I Can Reincarnate Infinitely

"The Human Race has a new Deputy Commander. He has a Golden Core Late Stage Cultivation but claims to have Tier Four fighting ability. He wants to find one of our Tier Four Demon Kings for a Magical Combat before our armies."

The speaker was a Tier Four Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King, a close relative of the one who had planned the assassination attempt on Du Youqian all those years ago.

This was not surprising. Although the Demon Race was gradually beginning to create their own Cultivation Techniques, practice Cultivation, and even learn Magic and Divine Abilities, the vast majority of them still had to rely on innate talent and bloodline to grow strong.

There were exceptions, of course, but by definition, they were exceedingly rare.

Seated around the Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King were the other Tier Four Demon Kings, representing the Long-tailed Golden Chicken, Three-tailed Blue Fox, Howling Moon Silver Wolf, and Golden-Spotted Black Panther races.

These were the current leaders of the Demon Race’s allied army.

The Golden-Spotted Black Panther King stretched lazily. "He wants a Magical Combat, so we’re just supposed to give him one? Ignore him."

The Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King said, "He’s only in his eighties."

"A Human Race prodigy?" the Howling Moon Silver Wolf growled. "If he’s looking for death, I’ll go. I love nothing more than crushing Human Race prodigies."

The Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King shook its head. "Your Realm is too far beyond his; the humans will never agree. We have to find someone who has just entered Tier Four. Who do you think would be a good fit?"

The Three-tailed Blue Fox said, "To find the most suitable candidate, we first need to understand this human prodigy. What Cultivation Technique does he practice? What are his strengths? What Divine Abilities does he possess? Only then can we formulate a proper counter."

The Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King shook its head. "A human on good terms with us has given me some information. The man is from Ruihan City and his name is Sui Xiao. His defining traits are his cowardice and cunning—he’s utterly despicable. He specializes in Defensive Divine Abilities and can even withstand a direct hit from a Tier Four Flying Sword."

The expressions on the other Demon Kings turned serious.

"That will be a tough opponent. If we’re limited to someone who just entered Tier Four... I can’t think of anyone suitable."

"There’s no one suitable among my kin either."

"Leopard King, what about your people?"

"My kind hates humans with strong Defensive Divine Abilities the most. We can’t even break their guard! Ape King, your people are the most agile; you’re the best counter to defensively strong opponents."

The Golden Silk Ape King shook its head. "No, no, no, my kind is nowhere near as agile as you Golden-Spotted Panthers! You should pick one of your own. I think your nephew would be a good choice. Even though he’s only just entered Tier Four, he can usually hold his own against a Tier Four Middle Stage fighter."

"Absolutely not. That’s just because his opponents go easy on him. I think the Three-tailed Blue Foxes would be better. Their race specializes in Illusion Techniques, which are the perfect counter for a human with strong defenses."

"A moment ago you said agility was the best counter, and now you’re saying it’s Illusion Techniques?"

"They’re both good counters, both of them."

The Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King finally saw what was happening.

None of the Demon Kings wanted to step up. They didn’t want to send one of their own newly-ascended Tier Four kin to face that Human Race Cultivator in a public duel.

It wasn’t that Magical Combat was anything new; the Demon Kings usually didn’t mind engaging in such duels with the Human Race.

However, this was a Tier Three human challenging a Tier Four Demon King. If a Tier Four accepted, winning would bring no honor, while losing would be an utter disgrace.

And what about finding a Tier Three Demon King to accept the challenge?

That was even more out of the question.

The Demon Race was different from the Human Race. They didn’t have a wide variety of flashy Magic, Divine Abilities, or Swordsmanship techniques.

They fought primarily with their raw Physique and Innate Divine Abilities.

The gap between the strong and the weak was stark.

For the Demon Race, fighting opponents of a higher realm was practically impossible.

"So, should I just refuse the challenge? Should I tell them that our Five Races are all cowards, and not a single one of us dares to fight?" the Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King said, trying to bait them.

"Can’t win, we’d never win," the Golden-Spotted Black Panther King said, continuing his stretching exercises.

The Three-tailed Blue Fox Demon King disagreed. "We can’t let the Human Race make a mockery of us. Golden-Spotted Black Panther, any one of the juniors from your clan could easily win this fight."

"My nephew lost to your great-grandson last time we sparred. Why don’t you send him?"

"Old Wolf, weren’t you just boasting about how much you love to crush Human Race prodigies? Why not send one of your juniors?"

"My clan’s in a transitional period, as you all know," the wolf replied. "The two who just entered Tier Four are too green. They haven’t learned how to fight yet."

As for the Long-tailed Pheasant King, he remained silent the entire time.

Everyone knew the Long-tailed Golden Chicken race wasn’t skilled in direct combat; their strengths lay in flight and reconnaissance.

Hearing the other Demon Kings shamelessly passing the buck, the Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King took a deep breath. "Alright then. Let’s draw lots."

"Should’ve just said so from the start."

"No need for all this pointless chatter. We should have just drawn lots to begin with."

The Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King gave a bitter smile. "I had to go through the proper procedures."

"Don’t bother next time. Just go straight to drawing lots."

"Yes, a waste of time," the Long-tailed Pheasant King said, shaking his head.

He had just been sleeping with his eyes open.

The Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King looked at the other Demon Kings, who appeared united but were divided at heart, and a sense of sorrow washed over him.

’Our five races still use the ancient tribal system for governance. We haven’t established proper nations or laws.’

’The tribal system has its advantages, of course. For instance, using blood ties as the core bond creates strong cohesion.’

