Chapter 582: Righteous Judgment

Chapter 582: Judgment of Justice

“But... I am a good man, how could I steal?”

Gazing at the Buddha corpse, Qi Yuan murmured to himself.

Though it was true that the Ten Thousand Saints Palace held no love for this Buddha corpse, often even summoning realm lords to wear down its Buddha light.

Still, it was their own.

Yet just then, suddenly, the Buddha corpse, which had kept its eyes tightly shut, opened its pupils.

In those eyes, devoid of sorrow or joy, a rampant murderous intent spread.

Beyond the Wind Spirit Cloud, all the realm lords sensed this surging killing intent at that moment, their expressions faltering, some in confusion.

“What’s happening?”

“What occurred?”

“Such fierce killing intent!”

Many realm lords trembled.

Especially the Biluo Realm Lord—when he had stepped into the realm lord stage, he was brimming with confidence, feeling that the vast heavens and earth held none who could stop him.

But now, with just a trace of killing intent, he felt the threat of death.

“Not good!” The fat old man’s face shifted drastically, then turned to fury.

The master of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace also realized something, filled with dread.

If Qi Yuan met with trouble in the Ten Thousand Saints Palace, the palace would likely bear the blame.

Most importantly, that killing intent seemed to emanate from the Buddha corpse.

Within this... there seemed to be a scheme.

This killing intent came swiftly, and departed just as fast.

For an existence like the Buddha corpse, slaying a realm lord was but an instant.

Without any hesitation, the fat old man and the master of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace sped into the Wind Spirit Cloud.

But just then, a black light suddenly descended from the heavens, shining upon the two of them.

“The Black God Shroud?”

“Lord of the Black Abyss Palace!”

The fat old man’s eyes split with rage.

The Black God Shroud was a realm lord-level treasure of the Black Abyss Palace, no ordinary realm lord artifact.

Rumor had it that when this realm lord treasure was forged and took shape, it once listened to the Dao Lord’s sermon.

This treasure was enough to trap even a titan like the fat old man, a founder of worlds, for a hundred breaths.

The master of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace felt his scalp tingle, his heart turning cold.

This setup—he knew without thinking what was happening.

A chill of fear ran through him—thankfully, the Black Abyss Palace had used it against Qi Yuan.

If it had been used against him?

He would likely be dead or gravely wounded, and the foundation of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace would be handed over.

Thankfully, it was aimed at Qi Yuan.

He felt a secret relief.

Still, he roared in fury: “The Black Abyss Palace goes too far!”

“Heavenly Silkworm Academy Master, let us join forces to break the Black God Shroud!”

The fat old man cast a long glance at the master of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace: “Best if you had no part in this, or else...”

With a cold shout, the fat old man began to strike.

The master of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace also attacked wildly, trying to shatter the Black God Shroud.

Meanwhile.

Within the Wind Spirit Cloud, a black shadow blotted out the sky, as if it were the sole being in this realm.

All light in the world vanished.

If any yin spirit cultivator came here, they would find themselves suddenly blind.

“The Buddha corpse has struck—he’ll be dead or crippled.”

“My time is short—thirty breaths... I must kill him, or... abduct him!”

The Lord of the Black Abyss Palace calculated in his mind.

He pressed deeper into the Wind Spirit Cloud, and the closer he got, the denser the surging killing intent became.

Even he felt a tremendous threat.

Not to mention Qi Yuan, who had taken a blow from the Buddha corpse.

So this time, this prodigy Qi Yuan was surely doomed.

Time passed swiftly; in a single breath, the Lord of the Black Abyss Palace reached the deepest part of the Wind Spirit Cloud.

“Where is he? Hiding where?” His divine sense swept once, but he found no trace of Qi Yuan.

His heart tightened; he immediately thought Qi Yuan, gravely wounded, might have concealed his aura and hidden elsewhere.

“Break!”

The Lord of the Black Abyss Palace unleashed a Dao technique, scouring the heavens.

