Chapter 992: Original nature

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva looked at Li Qi and suddenly began to expound the Dharma.

She spoke of the different states of ‘bodies’.

All sentient beings are like this.

Everyone possesses an intricate and colorful inner world, of which they themselves might be completely unaware. To recognize this, one must resolve to view this ‘consciousness’ as comprising various parts, aspects, and different facets of oneself, which can actually be seen as individual persons.

Take Li Qi, for instance.

Observing Li Qi in this manner reveals various lives, such as Zhou Fang, Reboot, and all other characters, who are single entities in themselves, yet synthesize into another mysterious existence.

It is this higher-level mysterious existence that hints at the true essence of ‘Li Qi’.

A singular, flattened personality cannot achieve this.

Some might think that so many chaotic personalities would overcrowd the mind.

After all, a person has only one body, but not two or five souls within it, but countless.

In reality, a person is an onion composed of thousands of layers, a fabric woven from countless threads.

With so many threads woven into a garment, which thread is the ‘true body’ of the garment? Right?

Mortals believe that one chest cannot hold two souls, and that two souls in one chest would surely tear it apart.

The opposite is true; two souls are far too few. To understand one’s soul with such a simplistic model is wildly mistaken.

Doubling and quadrupling those dual personalities, making an already complex personality even more complex, will not shrink your world or simplify the human soul. On the contrary, one needs to incorporate more and more worlds, even the entire Universe, into one’s soul.

This leads many Mortals to suppress their own nature.

Imagine a garden filled with countless trees, flowers, fruit trees, and weeds.

Now, there is a gardener in this garden who knows nothing about plants other than how to distinguish between “edible plants” and “weeds”.

Can this gardener… manage this garden?

Clearly not; he doesn't even know how to deal with at least ninety percent of the plants in the garden.

He will unknowingly pull out the most charming flowers and cut down the most valuable trees because he doesn't understand them, and thus he undervalues them.

And Mortals treat the thousands of flowers in their own souls in the same way: anything they cannot comprehend, they either ignore or simply cut down.

This causes immense suffering, making one feel their nature suppressed, yet they don't even know what they are suppressing…

Nature, true heart… why seek it?

Isn't it right before you? The garden is there, why must you find one flower to represent the entire garden? And call that flower ‘true heart’?

The reason is simple.

Because it’s convenient.

The Wildlife Conservation Association protects many things, but their logo is a panda, because the panda most simply, directly, and brutally represents their vision.

Mortals, and even the world, are the same.

They want to abbreviate the world, to condense all things into ‘one’. This is a simple aesthetic; once ‘one’ is found, all things are under control.

But that’s not necessary, is it?

This world is contradictory; perhaps there is no ‘one’ at all. Embrace the contradictions of all things, embrace your own contradictions, and accommodate them in a state of ‘fragments’ or ‘thirty-three bodies’.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva continued to expound the Dharma.

Within the sound, clarity vibrated; this sound was something like time solidified into space, and above it, boundless, superhuman clarity enveloped all.

“The Bodhisattva’s solemn Dharma, never forgotten or lost, the mind constantly remembers, without interruption.”

“When a Mahasattva cultivates various practices over immeasurable eons, he never troubles a single sentient being, causing them to lose right mindfulness; he does not destroy the right Dharma, nor sever good roots, for his mind constantly increases in vast wisdom. Furthermore, this Bodhisattva Mahasattva is not confused by various sounds, such as: loud sounds, coarse and turbid sounds, extremely terrifying sounds, pleasant sounds, unpleasant sounds, ear-splitting sounds, sounds that hinder the six senses.”

“Hearing such immeasurable and countless good and bad sounds, even if they fill worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, his mind is never scattered for a single thought, meaning: right mindfulness is not scattered, Realm is not scattered, Samadhi is not scattered, entering profound Dharma is not scattered, practicing Bodhisattva deeds is not scattered, generating Bodhi-mind is not scattered, remembering all Buddhas is not scattered, contemplating true Dharma is not scattered, the wisdom of transforming sentient beings is not scattered, the wisdom of purifying sentient beings is not scattered, resolving profound meanings is not scattered. Because he does not commit evil deeds, he has no Karmic Obstruction; because he does not give rise to afflictions, he has no affliction obstruction; because he does not slight the Dharma, he has no Dharma obstruction; because he does not slander the right Dharma, he has no retribution obstruction. As mentioned above, such sounds cannot disturb him.”

