169: Chapter 169 Paradoxical Tribulation

"What kind of bullshit tribulation is this? It's too abstract."

Zhao Yi cursed under his breath, "Dammit."

"I've died ninety-nine times. The World-Destroying Millstone Tribulation, the Three-Colored Lightning Tribulation, the Jade Void Tribulation, the Solitude Tribulation, the Mirror Tribulation... the Heat Death Tribulation, and so on."

"I've tasted every possible way to die."

"But the final tribulation is 'dying for why one dies'? What kind of tribulation is that?"

"Do I have to figure out the meaning of life before I can have a proper death?"

Zhao Yi was furious.

Approximate coiled in the air, his dragon eyes lowered, his voice heavy as never before: "My master, this isn't asking you to figure out some principle."

"Don't you understand yet?"

"This Paradox Tribulation is the final tribulation of the Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm. When you have endured a hundred deaths, and when all external forces can no longer kill you, the Heavenly Dao asks you: why do you still exist?"

"If you cannot answer, it is not death by external causes, but the negation of existence itself."

Zhao Yi was stunned.

He suddenly understood.

This wasn't asking him to die; it was asserting that he 'should not be alive'.

The previous ninety-nine tribulations were the Heavenly Dao using every means to kill him, but he had survived them all by utilizing the Substance of Eternity rewarded by the System.

His existence had become a paradox: a person who should have died countless times, yet was still alive.

Thus, the final strike of the Heavenly Dao was a counter-question: By what right do you live?

If you cannot prove the 'necessity' of your own existence, then you should not exist.

Not killed, but erased from the very Foundation of 'existence'.

It was like an unsolvable math problem where the final answer is: this problem has no solution, therefore the problem does not exist.

"Hehehe..."

Zhao Yi suddenly laughed, the sound echoing in the empty tribulation realm, carrying a hint of madness and a hint of sorrow.

"I mine Spirit Stones, you make me die."

"I Cultivate, you make me die."

"I comprehend the Dao, you make me die."

"I do nothing, you still make me die."

"Now, you ask me... why do I live?"

Zhao Yi slowly raised his head, his eyes calm.

"Fine."

"If you want to ask, then I will answer."

He took a step, and the gray mist beneath his feet rippled like water.

"I live, not because you allow it, but because I... do not want to die!"

"I live, not for some great cause, not to save the common people."

"I live because I am still breathing, still thinking, still angry, still unwilling to give in!"

"I live because I am damn well not convinced!"

His voice grew louder, like a thunderclap, shaking the entire Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm.

"Not convinced!"

"You set up the Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm to kill me, but I refuse to die! The more you want me to die, the more I want to live! You ask me why I live?"

"Because I hate this unfair Heavenly Dao! I hate these unreasonable rules! I hate you, looking down from on high, treating all living beings like ants!"

"Damn it, I'm just mining, taking a step for every tribulation—did I dig up your parents' graves?"

"Hmph, want me to die? I insist on living."

"If you have the ability, bring down the tribulations from the start again."

Would Zhao Yi doubt himself? What a joke; his will was as firm as it could possibly be.

The moment his words fell, the entire Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm suddenly fell silent.

There was no thunder, no fire, no ice, no mountain of blades.

There was only a beam of light descending from the highest point of the tribulation realm; it didn't burn, but it made Zhao Yi's Divine Soul tremble.

A voice, cold, grand, and devoid of emotion, said, "Paradox resolved. Existence confirmed. Hundred Deaths Tribulation extinguished, Karma reached Perfection, Death Cultivator ascends to Immortality!"

In an instant, the gray mist collapsed, and the Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm disintegrated.

Zhao Yi felt an irresistible force lifting him up, as if the entire Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm was making way for him.

He did not ascend to Immortality; he simply returned.

From the Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm, he returned to the Qingling Realm.

Meanwhile, in the pile of bones in Wanling City, Li Yingzhen was closing her eyes, waiting for death.

The "immortal-shattering cold boiling water" in the pot began to bubble, and the dao-shattering golden flame burned fiercely.

Mou Wuwang grinned hideously and swallowed his saliva, "The water is boiling!"

"Don't worry, once you go in, you'll die in one breath, and you'll be cooked in three breaths. I guarantee there's no pain."

As he spoke, he stripped Li Yingzhen bare.

"Why is there still hair?"

"This affects the texture."

"Sorry for the extra trouble, I'll just singe it all off."

"You're lucky; if it weren't for the dao-shattering golden flame, the hair of a Tribulation Crossing Stage Cultivator would be impossible to burn."

"How dare you!"

Li Yingzhen struggled.

She didn't mind being eaten, but being singed into a hairless skin by fire was more unbearable than being killed.

"Don't struggle, I'll be quick."

"Ah~"

The dao-shattering golden flame was supposedly singeing Li Yingzhen's hair, but in reality, it was singeing her heart.

She looked at Mou Wuwang with hateful eyes, "I'll remember you. If there is a next life, I will absolutely skin you, draw your tendons, eat your flesh, and use your Divine Soul to light a heavenly lamp."

"A next life?"

"There won't be one. Although this pot of mine is ordinary, combined with the dao-shattering golden flame and the immortal-shattering cold boiling water, it will boil your Divine Soul into your flesh. I will never let you have a next life."

"Alright. Goodbye."

Mou Wuwang grabbed Li Yingzhen by her two legs, rinsed the now-hairless Li Yingzhen, and threw her into the pot.

Li Yingzhen was in despair.

She was doomed!

Just then, the world changed color.

An invisible pressure descended, as if Heaven had opened its eyes.

Mou Wuwang was struck as if by lightning; his hair stood on end, his knees buckled uncontrollably, and with a thud, he fell to his knees.

He looked up in terror, only to see a crack open in the sky, and a figure stepping through the air.

"Zhao, Zhao Yi?"

Li Yingzhen floated above the pot, the immortal-shattering cold boiling water bubbling, and she looked at the figure in disbelief.

Zhao Yi landed, walked to the pot, didn't even look at Mou Wuwang, and just smiled at Li Yingzhen, "Holy shit!"

"What is this look? It's quite trendy~ Truly... completely hairless!"

Li Yingzhen...

She covered her bare body, "Dammit, why did you only just arrive? Where the hell were you?"

Zhao Yi...

"I was dying in the Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm."

Unfortunately, Li Yingzhen had never heard of the Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm, so naturally, she didn't know the dangers Zhao Yi had gone through.

"What Hundred Deaths Tribulation Realm? It sounds scary."

"Dammit, I told you long ago to mine more Spirit Stones and Cultivate less, but you wouldn't listen."

"Always getting into tribulations... there's no way for a brother to save you."

Zhao Yi: "What nonsense? When did I ever ask you to save me?"

"On the contrary, I'm the one saving you now, right?"

This sentence was like a knife, stabbing straight into Li Yingzhen's heart.

"Ugh! Help me up! Don't let him run."

Li Yingzhen pointed at Mou Wuwang, who was kneeling to the side.

"Don't worry, he can't run."

Zhao Yi was now suppressing Mou Wuwang with his Aura alone.

"Do you have any Medicinal Pill to restore cultivation?"

"Medicinal Pill? No! But... this thing should be more effective than a Medicinal Pill."

Zhao Yi waved his hand, and a cyan-green Immortal energy shot into Li Yingzhen's body.

"Ah~" Li Yingzhen cried out in comfort, "Awesome!"

Her magic power was not only fully restored, but even improved, "What the hell? I'm Undergoing Tribulation in seven days; what did you put into my body?"

Zhao Yi was about to show off that this was called Immortal energy, but Li Yingzhen waved her hand, "It doesn't matter."