Chapter 515 - 514 - We, the unskilled, wish to compete with Jiang, the Human Emperor
“I don’t know a great deal about the affairs of the Yang Realm, please describe the current state of the Red Dust Fairy.” The Underworld rarely takes notice of the Yang Realm’s affairs; in most cases, they get their information from the mouths of the dead.
Only one person knew about the reincarnation of the Red Dust Fairy and her arrival in the Underworld — the traitor of the Red Dust Pure Land, Xuan Ai Daoist Nun.
The Xuan Ai Daoist Nun did not disclose details about the fairy
Jiang Li describes the condition of the Red Dust Fairy in detail.
King Qinguang, who stored the banner, said, “Fortunately, you did not publicize the information about the reincarnation of Red Dust Fairy, otherwise chaos would break loose in Jiuzhou.”
“You may not know. When the Red Dust Fairy passed away several ten thousand years ago, many individuals who died afterwards came to Underworld, asking where the Red Dust Fairy was, as they wished to see her one last time. I came across this question five thousand times a day!”
“The real Red Dust Fairy returned to the Heavenly Dao after her death and didn’t come to the Underworld.”
At this moment, the female ghost officer said, “According to the Human Emperor’s claim, the reborn Red Dust Fairy has no connection with the Heavenly Dao. She must have gained spirit wisdom due to her physical body’s prolonged exposure to spiritual energy.”
“As long as she has no relationship with the Heavenly Dao, that would be good.” Jiang Li felt slightly relieved upon hearing that the female ghost officer’s statement matched that of the Long-staying Fairy Elder, inferring that there should not be any issues.
Jiang Li continued his conversation with the Human Emperors for quite a while before taking his leave.
Along the way, the lively female ghost officer watched Jiang Li and said, “I thought you would propose to have them resurrected.”
“Would the Underworld agree? Would the Earth Deity agree?”
The female ghost officer shook her head. “This is not a question of whether or not the Earth Deity would agree. Even if she did, the rules of life and death reincarnation would not.”
“Nothing in the world surpasses the power of rules. The rule of life and death reincarnation cannot be changed. If the Human Emperor forcibly brings someone back to life, it would disturb the balance of life and death, leading to the collapse of the reincarnation rules.”
“Are the rules of reincarnation so easily broken?”
“…I think this might not be an issue of the rules being easily broken.”
Jiang Li didn’t go to the path of animals and directly arrived at hell.
“Hell is divided into Eight Cold Hells, Eight Hot Hells, Avici Hell, and Loneliness Hell, with a Yama presiding over each of the four Hells.”
Jiang Li stood in the corner of the Eight Cold Hells, watching in silence the old Buddha of Sumeru who was being punished.
The old Buddha of Sumeru, who had already become an immortal spirit, was struggling desperately. There were ice stalagmites standing upside down on the ice field. The barefooted Sumeru Old Buddha, with every step he took, left a footprint on the ice field, allowing the ice stalagmites to penetrate his feet.
The cold wind was sharp and piercing, howling through the air. The Sumeru Old Buddha was without clothing and could only allow the cold wind to blow. Here, the old Buddha was no different from mortals.
The cold wind blew blisters all over the old Buddha’s body. Blisters bubbled up on the blisters, rendering no part of his body unscathed.
The old Buddha wept and sobbed, not for himself, but in sorrow for involving his master in the animal realm’s reincarnation cycle.
Perhaps at this very moment, his master was being slaughtered to satisfy the hunger of a living being.
Tears turned into crystalline ice, returning to the old Buddha’s eyes, blinding him.
The old Buddha’s eyes restored, he began to weep anew.
The old Buddha walked farther and farther, his immortal spirit becoming stiff. Eventually, he was frozen into a block of ice. The ice field suddenly split open, and the old Buddha fell off the cliff, shattering into pieces.
Even though he was frozen, the old Buddha could still feel the pain, which amounted to being beaten to death.
The Immortal spirit automatically stuck together, returning to the ice fields, and the old Buddha continued his journey.
