Li Junhua Lives a Second Life! Does His Desperate Plight End Here?

Ziwei Domain.

A hundred years had passed, and this land had changed beyond recognition.

The moment Su Linxian stepped out of the void, he smelled blood hanging in the air.

In the distance, flames soared into the sky, cultivators fled, and faint battle cries and screams drifted over.

A sense of turmoil pervaded the entire world.

Su Linxian frowned.

Yu Yao followed behind him, her golden, slit-pupiled eyes scanning their surroundings. "Master, what happened here?" she asked quietly.

Su Linxian did not answer.

His gaze settled a short distance ahead, where a group of red-robed cultivators were pursuing a female cultivator.

She was drenched in blood, her clothes torn, and she was nearly at her limit.

When she spotted Su Linxian, a glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes. She mustered all her strength and rushed toward him.

"Fellow Daoist! Please lend me a hand!"

Su Linxian had not intended to get involved, but the red-robed cultivators had already noticed him. Their leader gave a savage grin and raised his hand, sending a crimson palm imprint hurtling toward him.

"Just kill him too!"

Su Linxian did not even lift his eyelids.

He raised a finger, and a streak of Dark Gold Sword Intent shot out. The crimson palm imprint shattered like paper before it. Without losing momentum, the sword intent pierced the red-robed leader squarely between the brows!

"Wh... what...?"

The man's smile froze on his face, and his body plummeted from the sky.

"Elder!"

The other red-robed cultivators' expressions changed drastically. They had barely begun to flee when several streaks of Dark Gold Sword Intent caught up with them, piercing their brows one after another.

Squelch, squelch.

In an instant, dozens of Jijie Realm cultivators in red robes perished.

"This..."

The female cultivator stood rooted to the spot, staring at the white-robed figure before her, unable to utter a word for a long while.

There had been several Supreme Realm cultivators among those red-robed men, yet he had slaughtered them all with a casual stroke of his sword?

What kind of cultivation was this?!

Su Linxian glanced at her and spoke calmly.

"Are you a cultivator of the Ziwei Domain?"

Only then did she come to her senses and hurriedly bow in respect.

"Yes, Senior!"

"This junior is Ming Qingshu. My respects, Senior!"

Su Linxian asked, "What is happening in the Ziwei Domain?"

Ming Qingshu replied, "Senior, you may not know, but ten years ago, the Great Ascension Dao Domain suddenly declared war on the Ziwei Domain for some unknown reason. Now our people are plunged into misery, and countless cultivators have been driven from their homes..."

"The Great Ascension Dao Domain?" Su Linxian frowned slightly.

Could they have come because of Li Junhua's second life?

Beside him, Yu Yao tilted her head and blinked her golden, slit-pupiled eyes. "Never heard of it. Probably some middle- or lower-tier Dao Domain."

Su Linxian said, "Let's go."

Yu Yao asked curiously, "Master, what are we going to do?"

"Find someone."

With that reply, Su Linxian turned into a streak of light and vanished.

Ming Qingshu opened her mouth, about to say something more.

But the white-robed figure before her had already disappeared.

Only faint starlight and a trace of lingering Sword Qi remained.

At that moment, outside the forbidden zone.

The sky had taken on a distorted, dark crimson hue, as though something had scorched it.

Several figures stood in the void with their hands behind their backs. Their leader wore crimson imperial robes, his face cold and sharp as if carved by a blade. The imperial might swirling around him crushed the void beneath his feet, cracking it inch by inch.

Great Emperor Rift-Space.

One of the Great Ascension Dao Domain's three Emperor Realm cultivators, he had cultivated for sixty thousand years and reached the fifth level of the Emperor Realm.

Five Quasi-Emperors stood behind him, their auras as deep as an abyssal sea. Each was powerful enough to reign supreme in a lower-tier Dao Domain.

"Everyone," Great Emperor Rift-Space began. His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone present with perfect clarity.

"The Longevity Elixir is inside."

He raised his hand and pointed into the depths of the forbidden zone, the corners of his mouth slowly curling upward.

"How imposing Xingyuan once was. Thirty thousand years ago, he kept our Great Ascension Dao Domain from even lifting its head."