No living being in the world could escape detection.

Yet just then, a lazy voice came from within the forbidden ground.

“So it’s you who plotted against me, Lord of the Black Abyss Palace?”

“Just you alone? The Lord of the White Abyss Palace didn’t come?”

There seemed even a hint of disappointment in those words.

The Lord of the Black Abyss Palace jerked his head up, staring into the forbidden ground.

His expression froze.

There, in the forbidden ground.

The colossal Buddha corpse wept blood from its eyes, its monastic robe’s light dimmed.

On the Buddha corpse’s shoulder sat a young man of peerless beauty, his face bearing a languid air.

Qi Yuan?

How was he sitting on the Buddha corpse?

Countless thoughts raced through the Lord of the Black Abyss Palace’s mind, utterly baffled.

You must understand, a terrifying existence like the Buddha Corpse was enough to suppress and slay him.

Even if it stirred for a single breath, it could gravely wound a Kai Tian realm master.

Yet now, Qi Yuan was not only unharmed but seated atop the Buddha Corpse.

What in the world was going on?

“How did you do it?” The Black Profound Palace Master’s heart churned with anxiety, thoughts swirling.

“Do what?” Qi Yuan said casually, then seemed to catch on and continued, “Oh, maybe it’s because you’re ugly and have no idea what good looks can do. The moment this Buddha Corpse woke, it wanted to acknowledge me as its master.”

After becoming a god, Qi Yuan had grown clever.

When he spoke, he knew to mix truth with falsehood.

The Buddha Corpse had indeed attacked Qi Yuan with terrifying force.

If he had just entered the Cosmic Void Realm, with his strength then, he might truly have been gravely wounded or even slain by the Buddha Corpse.

But in the place of opportunity, his power had steadily risen, reaching the fourth layer of the Weak Yang God.

He easily handled the Buddha Corpse’s assault.

He even used his newest superpower to enter the Buddha Corpse’s body and merge with it.

The Buddha Corpse had no wisdom, no true spirit, no consciousness—only instinct.

To his superpower, this was the greatest loophole.

If he merged long enough, he could even control the Buddha Corpse to strike.

Of course, the combat power it unleashed was another matter.

“You are very strange.”

Without any hesitation, the Black Profound Palace Master felt the urge to retreat.

“I admit defeat.”

He naturally believed this was a trap set by the Myriad Transformations Society.

Perhaps the Myriad Transformations Society had long known about the Buddha Corpse and even found a way for Qi Yuan to avoid it.

Now they had lured him out to strike at the White Profound Palace Master.

“Since you admit defeat, why not kill yourself? That’d save the country some bullets,” Qi Yuan said.

Since the other had surrendered, he naturally had to urge him to commit suicide.

The Black Profound Palace Master sneered, “Do you think you can stop me if I want to leave?”

Disdain filled his eyes.

If he wanted to go, even the master of the Myriad Transformations Society couldn’t block him.

How could a mere Qi Yuan stop him?

Moreover, he simply didn’t believe Qi Yuan had withstood the Buddha Corpse’s attack.

He guessed the Myriad Transformations Society had some other means to evade the Buddha Corpse’s assault.

“You want to flee from justice?” Qi Yuan’s eyes widened. “Don’t you know that makes your crime worse?

If you surrender, death is just death.

But if you flee, it won’t be as simple as dying.”

“Crazy!” The Black Profound Palace Master spat under his breath, then without hesitation transformed into a black light and fled.

“In broad daylight, under the bright sun, you still dare to flee from justice!”

Qi Yuan was furious.

This man had shown him no respect.

Though he had no law enforcement badge, he was a concerned citizen.

“Stop!”

Qi Yuan struck, his voice seeming to carry immense magic.

The fleeing Black Profound Palace Master’s face showed confusion, then astonishment: “What kind of technique is this?”

He suddenly found his body had returned to the state it was half a breath ago. It was as if his time had been halted and reversed for a moment.

