The next psychological cue was connected to his goal.
He left clues about that goal, and through an open scheme, he preserved the memory that his own thoughts and memories could be changed. This led to immense humiliation for the one who could read his mind. It further increased the chances of the opponent taking the bait.
When Li Gang's next psychological cue was activated, he triggered his Special Ability — the Creator's Will.
According to his subconscious considerations during the Awakening Ceremony, this should have caused a three-way battle between the Elemental Emperor, Wang Xueyao (his ally), and Immortal Zhu (the one who could read his mind).
But what if they didn't battle? Wouldn't everything be for naught? Wouldn't his life be in danger?
Li Gang had prepared another psychological cue for that scenario.
If his plan failed, he would force his brain into an active state again and ensure that the bait disappeared.
He already knew they wouldn't kill him unless they were confident they could obtain the treasure within him, except Elemental Emperor whose stance was unclear. Li Gang wouldn't put his own life at risk for an outcome he wasn't confident he could achieve.
One of the psychological cues involved grasping the weakness of a strong healer during the exploration of the opportunity. He was sure that even if he were given the Elemental Emperor's Inheritance, it wouldn't be exclusive to him. There is no closed door for secrets. It would spread, and more and more Warriors would come. There would surely be a vast number of Warriors, practicing diverse elements and professions.
Unfortunately, the healer turned out to be Li Yuxong, which was among the worst possible situations for him. Li Gang couldn't afford to use his own family to control Li Yuxong, because he had to make sure he remained righteous. He couldn't target his own family for it.
What he intended to do was grasp the person whom the particular 'healer' cherished most, and then somehow do him a favor. It would be much better if that person were his spouse, his son, his daughter or his parents.
Even if there were no such person, he could create one. But once again, it was foiled by Wang Xueyao, who revealed to Li Yuxong Li Gang's involvement in bringing them together as a couple. However, it didn't affect the bigger picture.
When he brought out his Creator's Will Special Ability, he lost both his conscious and subconscious thoughts, but the psychological cue remained. It directed him to kill every single Warrior he saw in the Monarch Inheritance, except for the spouse of Li Yuxong — the healer's weakness. In this form, Li Gang gained immense strength. He planned to eliminate the Elemental Emperor with it as well, since he was the major threat. At the same time, to prepare for future healing, he would deliberately avoid Li Yuxong's spouse. Seeing his state, she would surely contact Li Yuxong. Now, the premise of everything was based on the fact that he had already established a prior positive relationship with that healer and his "weakness."
Thus, Li Gang would be able to handle all three threats at the same time and also deal with the post-war consequences.
Unfortunately, his plan didn't unfold exactly as he had foreseen in his subconscious. Before the psychological cue could direct him to kill all the surviving Warriors in the Monarch Inheritance, Wang Xueyao directed him toward Jade Harbor City, foiling his preparations. Li Gang had foreseen multiple possibilities, and what actually happened wasn't too far from his expectations. At least the result was in his favor. He failed to kill the Elemental Emperor, but Immortal Zhu died — all because of one variable: Wang Xueyao.
At the same time, Li Gang managed to kill most of the Warriors from the Monarch Inheritance, as they were mostly from Jade Harbor City, where Wang Xueyao had directed him.
From Immortal Chen's perspective, most of the Warriors involved in the Monarch Inheritance had died. He understood that the Elemental Emperor had been involved and certainly wouldn't die in such a catastrophe or massacre.
After comparing those who were still alive following the catastrophe, Immortal Chen was able to pinpoint Deng Wei.
Throughout this entire period, another psychological cue had been in effect for Li Gang.
Back during the Monarch Inheritance, Li Gang always tried to understand himself. He believed that only by understanding himself could he understand others and see through their schemes.
But in fact, it was merely an excuse he had prepared.
His true intention behind all this was for the post-catastrophe period. Of course, Li Gang hadn't known that Wang Xueyao's existence would cause a catastrophe, but it turned out to be beneficial for him.
After the incident ended, he pushed all the blame onto the Elemental Emperor. At the same time, he now knew his mind was being read and his thoughts were being influenced. He could reassess every thought and question every action he had performed, whether in the past or present, and then decide his next steps. Understanding himself further helped him resist mental erosion. At least in the short term, his thoughts couldn't be influenced.
He also knew that any plan he made could yield unknown results. Therefore, he had to prepare sufficient contingencies and verify at every turn whether his plans were proceeding as expected.
Now, the last point was this: what was the Elemental Emperor's plan? And what were the Elemental Emperor's actions from Li Gang's perspective?
Li Gang wasn't sure whether the Elemental Emperor could take direct action against him. The opportunity (Monarch Inheritance) appeared much earlier than he had expected. He thought he had sufficient time to establish a proper background, but it appeared right after the Awakening Ceremony.
Li Gang could only rely on Wang Xueyao, and once again, it worked in his favor.
The Elemental Emperor could never harm Li Gang as long as Wang Xueyao was alive. Even after she left Li Gang, she would visit the Elemental Emperor herself. This was what Li Gang wanted to exploit.
He wanted to shift the Elemental Emperor's attention toward Wang Xueyao.
