As those words fell, the nobles gathered around voiced their agreement.
"That's right! This man has the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog. He must be put to death!"
"He dared to reach out the hand of judgment against the nobility. He has already committed an unforgivable crime!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
The cries gathered into a tide, making the entire trial grounds seem to tremble.
Yet as Zhong Tian listened to these so-called charges, he suddenly laughed.
His laughter was low and hoarse, but it carried a chill that made hearts quiver.
Betraying the nobility? Betraying his family?
In these people's eyes, anyone who refused to wallow in the mire with them, anyone who dared expose their crimes, was a so-called traitor!
Then what of the commoners they had bullied?
What of the lives they had ruined?
To whom could the innocents who had lost their lives to their greed and cruelty turn for justice?
Zhong Tian couldn't understand.
Or rather, he had understood long ago.
These people didn't care about justice at all!
Their so-called rules were nothing but shackles used to bind the weak.
The loyalty they spoke of was nothing but an excuse to demand that everyone submit unconditionally to their interests!
If that was the case, why argue with them any longer?
Zhong Tian slowly raised his head and looked toward the sky obscured by the high walls.
His body was already at its limit, but at that moment, his resolve grew firmer than ever before.
"Hahahaha!"
A burst of wild laughter suddenly erupted from Zhong Tian.
"Some betrayal of the nobility!"
"Some betrayal of the family!"
"Your mouths are full of benevolence and virtue, but you harbor wicked intentions!"
"Today, you can kill me, but you will never be able to prove yourselves right!"
Zhong Tian suddenly began to struggle.
Though the shackles on his body cut his flesh to a bloody pulp, though the presence of countless Soul Masters pressed down on him until he could barely breathe, he still used the last of his strength to roar at the nobles on the high platform.
"I, Zhong Tian, swear here and now!"
"Even if I die today, even if my soul is scattered, even if I face nine deaths and one chance at life, I will never let you go!"
"As long as evil remains in this world, as long as you have not received the judgment you deserve, I will never let this rest!"
"To the highest heavens above and the Yellow Springs below!"
"Even if I have to pursue you beneath the Nine Netherworlds, even if I have to tread every inch of the far shore of the Yellow Springs, I will judge every last one of you!"
"Though I die nine times-still I shall not regret it!"
As those final words fell, Zhong Tian's presence erupted in the midst of his desperate plight.
It was not a power capable of turning the situation around.
It was the resolve of a man who knew he was certain to die, yet still refused to bow his head to evil!
At that moment, beyond the sky screen, countless people felt a jolt in their hearts.
Even the Soul Masters who had feared the Underworld involuntarily clenched their fists.
They might not have possessed courage like Zhong Tian's, but they could not deny that this man who was about to die did possess something many others lacked.
It was the backbone to die rather than submit!
Yet Zhong Tian's oath did not move those nobles in the slightest.
They merely waved their hands coldly.
In an instant, the Soul Master carrying out the execution stepped forward.
A blade flashed.
The judge who had once insisted on judging evil finally fell before everyone's eyes.
Blood stained the judgment platform red.
Zhong Tian's body slowly fell, but his eyes remained open.
It was as though, even in the final moment of his life, he was still watching those wicked people.
He would carve their faces deep into his soul!
A deathly silence fell over Douluo Star.
Immediately afterward, furious roars swept across the land once more.
"Beasts!"
"These nobles have utterly lost their consciences!"
"Zhong Tian had already been tortured like that, and they still wouldn't let him go!"
"Does a verdict like that deserve to be called judgment?"
The eyes of countless people turned red.
Some gnashed their teeth, some wept with grief and indignation, and others wished they could charge into the sky screen and drag out every last one of those high and mighty nobles.
Just as these emotions reached their peak, the image on the sky screen suddenly darkened.
The sky, clear only moments before, was enveloped in boundless darkness in the blink of an eye.
An indescribable pressure descended without a sound.
It was neither the presence of an ordinary Soul Master nor a power that an ordinary deity could rival.
It was as though a being who stood above the netherworld was crossing endless space and time to look down upon this world filled with evil!
Immediately afterward, a figure slowly emerged from the void.
His black robes whipped in the wind, and Nether Qi surged to the heavens.
An endless netherworld seemed to stretch out behind him, its myriad forms looming in and out of sight in the darkness.
As the figure appeared, even the light between heaven and earth seemed to be suppressed.
The sight made countless people on Douluo Star hold their breath.
The Great Emperor of Fengdu!
Chen Yuan!
Though they had never seen the lord of the Underworld with their own eyes, they had long since learned of his existence from the earlier images on the sky screen.
And now, this legendary supreme being had appeared in person at the very moment of Zhong Tian's death!
"That's the Great Emperor of Fengdu?"
"Heavens! That presence is impossible to look at directly!"
"The lord of the Underworld has descended in person. Could he be here to resurrect Zhong Tian?"
Countless cries of astonishment rang out one after another.
In the Divine Realm, Tang San and the Shrek Seven Devils shot to their feet.
They had thought that the most terrifying things about the Underworld were its staggering number of ghosts and gods, and its powerful means of suppressing countless evil souls.
But when Chen Yuan truly appeared on the sky screen, they realized they had still underestimated the lord of the Underworld!
Merely sensing that presence through the sky screen was enough to make their hearts and minds tremble.
Tang San's expression immediately turned grave.
He tried to recall more information about Chen Yuan, but found that facing this figure gave rise to an indescribable sense of pressure in his heart.
Yu Xiaogang's face had turned ashen.
The might bearing down on him was like an invisible divine mountain pressing on his body, leaving him barely able to breathe.
Even so, Yu Xiaogang still refused to admit his fear.
"Damn it!"
"Does this fellow really expect everyone to bow their heads to him?"
Though Yu Xiaogang shouted those words, his body had long since gone stiff.
Under that pressure, even raising his head seemed to take some effort.
While everyone was still reeling, Chen Yuan, in the image on the sky screen, finally walked slowly up to Zhong Tian's soul.
The once upright and impartial judge had now lost his physical body.
Yet his soul still held a fixation that refused to fade.
It was hatred for evil.
And a steadfast commitment to justice.
Chen Yuan looked down at him, his gaze deep, as though he could see through everything this soul had experienced.
A moment later, a calm and majestic voice resounded throughout heaven and earth.
"Zhong Tian."
"Are you willing to enter my Underworld and take up the post of judge?"
"From this day forward, judge the evil of the world, deny countless evil souls their peace, and let countless good souls find a good end!"
"Even if you must go to the highest heavens above and down to the Yellow Springs, leave those who deserve punishment nowhere to escape!"
As the Great Emperor of Fengdu's voice fell, the previously silent sky screen suddenly blossomed with endless netherlight.
And at that moment, Zhong Tian's soul, which had been on the verge of dissipating, slowly raised its head.
He looked at Chen Yuan before him, as though he had finally seen the path he had sought so desperately.
Once, he had wanted to judge evil, but power and influence had pressed him down until he could not rise.
Now, he was dead.
Yet that fixation had finally found a new home!
From that day on, Zhong Tian formally took his place as the Hell Judge.
His judgment would also truly descend upon the whole of Douluo Star!