Chapter 516: Only This Life
“Is there a backup of this thing?” Jiang Li stroked the Six Paths of Reincarnation Stele. The stele’s surface was rough; from it he sensed a dense aura of the Way of life-and-death reincarnation.
He tried to comprehend it, but gained nothing.
Only the dead could comprehend the Way of life-and-death reincarnation; Jiang Li’s false-death state prevented him from understanding it.
The female ghost official warned cautiously, “Don’t go messing with it. This thing is very difficult to refine. Houtu Huangqi spent a long time and a lot of effort to reforge one. Back then the entire Reincarnation Sector stopped operating; King Lunzhuan and King Pingdeng rested while only Houtu Huangqi worked overtime. It was really not easy.”
“I wasn’t trying to experiment. I’m not that sort of person.” Jiang Li explained earnestly, though the female ghost official wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Human Sovereign Jiang.” Two Yama Kings appeared behind Jiang Li, clasping their fists in salute.
Jiang Li didn’t have to guess to know they were King Lunzhuan and King Pingdeng.
He half-smiled and asked, “What, you two want to try out my skills as well?”
“It’s not just the two of us—it’s all ten of us.”
King Pingdeng spread his arms, and eight towering figures wrapped in deathly qi materialized behind him.
The Ten Yama Kings were all present!
“Human Sovereign Jiang, earlier I being knocked out by one of your punches was just an accident. This time I’ve made full preparations. Let’s fight again!”
King Chujiang revealed his true Qilin form, radiating the majestic might of the first Qilin that split the heavens and earth.
“We four feel the same. It was just that you moved too fast and caught us off guard with a single punch each. We thought the ground was comfortable and lay down for a bit. This time we won’t go easy on you!”
The four Yama Kings in charge of the four major hells spoke in unison, brimming with fighting spirit as they began to gather great-power divine techniques.
King Yama wondered whether he had come too hastily—he should have investigated before showing up. Five of his colleagues had been punched by Human Sovereign Jiang; something about that didn’t add up at all.
They had come too rashly.
King Pingdeng’s face twitched. Fine, being beaten was one thing, but to still speak with such righteous certainty—have some shame.
“You all came here—have your duties all been finished?” Jiang Li reached up and scratched his ear.
The Ten Yama Kings froze; the swirling death qi around them even began to dissipate.
“This person’s combat strength is unclear. All of us go in at once and test his depth!” At this point, it was necessary to fight. King Pingdeng waved his hand and directed the other nine Yama Kings.
King Chujiang struck first, spitting forth the primordial Bagua Displacement Fire—Southern Brightness Leaving Fire. A river of Weak Water formed beneath him; flames billowed while the Weak Water would not buoy anything!
King Song Diwang blew out ancient black snow accompanied by roaring, furious winds. The wind and snow combined could freeze souls and send them plunging into an abyss of endless calamity!
King Yama drew forth the Book of Life and Death and aimed it at Jiang Li. A brilliant reflection shone forth; with the judge’s pen he intended to reduce Jiang Li’s lifespan!
King Biancheng, King of the Capital City, King Lunzhuan and the others likewise spared no effort, all attacking Jiang Li together.
The Ten Yama Kings were all Golden Immortals; their joint assault promised tremendous power!
“Seeing it like this, Golden Immortals are indeed stronger than Celestial Immortals by quite a bit.” Jiang Li smiled, sizing up the power contained in those moves. He commented unhurriedly: any one of the Ten Yama Kings alone could crush the Executor of Honghu.
“Then I’ll play along with you.” Jiang Li took a step and moved a thousand meters, appearing right in front of King Chujiang.
King Chujiang’s face went pale. He caused the Weak Water beneath him to surge and try to drown Jiang Li.
Weak Water doesn’t support even a feather, and Jiang Li sank to the bottom.
Jiang Li spoke softly, “To harmonize heaven and earth.”
A gigantic figure rose from the Weak Water river; the best way to avoid drowning was to rise above the water level.
