Take a guess... is that all...

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... truly good... really good... so good... Your Majesty, spare me!"

Zhang Dazhu stammered and trembled all over, racking his brains and scratching at the few hairs on his head until he nearly pulled them all out. Finally, with a miserable expression, he dropped to his knees and desperately kowtowed to Di Xin, begging for mercy.

He had thought being beheaded was bad enough. Only now did he realize that there was something in this world even worse than beheading-and it was merely having to speak.

"Your Majesty, spare us! We've never studied. We don't know what to say!"

"Your Majesty, spare us!"

"Your Majesty, even if you cut off our heads, we couldn't come up with that much..."

Once Zhang Dazhu started, the other soldiers dropped to their knees in a great rush as well. Their heads bobbed like chicks pecking grain as they kowtowed madly, tears and snot streaming down their faces. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were facing the misery of execution!

"Spare you? Did you fail to force the king's hand? Where are Yang Ren and the brothers Fang Bi and Fang Xiang?!"

Just then, a low shout suddenly came from behind the crowd. A white-haired, red-faced Daoist carrying a Fly-Whisk hurried over. When he saw the mass of soldiers kneeling at the palace gates, with Yang Ren, Fang Bi, Fang Xiang, and the others nowhere to be found, he froze and blurted out those words.

"Jiang Shang!"

At that voice, and then the sight of the old Daoist, a brilliant gleam immediately appeared in Di Xin's eyes.

This man was no ordinary figure. He was a true tide-rider in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity!

The Three Teachings slaughtered one another until men and horses lay overturned; the Twelve Golden Immortals lost the five energies in their chests and the three flowers above their heads; the Interception Sect suffered a devastating blow, with its second and third generations nearly wiped out; and the Human Race suffered a million deaths, their blood flowing deep enough to float pestles. Hadn't this man brought it all about single-handedly?!

Everyone called Shen Gongbao the child of calamity, but that was wrong. Jiang Shang, Jiang Ziya, was the true child of calamity!

Though human himself, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving the gods, filling the slots on that damned Investiture of the Gods List and betraying the interests of the Human Race. The system's label of traitor to humanity hadn't wronged him in the slightest!

"You know me?! You are..."

Hearing this, Jiang Ziya momentarily froze. Then he immediately deduced Di Xin's identity, and a brilliant gleam flashed in his eyes.

Clearly, he was rather pleased that the ruler of Great Shang knew his name.

"You sought the Dao in the Jade Void Palace for forty years, yet had not the slightest affinity for immortality. Even finding a wife required someone else's help. A grown man who can't even support his wife, humiliated by her day after day... how could I not know a utterly useless piece of trash like you?"

Di Xin laughed heartily, looking at Jiang Ziya with a face full of mockery.

[Negative Emotion Points from Jiang Ziya, +999...]

"Tyrant!"

With every last one of his humiliations laid bare by Di Xin, Jiang Ziya's face alternated between green and white. Blue smoke practically spewed from his ears as he spat the word through gritted teeth.

"A tyrant? Jiang Shang, let me ask you: where have I shown tyranny?!"

Hearing this, Di Xin looked at Jiang Ziya with a smiling, teasing expression.

"All these people are kneeling before you, tortured into floods of tears, unable to live or die as they wish. Doesn't that make you a tyrant?! And I've heard you intend to build the Deer Terrace. If someone so extravagantly wasteful isn't a tyrant, what is he?!"

Jiang Ziya snorted coldly.

"Then why don't you ask them whether I'm a tyrant?"

Utterly dismissive, Di Xin looked at the soldiers with a smile.

"His Majesty isn't a tyrant... he isn't... he isn't..."

At those words, the soldiers immediately shook their heads like pellet drums, giving Jiang Ziya three straight denials.

"..." Jiang Ziya.

[Negative Emotion Points from Jiang Ziya, +699...]

"Do not fear this tyrant! Today, I, Jiang Shang, will stand up for you! This tyrant can do nothing to you. Boldly denounce his crimes!"

After a moment's bewilderment, Jiang Ziya shouted passionately to the soldiers, hoping they would step forward and angrily condemn Di Xin.

"His Majesty really isn't a tyrant... he isn't... he really isn't... His Majesty is just a little infuriating..."

