Chapter 989: Character

Bai Lu was stunned, how did this person appear in her house?

And Li Qi also sized up Bai Lu.

Bai Lu's appearance was ordinary, just a common face; as a Fifth Grade cultivator, she didn't deliberately make herself beautiful, because there was no point. At this stage, appearance really didn't need to be cared about.

Her natural appearance was quite good, no need to change it.

People like Li Qi and Shen Shuibi basically used their natural appearances, but some people liked to sculpt a beautiful face for themselves. However, beings of the same level could tell if it was natural or not, though few cared about this. It was purely up to personal mood, just like makeup.

Seeing Bai Lu's expression, she seemed like she was about to make tea.

After looking for a moment, Li Qi handed over a cup of tea, holding some of Bai Lu's information, and spoke to Bai Lu.

With that expression, as if lecturing a slightly slow elementary school student, Li Qi said, “I've read your report. Now, are you trying to resolve the issue with this Grotto-Heaven?”

Li Qi pointed at the matter in the report and asked.

The report stated that Bai Lu found a way to secretly transport a Grotto-Heaven with about 1.5 billion people, but during the transportation, due to sealing issues, the atmospheric structure of this Grotto-Heaven had problems.

The Five Elements Qi of fire within it became imbalanced.

The level of fire Qi rapidly increased. If allowed to continue rising, the people in this Grotto-Heaven would die, so it couldn't be allowed to rise further.

However, if its rise was prevented, it would face a huge risk. If the intervention failed, the entire planet could fall into a frozen state, because this fire Qi kept the Grotto-Heaven warm through the greenhouse effect.

Such delicate adjustments were difficult, so Bai Lu was thinking about technical problems yesterday. How to stably regulate the balance of these Five Elements Qi was quite difficult. Even with ample resources for transformation, one still needed the technical level.

“I don't quite understand why you would use fire Qi for the greenhouse effect to maintain temperature?” Li Qi asked.

Bai Lu was puzzled; she had no idea where this person came from.

However, being able to appear here was itself proof of ability, so Bai Lu still answered his question: “Because their sun is very small and inefficient, this is the only way. If it were closer to the sun, or if the sun became hotter, the greenhouse effect wouldn't be needed.”

Bai Lu then joked, “Actually, we just need to move the earth closer to the sun, or heat up the sun.”

Heating up the sun was obviously a jest, a joke, yet Li Qi actually nodded.

Li Qi said easily, “Exactly, this is much easier than adjusting the fire Qi.”

“You see, you just need to artificially create and control gravity. In a heliocentric orbit, you only need to gently nudge the orbit of a gas giant. According to calculations, doing so can easily unbalance the gas giant's gravity, ultimately causing it to fall into the sun.”

“Therefore, this can promote an increase in the sun's own gravity, leading to a slight collapse of the star. When the sun's radiation pressure and gravitational pressure reach equilibrium again, this collapse will cease. In the new equilibrium state, the sun will radiate stronger heat. If all parameters are chosen correctly, this increment can precisely compensate for the heat loss caused by the failure of the greenhouse effect.”

This new idea was just a casual answer for Li Qi; this problem was truly no challenge for him. However, it made Bai Lu's eyes widen.

This was indeed a… simple, but rarely thought of method.

Thinking of this method required a very simple thing, and that was 'capacity'.

Only with the capacity to knead the sun like a toy could one think of transforming a star, and it was even simpler. All that was needed was the destruction of a gas giant.

To destroy a gas giant with a diameter of 200,000 kilometers for a rocky planet less than 20,000 li in diameter—keep in mind, a tenfold difference in diameter leads to over a 1500-fold difference in volume.

Then, through this 1500-fold difference, to further influence a star 1.5 million times larger than the rocky planet, just like dominoes, using a small thing to achieve a big effect.

Moreover, from a technical calculation perspective, this was much simpler than regulating the atmosphere, because regulating the atmosphere required calculating population emissions, natural emissions, and summing up every tree, all algae, and geological activity, which involved a very complex amount of data.