The enormous Jiang Li drove a fist down into King Chujiang, burying him directly into the earth.
“Although I don’t refine pills, I do know a little about fire control.” A ball of flame appeared in Jiang Li’s hand—the very Southern Brightness Leaving Fire that King Chujiang had been prepared to use.
King Chujiang panicked as he realized his connection to the Southern Brightness Leaving Fire had been severed—Jiang Li had somehow refined Chujiang’s Southern Brightness Leaving Fire without Chujiang’s awareness!
“The legendary immortal flame—its temperature is decent, but it seems to enclose another flame within.”
Jiang Li pulled and extracted the flame hidden inside the Southern Brightness Leaving Fire.
The soul-defeating flame: the Netherworld Ghost Fire.
King Chujiang had planned for the Southern Brightness Leaving Fire to explode, letting the Netherworld Fire gnaw like maggots at Jiang Li’s soul, burning him, but he never expected Jiang Li to strip it away.
The Southern Brightness Leaving Fire in Jiang Li’s hand roared, light shooting high.
The Yama Kings were incredulous—this was many times, even dozens of times stronger than the Southern Brightness Leaving Fire King Chujiang had just used!
And King Chujiang had only just obtained the Southern Brightness Leaving Fire!
Jiang Li wrapped his two hands respectively with the Southern Brightness Leaving Fire and the Netherworld Ghost Fire, like red and black gloves.
He threw a light, effortless punch that sprayed countless sparks; the black snow King Song Diwang had blown out was actually ignited.
The punch carried wind; the black snow burned by the Netherworld Ghost Fire stuck onto King Song Diwang, forcing him to howl in pain.
King Yama tried to move his pen to alter Jiang Li’s lifespan. But as soon as he began to write, the pen’s shaft stiffened and trembled, then snapped in two.
It was as if that stroke would touch upon major karmic consequences—if the pen must break, it refused to write.
“No matter how strong you are in this life, it’s only this life. Your next life cannot be as powerful as this one!”
A multitude of interlocking gears rose behind King Lunzhuan. She pointed at Jiang Li and the gears began to spin rapidly, intending to transform Jiang Li into the appearance of his next life.
This was King Lunzhuan’s trump card technique, “Traverse into the Next Life,” which turns an enemy into their next-life form. No living being can be equally powerful across past, present, and future lifetimes.
Not even the Dao Ancestor could do it!
“No—this is impossible!” King Lunzhuan shrieked in panic and stumbled backward repeatedly.
“How can anyone have no next life, be undying? Why can’t I force you into becoming your next life?”
King Lunzhuan found that not only could she not make Jiang Li as firm as a rock, there were no signs of reincarnation at all. She saw that Jiang Li’s lifespan exceeded what the Book of Life and Death recorded—an end she could not even see.
Or perhaps this person’s lifespan truly had a limit?
Even the claimed infinite-lifespan Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal had a finite life.
“What is this—he has only a past life and this life, but no next life?” King Lunzhuan shivered; she could not comprehend it. Could anyone truly be that powerful?
King Lunzhuan had seen the Dao Ancestor, Houtu Huangqi, and the Immortal Emperor, yet none had shown this condition.
Jiang Li could not understand it either, but that did not stop him from fighting.
King Lunzhuan’s abdomen received a punch from Jiang Li; she spun away, her back gears collapsing and scattering to the ground.
King Lunzhuan was a female ghost; Jiang Li spared her face and didn’t strike her across the face.
She flew up in embarrassment and anger.
“Even if you lack a next life, you must have a past life. I refuse to believe this is your first life!”
“Reverse to the Past Life!” King Lunzhuan roared. The fallen gears reappeared behind her, forming a completely different arrangement than before.
Jiang Li calmly took the blow, and still nothing happened.
King Lunzhuan likewise failed to revert Jiang Li to a past life.
“You actually have no past life, no future life—only this life!” King Lunzhuan staggered backward; those two moves had drained all her strength.
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow.