Foreshadowing

Li Qi glanced at the Perfected Person beside him.

My heart skipped a beat.

The malice from the celestial realm had vanished, but it had been replaced by the gaze of the other party.

Clearly, this Perfected Person had overheard the conversation.

Damn it, you might as well just kill me!

Although the other party has been demoted and had his own Great Dao devoured by the Immortal Heaven, he still possesses the vision and knowledge that a third-rank person should have, and his understanding of the Great Dao has not diminished.

In other words, this is the same situation as when the rabbit was demoted. Back then, the rabbit, at the eighth rank, could create formations that could counter seventh rank formations, and single-handedly repelled most of the eighth-rank formations in a city...

Now, is Li Qi supposed to fight against this kind of person?

"Wait a minute." Zhu Fengdan raised her hand again at this moment. "Could you give me some time before the competition?"

"Teacher!?" Li Qi turned his head and stared in disbelief.

What? You're really planning to have me fight a third-ranked player?

How can this possibly win?!

Unfortunately, Zhu Fengdan couldn't hear him. Li Qi was already in a state of Dao Integration. Although he had maintained his consciousness, he couldn't escape the Immortal Realm and couldn't send messages at will.

There's just one problem.

Why was Li Qi able to maintain his sanity after achieving enlightenment?

Even Li Qi himself didn't realize this problem; he still thought he hadn't achieved enlightenment.

After all, he had never attained enlightenment. Although he had eaten others, could being a tiger and being meat be the same experience?

Zhu Fengdan didn't hear Li Qi's words, but continued to say to Xian Tian, "I need to say a few words to my disciple. After all, you see, the gap between your challenge and the actual skill level is quite large."

"I know you want to figure out whether we are stronger or Human Path is stronger after you learn about our Dao Lineage, so you can make a choice. After all, you only want to follow the stronger side. But... this is the time to see what our foundation is, isn't it?" Zhu Fengdan said to Xiantian.

Li Qi didn't know the other party's background, but Zhu Fengdan did.

Immortal Heaven, the awakened First Rank World Heavenly Dao, did not pursue the Dao. He was extremely intelligent and could quickly master almost all the methods, but he always had difficulty understanding the Dao Lineage.

This is a beast that devours civilizations, immortal and indestructible. Unbeknownst to many, it has adopted the Way of Evolution as its own Dao Path, striving solely for survival and to become stronger.

Therefore, the other party is more interested in compelling topics.

Thus, the immortals tacitly agreed.

Zhu Fengdan was able to successfully enter Xiantian's body.

"Hey~, apprentice, how are you?" Zhu Fengdan patted Li Qi on the shoulder.

Li Qi had a stern face, looking at Zhu Fengdan with lifeless, dejected eyes.

"Haha, you still look quite energetic. Your mind is quite resilient. Twenty-five billion reincarnations, plus the suppression of a first-grade aura and the future of being an enemy of a third-grade, none of them could break you. You truly deserve to be my disciple!" Zhu Fengdan laughed heartily.

Li Qi took a deep breath and then sighed.

Regret.

I regret not listening to my teacher back then. If only I could erase the memory, but I definitely can't erase it now, or something bad will happen.

"Regret it now? I already told you, how could I harm you? Now think about it, if I sent you to a third-rank opponent who had dropped in rank, do you think I would have left you with no chance of winning?" Zhu Fengdan sat down in front of Li Qi and said casually.

"Does the teacher have a foolproof method?!" Li Qi perked up.

"No." Zhu Fengdan poured cold water on Li Qi without hesitation.

Zhu Fengdan herself didn't even have a foolproof method to defeat someone who was once a third-rank expert, let alone teach Li Qi.

"That's bullshit. If you want to fight, go ahead and fight. I'm not going." Li Qi simply gave up and, following Zhu Fengdan's example, lay down in the back.

If he hadn't been playing around, he wouldn't have known he had reincarnated 2.5 billion times if Zhu Fengdan hadn't counted.

If you have the guts, just kill me and let me reincarnate. Erasing memories from the womb might not be a bad thing.

"Are you really not going? Have you gone mad from reincarnation? Raise your hand and look at yourself." Zhu Fengdan tapped Li Qi's shoulder.

Li Qi raised his hand in confusion, but his stiff and numb mind suddenly came alive, and a powerful force, enough to dominate heaven and earth, surged out from his body.

He... has reached the fourth rank.

When?

