Power of the Star Official

In the boundless void, the stars in the sky twinkled in the air. When the fluorescent light shone, the surrounding waves rippled like the sound of drums, but there was no sound, or rather... no mechanical waves.

The magnificent constellation shell materialized, transforming into a giant eye that looked down on Li Qi from a great distance. It was like an angry lion, with ethereal shadows falling and surging sunlight, seemingly containing the Dharma realm. Its majestic power was truly awe-inspiring!

If the Daoist concept of a grotto within a pot and the Buddhist concept of a mustard seed world represent finding the vast in the small, emphasizing the grandeur of "the pot boils mountains and rivers, revealing profound images; the gourd holds a world of boundless wonders"...

The way of gods is completely different; it doesn't engage in those empty practices.

Big is big; there's no such thing as finding greatness in small things.

An ordinary Star Official should have a cultivation level of rank 5?

His body spans half a light-year; he himself is a world cluster! It's not some kind of refining; his true form is a world cluster.

No wonder it's called 'the way of gods', no wonder it's called 'Innate Spirits'.

... Li Qi felt that the combat power of the gods was probably ridiculously strong. It would be difficult for cultivators of the same level to fight against these gods in a direct confrontation.

Seriously, just in terms of the depth of their Law Power, the opponent's strength is probably... well, if you do the math, it should be a hundred or two hundred million times greater than Shen Shuibi's.

No kidding, the difference in Law Power is just that great. The Law Power of this Star Official is more than a hundred million times greater than that of an ordinary cultivator of the same level.

However... his combat power doesn't rely entirely on Law Power, and his body is too large, which is also a disadvantage.

After all, such a large body is difficult to mobilize. The losses during the journey alone are countless. If the body of a god is like a human body, then when fighting, other cultivators are like bacteria or viruses.

Although the human body is large and strong, it may not be able to defeat a virus.

But... surely Shinto should have a way to make up for it?

Looking at the other's magnificent body, Li Qi seemed to understand why he couldn't see many orthodox divine cultivators.

The divine cultivators he had seen before were all "mortals who vainly aspired to become gods." They were originally mortals, but they attempted to become gods by accumulating faith or occupying terrain.

For example, the most common mountain and water deities are either human or demons; they are not born gods. They drive away or suppress the gods who have not yet awakened, and then sit on the throne themselves, usurping the position of the true god of a region.

Becoming a god through faith is even more ethereal, as it involves transferring something like 'collective consciousness' into oneself, thereby condensing a golden body and achieving divinity.

This method is really... how should I put it...

Taking shortcuts.

They will never be able to even scratch the surface of Shinto orthodoxy.

Gods are gods because... they are born that way.

It is not that they need faith, but that ordinary people actively beg to have faith in them in order to receive blessings.

They don't need to occupy the terrain, because they are the terrain itself.

Looking back now, what exactly is this so-called 'Heavenly Dao'?

When Li Qi was refining the Heavenly Dao of the Lingchou Realm, he had already analyzed that the Heavenly Dao was actually the sum of collective consciousness and natural forces.

Isn't faith simply a manifestation of collective consciousness?

Terrain, to put it simply, is the power of the world itself.

All the divine cultivators Li Qi had seen before were merely clumsy imitations of these two methods.

As for the true divine path, those 'orthodox deities' have no such need at all; they don't need to imitate, they are the objects of imitation for other mortals.

God is the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao in the world; all gods are the Way of Heavenly Dao itself that has awakened its intelligence!

High-ranking gods, on the other hand, are the Heavenly Dao of more than one world. For example, the Star Official before us is the collective will of a small world group! The beings living inside his body do not need to communicate with the outside world, and they do not even need their own will, which is why these worlds are closed off.

All you need is piety and worship, because 'God' is an objective existence, the supreme being that transcends all the great powers of this world.

Having witnessed the true god, Li Qi took a deep breath.

No wonder people talk about 'Innate Spirits'. Indeed, only those who exist from birth can be considered deities. For mortals to cultivate themselves into gods... that's truly laughable. What right do mortals have to become gods?

It's just a poor imitation.

Are the worlds surrounding the Great Fire all true gods?

The two lineages of the Divine Path are the Ziwei Heavenly Court lineage and the Primordial Star Official lineage...

