The Answer to 'Why Am I Me'

Why am I me?

Li Qi couldn't understand it no matter how hard he tried. He made conjectures and put them into practice from countless aspects, including physical, mental, and other aspects of self-identity, unified memory, etc.

But he was always a little short of the answer; he lacked experience and knowledge.

Just like when your cultivation level is insufficient, you can't break through no matter what you do; your foundation can only be built up through accumulation.

For example, there's a problem he just can't figure out.

He and Shen Shuibi have a deep and abiding love. But one day, Li Qi will die. At that time, Li Qi has the ability to create a 'Demonic Energy Clone' that is exactly the same as himself but does not know that he will die. Would he do it?

From the outside, this clone appears identical.

So, will Li Qi create an exact clone to replace his former self and continue to accompany Shen Shuibi?

When Li Qi pondered this question, his answer was... perhaps, but only if he was truly doomed to die.

Self-identity has yielded on this issue.

Li Qi was willing to abandon his own identity so that another version of himself could live on in his place.

Looking at the body, Li Qi received a possible answer from the Plague Lord: "The mind is useless."

Does "Li Qi" refer to a cultivator who walks upright and is capable of thinking, or to the mind that is attached to this cultivator?

The Plague Lord believes it is a cultivator, not a consciousness.

Li Qi used to think it was consciousness, but after seeing the Plague Lord, he was no longer sure.

However, just a few days later, the miscellaneous Yu Zao gave him another answer.

That is, these two are a separable whole.

It is a whole, but it can be divided. After being reorganized, it will affect each other, but it will not affect itself.

This is not Li Qi's answer; this is Yu Zao's answer.

But overall, Li Qi could also gain some inspiration. It was this inspiration that, like the last straw, broke through the last layer of fog that blocked Li Qi's vision.

Li Qi fully activated all his senses, including the traditional five senses, as well as his information flow vision and True Knowledge Dao Charm, all to the maximum extent.

He is perceiving the world around him.

The world around him is changing because of his perception and actions; even just looking at it can have a certain impact.

Yes, that's the answer.

Influence.

Back when he was at Wushen Mountain, when he encountered many mountain gods and those few Ghost Shaman, he reflected on the influence of others.

Li Qi still remembers the moment he suddenly realized the meaning of the word 'influence'. At that time, he sat down and pondered for a long time.

Now, he is aware of the existence of influence once again...

And this time, it seems we can understand 'cause and effect'?

All things in the external world arise from causes, then the causes lead to results, and the results become the next causes, one after another, in a continuous cycle, forming a vast network of cause and effect that covers the entire world.

Li Qi suddenly became aware of things, and many obscure thoughts in his mind suddenly became clear.

In this world, nothing is absolutely independent; everything is necessarily connected to other things to some extent.

This is the source of their influence.

If you are truly absolutely independent and have no connection to this network, then you do not exist in relation to anything else, and there is no need to discuss things that do not exist.

When you can be recognized as existing by other beings, you have already fallen into this great net. You are seen, heard, and encountered by other beings, and you can also see, hear, and encounter other beings.

These mutually interfering things thus enter this network and become one of its threads.

All living beings are caught in the web of cause and effect.

Everything, including things, people, and all existence, is connected to each other in various ways. These 'ways' even include perception, that is, hearing and seeing, which can create connections.

These connections are intertwined; for example, glancing at someone or even having a relationship with them can lead to that person in turn influencing you.

All these entanglements and connections constitute cause and effect.

Every cause has an effect, and the effect becomes a new cause; cause and effect flow endlessly.

Cause and effect are like countless crisscrossing threads, forming countless fluttering, sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing "nets".

This vast web of cause and effect encompasses everything, and each person is a thread in this web. When two threads intersect due to a certain action or accident, a point of intersection is created.

These intersections manifest as all things in this world. Li Qi then remembered that he had seen such intersections in Buddhist Scriptures, where the Buddha called them "karma".

The so-called arising and ceasing of causes and conditions refers to the intersection and subsequent separation of countless threads of cause and effect.

Everything in this world arises from causes and conditions. Because of these causes and conditions, everything you see, hear, and feel comes into being.

This great net is the very fabric of the world. The net itself does not exist; what exists is the interaction between cause and effect, arising from causes and conditions and ceasing when those causes and conditions cease.

This is why Li Qi wanted to fully activate his perception.

He wants to capture the impact of his 'influence' on the world.

And he did it.

The precision of the information flow vision is insufficient, but the current True Knowledge Dao Charm can clearly perceive the impact of Li Qi's every move on the outside world.

Whether it's his own imposing presence or the air currents created by his actions.

These air currents collide with external air currents, sometimes dissipating, sometimes propagating and producing other consequences, such as causing a leaf to sway.

A leaf swaying might cause an insect to fall from it, which could then affect even more things.

The butterfly effect is exactly what this refers to: a butterfly flapping its wings creates a breeze, and this is the cause.

The butterfly's act of fanning itself becomes the result of air movement, and the result of air movement becomes the cause of other things.

This cycle of cause and effect eventually unleashed a storm thousands of miles away.

Similarly, other things are also causes, and the effects they create will also affect Li Qi along the great web of cause and effect, just to varying degrees.

The few people who could connect with Li Qi were those around Li Qi, and they were also the ones who had the greatest influence on him.

Those beings with immense influence appear incredibly grand within this vast web of cause and effect, their every move capable of triggering countless causes and effects.

Having grasped this point, Li Qi finally understood what 'self' meant, and he submitted what he considered a perfect answer.

'I' am the 'cause' that belongs uniquely to the web of cause and effect.

Mind, body, memory—all of these are meaningless, mere appearances.

The true self is the center where countless causes and effects are connected; this center is the cause of oneself and the effect of others.

Suppose there were a Li Qi was even more real than the Demonic Energy Clone, completely identical in mind, body, and memories. However, by examining his position in the web of cause and effect, one could easily find the differences.

In the great web of cause and effect, every position is unique, and there can never be two identical causes and effects in the world.

Memories can be stripped away, but the causal effects of actions cannot be stripped away.

Everything can be copied, except for things that have been done. Even if there are the same memories, it is only 'thinking that you have done it'. The actual copy has not done or experienced those things.

Not only do practitioners possess karma, but objects, even a piece of information, a sentence, or a beam of light, all possess their own karma and influence on the outside world.

Influence is the fluctuation that extends from the cause within this great web of cause and effect. The more influential you are, the more other effects you can influence.

In this way, everything is connected.

The answer has been found.

'I' am the unique and singular cause.

I am also the creator of countless fruits.

And all of this together forms the unique 'I'.

It cannot be replaced, copied, or confused.

Having figured this out, Li Qi suddenly felt that everything before him became much clearer, the threads of many events were clear and discernible, and his own existence was no longer illusory.

Whether it's the Plague Lord, the Demonic Energy Li Qi, the Yu Zao, the Demon Dragon, or any other creature in the world, their existence is so vivid and real, no longer an illusion.

Previously, Li Qi was tormented by the illusions of the Heavenly Demon and almost believed that the world was an illusion that could be modified at any time.

And now, the foundation of this world has been strengthened once again.

This time, even the illusion of the Heavenly Demon could not shake the reality of the world.

Li Qi let out a long sigh and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

To understand these things clearly, experience is essential; you must have seen and heard things before you can come up with those ideas.

Thinking is the fire that burns in the mind.

Knowledge and experience are the fuel for the fire of thought.

Li Qi had never felt so deeply that he realized how true the sage's words, "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is dangerous," truly were.

If it were just a matter of thinking, there wouldn't be enough events to provide Li Qi with raw materials for his thoughts, and he wouldn't be able to find the answer no matter how hard he tried.

Moreover, he was exceptionally lucky.

It would be very difficult for an ordinary person to gain the kind of experience and knowledge he has.

An existence like the Plague Lord is probably something that even an ordinary fifth-rank cultivator couldn't find many of even after traversing countless worlds.

