Myriad Paths

It was a summer night.

The air at night is not cold, but rather muggy, and the chirping of insects is about to reach its peak. The volume is getting louder and louder, and the timbre is gradually becoming sweeter.

All kinds of flowers blooming in the mountains are in bloom, and their fragrance fills the night atmosphere.

In this Xuanjing Mountain, the mountains and rivers are clear, the mountains and rocks are steep, and they are open for fishing. The trees have green leaves and red dragon branches, but in the towering stream, there is a green smoke cage.

There are tung, toon, oak, elm, willow and mulberry trees.

There are swallows, birds, rats, leopards, tigers, dragons, fish, deer, and deer.

The cover of the flower should be a shade of shade, welcoming the sun to match it, so that there are lively clouds, cliffs and woods, rising and falling with the foothills, green waves, mist, clouds and waves, all kinds of things in the morning and evening.

The small river in the middle is even more interesting, with its gentle splashing and gentle sound. There are two people fishing by the river. When people enter the scenery, they are also part of the scenery.

Two people are fishing, and one of them keeps catching fish. Big fish weighing tens of kilograms are connected to the rod, one after another, as if they won't stop. The river below is only a mile wide of water, and I don't know where so many big fish come from. It was as if all the fish kings in the river were flying over in a hurry.

The other person couldn't catch any fish, so he simply inserted the fishing rod made of branches into the ground and went to talk to the person on the other side.

In the chat flow style, if you can't catch you, just chat and interfere with you, and no one will play.

However, if you listen carefully, you will find that these two people are talking about mysterious topics.

"Xiang Liu is not on the side of mortals, so is Wu Dao on the side of mortals?" Shen Yijun said nonchalantly, not stopping the fishing rod in his hand and still letting out the line.

"No one takes sides in the witchcraft. No matter who you are, the witchcraft is the neutralizer and the mediator. We just want to maintain the balance of all things, so that every creature and every Taoism has its own living space." Li Qi said this.

This is indeed the attitude of the shamans.

It is true that Wu Jin does not stand on the side of mortals, but on the surface, the people Wu Jin helps the most are these mortals who have no ability to survive.

Mortal people are really too fragile in front of powerful beings and advanced civilizations. If Wu Jin doesn't take action, then everyone will have no room to survive.

Humanity is the most extreme in this regard. They attempt to replace heaven with humans and directly erase the existence power of all things except humans.

If they succeed, from now on, whether a thing has meaning will be defined by people.

Therefore, the dispute between the Tao of witchcraft and humanity cannot be bridged, and there is no way to compromise or give in.

It is true that witches are not good people, nor are they saints. They kill people without mercy at all, but at least they will ensure that the 'whole' is moving in a more diverse direction.

Therefore, the relationship between Wu Jin and Xiang Liu is actually the same as that of humanity.

Humanity wants to annex and occupy everything except human beings, while Xiang Liu wants to destroy all mortals. To Wu Jin, there is only a degree of severity between the two, but no difference in nature.

Wu Jin also hated Xiang Liu. Wu Dao had a good relationship with the Haotian lineage, but the relationship with the faction that Gonggong Xiang Liu belonged to was quite bad.

"So, Li Qi, are you unwilling to meet the ancestor?" Shen Yijun asked.

"No, I'm just stating my position. To be honest, I don't know who is the powerful person behind Xiang Liu's lineage of gods." Li Qi said: "Xiang Liu is a subordinate of Gong Gong, and Gonggong is only the second grade..."

"Those who are also at the second level should have the 'Four Evils', that is, Chaos, Taotie, Qiongqi, and Taozu. They should also be the faction that opposes mortals, right? I don't know if they are gods or earthly beings, but they must all be the same. God."

"So, who is the Yipin behind them? If they didn't have the support of the Yipin, they wouldn't be able to make so much noise, right?" Li Qi said.

"Then I don't know. Don't talk about the first and second grades. I don't even understand the fifth grade. Otherwise, I wouldn't be stuck here for hundreds of thousands of years." Shen Yijun laughed. said.

Isn't it funny to say something to him about one grade and two grades? If he wants to understand, why would he come here to deliver a message?

"Hmm... So, I can go see Xiang Liu and talk to him face to face, but I can't guarantee that I will unblock him. After all... Xiang Liu was sealed by Wu Jin at the beginning." Li Qi said.

Yes, although Xiang Liu was defeated by the real dragon, it was Wu Jin who executed the seal in the end.