At this moment and in this place, the deity Li Qi is facing must be the Star Official. So, the meaning of the Star Official lineage is that they are all genuine stars and the Heavenly Dao of the world.

What do the gods of the Heavenly Court look like?

Li Qi became curious, but he didn't stop what he was doing. He maintained the ritual of inviting the gods and said to the Star Official, "Greetings, Star Official. May I ask your name?"

"My name is Xin Zhao, why Shaman call me that?" the Star Lord replied.

Standing in his position, Li Qi could only see an enormous eye, pieced together from several worlds and nebulae, with faint phantom images visible within, much like... the famous photograph "The Eye of God" that he had once seen.

As for other areas, they were simply beyond Li Qi's sight; they were beyond the limits of his eyesight.

Li Qi first bowed, then said, "Star Lord Xin Zhao, I come from Wushen Mountain, from the Shaman lineage. I, Li Qi, have come to visit Great Fire, but I am unfamiliar with etiquette and the way. I would like to ask the deity for a chat and hope that the Xingjun can guide me."

"So you're from Wushen Mountain. Then there's no need to say more about the small Shaman. Do you... know why Wushen Mountain has the character 'God' in its name?" Star Lord Xin Zhao's attitude was very good, but he suddenly asked a strange question.

This question startled Li Qi; he hadn't quite grasped it yet.

However, Li Qi realized the next second that they were testing him, trying to see if he was truly the legitimate heir of Wushen Mountain.

So Li Qi replied, "Just like the Inner Gods, the Shaman Path takes itself as its world, which is similar to some of the methods of the divine way. The word 'god' and the title of the shamanic god are both in line with the idea that the Great Dao manifests itself to form a world."

This answer, while not necessarily correct, clearly touches upon some deeper information and is sufficient to prove Li Qi's identity.

Upon hearing this Star Lord Xin Zhao nodded slightly, and then noticed an unusual gravitational fluctuation appearing in the space around Li Qi.

The moment the gravitational fluctuation appeared, a golden divine figure slowly emerged from the spot, likely an incarnation of the Star Lord Xin Zhao.

Upon seeing this incarnation, Li Qi suddenly understood the meaning of the 'Golden Body' technique and how the divine path could compensate for the enormous disadvantage of the physical body.

It is by relying on the golden body.

Li Qi also knows the method of creating a golden body, but the golden body Li Qi creates is very weak. If he divides it into too many parts, his own body will become weak, and the golden body will not be very strong.

But... with the immense Law Power of these true Spirit Way golden body, creating millions of golden statues is as easy as eating!

No wonder the divine path can respond to prayers. As long as someone sets up an altar, it can descend freely to all the heavens. It has even reached agreements with other Dao Lineage. For example, the Daoist sect also has a method to invite gods, which can summon the true god's Dharma body to the mortal realm with just a word.

That's not because the method of summoning gods is powerful; it's because the true gods have incredibly profound Law Power, so much so that they have so many avatars that they can appear in millions of places at the same time!

Their physical bodies may not be good at fighting, after all, although the Heavenly Dao is strong, it is easily influenced by people. These endless golden bodies are the orthodox fighting methods of the divine path!

That's really impressive.

Li Qi watched the golden statue take shape and sighed in amazement.

The golden figure gradually took shape, transforming into a majestic and imposing man. He then cupped his hands to Li Qi and said, "Shaman wish to visit the Great Fire but do not know the way, please follow me, and I will guide Shaman."

"Thank you, Star Lord." Li Qi quickly expressed his gratitude as well.

"Follow me." Star Lord Xin Zhao didn't show much respect, but he wasn't disrespectful either. After saying these words, he silently led the way.

Li Qi quickly followed, remaining silent and solemn as they flew.

Who knew that this flight would last for three and a half years?

In the void, the silent divine avatar flew forward, with Li Qi following closely behind.

He could have flown even faster, but in this vicinity, Li Qi discovered that although it was still the outer void, the Dao principles had become more than 10% stronger, and the Heavenly Way Limit had expanded to a maximum of 1.5 times.

Beyond this number, even Li Qi could not continue to improve. You must know that in a place like the Lingchou Realm, Li Qi could easily distort things to thousands of times their original size.

A solid and magnificent pressure pressed down on the space near the Great Fire; this pressure could even be said to be Upper Heaven.

