Sitting Opposite Each Other

In the endless void beyond the realm, an old man and a young man sat facing each other in the boundless emptiness.

However, what's somewhat amusing is that the two of them merely maintained a relative stillness with each other, without fixing themselves in place. So, although they appeared to be stationary, they were actually spinning at an extremely high speed, constantly drifting in the outer void, just like countless cosmic dust particles undergoing Brownian motion.

But it's clear that neither of them cares much about that. They just need to stay still. As for wandering around outside the realm... that's perfectly normal. There's no one here, so there's no point in fixing themselves in space.

"Alright, since you've already shown this expression, I won't ask anymore. Anyway, no one in the world understands what you're thinking better than me, even without considering your mental state." The old man smiled.

Then, the old man continued, "It's just like that little Demon Race girl who's been following you around. After you shattered your inner world, the Imperial Flowing Sap you used to repair your body was obtained from her, right? She's been following you around for several epochs. You've been asking for her handouts countless times, eating and drinking for free every day, and even sleeping in her house, but you've never been willing to give her a proper title. It's really not very respectable."

"Hey, old man, don't talk nonsense. I sleep in the living room and I haven't touched her. Besides, I'm not obligated to agree to have dinner with someone. What would that make me?" Zhu Fengdan immediately became wary and waved her hand in denial.

"That's why I call you a good-for-nothing. You haven't even been able to find a wife all these years. Your apprentice will probably have children in a few years. You're not even as good as a child. You've already established the Four Symbols Contract, how come you can't even get a marriage contract?" The old man shook his head, his tone somewhat disdainful as he spoke.

"Come on, it's their business if he has a wife, what does it have to do with me? Why are you so hung up on this? If you really want it, I'm also support arranged marriages, it makes no difference to you anyway." Zhu Fengdan seemed a little annoyed by the topic and directly requested an arranged marriage.

"That's what I'm concerned about. The main point is, back then, your disciple's wife, Shen... Shui Bi, right? She was just like you, her inner world was completely shattered. She was able to be healed because of you, right? Neither Chang'an nor the Honglu Temple Ceremonies were easy to talk to, were they? So, those Imperial Flowing Sap repaired her body, you also got them from the Demon Race?" the old man asked casually.

Zhu Fengdan seemed to have been prepared for this. Although the old man's sudden mention of this surprised him, he did not panic. Instead, he said smugly, "Of course, otherwise where would Chang'an get so much Imperial Flowing Sap? Old man, I'm not saying this out loud, but if you had cared for me this much when I was a child, I wouldn't be in this situation today, still a bachelor. You should bear half the responsibility for this, okay?"

"You're good at petty theft and fighting, but you're not good at talking to women? Didn't your arrogant demeanor attract a bunch of suitors? You didn't get your Imperial Flowing Sap from them, so why don't you choose one from among them? To put it bluntly, you're just incompetent. All you do is brag all day. If you were really asked to undress a woman, you wouldn't even be as good as your little apprentice," the old man said disdainfully.

However, such disdain made Zhu Fengdan scratch her head, chuckle twice, and not refute it.

There's no way to refute it.

He can joke around with those women, but when it comes to real romance, that's really asking too much of him.

As for physically undressing women...

He'd rather fight Guixu.

I really don't understand how that little rascal Li Qi can remain so calm and collected; I just can't figure it out.

Even the greatest truths are easier to understand than those about women.

The two continued their conversation, just like before, without any particular topic, just ordinary chatter. However, as they talked, it was clear that both Zhu Fengdan and the old man seemed to be getting better and better.

Moreover, sometimes, the mood of powerful beings can affect the real world.

As they continued their joking conversation, suddenly, in the boundless void, a shower of precious rain fell, layers of auspicious clouds rose and fell, Jiujiu gust of wind blew, chirping and rustling. The magnificent spectacle of celestial light, the gentle rain and flowing wind, and countless stardust began to condense, transforming into tiny shooting stars that surged around them, arriving like rain and departing like clouds, like galaxies gradually fading into the distance.

Then, as these galaxies collided repeatedly, some of them coalesced.