Moreover, he seems to have acquired the qualities of the fourth rank, which is the pinnacle of all cultivation under normal circumstances.

"Ha, you fool, have you forgotten? You're a Dao-Merging Immortal now." Zhu Fengdan laughed heartily, then reminded Li Qi.

Li Qi's stiff mind began to stir.

Yes, Li Qi achieved Dao before that.

Who still remembers... the Dao Integration Realm is actually the fourth grade of the Immortal Heaven.

Li Qi reached the fourth rank through the Dao Integration stage, while the other party, the Perfected Person, also reached the fourth rank after his Great Dao was encroached upon.

Now, both sides are at least at the same level in terms of cultivation.

"Teacher, was this also part of your calculations? Wait, how do I get out of this state?" Li Qi immediately realized.

It's already strange that someone who has attained enlightenment can maintain their sanity; is there any precedent for someone who wants to break free from it?

"If Xiantian is willing to release you, you'll be out, right? Defeat him, and Xiantian will definitely let you go. I've bought you some time to familiarize yourself with your fourth-rank power, even if it's only temporary," Zhu Fengdan said.

The Dao Integration Realm is the fourth rank; once you break free, you're no longer one. However... this is a rare opportunity; there won't be another Immortal Heaven Realm, and the other first-rank Immortals won't be so idle.

After saying this, Li Qi closed his eyes and began to review his power from the beginning.

From the Subordinate Ninth Rank to the third rank as he understood it.

The Ninth Rank Classification Method was created by a powerful being. This being, with extraordinary wisdom and perseverance, observed countless Dao Lineage and summarized countless Cultivation Method, ultimately establishing a grading system that unified all Dao Lineage and cultivation methods across the myriad realms according to the characteristics of cultivation, allowing a single method to determine a person's cultivation rank.

There are all sorts of oddities among those who don't meet the standards, but they all share the common characteristic of being weak. If you are weak enough, then you are considered unqualified.

The common characteristic of the nine ranks is that they have entered the path of cultivation. They can manipulate qi to influence the material world. Generally speaking, anyone who has the ability to manipulate qi, regardless of the method, whether it is through self-cultivation, manufacturing of machinery, or use of parasitic organisms, can be considered a ninth-rank individual.

Upon reaching the eighth rank, cultivation must have a system. At this point, even those from self-developing small worlds can be clearly identified by their characteristics. From this point onward, cultivators begin to develop their own personal style. This is the preliminary stage of their Dao Path, where they need to find their own way.

At the seventh rank, one attains immortality. A long lifespan is essential for pursuing the Dao. Without it, you can never join the ranks of those Dao Pursuer. No matter how powerful you are, even if an eighth-rank cultivator can kill a sixth-rank cultivator, without immortality, others will outlive you. No matter how strong you are, it's all in vain.

Such things happen quite often. In some backward worlds, immortals can easily kill or revive those stronger than themselves. If they can't beat someone when they're young, they can find a place to hide and wait until the other person gets old before seeking revenge, bullying them when their Qi and Blood is depleted. That's the benefit of immortality.

Upon reaching the sixth rank, at this stage, after a long life, with much experience and wisdom accumulated through observation and reflection, the practitioner will understand their Dao Path and know the way they should take.

After clarifying the Dao Path, you can use this to enhance your cultivation. At this stage, the journey of pursuing the Dao officially begins. You can easily observe a person's cultivation level to determine whether they are at the sixth rank.

A sixth-grade cultivation level is already quite terrifying. To pack such power into one's body, one needs a practical and feasible path and Dao heart to maintain it. Just like a country, it must have a feasible system to function, otherwise it will fall into chaos and then split up.

A nation's division simply means it becomes a smaller country, but a person's cultivation level splitting apart is tantamount to self-destruction. Therefore, those who do not have a clear Dao Path cannot reach this place, unless they are born at the sixth rank with their own Great Dao within their body.

Therefore, to confirm a sixth-rank, one only needs to observe the other person's cultivation level. As long as their cultivation level reaches that threshold, they are definitely a sixth-rank.

At the fifth rank, which is what Li Qi is like now, one will possess the unique characteristics of the Dao Lineage, such as the inner world of Shaman who can transform the illusory into the real.

These characteristics vary, but they all share the commonality of understanding the world through their own Dao Path. They all represent a certain Dao Path's interpretation of the world, and through this interpretation, they construct their own world, achieving a degree of unity between the subjective and the objective.