"Now that he is living another life, less than a tenth of his strength remains. The vitality contained in that body is the finest Longevity Elixir. Refine his flesh and blood into pills, and they will be more than ten times as potent as an ordinary Longevity Elixir!"

"Everyone, attack!"

Everyone behind him stepped forward in unison.

Their auras converged into a single, almost tangible torrent that bore down upon the depths of the forbidden zone.

Rumble—

Everywhere it passed, the void shattered inch by inch!

Great Emperor Rift-Space raised his hand and struck with his palm.

"Old Xingyuan, here I come!"

As that palm descended, the entire sky darkened for an instant.

An enormous crimson palm condensed in the void, its lines as distinct as mountain ranges and river channels. Wherever it swept, the forbidden zone's remaining formations crumbled inch by inch. Even the deathly mist shrouding ten thousand miles was scattered by more than half with that single strike!

RUMBLE!!

Deep within the forbidden zone, Li Junhua's eyes snapped open.

The descending giant palm reflected in his golden eyes, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

"This aura..."

"Rift-Space?!"

"Damn it, of all the times to come, he had to choose now..."

He was at the crucial moment of attaining his second life. The tribulation clouds overhead had gathered to their limit, purple lightning rolling through them like dragons, ready to descend at any moment.

His roof was leaking, and now came a night of relentless rain.

At that same moment, the sky burst open.

A pillar of lightning struck down from the tribulation clouds, purple tinged with white, white suffused with gold. Countless densely packed Great Dao runes mingled within its radiance.

"I'll get through the tribulation first!"

Li Junhua had no time to think. He abruptly rose, his hair whipping wildly in the lightning.

He formed seals with both hands, and golden blood energy surged skyward from his body, condensing into a barrier above his head.

"Suppress!"

The lightning pillar crashed down.

BOOM—!!!

The blood-energy barrier shattered inch by inch beneath the lightning pillar. Dozens of gashes tore open across Li Junhua's body amid the lightning, spraying golden blood.

Sizzle, sizzle...

Li Junhua gritted his teeth and forcibly drew his shattered body back together. The first lightning tribulation had barely passed before the second began brewing in the clouds.

Great Emperor Rift-Space withdrew his palm and stood with his hands behind his back, watching coldly.

"Xingyuan, go ahead and face your tribulation. We're in no hurry to act."

His tone was mild, but the greed in his eyes was almost spilling over.

Anyone who interfered with a lightning tribulation would suffer for it, even him.

The cultivators behind him scattered simultaneously, surrounding the entire forbidden zone from five directions. Chains of Dao laws extended from their hands and wove into a vast net in the void, sealing off every avenue of escape for Li Junhua.

Those bastards!

Li Junhua cursed inwardly.

Surviving the tribulation already pushed him to his limit. He had no attention to spare for those surrounding him.

BOOM!

Another lightning tribulation crashed down. Li Junhua fought it head-on with all his strength, and his body was shattered a second time.

"Pfft!"

Golden blood spilled across the sky.

Wolves ahead, tigers behind.

Li Junhua's face twisted, yet an almost mad defiance erupted in his eyes.

"Today—"

He threw back his head and roared, charging upward against the lightning.

His shattered body reassembled in the void, golden essence burning furiously within him!

"I, Li Junhua, will overcome this lightning tribulation and attain my second life!!"

Ultimate sublimation!!

In that instant, Li Junhua's aura surged explosively. His golden hair whipped wildly amid the lightning, and his shattered body reformed under the power of sublimation!

"Ultimate sublimation?!" Great Emperor Rift-Space's pupils contracted.

"I knew it. That old fellow was bound to have another trick up his sleeve!"

For a Great Emperor, ultimate sublimation ended in death and the dissolution of his Dao!

Today, even if they did nothing, Li Junhua would surely perish and his Dao dissolve if he failed to survive the lightning tribulation!

BOOM!

The tribulation clouds overhead seemed to sense his resistance and churned in fury.

They came rolling down.

Countless bolts of lightning crashed into Li Junhua.

His body exploded into a sky full of blood mist, even his bones pulverized into dust.

