Communing with Gods

The unborn deities are the purest 'Innate Qi'.

This stuff must be incredibly nutritious.

At the same time, Li Qi also gained a deeper understanding of the existence of the divine way.

They seemed to have no thoughts at all, completely different from the Daoist Dao Lineage that Li Qi had previously encountered. All the Dao Lineage that Li Qi had come into contact with before had their own thoughts, their own style of doing things, and a series of changes in values and worldviews under the guidance of the Tao.

But Shinto has none of these.

Li Qi's thoughts were racing, and at the same time, the other party finally began to churn.

At this point, it's no longer just a dialogue; information and intelligence begin to be transmitted to each other at an astonishing speed, even including each other's memories.

Complete honesty leads to extremely high communication efficiency!

Previously, Li Qi speculated on the ideology and various practices of a Dao Lineage thought mainly through continuous observation, reflection, and deduction of the other party's social structure, combined with his own knowledge, to arrive at a possible conclusion.

But in Shinto, none of that is necessary. Through this completely open and unreserved way of communicating, Li Qi easily understood Shinto as seen through the eyes of a fire official within Shinto.

You could even say that you directly obtained the other person's memories!

Therefore, Li Qi learned a startling fact.

Why is God a God?

The answer is that those who are born divine are gods.

If you weren't born that way, then you can never be.

Even those 'Savage Beast' that can be seen everywhere, and the various strange life forms without intelligence that are manifestations of the Great Dao, can actually be considered a kind of 'god,' only a lower one.

Therefore, the way of the gods is actually 'without the way'.

The divine way is the 'world without morality' that Human Path despises most, which is one of the reasons for the division between humans and gods.

Moreover, it is impossible for the Shinto to develop its own way, because for the Shinto, their numbers are too few, and each of them is unique.

These are truly unique. Perhaps the Star Official can be considered a special species, whose personalities can develop on their own, but for the 'Primal Gods' of the Heavenly Court lineage, their nature and duties are determined at birth.

At the moment of birth, what kind of god he is, what authority he wields, and what great Dao he holds is already fixed. In other words, they already possess an unchangeable 'foundation of the Dao' from the moment they are born.

All that's left is to keep moving forward, but the foundation will never change.

If you were born a water god, you will always be a water god, because that is the foundation of your existence. These 'Primal Gods' are the embodiment of the great power of heaven and earth, and they are the personification of various natural phenomena in the universe.

The existence of a god without the Way is meaningless.

For example, why does Shaman Path exist?

Because there was a group of Shaman who had their own goals to achieve, and the existence of a Dao Lineage could help them achieve those goals, the Shaman Path way was born.

The same principle applies to Human Path.

So, why does God exist?

The answer is that this question is meaningless.

Gods are simply existence. Their existence needs no reason or meaning. They are the first consciousness, a consciousness that appeared before all other Dao Lineage.

They are naturally like this by nature. In reality, there is no such thing as a 'divine way'. The later divine way was actually just an organization formed by gods to survive, but in the process of development, it also absorbed some mortals who longed to become gods.

Why does this happen?

This situation filled Li Qi with apprehension, and Li Qi even became somewhat stunned.

Such a powerful organization, yet it has no 'way' of its own, completely overturns Li Qi's common sense.

Li Qi firmly believed that in order to survive in this world, one must possess the 'Tao', know why one lives, and have one's own guidance.

Especially an organization—how can an organization be without a program or goals?

However, the divine path simply doesn't have the so-called Star Official, heavenly court, or even the copied Human Path structure. They just took it because they thought it was useful.

However, even though they directly adopted Human Path, they completely rejected and were not influenced by them.

It's simply...

Absurd.

Li Qi couldn't find any other word to describe it besides absurd. You see, Li Qi had always firmly believed in the Principle that "only by agreeing can one use it."

In fact, this Principle is absolutely useful. You see, the methods of the demonic path are unpredictable and indescribable, but if you don't believe in the demonic path, then this kind of purely idealistic Technique Method will not work.

