Reality and Inner Voices

How many possibilities are there for the future?

Li Qi felt that there must be countless kinds.

Countless genuine products.

You drank a glass of water, or you didn't drink the water, you drank it with your left hand, or you drank it with your right hand, you held the glass with three fingers, or you held it with five fingers.

One thing can involve countless choices.

Each choice will generate countless branches, which will continue to grow, eventually forming an endless web of future possibilities.

Furthermore, within this web of possibilities, there are other beings of the same level.

A second-rank official has enemies of the second rank, and a first-rank official has enemies of the first rank, so it is impossible to exhaust all possibilities.

Therefore, when it's impossible to exhaust all possibilities, we can only 'take it one step at a time'.

So how do we get there?

That is, constant resetting and constant backtracking.

Li Qi found it hard to imagine what level of effort was needed to achieve victory under these circumstances.

He originally thought that 'Heaven's Will' was already an invincible existence. After all, manipulating cause and effect and manipulating existence itself was already an extremely powerful method.

But now, what does the so-called 'Heaven's Will' amount to in the face of something that can reset reality?

Everything you manipulate, the future you meticulously plan, can be completely erased by the other side.

Li Qi didn't know; he couldn't imagine how such an ability could break the deadlock.

No matter what you do, I can reset it directly. Does that mean I've won? And if both sides have this ability, what exactly is the competition? Is it intelligence? Or strength?

Knowing the future does not mean that the basis of war can be changed. When both sides can constantly interfere and reset reality, it can only lead to one stalemate after another.

Unable to guess how such a war would end, he could only sit down and say, "Fine... I will stay here for three hundred and fifty years."

Ranked Shaman then said, "It's good that you understand. As I just said, this is not a punishment. Mistakes don't need punishment; they only need to be corrected. Only betrayal needs punishment."

"Moreover, everything I've said today is a reminder for you. You can think about it carefully over the next 350 years."

After speaking, the spirit of the Ranked Shaman disappeared from this place.

Clearly, the other party had many things to do, and spending so much time talking with Li Qi was already a great favor.

After the other person left, Li Qi clutched his chest.

He experienced many things in the future, but all of that has been lost.

His future 350 years, along with countless other futures, were effortlessly erased by Ranked Shaman's single stroke.

Did he really experience those things?

So... didn't he experience those things?

Li Qi fell into deep thought.

His mind was completely absorbed in the 'spacetime paradox'.

He suddenly remembered something that Lady Luofu had mentioned when he spoke with her.

"If the future could be changed by traveling to the past."

"That means the world as it is now must be the final outcome that has been changed countless times. Of course, the future may bring new changes, but the present one must be the final outcome that has already been changed." (See Chapter 349)

No wonder Lady Luofu had no sense of changing the future back then.

Because she already knew.

In other words, one's existence at this moment is certain and is the final choice after countless changes.

Then... we can understand why we achieved our victory.

Li Qi couldn't understand how such a war could be conducted, but he at least knew one thing...

That's the battlefield below, and it's definitely useful.

Our role is not to be a background character, but to help the second-rank officials test the waters.

Countless people used their intelligence and wisdom, their lives, and all the wisdom and inspiration they possessed as highly intelligent beings, to help the second-rank individuals glimpse the possibilities of the future.

The choices everyone makes could very well lead to an outcome that even a second-rank official could not have imagined, and this outcome will guide the future in a completely new direction.

This is the significance of the existence of others on the battlefield.

But... does it really have any meaning?

Do we, as a group of people, truly possess any 'real substance'?

The so-called reality, like the 'entity' that Li Qi believed in, possesses the power of self-existence; existence is existence.

But now, am I... still a 'physical entity'?

Li Qi realized that everything about him could be modified at will by a powerful being.

He realized once again, more deeply, the words Lady Luofu had said to Shen Shuibi—

"The world is the way it is because the True Immortal wish the world to be this way."

In other words, if the world weren't like this, they would reach out... and erase it all, starting everything anew.

