Heavenly Demon Interrogation

It felt like ants were crawling inside Li Qi's heart.

Although he knew nothing about the outside world, he had all sorts of thoughts like, "It's too late," "Am I going to stop here?" and "Will I never be able to obtain the second ray of true knowledge?"

These thoughts made him very irritable, and he wanted to smash things.

It's like being stuck at 99% progress, making you want to punch the screen in front of you and smash it.

However, suddenly, Li Qi seemed to realize something.

He stopped searching for the True Knowledge Dao Charm and sat cross-legged on the ground.

Then, his inner world slowly opened up, and numerous Technique Method were unleashed at the same time, and... they were Buddhist sorcery!

Suddenly, strange phenomena appeared around Li Qi.

First, Bodhi Tree suddenly appeared.

These Bodhi Tree began to radiate a myriad of precious lights.

A thousand-petaled lotus emerged from the light of a hundred treasures, Li Qi sat upon it, surrounded by the precious flower, with ten rays of light emanating from his head.

There were also thousands of layers of jeweled canopies, with cranes, giant elephants, lions, and tigers serving as attendants. Upon hearing the sermon, they obediently knelt down the steps, as if they were listening attentively.

The golden rope opens the path to enlightenment, the precious raft ferries across the Buddha's light delusion. Wherever the Buddha's light shines, auspicious energy abounds, and radiant light shimmers. The wondrous transformations are like timely rain, transforming all forms and appearances into nothingness.

The monks carried various precious jewels and colorful fabrics, including parasols, banners, pearls, gold, silver, shells, jade, coral, and lapis lazuli.

The colors and colors can be dyed with countless precious and rare things, and from all kinds of incense, flowers, jewels, and clothing, all kinds of subtle and wonderful Dharma sounds are produced.

If Chanzhi Zhi were still alive, he would immediately realize that this was all the 108 methods he had forced Li Qi to do in the past to suppress different kinds of demonic energy!

At some point, Li Qi somehow combined these 1808 Technique Method together, creating the Technique Method we know today.

Furthermore, these Technique Method even vaguely resemble the 'Three-Inch Buddha Kingdom' of the Chanzhi, which is simulated by the hundred-zhang distance of the Cosmic Space Dao Charm.

Then, Li Qi opened his eyes, made a hand seal, with his thumb hooking his middle and ring fingers, his index and little fingers upright, and his thumb pressing on his bent two fingers.

This is the Qike Yin, one of the Law Seals in Buddhism.

It is also very common in daily life and can often be seen on wrathful Vajra Law Seals used to subdue demons and destroy evil, and to intimidate and frighten.

Li Qi has read many books, and this is when his knowledge will come in handy.

Behind him, a Buddha Statue suddenly appeared, its skin red, its expression wrathful, full of malevolence and Sha Qi, with a red face, fangs, and glaring eyes. Its left foot was raised, and then its right foot was placed on top of its left foot, as if floating.

Looking at his posture, he held a knife in one hand and a bell in the other, his face was hideous, and he was burning with rage.

The Buddha Statue suddenly spoke, roaring loudly and chanting mantras:

"Subdue all the great demon generals, all powerful demons and spirits, and utterly destroy all evil demons and spirits—" The majestic chanting filled with anger and killing intent echoed in the quiet world around them!

"Defeat, surrender, surrender, surrender, crush, crush, crush, crush, the evil spirits will disappear!"

"I command all beings in heaven and on earth to eradicate all evil and gather away misfortune!"

At the same time, Li Qi opened his eyes and looked outside.

This is a spell to subdue demons, used to resist the Heavenly Demon.

For a moment, he seemed to hear the rushing sound of water, like a flash flood.

Around Li Qi, there was a barrier constructed of countless chaotic cosmic lights and shattered space, like an eggshell enclosing the yolk, separating him from the outside world.

These chaotic vortexes of cosmic light remained still, yet they prevented the sixth-rank cultivator from approaching them in person.

Li Qi had difficulty concentrating. He was plagued by demonic thoughts and his True Knowledge Dao Charm was constantly boiling. When he looked through the chaotic light of the universe, the surrounding scenery was like leaves in a tornado, spinning and spinning and then being gradually torn apart, leaving everything as fragments.

However, amidst the madness of surging demonic energy within him, Li Qi relied on Buddhist teachings to suppress the demonic energy, maintaining his rationality and coldly observing the outside world.

In the gaps of the chaotic light, he saw a face.

The face of the Imperial Academy Chancellor.

Behind him, the Imperial Academy Chancellor stood there without any attempt to hide his surprise, though his expression showed some astonishment.

He didn't expect that this young master would detect a wisp of sixth-grade demonic energy in less than a minute, and that he even knew the Buddhist method of suppressing demonic thoughts!

I really wanted to just crush him to death.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

If I were to do it myself, it would become a murder, and with solid evidence, someone would definitely follow the traces on the body to find clues.

But the death of the young master of Wushen Mountain must have been an 'accident'.

