The two powers collided mid-air.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations—
There was no prolonged struggle, no cataclysmic explosion.
Elai’s spear was simply… knocked away like a toy!
“CRASH!”
Elai himself was sent flying by the rod’s overwhelming force, slamming into the ground and carving a deep trench through the earth.
Elai: “???”
For that brief moment, his spear had felt like it had struck a mountain.
Not something even heavier, even more immovable!
That pressure wasn’t from divine energy clashing-it was pure, raw, unadulterated weight!
No fancy techniques, no intricate maneuvers.
Just sheer, brutal… gravitational domination!
This feeling is hard to describe—it’s like charging forward with a gun in hand, only for Su Fu to casually toss an entire mountain at him instead!
He was dazed.
Huh?
How is this fair?
Weren’t we all supposed to be fighting with divine artifacts?!
Before Elai could even process his defeat, ZhongZheng Ye realized something was wrong.
This is bad!
“[Fury of the Raging Seas]!”
Seawater surged out of nowhere, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield.
He grabbed Elai, who was still in shock, and shouted, “Run!”
This was no longer about winning or losing.
Even Elai’s B+ divine artifact was completely crushed-what kind of fight was this?!
“We just have to hold out until the battle royale timer ends!”
He unleashed his divine power without restraint, burning through it frantically just to buy them a chance to escape.
Amid the towering waves, ZhongZheng Ye and Elai swiftly vanished into the raging sea.
Su Fu stood atop her wind-fire wheels, looking down at the scene from above.
…They sure ran fast.
“Tsk tsk…”
She couldn’t help but feel envious.
“How do they all have so much divine power to spare?!”
Whether it was ZhongZheng Ye or Elai, the resources of their noble families were simply beyond what a pauper like her could compare to.
Hmph!
Who knows how many secret exams they’ve taken in the shadows!
“Boss, they got away!”
Su Fu remained unruffled.
“No rush. We’ve bought enough time.”
In the distance, countless shadow soldiers, tiny as black dots, had already arrived, layer upon layer tightening the encirclement.
“Right now, it’s like drawing a circle around them,” Su Fu mused.
“What good is running toward the center?”
As time passed, the encirclement would shrink further, growing denser and more impenetrable.
By the end, even if they had the power to reach the heavens, they’d still be buried alive under sheer numbers.
Su Fu immediately commanded, “Full speed ahead, press forward!”
Thousands of shadow soldiers moved in perfect formation, their pace accelerating rapidly.
This was the essence of a battle royale-
You run, I hunt!
From the sky, the entire underworld had transformed into a colossal net, and now, that net was tightening violently.
The endless tide of shadow soldiers blotted out the sky, sealing off every possible escape route.
Nowhere to run!
But that still wasn’t enough.
Su Fu raised her voice in a commanding shout, “I summon the True Lord Zhong Kui—”
“Judgment Decree!”
Instantly, the phantom of Zhong Kui slowly materialized behind her.
But after the apparition appeared, it continued to grow-bigger and bigger!
Amplified by the power of the underworld, the phantom soared upward, transforming in the blink of an eye into a towering colossus that touched the heavens.
An eerie blue light erupted into the sky, instantly enveloping the entire battlefield.
What is a judge?
One who punishes sin!
Su Fu’s voice echoed throughout the underworld.
“Judgment begins!”
“Elai!”
“Crime: Flaying and trafficking victims, resulting in five deaths.”
“Sentence “
“Flaying Hell, five hundred years!”
Elai was still sprinting when suddenly, the scenery before him twisted violently.
Countless ghastly hands emerged from the void, each gripping razor-sharp blades as they lunged at him.
Just the sight of them made him feel the terror of being skinned inch by inch.
Elai: “!!!”
He completely lost it, roaring in frenzy: “Su Fu!”
“Have you lost your mind?!”
Before ZhongZheng Ye beside him could react, the second judgment descended:
“ZhongZheng Ye!”
“Crime: Scheming for wealth and murder-burying six alive.”
“Sentence-“
“Blood Pool Hell, eight hundred years!”
In an instant, an enormous coffin appeared before ZhongZheng Ye.
The lid creaked open, thick blood gushing out as the stench of iron filled the air.
Countless bleached bones floated in the blood pool, emitting a teeth-grating creaking sound.
Zong Zheng Ye’s face turned deathly pale as his rationality instantly collapsed-what the hell was this?!
What kind of evil trick was Su Fu pulling here?!
Since when could she pass judgment with just a single sentence?!
He hadn’t committed any crime!
“Shen Yan!” he roared hysterically, “I want to report this!”
“Su Fu is cheating!”
