Chapter 984: Solved

Li Qi had returned.

Mystic Radiance Mountain once again held a grand banquet.

This time, it was truly grand, because Li Qi had completely cast off the shackles of the past; he was no longer being pushed forward.

The former Li Qi always felt that he had many things left undone, so he appeared cautious and felt there was no need for him to do those things.

However, things were different now.

The Human-Shaman War had ended, and so had the Heavenly Demon's manipulation of him. Now, it wasn't the Heavenly Demon manipulating him, but him seeking revenge against the Heavenly Demon. Li Qi was born as a Heavenly Demon's chess piece, but now he had truly escaped the chessboard. After that, it would be Li Qi's turn to act.

Furthermore, the war had stopped, and nothing was still chasing Li Qi.

He was now also a Second Rank, a truly upper-tier existence in this Universe.

So, it was okay to relax a bit, right?

Thus, to celebrate his return, Li Qi organized a grand banquet with his friends and family.

He met with Shi Tou, who was extremely nervous when he saw Li Qi, looking just like Li Qi did the first time he met Empress Luofu.

However, Li Qi had no dissatisfaction with Shi Tou. Shi Tou was steady and introverted, and unlike the weakness of Li Qi in his youth, his introversion stemmed from his strength and resilience.

His silence was not due to fear of making mistakes, but rather waiting for a better moment for his words to strike the crucial point and hit the mark.

This was different from the Li Qi of the past. Li Qi spoke little back then because he was afraid of saying the wrong thing and causing some undesirable outcome.

Shi Tou's personality was such that rather than endlessly lecturing someone with ten thousand words of advice, he preferred to utter a single sentence that could truly change their actions at the moment of their reflection after failure.

As for those who wouldn't reflect, Shi Tou generally remained silent, seeing no need to say more.

Li Qi quite liked such a young man. He readily agreed to Li Shiwei and Shi Tou's marriage and added his own gift and blessings.

The steady and introverted Shi Tou also appeared incredibly excited at this moment. He was actually a bit apprehensive about it, wondering if marrying Li Shiwei during the period after Li Qi's presumed death would seem somewhat frivolous.

Imagine, the girl's father's fate was uncertain, and her mother was heartbroken and grieving, yet you married her daughter. This would sound somewhat improper.

However, Li Qi didn't really care.

Li Shiwei and Shi Tou had their own lives; why should they disrupt their life plans because of him? If he died and prevented his daughter from marrying, what would he become?

Li Qi wasn't so rigid, so he happily added the blessings that were previously missing.

At the banquet, Li Qi also met Yunfang Great Shaman.

Li Qi's cultivation had surpassed this elder, but he still held respect and gratitude for him.

Therefore, Li Qi took the initiative to approach him and told him the method to dispel the demonic thoughts and revive his Disciple.

Yes, the current Li Qi, after breaking free from the nihility brought by the Heavenly Demon, had found a way to solve this problem.

“Senior Yun Fang.” Li Qi greeted him.

“Li Qi, you don't need to call me Senior anymore, do you? Now, you are the Senior,” Yun Fang said cheerfully, not showing any distance due to Li Qi's cultivation.

“Senior is joking,” Li Qi waved his hand, not wanting to say more on the matter, but directly stated, “Senior, now that I have experienced the Heavenly Demon affair, the matter you entrusted to me back then finally has a clue.”

Back then, in the Baiyue lands, where Grand Yang was located, Yun Fang had entrusted Li Qi: “Later… if you gain insights into advising the Dao Heart, could you contact me?”

And Li Qi's reply was: “If this junior gains any insights, I will certainly share them without reservation.” (For details, see Chapter 226)

Now, with Li Qi reaching Second Rank, he truly had gained insights.

Yun Fang paused upon hearing this.

Then, he let out a long sigh.

His eyes seemed to have witnessed many things, or perhaps he was just in a daze.

After a long while, he finally looked up and, with his usual calm and kind tone, said, “That truly is good news. Thank you.”

“There's no need to thank me. Shi Wei also benefited greatly from Senior's guidance. For so many years, I've been busy with various matters and neglected her management and education. All of this was thanks to Senior's help,” Li Qi immediately replied.