If it's an accident, Wushen Mountain has to put up with it.

Therefore, he couldn't just rush over and twist Li Qi's head off, nor could he. Li Qi was enveloped in chaotic cosmic light, so he could only influence him indirectly.

Since that's the case... let's have a battle of wits.

You, an eighth-rank cultivator, dare to challenge me, a sixth-rank cultivator? How laughable.

After making up his mind, the Imperial Academy Chancellor suddenly reached out and manipulated the Heavenly Demon Qi, causing it to erupt within Li Qi's body!

The undisguised resentment and poisonous gas appeared in the surroundings as pitch-black black mist.

An indescribable cloud of smoke continued to spread, swirling around, and the overflowing demonic energy eroded the world around them, making everything seem to be on the verge of sinking and falling into depravity.

Since there is a demon-subduing incantation, the demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon cannot naturally penetrate into Li Qi's Dao heart, then let's use force!

Using the demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon as a medium, he began to cast Technique Method, and he and Li Qi began to fight each other through a layer of chaotic cosmic light.

As demonic energy erupted, the three-inch Buddhist kingdom around Li Qi, simulated using the Cosmic Space Dao Charm, collapsed instantly!

He immediately saw endless illusions.

The world is like a boundless Sea of Suffering, in which all beings are drowning, without hope, joy, or happiness, and find it difficult to escape.

This is the Avici Hell represented by the Heavenly Demon.

Those who fall into the Abyss will repeatedly review their lives. The more regrets they have, the more painful it becomes, and the more intense and painful it becomes over time, until they completely break down.

They will be condemned to endless suffering in the Avici Hell, where their bodies, time, and form will never be spared, and they will never be reborn.

This was the first move made by the Imperial Academy Chancellor.

Li Qi became deeply mired in it.

The scenery before his eyes began to change.

His mind immediately flooded with memories of the past, every choice he had made back then was vivid in his mind.

Li Qi was so engrossed in everything he had done that all he could see were scenes from the past, to the point that he was in a daze and even the Buddhist Technique Method was forced to stop.

He realized he was trapped in an endless illusion, but he could not escape by brute force, nor could he suppress the demonic energy through Buddhist sorcery.

However, Li Qi immediately responded.

He stopped trying to escape the illusion and began to seriously examine the choices within it.

An ancient book says, "The conduct of a gentleman is in accordance with the Way, therefore, in his advances and retreats, and in his interactions, he follows the Way."

A virtuous person acts in accordance with their own principles, so whether it is advancing, retreating, or maneuvering, they always follow the principles and never deviate from them.

The Avici Hell examines remorse and uses it as punishment, constantly inflicting it on those who are trapped within it, causing them immense suffering.

However, Li Qi examined himself.

Li Qi has done many bad things. For example, he recently instigated a civil war in the Sacred Flame Realm. He also killed people in a fit of rage before, and he did not spare many people who did not deserve to die.

Therefore, these things kept replaying in his mind and repeating themselves.

He closed his eyes and pondered the reasons behind these events.

Was he the one who started the civil war in the Sacred Flame Realm?

Strictly speaking, yes, and this was his original intention; he wanted it to be this way.

He needs to earn money to help Shen Shuibi break free from her control and get her family, that is, Mount Luofu, out of their predicament. This is something that must be done, and some actions are needed to accomplish this.

Li Qi followed the path of Shaman Path, demanding righteousness from others and treating them with justice.

"Uprightness" means to conduct oneself with integrity, not to be biased towards oneself, and to treat others the same way one would treat oneself. One should not be bound by personal interests and should not make excuses for oneself whenever there is a problem.

Righteousness refers to the principles that are reasonable and just. Righteousness is the rule of the Heavenly Dao.

Exactly is a word, meaning is a word.

Justice is another word, unrelated to the two above. It means the most just and proper righteousness, similar to 'great justice'.

Therefore, Li Qi's way is not about justice, but about being upright in one's conduct and treating others with righteousness.

This is closely related to Shaman Path, because a large part of Shaman Path believes that "the Dao gives rise to destiny, and things are rectified by themselves."

What does that mean? It means that:

The operation of this universe, and more importantly, social order, are all natural processes.

People's positions are all derived from themselves, naturally and reasonably determined. You can change your position, but you cannot change the principle of "what you do in what position".

This is called nature.

Just as stones fall to the ground, water forms a horizontal surface, massive objects naturally become spherical, and galaxies rotate spontaneously.

As the ultimate guide, the Tao gives all things time, and all things will naturally be in their 'correct' position.

Just like now, the world was naturally incredibly chaotic at its inception, but after countless years of settling and adjustment, everything in this world has come to its rightful place.

Everything is content with its own place, doing what it should do according to its position. Wolves eat sheep, sheep eat grass, and the ecosystem naturally forms a perfect cycle. If it is not perfect, it will perish and then be reborn in the future, eventually reaching perfection.

If everything follows this pattern, the world will operate smoothly without any deviations or changes.