“This is utterly shameless! Whose survival exam is this supposed to be?!”
“Why is she exempt from being hunted?!”
***
In the invigilation room.
The observers watched with their scalps tingling in horror.
“This is… this is too brutal!”
Mo Sanchou couldn’t help rubbing his arms, “Su Fu is going way too far!”
Zhao Wujie, who had been sympathizing with Elai, slammed the table and stood up in outrage:
“Can this even be called an exam?!”
“What kind of messed-up test paper is this? Su Fu must be cheating! Since when does she get to pass judgment?!”
“This is too outrageous…” Bai Li watched with her heart pounding, “She’s supposed to be an examinee, right? Then why can she command underworld officers and pass sentences?!”
“There’s definitely something fishy going on! It must be…”
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly thought of something and sharply turned to look at Shen Yan beside her.
But before she could speak-
“I really didn’t enable any cheats!!!”
Shen Yan had already learned to preempt questions, its voice carrying a hint of helplessness.
It had run multiple self-checks; the current exam rules were completely valid.
Bai Li was beside herself: “But this can’t be right! Just look at this scene-if I described it to anyone they wouldn’t believe it! A survival exam where one examinee hunts down all the others?!”
“Is this compliant?”
Shen Yan: “…It’s compliant.”
What could it do?
The candidate was just that powerful.
Bai Li: “What about the judgment?!”
Shen Yan: “…Also compliant.”
This is Su Fu’s divine skill-any problem with that?
Ahem…
Su Fu might have gone a bit too far this time.
Couldn’t she at least pretend a little?
Zhao Wujie: “……”
Mo Sanchou: “……”
Listen to yourself!
Just listen to what you’re saying!
“I absolutely refuse to believe this!” Zhao Wujie bellowed, “This isn’t an exam at all!”
“How could one examinee possibly control the entire underworld?!”
“This isn’t just cheating-it’s outright blasphemy!”
“I’m reporting this—”
Before he could finish, the previously silent Helian Yue interrupted him.
“Because this is the China instance.”
Zhao Wujie’s words died in his throat instantly.
He froze in place, mouth opening and closing before finally stammering out:
“W-what did you say? The S-rank instance, Chang’an is…”
“Chang’an… City God Temple… Underworld… These are the China instances?”
Helian Yue sighed, her gaze falling on the projection of Zhong Kui the True Lord on the screen.
“That’s right. Haven’t you all noticed? Su Fu’s deity, Zhong Kui the True Lord, is officially recognized by both the City God Temple and the Underworld.”
“Otherwise, how could she possibly have such extensive authority? Commanding underworld soldiers?”
Her voice remained calm, “Moreover, the City God Office personally activated map points for her, a first in the Chang’an map.”
“Not to mention they even opened the Bihuo Path to the underworld for Su Fu.”
She looked around at everyone and asked, “With all these anomalies, didn’t any of you suspect anything?”
“But how could this be possible…” Zhao Wujie muttered to himself.
Helian Yue didn’t give him a chance to continue, “Do you really think Su Fu’s title being recognized throughout the underworld is thanks to the City God Office?”
“It’s all because of True Lord Zhong Kui behind the scenes.”
“That’s why she can command ghost enforcers and invoke the power of judges for judgment.”
“So, still don’t get it?”
“Only in a dungeon of the Chinese pantheon would True Lord Zhong Kui receive such recognition and wield such authority!”
That was the real reason.
Zhao Wujie opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a sound.
It was…
All the signs had been there!
But the answer was too terrifying; he hadn’t dared to dwell on it.
“But… but…” He tried to argue, though his voice faltered, “Isn’t that a bit… excessive?”
Zhang Yuanhua felt obliged to console his shaken colleagues.
He blurted out, “Don’t take it so hard. Examiner Helian’s point is simple-Su Fu just went back to her happy place. Of course she’d be overpowered there.”
“One day, your elites from Xuandu Academy, Tianxuan Academy’s ZhongZheng Ye, or Cangwu Academy’s Su Luan will get their turn too.”
“Patience.”
Zhao Wujie, Bai Li & Mo Sanchou: “……”
Shut the hell up!
We don’t want to hear another word from you!
So damn annoying!
It was common knowledge that maps and deities had restraining relationships.
As humanity continued exploring anomalous dungeons, more patterns emerged the higher the dungeon’s tier, the closer its map resembled a deity’s domain.
With a complicated expression, Helian Yue elaborated, “Some scholars believe this isn’t coincidence. The anomalies are seeking breakthroughs-they’re imitating divine authority.”
“Take this underworld dungeon—the anomalies modeled themselves as Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, even constructing an underworld map. They’re likely replicating the Chinese pantheon’s underworld structure, copying its laws and rules.”