After Emperor Yu killed Xiang Liu, he buried his body in the north of Kunlun Mountain, and then built the "Five Emperors Platform" on it, which carved the statues of Emperor Xuanyuan, Emperor Gaoyang, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun. , suppressed it on Xiang Liu's body, thus completely sealing it.

The 'Taiwan' is actually a place used for sacrifices. The construction method of the Five Emperors' Platform was actually built by the wizards under Emperor Yu.

"That's fine." Shen Yijun nodded.

Seeing that the business was finished, Li Qi couldn't bear it anymore.

He kicked Shen Yijun into the river with a flying kick: "Stop fishing! No more fishing for extinct species! All the fish kings have been caught!"

Shen Yijun fell into the river, quickly grabbed the fish guard, weighed it, and estimated that it weighed tens of thousands of kilograms. Without saying anything, he quickly put his magic weapon into the sea, and then ran away in a hurry.

Li Qi was speechless, and then looked at the small fish he caught. They only weighed three to four kilograms, and the number was only five or six.

Forget it, bake it and eat it.

Li Qi's three hobbies are reading, eating and fishing.

Now it happens to satisfy three at once.

At the riverside, I cleaned the fish I caught earlier, rinsed it in water, cleaned it, grilled it on the spot, and sprinkled some salt to taste.

Take a bite.

Um.

As expected, it tastes terrible.

Compared with the delicacies and rare treasures of the immortal family, this fish is really too ordinary, and there is even too much salt.

However, at this moment, a group of monkeys appeared next to them.

He's just an ordinary monkey, not a monster, he's not smart yet, he's stupid.

But after all, they are monkeys in the realm of Wushen Mountain, so they are much smarter than their counterparts outside.

They saw Li Qi, so they ran over happily, holding a bunch of sour, ripe or unripe fruits in their hands. They must have been picked fresh.

They placed the fruit on Li Qi's side, pushed it, and pointed to the fish.

Li Qi handed them the grilled fish.

It tastes too bad and I don’t want to eat it, so just give it to them.

However, in return, Li Qi took a fruit, washed it in the river, and took a bite.

ah……

It's just as unpalatable, no longer sour, but bitter.

Looking back, I found that the monkeys had run away with the fish. It seemed that they also knew that the fruit was not delicious.

Damn it, these treacherous monkeys.

Li Qi laughed dumbly, put the fruit on the ground, took only one, ate it and left.

When he reached the halfway point of the mountain, he threw the half-eaten bitter fruit into the sky!

These treacherous monkeys actually took back all the bitter pills that Li Qi didn't want!

Li Qi definitely couldn't let them make such a big profit, so he threw the bitter fruit in a circle in the air and hit the monkey's head.

The monkeys panicked and fled in all directions, naturally not wanting the bitter fruit.

Seeing this, Li Qi left with satisfaction.

Just walked all the way to the bottom of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, there are some human settlements, but they are still the human race of Wushen Mountain, so there is no industrialization.

However, the source of heaven and earth in Wushen Mountain is sufficient, so each of them is strong and healthy, has a long lifespan, is not surrounded by disease and pain, and lives a prosperous life. They can eat and drink when they should, and if they are talented, they can also practice.

From now on, whether you go out to explore or stay here, it will be easy and there will be almost no pressure at all.

After all, people put pressure on themselves. As long as you don’t have pressure, there is no pressure. To survive, all you need is a place to sleep and something to eat. This kind of thing is actually very simple.

How could there be a shortage of food and clothing in the Wushen Mountain area? How could we not starve to death even if we picked bananas?

Li Qi walked to the village and happened to bump into an old man.

The old man was dressed in animal skins and looked very energetic.

People here wear whatever they want. If they find it troublesome, they wear animal skins. If they like something that looks good, they weave their own cloth and make their own clothes. Anyway, they are ingenious and the clothes they make are not bad at all.

They are not isolated mountain people. In fact, it is not difficult to travel. The elders of this village are of the eighth grade. They can move mountains and rivers. They are very knowledgeable and have frequent contacts with the outside world. The young people Wanting to go out and explore is very common here.

"Hey, you're passing by? I've never seen him before." The old man saw Li Qi and said hello.

While saying hello, he drank wine from a gourd. The wine was fragrant and smelled particularly good.

"Yes, I just arrived. I haven't been here for a long time." Li Qi smiled and asked curiously: "Old man, what kind of wine are you drinking? It smells so good."

