Changes in State of Mind

Upon hearing Chan Master Kaiwen recount the origin of this strange rock Buddha sculpture, Li Qi felt a sudden headache.

Theoretically speaking, the fact that the demon blood inside was held in the palm of the Black Heaven means that the demon blood inside must have been completely subdued, otherwise how would the Black Heaven have dared to drink it?

Once the blood of the Four Demons drips from his hand, it should have no connection with the other demons.

In other words... this was actually arranged by the Black Heaven?

It's hard to say. Li Qi and Black Heaven have no grudges. Daheitian is just a Zen Chanzhi. Whether he exists or not is irrelevant to Black Heaven. There's no need for him to scheme against Li Qi because of this.

Moreover, Chan Master Kaiwen also said that it wasn't just Black Heaven; in fact, Black Heaven didn't care about this strange stone Buddha sculpture at all, and it was Dakini Heaven put it away.

After this stone had been kept for an unknown period of time, the Dakini Heaven instructed Chan Master Kaiwen to send it to Baiyue...

Dakini Heaven was also a great Buddhist master. The matter arose because of Dakini Heaven.

Confusing.

To be honest, Li Qi couldn't tell the difference at all.

It could be a celestial demon, or the demons of the five aggregates, afflictions, and death, or even Black Heaven, or perhaps Dakini Heaven.

There are insufficient clues to make a judgment.

So Li Qi simply gave up on the idea; there was no need to look for it, since he wouldn't find it anyway.

So Li Qi looked up and asked again, "May I ask the Zen Master, I previously studied this Buddha sculpture and gained a lot of insights from it. Is this a characteristic of the Buddha sculpture, or is it the result of your deliberate arrangement on it?"

"I discovered that what I've come to understand is different from what others have come to understand. This shows that this Buddha sculpture doesn't have only one lineage. In fact, in the past few Chen, I've already come to understand seven or eight different Visualization Diagram from this Buddha sculpture. I've also seen others find the Vajra White Elephant Power in it. That's not Visualization Diagram. This means that besides Visualization Diagram, there are other ways to access the power of the Buddha sculpture. What exactly is it?"

Li Qi's question was quite straightforward; generally, people wouldn't ask such a question.

However, this time Li Qi felt he could ask more directly, since it involved demons, and being vague would only lead to being tricked.

"So this is what you're troubled by, benefactor. Have you ever heard of the Five Aggregates Demon?" Chan Master Kaiwen asked.

"Of course I know," Li Qi nodded.

As a top student, Li Qi has read a great many books and knows more than most people in the world.

He immediately realized that Chan Master Kaiwen was saying that the drop of demonic blood was related to the Five Aggregates Demon.

The so-called five aggregates are Form Aggregate, feeling, Feeling Aggregate, Volition Aggregate Perception Aggregate, and Consciousness Aggregate.

Form Aggregate) is all forms and colors; Feeling Aggregate) is all emotions; Perception Aggregate) is all thoughts; Volition Aggregate) are all motivations; and Consciousness Aggregate) is all cognition.

According to Buddhism, the five aggregates (skandhas) constitute the world as perceived by people.

Because Buddhism believes that people cannot see the 'real' world.

Your eyes can see many colors, but are colors the true colors of objects?

Obviously not.

You can taste salt and perceive its saltiness, but is saltiness the essence of salt?

Obviously not.

Humans can only use their weak senses and limited perception to understand the world. The world that humans see is ultimately shallow, one-sided, and false.

How people perceive the world determines how the world appears to them.

The blind feel that the world has no light, and the deaf feel that the world has no sound; it's the same for both.

The saying "with a mind free from all attachments, All Four Are Empty" perfectly describes this state of mind.

The five aggregates are the reflections of limited perception on the human mind. People receive information from the outside world and then project it into the five aggregates, ultimately understanding the world through the five aggregates.

Humans cannot perceive what the real world is like; they can only have a partial understanding of it through the five aggregates (skandhas).

Only through enlightenment and the Dharma can one see the true nature of the world, allowing one to perceive reality even without the corresponding sensory organs.

This pursuit is the process of spiritual practice.

The Five Aggregates Demon is a demon rooted in the five aggregates of sentient beings, capable of interfering with people's perception of the outside world and hindering them from recognizing the true world.

Wait, in that case—

Li Qi suddenly widened his eyes.

In other words, the Five Aggregates Demon are, to some extent, the demons who are skilled at illusion.

So, what the Heavenly Demon said is true, and my previous understanding of the Heavenly Demon was wrong.