Such a technique was truly bizarre, seen only in some special Dao Lord True Scriptures.

“Supreme True Scripture!”

The Black Profound Palace Master immediately activated the Dao Lord True Scripture within him.

The so-called Supreme True Scripture emphasized the utmost subtlety.

All laws, all paths, all rules—it could break them all.

If the Purple Firmament Palace were haunted, invoking the Supreme True Scripture would instantly reduce the little ghost to ashes.

“That True Scripture of yours is interesting—it’ll be mine soon.”

Though Qi Yuan also grasped many Dao Lord True Scriptures, he hadn’t studied most; he merely held them, integrating them into the Qi Yuan Scripture.

Against the Black Profound Palace Master, he simply used brute force.

After all, when he had fought the Black Heaven before, the Black Heaven had no consciousness and used no Dao techniques or divine powers—only simple collisions.

That had been enough to slay Qi Yuan.

Though in the long river of history, he had held back the Black Heaven’s battle for endless ages,

in the eyes of some experts, it might have been but an instant.

He reached out his hand.

This hand, clearly without Dao techniques or Dao Lord True Scriptures, nonetheless yanked the Realm Lord’s rare treasure from the Black Profound Palace Master’s body.

He glanced at the treasure and said softly, “I have a kind heart; I can’t bear to see your legacy suffer wind and rain. From now on, I’ll look after them for you and see them to their final rest.”

Terror spread across the Black Profound Palace Master’s face: “You… you… what are you?”

The other’s horror had utterly exceeded his imagination.

Such miraculous techniques—he had never seen them in any cultivator of the same realm.

As for a Dao Lord’s attack, he had never witnessed it; the fourth layer of the Yang God was beyond his reach.

Unless Qi Yuan was not a living being but an existence like the Buddha Corpse.

Only that explanation fit.

“I am Qi Yuan. I am a man, a good man.”

“You are not. A Kai Tian realm master cannot be this strong!”

“Why not? Isn’t it because you don’t try?

All these eons, ask yourselves—have you ever striven? You’ve been standing still. And me? I’ve been treading the seven steps to heaven!”

In the Yin God realm, there were still the seven steps to heaven.

The so-called divine aperture and divine domain—he had long possessed them.

The seven steps treading the heavens were but the sevenfold transformation of the true spirit.

Now, in the land of opportunity, he had undergone five transformations.

With two more, he would reach the end of the path of the Yin Spirit.

Beyond that lay the realm of the Yang Spirit!

“What kind of monster are you?” The Black Profound Palace Lord grew ever more convinced that his opponent was an existence like the Buddha Corpse.

His words were vague and riddled with holes, yet they held a logic all their own.

“You have sinned again, slandering me as a monster. It seems you are eager to die.”

Qi Yuan once again stood on the moral high ground.

A terrifying giant hand pressed down toward the Black Profound Palace Lord.

The Black Profound Palace Lord’s face was filled with despair.

“My True Scriptures, burn for me!”

In that moment, he unleashed his most powerful strike.

Dozens of Dao Lord True Scriptures ignited simultaneously.

The aura around him became sacred and vast.

The terrifying power surged dozens of times in an instant.

Such a fearsome blow could shatter the Milky Way.

Such a strike could erupt ten thousand times in a single breath.

“Confess and be lenient, resist and be stern—righteous execution!”

Qi Yuan pushed out a single palm.

The terrifying defenses woven from countless Dao Lord True Scriptures,

beneath that palm, crumbled like withered grass, turning to ashes.

And the Black Profound Palace Lord’s body shattered in that instant.

An expression of disbelief spread across his face.

Even in death, he never imagined he would perish here.

After all, in the Cosmic Void Realm, the Dao Lord’s legacy could not enter.

He had stood at the summit.

Even if four or five masters of the Myriad Transformations Society, of equal rank, besieged him, he could easily evade.