The gathered starlight coalesced into something resembling a seed, then abruptly disappeared from its original spot, seemingly... taking root in space.

Then, miraculously, the seeds that had been planted began to sprout.

A world barrier appears.

Within the World Barrier, galaxies meander, and a vibrant life force bursts forth.

A pure aura descended, seemingly possessing the power to Heaven Creation!

Then, the turbid air nurtures all things, the Yang Energy and Five Elements Qi elements establish the three heavens and distinguish the four poles, the principles of Heavenly Principle descend, follow the laws of the sun and moon's movement, and determine day and night.

After the creation of the world, countless primordial deities were born, each wielding a portion of the world's power based on corresponding natural phenomena. The highest virtue did not rule, but the divine heart responded.

The gods descended like a torrent of fire, forcefully striking the World Barrier and expanding it.

As the world expanded, the gods grew tired and lay down to rest.

After they lay down, their bodies transformed into mountains, rivers, seas, clouds, mist, frost, and mineral veins. As they rested and slept, their bodies became the world, while their minds became pure 'spirits'.

And so, a world that was lifeless yet full of life was born.

And such a world is but a drop in the ocean compared to the entire galaxy created by these two, young and old.

Tens of thousands of new worlds drifted out in this boundless void.

This is truly Creation from Nothing.

From nothingness, countless worlds came into being.

Countless worlds, each influencing and existing independently, became entangled with each other through gravitational attraction, thus spinning together and forming a cluster of worlds around the two people, young and old.

A small cluster of worlds resembling a rotating Milky Way, only now spanning hundreds of millions of miles.

As these worlds expand, they will gradually drift apart and eventually become a real cluster of worlds spanning many light-years.

The two people in the middle, one old and one young, seemed oblivious to all this and continued chatting about nonsensical things.

However, as they were talking, Zhu Fengdan glanced at the starry sky that had appeared around her, suddenly shut up, and then sat up straight.

With this action, the surging ceiling flowers and the constantly emerging new worlds around him suddenly stopped, and the entire process of world creation was directly interrupted. No more new worlds were born, and no more strange phenomena appeared.

Zhu Fengdan got serious and was about to get down to business.

The old man also changed his previous amiable attitude. His body suddenly mutated, and his entire body abruptly became transparent, but not completely transparent. Instead, it became something like a natural phenomenon.

Numerous hypercubes, hyperspheres, and constantly moving geometric lines constitute the lines of his body.

But this is no ordinary natural phenomenon. Whether it is the perfectly smooth and cyclical spacetime itself or the ever-changing, dimensionally transcendent geometric shapes, they all undoubtedly speak to the wonder of this state.

A person's body can actually become like this... This can no longer be called a physical body; it is simply a manifestation of some kind of law.

However, it is precisely by appearing in this manner that we can demonstrate the importance attached to it, right?

"Old man." Zhu Fengdan sat up straight, looked at the old man in front of her, and said, "Regarding my disciple's affairs, his affairs... I can't interfere. After all, it involves the Heavenly Demon. If we don't take action, it will only allow the Heavenly Demon to succeed. Therefore, regarding the Sun and Moon Path, I vote for war."

"Going to war... In other words, no more dragging it out, just like your disciple did, a quick and decisive battle? Using the scheme you laid out beforehand to persuade Mount Luofu to hand over the Sun and Moon Path? If that's the case, you can't just talk the talk without walking the walk," the old man said.

Zhu Fengdan nodded slightly. He knew that what he and the old man said at this moment was devoid of any personal feelings, and that he meant what he said.

This is no child's play; it's a decision about the entire Wushen Mountain. Although the two of them cannot make the final decision, every vote is crucial in the high-level meeting.

"Of course I won't just talk the talk but walk the walk. After all, I was the one who proposed the war. If I said war but didn't fight, what kind of person would I be? So this time, I will personally go to the front lines. I just hope that you, old man, won't stand idly by. When you vote, please cast your vote for the war effort. Your words still carry weight." Zhu Fengdan nodded.

