The Strange Western Heaven

Li Qi didn't linger for long. After finishing his last tasks, he set off for the Western Paradise. This time, he traveled alone, since the planned journey wouldn't actually take too long.

After four months of travel, they spent the remaining time visiting the wise men in the Western Paradise to receive their guidance before returning home.

It's that simple.

As for Xuanjing Jade and Li Shiwei losing control of their emotions, Li Qi told Shen Shuibi before he left that Rabbit would handle these matters properly.

Who would have thought that a huge rock that has stood for two thousand years without being cultivated actually contains a piece of Xuanjing Jade?

Or rather, the true nature of Xuanjing Jade is that the external stones have clouded his mind, making him appear foolish.

That's really interesting.

However, Li Shiwei was quite uninteresting. Although she was only six months old, she showed the thoughtful qualities that her parents possessed, which Li Qi liked very much. However, Li Qi discovered that she really couldn't control her emotions.

This is perhaps what is called "the innocence of a child".

Because of their innocence, they are particularly susceptible to being controlled by their emotions.

When I'm happy, I'm extremely happy; when I'm deep in thought, I'm extremely focused; therefore... when I'm angry, I'm also extremely manic.

Stone was her friend, but she completely forgot about it in her anger.

She needs Shen Shuibi to teach her how to control herself.

Li Qi thought to himself as he stood in mid-air.

But as he was thinking, he suddenly drifted off into a daze.

Li Qi realized something.

If their childlike innocence is the reason for so many unwise actions, then what is the reason for Li Qi's tendency to think things through carefully and be cautious in his actions?

Children are innocent, but is Li Qi's conservatism due to a lack of innocence?

Li Qi was a thoughtful person. He immediately connected his daughter's slightest action to himself. If being unable to control one's emotions is a sign of innocence, then does being able to control one's emotions mean that one is too calculating?

If you're too preoccupied with thoughts, will emotions be unable to permeate your being? If you can't experience emotions, will joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness all become lighter? And will some of your driving forces disappear?

Li Qi knew that emotions were the driving force behind many things, and perhaps even... the driving force behind courage.

However, lacking other clues and hints, Li Qi could no longer continue thinking.

Thinking is like fire, and fire needs fuel to burn. The fuel is your knowledge, your insights, and your experiences.

Thinking without experience is just wishful thinking; experience without thinking is no different from a dead object.

Therefore, the sages of Human Path have a famous saying, "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is dangerous."

Li Qi is in this situation now. He wants to delve deeper into this angle, but he finds that he lacks the corresponding knowledge and experience, and is unable to continue thinking about it.

So he had no choice but to give up.

"Sigh, I still don't know enough, I've lived too short, and I've seen too little." Li Qi sighed. He clearly had a great idea, but unfortunately, his limited knowledge prevented him from going deeper into it.

Then let's keep these things in mind. Isn't the purpose of going to the Western Paradise to solve the problem of insufficient knowledge?

With these thoughts in mind, Li Qi continued to increase his speed.

The Western Paradise and Wushen Mountain are directly adjacent, so most of the time is spent traveling to Liesu.

Wushen Mountain is in the southwest, while Buddhism is in the far west. Which one is in direct contact?

Arriving at Liesu, I skillfully activated the device, and in a flash, I arrived at the border between Wushen Mountain and the Western Heaven.

Crossing the border between the Western Paradise and Wushen Mountain, Li Qi gazed into the distance.

Wow...

It's a desert.

It really is a desert, no... it can't be called a desert, because it's not just pure yellow sand; there are actually simple grasses and some pebbles growing on it.

To be precise, it should be called... Gobi Desert, right?

The world is a roughly circular continent, floating in the boundless void. There is no world barrier; it is simply enveloped by Gale Layer, which maintains its inner peace. There is also a downward gravity that comes from an unknown source. Outside the Gale Layer, two equally sized moons and suns float, revolving around the world.

The terrain of this circular continent is high in the west and low in the east, so the water naturally flows eastward, eventually merging into the East China Sea. At the end of the East China Sea, it falls into the void, forming a super waterfall that is rare in the world. Then it is swept up by the Gale Layer and circulated throughout the world.

Therefore, as the highest point in the west, almost all the water flows downwards and into the Central Plains, the southwest and northwest. It's not that there is no water here, but that the water quickly disappears. Under such erosion, this place naturally becomes a mixture of desert and grassland.

