A terrifying thought took root in Li Qi’s mind.
Although it was possible he was overthinking, even connecting it to the upper realm he had heard about long ago but never personally seen, and the legendary three immortals.
But it seemed to be the only plausible explanation.
And though he didn’t know how distant Xu Qingfeng’s era was from his own.
To infer conservatively, for the corpse of a peak Mahayana cultivator to turn into white bones, the time required would likely be at least tens of thousands of years.
Perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years ago.
And normal Tribulation Transcending stage cultivators?
Their lifespan was at most thirty thousand years.
Li Qi had heard rumors about Mahayana cultivators before, said to live for fifty thousand years.
And the passage of time, often spanning hundreds of thousands of years, would mean that for other cultivators, perhaps only those immortals could survive.
But how long the three immortals in the upper realm could live, and how many years they had lived, was unknown.
After all, the upper realm was not a secret to these small worlds; one only needed to briefly converse with travelers or wanderers from the void occasionally to learn information about the upper realm and the three immortals.
However, the specific lifespan and years lived by the three immortals remained a secret unknown to anyone.
Continuing to speculate.
Li Qi found himself increasingly convinced of this possibility.
At the very least, if Xu Qingfeng’s era was after that of the three immortals.
The only beings capable of causing the complete annihilation of a small world as prosperous as Xu Qingfeng’s, with a cultivator of his caliber, would be those three immortals.
But if Xu Qingfeng’s era predated those three immortals.
Then Li Qi had no idea.
What was most important now was that although Li Qi had seen Xu Qingfeng’s memories, he didn’t know exactly how long it had been since his death.
Therefore, the only deduction he could make was to link it to the three immortals.
However, soon, after a period of thought with no clear answers, Li Qi shook his head, suppressing the jumbled thoughts in his heart.
There was still not enough information.
Despite this, Li Qi’s gaze remained solemn.
Regardless of whether Xu Qingfeng’s demise was truly due to those three immortals, or if Xu Qingfeng’s era was so ancient that he encountered attacks from other powerful beings.
Li Qi had to be wary of those three immortals.
After all, assuming the worst-case scenario.
If there was one more expert in the world who could rival him, it would be a bad thing for the vast majority of cultivators.
Being unrivaled throughout the world and doing as one pleased was what more people desired in their hearts.
"Currently, my strength and that of Dixu Heavenly Dao are only at the Tribulation Transcending stage, so it likely won't attract attention. But as my cultivation grows higher, I fear I will have to be even more cautious and avoid exposing myself."
Otherwise, if Xu Qingfeng’s demise was indeed caused by those three immortals from the upper realm.
Li Qi, upon reaching that level of cultivation, might face the same fate.
With this thought, Li Qi stopped pondering further. It was enough.
For the next few days, Li Qi waited quietly in the Heavenly Dao space.
His two natal spirit puppets also returned, encountering no trouble or robbery along the way.
After all, without flaunting wealth, only a drunkard would try to rob two Tribulation Transcending stage cultivators; it would be like a centenarian trying to hang themselves.
Over a dozen spatial rings were handed over to Li Qi, including the spatial ring of the Tribulation Transcending stage cultivator at the eighth level who had been killed by Xu Qingfeng’s corpse.
Li Qi briefly inspected the contents of these spatial rings.
Even with Li Qi’s discerning eyes, his expression brightened slightly.
Unlike Li Qi, who tried not to carry unnecessary items when going out for fear of losing his equipment, these Tribulation Transcending stage cultivators were different.
They had brought as much of their valuable possessions as possible with them.
So their deaths were tantamount to handing over all their wealth to Li Qi.
Excluding the few spatial rings containing Daofall Fragments.
The items in the other spatial rings, including spirit stones, resources, and even Heavenly Dao Will.
The various rare treasures were such that casually discarding one could cause a sensation.
"Serves you right. Originally, I only asked for half of your Daofall Fragments, but you insisted on taking advantage of me."
Li Qi smiled faintly and set aside the spatial rings containing other resources.
Then he took out a spatial ring that held a large quantity of Daofall Fragments.
This spatial ring contained over twenty-seven thousand Daofall Fragments, obtained from one of the individuals Li Qi had killed.
With a thought.
A Daofall Fragment the size of a fist appeared in Li Qi’s hand.
"Shush!"
In an instant, the weakened Dixu Heavenly Dao above the dome jolted awake from its dying stupor.
A plump face materialized on the dome, its eyes looking at the Daofall Fragment in Li Qi’s hand with frenzied desire.
It sniffed the air from afar.
A look of intoxicated bliss spread across Dixu Heavenly Dao’s chubby face.
It was this scent! Precisely this scent!
Unforgettable for a lifetime!
(¯﹃¯)(¯﹃¯)(¯﹃¯)
“Heh heh… heh heh heh… heh heh heh heh…”
Unconsciously, Dixu Heavenly Dao reached out its hand, intending to snatch the Daofall Fragment from Li Qi’s grasp without a word.
"Slap!"
The next moment, Li Qi swatted away Dixu Heavenly Dao’s chubby hand.
“Hmm? So rude? No pleasantries this time?”
Just take a sniff, I beg you to let me take a sniff.
I’ll just take one last sniff!
As long as you let me take this one sniff, I’ll be content even if you make me your slave or kill me.
I’ve been feeling ants crawling all over my body because I haven’t been able to sniff anything for so long!
“Hungry, hungry. Baby’s hungry.”
o(╥﹏╥)o
Give it to me, give it to me.
As long as you give it to me, I’ll do whatever you say.
At this moment, Dixu Heavenly Dao was as humble as could be in its desperation for the Daofall Fragment in Li Qi’s hand.
Li Qi was somewhat taken aback by its appearance.
Was the Daofall Fragment in his hand really that amazing?
But looking at Dixu Heavenly Dao’s current state, for some reason.
Li Qi felt as though he was watching someone in his past life who had consumed contraband.
It wasn’t exactly similar, but it was identical.
The only difference was that the more Daofall Fragments were used, the stronger Dixu Heavenly Dao’s main body would become.
Ultimately, Li Qi did not torment Dixu Heavenly Dao.
After all, as a devoted father who had endured hardships.
These Daofall Fragments inherently belonged to it.
“Here, take it.”
With that said, Li Qi casually tossed the Daofall Fragment in his hand towards Dixu Heavenly Dao.