Myriad Paths

Li Qi returned to this planet.

Before, Buddhism was located on this planet and was invaded by other civilizations. It was Li Qi who helped them fight off the invasion.

After that, Li Qi also promoted the Great Tripitaka to the whole universe, helping the lost Buddhism to recover a little popularity.

But... the recovery was a little too much.

Today, this pagoda that stores the Great Tripitaka has become one of the places with the largest flow of people in the universe.

It has even reached the point where some people are worried about the gradual accumulation of erosion caused by hundreds of billions of tourists every day.

So in the end, a regulation was issued, stipulating that during a visit to this planet, you need to weigh your body weight and the weight of your luggage before entering, and then when you leave, you can't have a gram more or less. The net difference in weight must be removed from your weight through magic when you leave the planet. If it is less, you will be required to make up for it.

If we don't do this, just by walking on the mud, the mass of the planet will be exhausted. If everyone brings a little more, it won't take long for the planet to collapse due to mass expansion.

Even so, the material replacement of this planet is very terrible. It is said that every six years, all the materials on this planet will be replaced. This is the real "stardust".

It's also normal. This is the teaching of a first-class master. Even if it doesn't conform to your own way, there is no harm in listening. If you can understand something, you will make a lot of money.

Everyone thought so at the beginning.

They wanted to come here to obtain technology, or even some specific magic, such as Maudgalyayana's magical power. If you learn a little bit, it will be a great help to civilization.

However... most people who came with this mentality were disappointed.

The entire Tripitaka, the three hundred million billion statues of the Buddha in the pagoda, that is, three hundred million billion layers, all the scriptures, there is not a single word about specific technical details, specific magical powers and magic.

All these stories are about Buddhism, and there is nothing about the application level.

You can only develop and study specific magic skills after mastering these Buddhist teachings.

Perhaps this is what the Tathagata expected.

From these places, Li Qi can also vaguely perceive the thoughts of the Tathagata.

The Buddha will die, and the world will perish. This is natural.

And in all this, what you get is the retribution for what you do, which is "karma".

Even the Buddha himself cannot change any rules of cause and effect - he just discovered these rules and tried his best to educate others with the wisdom and rules he realized.

The Buddha is an enlightened person, not a savior. He only hopes to spread his wisdom. As long as all beings have enough wisdom to see through the fog and correctly understand and deal with everything, what will make us feel painful?

It's like the Buddha, who had not yet achieved enlightenment, sat under a huge Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya and began to think, the moon rose and set, and the tide rose and fell.

When he looked up, this is what he saw in the universe.

So, Li Qi could almost understand why the other party chose to enter Nirvana.

After those things happened, Buddha was inevitably lifted up to the altar, made into various huge and solemn Buddha statues, and all kinds of incredible powers were praised.

So, he wanted to enter Nirvana.

When he died, when the "Buddha" also "entered Nirvana", perhaps all living beings could understand that Buddha was not an extraordinary existence, could not let himself live, could not destroy demons, and could not even affect the various causes and conditions in this world.

Buddha was just a wise man who understood the law of cause and effect. The greatest meaning of his existence was to bring these wisdoms to others, and this was what he left to the world in the end.

However, this idea seemed too hypocritical in Li Qi's view.

Li Qi did not think this attitude was a good thing.

Since he had power and supernatural powers, he could naturally transform the world. Wasn't this great power born for transforming the world?

Instead of expecting everyone to be enlightened, it is better to create a world where people cannot survive without enlightenment, and then naturally everyone will be enlightened.

The Buddha is still too compassionate.

Other Buddhas and great bodhisattvas are also too compassionate. They would rather "guide" people to think than put some pressure on them. They are still too soft.

However, Li Qi is not that extreme. He is not ready to criticize other people's Tao. He just thinks that the Buddha is unwilling to change the world in the end. It is really a bit... too conservative.

The Tao is inside, which regulates one's own behavior.

The Tao is outside, which is the law of the world.

The two can be completely interchangeable.

The Tao in the outside world will naturally affect the attitude towards the outside world. This is a typical example. The external Tao affects the Tao in one's own body.

But in the same way, one's own Tao can also affect the Tao in the outside world, modify physical constants, and even reshape the entire time and space, or open up the world by oneself, which is also due to this.

And the Buddha is too compassionate, or... too weak, he is unwilling to affect the external Tao.

Or maybe he was too arrogant. He believed that there was no point in changing the external "Tao". Even if it changed, it would be of no use. All the joys and sorrows in this world were, in essence, the result of a momentary gathering and separation of causes and conditions. They would disappear in the blink of an eye, and then a new one would appear. There was no need to change.

"All conditioned phenomena are like illusions and bubbles." Li Qi walked to the front of the pagoda and sighed.

Yes, perhaps in the eyes of the Buddha, the 'external path' is nothing but an illusion and bubble. Only the path in people's hearts can last for a long time.

Li Qi walked on this planet. Although it was crowded, it was not noisy. Many people around were quietly discussing the Buddhist teachings they could see.

Therefore, Li Qi's sigh did not attract any attention. Everyone here was translating the words of the Buddha in various languages.

Finally, Li Qi shook his head and shook off these thoughts.

Coming to this place, it seems that his thoughts have also moved a little closer to the direction of Buddhism.

He has come to the pagoda where the Great Tripitaka is stored.

This place is also crowded with people, and there are so many people that Li Qi is queuing up to enter the pagoda.

Queuing in this place is really a torture for mortals, because there are too many people, enough to go around the planet half a circle, so even if they are released at the fastest speed, it will take more than ten days to get in.

But fortunately, everyone is a practitioner, and it will be over in ten days.

As for Li Qi...

He doesn't queue up.

