“Hmph!” 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.
“Buzz.” 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.
“Everything starts with the heart devil, desires, and resentment.” Li Qiye smiled after seeing the face.
“What is your heart devil?” A voice came from the depth of this space, almost sounding like a lamentation.
The voice echoed in one’s mind instead of being heard through the ears, akin to speaking to oneself. This discomforting phenomenon could frighten a weak-willed individual.
“My heart devil? It is me since one thought is enough to become a devil.” Li Qiye smiled, not minding the voice in his head.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” The voice answered.
“No, it’s the same thing. Once I go crazy, even I get scared of myself, so I’m my own heart devil.” Li Qiye responded.
The voice seemingly pondered the comment, or perhaps, it didn’t disagree with this logic.
However, since Li Qiye was his own heart devil, he wasn’t afraid of turning into anything nor cared about other temptations and desires.
“So can we talk now?” Li Qiye smiled.
The existence in this plane didn’t respond. He wanted the rock but didn’t expect to provoke someone like Li Qiye.
The guy exceeded his expectation. He hasn’t seen a being of this level for a very long time now.
“There are only a few things I can offer.” The existence eventually answered.
“I disagree with that.” Li Qiye smirked in response: “Let me ask you first, what is your ranking among the thirty-six?”
“There 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.” The existence took some time before speaking again in a serious manner. It didn’t sound like an excuse.
Just imagine, this was a being capable of beating an immortal-level progenitor. His words needed to be taken seriously.
“How are they compared to the villainous heaven?” Li Qiye remained calm.
“Comparable.” The voice revealed.
“Hmm? Interesting.” Li Qiye slightly raised his brows.
“What’s outside is truly unfathomable, you have achieved a lot but it is only the beginning.” The voice continued.
“No, it’s still within expectation, just a little exciting and worthy of anticipation because if this is it, it’ll be boring and lonely, to say the least.” Li Qiye chuckled.
It’s lonely at the top, or so they say. In Li Qiye’s mind, his enemy was himself and this could get quite lonely without suitable opponents.
“What do you want?” The voice got to the point.
“Not much.” Li Qiye said: “This place isn’t bad so I want to borrow it to refine some weapons, maybe have a little chat about some interesting matters, that’s all.”
“There’s nothing interesting about this world, only blood and tears.” The voice said.
“That’s fine too, it’s not a bad topic. After all, I’m not a merciful saint and don’t mind talking about bloody stuff.” Li Qiye smiled.
“What’s your pursuit?” The voice asked.
“Your pursuit is that thing, hence stuck in hibernation here for years.” Li Qiye didn’t answer his question.
“We’re not on the same path.” The voice replied.
“That’s the only reason? Not because the spoils aren’t evenly distributed?” Li Qiye implicatively smirked.
“Hmph.” The being let out another intimidating scowl, clearly filled with dissatisfaction about Li Qiye’s comment.
Li Qiye ignored the scowl.
“Don’t assume everyone is as despicable as you.” The voice insulted.
“I’m 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.” Li Qiye chuckled.
“I wouldn’t be waiting all this time then, in that case.” The voice clearly disliked Li Qiye judging by its tone. Nevertheless, it still answered.
“Not necessarily, a fat fish is better than a skinny one and this requires feeding and patience. The latter isn’t enough to even be an appetizer.” Li Qiye said: “I’m sure that things like this have happened before, and you yourself harbored this idea once.”
The existence didn’t respond this time.
“That’s why as long as people can think of it, it can be done and is probably done before.” Li Qiye smiled: “The only person worth trusting in this world is the villainous heaven.”
“The villainous heaven? How is it different from us?” The existence coldly uttered. [1]
“Looks like you all are very unhappy with the villainous heaven.” Li Qiye chuckled.
“Our actions are all the same.” The voice said.
“You don’t think there’s a difference between eating a fish and killing a fish? Sure, this isn’t a perfect analogy but it’s suitable here.” Li Qiye said.
“All the same, both the purposes and actions.” The voice coldly uttered.
“I see, looks like you have some grudges against the villainous heaven. Probably suffered a bit to it, right?” Li Qiye taunted.
“Hmph.” The voice scowled once more.
Li Qiye’s smile grew thicker. After a while, he became serious and said: “Okay, let’s not talk about the villainous heaven, that’s old stuff. What about the person you have been looking for?”
“No idea.” The existence didn’t entertain the new conversation.
“Afraid, huh? What about the being in Uncrossable Expanse in comparison?” Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed.
“Just a child.” The voice decisively said without needing to think, clearly have a good idea beforehand.
“Interesting answer, so that’s an apex existence.” Li Qiye laughed and said.
“The apex, the one and only. The same applies to you, not on the same level.” The voice said.
“I see. It’s because there are no immortals right now.” Li Qiye didn’t become angry after being insulted.
“It would be over if there are immortals.” The voice responded.
“I would still test my might against them. Of course, if they actually exist, they wouldn’t allow for fake ones like you to be around.” Li Qiye seriously responded.
“The likes of you can’t understand what a true immortal is anyway.” The voice said.
“Really now? I’m definitely interested in a meeting.” Li Qiye smiled.
“Unknown whereabouts.” The voice gave an abrupt answer.
1. Note that I don’t know the pronoun for heaven. The author didn’t use one so I’m using it. It can be he/she/it/they