To be honest, although Li Shiwei had gone a bit astray, she hadn't completely gone off track. Largely, Shi Tou and Yun Fang had contributed greatly.

“Then, I'll trouble you,” Yun Fang said, opening his Inner World.

Li Qi injected his Divine Sense into it.

The method to resolve this demonic thoughts was actually not difficult.

But many things are like this.

When there's no solution, it's incredibly difficult, impossible to resolve, and a lifelong burden.

But when there is a solution, one can only exclaim, “So that's how it is.”

In fact, the method to resolve the demonic thoughts of Yunfang Great Shaman's Disciple was truly simple.

For thousands of eons, Yunfang Great Shaman's Disciple had remained in a state of shattered Dao Heart. While there were fluctuations, overall, the sense of aimless emptiness, powerlessness, and helplessness remained insurmountable.

Li Qi had also fallen into this emptiness before.

The reason is simple: when we speculate about the future, we are essentially performing an 'unfathomable information' prior distribution.

When we assume an 'unfathomable information' prior distribution, it's easy to fall into an infinite paradox.

The key contradiction is that we don't know the prior distribution of the mean of an unknown normal distribution, so for simple estimation, we actually use the assumption of a 'uniform distribution over an infinite range'.

However, a uniform distribution over an infinite range does not exist; it must have a center point, and the probability is higher near the center point.

If 0 is directly assumed as the center point, it becomes clear how absurd it is under coordinate translation.

The way to solve this paradox is to provide a reasonable prior distribution based on the specific problem.

In other words, it is to reveal true possibilities, rather than those possibilities within infinite speculation and calculation, and to recognize the true prior distribution.

What a simple answer, how intuitive and clear, yet if you can't see it, you can't see it, even if it's right in front of you, you still can't see it.

Moreover, even if you tell him the answer, he might not be able to see it.

This is the difficulty.

Did Yunfang Great Shaman not know the answer? Of course, he knew it, but even if he knew the answer, he couldn't tell his Disciple, and even if he did, it would be useless.

If it were truly possible to understand just by being told, 'a single hint is enough', then all teachers in the world wouldn't have to worry about students not learning well.

However, the current Li Qi had his own method.

He entered Yun Fang's Inner World, and then, he devoured this young man.

He, like all of Li Qi's fragments, returned to Li Qi's interior, yet at the same time, maintained his self.

In a sense, only six beings in this world could accomplish this.

Taiyi, the Four Symbols, and Li Qi.

This was the technique of a Second Rank Star Officials, completely separating the self from external differences, facing this complex and chaotic Universe in a complete form.

The Universe is never simple; it is chaotic, disordered, contradictory, and constantly conflicting. Therefore… there's no need to seek 'oneness' or a simple description.

Soon, this matter was resolved. With a Second Rank Li Qi taking action, it naturally looked 'simple and easy'. However, only Yunfang Great Shaman himself knew how long he had waited for this day.

So he quickly excused himself and left the banquet. Li Qi watched him depart, then went to entertain other guests.

He then went to see Zhu Fengdan and conversed with his Teacher Zhu.

He noticed that Zhu Fengdan had indeed also reached Second Rank, but… it was hard to say what state Teacher Zhu's Second Rank was in.

Teacher Zhu had simultaneously reached an agreement with the Four Symbols, embarking on a path that connected all things. However, this path seemed somewhat unusual, because all things could seemingly merge into one. What exactly was being communicated through this connection?

Should all things be treated separately, or as one? Perhaps only Zhu Fengdan himself could answer this question.

So Li Qi didn't discuss cultivation issues with him, but merely thanked Teacher Zhu for his continuous care, especially for this promotion to Second Rank, which Zhu Fengdan had actually pursued for Li Qi's sake.

Zhu Fengdan laughed heartily, not taking it to heart at all. He even directly said, “If it can shatter once, it can shatter twice. If you find it's not to your liking later, just do it again.”

Such a carefree attitude made Li Qi feel ashamed.

This kind of innate nonchalance was truly something Li Qi couldn't learn. It was clear that his words were not a joke at all.

Li Qi could only smile wryly. However, he had now paved the way for Teacher Zhu.

