Chapter 173: Can Martial Arts Really Extend Lifespan?

“I don’t know when you arrived in the Nine Provinces, but one thing’s for sure—you didn’t arrive recently,” Ji Zhi pointed at his own double pupils and said, “At most, I can see events from two hundred eighty years ago. And you were already frozen in the Extreme North back then.”
“It wasn’t until recently that a passing cultivator accidentally stacked two Warming Talismans. He felt they were too hot and threw one away in a panic.”
“The Warming Talisman kept releasing heat, melting the snow and ice, and eventually thawed the ice block covering you.”
Ji Zhi explained what he had seen of the past.

“Maybe he arrived five hundred years ago,” Jiang Li said. According to the mission released by the system, the Twelve Heavenly Kings descended upon the Huan Yu World five hundred years ago in Nine Provinces’ time.
He’d also compared the flow of time between Huan Yu and the Nine Provinces: five hundred years in Nine Provinces equaled exactly three hundred years in Huan Yu, which lined up with what Teacher Meng said about their history.
“According to the locals, the Twelve Heavenly Kings arrived three hundred years ago.”

“So that much time has passed… those world-destroying Kings must’ve already been wiped out by our Human Pinnacles,” Abu wiped his tears. Seeing how peaceful his homeland was now, things must have already been resolved.
Thinking back on how tense he’d been the past few days, it felt a bit ridiculous.
Now that he realized, Abu completely relaxed and collapsed into a chair.
But how did those powerful Kings get defeated? Were there more strong people in our world than I thought? Or some method I didn’t know about?
None of that matters—as long as I’m still alive, nothing else matters…

Abu felt groggy, like he was about to pass out, then suddenly jolted awake.
He remembered the things people in Huan Yu had said.
“Wait a minute… why couldn’t I understand anything people were saying?”
Jiang Li sighed.
As expected, there was something seriously wrong with these Twelve Heavenly Kings. They were nothing like what the history books described.
“It’s a long story. I’ll explain when I get back.”
“Teleport back to the Nine Provinces.”
【System Notification: After this teleportation back to the Nine Provinces, your free teleportation quota will be used up. If you wish to return to the Huan Yu World, it will cost 76,600 Source Points.】
【Proceed with teleportation?】

Jiang Li frowned deeply. The system’s message was clear—76,600 Source Points was an astronomical number for someone at the Golden Core Stage. Once he returned to the Nine Provinces, it’d be nearly impossible to come back.
What should he do? Just go back like this?
Oh, right. I’m Mahayana Stage now. I’ve got Source Points for days. Never mind.

…

“Old Bai, time to go. Let me show you what other worlds are like. Also, can you draw a few more Remote Communication Talismans? Ji Zhi can’t reach me, and I can’t reach Yu Yin.”
“Sure.”
“Meet at the Human Sovereign Hall. There’s a local there.”

…

Jiang Li found Yu Yin again—she was attending morning court. On the royal court floor, ministers stood trembling.
The sheer pressure from watching four Tribulation Stage cultivators go all-out in battle in space a few days ago was still too fresh. The moment they remembered that one of the four was their own Empress, they felt chills down their spine.
Even those without guilt were afraid—let alone those with skeletons in their closets.

Yu Yin was well aware of which ministers were corrupt and scheming, and who had formed cliques.
She knew everything—but she didn’t care. These people had their ambitions, but they were also highly competent. The Tianyuan Dynasty still needed them.
She wasn’t worried about their petty tricks threatening her rule. She’d just shown them what Tribulation Stage power looked like. Any minister who dared think otherwise now obediently tucked his tail between his legs and did his job properly.
As long as she remained in the Tribulation Stage, those ministers could never stir the waters, let alone cause a wave.

After court was dismissed, Jiang Li found Yu Yin carefully shaking her Ruyi Gourd, opening its mouth to pour thick lightning-infused syrup into a bowl.
Yu Yin picked up the bowl, drank it all in one go, and let out a satisfied sigh.

“What’s that?”
Jiang Li appeared and asked curiously.
“Human Sovereign.” The palace maids saw Jiang Li and quickly bowed.
“You’ve really mastered this concealment technique,” Yu Yin looked at Jiang Li, unsure how long he’d been secretly watching her.
“This is diluted Lightning Tribulation Syrup. Just discovered it recently—tastes better than wine. Try it.”
Yu Yin poured another bowl from the Ruyi Gourd and handed it to Jiang Li.

Jiang Li took a sip and his eyes lit up.
“Good stuff.”
“Hehe, I made it specially for my master,” the Ruyi Gourd said proudly. It believed that as a gourd, it shouldn’t just serve as a weapon—it needed to diversify.
The Lightning Tribulation Syrup was its masterpiece.

The gourd would brew the lightning tribulation inside itself, compressing it into syrup. Through constant shaking, it weakened the syrup’s power until it was safe for a Tribulation Stage cultivator to drink.
Only cultivators above the Tribulation Stage could safely consume it. A Fusion Stage cultivator drinking one bowl would need another bowl of Meng Po Soup to reincarnate—otherwise the Underworld wouldn’t even let them in.
Truly, a “buy one, get one (funeral) free” deal.

“Master, why use a bowl? Just drink straight from me!” the Ruyi Gourd said excitedly, revealing its true intentions.
Yu Yin thought about how she usually kicked or stomped on the gourd and firmly refused.

“Can we go to the other world now?”
“Of course.”
Jiang Li told Yu Yin to head to the Human Sovereign Hall first, while he went to Mount Sumeru to borrow the Brahma Tower.

“This is the local you mentioned?” Bai Hongtu was already waiting in the Human Sovereign Hall, having heard the full story from Ji Zhi and Commander Liu.
“Greetings, Sect Master Bai. Greetings, Your Majesty,” Abu was extremely nervous, surrounded by three out of the five Tribulation Stage cultivators.

“A local from centuries ago—perfect to take along.”
“You going?” Jiang Li asked Ji Zhi.
“Busy cultivating. Not going.” Ji Zhi had made up his mind to train hard so he could beat Jiang Li.
Of course, not the current Jiang Li—but the one from the past.
Ji Zhi estimated that once he reached peak Fusion or Tribulation Stage, he could travel through the River of Time and go back five hundred years to teach Jiang Li a lesson.

The system had recorded the coordinates of the Huan Yu World. Using those, the Brahma Tower constructed a temporary portal. The four of them stepped through and arrived in the Huan Yu World.

“This is a world where everyone practices martial arts. Everyone here is at least at the peak of Qi Refining Level 2, half a step into Level 3—terrifying!” Bai Hongtu was shocked. With just a sweep of his divine sense, he found that everyone here had powerful bodies, even without formal cultivation.
Of course, compared to the Nine Provinces—where even commoners were at Qi Refining Level 3—they still lagged behind.

“These people’s devotion to the martial path is admirable. They’d rather live only to forty than give up martial arts!”
That’s what surprised Bai Hongtu the most. Cultivation made you stronger and also extended your life—a perfect path. Most people chose cultivation because of the longevity. Getting stronger was just a bonus.
But here, people were willingly giving up a natural lifespan of 140 years just to walk the martial path through lifespan-burning techniques.

These were true seekers of the Dao. Bai Hongtu saluted them.
Yu Yin rolled her pretty eyes—she couldn’t tell if Bai Hongtu was being sincere or sarcastic.

“No way! Martial arts extend life! How could we only live to forty?” Abu shouted.
Jiang Li could no longer take the phrase “extend life” seriously: “Then how long do you live? Fifty?”
“Martial artists can at least live to eighty!”