The Great Shaman the Third Rank personally preached to him, using the most suitable method, and talked about the issue of 'self' for a whole day, asking him to go back and think about it slowly. Each of these questions touched on the key points, and Li Qi spent most of his time thinking about answering these questions. The answers he came up with were very helpful.

The Five Aggregates Demonic Blood processed by Black Heaven is probably only found in the bowl in the whole world, and no one knows how many drops are in that bowl... but it is known to all the heavens and myriad realms.

And then there's the Yu Zao before him, the experimental subjects of the Human Path Miscellany, who took the initiative to appear and talk to him.

Well, if it were an ordinary Rogue Cultivator, it would probably take tens of thousands of years of traveling through countless worlds to gather all these experiences, and even then, they might not encounter them.

Li Qi let out a long sigh, waking from his reverie, and looked at the Yu Zao in front of him.

In this way, the way Yu Zao exist no longer surprises him.

She is a unique person, and she has left her own mark on this world in her own way.

Whether the marks are left by the mind, the body, or something else, it doesn't matter; those are all superficial appearances.

This unique mark is the Yu Zao. It doesn't matter if she changes her name, or even if she has life, whether she is born or artificial.

This has nothing to do with the foundation of her existence.

Yu Zao stared intently at Li Qi's face, her usually lively personality failing her.

Because Li Qi's cultivation level suddenly changed.

"What's going on with your personal microcosm? Li Qi, you didn't break through, did you?" Yu Zao asked incredulously.

How is it possible that he broke through in the blink of an eye, right in front of her?

Is this the genius who reached the seventh rank after four years of cultivation?

How can this be even more outrageous than my own android self? Isn't my talent the theoretical maximum?! This was said by the Ancestor himself!

The Yu Zao and algae were startled; their eyes and mouths were agape.

She witnessed firsthand how Li Qi's personal microcosm began to transform from 'illusion to reality'.

Li Qi's cultivation level did not improve. After all, improving cultivation level requires a little bit of practical training. Even if you have researched the blueprint for the machine, you still need to actually manufacture it before you can have a machine. Neither the machine nor cultivation level can be conjured up out of thin air.

Therefore, what changed in Li Qi was not his cultivation level, but the structure of his entire microcosm.

The same level of cultivation can produce different results depending on how it is used.

Different structures result in vastly different utilization rates, which highlights the importance of Cultivation Method. At the same cultivation level, a high-quality Cultivation Method can unleash power that is dozens of times stronger.

He seemed to have mastered some kind of technique, making his originally illusory little world of human form incredibly solid, to the point that the power he could unleash could be increased by several times.

For a seventh-rank official, an increase of several percent is a truly terrifying number.

"It's nothing, I just thought some things through. Thanks to Yu Zao, I can agree to this deal, but... we need to discuss the details. I still won't sell the entire Witchcraft Silkworm, but we can resolve some less core technologies through technology exchange. What do you think?" Li Qi shook his head, looked at Yu Zao, and said.

The Yu Zao filled the last gap for him, and in return, some non-core technologies could indeed be offered in exchange.

They exchanged various skills.

Li Qi was also very interested in how the artificial human Yu Zao achieved consciousness transfer.

We can talk about it.

Meanwhile, in the endless beyond, where the image of Amitabha Buddha resides.

"Foolish child, I have explained the nature of cause and effect. Do you understand?" Amitabha Buddha sighed and said to the Demonic Energy Li Qi.

At this moment, the Demonic Energy Li Qi had shaved his head and put on a monk's robe, looking exactly like a monk.

Demonic Energy Li Qi clasped his hands together and said, "Disciple understands now. So that's how it is. Thank you, Buddha, for clearing my mind. Disciple will no longer be troubled by the Heavenly Demon."

However, when he expressed his gratitude, he also gave a wry smile.

We earnestly request the Buddha to enlighten us.

The doubts have been resolved, but this may leave a huge hidden danger for his future Dao Path.