The same applies to the others. The most mysterious of all is the demon. The Form Transformation of demons remains a mystery to this day, and it is impossible to explain how such a complete transformation from body and mind to inner world occurs.

It is important to know that Li Qi himself has a deep understanding of the conflicts between these Dao Path. He himself is both a beneficiary and a victim. The different Dao Path lead to completely different perceptions of the world!

Different perceptions of the world are not something to be taken lightly. For example—

The beings that Li Qi had previously encountered, those Fu Cao Yi Realm to the Fu Cao Yi Realm on the world, believed that the world had no barriers.

In fact, they could directly pass through the world barrier. In their eyes, the world was different from the world in Li Qi's eyes. This difference in worldview led to a difference in reality... which could even be said to be the foundation of the existence of the demonic path.

The ultimate solipsism of the demonic path is also built upon this bizarre state.

But you can't say that 'what you think' is what it is, because objective reality exists, it's just that... objective reality and subjective reality are intertwined, making everything so unpredictable.

However, this is also the reason for Li Qi's anxiety.

In a state of 'no Way,' what does the world look like through the eyes of the Shinto? How does the Shinto exist, and is this objective reality, which is mixed with subjectivity, actually not objective at all?

Li Qi's mind was racing, and he started writing one short essay after another.

But then, the fire official spoke.

"Calm down, mortal," he said.

Li Qi also began to forcefully control his thoughts, because he felt that this deity seemed to want to answer his questions.

Then, the fire official spoke to Li Qi, posing a question, "Does existence itself need a reason?"

This question caused Li Qi's thoughts to come to a standstill, and his impromptu essay stalled.

Yes, does existence itself need a reason?

Obviously, it's unnecessary; its existence is its existence.

"We do not exist for the sake of the 'Tao'; our existence is the 'Tao' itself. The 'Tao' that you mortals initially sought is actually us," the Fire Official said.

They are the origin, the source of all matter and air.

The pursuit of the Tao by mortals is essentially an attempt to chase after them as natural phenomena.

The word "god" is composed of "show" and "god".

Show means altar, Shen means thunder and lightning.

It's already quite clear that when writing was first invented, the reason they called them 'gods' was because they recognized the immense power they derive from natural phenomena.

At least in the world, the human Human Race has always taken the gods as their supreme guide. The shaman, in the beginning, was the communicator between humans and gods, and only later did he gradually develop into the role of communicating with all things, and even becoming the balancer of all things.

While Li Qi was pondering these things, he still sent out all his thoughts, big and small, in this state, he had no secrets.

At that moment, the deity suddenly interjected.

He said to Li Qi, "God is indeed the beginning, but... the beginning is one, but you are pursuing zero."

These words struck Li Qi like a thunderbolt.

This deity, though brief in speech, always gets straight to the point, consistently hitting the nail on the head regarding what Li Qi finds most thought-provoking.

Li Qi suddenly realized—

The other person was preaching.

A sermon that is uniquely his own.

Why? Because of their own Method Formula?

But these two thoughts had only just begun to surface when they were immediately overwhelmed by other thoughts that erupted from his mind.

Because, in the beginning it was one, but you are pursuing zero, this statement is really effective.

God is the beginning of everything, the first thing, the first breath, and the first number is 'one'.

However, the reason there is a 'one' is because there is a 'zero'.

Zero is the ultimate. No matter if it is a positive or negative number, no matter how the function is drawn on the number line or how the quadrants are divided, zero is always zero. It is the foundation of all numerical development. What we seek is not one, but zero.

Therefore, the way of the gods can be without a goal, and may even be without its own way, because they do not need to.

God is... a natural phenomenon.

So, why is the Inner Gods me called by this name? The Inner Gods ...

A multitude of thoughts clouded Li Qi's mind.

Therefore, he decisively ended his chaotic state.

This chaotic form was formed by him using the 'flow' method after his evolution to make all his qi extremely complex. Now, as long as he returns all his qi to its original state, he will break free from this form.

Li Qi's body was restored, and he landed back in the vast and boundless space he had been in before.