A thin layer of rock debris covered the earth, traces of the massive flow of water. Large swathes of sandstone, limestone, and chalk formed the ground, and some tenacious little grasses struggled to raise their heads from among the rubble.

The scenery is desolate; people probably wouldn't feel very comfortable living in such a place.

This reminded Li Qi of the desolate high-altitude desert.

Buddhism... isn't it said to be compassionate? Shouldn't it, like Human Path, directly transform the natural environment so that everyone can experience joy?

For the most powerful beings in the world, altering the natural environment is not such a difficult thing, is it? Human Path weather forecasts are divided into years, and the weather for each day can be seen.

Then... why didn't those compassionate Buddhas change the natural environment of the Western Paradise? Instead, they allowed mortals to suffer in this environment.

Oh, maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe it's only like this on the outside. Once you go inside, you'll see the place described in Buddhist Scriptures as being made of seven treasures.

Li Qi thought to himself.

So he stepped into the Western Paradise.

The surrounding area was desolate, with some wild animals and vegetation, but nothing particularly special about it; it was just an ordinary place, and the Heaven and Earth Great Source was not particularly strong.

Li Qi walked through the Gobi Desert for more than a day and finally saw a bit of green. It was... an oasis in the rocky desert.

If there's an oasis, then there must be people living there.

He quickly moved closer, and soon Li Qi saw the oasis itself.

It consists of several lakes, not very large, only three or four miles wide. In places like Wushen Mountain, they would only be called bathing ponds, but in this place they are already extremely precious.

Water is the source of life; for mortals, water is indispensable.

Therefore, several markets surrounded this oasis, forming a settlement.

It must be a market, right? Li Qi could see that many ordinary people with rough skin and abnormal redness on their faces were living inside.

Li Qi landed on the ground and walked into it in a way that Body Merged with Nature.

Since they were all ordinary people, they naturally couldn't see him. Li Qi simply entered the market and observed their daily lives.

This observation lasted for two days.

Li Qi moved through the mortal realm like a mysterious ghost, observing the lives of ordinary people.

However you look at it, these mortals... are all very ordinary.

This is not an agrarian society, but a nomadic lifestyle where people live by following the water and grass. Judging from their appearance, this oasis is not always there, but only at this time of year.

When the oasis dries up, they will move to another place.

Li Qi discerned this from their dwellings; they were not permanent residences, but rather tents and makeshift structures that could be easily dismantled and removed.

At the same time, they also had a lot of livestock, which clearly indicates that they were a nomadic people.

Among these people, there are naturally cultivators, but most of them are around the ninth rank, and the vast majority practice martial arts. Only a few monks practice Buddhism, or rather... the path of enlightenment.

The strongest person in the entire settlement was an eighth-rank martial artist, a middle-aged woman whom others called "Mama." She wielded two curved swords, which were quite powerful among eighth-rank martial artists. However, in Li Qi's eyes, she was still a mortal, someone who had advanced through self-training and relied entirely on talent and luck. If she could advance to the seventh rank, she might be able to come into contact with the true world of cultivators.

In other words, there wasn't a single truly systematic practitioner in this settlement.

Li Qi was extremely puzzled.

Admittedly, whether an ordinary person can embark on the path of cultivation depends on whether the Dao Lineage itself is willing to spread its teachings.

For example, in the Human Path, their academies offer completely free and compulsory education. Everyone must undergo the academy's education, during which the Human Path Principles and corresponding Cultivation Method are transmitted. From cultivation resources to Cultivation Method to teachers, everything is handled by the imperial court.

In other words, from the perspective of Human Path, these residents are naturally aware of the existence of the world of cultivators, that everyone is a part of it, and they don't find it strange at all. Everyone can cultivate, and the expenses and resources for cultivation are supported by Human Path's rampant plundering throughout the entire realm and even the world.

Within Wushen Mountain, whether you can embark on the path of cultivation depends on your luck. Wushen Mountain does not prohibit the spread of any Dao Lineage, including the Human Path. You can theoretically come into contact with all Dao Lineage, as long as the other party is willing to accept you. Shaman Path does not actively spread, but it will not prevent you from cultivating. Therefore, Li Qi often sees those mountain people coming down the mountain to seek a master.