The Desire Realm is not an illusion; things in the Desire Realm are real!

To believe that the Desire Realm is illusory is to fall into the trap of the Heavenly Demons.

The things created by the Five Aggregates Demon are false; they are things without any objective substance.

Objective entity!

Li Qi immediately closed his eyes; he had thought of something.

At this moment, Chan Master Kaiwen said with some admiration, "You are truly remarkable, benefactor. You have actually comprehended seven or eight of them. No wonder you became the young master of Wushen Mountain. Such talent is truly outstanding."

"However—" Chan Master Kaiwen seemed to want to say something more, but he noticed that Li Qi had closed his eyes, so he suddenly stopped talking.

Because he noticed that Li Qi had suddenly fallen into a state of deep thought.

Therefore, Chan Master Kaiwen did not disturb him and let Li Qi ponder.

This is common among those who live long lives.

It was common for those who had lived long lives to gather Discussing the Dao for decades at a time.

Especially when friends of the fifth rank or above Discussing the Dao, it is not uncommon for one of them to suddenly fall into deep thought and not utter a single word for seven or eight years.

But Chan Master Kaiwen was still somewhat surprised.

What kind of talent is this? Even if it were the young master of Wushen Mountain, this would be a bit outrageous, wouldn't it?

He only mentioned the Five Aggregates, so what exactly was this mere seventh-rank young man thinking?

Logically speaking, sudden enlightenment is just a superficial phenomenon. In essence, it is the result of countless accumulations over the past that lead to that flash of inspiration. Therefore, no matter how talented a person is, they should first accumulate knowledge, then ignite it, and finally sublimate it.

If ideas are a brilliant fire, then knowledge is the fuel below. No matter how much inspiration you have, you still need a solid foundation to support it.

How much foundation can a seventh-rank official possess?

His age was also clearly discernible in the eyes of Chan Master Kaiwen; he was only in his early thirties.

Even if you work non-stop for 30 years, 12 Chen a day, spending all your time learning and accumulating knowledge, how much can you actually learn?

Compared to those who have studied diligently for hundreds of years, his foundation is too shallow, making it impossible for him to have one epiphany after another.

That's why Chan Master Kaiwen was so surprised.

In fact, Li Qi had been under his watchful eye ever since he arrived at Zunfo Mountain.

He personally witnessed this person having an epiphany more than ten Chen ago. Just yesterday, he gleaned many profound insights from the strange rocks and Buddha sculptures.

And now, has he realized it?

What extraordinary talent! Could he be Buddha Child?

However, what remains unclear is that for Li Qi, the matter of the strange stone and Buddha sculpture is not at all considered 'enlightenment'.

It's simply a matter of following the existing information.

The so-called "enlightenment" is to deduce something that is not yet available but is very important to oneself from existing information. For example, there is a mathematical conjecture. You first have this conjecture, and then one day, you suddenly realize the answer and turn the conjecture into a theorem.

As for piecing together the Thirty-two Forms, Li Qi did it as an everyday task.

Turning a mathematical conjecture into a mathematical theorem can be considered a moment of enlightenment.

However, simply solving a somewhat difficult math problem is far from enough to be considered an epiphany.

For geniuses, it's that simple.

What's most terrifying is that mathematical insights are difficult to make practical, but in the world of individual power, such insights bring about a terrifying boost.

Transforming a mathematical formula into a usable mechanical tool requires many, many years of effort; how to translate the principles of a formula into tool production is a huge challenge.

However, in the case of personal great power, this process is almost non-existent. Almost all the work is actually done in the brain. As long as the practitioner achieves enlightenment, he can make the principles he has realized have a huge effect in reality, omitting the instrumental part.

Therefore, geniuses who frequently experience moments of enlightenment also exhibit remarkable improvements in their actual abilities.

Therefore, Chan Master Kaiwen looked at Li Qi with envy.

He could only attribute Li Qi's repeated promotions to Li Qi's talent. After that, he sighed and said, "Truly worthy of being the young master of Wushen Mountain."

The geniuses who can be ranked alongside the Buddha Child, the most elite geniuses in the entire world, the foremost geniuses in all the heavens and myriad realms, are indeed no match for me.

However, this time Li Qi woke up exceptionally quickly.

Because he was only thinking about the differences between the Thirty-two Forms.

He broke down the Thirty-two Forms a person and then compared them one by one using Buddhist thinking.

Thirty-two different phases can be combined to create many different combinations. These combinations can then be arranged and listed in a table...

This kind of work usually requires paper and pen, but Li Qi can now perform the deductions purely through mental calculation.