He asked Wang Xueyao to protect his family for ten years precisely because the loophole he had left could be used to target them.
In this way, the Elemental Emperor would do his utmost to target Wang Xueyao. He would surely exploit it, since it would also create a chance to involve the mind reader. Here, the loophole meant revelation of Li Gang's entire conspiracy!
It should be noted that Huang Shu's survival wasn't entirely because of the Elemental Emperor; it also occurred due to the Law of Unpredictability. Even if he hadn't survived, the plan would have proceeded smoothly. The Elemental Emperor would still have leaked Li Gang's schemes somehow and blamed him for Tang Liuyue's death.
The mind reader would definitely not give up the chance to keep Li Gang's family as hostages, as a preparation in case they failed to make Li Gang their puppet in future.
But couldn't they take the hostages at any time? Why must do it now?
Because according to Li Gang's plan, the Elemental Emperor would block Wang Xueyao while the Jade Harbor Warriors tried to kill his family. They had to take them hostage at that very moment, or watch them die and allow elimination of the only weakness Li Gang can possibly have.
This was also what actually happened. The Elemental Emperor blocked Wang Xueyao. She could have released her seals, but her goal all along had been Li Gang, not his family. So she wouldn't release her seal unless necessary. Besides, she had promised their protection, and they wouldn't be in danger even against Immortals. This confrontation was also the reason why Wang Xueyao leaves message to Li Gang via Wang Xiaoyan, to warn him about Elemental Emperor.
Now, wasn't Li Gang vile to use his own family as bait? Shouldn't he be affected even more by the mental erosion of Immortals?
This was where the beauty of the entire plan lay.
He had planned everything through his subconscious memories during the Awakening Ceremony. As a consequence, he had no memory of using his own family as bait. During the Catastrophe, he was still someone who genuinely cared about his family. He still possessed the righteousness within him — and that righteousness resisted the mental erosion.
Even if it had been Immortal Zhu who returned instead of Immortal Chen, realizing Li Gang's scheming ability, he would have lost control over Li Gang's thoughts. He could only read his mind, not alter his thoughts.
What was the result of everything?
First, Immortal Zhu died.
In Li Gang's original plan, each side would be harmed equally. His subconscious plan hadn't considered the possibility that his ally would be far stronger than his opponent. That outcome was too advantageous, and he wouldn't have objected to such an advantage. So there had been no need to consider it further.
The Law of Unpredictability was always in effect. What Li Gang truly foresaw didn't happen. However, he had considered all contingencies. Even if the plan didn't proceed as he wished, it would still lead to an advantageous position.
This wasn't the end.
After Immortal Zhu died, Immortal Chen decided to handle the affairs of the Divine Spirit World himself. Unlike Immortal Zhu, Immortal Chen was much stronger and far more shrewd.
Li Gang had assumed that after Immortal Zhu learned his lesson, he would return stronger. At that time, it would have been harder to deceive him. Instead, Immortal Zhu died and was replaced by a much more shrewd opponent. Yet it still worked in Li Gang's favor.
This was why all the arrangements Li Gang made had to pin the blame on the Elemental Emperor. Li Gang had to appear as the perfect victim, who lost his parents and "accidentally" triggered his Special Ability.
Now, Immortal Chen could only read surface memories. He could never read all the subconscious thoughts Li Gang had harbored during this entire time.
After examining the memories of every being, he reached one conclusion — it was done by the Elemental Emperor.
Immortal Chen suspected Li Gang at first and was able to connect several clues. It was Li Gang's actions that had triggered Immortal Zhu to attack him. It was his actions that had led to Immortal Zhu's death.
But there were a few crucial points that convinced him it couldn't have been Li Gang.
First, Immortal Zhu could read his memories and subconscious thoughts. So Li Gang couldn't possibly have formed any plan after leaving the Awakening Ceremony. And with his mortal soul, he couldn't possibly control his subconscious thoughts during the Awakening Ceremony.
Second, during the Awakening Ceremony, he wasn't aware of Wang Xueyao's or Lin Fan's existence. If it had truly been him, he would have had to fake his identity as the Timeless Demon God at that point. For this to happen, Li Gang would have needed to subconsciously deduce Wang Xueyao's plan and simultaneously deduce the consequence of not absorbing the full memories. However, if he had truly deduced that, Immortal Zhu would have known — unless he had done it with Abstract Thinking. No mortal could use Abstract Thinking.
Lastly, Li Gang had possessed his Special Ability since the day he was born. Even if he decided not to think about it, that decision itself would have appeared in his subconscious. Yet it never appeared, allowing him to deceive Immortal Zhu. If Li Gang had truly planned everything, he must have been able to use Abstract Thinking. Immortal Chen was fairly confident in his judgment: Li Gang couldn't possibly use Abstract Thinking.
At the same time, Immortal Chen also pinpointed the Elemental Emperor's original body — Deng Wei.
There were still a few unanswered questions.
Why was Li Gang able to fake his identity?
Why was Li Gang able to control his subconscious and implant psychological cues within himself during the Awakening Ceremony with only a mortal soul?
Is Li Gang truly the Creator, as Immortal Zhu predicted?
Can he truly use Abstract Thinking?
Were these the only psychological cues he had arranged?