The nature sought by Shaman Path is this kind of thing, not the narrow 'nature' of flowers, trees, birds, beasts, fish, and insects.

Li Qi pondered his place in 'nature'.

Is his pursuit of the Sacred Flame Realm excessive? Is it plunder leading to destruction? Is it the destruction of this perfect relationship?

Does he feel any remorse for this?

After much deliberation, he finally came to a conclusion.

No.

He only took what he needed, which, although it was considered taking advantage of someone in distress by the people of the Sacred Flame Realm, did not violate the principle of 'righteousness'.

It's like... a person needs to build a house, so they go into the mountains and cut down a tree.

Instead of cutting down the entire forest for his own selfish desires or setting the mountain on fire, he took what he needed and even decided to replant a tree.

Because in his subsequent plans, he had arrangements to help build up the Sacred Flame Realm. Everything he did was to prevent the Sacred Flame Realm from being dominated by the Green Mountain God. However, he also needed the Holy Flame, so he left the Green Mountain God's power to maintain the vitality of the Sacred Flame Realm, while also ensuring that the Holy Flame was provided to him.

For Li Qi, the Sacred Flame Realm, a vibrant and thriving place that is also threatened by external enemies, is the best choice, as it provides the most Holy Flame.

There was a reason for this, and the offering was made in return, without any killings. Li Qi felt he had not violated any principles. Perhaps the Sacred Flame Realm would have objections, but that didn't matter.

Such is the Heavenly Dao, meaning that all things have their natural order and need no external force or intervention.

The Sacred Flame Realm is situated in such a position that it is like a sheep becoming food for predators.

Just like Li Qi in the Earth Oil Realm in the past, he did not stop the Great Deer Kingdom from preying on the Earth Oil Realm, because that was natural.

He merely instructed the Great Deer Kingdom not to Human Path and Evil Method to dismember and exploit its inhabitants, but to leave them alive in order to maintain the balance of nature.

Re-examine the other things you've done.

Li Qi himself down and reflected on the past little by little in the Avici Hell formed by demonic energy.

Therefore, forget the other and destroy the whole, equalize the noble and the lowly, equalize self and others, transcend the physical body and the cycle of life and death, seek the true master, illuminate the original brightness, and let the mind roam in the infinite.

Soon, the Avici Hell was forced to stop.

Because the Avici Hell is no longer in effect, and it is even helping Li Qi to confirm his Dao heart, examine his behavior, and correct his attitude over and over again.

Li Qi also saw some of the things he had done wrong, such as beating the mountain god and indiscriminately killing martial arts figures in Guangyang. These were indeed wrong, but not enough to make Li Qi 'regret'.

It can only be said that there were better ways to handle it at the time, but Li Qi just didn't seize the opportunity.

Seeing that his Technique Method had become something to temper Li Qi's Dao heart, the Imperial Academy Chancellor did not hesitate to remove the Avici Hell and then immediately changed his methods again!

This time, the methods are even more targeted!

The Heavenly Demon is most adept at attacking Human Path compass.

This time, what Li Qi saw was not an illusion, but another Li Qi.

Li Qi's expression tightened, realizing that this was the manifestation of demonic thoughts.

The demonic thought spoke, solemnly saying to Li Qi, "The will of Heaven is the heart of man, the Heavenly Dao is the Human Path, the principle of Heavenly Principle is the principle of man. The Way is not empty talk, the Way values practical results. What do you say?"

This is Li Qi, who practices the way of Human Path!

He was trying to preach to Li Qi and interrogate Li Qi's Dao heart.

If Li Qi accepts the Human Path way, then the Dao heart Li Qi has just stabilized will have to be re-examined.

Because practices that conform to Shaman Path may not conform to Human Path.

This wisp of demonic thought intended to incite Human-Shaman Dao Contention within Li Qi's body, thereby causing internal strife within Li Qi's Dao heart.

This is not something that can be denied by stubbornness; as soon as the slightest conflict arises, it will immediately manifest itself in one's own world.

Because the human body is a microcosm, it itself operates in accordance with Li Qi's Dao.

Li Qi took a deep breath.

He cannot completely refute Human Path.

Because he adopted some Human Path when refining Guangyang, this led to a change in his attitude towards the Sacred Flame Realm.

In taking measures against the Sacred Flame Realm, his approach was actually biased towards Human Path.

If we can explain Li Qi's actions in the Sacred Flame Realm using Shaman Path, then did Li Qi truly follow Shaman Path completely?

It should be noted that Li Qi simultaneously employed both Shaman Path and Human Path to construct his own microcosm within himself!

The Heavenly Demon seized upon this weakness in his Dao heart and directly questioned him about the conflict Human Path and the Shaman Path!

Li Qi's personal microcosm began to fall into chaos due to the struggle for Dao!

This is what Shen Shuibi meant when she said that the Eighth Rank cultivators tried to accommodate the drawbacks of the Dao Path, but now the Heavenly Demons have taken advantage of it!