Jiang Li let out a long sigh, without any intention of speaking to the old Buddha of Sumeru.
Jiang Li walked through hell, witnessing countless beings suffering there, eliciting a mix of feelings within him. The female ghost officer quietly followed behind him, remaining silent.
Jiang Li also noticed some souls that had been in Hell for so long that they had grown numb, their movements stiff, no longer aware of their surroundings. Ghost officials would approach these souls, giving them a specially brewed Mengpo soup that made them forget the pain they had endured, allowing them to re-experience it.
“If they knew this fate, why did they act so in the first place?” The ghost officer sighed philosophically.
If these souls knew they would be punished after death, they would not have committed such deeds in the first place.
Jiang Li was curious: “Why not make the Underworld’s affairs public to the Ten Thousand Realms? That could discourage people from committing evil for fear of Hell.”
“Human Emperor, if we disclose the Underworld’s affairs to the world, how would that be different from the Underworld ruling over the Yang Realm?”
Jiang Li nodded, comprehending the female ghost officer’s point, and ceased speaking.
In the Eight Hot Hells, Jiang Li encountered the only Crossing the Tribulations cultivator who had attempted to establish an immortal dynasty in the Ancient World, the Heavenly Monarch.
His sins were even greater than those of the Old Buddha of Sumeru, enduring various tortures.
The Heavenly Monarch was angry, roaring, begging, begging for mercy… it served no purpose, he still had to wash away his karma in Hell.
Not only was the Heavenly Monarch there, but most cultivators from the Ancient World were also present.
After walking for a while, Jiang Li suddenly asked, “Why do I see so many cultivators among the souls in hell?”
The female ghost officer pointed to the cultivators below, who were burned by the raging fire and on the verge of collapse, and said, “Because a cultivator’s capacity for evil far surpasses that of a mortal.”
“The evil of a mortal only affects a few people, and it’s difficult to reach the level of suffering inflicted in the Underworld. Merely reincarnating in the animal realm serves an adequate punishment.”
“But cultivators are different. Cultivators wield the power of heaven and earth. They have the power of life and death in their hands, capable of killing others with ease. Often, the rise of a cultivator is accompanied by countless deaths.”
“This is the case in any cultivation world, whether it’s the Immortal Realm or the previous Jiuzhou. Human emperor, do you realize how unique the current Jiuzhou is?”
Jiang Li headed to the Loneliness Hell.
Loneliness Hell, as the name implies, had nothing. No sounds, no objects, just endless white stretches as far as the eye could see.
Many souls could not bear such solitude and began tearing at their own spirits. Unfortunately, this method was useless. In Loneliness Hell, souls did not have any sensations, they were not even entitled to feel the pain.
In Loneliness Hell, Jiang Li encountered Jiang Yixing, who was also tearing at his own spirit.
Jiang Yixing saw Jiang Li and was overjoyed. He wanted Jiang Li to take him out. He ran desperately, but found the distance between him and Jiang Li increasing. Eventually, Jiang Li disappeared from his sight.
Jiang Li shook his head. “Let’s go and check out the Reincarnation Area.”
The female ghost officer was about to lead Jiang Li away when four Yamas blocked their path. They looked ferocious, cracking their knuckles and releasing an aura of Golden Immortals.
“We heard so much about the grandeur of Jiang Human Emperor, with King Chujiang failing to withstand even one of your moves. We’d like to spar with you despite our inadequacy.”
The female ghost officer did her duty and introduced them to Jiang Li. “These four are Yama, the rulers of four hells. They are King Wu Guan, King Bian Cheng, King Taishan, and King Du Shi…”
With each introduction, Jiang Li took one down. When the female ghost officer finished the introductions, all four Yamas were lying on the ground, incapable of getting up.
It was quite a coincidence.
“Fighting four is indeed more challenging than fighting one. I had to throw four punches.”
Jiang Li shook his hand, feeling that his bones were yet to warm up. “Now we can go to the Reincarnation Area.”