It came from the Great Fire... not necessarily, it could be the pressure from all the 'Star Official' that solidified the Great Dao in this area, making it impossible for Li Qi to twist it.

Over the past three years, Li Qi has passed by about a dozen similar Star Official. They did not reveal themselves, but they all greeted Li Qi and Xin Star Official.

Li Qi discovered the divine way, which did not have a social system or form in the conventional sense.

Because it's unnecessary.

There are far too few true 'gods'.

The Great Fire, a wonder of the outer world, is only inhabited by a few hundred Star Official, who all know each other, but most of them don't talk much.

The world's lifespan is too long, and for the 'gods' who have emerged from the awakening of the world's Heavenly Dao, time is utterly meaningless.

The lowest-ranking of these Star Official is the seventh rank, which is equivalent to the infant stage. Immortality is a natural thing for them; no Heavenly Dao dies of old age.

However, Li Qi was somewhat confused.

What is the relationship between these 'divine stars' and the 'demon Demon Star's formed by the Demon Race transforming extraterrestrial stars?

There must be a reason why these two things seem to have so many similarities.

However, besides the interpersonal relationships of these Star Official, Li Qi also discovered some less-than-ideal aspects.

Sometimes, long journeys always require rest. After all, Li Qi is not a perpetual motion machine, nor does he have hundreds of millions of times more Law Power reserves like the Star Official in front of him.

In ordinary void, Li Qi could easily achieve perpetual motion, but the void here was suppressed by the Great Fire, even the Heavenly Way Limit was suppressed to one and a half times, so it would take hundreds or thousands of times more power to achieve this speed.

So sometimes, the Star Official would open the barriers of the world, allowing Li Qi to go in and rest and catch his breath.

Once inside, Li Qi witnessed the worlds and civilizations within the Star Official's body.

The worlds that make up the bodies of the Star Official... indeed, there is life within them.

But the life within seems to have had its desires stifled. No, it's not so much stifled, but rather... these life forms are born into a world with real 'gods,' where they only need to worship the gods to receive blessings, and thus naturally lose their desire to explore the outside world.

A devout follower of Shinto? Is that a fair way to understand it?

That's pretty much it.

Do you really want to say they're unhappy? Li Qi doesn't think so.

Compared to worlds like the Lingchou Realm and the Sacred Flame Realm, this divine world must be extremely happy. They are absolutely abundant in material terms and also very rich in spiritual terms.

Are there any happier people than them? They are peaceful and content, without excessive worries or potential crises.

The gods shrouded the world, gently keeping all danger and suffering at bay. Every living being in the world seemed to be immersed in a jar of honey, carefree and without worries.

Spiritually, they are supported by faith; materially, they are satisfied by deities.

They don't even need to cultivate, because the gods can directly 'bless' them and forcibly elevate their rank, just as the Heavenly Dao does to the Child of Destiny.

No, actually, this is the Child of Destiny, because the cultivators of the Star Official lineage are themselves the world's Heavenly Dao after awakening their consciousness.

Everything was so... dreamy.

Compared to the native world, the beings within the divine world are typical rich kids, and even more so, spoiled brats who don't need to work hard themselves but simply enjoy the fruits of the gods' labor.

Everyone thinks that the children of the rich are no good, that they are spendthrifts and that they get rich without working. But how many people don't want to be born into wealth?

If you advise them to go out and make a living on their own, they might just call you crazy and say you're disturbing their normal lives.

Well, everyone has their own happiness, so Li Qi couldn't really say anything. For them, this kind of life was just as good.

If we leave the embrace of the gods and go out to fend for ourselves, can we really live well?

Several years passed uneventfully on the journey, and Li Qi drew ever closer to the Great Fire.

Another ordinary day passed, but Li Qi was filled with anxiety.

Because the Great Fire was already very close, only tens of thousands of miles away.

Tens of thousands of miles sounds like a long distance, but in the outer void, it's practically face to face.

Here, the oppressive force of the surrounding Great Dao is even stronger than that of the rest of the world.

Of course, it's not that it's actually stronger than the rest of the world, but rather that the oppression of the rest of the world is more subtle and pervasive; although it's stronger, you can't feel it.

But here, the oppressive feeling of the Great Fire has already caused the Dharma body of Star Lord Xin Zhao to begin to disintegrate.

However, Li Qi is alright.

No other reason than that I'm used to it.