The attitudes of humans and sorcerers are different, and naturally, other paths also have different attitudes. The demonic path is keen on enlightening all things and turning them into demons, while the Daoist path is extremely harsh on mortals. Not only does it prevent other Daoist Dao Lineage from spreading their teachings, but it is also unwilling to cultivate new people. It is very difficult for mortals living within the Daoist territory to cultivate.

Li Qi still finds it strange that they have a talent selection mechanism. Could it be that... they don't have one?

The situation is even stranger in Buddhism.

Li Qi had never seen such a strange scene before. No one stopped him; there was truly no obstruction. Li Qi roamed freely in the vicinity and discovered that there were actually quite a few original cultivation Dao Lineage in this place.

He saw some shamans who could communicate with spirits. These were actually primitive Shaman, but the Shaman Path has long since moved beyond this primitive stage and has progressed. He wondered how the shamanic tradition here had been preserved.

He also saw many Daoist techniques, not the kind used by the Daoist sect, but a primitive technique similar to talismans. It was like the prototype of talismans, but it was too different from the Daoist Divine Talisman of today, just like the difference between a single-celled organism and a blue whale.

This situation reminded Li Qi of something Shen Shuibi told him when they first met a long, long time ago.

Spread the Way throughout the world.

Once, many Dao Lineage decided to spread their teachings throughout the world, but later a great upheaval occurred, so they were canceled. However, this incident caused many fragments of the Dao Lineage to be scattered in various places, becoming the cultivation Cultivation Method that many ordinary people relied on for survival.

In the Baiyue and those Daoist sects where it was difficult to access cultivators, ordinary people relied almost entirely on these fragments of Cultivation Method to sustain their productivity.

"No way, Buddhism is all about compassion and is extremely enthusiastic about spreading the Dharma, building temples all over the world. How come their own territory is like this?" Li Qi muttered to himself, feeling bewildered.

It is a well-known fact that Buddhism enjoys spreading the Dharma, and they even take pleasure in doing so. Therefore, many people see this as a way of manipulating karma.

On the Demon Race's side, they created a Buddha Child, and later cooperated with the Heavenly Court to forcibly convert a Great Sage of the Demon Race into a Buddha.

On the other side of the Human Path, the eminent monk Kashyapa Matanga traveled alone to Luoyang, where he established the White Horse Temple, creating the famous "Central Source of Buddhism," and spread the Dharma in the Central Plains.

On the other hand, Buddhism also has a close relationship with the Heavenly Court. The legendary Four Heavenly Kings — Dhritarashtra Heaven, Virudhaka Heaven, Virupaksha Heaven, Vaisravana Heaven —are the four Guardian Spirit of Buddhism and also the guardians of the Heavenly Court's gates. They use their vast and boundless Law Power to eternally guard the gates of the Heavenly Court, which shows the connection between them.

There's no need to elaborate on the True Dragons; the Eight Heavenly Dragons are renowned, and many Dragon Kings have become forces under the Buddhist sect. Li Qi had even seen that Visualization Diagram in the past, which contained the thoughts of 5.7 billion True Dragons.

Not to mention these things, even on the Daoist side, a high-ranking Bodhisattva went to become a disciple of the Heavenly Venerable. Through the method of "Buddha and Immortal are actually of the same origin, hanging the precious pearl of Mani, condensing the spirit and refining the golden elixir to attain the Fruit Position", he was able to simultaneously achieve the positions of Bodhisattva and Heavenly Immortal.

In addition to the entanglements with the demonic path, Buddhist Scriptures also spread the weaknesses of the demonic path throughout the world, pointing out its origins, even the origins of the Four Demons, and also providing methods to break it.

This kind of behavior—spreading seeds all over the world, preaching the Dharma everywhere, and practically wanting to go out on the street with a loudspeaker—would be completely inactive in one's own territory, letting these mortals grow up naturally?

Li Qi was confused, but after observing for a few days, he couldn't see anything wrong with it.

Perhaps by breaking free from the constraints of True Knowledge Dao Charm, we can see something else, but there's no need for that.

These questions should be answered when you encounter a true Buddhist practitioner.

Li Qi already knew where the Buddhist practitioners here came from; they all came from an organization called 'Nyingma'.

The Nyingma organization always wears a red hat and spreads Buddhism in various places. Every once in a while, Nyingma monks will come to these settlements to preach the Dharma. If there are any wise ones, they will be able to understand the Dharma and embark on the path of practice.

Li Qi did not intend to wait for Nyingma in this settlement.

He decided to take the initiative to go and find them.