Su Yan felt eyes on him. The statues were too numerous, too similar—he couldn't identify which one watched.
Stone scraped against stone.
"Bell, does the Plague God hold grudges?" he whispered.
"Yes!"
"Can I open my Heavenly Eye to check my back?"
"Don't! You'll attract every god in this hall. Their wills would fill your mind until you became like those corpses below!"
They walked a narrow cliff path. Below, countless dead climbed upward, fighting over treasures, never knowing they'd died ages ago.
Yuan Qi scratched his back with his tail. Su Yan's skin crawled.
More stone scraping. A massive statue turned its head like an owl, looking down at him. Triangular. Strange features.
*The Plague God's statue?*
The scraping multiplied. Statue after statue turned, strange gazes fixing on Su Yan.
Ten-thousand-zhang stone figures, silent and immense.
Even Zhou Qiyun tensed. He called upward, "I follow the Supreme Emperor's path to visit the Underworld Court. I ask the divine ones for passage!"
Ancient will rolled through the air like thunder. Divine speech—not human, not ghost-tongue. Simple syllables carrying profound meaning.
Su Yan and the others couldn't understand the language, but the divine will conveyed its message: among them was a blasphemer. One who had offended the gods. Heavenly law demanded judgment. Heavenly punishment must be delivered.
Zhou Qiyun turned to Su Yan, uncertain.
"Bell, can you withstand the Plague God?"
"Not now. I can hold briefly, but without the pagoda tree's vitality, my strength is limited."
Zhou Qiyun called again. "Divine ones, can you show mercy?"
The ancient will replied: heavenly law brooked no favoritism. Violation of heavenly rules meant punishment without exception.
Zhou Qiyun turned away. "I've done what I can. Veyon, let's go."
"Think of the Yuan family," Elder Xiao whispered.
Veyon followed him.
"Brother Yuan, take care of Yuan Qi!" Su Yan called. "Yuan Qi, go with them."
The serpent hesitated. Su Yan whispered, "Staying would distract me. Zhou Qiyun knows your family. He won't mistreat you."
Yuan Qi slithered after the others. "I'll wait outside, A-Yan!"
The path emptied. Only Su Yan remained between cliffs and abyss.
The Hall of Gods went dark. A single beam of heavenly light fell on Su Yan. He couldn't see his surroundings—only the light above, and shadowy figures lurking at its edges.
Stone scraped. Heavenly pressure intensified. Ten thousand gazes fixed on him. Ancient wills weighed his sins.
A book of light formed in the sky. An invisible brush wrote his crimes.
"Third month, first day. Underworld Court report: Su Yan killed a god in Jiangjia Village. Death penalty."
"Third month, second day. Government report: Su Yan killed a man in Stone Mountain. Death penalty."
"Third month, third day. Underworld Court report: Su Yan killed a god in Jianshan Village. Death penalty."
"Third month, fourth day. Underworld Court report: Su Yan killed twelve gods in Dawn Mountain. Death penalty."
Su Yan shouted, "Stop reciting! I did it all, and I regret nothing! You gods punish me because I whipped and burned the Plague God. Don't dress it up as justice! I'm a nobody. Kill me if you want—no need for theater!"
The statues remained expressionless. The ancient wills continued cataloging his crimes until they reached his whipping of the underworld Bull Demon.
An even older will thundered: "This one has heavy sins. Check his three-life record. Settle all accounts."
Ancient wills stirred, investigating his previous lives.
"Previous life: no authority to view."
"Life before that: no authority to view."
"Three lives prior: no authority to view."
Silence. The statues showed surprise—a subtle shift in their stone faces. The atmosphere grew strange.
The bell had been ready to sacrifice itself to break Su Yan free. Now it froze.
*The gods who control heavenly Dao cannot view his previous lives?*
A heavier will descended—older, more powerful than the rest. It thundered in divine language: "Do not pursue past lives. Judge only this one. Find his present-life evil. Apply heavenly punishment. Restore heavenly order!"
One by one, voices rang out: "Heavenly rules lack authority to punish."
"Heavenly principles lack authority."
"Heavenly law lacks authority."
"Heavenly punishment lacks authority."
"Heavenly power lacks authority."
Silence again. Terrible silence.
Finally, an ancient will spoke: "Case dismissed."
The book of light's words vanished. The book and brush flew into the celestial realm and disappeared.
"Escort the young master out."
A beam of light illuminated Su Yan's path forward.
He walked, mind reeling. The bell was equally stunned. The gods had appealed upward three times, each higher authority more powerful than the last. The final one—perhaps the leader of the celestial realm—had simply dismissed the case.
*What happened in Su Yan's past that even heavenly gods cannot investigate?*
"A-Yan, how does the Grand Yin Origin-Nurturing Art compare to your Grand Unity Daoyin Art?"
Su Yan blinked. "The Grand Yin Art tempers body, soul, qi, consciousness, and bloodline regardless of stage. It improves talent naturally. The Grand Unity Art is fragmented but equally profound. I cultivate both, and the longer I practice, the more extraordinary the Grand Unity Art reveals itself."
"Is the Grand Unity Art hidden in your memory or your bloodline? Why do you remember it as you cultivate deeper?"
Su Yan had never considered this.
"You should visit Sujiaping," the bell said.
"Sujiaping burned down. With the underworld invasion and New Territory emerging, it's probably gone."
"Do you remember the way?"
"How could I forget?"
"Then after we escape Zhou Qiyun, we're going. No matter what."
Su Yan was silent. "Thank you, Bell."
The bell laughed. "We're friends. You feed me qi and blood without complaint. Why thank me?"
"Bell, don't you think I've been feeding you because you extort me?"
"Haha! Good joke. Don't make jokes like that again!"
Outside the Hall of Gods, Zhou Qiyun and the others emerged. Veyon and Yuan Qi stopped, not following further.
"Don't wait," Zhou Qiyun said. "The Hall of Gods is an ascension site. Gods can descend here. Even a celestial immortal couldn't escape ten thousand gods judging them."
Yuan Qi shook his massive head. "A-Yan is clever. He'll escape."
Zhou Qiyun disagreed. No one survived divine judgment.
They waited in silence.
Veyon asked, "Patriarch Zhou, I heard gods require offerings to descend. How can they appear here without sacrifice?"
"That's the purpose of ascension sites."
Yuan Qi remembered. The girl in the coffin had mentioned ascension sites. Qinyan Cave in Mount Wuwang was one.
Zhou Qiyun explained, "Ascension sites are places where the world's barrier grows thin. Some say they're where cultivators transcended tribulation. Others say they're fragments of the celestial realm. Gods can descend through weak barriers."
A voice came from the Hall of Gods. "Patriarch Zhou, can gods leave an ascension site?"
Zhou Qiyun's eyelid twitched. He looked up in disbelief.
A familiar figure walked out on a beam of light.
"How—" Zhou Qiyun's mind went blank.
"Do ascension sites decay over time?" Su Yan asked his second question. He'd been thinking about Qinyan Cave. If it was an ascension site, why didn't it show the same characteristics?
"How did you get out?" Zhou Qiyun finally managed.
Su Yan smiled. "I walked out. The Hall of Gods investigated, found me innocent, and showed me the door."