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva expounded the Dharma, speaking thus.

Li Qi frowned slightly upon hearing this: “Why can’t they disturb? If you don’t accept these numerous sounds, then how will you accept this world?”

Upon hearing the other party’s ‘Dao’, Li Qi realized that although he and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva shared the same understanding of the world’s composition, their approaches to dealing with it were completely different.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva sought to transcend these ‘fragments’.

Li Qi, on the other hand, like Taiyi, accepted these ‘fragments’.

“Li Qi, have you come today to expound the Dharma to me?” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva said.

Hearing this, Li Qi chuckled softly.

Then, he also stopped the topic and instead said: “Then, let’s get straight to the point, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, I want to borrow your power to destroy the Demon.”

“You may.” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva was very straightforward and immediately agreed.

“So fast? I heard that you seem to have a collaboration with the Human Dao… The Human Dao wants to unify the three religions, you must be involved, right?” Li Qi was surprised.

This was too straightforward.

“That’s right, I’m involved.” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva didn’t try to deceive; in fact, there was no need for deception now.

A simple and clear conversation was sufficient; being mysterious was foolish.

“Then… you’ve joined the Human Dao’s plan, and you also want to destroy the Demon?” Li Qi asked again.

“And what if I do?” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva said.

“Indeed.” Li Qi nodded slightly, then said: “So, it’s settled then, Bodhisattva?”

“There is one more thing I should tell you, and that is, compared to us, you have another excellent ally to choose from.”

“Who?”

“Immortal Heaven.”

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva suddenly uttered a name Li Qi had almost forgotten.

Immortal Heaven, that savage beast.

Wild, untamed, formidable, a super savage beast that thought of nothing but survival.

“He… uh, he should be an ally of Shaman Dao now, but I don’t know what he did. What did Immortal Heaven do in the Human-Shaman War?” Li Qi asked Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.

“He blocked that True Immortal of the Manifested Daoist Faction. It’s not exactly blocking, but his mere existence can restrain a First Grade opponent,” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva said.

Li Qi could only offer a wry smile in response.

That certainly sounded like something Immortal Heaven would do.

“Then… what can I use to persuade a First Grade?” Li Qi asked.

No matter what, Immortal Heaven was a naturally born First Grade.

There were only a few naturally born First Grades in the entire Universe: Haotian, Heaven of Others’ Emanations, Immortal Heaven.

Their commonality was being an Incarnation of ‘phenomena’ or ‘Dao’.

“Immortal Heaven is easy to persuade because he has always had a weakness,” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva immediately began to reveal secrets.

At this point, she revealed her true form.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva has no gender preference; male and female forms are merely some of her Incarnations, while her true form is even more profound and complex.

This profound and complex composition can record many secrets, and only in this way can those unalterable histories be recorded.

Observing the true form of a Great Power is always the simplest and most direct way to acquire knowledge.

It's just that the observer must also be qualified; otherwise, looking directly at the true form of a Great Power would be fatal.

Li Qi carefully examined Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva’s true form, which was engraved with details about Immortal Heaven.

He gradually understood everything.

Immortal Heaven is a very peculiar existence. The true form of Immortal Heaven existed even before the consciousness of ‘Immortal Heaven’ was born, and only then did its own personality and thoughts emerge.

Unlike Haotian, Immortal Heaven’s thinking is not complex at all; in fact, it is very simple. Let alone a First Grade, he cannot even think about things of the Fifth Grade. He needs to rely on cultivating Mortals within his own body, allowing those Mortals to cultivate to the Fifth Grade, and then he directly uses the fruits of their cultivation.

This also aligned with everything Immortal Heaven had displayed before.

When Li Qi was in Immortal Heaven, he was almost devoured by Immortal Heaven. The reason Immortal Heaven devoured people was to acquire the knowledge they had accumulated, to make them ‘conform to the Dao’. (For details, see Chapter 681)

In terms of his own thoughts, Immortal Heaven might only be comparable to a Ninth Grade Mortal.

But he happened to be a naturally born First Grade, possessing unmatched status and power.

This contrast led to a consequence.

Immortal Heaven is the personification of a certain ‘Dao’. As for his personality itself, there is nothing special about it; even if this personality were eliminated, the ‘Dao’ itself would not change at all. This is why Immortal Heaven has a sense of crisis and wants to survive.

