Within the sky screen.
The gateway to the Eighteen Levels of Hell had fully opened.
Endless Yin Qi poured out, forming long black rivers that circled behind Zhong Tian.
Deep within the gateway, layers upon layers of spaces could dimly be seen.
Each space seemed to hold a distinct scene.
In some, flames billowed; in others, the cold pierced to the bone. In some, Yin winds howled; others were bottomless, as though they could swallow all light.
This was not a power an ordinary Soul Master could comprehend.
Nor were these sights something an ordinary Soul Skill could simulate.
This was the Eighteen Levels of Hell, where the Underworld punished evil!
Inside the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token, the nobles who had been begging desperately finally realized what they were about to face.
They stared at the gateway, the blood draining from their faces in an instant.
"No... no!"
"Lord Judge, please, don't send us in there!"
"I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!"
"I'll do anything you ask! As long as I don't go to hell, I'll agree to any condition!"
Piercing cries and pleas rang out one after another.
Some struggled frantically, trying to break free of the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token's restraints.
Some even knelt and kowtowed to Zhong Tian again and again, smashing their foreheads against the ground until blood streamed down.
But Zhong Tian remained unmoved.
He had already given these people enough time to face the crimes they had committed.
Yet these nobles had never cared about what had happened to their victims.
All they cared about was whether they could survive.
Whether everything they had once possessed would be stripped away today.
In that case, why waste any more time?
"The Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token has already reached its verdict on your crimes."
Zhong Tian slowly raised a hand and pointed at the bottomless gateway to hell.
"Today, your punishment shall be the Eighteen Levels of Hell!"
In the next instant, Zhong Tian swept his hand outward.
Countless black chains shot out of the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token, coiling around those sinful souls.
Immediately afterward, an irresistible force erupted!
The nobles' souls were dragged by the chains toward the gateway to the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
"No!!!"
Desperate screams echoed across the sky screen.
Some reached out with all their might, as if trying to grasp their last thread of hope.
Some cried out their names and titles, trying to trade their families' glory for forgiveness.
Others cursed Zhong Tian incessantly, until they discovered that their voices were growing more and more distant, finally swallowed whole by the Yin winds deep within the gateway.
One after another.
The nobles who had once believed themselves above all others were sent into the Eighteen Levels of Hell!
As their souls entered, the sights deep within the gateway came into view.
Some souls were sent to places of punishment where flames raged, while others plunged into the bone-chilling depths of the netherworld.
Through the sky screen, scene after terrifying scene of punishment appeared before the entire Douluo Continent.
How many innocent people had they once driven to despair?
Now, they had to bear the consequences of their crimes!
At that moment, the once lofty nobles had lost every shred of their former dignity.
Their howls and pleas intertwined, finally becoming echoes that lingered long in the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
And this trial had finally reached the stage of true punishment!
An absolute sensation!
When the souls of countless nobles were sent into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, the entire Douluo Continent erupted.
"My heavens!"
"So this is the Eighteen Levels of Hell?!"
"Those nobles were really sent in!"
"They're finished! Those people who committed all kinds of evil are really finished now!"
Countless Soul Masters gazed at the sky screen, their eyes filled with shock.
They had heard of the Underworld and witnessed the power of the Good and Evil Reward and Punishment Token.
But only now did they truly understand what the Underworld's judgment meant.
It was not merely exposing evil, nor was it putting on a show for the world to watch.
It was making every person found guilty pay the price for what they had done!
For ordinary people, this was undoubtedly thrilling news.
In the past, they could only lower their heads before the nobles.
Now, those nobles had been personally sent into the Eighteen Levels of Hell by Zhong Tian.
The contrast in their positions struck with overwhelming force.
"Good! A fine judgment!"
"This should have happened long ago!"
"When those people were oppressing the common folk, did they ever think this day would come?"
"Glory to the Underworld! Glory to Judge Zhong Tian!"
For a time, countless cheers rang out across towns and villages.
Some were moved to tears, some could not help clapping and cheering, and others saw this trial as the beginning of an imminent change in the Douluo Continent.
Meanwhile, the nobles who remained hidden in the shadows, yet to face judgment, fell into utter despair.
They finally understood that their old ways of relying on status, wealth, and influence to escape punishment were no longer reliable.
Zhong Tian would not easily change his verdict because they begged for mercy.
Nor would the Eighteen Levels of Hell treat them differently because they had once stood above everyone else.
From that moment on, the Douluo Continent's noble class could no longer sit securely in their lofty positions as they once had.
And with this trial, the Underworld's mighty reputation swiftly spread across the entire continent!
Divine Realm, Asura God Temple.
Tang San stared fixedly at the sky screen, his hands clenching involuntarily.
When he saw the nobles' souls dragged into the Eighteen Levels of Hell by chains, his face turned utterly grim.
Those howls and cries hammered at his nerves like blow after blow from a heavy mallet.
Tang San naturally knew that many of these nobles were evildoers.
But he knew even better what sort of connection existed between the noble class and the Divine Realm.
Many nobles relied on the power of sects and empires to maintain their rule, while those powers were in turn influenced by the Divine Realm to varying degrees.
Now that Zhong Tian was judging nobles on such a massive scale and even sending them into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, the balance of power across the Douluo Continent was bound to be violently shaken.
What would those who had lost their families' protection think?
And what would those frightened nobles, worried that they too would face judgment, do?
Tang San suddenly realized that another opportunity might be hidden within this trial.
If he could use these nobles' fear to unite them, they might well become a force capable of opposing the Underworld!
After all, to those nobles, Zhong Tian's judgment was no longer merely a threat.
It was a sharp blade hanging over their heads.
Under these circumstances, if someone were willing to step forward and protect them, they might choose to seek that person's protection.
At that thought, the fury in Tang San's eyes gradually turned into a different, meaningful gleam.
"In that case..."
Tang San slowly unclenched his fists and turned his gaze back to the sky screen.
"Perhaps I should take this opportunity to do something too."
At this moment, he was no longer simply angry.
Tang San knew full well that the appearance of the Eighteen Levels of Hell was both the Underworld's sentence upon the nobles and a possible opportunity for him to win their support.
Since those nobles had been driven into a corner, he might well become their last hope!
With that thought, Tang San finally made his decision.
He would take action.
And this time, his targets were the nobles who lived in constant fear because of Zhong Tian's judgment!