"When your apprentice made this decision, I guessed you would support him. But... it's a good thing, isn't it? I just don't know if this little guy knows that his little scheme has involved so many people. The result of his long-term thinking... will make you rejoin the great operation of Wushen Mountain. You know, once you come back, it won't be so easy for you to leave again," the old man said with a sigh.

"He certainly doesn't know that all he's thinking about right now is the little stuff he has, a little money, and the safety of himself and his wife. But that's good, it shows he's thinking things through. As for the matter of the Sun and Moon Path, it hasn't really affected me much. I'm a proponent of war anyway. If we're going to drag it out, it'll drag on for tens of thousands of epochs. Who can wait that long?" Zhu Fengdan replied.

"But if it weren't for him, would you really have joined the war?" the old man asked.

"Hahahaha!" At this moment, Zhu Fengdan suddenly threw her head back and laughed loudly, then stood up abruptly and disappeared, ending the conversation.

He didn't say whether he would participate in the war, but that was enough.

The old man, however, was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head slightly and smiled helplessly.

Did all that scheming and plotting just mean to defy 'Heaven's Will'?

However, it was well done.

I did guess wrong once, which is commendable.

In other words, Zhu Fengdan was actually involved in this whole affair, but... he was relatively clean and used special methods to conceal the Heavenly Mechanism and deceive the eyes of 'Heaven's Will'.

Is that why he's so proud, and why he's willing to return to the external wars of Wushen Mountain?

Tsk.

In the void, the human figures completely disappeared, leaving only countless newly born worlds, forming a brand new world cluster. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of years later, some naive civilizations in these world clusters will break through the World Barrier for the first time to see what the outside world is like.

I wonder if, when that time comes, they will be curious about where this magnificent cluster of worlds, with so many worlds, came from.

However, no matter how the wise and virtuous among them speculate, they probably will never get the real answer.

Because the answer is outrageous.

Because we were having such a pleasant conversation, a world was born from a single thought.

Who would believe that if I told them?

Meanwhile, in this hellish place, Li Qi was utterly exhausted.

However, the other side was also exhausted.

The intensity of the battle had decreased considerably, and neither side could maintain a high level of concentration anymore. Li Qi felt like his brain was on fire; after nearly fifteen minutes of standoff, he was about to vomit.

The pressure of thinking made him nauseous, dizzy, and his blood pressure rose, disrupting his inner world.

This is a sign of mental exhaustion.

However, it is precisely in times like these that we must persevere. Sometimes, persisting for just one more second is the key to victory.

All evenly matched battles eventually turn into protracted struggles, where willpower becomes the deciding factor when strength and resources are equal.

However, Li Qi was still calculating what would happen next.

He had an extra card in his hand, possibly the winning card: the head of a third-rank official.

This is a genuine third-rank official's head, not something achieved through a mere official position.

There's just one problem: this kind of thing... is too dangerous.

This is a grenade. If used improperly, it will explode on its own. The remaining Daoist essence of the third-grade corpse can be used well to deliver the final blow, or used poorly to self-destruct on the spot, automatically giving the opponent a victory.

Therefore, we must be extremely cautious.

However, the addition of this thing to the calculations at this moment has added another burden to Li Qi, causing him to have to use more energy to keep up with the 'Demon Prince's' offensive.

It's a trade-off, but overall it's a good thing. It brings more burdens, but it also gives you more Trump Card.

"Young master, what's the next step?" At this moment, Canghou's voice appeared in Li Qi's ears.

Canghou also learned about the situation.

The real dragon next to it has already started slacking off.

Ao Guangxiao hasn't completely switched sides, but this true dragon has already started to slack off; clearly, he's preparing to 'help whoever wins'.

The reason why Ao Guangxiao underwent such a change is likely related to that young master.

In other words, whoever wins now will survive.

"I don't know either, let me think about it..." Li Qi said, continuing to ponder a solution.

However, at this very moment—

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell from the sky.

Li Qi's pupils contracted!

Wait, the Demon Prince, we're going to have to fight him hand-to-hand?!

Holy crap, is this their way of breaking the deadlock?!