Immortal Heaven’s position is not stable; compared to other First Grades, he is very easy to kill.

Erasing Immortal Heaven’s ‘personality’ is a very simple matter. To be precise, ‘Immortal Heaven’ is merely an administrator, not the true master.

And Li Qi also saw some other things.

For instance… from Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva’s perspective, the moment Li Qi was born, this game began. The initial goal of the Human Dao and Demonic Dao was to swallow the Buddhist Kingdom.

Li Qi being created by the Heavenly Demon beside the Li River, entering Shaman Dao, going to Chang’an, then to the Sun-Moon Orbit on Mount Luofu, and guiding Li Qi to trigger the Human-Shaman War—all of it was arranged from behind the scenes.

The Human Dao indeed needed the Sun-Moon Orbit. The Sun-Moon Orbit was related to two major matters: one was the establishment of the ‘Yellow Dao’, and the other was the lifespan of the Human Emperor.

But the Human Dao used this as bait, drawing Shaman God Mountain into the game, and through the two chess pieces of Li Qi and the Demonic Prince, ultimately completed its secret with the Demonic Dao.

On the Demonic Dao’s side, the Demon of Death was resurrected, the Heavenly Demon escaped, and the entire Demonic Dao flourished.

The Human Dao devoured the Buddhist heritage, attempted the unification of the three religions, and the Sun-Moon Orbit was not consumed; in fact, it could be said to be merely temporarily stored with Shaman Dao, which was also a huge gain.

The Shamanes obtained the Desire Realm, gained Li Qi, a new Second Grade, who was also a super Genius cultivated by the Heavenly Demon with countless resources, and the Sun-Moon Orbit remained in their hands, just waiting for a certain Second Grade Shaman to successfully master the Sun-Moon Orbit to produce a new First Grade to influence the格局, so it wasn’t much of a loss.

Only the Buddhist sect suffered the greatest loss, but… was it really a loss?

The World Honored One Tathagata’s transcendence, and the spoken-of two future ‘Buddhas’, Sariputra’s future achievement as the Glorious Tathagata, the fate of the Buddha's disciples, the disappearance of the four Buddhist First Grades—it might not be leading towards another outcome…

The original path of Buddhism could not lead to the result of all sentient beings becoming Buddhas, because the Buddha was not oneself; the Buddha was the World Honored One. But now… the World Honored One is gone, who else can the Buddha be?

This depends on future developments.

Overall, it seems like everyone… didn’t lose?

Perhaps this is also the power of the First Grade: never losing, only caring about what one wants to gain.

Of course, it could also just be stubbornness.

And Li Qi, after witnessing all this, also realized what Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva wanted to tell him.

He looked at the Bodhisattva and said: “So… Immortal Heaven doesn’t have the abilities that other First Grades possess, and he’s very timid, so—”

“So, you are a high-ranking Shaman, how to persuade him is your business, but what I can tell you is this. So, when shall we act now? Destroying the Demon must require many things, right?” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva said.

“Please, Bodhisattva, use your Divine Ability to monitor the Demonic Dao’s City of Dreams throughout the Universe, and then respond to those marked with this.” Li Qi performed a spell, which contained the mark of Qi Palace.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva can observe all sounds in the world; this is her great Divine Ability. No matter where you are, as long as you recite her name, she can hear you.

With her, it’s like having a super large service terminal; people from Qi Palace can receive the support of a Second Grade anytime, anywhere, making them virtually invincible.

“Good, let’s do that,” Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva nodded and agreed.

The conversation ended, and the two departed separately.

At this moment, many members of Qi Palace received information. Those in bitter struggle, those busy rushing about—these people, screened by Li Qi for their ideals, all sensed that they were being watched by some power.

From now on, their prayers could truly receive a response.

When they fell into despair, they would truly encounter ‘Divine Power from the heavens’.

According to legends, many ‘saints’ could invoke miracles by calling upon a divine name, performing feats like parting the sea, ultimately reversing the situation.

Now, all members of Qi Palace had also become such saints.

Without a corresponding Second Grade intervention, it would be almost impossible for the many members of Qi Palace to lose at their own Realm.

Thus, the progress in eradicating the City of Dreams advanced another step.

As for Li Qi, he prepared to find another helper, as suggested by Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.

Immortal Heaven. (End of Chapter)