In comparison, directly throwing a gas giant into the sun was very easy and simple to calculate how much energy was needed, without too many cumbersome formulas. All that was required was resources.

Compared to regulating the atmosphere, this required more resources, but for Bai Lu, were resources really such a great cost?

Of course not.

So why hadn't she thought of this method before?

The reason quickly came to her.

Because her 'capacity' wasn't enough.

Her capacity couldn't make her directly think of using something 1.5 million times larger than herself to accomplish a trivial matter.

Who exactly was this man in front of her?

“This is truly an astonishing plan. Besides its astonishing scale, its feasibility is also very surprising. What is your name? I'm very interested in continuing to talk with you,” Bai Lu said.

“My name? I am Li Qi,” Li Qi said.

The moment that name came out, Bai Lu's pupils constricted!

Li Qi!

This name reminded her of the source of all her wealth.

“Yes, you guessed right, it's that one,” Li Qi nodded.

Bai Lu's throat was a bit dry and hoarse. She was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say. After thinking for a while, she found a sofa and sat down, saying, “Are you… here to collect a debt from me? I didn't take a small amount from inside.”

“Of course not. You should have seen the information I wrote on it when you went in. As long as you come out within four hours, there will be no consequences,” Li Qi said with a smile.

“Then why are you here?” Bai Lu cautiously asked Li Qi.

As a being from the world, Bai Lu was very aware of the status of certain Great Powers in this world. She understood that she was already involved.

“Qi Palace has existed long enough, and its role has been sufficient. I have gained many people like you. I need you to help me fight against the Demonic Dao,” Li Qi said.

“Us? Fight against the Demonic Dao?” Bai Lu pointed to herself, looking bewildered.

Really?

Wouldn't that be suicide? What level of existence was the Demonic Dao? As a native Fifth Grade of the world, she knew very well that unless this person now said he was Haotian, anything else was useless.

Alas, when would a great existence appear to suppress the Demonic Dao?

Her idol, Maudgalyāyana, was very powerful at suppressing Demonic Overlords, but unfortunately, he was a lone wolf, with no Dao Orthodoxy to speak of, making it difficult to fight against the Demonic Dao.

And on Li Qi's side, he easily read the other party's inner thoughts.

Hmm.

Buddhism had completely disappeared. Now, in the eyes of these insubstantial beings, from the moment this Universe began, there was no such thing as Buddhism.

And those Great Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and even the remaining four Buddhas had become 'rogue cultivators'; they had no Dao Orthodoxy.

To be honest, Li Qi also felt very strange. Buddhism still had four First Grade beings, which was enough to support a great Dao Orthodoxy, but after the Buddha's nirvana, these Buddhas…

They also seemed to have lost their backbone; they also seemed to be struggling with the existence of 'emptiness'.

So, even though Buddhas, Great Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Monks still existed, the overall entity of Buddhism had clearly disintegrated and disappeared.

The Demonic Dao was no longer restrained. The current Demonic Dao was far more arrogant than the one Li Qi was familiar with.

Just look at City of Dreams.

City of Dreams was only half its previous size, yet it accommodated several times the number of people. Li Qi didn't even need to look to know what it was like there.

This even had a part of Li Qi's contribution, because this half of Li Qi's Dao field also became part of 'hope' and 'dream', but Li Qi couldn't do anything…

What else could he do? Open the gates and let the Demonic Dao freely bring people in?

That would be nonsense, directly expanding City of Dreams.

Therefore, Li Qi had to use other methods to solve the Demonic Dao's problems, which was everything he was doing now.

“Yes, just us,” Li Qi nodded and said, “What, are you scared?”

“Not scared, but I have a question,” Bai Lu asked, “I've been fighting the Demonic Dao for a long time, and I've always wondered, what exactly is demonic thoughts… under what circumstances does demonic thoughts proliferate?”