Reaching the seventh rank brings more than just changes in lifespan and Divine Ability; his thinking speed also increases significantly.

If this continues, soon the rapid memorization effect brought by True Knowledge Dao Charm will become ineffective, and at that time he will be able to achieve photographic memory without needing Zhenzhi Yun.

Putting those things aside, about fifteen minutes had passed.

After undertaking such a complex task, Li Qi came to a conclusion.

If it is the Five Aggregates Demon, then the Thirty-two Forms demon should be set aside.

Because if everything in the world cannot be correctly perceived and can only be observed indirectly through the five aggregates, then that explains one thing.

The Thirty-two Forms are also illusions, and are also what Buddhism calls 'emptiness'.

Those who doubt the existence of sentient beings will never truly understand the pure, original mind.

Li Qi suddenly opened his eyes, stood up, and said to Chan Master Kaiwen, "Zen Master, would you like to come with me to see the Buddha sculpture?"

Suppressing his surprise, Chan Master Kaiwen said calmly, "It seems you have already gained something. Then there's no harm in making the trip. Please."

"Okay." Li Qi stood up, took the initiative to leave, and went back to the Buddha sculpture.

This time, instead of trying to keep a low profile, he flew directly there.

He was running at an extremely fast speed, almost at Li Qi's full speed. His body transformed into a streak of light and, in just over ten seconds, he slammed heavily into the vicinity of the strange rock Buddha sculpture.

This sudden outburst startled everyone around, interrupting many who were deep in thought, and they all glared angrily at Li Qi.

Some of them had short tempers and immediately pulled out their weapons, wanting to fight Li Qi.

However, Li Qi was in a hurry and had no mood to reason with them, so he simply waved his hand.

But he had already reached the seventh rank.

But then, countless divine energies surged from Li Qi's body, condensing into a rock giant several meters tall!

This is the mountain god within his body.

The rock giant suddenly appeared and punched the ground.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to turn into water, and the earth obediently surged and rolled as Li Qi was struck by the mountain god. Rows of waves of mud instantly swatted away all the people rushing towards them, many of whom suffered broken bones, but no one died.

Li Qi still managed to control his strength.

Now no one else is willing to take action.

Everyone felt Li Qi's rank.

Rank 7.

He was taller than almost everyone else present.

"Clear the area, everyone please leave," Li Qi said calmly.

For a moment, no one responded, but no one left either; almost everyone turned their gaze to the other person present.

It was a middle-aged swordsman. Li Qi True Knowledge Dao Charm and found that he was the only seventh-rank swordsman present besides himself.

This person must be quite famous; everyone present probably knows him, which is why they all looked at him.

Under the spotlight, the middle-aged swordsman seemed to feel it wouldn't be right not to step forward, so he did. "Your Excellency is far too domineering. Even Fengde Temple has never said that others are not allowed to watch. You are merely a guest. Why be so aggressive? This item is not something that cannot be shared. Why insist on driving people away and only provoke public anger?"

Hearing his words, Li Qi shook his head.

Normally, Li Qi would probably patiently explain to him that he had his reasons and difficulties, and that although this thing had advantages, the disadvantages were probably greater.

But now Li Qi was afraid that the flash of inspiration in his mind would dissipate, and that his inspiration might not last long.

He finally managed to pull a thread out of the tangled mess of the Thirty-two Forms, and that thread could disappear at any moment.

Therefore, the mountain god, struck by the attack, suddenly sprang into action and charged towards the opponent.

He wasn't planning to kill anyone, but he needed to clear the area. It would take several minutes to talk to him, while a fight would only take a few seconds at most.

The middle-aged swordsman frowned slightly. He hadn't expected the person in front of him to be so domineering, actually attacking directly.

However, how could a mere Shaman Inner Gods possibly fight him?

The sword sheath on his back was drawn directly, and with a flash of sword light, it met Li Qi's Inner Gods -on.

With a deafening roar, the mountain god was instantly shattered by the force of the attack!

The collapse of the mountain god only caused the middle-aged swordsman to lose a few hairs.

The people around cheered loudly, and then ran away as fast as they could while still cheering.

In a battle between seventh-rank officials, they would naturally run far away.

The middle-aged swordsman shattered the mountain god's statue, then quickened his pace without pausing!

Martial Dao Inner Qi erupts!

The swordsman's sword tip unleashed a destructive sharpness, stabbing directly at Li Qi without hesitation.

However, a few strands of hair had appeared on Li Qi's hand without him noticing.