When the scene of Zhong Tian being tried by countless nobles acting together was fully revealed on the sky screen, the entire Douluo Star seemed to fall silent.
Then, anger that had been suppressed for so long erupted with a roar!
"Bastards! They're all a bunch of bastards!"
"Why? Zhong Tian was judging evil, so why should these nobles get to judge him instead?"
"They make it sound so noble, calling it a betrayal of the nobility and his family. I say they're just afraid their own crimes will be exposed!"
"Pah! A bunch of bullies who only know how to throw their weight around. It was bad enough that they lorded it over everyone before, but now they won't even spare someone who stands up for justice!"
Countless common folk gazed up at the sky screen, their eyes filled with anger.
Some among them had once been forced to pay taxes to nobles, until supporting their families became an impossible dream despite a year of hard work.
Some had offended the powerful and had their property taken from them for no reason, without even a chance to defend themselves.
Others had watched helplessly as their loved ones were bullied, only able to bow their heads and bury their grief and anger deep in their hearts.
It was not that they did not want to resist.
It was just that, in a world where the strong reigned supreme, ordinary people often did not even have the right to protect themselves.
When power could decide right and wrong, when fists could replace justice, who could they turn to for redress?
Now, through his own experiences, Zhong Tian on the sky screen had laid it all bare before everyone.
He had been born an ordinary man and had struggled to change his fate through talent and a gift for cultivation, yet in the end, he had chosen not to wallow in the same filth as those nobles.
Instead, to judge evil, he had willingly offended those lofty and powerful figures!
Was a man like that not worthy of admiration?
"Zhong Tian is the real good man!"
"Even a man like him has to stand trial, while those who commit every kind of evil can sleep soundly without a care?"
"Heavens, is there any justice left in this world?"
Angry curses and sorrowful sighs rang out across Douluo Star.
Even many Soul Masters clenched their fists at this moment.
Some among them had once received favors from nobles, while others had relied on the resources nobles provided to cultivate and grow stronger.
But that did not mean they could accept what they saw before them.
What Zhong Tian had done was clearly to uphold order and punish evil.
Yet in the end, such a judge had been driven into a dead end by the very people he sought to judge.
How ironic! And how heartbreaking!
Just as anger had swept across Douluo Star, the images on the sky screen had also stirred the Underworld.
Fengdu Grand Hall.
The gathered ghosts and gods watched Zhong Tian in days past, their expressions varied.
Though they had long known about Zhong Tian's past, they had not expected the sky screen to show this part of his life so completely.
The Hell Judge of old had once been nothing more than an ordinary man who wanted to change his fate through his own abilities.
But after he truly entered the ranks of the nobility and saw the darkness beneath their dazzling outer garments, he ultimately chose to stand against evil.
Even if it cost him his life.
"So that's how it was."
Bibi Dong spoke slowly, a trace of coldness flashing in her eyes.
As the former Pope of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong naturally knew just how mad power could make a person.
She knew even better how many despicable things those in high positions could do to protect their own interests.
Zhong Tian had clearly crossed those people's bottom line back then.
That was why they had been willing to pay any price to wipe him out completely.
Beside her, Qian Daoliu also fell silent for a moment before gently shaking his head.
"What a pity."
"If Zhong Tian had possessed the strength he has now back then, how would those nobles have dared to act so brazenly?"
Qian Daoliu paused, his gaze gradually sharpening.
"However, without those experiences, I'm afraid there would be no Hell Judge today."
Strength was important, of course.
But for someone like Zhong Tian, what had truly sustained him on his journey to this day had never been strength alone.
It was his unwavering resolve not to bow to evil, even when trapped in a desperate situation!
Under everyone's gazes, Zhong Tian seemed exceptionally calm.
He reached up and stroked his beard, as though what the sky screen showed was merely a chapter of the past that had long since been closed.
"There's no need for this, everyone."
"Those things are all in the past."
Zhong Tian spoke calmly, his voice holding little resentment and no deliberately displayed grief or anger.
"Back then, I truly was powerless to change everything."
"But now that I have become the Hell Judge, I naturally won't let those evildoers escape judgment so easily again."
At the end, his voice abruptly grew low.
"No matter what position they hold or how much power they wield, so long as they have committed sins, they must face the Underworld's judgment!"
"This isn't my resolve alone, but a rule the Underworld must uphold!"
When his words fell, Fengdu Grand Hall fell quiet.
A moment later, the many ghosts and gods nodded one after another.
Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu, in particular, deeply agreed with Zhong Tian's words.
Both had once stood at the pinnacle of power on Douluo Star, and both had witnessed the cruelty of struggles for power.
Now that they were in the Underworld, they naturally understood even better how important it was to establish an order that could restrain the strong and punish evil.
On the throne, Chen Yuan had watched the sky screen the entire time.
Hearing Zhong Tian's words, a hint of approval appeared in his eyes.
This was one of the reasons Chen Yuan admired Zhong Tian.
The position of Hell Judge had never required great strength alone.
It also required a heart that could distinguish good from evil and feared no power.
If one cringed and cowered before evil and changed one's standards before the strong, then even with the power to reach the heavens and pierce the earth, one was unworthy of presiding over the Underworld's judgments!
Zhong Tian had proven himself in precisely that regard.
Just then, the image on the sky screen changed once more.
The scene of the nobles putting Zhong Tian on trial in the past was finally presented before everyone in earnest.
[In the past, Zhong Tian had used his own strength to judge evil, but in doing so, he had enraged many nobles.]
[Faced with this judge who refused to submit, they decided to put Zhong Tian to death on so-called charges!]
As the voice from the sky screen sounded, a solemn tribunal appeared before everyone in the image.
The raised seats all around it were filled with nobles in magnificent clothing.
They wore brocade robes and ornaments of pearls and jade, their faces bearing the arrogance of those who looked down on others.
In their eyes, the trial before them was not about uncovering the truth, nor was it about upholding justice.
There was only one thing they intended to do.
And that was to destroy Zhong Tian completely!
By now, Zhong Tian had long since been tortured beyond recognition.
His once-neat robes had become tattered, his body was covered in wounds, and blood dripped steadily from the edges of his clothes.
Yet even in such a state, Zhong Tian still did not bow his head.
The eyes that had once seen through evil remained fixed on the nobles in the raised seats.
It was as though, so long as he lived, he would never abandon his last sliver of hope.
Watching this, the hearts of many people on Douluo Star clenched.
They could even imagine the torment Zhong Tian must have suffered.
Yet even so, he still refused to submit.
Meanwhile, one of the nobles in the raised seats had lost his patience.
He shot to his feet, pointed at Zhong Tian, and shouted harshly:
"Zhong Tian!"
"Though you are a noble, you never thought to repay your family or show gratitude. Instead, you targeted your own fellows at every turn!"
"You betrayed the nobility, betrayed your family, and betrayed your own kin!"
"What use is there in keeping an ungrateful wretch like you, who respects neither ruler nor father?"
"Today, you are sentenced to death!"