Abacus

Li Qi finally broke free from the shackles of demonic energy.

To be free from all appearances is to be without appearances. Only by being free from appearances can one attain a pure nature; therefore, being without appearances is the essence, and one is undefiled by any circumstance; this is called non-thought. One should be free from external circumstances in one's own thoughts, and not give rise to thoughts about dharma. Do not think of anything; eliminate all thoughts. When a single thought ceases, there is no other place to be reborn.

Since there is no other place for rebirth, the five aggregates are naturally difficult to entangle.

Thus, Li Qi broke free from the entanglements of the five aggregates and truly saw where he had arrived.

The underworld.

The sky was red, like blood, with overflowing dark clouds piling up overhead, making the sky gloomy, yet still glowing red.

Droughts and floods, locust plagues, hailstorms, thunderstorms, landslides, overflowing waters, dried-up springs, and snow and frost occur frequently. Although the surroundings are extremely hot, they are filled with other extreme weather events, such as heat waves and cold waves, seasonal reversals, blood rain, acid rain, and meteorites.

All the open water bodies had either evaporated or turned into congealed blood clots; there were no fish in them, only living corpses floating on top like dead fish, and the air reeked of a slaughterhouse.

There were also evil spirits and demons, arranged in groups, with shackles and instruments of torture laid out in a somber manner. Countless tortured corpses, their rotting steam, combined with other bizarre substances, formed an extremely foul and terrifying poisonous gas.

No, those aren't corpses! These people are still alive; they're suffering while they're alive!

A suffocating cloud of death floated in the air, and clusters of iron blades formed a forest, constantly slicing the not-yet-dead corpses to pieces. After being chopped into fragments, a strong wind blew by, restoring their bodies to their original state.

But after they were restored, the iron knife struck again, chopping them into mincemeat once more.

Endless, repetitive torture; endless cruelty.

Li Qi looked around. Everything here was very blurry, as if he were caught in a vortex.

The howling winds and countless extreme weather events raged and crashed within, mixed with the cries and echoes of people suffering in the distance, their whereabouts unknown.

An endless despair shrouds this place... But if you look closely, every corpse, every piece of rotting flesh, every crippled human figure barely clinging to life is piled up here in a chaotic manner, only to be blown away by the harsh, extreme weather at some unknown time.

A boundless raging fire erupted from the earth, igniting oil cauldrons. Countless large cauldrons were seen in rows, with fire burning beneath them. People were boiled in the cauldrons, their cries of agony heart-wrenching. The bodies of sinners were thrown into these cauldrons by evil demons and rakshasas, like live fish in boiling oil, with nowhere to hide.

The boiling oil in the fryer was caused by the struggling and rolling of the fish-like creatures, which spilled onto the ground, leaving the ground covered in a foul-smelling, oily sheen.

Oil dripped from the fryer, and the fried bodies were covered with vicious vesicles, swelling like tumors. The air was filled with the smell of burnt hair and the stench of rotting flesh.

Beyond the oil fryer, on other flat ground, countless mutilated, walking corpses roamed, these pieces of flesh, who knows how long they had been tortured.

Li Qi could only refer to them as chunks of flesh, because apart from their bodies still being alive, it was hard to say that they were still 'alive'.

Their minds have been destroyed, and their memories may even have been torn apart in this endless torment. They have no emotions at all; they neither laugh nor cry, nor do they care about anything. In the endless torment of hell, their vitality and hope have long been squeezed out.

Crushed souls and shattered hopes—this is all that this underworld presents.

This is the underworld, the place where sinners are tormented, the deepest part of the cycle of reincarnation.

Here, I suppose we've long since left this world behind?

Li Qi suddenly understood.

She finally understood how the true dragon named Ao Guangxiao and the 'Devil Lord' had dragged them out of the world and into the outer realms.

It's about using the springboard right in front of you.

Li Qi had already experienced it with his own body. That sudden leap, appearing or disappearing silently from a certain level, should be the characteristic of the Ghost Gate.

After all, the 'Gate of Ghosts' is the boundary between the underworld and the world of the living, and it is an extremely terrifying place for ordinary people.

This Devil Lord only needs to take advantage of the Ghost Gate and use its power to pull the entire treasure ship to the Underworld, and then use the Underworld as a springboard to jump to the outer realms.

In this way, the ironclad rules and prohibitions of the world can indeed be circumvented.

There's just one problem.

Jumping into the underworld through the Ghost Gate must not be a simple matter; there must be other people helping behind the scenes.

In other words, the Ghost Emperor of the Ghost Gate, as mentioned earlier?

