Chapter 1672: Deterrence

Li Qingshan comprehended the way the Primordial World operated as he reflected on himself—the small world in his body was like a rainforest shoved into a miniature garden, teeming with life and brimming with greenness, but coming off as rather sickly from the overflow of vegetation. The thick piles of death branches and fallen leaves reeked with a hint of death too.

Life and death, prosperity and wilting, was the original nature of the path of nature.

However, not only had the Qilin Transformation completely occupied the central position, but it had even oppressed the other transformations without any regard either.

Within the rainforest garden, the wind did not blow and the fire did not burn. The wide leaves absorbed all of the flowing water and the roots grew freely, such that even the earth could only drag out a meagre existence.

And did the rainforest want to be shoved in a miniature garden too?

As time went on, the Qilin Transformation grew stronger and stronger while the other transformations grew weaker and weaker, almost to a point of regression.

To the Qilin, the small world was like a prison, preventing it from following its path. It was eager to break free from all shackles.

Li Qingshan was forced to restrain this transformation at all times, but it was like opposing the will of the entire Demon domain and Sukhāvatī, which was the primordial qilin’s will.

At the same time, he would be opposing himself. The primordial qilin’s will had already merged with his will a long time ago. Following the path of nature had already become his strongest instinct.

He had become an immortal, enshrined as a true god. Who knew how many times stronger his cultivation had become, but just how much of himself remained?

Li Qingshan sighed. If he had relied on his own strength and proactively chosen the Qilin Transformation to Forge his Soul back into the Void, the situation would not be as terrible as right now. The influence from the primordial qilin was simply too great.

The power that these primordial gods possessed was unbelievable. Even when the primordial spirit turtle had already perished, it could keep the Mountain-moving Great Sage trapped through its subconsciousness alone, even influencing his will. As for Fuxi and Nüwa who had claimed their lives, he basically struggled to imagine just what kind of existences they were.

Li Qingshan’s cultivation was nowhere close to the Mountain-moving Great Sage’s, yet he had swallowed the Black Sun Demon Heart, proactively accepting the primordial qilin’s will and power, so it was even more difficult for him to resist this influence.

“Heh, what a hopeless situation!” Li Qingshan laughed self-deprecatingly.

The only thing he could rely on now, the dwelling by the name of the “Demon domain”, was constantly twisting him, granting him power while also making him ill.

Under this situation, just how feeble were the hopes of rapidly increasing his cultivation?

That was unless he was willing to completely abandon the other transformations.

By then, without the shackles from the other transformations of the demonic and divine, he could use the Qilin’s Conventions of Longevity as his foundation, the entire Qilin Paradise as his resource, and the core laws of the Qilin Paradise as his path. With that, Merging the Void with the Dao would no longer be anything difficult.

That was a tremendous opportunity, an opportunity to become a Great Sage.

But the only issue was by then, was it Li Qingshan or the primordial qilin that became the Great Sage?

The primordial qilin had perished, but it had never completely died. Its will permeated the entirety of Sukhāvatī and the Demon domain and right now, the two were merging back together.

If Li Qingshan abandoned the other transformations of the demonic and divine and only practised the Qilin Transformation, he would probably rapidly merge with the primordial qilin’s will.

Perhaps at a certain point, the primordial qilin would be reborn.

Now that would be fun!

Li Qingshan was not exactly afraid of death, but the primordial qilin walked the path of nature. Why would it care about some brother ox or some heavenly emperor? After that, it would take back all of its scattered power—in other words, Sukhāvatī and the Demon domain. Who the hell cared if you were good or bad? All of you had to die!

Li Qingshan would be committing suicide on the spot and his two oaths would both fall through.

Hold on, there’s actually this trick too! Li Qingshan suddenly understood something and began laughing. “No wonder they wanted to enlist me and make peace! So they’re afraid of this!”

During the Battle of Mending Heaven, the primordial qilin turned its back on the path of nature and chose to fight for Nüwa, slain by Fuxi’s lightning in the end. However, when it died, it did not look towards Fuxi, but Nüwa.

Even from eons away, Li Qingshan could still sense the concern contained within its gaze.

If the primordial qilin was reborn in Li Qingshan, then the situation would be completely rewritten, not just because of its strength, but also because it was very likely for it to try and awaken Nüwa.

Once Nüwa was awoken, all the emperors could only drop to their knees and cry for their mothers, hoping that she would be as compassionate to them as she had been with the humans.

That was not even the worst part. Nüwa and Fuxi were both born from yin and yang, so once Nüwa was awoken, Fuxi would probably wake up too. Just like that, the gods and buddhas would not be facing some crisis of the world, but a continuation of the Battle of Mending Heaven!

What crisis of the world? By then, it would only be a small scuffle. They had fought for so long and not a single existence that had Merged the Void with the Dao had perished.

Mum and dad will show you what a fight is! All of the gods and buddhas would split into two groups and prepare for war.

Of course, mum and dad definitely would not be able to kill each other, but these “damned children” would cover the ground with their corpses.

What “Merging the Void with the Dao”? What “undying and indestructible”’? You better watch whether our mum can finish it all just by twisting off your head!

Of course, this was all Li Qingshan’s guesses. Any part of it could go wrong in the process, but the question was whether these emperors were willing to take this risk or not.

The answer was probably no, which was why they chose to enlist him rather than to make war!

Perhaps in the eyes of the gods and buddhas, Li Qingshan already had a foot in the grave. They needed to get him out of the Demon domain to benefit both parties.

Li Qingshan obviously wanted to live on and fulfill his oath. If he had another choice, he would not consider this path.

But now, he finally cheered up, as he had finally found a way to drag the enemy down with him. Once his clone made it to beyond the Nine Heavens, perhaps he could even use this as a bargaining chip and negotiate a little, buying him some more time.

At the same time, Li Qingshan’s clone was already extremely close to the Primordial World. He gradually made out the green land beneath the white clouds. The sun and moon also grew brighter and brighter, competing against one another yet also coexisting harmoniously.

The information he received became clearer and clearer, richer and richer too…

All of his comprehensions and cultivation was for the sake of connecting with the nature of the world, yet right now, the true appearance of the world was clearly laid out before him.

The way the trichiliocosm operates is virtually identical, as they’re all emulating the Primordial World. The small world in me is no different!

After such a long journey, Li Qingshan finally gained a full appreciation for just how ambitious and great of a creation the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine were!

So the transformations aren’t equal. Two of the transformations surpass all other transformations, serving as the foundation of all transformations, which are the Divine Dragon Transformation and Snake Demon Transformation I comprehended recently!

The two transformations were still very weak, only manifesting as two dim halos in the small world. If he did not pay special attention to them, he might have even missed them.

However, Li Qingshan discovered that the Divine Dragon Transformation and the Snake Demon Transformation had never been oppressed by the Qilin Transformation. Instead, they oppressed one another and restrained one another.

No matter how the trees and grass flourished, how could they touch the sun and moon?

This is the answer to all of my internal problems! Perhaps this is also the answer that “they” wanted me to find.