“Many years ago, a Demonic Overlord came before me and said, 'I've always wanted to fight the Demonic Dao, but little do I know, my thought of fighting the Demonic Dao and pursuing an idol is also part of demonic thoughts. If I don't give it up, sooner or later, I will also become a demon.'”

As Bai Lu said this, she seemed to be suppressing a gloomy emotion: “So… Senior, I can call you that, right? If you need my help to fight the Demonic Dao, you should tell me how to fight this kind of thought.”

Li Qi nodded slightly.

Good question.

This was indeed the reason many people couldn't understand demonic thoughts.

Li Qi then said, “Indeed, one could say that all thoughts are essentially demonic thoughts, but there are still differences. For example… wine tasting and alcoholism are actually different.”

Even if the components are the same.

So, what's the difference?

Simply put, it's about whether one can control it.

“You can simply divide it into two parts: one is the range that your rationality can control, which are normal thoughts. As for what's outside this range, what's uncontrollable, that is the demonic thoughts that leads to all destruction.”

“However, this division is very crude, and there are traps within it. For example… your rationality is actually part of your thoughts. When your rationality can suppress all thoughts, this also indicates that your rationality is also about to become demonic thoughts.”

Bai Lu broke out in a cold sweat.

Rationality can also become demonic thoughts?

But upon closer inspection, this seemed natural.

Rationality was undoubtedly a kind of thought. Even if it wasn't a thought brought about by emotion, its essence was no different.

Over-reliance on rationality, letting rationality suppress all passion, suppress all primal instincts, suppress all likes and dislikes, and purely handle everything with a mechanized mind, was itself suppressing other thoughts, and eventually, something even more terrifying would brew in the mind.

“So, what needs to be focused on is… balance?” Bai Lu asked tentatively.

Li Qi shook his head, denying it: “Wrong. What needs to be focused on is to not focus on anything. Just don't let any one of your thoughts dominate. As long as no thought is dominant, then demonic thoughts naturally cannot control your actions.”

Bai Lu then said, “If no thought is dominant, wouldn't I be unable to do anything? After all, the thought of wanting to do something must be dominant to act, right?”

“Not necessarily, is it?” Li Qi then revealed another possibility: “The simplest point is sociality and animality, which many people also possess. For example, when you describe many people, you say that many aspects of their personality are like birds, like foxes, like wolves, or snakes, but they don't produce any special results.”

“In these people, human nature and animal nature coexist peacefully, without conflict. They even help each other. Some people succeed and are envied. Their success should be attributed more to a certain animality in them, for example… describing him as fierce like a wolf, rather than attributing it to human nature. This is a very common thing.”

“So, you might as well embrace the different parts of your mind. Humans are inherently contradictory and chaotic. Why must you find a single nature to restrict yourself?” Li Qi said.

What he said was also how he currently suppressed demonic thoughts.

If every thought was restrained and none were dominant, then he would not be manipulated by any thought. So what if there was demonic thoughts? demonic thoughts could never dominate Li Qi's mind.

“Contradictory and chaotic? That is to say…” Bai Lu fell into deep thought.

She had never thought that way before.

In her previous understanding, humans should have subjectivity; there should be a 'main body' that exists, and this main body is the source of all cognition.

But according to the Senior in front of her, every human thought could be independent, and didn't need to have a main body.

Is this… possible?

Wouldn't that lead to schizophrenia?

“Alright, think about these later. Now, are you interested in joining my plan?” Li Qi asked.

Bai Lu nodded without hesitation: “I'll join. Although I don't know what to do, our goals are the same. With a backer, I'll be able to do things better.”

Li Qi took out a book: “Then that's fine. Let's do the first thing. Spread this thing throughout this half of the Hot Sands. This is called 'Buddha-Dharma', written by someone named 'Tathagata'.”

“Tathagata, who?” Bai Lu asked.

“Don't worry about it, just do as I say.”