Li Qi dared not think about it. He punched himself to clear his mind, then used his Technique Method to clear his vision and look at the battlefield at least ten thousand miles away.

Yes, the battlefield.

Over there, you can clearly see a Dharma image and a real dragon, forming a circle, with a small human figure in the center.

The Dharma form is that of a demon, surrounded by flames, as if a demon is burning down a palace, and the Seven Treasures Platform is faintly visible as it is about to crumble!

The demonic figure had several braids of hair hanging down from its head, wore an ivory demonic crown, a bright red hat, a gold skirt, a gold-trimmed jacket, a cloud-shaped shoulder cape, a celestial robe with closed sleeves, a sash, shoes, and socks, and had sixteen hands, each holding a gaprabha-like instrument.

There were bowls, pots, dragon-head pipes, small drums, zithers, chimes, pipa, sheng, erhu, clappers, and clappers, each striking its own clapper, as if lewd sounds were coming from all directions, and gods and ghosts appeared in chaos. Suddenly, demons and monsters revealed themselves, and even banners were waved and prayers were offered. The sounds of gongs and drums and shouts were deafening, making people dizzy.

Li Qi clearly did not hear those demonic sounds, but merely seeing them aroused countless demonic thoughts in his heart.

Fear, joy, anger—countless desires swirled within him, seemingly threatening to devour his Dao heart.

Fortunately, Li Qi had undergone the trials of the Heavenly Demon, and his Dao heart was calm and steady.

Then, a real dragon appeared beside them, its body stretching for thousands of miles, its coiled and twisted form surrounded by strange shadows. Countless dragon scales resembled city walls as it swirled and spewed forth the waters of the Milky Way. Its boundless power descended, extinguishing even the raging fires that had sprung from the hellish earth. Only the demonic fire of that demonic figure continued to burn.

The True Dragon and the Devil Lord have formed a balance of Water and Fire complement each other, one cold and the other hot, taking turns targeting the powerful being of Reason Way in the middle, seemingly trying to break through his protective barrier of Heavenly Principle.

It seems that the powerful being of the Reason Way took the initiative to leave the ship and fight the two alone, probably to save the ship. However, the entire ship was still shrouded in demonic energy. Apart from Li Qi, no one else woke up from the demonic energy. Everyone was in a daze, almost no different from the walking corpses in the hell outside.

Li Qi immediately understood the meaning, and once again used the laws of Heavenly Principle to set up a simple altar to worship the outer world that had just been constructed around him.

The ritual to worship Heaven was successful. The moment he did so, Li Qi immediately sensed a powerful force.

This is the mutual communication of intentions achieved through sacrificial rituals, and it is also a common means for Shaman to communicate with Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Spirits, Ghosts.

Indeed, communicating with the Heavenly Principle of this small outer world is actually equivalent to communicating with that senior of Reason Way, thus enabling communication with him.

When Li Qi used Shaman methods to communicate with the Heavenly Principle and create an outer world, he was already relying on the other party's power.

The moment the connection was established, Li Qi sent a message: "Senior! How is the situation?"

"The situation is bad. I'm surrounded by two people, and I'm temporarily unable to send any messages out. There's nothing I can do but hold my ground. By the way, I just sensed someone using my power. Was it you?" the powerful Reason Way replied to Li Qi.

Seeing that he could indeed contact the other party by using the ritual of offering sacrifices to Heavenly Principle, Li Qi was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief.

Being able to contact this powerful person means that I can be of help.

Therefore, Li Qi immediately said, "Thank you for your help, senior. I have now awakened from the demonic energy and regained my mobility. How is the situation now? Could you tell me? Perhaps I can help you break the deadlock."

"You'll help me break this deadlock? Kid, you're only a seventh-rank cultivator. I see you have a Law Treasure that can traverse Yin and Yang. Take it and run. You can't help me." That powerful Reason Way said.

Li Qi shook his head and replied, "Senior was able to withstand the pressure and help me awaken in the face of twice the number of enemies, so how could I escape alone? Besides, there are still my friends on the treasure ship, and the others are traveling with me. I don't want to abandon them and let them die while I live alone."

"You can't help me. Kindness won't get you anywhere. Go. I'll create a rift for you. Your departure is the most valuable thing you can do. Once you're gone, with your status, you should be able to find the others in the Reason Way and tell Reason Way what happened here. Then someone will come to avenge me and this treasure ship. This is the only thing you can do. Don't stay here to die. If what happened here doesn't get out, then our case will probably remain unsolved." This fourth-rank expert of the Reason Way said to Li Qi.

