Chapter 962: Proposal

Shen Shuibi hugged Li Qi. She would never normally do something like that.

Because the whole Universe was filled with people, all the Third Grade, Second Grade, and even First Grade cultivators were here.

They were all watching the Demonic Overlord, the core of everything, and Li Qi.

But at this moment, she rushed up without hesitation and hugged Li Qi tightly.

However, Li Qi felt a bit self-mocking. He held Shen Shuibi's hand and asked her, "Yuer... are you real?"

This was a question that seemed meaningless but was crucial to Li Qi at this moment.

"I am," Shen Shuibi said decisively, without a moment's hesitation.

But Li Qi was not comforted by this answer in the slightest.

Yes, so what?

With his current power, he could even erase Shen Shuibi's existence. Undoubtedly, Li Qi had already realized that he had achieved a Breakthrough to Second Grade, even though this was not his own power.

He had an eye of the Demonic Overlord on his forehead, and because of this eye and the True Knowledge within it, his perception expanded to an unimaginable degree. He seemed to be able to see everything in the Universe.

Through this perception, he could also perfectly control the power of the Desire Realm within his body. Thus, he was now a complete Second Grade, as long as that eye was not taken back by the Demonic Overlord.

Therefore, possessing the power of a Second Grade, Li Qi was clearly real. He was very sure that he was real.

So what? What did that matter?

Now, even the Buddha was 'Empty'.

The Buddha had strived his entire life, bearing Karma and enduring until now, only to find that the ultimate solution was 'Empty'.

Li Qi used to scoff at 'Empty'.

He felt that it was simply an escape.

What was the difference between 'Empty' and a vegetative state?

Giving up thought, giving up perception.

No thought, no form, no death, no birth.

No distinction, no impermanence, no beginning, no seeing.

No attainment, no possession, no discrimination.

Utter nothingness, and thus no pain, no struggle, leading to ultimate joy, and all ties with sentient beings completely severed, no longer bound by any Karma.

But now, Li Qi suddenly realized that this seemed... pretty good.

Empty was indeed a perfect answer, though this answer was so perfect that it couldn't even accommodate the existence of thought itself, yet it could cope with all the various things in this world.

Living in this world, even without aging, sickness, and death, various misfortunes and sufferings are already entangled endlessly. Who can escape them?

Looking across the endless worlds, all living beings struggle in suffering, preying on other beings, and in the end, inevitably become prey themselves, with endless killing and endless suffering.

In this world, nothing is absolutely independent; everything is inevitably linked to other things on the web of Karma.

Things connect in this way, and when one moves, they pull on each other, like the intersection of two Karma lines, the points where various entanglements cross, that is 'affinity'.

As long as affinity is not extinguished, then pain is inevitable.

To extinguish affinity, one must achieve 'Empty'.

For example, to prevent the rabbit in front of him from experiencing such pain and worry, the best way is to not get involved in the first place.

If Li Qi had never been born...

After all, he was just a chess piece created by the Demonic Overlord. Instead of dwelling in the pain brought by the bad outcome, it would be better to achieve spiritual freedom and liberation, thereby staying away from all entanglements.

"So, if I were fake, would you leave me? Is there a difference?" At this moment, the rabbit whispered in his ear.

Yes, to Li Qi at this moment, Shen Shuibi, and even other things, could be illusions.

But, so what?

What's wrong with falling in love with an illusion?

Is there any difference between the love invested in an illusion on a screen and the love invested in a pile of flesh and bones?

"Yes, there's no difference, Yuer." Li Qi sighed at this moment.

And just as Li Qi said this, his Dao Foundation shifted.

What objective reality, what truth exists among all things, what self-existent nature of all things, all these things no longer conflicted, because...

"What I believe is real, I want to believe that you all are real." Li Qi held Shen Shuibi's hand.

And so, at this moment, Li Qi's Second Grade Dao Foundation stabilized.

How simple it was to abandon those things.

Just enter the Demonic Dao.

No need to think about the reason, as long as 'I want to', then it will be so.

Of course, it's not that simple. For example, can a Mortal imagine a starship?

