The Living Tribunal’s Blood-Stained Robes

Even Li Congxin, who had made the worst possible preparations for the upcoming Multiversal Level calamity, had never expected the news of the Phoenix’s death.

In Marvel’s many comics, the Celestials had died, Galactus had died, and all five Cosmic Creator Gods had died at least once without exception. Even the Living Tribunal had been killed by enemies… How many times was it again?

Well, how many times the Living Tribunal had died wasn’t the point. The point was that the Phoenix was different from those seemingly impressive Celestials who were constantly dying.

At least according to what Li Congxin knew about Marvel, the Phoenix’s true form had never died before, not even once!

Before officially clashing with the Phoenix’s true form, Li Congxin had even suspected that this super-demon god of the Multiverse possessed the ability to never die.

In fact, not long ago, Li Congxin had even fought it in Hyperdimensional Space.

At the time, Li Congxin had possessed terrifying mid-Multiversal Level strength, further enhanced by various BGM effects. Even so, the Phoenix had still displayed strength that was in no way inferior to his.

And yet now, this powerhouse with vitality so stubbornly strong that it defied the heavens had just… died.

More importantly, Li Congxin still had no idea what the enemy even was. That was rather frustrating. Even if he wanted to make preparations, he at least had to know who the enemy was first!

With that frustration in mind, Li Congxin arrived at the Void in Hyperdimensional Space where the Living Tribunal was located.

At a glance, he immediately sucked in a cold breath!

What entered Li Congxin’s sight was a body that shone with brilliant golden light yet was broken beyond recognition.

Who else could it be but the Living Tribunal!?

The Living Tribunal no longer possessed any of his former majesty or mystery. He simply lay on the ground, completely motionless. The head of the Lord of Order on one side of his head had vanished by half, while the Lord of Chaos had disappeared completely. Only the bloodstains remaining on the Living Tribunal’s shoulder proved that he had once existed. A hole pierced straight through the Living Tribunal’s chest, passing through his entire body.

The Living Tribunal’s own face was still relatively intact. Perhaps he could be considered to have died without looking especially gruesome? But with his eyes wide open, as though he had died unable to accept his fate, he certainly did not look particularly good either.

Just as Li Congxin’s gaze fell upon the Living Tribunal’s hollow eyes, he suddenly sensed something strange.

Before his death, he had left himself a message!

At this thought, Li Congxin immediately focused his mind and established a connection with that faint, almost imperceptible information fluctuation. It was an extremely secretive ripple of information that could only be seen after pushing the operation of all the laws of the Marvel Multiverse to their limits.

Throughout the entire Marvel Multiverse, aside from O-A-A, who existed only in legend and whom no one had ever seen, only the Living Tribunal could create such information. And only Li Congxin, who had refined the six Infinity Stones and reached the perfected level of ability, could decipher it!

The Living Tribunal had deliberately left behind this information. Did that mean that before his death, he had already foreseen that he would end up in this state and that Li Congxin would come here?

If that was truly the case, then the Living Tribunal’s realm was slightly higher than Li Congxin’s current level.

After all, the current Li Congxin could not see any trace of the Living Tribunal’s destiny. Even when facing his corpse, he did not know when or by whom he had been killed.

Of course, it was also possible that the Living Tribunal had reached this conclusion through deduction based on what had happened before. It was as though he had long known that Li Congxin was walking the path of vengeance and had foreseen that the end of that path would be no weaker than himself. Then, by means resembling deduction, he had guessed that Li Congxin would likely come here. Leaving behind a message in advance would then make perfect sense.

Between these two explanations, Li Congxin naturally hoped that the latter was true.

Because if the former was true, then even the Living Tribunal, whose realm surpassed his own, had ended up as a corpse. Could he, the God of Vengeance, truly defeat such a terrifying opponent?

As layer after layer of the seals formed by the laws of the universe was broken, the information the Living Tribunal had left for Li Congxin finally appeared before his eyes.

It depicted a world-shaking battle. The Living Tribunal had faced three opponents alone: three figures wearing silver-white battle armor, with completely bald, ghastly pale heads that made them look like aliens from old science-fiction movies.

Their strength was immense. Each one of them was no weaker than the Living Tribunal. Or rather… they wielded a power that existed outside the rules. For the Living Tribunal, who controlled the laws of the entire Marvel Universe—for the Living Tribunal, who always acted according to the rules—this was undoubtedly the most fatal disadvantage.

The result was that the Living Tribunal lost.

He suffered a crushing defeat!

Those three powerful enemies killed him on the spot. He had not even managed to take a single one of them down with him before he died.

"The enemies are innumerable. The ones we encountered were merely the tip of the iceberg. Vengeance, you are our only hope now. Only you have the ability to defeat them. You must make every possible preparation. Do not act rashly!"

Suddenly, the Living Tribunal’s voice rang out amid the many chaotic scenes of battle. Though he was on the verge of death, his voice remained as solemn and imposing as ever.

Looking at the image of the Living Tribunal being pressed to the ground and pummeled by the three hideous creatures, Li Congxin asked, "How do you know they’re afraid of me?"

For powerhouses like Li Congxin and the Living Tribunal, who had completely mastered the laws of time, time itself could not serve as a barrier between them. The words Li Congxin spoke now could be heard by the Living Tribunal at the moment in the past when he had communicated with him. It was as though the current Li Congxin were speaking with the Living Tribunal while he was still alive.

"When they arrived, I, Eternity, Infinity, Annihilus, Death, Galactus… We all sensed the existence of that enormous threat at the same time. We hurried together to Hyperdimensional Space to fight it, but you didn’t come."

"Some said you were afraid of battle, but I knew that you simply hadn’t sensed the threat of their arrival. Those unidentified creatures possess a very special ability. They can choose which beings perceive their threat and which beings do not. They declared war on all of us, yet singled you out by leaving you out. There is only one explanation that makes sense: they’re afraid of you!"

Hearing this, Li Congxin could not help laughing. "Even the Living Tribunal, who always follows the rules, has started making deductions?"

"Deduction is also one of the universe’s inherent laws…"