It's almost like a player who keeps saving and reloading, trying to achieve the perfect ending one day.

If a second-rank player is a player, then I... am an NPC who has no substance whatsoever, and my existence... is completely dispensable.

For players, NPCs have no real existence; their existence is merely a matter of a single thought. The plots they experience, the time they spend, all their memories, and even their very existence can be overturned and restarted at any time.

So-called history, so-called future... for a second-rank official, it's all just the 'present'.

Ranked Shaman clearly and unambiguously told Li Qi this ending, which gave Li Qi a feeling that was... indescribable.

Well...

Ranked Shaman told him that in the future, he would join forces with the demonic path because of his wife and daughter, causing one-seventh of the front line to be destroyed. In order to prevent this from happening, he would need to be confined here for 350 years.

Then, what am I?

Li Qi suddenly fell into self-doubt.

He could understand Ranked Shaman, but... understanding was one thing, but he still developed doubts about himself and even about the real world.

But it was only a doubt; his Dao heart did not collapse.

Having witnessed the Heavenly Demon, Li Qi already knew the methods of powerful beings; now he had simply learned of one more.

Even if the reality of the self ceases to exist, so what? Does it mean we should stop living?

Knowing that they are under the control of a powerful being, so what?

Even those who cannot escape the Heaven's Will are searching for their own lives, aren't they? Why should Li Qi wallow in self-pity?

Just as he was feeling sentimental, a noise suddenly came from the doorway.

Li Qi looked up and gazed into the distance.

He saw some people who seemed to be busy, as if something had happened and someone had come to deal with it.

Li Qi went outside, but he saw a fifth-rank official, similar to himself, being carried out.

Is he dead?

There were no external injuries, but it was clear that the opponent's inner world had completely collapsed, with chaotic energy everywhere. If this were outside, the opponent would probably have exploded, causing enough damage to destroy many worlds.

But within this strange cave, these turbulent energies couldn't stir up any waves at all, and couldn't even break out of the body; they could only remain trapped inside.

The inner world has become like this... It must be because the Dao heart collapsed, unable to control the cultivation, causing the Great Dao within the body to scatter, and the inner world naturally collapsed as a result.

My Dao heart has collapsed.

Li Qi could guess why.

This area was probably prepared for someone like him.

No wonder that Ranked Shaman praised himself.

It seems that those who can stand firm in the face of the 'truth' and Dao heart remain unshaken are few and far between.

After all... this 'truth' is a bit too shocking.

When people realize that they have no inherent existence, that their existence is merely an illusion, and that everything they experience can be arbitrarily altered, or even altered countless times, how many people can remain calm?

Li Qi looked around and found that in these small houses, there were many fifth-rank officials who were calming their Dao heart and persuading themselves.

These are all people who need to be 'confined'.

All of this occurred in the future, and has already caused enormous damage, to the point that the Ranked Shaman summoned these people to this place in an attempt to change the future.

Li Qi was one of them.

This suddenly ignited a surge of anger in Li Qi.

We should not be treated like this.

Even if the Ranked Shaman said that this was not a punishment, but a decision made solely for the sake of victory, it still shouldn't be done this way.

Simply telling the truth is cruel enough.

And...

Li Qi suddenly realized something.

He only chose to join forces with the demonic path because of his wife and daughter, Shen Shuibi and Li Shiwei. Although they were saved, it resulted in the loss of one-seventh of the Shaman Path's forces.

So now I'm under house arrest...

Shen Shuibi and Li Shiwei are still outside! And they've already gotten involved with the Demonic Path!

No way? Could it be—

Li Qi's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that because he was under house arrest here, he was unable to intervene in what was happening outside, which ultimately led to something happening to Li Shiwei and Shen Shuibi?

Upon thinking of this, he immediately became anxious!

He lost interest in watching other people's affairs and went back to his room.

We need to find a way to get information about the outside world and get Shen Shuibi to take Li Shiwei back; they can't stay on the front lines anymore.