At that moment, the Longevity Elixir's power took effect, swiftly restoring and reassembling his body!

The Quasi-Emperors watching from afar sucked in cold breaths. One of them instinctively took a step back.

Great Emperor Rift-Space narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"Terrifying indeed. This second-life tribulation is far more powerful than an ordinary imperial tribulation. Xingyuan dreams of living another life, but even with a Longevity Elixir, I doubt he can endure what comes next..."

Blood mist churned in the void, golden light flickering within it.

It was Li Junhua's remaining essence desperately gathering, trying to reconstruct his body!

Yet the lingering might of the lightning tribulation still raged through the void. Every remaining streak of lightning tore at his soul.

Li Junhua's soul drifted within the blood mist.

Agony engulfed him like a tide. He could distinctly feel the tribulation's lingering power gnawing away at his soul, bit by bit.

In seeking another life, he was already weak, and enduring the previous lightning strikes had exhausted all his strength.

He could not hold on much longer.

Yet deep within Li Junhua's soul, a tiny flame had never gone out.

Thirty thousand years!

He had sat in desolate stillness deep within the forbidden zone for three thousand years, laying plans, scheming, waiting.

He had once dominated an entire era, once kept the Great Ascension Dao Domain from lifting its head for thirty thousand years!

To live a second life, he had abandoned every shred of dignity!

All for this day!

Li Junhua drew a deep breath. His hoarse voice rang out, weak at first, then rising, until it became a roar that tore through the sky.

"I, Li Junhua..."

"—will surely attain the Dao in my second life!!!"

BANG!

His body exploded into blood mist once again!

"Nine Profound Blood Ginseng, lend me your strength!"

In that instant, Li Junhua's soul erupted with dazzling golden light. The fragments of his shattered body were forcibly drawn together by his soul's power. His bones reshaped, his meridians reconnected, and his blood energy reignited.

His body reassembled amid the lightning, his golden hair whipping wildly once more. An unyielding flame burned in his golden eyes.

Li Junhua stepped forward, burning his golden essence without holding anything back, as though a golden sun had exploded within him.

He jerked his head up and stared fixedly at the churning tribulation clouds overhead.

"The final strike!"

"Come on!"

The entire cloud bank churned violently. The instant that lightning pillar descended, even space was scorched into nothingness, revealing the deep cosmos beyond.

It crashed into Li Junhua, and the entire forbidden zone crumbled utterly beneath that blow.

No one could see anything anymore.

Dazzling white light swallowed the entire sky. Even Great Emperor Rift-Space could not help narrowing his eyes.

The lightning pillar's might was so terrifying that even he felt a tremor of fear.

The white light lasted a full ten breaths before slowly fading.

Nothing remained in the void.

Li Junhua's figure had vanished, his aura had vanished, and not even the slightest fluctuation of his soul could be sensed.

The lightning tribulation had plowed that stretch of void clean, leaving only a scorched expanse of nothingness.

His divine sense swept across the entire area, yet found nothing.

One of the Great Emperors frowned.

"Could that fellow have... perished?"

Great Emperor Rift-Space did not answer.

His brows knitted ever tighter as his divine sense swept over that stretch of void again and again.

"No, something is wrong."

"Although Xingyuan's aura has vanished, the life force lingering in that void hasn't been completely extinguished. There's an extremely faint pulse of life, as though wrapped in something, coming from far, far away..."

Hum.

In the distant void, a jade lotus quietly appeared.

The jade lotus was pure white throughout, its petals layered upon one another, radiating a gentle halo.

It drifted out from the depths of the void, rotating slowly, every petal trembling softly.

Golden patterns flowed across its petals, resembling some ancient seal.

Great Emperor Rift-Space's pupils abruptly contracted.

"This is..."

"The Second-Life Lotus!?"

"That old bastard Xingyuan actually succeeded!!"

This object could only appear when someone lived a second life!

The jade lotus slowly bloomed.

Its petals unfolded one by one, revealing a figure seated cross-legged at its heart.

He was a handsome young man with flowing golden hair and skin as lustrous as jade. His blood and vitality were restrained within him, and he exuded a peaceful aura of one who had returned to his original simplicity.

