Chapter 995: Pull

The Demonic Dao used a method that gave Li Qi a headache, and now the situation is at a standstill.

Yes, Li Qi can eradicate all Dream Cities, which will certainly cause great damage to the Demonic Dao. Many Demonic Overlords above the Third Grade were killed in this war.

But… what then?

Should Qi Palace confront the Second Grade Demonic Daos? Should Li Qi lead people to besiege and kill Second Grades?

If so, the risk would greatly increase.

It should be known that Li Qi's eradication of City of Dreams was precisely to force these Second Grade Demonic Daos to act, so that the battlefield could be drawn to his side.

But now, they simply let Li Qi slaughter, completely ignoring any attacks Li Qi made.

By now, all Dream Cities have been eliminated.

So what else can Li Qi do?

If nothing can be done, then the momentum will be lost, then decline, then exhaustion. If you organize another action next time, you won't have the current strength.

The people of Qi Palace can certainly be re-employed, immediately assigned to govern the local areas, transforming from a war group into constructors.

But here's the problem.

What should be built?

The people of Qi Palace gathered because they opposed the Demonic Dao; this is the root of their actions. If they were to build a new world, they could give a million different answers about what this new world should look like.

If they were left to build it themselves, they would definitely start fighting.

But if Li Qi demanded that they build it, did he have a perfect answer that could satisfy the aspirations of so many people in Qi Palace?

Undoubtedly, he did not.

This is also Li Qi's Dao.

Li Qi's Dao acknowledges the essence of contradiction, acknowledging that this world may be contradictory from its very source, acknowledging that the essence of this world may be irreconcilable. So… now, in terms of finding the commonality of all things, his Dao is at a natural disadvantage.

It's difficult for him to provide an 'ultimate answer,' or rather, Li Qi himself doesn't believe in the existence of an ultimate answer at all, so how can he reconcile things?

Furthermore, a large portion of the people within Qi Palace didn't want to build anything; they came with the belief of "eradicating evil."

They don't oppose the Demonic Dao's ideology; they just think the Demonic Dao does bad things, so they came to kill bad people.

Yes, for them, the Dao conflict is not important; what is called 'good and evil' and 'morality' is more important instead.

Morality and good and evil are merely derivations of the 'Dao'; morality is not fixed. The same event, in the eyes of people with different 'Daos', can be good or bad.

But that's how things are; not everyone can observe the essence.

For them, what kind of war did they fight?

The people of Qi Palace unhesitatingly destroyed worlds, dismantled Dream Cities, killed them, and even destroyed their Spirit Souls, causing them to perish both in body and spirit.

Of course, they wouldn't do this to their companions; they only did it to "evil beasts."

This made Li Qi realize the Demonic Dao's methods.

City of Dreams was to be destroyed, and Qi Palace, which destroyed City of Dreams… also absorbed certain things into itself during this destructive process.

People always desperately crave the affection of others and wish to control their own destiny. Nothing shatters people's psychological defenses more than hostility and deliberate aggression from their own kind.

Such internal strife can make people lost and bewildered, no longer feeling the meaning of the world's existence, ultimately leading to the collapse of both body and mind. Many times, the pain and death caused by illness and accidents are not terrifying; it is the domination and trampling by one's own kind that can most deeply awaken people's deepest fears and disgust.

Therefore, Qi Palace must not fall into civil war because of the disappearance of the Demonic Dao; it must find something for Qi Palace to do, and what should this thing be?

Li Qi couldn't find it for a moment.

This is truly difficult.

If the Demonic Dao had committed those heinous acts, they could easily be depicted as ugly enemies, portrayed as evil beings, and thus make the Qi Palace hate the enemy, viewing the opponent as an inferior creature to wage war against. But this approach can no longer work after the destruction of City of Dreams.

Now, for Li Qi, Qi Palace has become a burden.

Li Qi could, of course, choose to disband Qi Palace and then rebuild it, but this would touch upon another issue.

As an absolutely subjective Dao Orthodoxy, the greatest influence on the Demonic Dao is naturally 'will.'