Mo Sanchou caught on, “But that’s precisely their fatal flaw.”
“A counterfeit meeting China’s true god-True Lord Zhong Kui!”
“Exactly.” Helian Yue nodded.
“The more accurately these anomalies imitate, the more complete their rules, the easier for Zhong Kui’s authority to intervene. No matter how convincing the fake, it can’t surpass the genuine article.”
“That’s dimensional suppression at the level of true divine authority.”
“That’s why Su Fu could mobilize underworld soldiers and wield judge powers. By mimicking these forces, the anomalies had already acknowledged their legitimacy.”
“And coincidentally, True Lord Zhong Kui is the true judge of the underworld.”
Talk about overwhelming advantages!
Zhang Yuanhua gave a crude analogy, “It’s like someone building an illegal structure in your yard. Of course you’d have the right to demolish it—hell, you might even… ahem, repurpose it for yourself.”
Everyone: “….”
Crude but not wrong though that was pushing it.
But Zhao Wujie suddenly frowned.
“Wait…”
He looked up sharply and said, “The Greek pantheon has twelve Olympians sharing power, the Norse pantheon has the Æsir council, even Amaterasu’s pantheon has eight million deities co-governing.”
“But China’s underworld…”
“Such a vast underworld-how could there be no counterbalance to True Lord Zhong Kui?”
“Just letting him bend rules and give Su Fu special treatment?”
They could accept that Judge Zhong Kui had authority over the underworld, but surely he couldn’t possess all permissions, could he?
Yet look at the situation now-the underworld was practically being run like Su Fu’s own home!
Everything was permitted!
Full access granted without restriction.
The others were stunned upon hearing this-it did seem to be the case.
Indeed, according to mainstream understanding, anomalies continuously mutate, devour various forms, and assimilate them into their own existence-such as ghosts, demonic crows, and monsters.
Some powerful S-rank anomalies could even mimic the forms of certain deities, like the Black and White Impermanence or Ox-Head and Horse-Face currently in the underworld.
This was also why people generally believed deities descended because anomalies had grown so audacious, daring to impersonate them.
Thus, the gods, enraged and pitying humanity, bestowed divine techniques to eradicate the anomalies.
Zhao Wujie muttered to himself, “Logically, anomalies in an S-rank dungeon should at least be able to mimic…”
Suddenly, his voice cut off, his face twisting into an expression of near-horror.
The monitoring room fell silent, save for the sound of him swallowing hard.
“Unless…”
“Unless all deities above the Black and White Impermanence in the underworld are of such a high tier that S-rank anomalies simply cannot replicate their forms.”
Helian Yue’s expression darkened.
Unconsciously, everyone’s gaze turned to the screen, the same thought surfacing in their minds.
“So that’s why this vast underworld feels so… empty.”
The speculation left them awestruck, an indescribable reverence rising in their hearts.
In other words, the underworld they saw was merely the outermost illusion.
Beneath that illusion lay the true existence of the deities of ancient China, all beings far surpassing even S-rank anomalies!
Like Judge Zhong Kui now, directly reducing the dimension and crushing, you fake dare to play tricks in front of me?
The underworld you built is impressive, but in the next second, it’s mine!
Were they fake play god before him?
He even stripped the anomalies of their authority, paving the way for Su Fu without hesitation!
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
This… was utterly terrifying.
Following behind Su Fu, they felt as though they had caught a fleeting glimpse of the vast pantheon of Chinese deities.
Yet they hadn’t expected that even this shallowest peek behind the curtain would shake them to their core.
What lies beyond Judge Zhong Kui?
Just how many such beings existed?
Their eyes turned to the underworld’s scenery—
The towering Fengdu City, the wailing souls of the City of the Wrongfully Dead, the somber halls of the Nether Court.
The path between heaven and earth, the surging River of Forgetfulness, the silent Naihe Bridge…
Such grandeur and scale-what unimaginable power had forged it?
What immense divine system sustained it?
Perhaps, paradoxically, it was precisely because of its vastness that it appeared so desolate and empty.
How can a mayfly comprehend the heavens?
“So that’s how it is…” Mo Sanchou murmured, “I think I understand now.”
“Why, despite centuries without divine manifestations, the Chinese pantheon still firmly holds its place among the Eight Great Divine Systems…”
Though humanity had yet to discover how to summon these deities, beneath the surface of the world, the shadow of their vast presence could faintly be discerned.
They were beings even S-rank anomalies could scarcely fathom.
A colossal force that, even without being summoned, silently enveloped the entire world.
They did not speak, yet they existed-
And were omnipresent.
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