My Endless Life.

Chapter 604 Illusion
Xinlian collapsed beside Li Qi, looking completely broken.

Meanwhile, Li Qi was sitting cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by books of knowledge formed from his consciousness of love.

These books are merely a form here, a form designed to make it easier for others to understand. In reality, Li Qi is absorbing the knowledge within them at an extremely rapid pace.

It just looks like they're flipping through a book.

After what seemed like an eternity, Li Qi finally closed the last book, frowning as he said:

"The way to cultivate soul power is actually like this..."

The method of cultivating consciousness involves inscribing consciousness runes on the surface of the soul. By strengthening one's own soul through these runes, a corresponding mechanical and mecha space is formed, which then merges with the mechanical and mecha created by oneself.

Consciousness, soul, machinery or mechs, or even the star behemoths of the Klund Empire—these are all part of a unified whole.

Once you reach the sixth rank and everything is integrated, you will be able to experience the existence of rules, begin to comprehend the rules of the world, and advance to the seventh rank.

The subsequent training all begins with understanding the rules.

This is a method of cultivating consciousness.

But soul power is different.

In Li Qi's view, the way to cultivate soul power is very similar to the cultivation methods in the Cangxuan Realm and the Eastern Pole Realm.

By absorbing the free-flowing power between heaven and earth, one strengthens one's own soul, elevates oneself layer by layer, and ultimately reaches the realm of immortality of the soul.

The most crucial point lies in absorbing power.

If one cultivates soul power step by step, even a talented person would probably need tens of thousands of years to advance from the first rank to the ninth rank.

Those with less talent might need hundreds of thousands of years.

However, the lifespan of the soul itself is limited. After hundreds of thousands of years, the soul will dissipate. Therefore, cultivators of soul power devised a way to quickly increase their soul power.

By setting up formations, one's soul can traverse other smaller worlds, growing stronger within those smaller worlds and increasing its power in the main world.

Black Dragon entered the martial arts world in this way, and then used the souls of that world as nourishment to improve himself.

If Black Dragon succeeds, he will be able to break through the boundary between the sixth and seventh tiers, and he will not have to worry about encountering obstacles until he reaches the bottleneck of the seventh tier peak.

Because the cultivation methods in the Soul Realm have gradually shifted to focusing on improving one's soul by going to smaller worlds, their cultivation system only includes a small portion of methods that systematically improve soul power.

More importantly, it teaches people how to find small worlds, how to invade the bodies of the original inhabitants of small worlds, and how to absorb the power and rules of small worlds to improve themselves.

The Black Dragon's immense soul power was enhanced in this way.

Therefore, if Li Qi wants to quickly master this power, he must follow his cultivation process.

In other words, Li Qi needs to let his soul enter the small world and absorb its power at this moment.

"But I can't go out right now."

Looking up at the mental space barrier that was being sealed off by the conflict between consciousness and soul power, Li Qi felt a slight unease.

To leave the consciousness space, Li Qi needs to quickly integrate the soul power from the black dragon.

However, if Li Qi wanted to quickly integrate the Black Dragon's soul power, he would have to leave the consciousness space again.

…Oh no, there's a bug.

Li Qi rubbed his head and let out a heavy sigh.

Things have come full circle. If one cultivates soul power step by step, it can indeed speed up the time it takes for Li Qi to wake up.

But that only changes the process of waking up from decades to a few years.

Li Qi hadn't forgotten that his wedding with Sophiuna was just around the corner, and the wedding invitations had already been sent out, with all the major families and powerful figures in the empire already aware of the news.

Now that he's in a deep sleep, whether the wedding is postponed or canceled, it will be a laughing stock for the ducal family and the royal family.

Sophiuna might not say anything, but what will the Empress think? What will the other families think?
"Tsk..."

The more Li Qi thought about it, the more agitated he became. He couldn't help but look at Xin Lian, who was lying face down beside him like a corpse.

Noticing Li Qi's gaze, Xinlian, like a forced little girl, immediately stood up, hugged herself, and backed away, while calling out:
"I've given you everything!! I've given you all the knowledge I can remember!! Even if you force me, I still can't recall anything I don't remember!!"

It seems that Li Qi's inhumane act of scooping out her head has left her with psychological trauma.

And you call this a mech that surpasses the ninth tier?

That makes sense, though. A mecha is a mecha, and a mecha's consciousness is a mecha's consciousness, much like the spirit of a primordial treasure in the cultivation world.

The power of a magical artifact does not necessarily mean that the spirit within it is intelligent.

Of course, Li Qi wasn't saying that Xinlian was stupid; it's just that Xinlian had always relied on her control over the rules of love to make people fall in love with her irrationally, so she didn't use her brain much.

I guess I can't count on Xinlian anymore. Is there any other way to leave this place quickly?
Li Qi shifted his gaze from Xinlian and sat cross-legged, deep in thought.

Seeing that Li Qi was no longer looking at her, Xinlian breathed a sigh of relief. After a while, she seemed to understand something and asked:

"...Soul power cultivation methods are useless to you?"

“It’s useful, but even if I summarize these cultivation methods and create new techniques, I can only shorten the time to within a few years.”