If he hasn't received professional training, he can only imagine a vague impression. This doesn't even count as 'I want to'. Even if he has received training in painting or similar, it's already very good if he can imagine the outer shape.

But, what about the inside of the shape?

What's the principle? What does the design drawing look like? How is it actually realized?

All these must be imagined for the spaceship to operate, and every part must conform to the imagination and be maintained for a long time.

Even with the ability of 'imagination is reality', many people simply can't imagine anything.

But, Li Qi could.

He could do it. His imagination was sufficient to support the existence of a Second Grade, especially since... he already had the Desire Realm and the True Knowledge from the Demonic Overlord's eye as his foundation.

Just acknowledging the reality of his subjective will was enough.

As long as he was willing to believe that all things were real, even if this reality was based on his subjective will, then... his Dao struggle would naturally subside.

And so, at this moment, under the gaze of all, Li Qi entered the Demonic Dao.

In this instant, Demon of Karma, Heart Demon, Good Root Demon, Samadhi Demon, Demon of False Guidance, Demon of Bodhi-Wisdom, Yin Demon, and various other Demonic Dao Second Grades appeared beside Li Qi.

They only appeared for an instant before they were repelled.

Because at this moment... three Second Grades appeared here.

Prince Changqin, Zhu Fengdan, and the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron, and also, Golden Monkey.

"All of you, scram!" Golden Monkey suddenly returned from the Void Realm and swung his staff around! He repelled all the Demonic Overlords.

Zhu Fengdan also appeared beside Li Qi and patted his shoulder: "Oh, you're truly my disciple, your path is exactly the same."

A long time ago, when Li Qi first saw Zhu Fengdan's Dharma Idol, there were traces of the Demonic Dao within it. (See Chapter 506 for details)

Prince Changqin frowned, seemingly unwilling to see this, but he still appeared.

The Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron enveloped the surroundings, blocking the interference of demonic thoughts.

The Demonic Overlords, their bodies shattered by Golden Monkey, merely chuckled and then dissipated.

Shen Shuibi immediately let go and stepped back. People had arrived; she couldn't act as she had just before.

At this, Shamansan, who had been watching from the side, gently waved his hand.

The scene shifted.

Including Golden Monkey, Li Qi, Zhu Fengdan, Prince Changqin, and Shen Shuibi all directly left this scene.

There was no reaction whatsoever.

Then, they arrived in a void, a void similar to the vacuum of the Universe.

This should be the static, eternal vacuum.

In this vacuum, strange things seemed to be glimpsed, like the past of a super-Universe and the future of the Universe. In its depths, there were Universes beyond the Universe, coexisting with eternity.

It seemed like there was nothing, yet it also seemed like everything existed, only all things were integrated into one, so it appeared as a vacuum.

When something is 'everything', what is the difference from 'nothing'?

If it's everything, it means that there's nothing here that can be distinguished; every single thing possesses all the properties of all other things.

Therefore, all things are completely identical.

Emptiness itself is also 'complete identity'; this complete identity created this strange scene.

All things have no distinctions, and so, all things have become what they are now.

"This is my Inner World," Shamansan whispered.

Golden Monkey scratched his ears and cheeks, Zhu Fengdan rubbed his temples, and as for Prince Changqin, the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron, and Shen Shuibi, they respectfully awaited Shamansan's words.

Shamansan said, "I know you are very eager to know about Li Qi's situation, so, one by one, and after you have all spoken, I will tell you everything."

Then, Shamansan pointed at Golden Monkey and said, "Monkey brother, you came in the most haste. If I make you wait a few more minutes, I'm afraid you'll smash my place, so you go first."

Zhu Fengdan looked displeased: "He's anxious, so he goes first? If I also smash your place, does that mean I can go first?"

"If you do that, I'll beat you until you regret it," Shamansan said softly.

Prince Changqin couldn't hold back, as if he had been waiting for this day for a long time, but he still turned his loud laughter into a gentle smile, looking kind and amiable.

Zhu Fengdan was annoyed, but still turned around and walked over to Shen Shuibi: "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

"Thank you, Master," Shen Shuibi said, but from her appearance, she didn't seem very reassured, still looking worried.