And the members of Qi Palace, from Second Grade to Ninth Grade, were strictly screened. Their will has sufficient resistance to demonic thoughts and can even suppress demonic thoughts to a certain extent, and all of this relies on 'belief.'

This belief, to a large extent, comes from the collective consciousness and shared cohesion of Qi Palace. If it is lost, it will take a long time to re-cultivate it.

It would probably take about as long as Li Qi took to establish Qi Palace, and the effect might not even be good, because this time there aren't as many Dream Cities for him to rack up achievements and train troops.

For Qi Palace… no, it should be said, for all organizations, the worst thing is always a lack of belief.

If belief is lacking, then death will come only after a long delay, and it will definitely be so painful that the group will disgrace itself, to the point where it can never be organized again.

It can even be said that long before the organization's death, decay had already begun, and by the time it truly died, it was already a mass of maggots.

Li Qi didn't want to end up in that situation.

Furthermore, during this reconstruction period, the Demonic Dao would definitely seize the opportunity to strike.

Perhaps the Demonic Dao already knows…

Qi Palace itself is a 'Spiritual Artifact.' These 'beliefs' forged by Li Qi are what Li Qi intends to use to confront the Second Grade Demonic Dao head-on, a subjective belief amplifier created with 'Desire Realm' as its inspiration.

But the Demonic Dao didn't take the bait at all, probably just waiting for Qi Palace to collapse on its own.

Truly… the Demonic Dao's tactic of retreating to advance, allowing themselves to be beaten until Li Qi had nothing left to hit, really struck Li Qi's Achilles' heel.

Disband Qi Palace, or find something for him to do?

Li Qi fell into deep thought.

Does he need to give Qi Palace another goal? Like… a Dao Orthodoxy or something?

That's also unlikely. Li Qi doesn't have a complete set of implementable Dao Orthodoxy concepts yet, and he also doesn't plan to make Qi Palace a force dominated by Dao Orthodoxy. If he did, the great Bodhisattvas might withdraw.

If it became a Dao Orthodoxy, there would be ideological conflicts, and the great Bodhisattvas might not agree with Li Qi's views.

Therefore, Qi Palace must maintain its current form as a group united around the core of eradicating demons; thus, swords cannot be put away, nor horses released to the south of the mountains.

"We can delay for a while; first, let them rest under the pretext of celebration," Li Qi decided.

And during this time, he must find a reason for Qi Palace to continue existing, and this reason cannot be to continue fighting the Demonic Dao.

How else can we fight?

There's no war left for them to fight.

So, after Li Qi discussed with the other Second Grades, they decided to have Qi Palace be responsible for construction, but not the construction of civilizations, rather the construction of the infrastructure of civilizations destroyed by the Demonic Dao.

In Li Qi's words, this is called: "We destroyed their homes; we can't just leave. What's the difference from the Demonic Dao then? So, let's help the refugees of City of Dreams build planets."

This was the delaying tactic they came up with.

To use this to continue maintaining the organization's operational capacity.

Thinking of this, Li Qi began to summon the Third Grades of Qi Palace.

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So, at a small meeting.

"Regarding the rebuilding of these planets, we discussed and thought it was good. What do you all think?" Li Qi finished speaking and looked at the Third Grades below.

Qi Palace had a considerable number of Third Grades, probably more than a dozen. Most were recruited, and one had achieved a Breakthrough within Qi Palace, a true super Genius.

These dozen or so people, plus Li Qi, were almost all the top experts at the executive level.

As for the great Bodhisattvas, and Yang Zhenqian, Zhu Fengdan, Golden Monkey, and others, they belonged to the category of revered experts and group consultants. They usually did not participate in the operation and direction of Qi Palace, only helping when Li Qi needed them.

The Third Grades listened to Li Qi's words and exchanged glances.

Then, one of them stood up.

This was a fat man named Mu Yu, with an air of 'affluence' in his brows. Seeing his radiant complexion and truly plump, glowing face, and the golden light emanating from his forehead, one could easily guess that he was currently a favored figure within Qi Palace.