Facing a strange existence like the Buddha Corpse, as long as he kept his distance, all was well.

Yet, in the end, he truly died.

Most importantly, this was the Cosmic Void Realm.

Once the true spirit fell, it could not revive in the River of the Universe.

Dead… was simply dead.

“Good thing I held back; the Realm Lord treasures on him are still intact.”

“Though worthless, they count as resources—I’ll put them in my underworld.”

“The underworld is far too empty.”

Qi Yuan murmured.

He searched the Black Profound Palace Lord’s body and found three Realm Lord treasures.

As for the Dao Lord True Scriptures, there were forty-seven in total—a great number.

“A fat haul.”

At that moment, his gaze fell on the black divine shield not far away.

“Is the fat old man rendezvousing with the Myriad Sacred Palace Lord?”

Without hesitation, he flicked his finger, and the black divine shield appeared in his hand.

Two peculiar auras surged skyward; the fat old man and the Myriad Sacred Palace Lord both looked puzzled.

When their eyes fell upon the Buddha Corpse and Qi Yuan sitting on its shoulder, horror dawned in their gazes.

“Qi Yuan, beware of the Buddha Corpse, beware of the Black Profound Palace Lord!” the fat old man quickly warned.

If not for his fear of the Buddha Corpse, he would have already dragged Qi Yuan away to flee.

“No need to worry—this Buddha Corpse is dead; it won’t harm anyone,” Qi Yuan said earnestly.

This statement was akin to saying, “My dog is very gentle; it doesn’t bite.”

The Myriad Sacred Palace Lord’s expression shifted slightly.

He too knew the Buddha Corpse was dead.

“As for the Black Profound Palace Lord, he is already dead,” Qi Yuan said calmly.

The fat old man quickly looked to the side, and upon seeing the familiar body, terror filled his eyes.

The Black Profound Palace Lord… was dead?

The Myriad Sacred Palace Lord was also stunned.

The Black Profound Palace Lord was dead!

Could it be…

Countless thoughts raced through his mind.

Could it be that the Black Profound Palace Lord, overconfident, tried to control the Buddha Corpse to kill Qi Yuan,

only to be slain by the Buddha Corpse instead?

Only that could explain it.

A powerhouse like the Black Profound Palace Lord could not possibly die in the Cosmic Void Realm.

If it were within the universe, encountering a fallen Dao Lord would be one thing.

But this was the Cosmic Void Realm, a place the fifth level of the Yang Spirit could not enter.

“He came to assassinate me, and I killed him in self-defense.

Old man, he dared to come for me—now I’ll go to the Black and White Profound Palace and use their land of opportunity as compensation for my mental anguish. They wouldn’t dare stop me, would they?” Qi Yuan’s eyes held a hint of amusement.

The fat old man took a deep breath.

He had been thinking of how to save Qi Yuan, how to handle this matter.

But now, things had grown far more complicated.

The Black Profound Palace Lord had fallen.

This is a matter of utmost importance.

The members of the Myriad Changes Society who plotted this... are likely to meet with misfortune.

...

At the same time.

Outside the White Profound Palace.

The Celestial Tang Realm Lord, with a refined expression, said: "Though this battle could not kill the White Profound Palace Lord, we have wounded him lightly and seized the seven Dao Lord True Scriptures—it can be counted a great victory."

As he spoke, a confident look appeared on his face.

He was one of the three vice presidents of the Myriad Changes Society, and also one of the most promising candidates to compete for the presidency.

"With these seven Dao Lord True Scriptures in hand, along with this achievement, Fellow Daoist Tang is sure to become the president," said a slender female realm lord in flattery. "However, I fear the Heavenly Silkworm Academy Lord may have some objections."

The Celestial Tang Realm Lord's expression remained unchanged: "That Qi Yuan has some skill; he should not have fallen so easily. If he is still alive, I will grant him a look at these seven Dao Lord True Scriptures as compensation."

(End of this chapter)