However, none of this was the main focus. At this moment, Li Qi, who had finally stood up, began to face the Golden Monkey in front of him.

"Uh, Monkey brother." Li Qi saluted the Golden Monkey in front of him.

"You and I are brothers, why be so distant?" Golden Monkey, however, looked delighted: "I didn't expect, brother, that you would enter the Eternal Realm so quickly!"

He didn't seem worried about Li Qi's state at all; instead, he was congratulating Li Qi.

And Li Qi was also very strange.

Golden Monkey... why did he truly treat him as a brother? And he even swung his staff at the Demonic Overlord for him. This act was practically suicidal, but he still struck without hesitation.

However, the current Li Qi didn't even have the heart to question those things anymore.

It didn't matter anyway, did it?

He used all his strength to convince himself that this world... at least he himself was real. He simply didn't have that much energy to deal with those other matters anymore.

At this moment, Li Qi had fallen into the nothingness of the Demonic Dao. He was convincing himself to believe in what he considered real, so as not to fall into the predicament of complete nothingness.

Seeing Li Qi's appearance, Golden Monkey circled around him: "Brother, you don't look happy. Why? Is promotion not good?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qi gave a bitter smile. So Golden Monkey hadn't understood what had happened.

Therefore, he laid out his situation and told the other party everything.

After listening, Golden Monkey burst into laughter: "So it's just these things. Then I worried for nothing. Since that's the case, you can worry slowly. You'll be fine after a while. I'll be going now, I still have things to do! I'm busy!"

With that, he did a somersault and disappeared from the spot.

Li Qi was utterly bewildered.

However, he didn't care too much and quickly became relieved.

Perhaps it really wasn't a big deal. Maybe he was the only one who was troubled.

"Then, Zhu Fengdan, it's your turn," Shamansan said.

Zhu Fengdan immediately stepped forward, and in the midst of the void, he put an arm around Li Qi's shoulder, embracing him: "Not bad, you're already Second Grade. Impressive."

"Teacher, I apologize," Li Qi immediately said.

He had already seen it.

Zhu Fengdan was also already Second Grade.

Apparently...

To support Li Qi, he had finally chosen that hesitant path, the path he had once abandoned.

"Apologize for what? I've been hesitating at Third Grade for far too long, unable to make a decision. This time, it's just a choice I've made," Zhu Fengdan said indifferently: "Instead, how do you feel?"

"I feel... this cultivation is meaningless," Li Qi said, not hiding anything from his teacher.

If there was anyone in this world he felt he could tell everything to, besides Zhu Fengdan, it was Shen Shuibi, and Zhu Fengdan even came before her.

"Is that so? I used to feel the same way. How about... we just die?" Zhu Fengdan said.

Li Qi looked at his teacher.

"Are you talking about Reincarnation and re-cultivation?" Li Qi said.

"Wouldn't that be even more meaningless? What good would Reincarnation do? Maybe I wouldn't even be me anymore. At that time, I wouldn't understand anything, and even my substantiality wouldn't exist. I might accidentally disappear into the dust of history, and then nothing would exist, wouldn't it?" Li Qi asked.

"Isn't that just right? Isn't that the nothingness you desire? To verify whether it's nothingness, you even throw yourself into nothingness, cast your consciousness into the void, destroy your memory and cognition itself. Only then can you truly experience nothingness, right? If you can destroy it, then you can confirm that the world is built within your mind, isn't that right?" Zhu Fengdan said.

Li Qi fell into deep thought.

He was extremely dejected now.

And an opportunity lay before him.

At this moment, no matter what the truth was, he wanted to face it.

This craving for truth was increasing.

In the void, Li Qi increasingly felt a terrifying, yet also unimaginably detestable and fatal, sensation secretly lurking.

Throughout his previous life, again and again, Li Qi had been caught between horror and fascination, between nothingness and existence, tormented and torn.

And now, he truly seemed to have an opportunity to verify the essence of nothingness, which was to let consciousness fall into nothingness itself.

If consciousness could go from existence to non-existence, and the world still existed, it would mean... that the outside world existed.

Then, Li Qi nodded.

He would do it.

This was an act of defiance against the Demonic Overlord.