Indeed, this was the case. He was currently the most powerful person in the Qi Palace faction apart from Li Qi. As a Third Grade, he was naturally an important figure everywhere, and what made him most important was that he was the native Third Grade of Qi Palace.

He was not recruited but ascended on his own.

This identity naturally made him a direct descendant of Qi Palace, and many also regarded him as an important helper to Li Qi.

Mu Yu stood up and said, "Senior, if that's the case, then many parts of Qi Palace will need to be reformed. Although we can modify the past, Qi Palace shouldn't use such methods, should it?"

"Yes, if it's not absolutely necessary, try not to use retrospective methods. Moreover, the Third Grade Demonic Daos might intervene when you're doing retrospection, and that would be too dangerous," Li Qi nodded.

"Then, the energy required for reform will increase too much. Starting now, what about the legions established before? Or, will the legions remain unchanged, and we just increase the construction personnel?" Mu Yu asked.

Another Third Grade next to him said, "Simply increasing construction personnel will not only pollute the current 'belief,' preventing Qi Palace from fully utilizing its capabilities when confronting the Second Grade Demonic Dao, but it may also be eroded by the Demonic Dao. The current personnel are painstakingly selected; one more is a burden, one less is a loss."

"Without the ability to backtrack, reforming will undoubtedly cause immense damage to Qi Palace, this Spiritual Artifact."

Everyone spoke logically; there was nothing to refute.

The purpose of Qi Palace's existence is to interfere with demonic thoughts through subjective will and belief when confronting the Second Grade Demonic Dao. This entire force, composed of countless individuals, is united for this purpose.

If this goal cannot be achieved, there is no need for Qi Palace to exist.

In the current situation, reforming Qi Palace is like changing the oil and parts of a Spiritual Artifact composed of multiple Third Grades while its engine is running.

One Third Grade said at this moment, "I have a method. You see, almost all the changes we are currently instigating have caused intense turbulence in the local situation. We just need to convert this turbulence into construction. For the specific plan, give me a few minutes."

After saying that, he began to write a detailed plan. A Third Grade's mind works very efficiently; once a solution is found, it only takes a few minutes of thought to implement it.

He wrote one on the spot, then looked at the people around him.

Li Qi took a look; it was written in great detail. The specific measure was to confuse the public.

People are always prone to confusing power with virtue. Almost everyone defaults to the idea that powerful people always possess some great quality.

This is actually nonsense. Power and greatness are unrelated. Heavenly Demons are so powerful, but when it comes to virtue, they are the lowest dregs, taking pleasure in toying with all beings. Yet people like to believe that Heavenly Demons also possess virtues worthy of their power.

And war is its greatest manifestation.

Most people admit that war is as terrifying as purgatory.

However, more people believe that all actions of powerful beings have a sacred purpose.

Therefore, war also becomes sacred, and participating in war becomes a great, sacred undertaking, worth dedicating oneself to.

Utilizing this trend, one can subtly convey that the essence of the world is benevolent. As long as one believes the world is ultimately good, distinguishes between good and evil, and promotes both war and construction as methods of punishing evil and promoting good, then construction can be lauded just as war is lauded.

There's just one problem.

This method is essentially deceiving the public, and deception can easily lead to negative consequences, for example… it can easily lead to the collapse of belief.

Li Qi looked at the plan and pondered for a while.

"We can't use it, but we can modify it slightly. We'll remove the propaganda part and directly tell them that we need to build, and that construction is for the Second Grade's grand plan, but we just can't tell them yet," Li Qi said.

After speaking, he also drew up a plan.

Mu Yu and the others quickly approved the resolution after reading it.

The meeting ended quickly, and everyone went about their own business.

Li Qi continued to sit there.

Undoubtedly… there was a loophole in the plan just now.

This loophole was left for the Demonic Dao.

Li Qi was still hoping that the Demonic Dao would take the initiative to attack; if possible… he really didn't want to go to that address.

Because, over the years, many people have gone to that address.

None have returned.