However, Ranked Shaman said that he could move freely in this cave, but he could only stay in this cave and could not contact the outside world, could not break through his cultivation level, and could not leave behind written or pictorial records.

Ranked Shaman probably anticipated this, as he forbade him from contacting the outside world, and Li Qi... clearly had no way to force Ranked Shaman to comply.

He has no right to make demands, and if the other party tries to force him, he has no recourse.

A sense of constraint washed over Li Qi, as if invisible mud was covering him, making him unable to move or breathe.

This is imprisonment.

This is for the ultimate victory, but not for Li Qi.

Li Qi suddenly stood up. Regardless of whether Ranked Shaman agreed or not, he was determined to send a message to the outside world, no matter what!

He could accept being confined to his home and even having to do things that were extremely difficult, after all, he was the one who caused the trouble, and the Shaman Path was his master who had given him countless help, so he should repay him.

But at the very least, he should be given a chance to send a message to Shen Shuibi and Li Shiwei to withdraw.

Li Qi immediately went to find Ranked Shaman.

He went outside, stopped a fourth-rank expert who was walking by, and said to him, "Senior—"

Unexpectedly, the other party replied with ease, "If you have any requests to make, just put your scent on the envelope at the mailbox over there."

Li Qi turned his head and looked at the place the other person was pointing to; there was indeed a mailbox hanging there.

After saying that, the other person drifted away, seemingly having many things to do and not having time to lead the way for Li Qi.

However, that's enough. It's clear that Li Qi isn't the first person to make such a request; there must be quite a few people who have come to this place to be confined.

So he immediately turned around, stretched out his hands, and some grass and trees appeared in his hands.

These are all plants that grow in his inner world.

Knead the herbs in your hands, almost instantly breaking down the fibers. Then, introduce moisture to form a pulp, flatten it, and use magic to control the fire and dry it, quickly making a sheet of paper.

He then ground minerals to make ink, used his fingers as a pen, and quickly wrote a letter.

Now he can create something from Creation from Nothing, and can conjure up almost any substance out of thin air.

He dropped the envelope into the mailbox and went back to his room to sit and wait for news.

Originally, he thought that he was only a fifth-rank official, and it was possible that he would have to deal with his problems several months later. Li Qi was prepared to wait for half a year.

Compared to the future of more than 300 years, half a year is still bearable, so Li Qi is prepared to wait patiently.

But to his surprise, only four Chen later, Ranked Shaman's spirit descended into his room again.

"Regarding your application..." The spirit descended, speaking in its usual calm tone.

"Huh?!" Li Qi was the one who stood up immediately.

So fast?

"You requested to send a message to the outside world, but I'm sorry, this request cannot be approved," said the spirit of the Ranked Shaman.

Li Qi felt like he'd been doused with cold water, but he remained calm and asked, "Why?"

"When you entered this place and were informed of this matter, the causal link between you and the outside world was temporarily severed. If you rashly interfere with the outside world before the time is up, it will have unpredictable consequences. To the outside world, you are currently in a state of non-existence, unobservable and untraceable. Your causality is now stabilized here," said the spirit of the Ranked Shaman.

This answer was completely unexpected by Li Qi, but upon closer examination, it made perfect sense.

Simply confining them to their homes is ineffective; the Shaman Path's approach is to completely seal away their existence.

"Then... we can hide my presence and just transfer them away from the front lines," Li Qi said.

"Yes, the transfer order will be issued in three Chen, and they will be withdrawn from the front lines," said the spirit of the Ranked Shaman.

"Thank you very much, senior. I didn't expect you to be so easy to talk to." Li Qi breathed a sigh of relief and clasped his hands in thanks.

"You are all those who strive for the ultimate goal of Shaman Path. It is our incompetence to confine you here. Your needs should be met immediately. As long as you do not violate the prohibitions I mentioned earlier, you are free here. I will leave now." After saying this, the spirit of the Ranked Shaman disappeared.

Li Qi a long sigh of relief.

That's fine.

He sat down in the chair.

But then, a voice suddenly popped into his head.

Are you really at ease?