Chapter 163: Infuriating the Judge (Bonus Chapter for 300 Subscriptions, Please Subscribe)

"Awoo..."

The other pair of Impermanence Guards seemed terrified, hesitating to step forward. Seeing this, the black-faced Judge let out a furious roar and lunged straight at Chen Fengyun, forcing the remaining Impermanence Guards to join the chaotic encirclement.

"Roar..."

Not far away, the divine dragon's roars echoed continuously, accompanied by the agonizing screams of the Ox-Heads and Horse-Faces. Under Ma Dangdang's hit-and-run tactics, the demonic guardians fell one by one, continuously serving as sustenance for the divine dragon.

"Mere ghosts, daring to run wild in the mortal world and even dreaming of treating humans as food! Do you truly believe humanity is defenseless? I suppose in ancient times, when human cultivators were numerous, you would never have dared to openly harvest human remnant souls like this."

Chen Fengyun's guess was spot on. After the ghost race crossed from the netherworld to Earth, they hid deep underground, secretly establishing a replica of the underworld. They covertly captured human remnant souls and cultivated believers among ordinary mortals, making them believe in the existence of the netherworld.

However, human cultivators later discovered the ghost race's existence. Over thousands of years, countless great wars erupted between them. Not only did these battles sever the connection between the ghost race and the netherworld, but they also continuously depleted the ghost race's vitality. During the final great war, less than ten percent of the ghost race survived, and even the ten most powerful Ghost Kings perished, leaving only the King of Hell, who suffered grievous injuries and plunged into a slumber lasting hundreds of years.

Yet, after the upheaval of heaven and earth, Earth entered the Age of Dharma Decline. Powerful human cultivators had no choice but to leave Earth in search of survival, and cultivators gradually vanished from the world entirely.

After waiting for a hundred years and realizing that few powerful humans remained, the scattered remnants of the ghost race slowly emerged from the shadows. They reactivated parts of the underworld's functions and continuously lured human remnant souls.

Never did they expect that a powerful human cultivator would once again appear on Earth, nor did they anticipate that Chen Fengyun's path of cultivation would be completely different from that of past cultivators.

When Chen Fengyun and Ma Dangdang fought their way into the underworld, the ghost race was utterly unprepared. Consequently, they were not discovered until the pair reached the Hall of the King of Hell. Led by the black-faced Judge, all the remaining ghosts surged forward, hoping to slay these two human powerhouses.

"Om mani padme hum..."

"Lin, bing, dou, zhe, jie, zhen, lie, zai, qian..."

Yet, they failed to foresee that the two human fighters wielded the supreme divine arts of Buddhism and the Exorcist Clan respectively. Combined with the power of the Sutra of Deliverance, they exerted a complete and overwhelming suppression over the ghost race.

Although the Ox-Heads and Horse-Faces attempted to swarm Ma Dangdang, she led them in endless circles, patiently waiting for opportunities to pick them apart and slaughter them individually, feeding their essences to the divine dragon.

On the other side, Chen Fengyun's combat prowess was even more terrifying, rivaling the black-faced Judge at the peak of its power. The Judge, whose strength had severely regressed, was simply no match for him; even with the assistance of the Impermanence Guards, they could not hope to halt his advance.

"Awoo..."

Suddenly, caught off guard, the black-faced Judge watched as the supporting Impermanence Guards were sealed in ice by Chen Fengyun. A flying sword flashed through the air, executing them instantly and stripping away their glowing golden chains.

"Boom..."

Panicking, the black-faced Judge rushed forward from behind, brandishing a pair of black-and-white brush-like magical artifacts. It jabbed them toward Chen Fengyun's back, instantly unleashing a plume of ink-black smoke that lunged viciously for Chen Fengyun's head.

"Sizzling..."

However, the moment the ink-black smoke touched Chen Fengyun, it was blocked by his Indestructible Vajra Body. Although the toxic smoke attempted to corrode his defenses, Chen Fengyun extinguished it with a mere thought.

"They say the Judges of the underworld possess immense power and peerless abilities. Now that I see one, they aren't all that impressive."

Chen Fengyun still had the leisure to mock his opponent, though his attacks never paused. His flying sword drifted like a hidden assassin in the dark, silently striking from unpredictable angles.

"Awoo..."

Before the black-faced Judge could react, the flying sword pierced its shoulder, leaving a gaping hole. The excruciating agony caused it to roar furiously, and it whipped its judge brushes even faster.

"The Judge decrees life and death!"

With a thunderous shout, the black-faced Judge fired a bolt of inky light from its brushes, radiating a thick, suffocating aura of death. The energy twisted in midair into a bizarre, writhing pattern that coiled toward Chen Fengyun like a venomous serpent.

Sensing imminent peril, Chen Fengyun realized he could not let this tainted death energy touch his body, or catastrophic danger would follow. With a stern shout, a beam of pure golden light erupted from his mouth, crashing head-on into the death energy in a cataclysmic blast.

"Boom..."

The energy released by Chen Fengyun's Sutra of Deliverance possessed attributes entirely contrary to death energy. Upon collision, instead of neutralizing quietly, they detonated violently, unleashing rolling shockwaves of chaotic power.

However, the death energy seemed to take a heavy toll on the black-faced Judge itself. Once Chen Fengyun obliterated the attack, the entity's aura visibly weakened. Seizing the opening, Chen Fengyun deployed the Dark Yin Mirror to freeze it in place.

Before the Judge could break free, Chen Fengyun closed the distance, snatching away its pair of high-grade artifact judge brushes. He instantly drained them of all their stored energy before turning to absorb the ambient energy radiating from the black-faced Judge's own body.

"Awoo..."

While the black-faced Judge struggled frantically against his control, Chen Fengyun harvested 180 attribute points. He neatly stowed away the remaining materials of the judge brushes and commanded his flying sword to sever the Judge's legs, eliminating any chance of escape.

"So fast? You're already done?" Ma Dangdang returned at that exact moment. Her divine dragon had completely devoured the remaining Ox-Heads and Horse-Faces, and she had just hurried back to offer assistance, completely unaware that Chen Fengyun had already won.

"Indeed. I have no further use for this fellow; I'll leave it to your divine dragon," Chen Fengyun said with a nod, pointing at the struggling Judge. Having accumulated nearly 400 attribute points in total, he was in exceptionally high spirits.

"Splendid! Feast, my divine dragon!" Ma Dangdang cheered, immediately signaling the dragon to consume the soul body of the black-faced Judge, confident it would further elevate the creature's power.

Standing aside, Chen Fengyun pondered for a moment before spending 360 attribute points to elevate both the Sutra of Deliverance and the Six-Syllable Mantra to the peak of the Yellow Tier, preparing himself for the ultimate confrontation with the ancient ghost king ruling the underworld.

Before long, the divine dragon devoured the Judge's soul entirely. Moments before its complete obliteration, the Judge could not suppress its bitter curse: "You shall be captured by Lord Yama, cast into the eighteenth level of hell, and denied redemption for all eternity!"

"Pah! We common folk threw off our chains and became masters of our own destiny long ago. That so-called King of Hell of yours is nothing more than a wounded old ghost. We came precisely to relieve him of some treasures—as long as he doesn't cower in hiding, who on earth is afraid of him?"

Chen Fengyun scoffed, infuriating the Judge so thoroughly that its eyes rolled back in final death. As the divine dragon consumed it, its aura surged dramatically, feeding back a wave of refined energy that greatly enhanced Ma Dangdang's personal cultivation base as well.

"Wonderful! I can summon three divine dragons now," Ma Dangdang said with a joyful smile after familiarizing herself with her newfound surge of strength.