Normally, he might queue up with others, but now it's urgent and too late, so he walked in directly.

But there was no riot or protest, because others couldn't see him.

Li Qi walked in directly, and there were people crowded inside the pagoda... No, it's not people crowded, but all kinds of different creatures crowded together, including humanoid creatures, but there are also a lot of not so humanoid creatures, but everyone sits honestly, and no one dares to make trouble here.

Among so many people, the Demon Prince sat in the middle, mixed with the crowd, and it was almost impossible to tell the difference between him and ordinary people.

This surprised Li Qi.

Because the Demon Prince is not an approachable person. Unlike himself who doesn't like to show off, he is extremely self-centered and basically doesn't consider the feelings of others.

Sitting with ordinary people... is it because of Buddhism?

Li Qi didn't know, but he just walked towards the Demon Prince.

When he walked to the side of the Demon Prince, the Demon Prince put down the Buddhist scriptures in his hand and looked at Li Qi: "Do you have any clues?"

"I don't know what the clues are, but the gods seem to be making some big moves." Li Qi said.

Then, he told the gods what they were going to do and his entanglement with the gods.

As he spoke, the flow of people around him gradually decreased, as if their cognition was disturbed, and they left this place unknowingly.

Li Qi noticed this, but didn't say anything.

This is what the Demon Prince should do.

Previously, he was crowded with many people, and some even touched his shoulders and stepped on his cloak, but he had no reaction. This is not like the Demon Prince at all.

If it was the Demon Prince in a normal state, these people should have disappeared.

Just after Li Qi finished talking about the gods, the Demon Prince thought for a while and said to Li Qi: "So, the gods want you to go down. If you help destroy Haotian, then they will help you deal with the demons? Isn't this a good deal? Don't you agree?"

"Why should I agree? I think Haotian did a good job. If Yao Ji and Di Jun's gang were allowed to take over, it's hard to say what this universe will become." Li Qi shook his head.

"So, compared to the demons, you are more concerned about what the universe itself will become?" The Demon Prince asked back.

"You got the point wrong. The reason why I want to deal with the demons and the magic is to prevent all the time and space in this universe from being disturbed by the demons." Li Qi emphasized: "I never want to target the demons. I have always cared about this universe."

"Really broad-minded." The Demon Prince smiled, but didn't say anything.

Li Qi is different from his Tao.

In the eyes of the Demon Prince, there has never been a 'living being', only himself.

He doesn't care what the universe looks like, because to him, the external environment is meaningless, and what this world looks like can't affect him.

He is free, eternal, and ever-present. Everything in the outside world is nothing but floating clouds to him. He only has his own goals and the obstacles around his goals in his eyes.

For the Demon Prince, there is no scenery in the outside world.

If Li Qi is admiring the beauty of this universe, walking around, hoping to see more beautiful things, and doing some tasks from time to time, then in the eyes of the Demon Prince, this universe is only "task goals".

There is no scenery to speak of, there are only things like "where to go, how many to kill". If possible, he will even read the code directly and is too lazy to look at any aspects about art and textures.

"So, if you are not going to help the gods, do you think the gods will give up? They personally invited you, it must not be out of a whim, there must be something behind it that only you can do." The Demon Prince said.

Li Qi heard this and nodded.

Yes, this is also what he is worried about.

If they simply wanted to have an extra second-grade combat force, they would not come to Li Qi, nor would they offer such a generous price, or even reveal their plan to replace Haotian.

This shows that in their plan, Li Qi needs to do something that only Li Qi can do perfectly, otherwise, Li Qi is not worth it.

The gods will not do such a big thing on a whim.

Li Qi's refusal obviously cannot dispel their movements. They may even coerce or control Li Qi to make more arrangements.

This arrangement may not be direct, but may be guided by some conspiracy to make Li Qi do what they want unconsciously.

However, Li Qi is not a child anymore. Even the first-rank may not be able to arrange Li Qi silently, but no matter what, it is better to be careful when dealing with these brutal gods.

"So I ask you, how long will it take to finish reading the Great Tripitaka and the Great Sho Tripitaka? How long do we have to wait? I feel that if we continue to wait, there will be many variables in the current situation." Li Qi said.

This universe has been developing, and Li Qi and the Demon Prince are very clear about this.

During the period when Li Qi and the Demon Prince were silent, countless major events occurred. There were three things that could involve the first-rank, including the civil war of the gods, the chaos in the universe, and the death of the emperor.

The intensity of each incident was second only to the level of the Nine-Terrain War, and was about the same level as the Demon-Slaying War launched by Li Qi, which also involved the fall of the second-rank.

Among them, the death of the Human Emperor was even more drastic than the Demon-Slaying War launched by Li Qi. Li Qi only lost two second-ranks at the beginning, while the death of the Human Emperor involved the fall of many second-ranks.

Every time this happened, the real universe would disappear in a terrifying way.

The various time and space of the universe were like various illusions flashing quietly, and the original light burst out in waves, like sticking pieces of jelly on the space, time expanding, matter shrinking, and the largest prime number quietly hiding in the corner, hiding forever.

Then, everything appeared, and everything reappeared.

In this change, Li Qi and the Demon Prince have been preparing their own affairs.

Many second-ranks are similar to Li Qi. Many of them did not participate in these things. They would only intervene when it involves their own affairs.

And now, it seems that they have to participate.

Li Qi is ready, but what about the Demon Prince?

Listening to Li Qi's question, the Demon Prince glanced at the Buddhist scriptures in his hand.

"Are we going to attack the demon now?"

"How is that possible? If we attack the demon now, we will both die." Li Qi smiled: "But, we can't really let the gods involve me, right?"

"So, what do you want to do?" (End of this chapter)