Li Junhua's face had returned to that of a man in his twenties—young, upright, and brimming with life.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The entire sky was reflected in his golden pupils.

His aura was still as water and deep as an abyss, as though he had endured the baptism of countless ages, yet also as though he had just awakened from a long slumber.

"Whew..."

Li Junhua lowered his head to look at his hands. Golden patterns flickered faintly across his palms, and irrepressible ecstasy spread over his face.

My second life—I've done it!

Great Emperor Rift-Space's expression darkened completely.

He stared fixedly at the young man seated within the jade lotus, his eyes filled with envy!

A second-life body, returned to its original purity!

Xingyuan's flesh and blood were a hundred times more precious than I expected!

"Attack!"

"A second-life body won't retain its former cultivation!"

Great Emperor Rift-Space spoke coldly, his figure surging into motion.

He raised his hand and struck with his palm. A crimson imperial palm condensed in the void, its lines like the contours of mountains and rivers, and slammed down toward Li Junhua's head.

The five Quasi-Emperors behind him attacked simultaneously. Five streams of peak Quasi-Emperor power converged into a torrent, sealing off every path of retreat for Li Junhua.

"Xingyuan! Today is the day you die!"

Li Junhua's breath caught.

My former power is completely gone. My cultivation is only at the Ascension Realm now!

This is when I'm most vulnerable!

"No!"

"I, Li Junhua, finally managed to live a second life. I cannot die here today!"

But a Great Emperor's power was simply too overwhelming.

As he was now, he had no chance whatsoever to resist or counterattack!

"This is where it ends!" Great Emperor Rift-Space gave a savage laugh!

"Meekly offer up your flesh and blood to be refined into pills!"

Just then!

Bang!

The void shattered.

It had not been shattered by some force. Rather, as though someone had pushed a door open from outside, a fissure split through the middle of the entire sky!

A slender hand reached out from the fissure, curled a finger, and flicked.

Great Emperor Rift-Space's pupils abruptly contracted.

He snapped his head up, his Emperor Power circulating involuntarily throughout his body.

Boom!

Then he was blasted straight backward!

"Urgh!"

"Great Emperor Rift-Space!?!"

"Who's there!?"

[Ding! Severely injured Great Emperor Rift-Space. Gained 20,000 Villain Points!]

A white-robed figure walked slowly out of the fissure.

The young man was incomparably handsome, his bearing lofty and jade-like.

He stood there, doing nothing, yet the entire Star Sea revolved around him, billions of rays of starlight gathering behind him into an intangible halo.

There were no fluctuations of cultivation around him, as though he were a blank stone stele. Yet it was precisely that blankness that pressed a massive boulder onto everyone's heart.

Everyone present felt their breath catch at once.

Only moments ago, they had been flaunting their might. Now, they could not even muster the courage to raise their heads and look directly at that white-robed figure, as though an invisible hand were pressing down on the crowns of their heads!

Ecstasy filled Li Junhua's eyes as he exclaimed in delighted surprise.

"Master...?!"

Su Linxian lowered his gaze to Li Junhua's youthful face.

Has he lived a second life?

Su Linxian nodded slightly.

He withdrew his gaze and looked toward Great Emperor Rift-Space in the distance, whose body had been shattered.

"You just said..."

"You wanted to refine his flesh and blood into pills?"

Great Emperor Rift-Space's expression changed.

The others present had no idea what was happening either.

"Rift-Space, who is he?!"

What terrifying power...

Great Emperor Rift-Space forcibly suppressed the Sword Qi rampaging wildly within him. His face livid, he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Sir... Xingyuan is a mortal enemy of our Great Ascension Dao Domain. This matter concerns our Great Ascension Dao Domain and the Ziwei Domain!"

"If you insist on interfering, you will be making an enemy of our Great Ascension Dao Domain!"

"Behind our Great Ascension Dao Domain stands..."

"The Great Ascension Dao Domain?"

Su Linxian finally looked him squarely in the eye, his tone casual.

"Never heard of it."

"But you won't be laying a finger on him."

"Yu Yao, kill them all."