Li Qi's Dao Orthodoxy directly inherited from Zhu Fengdan, and now Li Qi's answer was that all things could be communicated with separately; there was no 'overall' existence. Heaven and Earth themselves could not be contained by a unified 'oneness', so connecting all things could not be done in an individual manner.

This was a completion of Zhu Fengdan's Dao Orthodoxy, and also a step ahead, allowing Zhu Fengdan to make mistakes first.

Regarding this, Zhu Fengdan was closely monitoring Li Qi's state.

This might allow him to gain a deeper understanding of Heaven and Earth.

But these were matters for the future. Currently, they were at the banquet, and Zhu Fengdan was just joking around with Li Qi, telling some family anecdotes.

And Li Qi wasn't soft-mouthed either. When Zhu Fengdan teased him about his relationship with Shen Shuibi, he brought up Hou Dou.

Now that Zhu Fengdan had recovered to Second Rank, Hou Dou naturally followed him everywhere, which annoyed Zhu Fengdan greatly, as he had no intention of getting married!

But he couldn't bring himself to drive Hou Dou away, so he was currently in distress.

As for Hou Dou herself, she only needed to stay by his side, so she didn't demand much. Their relationship was just that subtle.

After Li Qi brought this up, Zhu Fengdan decisively fled.

Continuing the conversation would be impolite.

After Teacher Zhu fled in disarray, Li Qi met his old friend, Niu Huang, a Fifth Rank Mountain God who, though not seen for a long time, remained a warm, profound cultivator.

In the past, Niu Huang had volunteered to become the Mountain God of Mystic Radiance Mountain in front of Li Qi, and now this was probably the most important and correct thing Niu Huang had ever done in his life.

Although Niu Huang himself might not have thought so, because Li Qi knew he was indeed a diligent and honest Mountain God. Niu Huang wasn't foolish; he actually knew many methods, but he was unwilling to use them, nor would he ask for more things. He just slowly, steadily moved forward step by step, like an old ox.

As Li Qi ascended to Second Rank, Niu Huang also slowly reached Fifth Rank.

“These past years, Mystic Radiance Mountain has enjoyed favorable weather, and much of it is thanks to you. It was truly hard on you when I wasn't around,” Li Qi said to Niu Huang.

Niu Huang quickly bowed his head and said, “Invoker, you overstate it. I am the Mountain God of this place; these are things I should do.”

“Since these are things you should do, then the rewards should naturally be yours. It's only right, isn't it?” Li Qi said.

Niu Huang immediately expressed his gratitude.

Niu Huang was not one to fish for compliments. He had previously been unwilling to ask for rewards, truly believing that these were merely his duties and nothing to boast about.

And what Li Qi said was also sound reasoning.

Since things should be done, then rewards should naturally be taken. Otherwise, wouldn't everyone who does work become a fool?

“Niu Huang, what do you want?” Li Qi asked.

Niu Huang replied, “Invoker, I am already very content with my current life. I only ask that Invoker enlighten me.”

Li Qi nodded: “As long as I can answer, I will tell you the answer, but you must think carefully about the question… because not all answers are ones you can bear. Many times, hearing the answer means you forever lose the process of seeking the answer, and that process is the most important.”

Li Qi's words were his own insights, and indeed, it was true.

For those who pursue the Dao, many times, the answer and the process are equally important. If there is only the answer without the process, it can very likely lead to undesirable outcomes.

The process is necessary, just as the answer is necessary.

Therefore, the questioner must carefully pose the question; he must ensure that his 'process' is already complete, and only the answer has not yet been calculated.

This is 'self-awareness'.

Attempting to seek answers one should not yet know is the beginning of a cultivator's descent into the abyss.

Thus, Niu Huang asked Li Qi his question: “Invoker, how can one be 'unwavering'?”

Li Qi glanced at Niu Huang in surprise.

This question, clearly, had already touched upon the Fourth Rank. The so-called unwavering must be because Niu Huang felt something unstable.

Just as Li Qi had felt.

In that vast sea of void, feeling anxious and uneasy.

Looking at the current Niu Huang, Li Qi smiled: “This is a good question. Call La Qi over too, and I'll tell you both.”

The Mystic Radiance Mountain banquet continued, scheduled for seven days.

Everyone in the world could attend the flowing feast; it was a banquet for a Second Rank.