With Zhong Tian formally beginning the judgment, the situation across the entire Douluo Continent finally underwent an earthshaking change.
Above the City of Wrongful Death, intertwined black and white divine light spread for a thousand li. The Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token hung in the heavens like the eye of a god looking down upon all living beings, taking in the pasts of countless souls.
The nobles whose souls had yet to be taken now lived in constant dread.
They had originally clung to a sliver of hope, believing that even with the Underworld's support, Zhong Tian could not possibly judge the entire Douluo Continent in a short time.
After all, the Douluo Continent was simply too vast.
The great empires, sects, and noble families were tangled together like intertwined roots, with countless threads connecting them to one another.
If Zhong Tian truly intended to move against every noble, he would surely face resistance from countless factions.
Yet after witnessing the terrifying power of the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token with their own eyes, the last shred of hope in their hearts vanished like smoke!
That was no power an ordinary Soul Master could comprehend!
No matter how well the nobles hid, how many guards surrounded them, or what they had done in the past, the divine light of the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token could seize their souls directly whenever it shone upon them!
Such a method was enough to make one's hair stand on end!
"Heavens! What kind of weapon is that?"
"How could anyone possess such unbelievable power?"
"Damn it! It can seize souls directly! Could it be that even a Titled Douluo can't resist the power of that treasure?"
In a heavily guarded noble estate, an elderly man in luxurious robes stared at the sky, his entire body trembling.
His family had established itself in the area over hundreds of years, amassing great wealth and maintaining close ties with many of the empire's powerful figures.
In the past, thanks to those connections, there had always been someone to smooth things over for him, even when he occasionally caused trouble.
What could the commoners he oppressed do, even if they resented him?
They had no strength, no background, and no one to stand up for them.
In the end, could they do anything but swallow their anger?
But now, everything was different!
The Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token in Zhong Tian's hand did not care how much wealth he possessed, much less what sort of people he had befriended.
Those beams of black and white divine light had already made him feel the fear of approaching death.
"What do we do? What are we supposed to do now?"
The old man abruptly turned and roared at the family members beside him.
"Contact the other families, quickly! Tell them we have to find a way to stop Zhong Tian!"
"And hurry up and clean up those past matters! We absolutely can't let him trace them back to us!"
Yet when they heard his words, not one of the family members around him looked relieved.
Clean them up?
Was he joking?
Didn't they know full well how many things they'd done over the years?
Some of their crimes had taken place more than a decade ago, while others dated back several decades.
But whether it was the commoners they had murdered or the property they had stolen, none of it would vanish into thin air simply because time had passed.
What was more, the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token in Zhong Tian's hand was clearly no ordinary interrogation tool.
It could even draw souls directly inside and reveal a person's past experiences.
Faced with such power, how could they possibly cover anything up?
For a time, the noble class across the entire Douluo Continent fell into an unprecedented panic.
Some tried to flee their territories, some hurried to contact their allies, and others simply ordered their family's Soul Masters to suppress the news.
Unfortunately, no matter what they did, they could not stop the sky from displaying the judgment to all living beings under heaven.
And this judgment had only just begun!
The City of Wrongful Death.
Zhong Tian stood suspended before the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token, his gaze icy and his expression solemn.
By now, Zhong Tian had closely linked his divine power to the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token.
As soul after soul was drawn into the edict, the memories hidden deep within them began to appear one by one.
There were images of ordinary people toiling away, scenes of Soul Masters fighting bloody battles to protect their homes, and the many crimes of nobles who used their power to bully others and do as they pleased.
The Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token seemed to possess the ability to see into the past, turning these experiences into clear images of light and shadow before Zhong Tian's eyes.
What Zhong Tian had to do was deliver the verdicts of a Hell Judge according to the crimes revealed.
"Now that you have entered the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token, you need no longer cling to any hope of escape."
Zhong Tian raised his eyes, his voice carrying throughout the City of Wrongful Death.
"Everything you did in life has left its mark."
"Those who oppressed the people shall be scrutinized!"
"Those who treated human lives like grass shall pay the price!"
"Those who used their power to seize wealth, harm the innocent, and enrich themselves through their authority can forget about escaping responsibility for their crimes by relying on their status!"
"Today, I shall show all beings under heaven with their own eyes what it means for heaven's justice to shine bright and retribution never to miss its mark!"
As his voice fell, the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token in Zhong Tian's hand suddenly burst forth with ten thousand zhang of divine light.
In an instant, the countless images within the edict all became clear.
Scene after scene of the evils the nobles had deliberately concealed was finally cast upon the sky, exposed before the entire Douluo Continent!
In one scene, a young nobleman in embroidered robes sat in a restaurant.
Several servants stood at his side with their heads lowered, while the table was laden with delicacies.
Outside the restaurant, a middle-aged man in tattered clothes knelt on the ground, pleading desperately for something.
"Young master, I'm begging you!"
"That field is what my whole family depends on to survive. If you take it by force, none of us, young or old, will be able to go on living!"
When the young nobleman heard him, however, he merely put down his wine cup with an indifferent air.
"Can't go on living?"
"So what?"
"It's a blessing for your whole family that I've taken a fancy to your field!"
"If you know what's good for you, hand over the deed at once. Otherwise, don't blame me for showing you no mercy!"
Despair showed on the middle-aged man's face, but he still refused to give in.
The next moment, several servants rushed forward and pinned him to the ground.
No matter how he struggled or how the people around him pleaded, nothing could change the outcome: his field was taken by force.
More infuriating still, the young nobleman did not even take the matter to heart.
To him, he had merely seized a piece of land on a whim.
But to that ordinary family, it meant the complete loss of their livelihood.
The sight instantly set countless people watching the sky ablaze with fury.
"Bastard!"
"That's going too far!"
"His entire family depended on that field to live! What gave him the right to just take it?"
"Just because he's a noble, does that mean he can trample on ordinary people's lives and property as he pleases?"
Angry curses rose and fell.
But the images in the sky did not stop because of the crowd's anger.
Immediately afterward, another memory appeared.
This time, what appeared before everyone was a secluded street.
Several Soul Masters had surrounded an ordinary vendor. His stall had already been smashed to pieces, and his goods were scattered all over the ground.
"What gives you the right to smash my things?"
The vendor's face was full of fear, but he still mustered the courage to demand an answer.
One of the Soul Masters gave a mocking smile at his words.
"What gives us the right?"
"The fact that we're Soul Masters!"
"You're just an ordinary person, and you dare try to reason with us?"
With that, he kicked the vendor's stall over.
Passersby hurried out of the way, and no one dared step forward to stop them.
Everyone knew that in this world, where Soul Masters possessed great power, ordinary people who offended a Soul Master often did not even have a chance to seek justice.
But just as everyone thought this was bad enough, the next scene left them utterly silent.
The Soul Masters not only destroyed the vendor's goods, but also forcibly took what little money he had left on him.
From beginning to end, they suffered no punishment whatsoever.
Instead, it was the vendor who was beaten black and blue for trying to resist.
In the past, such a thing might have been just one of countless injustices on the Douluo Continent.
But now, after it was revealed by the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token, everyone finally understood what the so-called majesty of the nobility and dignity of the strong meant in the eyes of certain people.
They were nothing but excuses to oppress the weak!
"Heavens, are these the sins of the nobility?"
"I used to think that although nobles were high and mighty, they at least had some scruples."
"But what happened? They don't even treat ordinary people as human beings!"
"No wonder Zhong Tian wants to judge them! If people like that aren't punished, should they just be allowed to keep doing evil?"