven repeatedly escaped barbarism, developing industrialization,术法, and cultivation methods, allowing all beings in the world to interact, but this was followed by conflicts, various kinds of struggles emerging; people yearned for a better world order and fought for it, but good wishes remained only wishes, and one 'man-made disaster' after another ultimately destroyed the civilization's structure.

Gradually, the world reverted to a barbaric and backward state, and then developed again.

Over billions of years, this process repeated endlessly; Li Qi had calmly observed all of this through his own eyes, and the lives within the Immortal Heaven could never have dreamed of the existence of a terrifying being like Li Qi.

Li Qi looked down upon worlds similar to the Immortal Heaven cycling, just like a Mortal looking down at a pond where lowly plankton endlessly repeated the naive livelihoods their ancestors engaged in two billion years ago, cycling endlessly, infinitely.

If one were to speak of the grandest thing Li Qi had seen, it would undoubtedly be the Dao struggle.

An arena, the Universe's two great opponents, two spirits, tearing off all disguises, preparing for a desperate battle, fighting to the death in both the spiritual and material worlds.

Having witnessed so many things, to what extent had Li Qi's magnanimity reached?

This Universe, tiny yet intense, whether it be the hyper-intuitive reality, the violently erupting spring of world creation, the splashes from the ocean of stars, countless worlds, were all minor matters to Li Qi; he could make them vanish with a wave of his hand, easily transforming them into illusions, mere trifles.

But he could also reach into the water and pick up a dandelion, then gently blow its seeds into the wind.

He possessed such vast power and cognition.

What kind of image should such an existence have?

Unknown; the true form of a Third Rank is difficult to describe, but in the eyes of other Mortals, Li Qi was always unperturbed, calm and composed; even occasional moments of discomposure seemed to be entirely under control, never causing alarm.

An existence with sufficient magnanimity gives off this impression.

However—

Such was Li Qi, yet at this moment, he lost all composure.

"Motherfucker!" Li Qi couldn't help but curse; all magnanimity seemed unimportant at this moment.

Because Martial Artists are just that unreasonable.

It was his first time fighting a Third Rank Martial Artist.

The Martial Artist before him, Li Qi wasn't even sure if they had substantiality, because the opponent wasn't some 'metaphysical' existence; in fact, in Li Qi's view, this person and an Eighth Rank Martial Artist were essentially the same.

The same Martial Dao Inner Qi, identical in nature, differing only in purity.

The same Martial Dao Divine Intent, fundamentally identical, differing only in the depth of the Divine Intent's meaning.

Also Martial Arts, but more profound, yet ultimately still just Martial Arts.

The only difference was…

Unstoppable.

Completely unstoppable, punch after punch.

Around Li Qi was a chasm-like spatiotemporal distance.

But what did that matter?

A single step shattered the heavenly pass, Fist Intent illuminated the Void Realm, the Physical Body's acupoints burst forth, Qi and blood erupted, filled with residing deities, moving as if the Immortal Heaven had descended; with just one punch, Li Qi's Physical Body was shattered again.

Li Qi tried to return to the past, letting his past self interfere with past locations; the opponent seemed indifferent.

If you fight in the past, then I'll meet your moves in the past.

Like Li Qi, he couldn't rewind others, but it didn't matter; his Martial Dao Divine Intent pierced through space-time, past and future unified, any point in time was him; although he couldn't interfere with others, if others wanted to attack him, they could do so at any time, it didn't matter.

Even though the essence hadn't changed, what an Eighth Rank Martial Artist couldn't do, a Third Rank Martial Artist could.

What was the principle behind this?

Li Qi tried to find techniques like 'Fist Intent,' and also tried to find clues from 'Martial Arts,' to discover why he couldn't dodge the opponent's punches.

If he found the reason, Li Qi was confident he could break it.

But… he couldn't find it, as if there was no reason at all.

Without using those techniques, without flaunting his Fist Intent, as soon as the opponent's fist struck, the surroundings were like a rainbow crossing the sky, stars twinkling, space-time錯動.

As if, it was simply meant to be.

Li Qi was utterly powerless to resist.

No matter what method, what incantation, what skill, or even Li Qi's Dao characteristics, all were irrelevant, all shattered with a single punch.

There was nothing profound; it was just like a street brawl, punch after punch.

One punch, then another.

One punch, still another.

The continuous punches seemed endless, as if they would never stop.

Metaphysical body?

Dao principles transcending space-time?

A Third Rank with no weaknesses, who cannot die?

Then come—

Take, this punch of mine!

Li Qi was utterly bewildered.

Li Qi was astonished beyond measure.

Li Qi calmly took a deep breath and began to search for a solution.

Li Qi found none.

Li Qi was raging in impotent fury.

Why? Why? What's going on? Impossible, impossible, what's happening? Why is this happening?

Just as he said 'impossible,'

The speed at which his Physical Body shattered accelerated.

Another punch, and a string of golden stars exploded before Li Qi's eyes, a heavy blow, dizzying!

What happened!

Why!? Why!?

This isn't logical!

This wasn't the elegant duel Li Qi was accustomed to; when Li Qi fought Humanity, or other Dao Orthodoxy, everyone elegantly wove术法, calculated past and future, as gracefully as musicians, flexibly adjusting every note, winning with imagination, calculation, strategy, and wisdom.

Information, deduction, calculation, subtly shifting the tide of battle; such combat was so elegantly artistic, full of beauty, and even if one side lost, they could calmly retreat, merely needing to abandon a portion of their future.

But now it was different.

Fighting a Martial Artist was fundamentally different from all those before.

This was the tearing and biting of a beast; fists, feet, teeth, head, no part of the body couldn't be used as a weapon.

It wasn't about decorum; there was only 'combat'.

In the vacuum of the Universe, spiraling, interweaving figures collided violently, the edge of the sky flashing, those were the flashes from their exploding energies.

But the flashes remained in place, because light simply couldn't catch up to their figures; a series of explosions occurred and spread widely.

Millions of Observable Universes were already doomed to destruction.

The reason they were doomed was because the aftermath of those collisions was expanding outwards at 'light speed,' destroying everything in its path; however, the Universe is quite large, so it would still take billions or even tens of billions of years for the Observable Universe to be destroyed.

But the button of destruction had already been pressed; the rest was just a countdown.

And Li Qi, at this moment, fully felt the power of those 'rumors' (see Chapter 448 for details).

What is a Martial Dao Third Rank?

Very simple.

If you can defeat or even kill a Third Rank, then you are a Martial Dao Third Rank.

What is a Martial God? It's not some boring thing like 'attaining godhood'; the reason for being called a Martial God is singular: I am strong, strong enough to even blast down a fucking god!

And now, Li Qi was that god being blasted down.

Utterly helpless, finding no means of counter-attack.

His术法 and Divine Ability were like precise machines, some containing black technology capable of destroying multiverses, others simulating creation gods that could print galaxies.

But Martial Dao Inner Qi might not be able to destroy a multiverse, nor create anything.

However, it could pull everything else down to its own level.

A Martial Artist gives up all Divine Ability, all术法, and cannot even fly, in exchange for absolute power.

Martial Dao Inner Qi.

The Qi that restrains all Qi.

All Qi, before Martial Dao Inner Qi, would only melt away.

Therefore, a Shaman's术法 and moves were useless against a Martial Artist; any defense, in the end, was merely manipulating the Universe's own Qi.

As long as one was borrowing the 'Dao' to manipulate all things, it was impossible to win against Martial Dao Inner Qi in a direct confrontation.

The essence of Martial Dao Inner Qi—

Is Chaos!