As he spoke, on the battlefield, his previously steadfast demeanor began to shift, as if he wanted to withstand the pressure and forcefully make a move to clear a path for Li Qi so that Li Qi could go out and deliver the message.

However, Li Qi felt something was strange at this moment.

It was clearly the dragon-slaying squad that caused the trouble, so why did this powerful Reason Way just take responsibility? He was willing to die rather than let them inspect the treasure ship?

At this point, if I just give in a little and let the Devil Lord and the True Dragon examine me, I shouldn't die, right?

Or perhaps... Li Qi's heart sank as he thought of another possibility.

It's highly likely that the Dragon-Slaying Squad was invited by Reason Way himself, which is why Reason Way readily accepted the task. The True Dragon probably knew this as well, which is why it didn't go looking for the Dragon-Slaying Squad but came directly to Reason Way.

So... how did the demonic path get involved?

Regardless, we still need to continue communicating and obtain more information. We can't just leave like this. Besides, the other party's statement that they can't help is clearly an underestimation of me.

Li Qi's thoughts, though lengthy, were actually completed in a mere instant. Therefore, he immediately stopped the Reason Way, saying, "Senior, do not rush. Helping me escape now will not only cost you your life, but you may also be unable to take away the True Dragon's information."

"Information about the True Dragon? Hmm...? You guessed it?" This Reason Way being pondered for a moment and immediately understood Li Qi's unspoken meaning.

Clearly, this seventh-rank youth knows that there is a real dragon on the ship.

One of the little secrets of Reason Way.

Dissect the true dragon and study the secrets within its True Dragon Bloodline.

You should know that Reason Way... don't really care about things like 'good and evil'.

"I don't care about the True Dragon. However, now that the Demonic Path has also intervened, there must be another reason. After all, the person on this ship is of very high status. I have some clues about this." Li Qi quickly added.

He had to explain himself quickly, because Li Qi had already guessed the purpose of this fifth-grade research vessel.

On board were the young master of Wushen Mountain and a genuine Buddha Child. Li Qi hadn't had much contact with the others yet, but he figured their status must be quite high, otherwise they wouldn't be qualified to board this Fifth Rank Treasure Ship.

Therefore, the purpose of this ship is actually to use the identities of these people to intimidate the True Dragon or other forces, so that they will not dare to take action due to the pressure from various forces.

Reason Way... he really has a brilliant plan.

However, for some reason, neither the true dragon nor the demonic path seemed to be afraid.

No, it's not that they're not afraid, but rather that they have other sources of confidence. Li Qi felt that they must have obtained other support to dare to do this.

"You? Oh, I see. I thought the Buddhist energy that descended on the ship earlier was brought by that Buddha Child, but it turns out it was you who brought it. That's why an additional fourth-rank demonic cultivator descended... Hmm, then you really brought this on yourself. But you said you had a clue... is there a way to break this deadlock?" The fourth-rank Reason Way smiled, his tone somewhat helpless.

He did not blame Li Qi for attracting the demonic path, nor did he use Li Qi to vent his anger.

After all, he was a fourth-rank being, and he knew that everything had consequences.

The reason for this calamity is that Reason Way wanted to use the disciples of these powerful forces to protect himself, so it is only natural that it would attract other enemies.

Therefore, he neither blamed Li Qi nor felt guilty. Everything is probabilistic; there are gains and risks. People of Reason Way are always very rational, even to the point of being ruthless.

The Longevity Tower of the Hell Path and the Demon Beast Breeding Farm of the Human Path —these are all things that the Reason Way have been involved in. As craftsmen, they are the most favored tools of the various Dao Lineage.

"I don't have a sure way to break this deadlock, but I do have some ideas." Li Qi didn't know what the other person was thinking; he only knew that he had to find a way to escape now.

His Shaman sixth sense told him that if he really let this fourth-rank Reason Way clear the way for him, the outcome would probably be very bad.

Someone is watching him; someone is targeting him.

These were the words his sixth sense kept screaming in his ears.

Li Qi always respected his sixth sense, so he chose to stay and face it.

"However, to have a better chance of success, I would like to ask you to tell me about the current situation. I'm afraid you don't know my abilities. My understanding of the demonic path is definitely superior to yours," Li Qi said, feigning confidence.

In situations like these, projecting confidence can earn you trust.

He wasn't worried about the time, because battles between fourth-rank experts were usually slow and drawn-out, easily lasting ten days or half a month, so a few minutes of talking was nothing.

"Is that so? Since you've made your decision, then so be it. What do you want to know?" said the fourth- Reason Way.