But Zhang Dazhu and the other soldiers kept shaking their heads like pellet drums, delivering another three straight denials.

By now, they could see clearly that if Di Xin had wanted to kill them, he would have done it long ago rather than wait until now.

So His Majesty wasn't a tyrant. He was merely a little-more precisely, very-infuriating!

[Negative Emotion Points from Jiang Ziya, +799...]

As soon as Zhang Dazhu finished speaking, Jiang Ziya's entire face darkened. It felt as though someone had punched him square in the heart. The misery was indescribable.

Where were the furious accusations?!

Where were the loud condemnations?

How could a bona fide tyrant receive nothing worse than "infuriating" as his verdict? Did being infuriating even qualify someone as a tyrant?!

Jiang Ziya was nearly driven mad. Looking at the soldiers, he sneered and said, "You needn't be afraid. I know you've all been frightened by this tyrant, so you don't dare tell the truth. Yes, that must be it! Rest assured, today I, Jiang Ziya, will stand up for you!"

Hearing Jiang Ziya's words, Di Xin gave him several speechless looks, irritation smoldering within him.

Whatever else might be said about this fellow, his ability to invent reasons and excuses to convince himself was absolutely first-rate!

Fortunately, this fellow didn't have a Negative Emotion Points collection system like the Human Emperor System. Otherwise, he would certainly earn Negative Emotion Points no slower than Di Xin did.

Moreover, Di Xin also discovered that Jiang Ziya's temper seemed outrageously fierce.

Even fat sheep like Bi Gan and Huang Feihu gave varying amounts of Negative Emotion Points, including plenty of double-digit sums. This man, however, started at triple digits-and high triple digits at that!

"Today, I, Jiang Shang, will carry out Heaven's will and subdue you, tyrant!"

Just then, Jiang Ziya swept his Fly-Whisk, formed a sword seal with his fingers, and activated his Thunder Technique. In an instant, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky toward Di Xin.

Bang!

At the sight, Di Xin raised his hand. A ball of lightning flew out and annihilated the incoming bolt along with itself. Then he looked at Jiang Ziya with a beaming smile and said, "Is that all?"

Is that all...

[Negative Emotion Points from Jiang Ziya, +999...]

Jiang Ziya was enraged. His eyes turned a deep blood-red, and the fire in his heart surged upward, nearly bursting from his eyes and nostrils.

At that moment, he finally understood why those soldiers had called Di Xin infuriating. This fellow truly was infuriating!

"How do you know Daoist arts?!"

Yet anger aside, Di Xin's ability to wield the Thunder Technique had still far exceeded his expectations.

"Take a guess..."

Di Xin gave an inscrutable smile and spoke to Jiang Ziya cheerfully.

[Negative Emotion Points from Jiang Ziya, +599...]

"You..." Jiang Ziya leaped three feet in fury, rage burning within him and his back teeth grinding audibly. His anger had reached its peak. He suddenly raised his hand, and crimson flames immediately streamed from his mouth and nose, lunging toward Di Xin.

Before they even drew near, Di Xin immediately felt a scorching sensation sweep through his entire body!

Worse still, deep within his heart, a fierce inner fire flared up at that moment, as though all manner of negative emotions were breeding there.

"The heart's fire burns... the heart's fire burns... ah, the gates of my heart won't stay shut..."

Almost simultaneously, the Suiren Tranquil Heart Method suddenly rang out. Its wildly cheerful, absurdly looping chant instantly swept away all the negative emotions within Di Xin.

"Wicked Daoist, you dare attack His Majesty? Watch Daji deal with you!"

At the same time, seeing this, Daji's eyes immediately blazed. She rose into the air and shouted at Jiang Ziya. Then a bright yellow gleam suddenly flashed in her eyes, and she gently swayed her graceful body twice in midair.

"Huff... huff..."

In an instant, Jiang Ziya felt as though countless hazy, graceful figures had appeared around him, releasing soft sighs. Dreamlike and indistinct, they made his old heart-which had been like rotten wood and, after so much exposure to Lady Ma's shrewishness, had nearly developed an aversion to women-begin to stir uncontrollably. His breathing grew much heavier, and even his body felt an irresistible urge to shed his clothes and sway along with them...