Then, he began to ponder.

In a state of chaos, one must control their thoughts, so they cannot think clearly.

Now that he has obtained enough information, he can carefully consider the relationship between Shaman Path and divinity, as well as... the origin of the 'Inner Gods'.

Why is it called the Inner Gods?

And... the origin of the name of Wushen Mountain.

Another point is the difference between the natural phenomenon of 'God' and the nature pursued by Shaman Path, the difference between zero and one.

Above, in the chaos, the 'Fire Official' floated there quietly, just like a cloud.

Time passed little by little.

Li Qi pondered this for nearly fifteen years.

This was an epiphany, only it took an exceptionally long time.

Of course, the time it takes to understand is still quite short. Most of the time is actually spent putting these insights into practice in one's own body, reconstructing one's inner world.

The main purpose of this spiritual practice is to demonstrate the original purpose, why the 'original thing' Shinto exists, and the inspiration Shinto provides to Shaman Path.

Finally, after fifteen years of contemplation, Li Qi arrived at his answer.

This world is meaningless.

It's not that things are truly meaningless, but rather that the existence of things, even the existence of the Tao, has no purpose in itself; they simply exist, just like 'gods'.

The gods, as the 'original things' of the world, and perhaps even the original things of the entire universe and infinite worlds, what were they born for?

The answer is, for no reason.

This remains Shinto's stance to this day.

There is no reason why, and there is no need for a reason.

As the original beings, the gods do not need a Dao Lineage to guide them or to give meaning to their empty lives; this is completely unnecessary.

Therefore, there is absolutely no need for Inner Gods.

Li Qi's Inner Gods have many tasks: suppressing the Five Sacred Mountains and Four Rivers, maintaining the body's functions, and suppressing various evil spirits. These are the original 'meanings' of the Inner Gods, the reason Li Qi created them. It is for the various functions of the Inner Gods, and for them to be used as summoned beasts in battle. That is why Li Qi created and maintained the existence of the Inner Gods.

But in those fifteen years, Li Qi destroyed all the Inner Gods, and even destroyed his inner world.

Get rid of them all. Destroy them all, little by little, these things with clear purposes and clear meanings.

If it's destroyed in an instant, that's suicide; there's definitely no way out.

However, if you take it slow, fifteen years, you can repair what's damaged, and then everything will be fine, just like the human body itself. When a child grows into an adult, almost the entire body is replaced, but you don't feel anything at all.

With the help of True Knowledge Dao Charm, Li Qi had a very high level of control over his body, and every breath he exhaled was perfectly accurate.

The entire body and inner world are destroyed and rebuilt, then replaced with Chaos Qi.

Immediately afterwards, Li Qi witnessed a miraculous scene.

These Chaos Qi, according to Li Qi's 'Dao', naturally began to differentiate.

Just like—

In the beginning of the universe, there was chaos. All the Chaos Qi naturally differentiated into various kinds of energy according to the great principles of the universe.

Yes, it does not require human control, nor does it require anyone to find a direction for the 'qi', nor does it require using the Dao heart to regulate the qi, force the qi to flow, nor does it require using 'Cultivation Method' to define the path for the qi in the body, so as to prevent spontaneous explosion.

These actions are actually meaningless.

As long as you have the Dao in your heart, the Chaos Qi will naturally differentiate into various energies. In this way, everything will be harmonious and perfect, without any artificiality, and you will not need to rely on Cultivation Method to operate.

This made Li Qi think of four words.

"The Dao Emulates Own Inherent Spontaneity."

Honestly, those four words just popped into his head without him even realizing it.

However, the nature pursued by Shaman Path, that is, the universal laws of the universe, may have such a nature.

With the inner world constructed from the Chaos Qi, the Inner Gods naturally arises.

Moreover, it wasn't Inner Gods created by Li Qi his Divine Ability, but rather something generated by his own body.

In this way, he sensed it.

He touched the thin membrane of the fifth grade.

(Double monthly votes! Everyone, please vote!)