"But I'm getting married in two months."

"What about other cultivation methods?" Xinlian asked.

Li Qi did not answer.

Other cultivation methods include magic visualization diagrams from the magic world, and Qi cultivation methods from the Eastern Realm, another cultivation world outside the Cangxuan Realm. There are also martial arts techniques that lead to enlightenment through martial arts, where a single punch can shatter countless worlds.

These techniques are indeed exquisite, and should all be top-tier cultivation methods from the native realm, but they are of little help to Li Qi at this moment.

Seeing that Li Qi remained silent, Xin Lian knew that the cultivation methods from other worlds were also out of the question. So she also sat down silently next to Li Qi and began to ponder with him.

After a while, Xinlian looked at the intertwined consciousness and soul power above, and suddenly remembered something, asking:

"Rich, shouldn't the main method of cultivating soul power be to go to other small worlds to absorb power?"

"That's it."

"But...isn't the power right here?"

Xinlian pointed to the barrier of the consciousness space.

Li Qi paused for a moment, then looked at the still clashing consciousness and soul power, and suddenly understood something:
"what do you mean……"

"The goal of soul power cultivation is not to enter a small world, but to absorb the power of the current world and integrate that power into oneself. Since this power is right here, why don't you try creating an 'illusion' of the small world, throw this power in, and then accelerate the absorption?"

The meaning of "heart's desire" is that the small world is a transit point and power is the core. If Li Qi can use his own power to construct an environment similar to the small world and filter his soul power in it, then he might be able to accelerate the absorption of soul power.

However, if it is done in this way, it is actually no different from directly absorbing soul power.

To complete this method, additional intermediaries are needed.

“I can’t do it alone,” Li Qi said, looking at Xinlian.

Xinlian turned to Li Qi and smiled, "So I'm not here?"

"..."

"What, you still don't believe me at this point? Fine, whatever, I'm not in a hurry to get out anyway."

Seeing Li Qi remain silent, Xin Lian put her hands behind her head and fell to the ground, appearing indifferent.

She wasn't in a hurry at all. After all, the World Sea had been sealed for so many years, so staying here a few more years wouldn't make a difference.

To be honest, Li Qi's distrust of her hurt her somewhat. After all, they were comrades-in-arms who fought side by side, yet Li Qi still didn't open his heart to her.

Xinlian lay silently beside him, while Li Qi sat there thinking for a long time.

Finally, he closed his eyes and exhaled:
"Okay, let's try your method."

"Hmph, I'm angry. Go do it yourself." Li Qi relented, but Xin Lian threw a tantrum. She crossed her arms and turned her head away from Li Qi, grumbling and whining, completely unlike the mature person she was when they first met.

Li Qi remained expressionless and did not try to persuade him. Instead, he said:

"My consciousness is transforming into soul power. When that happens, your inheritance will also separate from me, right? Tell me, what would happen if I threw you into the World Ocean?"

"..." Upon hearing Li Qi's words, Xin Lian immediately jumped up from the ground, staring at Li Qi in disbelief: "You're too heartless!! Can't you say something nice to persuade me? What's with threatening me!"

"Oh, so this is what you wanted." Li Qi understood, nodded, then turned to face Xin Lian and said seriously:
"It was my fault just now, so please help me, Miss Xinlian."

"The apology felt so forced and insincere..."

"Will you help or not?" Li Qi's eyes turned dangerous again.

"...Fine, I guess I'm just unlucky since you're my current driver."

Xinlian resigned herself to her bad luck and said nothing more. She stood up and extended her hand to Li Qi, saying:
"Grab my hand and give me the rest of your consciousness. I'll help you filter out that soul power."

"can."

Li Qi decisively placed his hand on Xinlian's hand.

Since we've decided to trust her here, there's no need to hesitate.

Anyway, Li Qi believed that Zelia was watching from outside, and if Xinlian dared to do anything underhanded, he would definitely not be the one who got hurt.

Two glowing palms touched each other. Xinlian closed her eyes and said to Li Qi:

"Close your eyes and imagine the small worlds you've visited before. I will use them as a basis to create illusions."

The small world that Xinlian talks about is the small world that Li Qi once went through for the secret realm assessment and visited using the game engine.

Not because she knew that Li Qi was a time traveler.

Li Qi nodded slightly, and before handing over his remaining consciousness to Xinlian, he suddenly asked:
"Can you see what's happening to me in this conjured little world?"

"No, I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, I have no intention of prying into your privacy, and I can't do it."

"Why can't it be done?"

"Do you think absorbing soul power is simple? Once the soul power has completely entered your small world for you to absorb, the conjured small world will be sealed off. My consciousness cannot enter, nor is it possible for it to enter, because once it enters, it will interfere with your absorption process."

"So... are you still worried now?"

In the end, Xinlian looked at Li Qi helplessly.

Li Qi's wariness of her saddened her and left her speechless. Being wary is a good thing, but being too wary can be annoying.

Li Qi ignored what Xinlian was thinking. Once he was sure she wasn't lying, he simply closed his eyes.

In an instant, dazzling light enveloped the two of them.

(End of this chapter)