The fifth-rank Human Path can use their own rules to bind this universe, while the Shaman create their own world. Shen Shuibi and Yang Ning, this pair of Wu Tu, can make themselves the center of spacetime, and even manipulate each other's coordinate axes and the flow of spacetime. These all represent their understanding of the world, and through this understanding, they change the world.

This is what Li Qi is doing now.

Upon reaching the fourth rank, one enters a higher, but not complicated, situation: the strengthening of the interpretation of the world and the prioritization of reality.

There has been enough discussion about what 'reality' means, but the prerequisite for reality comes from the foundation laid at the fourth rank, which requires an explanation of the characteristics of the third rank in advance.

The characteristic of the three grades is their substantiality.

The real world itself possesses reality.

This means that if you possess reality, then your existence is equivalent to the entire real world.

This reality essentially comes from your Tao. For Shaman, once he reaches this stage, his Tao is sufficient to interpret a world and operate self-consistently. Then you will no longer need the world itself; it can sustain itself.

It doesn't need anything from the outside world, just as the universe itself can exist without anything else.

Humans need various things to sustain their lives, such as relying on external physical rules and weather systems; these are all things rooted in the real world.

And what is the real world itself rooted in? That's right, it's the Tao of the real world.

This is the characteristic of the third rank: they completely construct their own Dao and rely on this Dao and these rules to survive. As long as the Dao is undying, the body will not perish. The essence of the third rank is exactly the same as the ranks in the real world. As a result, the third rank also generates its own completely independent objective reality.

He no longer depends on any external rules, nor obeys anything in the real world. To mortals, there is no difference between a third-rank official and the Creator.

This is: Freedom, eternity.

It exists independently and eternally, able to survive without relying on anything other than itself, and can even "Heaven Creation," that is, to carve out a "heaven" that is independent of this universe.

All the myriad realms are actually within the boundless void, but the 'heaven' is not within the void, but rather located outside it; however, it is still within the universe.

After all, the universe is the collective term for all time and space. Whether you are in the void or in another place similar to the outer void, it is still part of the universe.

The universe is everything; there is nothing beyond time. The third grade exists on the same level as the real universe, only it is inferior to the ethereal concepts that support the universe.

The fourth rank is a weakened version of this point; the characteristics of the Dao Lineage mastered by the fifth rank will be sublimated in the fourth rank.

They have no physical existence, but they are no longer bound by the Principle of the real world. Their own path has not yet taken shape and is not enough to support them to be on the same level as the real world, but they are already obviously superior to other creatures that must rely on the Principle the real world to survive.

They are in an intermediate state.

Li Qi was the same. At this moment, with the help of the power of the immortals, he had broken free from the constraints of the real universe and was no longer affected by the physical Principle of the real universe.

In other words...

The speed of light, a Heavenly Way Limit, can no longer constrain him.

At this moment, Li Qi can break the speed of light without modifying the Heavenly Way Limit, even though this will cause enormous destruction and energy waste, and may even backfire on himself, but he can still do it.

Is this what a fourth-rank official is like?!

No wonder Zhu Fengdan and her group can travel around the universe so freely; they must be using this trick.

Furthermore, he discovered that the internal conflict within him had subsided at that moment.

However, this result made him frown.

He achieved Dao integration by relying on the Heavenly Dao of the Immortal Heaven. The Immortal Heaven is a branch of the Daoist sect, and combined with the characteristics of another branch of the Way of Evolution, this resulted in Li Qi's fourth-rank characteristics being those of the Way of Evolution.

As previously stated, the Way of Evolution does not conflict with any Dao Lineage.

This does not mean that the Daoist struggle is over; it only means that the Way of Evolution has subdued all his Dao Lineage, and Li Qi does not recognize the Way of Evolution, so he cannot advance in this way.

Otherwise, his Dao Path would be cut off at this moment.

"Teacher... this fourth rank..." Li Qi wanted to say something.

But Zhu Fengdan slapped Li Qi's hand.

Suddenly, a surge of thunderous power appeared in Li Qi's hand.

What's going on now?

But he immediately realized that this power of thunder actually contained the aura of Little Heavenly Master!

This reveals Zhang Zong's will.

"I have already established the causal connection between you and Zhang Zong. The Heavenly Evolution within you, combined with the pure Daoist Cultivation Method, can perfectly match the power of the Immortals. Good luck~, losing will mean death." Zhu Fengdan smiled with her eyes narrowed.