Chapter 511: Greetings, Seniors
“Brother Ghost Officer, you must uphold justice for us! I was just walking down the street when he suddenly saw me and punched me twice! Where’s the reasoning in that?”
“I… I don’t know what came over me either. The moment I saw his face, I felt inexplicably angry and just rushed up and punched him.”
“……”
After listening to the two deceased souls explain the cause and effect, the ghost officer roughly understood. To facilitate management of the Human Reincarnation Path, the Underworld had deceased souls drink Granny Meng’s Soup in advance. These two probably had been enemies in their previous lives, so even after forgetting their past, they instinctively fought upon seeing each other.
He could only have them live in different places, far apart from each other.
“Even after death there’s no relief. Maybe I should just reincarnate and be done with it.” The ghost officer slumped over his desk, having already handled several such cases consecutively.
He was mentally exhausted.
“When the Underworld said they could make an exception to let me stay here, I thought staying in the Underworld would be some kind of good assignment. But it’s still just work.”
“Alright, Little Lu, you’ve got it good. At least the spirits you face still have their wits about them. The ones I deal with are all muddle-headed spirits. If you find it troublesome, we can swap.” A female ghost approached and casually teased the Lu-family-named ghost officer upon seeing his state.
Deceased souls who had cultivation before death could retain their reasoning after drinking Granny Meng’s Soup, but those without cultivation would become confused and disoriented after drinking it.
Although it seemed like everyone in the Nine Provinces World could cultivate, those who actually could were in the minority. Most souls in the Human Reincarnation Path were truly ordinary mortals.
“Besides, it might be tiring now, but could it possibly be more exhausting than when we were alive?”
“It certainly doesn’t compare to when I was alive. Those two living treasures were practically the rivals of my lifetime. Sometimes I really wish the Earth Vein could develop sentience so I could ask it why it chose those two as successors.” The Lu-family-named ghost officer wore an expression of frustrated disappointment.
“Come now, every time you say you dislike those two, but actually you’re secretly thrilled inside. With such outstanding successors, we should treasure them beyond measure. Yet you’re never satisfied, always criticizing with that sharp tongue of yours.” Another ghost officer surnamed Yuan entered as well.
The Lu-family-named ghost officer was taken aback: “Why are you all here? Is today some special occasion? Are we off duty?”
“We were all summoned by King Qinguang. He said to gather here at your place to ask about some matters.”
“King Qinguang is coming here specifically instead of calling us to him?” The Lu-family-named ghost officer was puzzled. The Human Reincarnation Path area was far busier than the Celestial Path area, and King Qinguang had as much work as King Yama, rarely having free time. Under such circumstances, he was actually coming here.
It didn’t make sense.
By now, over a dozen colleagues had gathered in the Lu-family-named ghost officer’s room.
Everyone came from the same world and got along well, chatting about recent news and information from their former living world.
“Well, well, everyone’s here.” As he spoke, King Qinguang stepped into the ghost officers’ room.
“Greetings, King Qinguang.” The group of ghost officers bowed with clasped hands.
“Let’s dispense with the formalities.” King Qinguang waved his hand; such ceremonies weren’t customary here. “You are all cultivators who achieved fame long ago in the Nine Provinces World. I came here to ask if any of you have heard of the Mahayana Stage?”
“The Mahayana Stage… You don’t know about the Mahayana Stage?” The Lu-family-named ghost officer hesitated, and the other ghost officers had similar reactions.
“The Mahayana Stage is the level after the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, the limit of mortal cultivation. Those at this stage can exchange dozens of moves with Celestial Immortals. The Netherfire Immortal Lord from the Immortal Realm and the War Immortal both reached the Mahayana Stage. Isn’t this common knowledge?”
King Qinguang saw how knowledgeably they explained it, as if he were the only ignorant one who didn’t know about the Mahayana Stage: “I’ve been dead for millions of years and have seen countless immortals, but I’ve never heard of any Mahayana Stage.”
The ghost officers looked at each other in confusion. How could this be? Even if the Mahayana Stage was rare, surely Golden Immortal King Qinguang should have heard of it.
King Qinguang didn’t know about it, yet Immortal Elder Changcun did?
It didn’t make sense.
The Underworld didn’t allow cultivation; whatever cultivation level one had in life remained unchanged after death. The ghost officers had never considered or discussed cultivation matters after dying.
“Forget it, let’s not talk about that. Have you heard of a junior named Jiang Li?” King Qinguang fixed his burning gaze on the group of ghost officers, especially the Lu-family-named one.
“Of course we know him! He’s the most outstanding Human Sovereign – his cultivation talent, management ability, and interpersonal skills are the best I’ve ever seen.”
“I thought I would soon meet him in the Underworld, but unexpectedly he reached the Mahayana Stage and gained the capability to fight Earthly Immortals.”
“He finally ended the fate of short-lived Human Sovereigns, becoming the longest-reigning Human Sovereign in history.”
“I always thought the Mahayana Stage was something Immortal Elder Changcun made up to deceive people, but who could have imagined it truly exists and appeared in our Nine Provinces World.”
“Compared to us underachievers, Little Li is far more outstanding. Not only did he maintain peace throughout the Nine Provinces, but he also led by example, established order among the powerful, mapped the Nine Provinces, broke up monopolies, and remained impartial and selfless. We never even dreamed such a situation was possible.”
“We thought the best scenario for the Nine Provinces would be avoiding invasion from the Immortal Realm, but Little Li achieved far more than our wildest imaginations.”
The ghost officers took turns praising Jiang Li, greatly surprising King Qinguang.
Though these ghost officers had the lowest cultivation among all ghost officers, each was exceptionally arrogant and rarely praised anyone.
They indeed had the capital to be proud – slaying immortals with mortal power sounded like fantasy, yet they had all accomplished it.
If the environment permitted them to become immortals, their combat power would undoubtedly stand out even among Earthly Immortals.
Moreover, they were fair-minded, considered the bigger picture, and had broader vision than other ghost immortals.
Remembering what he had seen of Jiang Li’s life in the Book of Life and Death, King Qinguang could understand their praise.
“Do you think this banner is too exaggerated?”
King Qinguang produced a prepared banner that read: “Welcome Human Sovereign Jiang Li’s visit to the Underworld to guide our work.”
Seeing the banner, all the ghost officers fell silent.
“I thought I just heard familiar voices vigorously praising me?” Jiang Li’s head peeked through the doorframe.
Jiang Li smiled as he stepped forward, entering the ghost officers’ room. His eyes swept across the familiar faces one by one, recalling the statues displayed in the Human Sovereign Hall, as if reviewing history. An indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.
The first Human Sovereign… the second Human Sovereign… the twenty-seventh Human Sovereign… the fifty-second Human Sovereign…
Finally, his gaze settled on the Lu-family-named ghost officer.
…and his predecessor, the seventy-first Human Sovereign Lu Yu.
“The seventy-second Human Sovereign Jiang Li pays respects to all esteemed seniors.”
Jiang Li bowed deeply.
The Human Sovereigns were astonished to encounter this outstanding junior here and similarly bowed in return.
“Human Sovereign Jiang.”
Only the old Human Sovereign Lu trembled, tears shimmering in his eyes as he murmured: “You brat, how… how did you come here…”
Jiang Li straightened up, revealing a cunning smile: “Senior Lu, I only faked my death to visit the Underworld for a while. I’ll be returning.”
Jiang Li also had tears in his eyes.