âHmph!â A scowl frightened the heaven and earth along with the celestials for it was filled with might. The souls of emperors and gods would still scatter away after hearing this scowl. Alas, it had no effect on Li Qiye.
âBuzz.â The stars gathered with haste and formed an ethereal face in the sky. It looked so surreal; one would forget about this face right away, akin to waking up in a dream. They would remember that they have dreamt about something, just nothing in detail.
âEverything starts with the heart devil, desires, and resentment.â Li Qiye smiled after seeing the face.
âWhat is your heart devil?â A voice came from the depth of this space, almost sounding like a lamentation.
The voice echoed in oneâs mind instead of being heard through the ears, akin to speaking to oneself. This discomforting phenomenon could frighten a weak-willed individual.
âMy heart devil? It is me since one thought is enough to become a devil.â Li Qiye smiled, not minding the voice in his head.
âThatâs not what Iâm talking about.â The voice answered.
âNo, itâs the same thing. Once I go crazy, even I get scared of myself, so Iâm my own heart devil.â Li Qiye responded.
The voice seemingly pondered the comment, or perhaps, it didnât disagree with this logic.
However, since Li Qiye was his own heart devil, he wasnât afraid of turning into anything nor cared about other temptations and desires.
âSo can we talk now?â Li Qiye smiled.
The existence in this plane didnât respond. He wanted the rock but didnât expect to provoke someone like Li Qiye.
The guy exceeded his expectation. He hasnât seen a being of this level for a very long time now.
âThere are only a few things I can offer.â The existence eventually answered.
âI disagree with that.â Li Qiye smirked in response: âLet me ask you first, what is your ranking among the thirty-six?â
âThere is always a vaster sky and a greater man. The immensity of the grand dao is beyond your imagination. Sure, your dao heart is unmatched in history but loftier existences are around, even more unfathomable.â The existence took some time before speaking again in a serious manner. It didnât sound like an excuse.
Just imagine, this was a being capable of beating an immortal-level progenitor. His words needed to be taken seriously.
âHow are they compared to the villainous heaven?â Li Qiye remained calm.
âComparable.â The voice revealed.
âHmm? Interesting.â Li Qiye slightly raised his brows.
âWhatâs outside is truly unfathomable, you have achieved a lot but it is only the beginning.â The voice continued.
âNo, itâs still within expectation, just a little exciting and worthy of anticipation because if this is it, itâll be boring and lonely, to say the least.â Li Qiye chuckled.
âWhat do you want?â The voice got to the point.
âNot much.â Li Qiye said: âThis place isnât bad so I want to borrow it to refine some weapons, maybe have a little chat about some interesting matters, thatâs all.â
âThereâs nothing interesting about this world, only blood and tears.â The voice said.
âThatâs fine too, itâs not a bad topic. After all, Iâm not a merciful saint and donât mind talking about bloody stuff.â Li Qiye smiled.
âWhatâs your pursuit?â The voice asked.
âYour pursuit is that thing, hence stuck in hibernation here for years.â Li Qiye didnât answer his question.
âWeâre not on the same path.â The voice replied.
âThatâs the only reason? Not because the spoils arenât evenly distributed?â Li Qiye implicatively smirked.
âHmph.â The being let out another intimidating scowl, clearly filled with dissatisfaction about Li Qiyeâs comment.
Li Qiye ignored the scowl.
âDonât assume everyone is as despicable as you.â The voice insulted.
âIâm certainly no gentleman but do you dare claim that you have never had a similar thought during that period? I know that none of you play nice.â Li Qiye chuckled.
âI wouldnât be waiting all this time then, in that case.â The voice clearly disliked Li Qiye judging by its tone. Nevertheless, it still answered.
âNot necessarily, a fat fish is better than a skinny one and this requires feeding and patience. The latter isnât enough to even be an appetizer.â Li Qiye said: âIâm sure that things like this have happened before, and you yourself harbored this idea once.â
The existence didnât respond this time.
âThatâs why as long as people can think of it, it can be done and is probably done before.â Li Qiye smiled: âThe only person worth trusting in this world is the villainous heaven.â
âThe villainous heaven? How is it different from us?â The existence coldly uttered. [1]
âLooks like you all are very unhappy with the villainous heaven.â Li Qiye chuckled.
âOur actions are all the same.â The voice said.
âYou donât think thereâs a difference between eating a fish and killing a fish? Sure, this isnât a perfect analogy but itâs suitable here.â Li Qiye said.
âAll the same, both the purposes and actions.â The voice coldly uttered.
âI see, looks like you have some grudges against the villainous heaven. Probably suffered a bit to it, right?â Li Qiye taunted.
âHmph.â The voice scowled once more.
Li Qiyeâs smile grew thicker. After a while, he became serious and said: âOkay, letâs not talk about the villainous heaven, thatâs old stuff. What about the person you have been looking for?â
âNo idea.â The existence didnât entertain the new conversation.
âAfraid, huh? What about the being in Uncrossable Expanse in comparison?â Li Qiyeâs eyes narrowed.
âJust a child.â The voice decisively said without needing to think, clearly have a good idea beforehand.
âInteresting answer, so thatâs an apex existence.â Li Qiye laughed and said.
âThe apex, the one and only. The same applies to you, not on the same level.â The voice said.
âI see. Itâs because there are no immortals right now.â Li Qiye didnât become angry after being insulted.
âIt would be over if there are immortals.â The voice responded.
âI would still test my might against them. Of course, if they actually exist, they wouldnât allow for fake ones like you to be around.â Li Qiye seriously responded.
âThe likes of you canât understand what a true immortal is anyway.â The voice said.
âReally now? Iâm definitely interested in a meeting.â Li Qiye smiled.
âUnknown whereabouts.â The voice gave an abrupt answer.
1. Note that I donât know the pronoun for heaven. The author didnât use one so Iâm using it. It can be he/she/it/they