"Ah? This is mine. I make my own village wine. I learned from the monkey wine in the mountains. It's very delicious. The monkeys themselves don't have much!"

"Is it difficult to brew?" Li Qi asked.

"The brewing method is not difficult, but the raw materials are precious. Only the monkeys in the mountains have them. The raw materials are a very bitter fruit. I don't know what it is called." The old man said.

Then, when the old man saw the young man in front of him running away, he looked confused.

"Young man, young man, where are you going?!" he shouted.

Li Qi waved his hand and ran all the way: "You keep drinking, I will go up the mountain to find the monkey!"

The old man touched his beard.

This young man is quite fast. I am afraid that his cultivation level is not low, and he has probably reached the top level. I don’t know where he came from, but he looks familiar to me...

Why does it look a bit like the statue hanging in the ancestral hall?

————————————

All in all, on the next day, Li Qi took Yao Ji and prepared to go to Xiang Liu.

Xiangliu is buried in the north of Kunlun Mountain, where the Five Emperors Platform is.

Kunlun Mountain, on the other hand, is in the Shinto area of ​​the world.

The void of Kunlun in the sea is in the northwest, the capital under the emperor.

That's right, the northwest of the world is the area where Shinto is located.

There are nine lands in the world: east, west, south, north, middle, southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast.

The central land is occupied by humans, while the eastern sea belongs to the true dragon.

Directly to the west are thousands of Buddha lands, and to the south are the hot sands of the devil's path, the city of dreams.

The northern ice ocean is the territory of Lingdao, while the southeastern islands are all monster caves.

The mountains in the southwest are where witches and monks gather, and the many caves in the northeast are hung by the three islands of Daomen and Penglai.

And the northwest, where the emperor lives and where the Kunlun Mountains are located, is the territory of Shinto in the world.

On the Eight Corners Rock, between the red water, on the shore of quicksand, and before the black water, there is a large mountain called Kunlun.

The void of Kunlun is eight hundred miles across and ten thousand ren high.

There is a sheaf of wood on it, five fathoms long and five circumferences large. There are nine wells, with jade as the threshold, and nine gates on the front. The gates are guarded by enlightened beasts, where hundreds of gods are located.

Li Qi brought Yao Ji here the next day.

When we arrived at the orthodox Shinto place, we were greeted by the aura of ‘Shinto’.

Although it seems like nonsense to say this, in Li Qi's opinion, this is the only way to describe it.

It’s really divine.

The first thing I saw was an 'incense smell'. Yes, it was the 'incense' that the God of Incense needed.

For real gods or earthly beings, they actually do not need incense.

It is mortals who need gods, not gods who need mortals.

Gods don't need your incense, incense and golden bodies. It's just a practice method invented by "mortals trying to become gods".

But here, the scent of incense is very strong.

The gods are almost bustling here.

Various gods, most of them are gods of incense and fire. Some are local to the world, but some are promoted from outside the territory. They all gather in this place.

Not even mortals!

That's right, there are no mortals in the gathering place of Shinto, and the lowest cultivation level is seventh level. This place is probably similar to the 'Heaven Realm' or the 'God Realm'.

The people gathered here are all gods who have achieved immortality. They already have their own believers or some other foundation, and then they gather here to live in the world.

Usually, they deal with their own affairs in the world, respond to believers, send down dharma bodies and so on.

In this area of ​​the world, they are safe and do not need to worry about someone breaking through to the world and killing their bodies.

so……

When Li Qi came to the Northwest Divine Court for the first time, he almost thought he had arrived at some kind of ark left after the end of the world.

Each of these gods has their own affairs, and their own believers just find a place to install themselves, and then descend to the Dharmakaya to go to their own world.

So from the outside world, what Li Qi saw was a bunch of stone statues standing everywhere, not communicating with each other. They only stayed here because this was the God Realm, and it would be safe to deal with outside matters here.

It's just like... a group of dead nerds who are immersed in the virtual world and can't extricate themselves.

They are locked in a virtual warehouse and explore the outside world through something similar to virtual reality, the 'Dharma Body'. Even if the Dharma Body dies, it will not affect their body.

Because all their interpersonal relationships were established with the Dharmakaya, and they were not familiar with the other gods around them at all, so no one was too lazy to say hello.

Turn each other into stone statues, find a place to put them, and then go back to your own homes.

This made Li Qi look at Yao Ji and sigh.

"Shinto... is now a pool of stagnant water. Is this what you are dissatisfied about?" (End of Chapter)