’But the weaknesses are also obvious. Our organizational and mobilization capabilities are poor. When faced with difficult battles, everyone just passes the buck to preserve their own strength. Our production is backwards, and resource allocation is anything but fair. Ordinary demons struggle just to fill their bellies.’

’If we could truly unite and function as a nation, we would have crushed the Immortal City Alliance millennia ago.’

’How could we still be locked in a stalemate, with the Demon Race even at a disadvantage?’

’The Five Races are spread across a vast territory, its total area only slightly smaller than the Endless Desert Sea.’

’We lie between the Immortal City Alliance and the Endless Desert Sea. In theory, it should be nearly impossible for the Alliance to conduct any trade with the Desert Sea.’

’But, precisely because of our tribal political structure, some tribes have better relations with the Human Race.’

’The Human Race uses these tribes to trade with the Endless Desert Sea, even planting their own agents within the Desert Sea to plunder its resources.’

’And those tribes on good terms with the humans receive enough resources to support themselves and train elite warriors.’

’The Demon Kings of each race are naturally aware of the situation with their subordinate tribes. That’s why, while we have a tacit agreement to send our older, less promising kin to the front lines as cannon fodder...’

’...when something comes up that might seriously offend the Human Race, everyone starts passing the buck.’

’Only that straightforward fool from the Howling Moon Silver Wolf clan is always clamoring about being mortal enemies with the Human Race and wanting to crush their prodigies.’

’The other races avoid these situations whenever possible.’

’In truth, the Golden-Haired Green-Eyed Ape Race is no different. That’s why I, the Ape King, have no right to blame anyone.’

The result of the draw was that the Long-tailed Pheasant King won the grand prize: one Magical Combat package.

He was dumbfounded. Looking left and right, he stammered, "My race... we aren’t skilled in Magical Combat."

"But you drew the lot. Your clan has plenty of new Tier Four Demon Kings. Just send one of them to handle it." The other four Demon Kings stared at him, and the pressure was immense.

"What if we lose?" The Long-tailed Pheasant King racked his brain for an excuse.

"So what if you lose? No one expects the Long-tailed Golden Chicken race to win a Magical Combat against a human. Besides, even if your people can’t win the fight, they can win the race. It doesn’t matter if you lose, as long as whoever you send comes back alive."

"But... wouldn’t losing be a huge embarrassment?"

"Don’t worry, it’s absolutely no disgrace for the Long-tailed Golden Chicken race to lose a Magical Combat," the Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape King personally assured him.

"But..."

"Enough with the ’buts’," the Golden-Spotted Black Panther King snarled, his eyes glinting menacingly. "You drew the lot. Are you trying to back out now?"

The Long-tailed Pheasant King flinched.

He was already trying to decide which unlucky soul he would send to face the music.

~~~~~~~

When Du Youqian received the reply from the Demon Race, he was almost floored.

’If I remember correctly, the Long-tailed Golden Chicken race is the weakest of the Five Races Alliance, aren’t they?’

Kai Feng Master chuckled. "They are."

Kai Feng Master was a handsome man, with sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a perfectly sculpted nose, and a confident air.

However, a Cultivator’s appearance was the least important thing about them.

Even if most Cultivators didn’t have a Secret Technique as impressive as the Nine Yin Nine Yang Ten Thousand Transformations Hidden Heaven Technique, which could alter one’s very aura...

...nearly every Cultivator knew a Secret Technique or two for changing their appearance and physique.

What one naturally looked like didn’t matter. As long as your Cultivation was high enough, you could look however you wanted.

Seeing Du Youqian’s confusion, Kai Feng Master explained with a smile, "Actually, the Demon Race isn’t too keen on participating in these public duels anymore. If they win, it damages the fragile peace. If they lose, they hurt their own kin. Either way, it’s a pointless endeavor for them. Unlike us in the Human Race, who need these duels to learn to fight and improve our strength. A demon’s power is almost entirely innate. It has very little to do with Postnatal training. To them, these kinds of duels are a losing proposition. So, I’d guess they drew lots, and the Long-tailed Golden Chicken race was the unlucky one."

"So, it’s not that the Long-tailed Golden Chickens are secretly powerful and planning to hit me with a big surprise during the duel?"

"No," Kai Feng Master said with a laugh.

Du Youqian broke into a wide grin. "Well, that’s great! After the duel is over, I’ll treat everyone to roasted golden chicken!"

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, you should probably tone it down a bit."

Du Youqian knew what he meant. Kai Feng Master had already hinted to him several times recently that the upper echelons of the Demon Race and the Human Race had a certain... understanding.

Despite the rivers of blood shed in their battles, the top powers on both sides were rarely lost on the battlefield.

"In that case, could I subdue that Long-tailed Pheasant King and take it as a mount?"

"That wouldn’t be good either. However, if you become more powerful in the future, reach the Divinity Transformation Realm, and manage to establish a good relationship with the Long-tailed Golden Chicken race, you might be able to spend some resources to ’rent’ a Tier Four Demon King from them to serve as your mount. A Long-tailed Pheasant Demon King doesn’t fly very high, but it’s reasonably fast and looks quite impressive. It’s certainly not a shameful choice for a mount."

"Divinity Transformation? That’s a long way off."

"Indeed." Kai Feng Master’s tone grew heavy as well.

Even though he possessed a Celestial Spirit Root and his Cultivation had been smooth sailing from a young age, even he wouldn’t dare claim with certainty that he could successfully advance to the Divinity Transformation Realm.

That heavenly chasm had been the grave of countless prodigies before him...