Chapter 723 - 673: Judge!
Regardless of whether Zhou Donglin believed the answer, the situation before him was clear: the three thousand slave souls summoned from the Soul Training Banner were frantically trying to retreat.
"You wretched things! Did I permit you to return? Capture that boy up ahead for me, the Heavenly Master!"
A hint of panic he himself hadn’t even noticed flickered across his stern expression. In his flustered state, he roared at the three thousand slave souls that were rapidly retreating into the Soul Training Banner.
At the same time, with a flick of his hand, he unleashed a powerful Qi Force to redirect the three thousand slave souls toward Qin Fan.
SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
Terrifying, enraged shrieks erupted from the three thousand slave souls.
They were terrified of Qin Fan’s presence.
They were enraged that Zhou Donglin was forcing them toward that terror.
"Go!"
Seeing that the slave souls not only refused to advance but also shrieked in protest, Zhou Donglin’s face turned deathly pale. He flung his hand once more in command.
However, what happened next was utterly unbelievable.
The slave souls, which had never once defied his will, collectively revolted against his repeated, forceful commands!
They no longer fixated on burrowing back into the Soul Training Banner. Nor did they charge madly toward Qin Fan to capture him. Instead, they scattered in every direction, descending into chaos!
"You wretched things! Do you no longer wish to enter Reincarnation and be reborn? Run? Do you really think you can escape? Ah!"
Seeing the three thousand slave souls, who had always been completely obedient, scatter and flee at this critical juncture, Zhou Donglin could no longer restrain himself and roared wildly.
RUMBLE—!
Just as Zhou Donglin’s words fell, dark clouds swirled overhead. From within the growing gloom, a bolt of lightning struck the ground right in front of him.
WHOOSH!
As the unexpected lightning struck, everyone stared at the curling smoke that rose from the blast. It wasn’t just Zhou Donglin who froze in a wide-eyed stupor; everyone present, Qin Fan included, also turned pale.
What in the world is happening?
"’A Netherworld Lord is here,’ is it? And Ksitigarbha is aware! Haha, to think the order of my Underworld would be disrupted by a mere mortal! You defied the laws of the Heavenly Dao and the rules of the Underworld, daring to raise slave souls right under our noses, and even falsely borrowed the name of the Netherworld Lord! Seventeen years! I can’t believe you managed to hide this for seventeen years without being discovered! Heavenly Master, you were just a step away from being able to traverse the Underworld and stand before the Netherworld Officials! What a pity you chose the path to your own doom! Zhou Donglin, I, a Judge of the Underworld, ask you: do you confess to your sins and crimes!"
Amidst the swirling, dense smoke from the lightning strike, a figure slowly materialized. The moment it took form, the figure—clad in a red robe and a large, red veiled hat—began to bellow furiously.
"You are... you are... you are?"
Gazing at the eerie, ethereal figure not far away, Zhou Donglin trembled violently, his face ashen. He stumbled backward, his throat tight with terror as he stammered. As the first Heavenly Master in Xiangjiang’s history, how could someone of his stature not recognize what kind of being stood before him? But at this moment, he dared not face it, nor did he have any way to.
"I am a Judge of the Underworld! Today, I come in the name of the Netherworld Lord to take you into custody! You defied the laws of the Heavenly Dao and the rules of the Underworld—what audacious villainy! You used the Underworld as a platform to cultivate slave souls and manipulated them in the name of the Netherworld Lord. Such crimes are heinous and unpardonable!" the figure in the red robe and hat rebuked sharply.
"No, no, no!"
Hearing those words spat out with such fury, Zhou Donglin’s legs began to give way. Although he had considered this day might come when he first began researching the Soul Training Banner, he had come to believe he was safe. After more than a decade of smooth sailing and his own continuous refinements to cover his tracks, he thought he would never be discovered.
He never imagined that not only would his secrets be exposed, but he would also attract a legendary Judge! Facing such a divine being, he was nothing more than a mortal, regardless of his high Cultivation as a Heavenly Master. He was utterly powerless to resist.
"Zhou Donglin!"
"Zhou Donglin!"
"Zhou Donglin!"
Paying no mind to Zhou Donglin’s terrified state, the red-robed figure, having stated his purpose, began to chant his name incessantly.
"Aaargh! No, no! Aaaah! No!"
As his name was called again and again, Zhou Donglin clutched his head and collapsed. The Soul Training Banner crashed to the ground beside him. Its golden light was long extinguished, and the blood-red hue at its base rapidly faded.
"Seize this criminal and return him to the Underworld to await the judgment of the Netherworld Lord!"
Watching Zhou Donglin writhing in agony on the ground, the red-robed figure stopped chanting. Granting him a brief moment to breathe, he barked an emotionless order.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
"Yes, Lord Judge!"
Two dark shadows materialized from thin air. After acknowledging the order, they immediately reached out and seized Zhou Donglin. In an instant, his soul was ripped from his body.
"Take him away at once!" the red-robed figure commanded gravely.
"Yes, my lord!"
Clutching Zhou Donglin’s soul, the two shadows vanished with a whoosh.
"Tsk, tsk. How interesting. So they can just summon the Underworld like that?" Qin Fan, who had witnessed the entire spectacle, remarked with a playful, mocking laugh.
"Who?!"
Startled by the sudden voice, the red-robed figure cried out reflexively.
"Relax, it was me," Qin Fan drawled. "By the way, what’s going to happen to this guy?"
Having experienced the Cangqiong Continent, practiced Cultivation, and even survived a Crossing Tribulation, Qin Fan found little could truly shock him anymore, not even the Underworld’s existence. Any awe he felt was fleeting. For the man he was now, almost nothing was unbelievable. He met the startled cry with his usual nonchalance.
"You can see me? You can hear me speak?"
The red-robed figure whirled around toward the source of the voice. Staring at Qin Fan, whom he had previously ignored, he exclaimed in disbelief.
"Obviously," Qin Fan replied, shaking his head.
"A mere mortal can see through my form? You... who... who are you?"
As he spoke, the red-robed figure’s eyes narrowed. His fingers flew through a series of rapid hand seals. A beam of light then shot from between his knitted brows, scanning Qin Fan.
But in the next instant...
BANG!
His entire form was violently thrown back several meters without any warning.
"Great Saint! You are the Great Saint! This humble one pays his respects to the Great Saint!" the red-robed figure cried out, scrambling and crawling back to Qin Fan’s side. He trembled with genuine fear and awe.
What the hell? Great Saint?
Faced with yet another honorific, this time from a Judge, Qin Fan couldn’t help but laugh. He was used to it by now. First, he was called the Son of the Heavenly Dao by Demi Immortal Qi Lian. Then, he was the Divine Envoy to the five Valley Guardian Elders of Medicine Valley. And now, he was a Great Saint?
"Great Saint, little saint, whatever. Just tell me what his fate will be," Qin Fan asked, shaking his head with an unconcerned smile.
"Reporting to the Great Saint, if all proceeds as expected, his soul will be cast into the Sixteen Layers of Hell. Afterward, he will be thrown into the Beast Reincarnation Path. He must endure eighty-one lifetimes as an animal to atone for the sins of this life!" the Judge replied swiftly, kneeling with his head bowed, holding nothing back.