Star Sky Professional

Tick tock!

Tick tock!

The clouds vanish, rain ceases. Droplets of blood fall to the ground, mingling with the rain, seeping into the parched earth, absorbed instantly.

The once formidable Temple Warrior Lu Zhong now kneels on the ground, his two-handed sword broken in half, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

All around him, layer upon layer of papermen stretching endlessly…

"Demon!"

Lu Zhong glared at Fang Xing, his eyes brimming with fury: "Even if I die fighting today, righteousness will prevail! Someday, my comrades will take your head on my behalf, under the watchful gaze of the Divine…"

"Oh? You won't see that day coming."

Fang Xing seemed intrigued, standing before Lu Zhong: "Temple Warrior… I haven't even asked your name, yet you attack me without discernment… I have decided, I'll capture your soul, bind it to the papermen, and let you suffer eternal torment."

Of course, this was a lie, an opponent of this level wasn't worth such effort.

The reason Fang Xing said this was because he sensed that the Temple Warrior still had a trump card left.

Moreover, he was quite interested, and took the chance to try it out.

"No! Even if my soul descends to the Underworld, I will hold fast to my faith… And my Divine will ultimately redeem me!"

Lu Zhong's face showed both devotion and belief.

Suddenly, he looked at Fang Xing approaching him, a glimmer of triumph in his eyes: "And you, you will be exiled with me!"

In an instant, Lu Zhong tore open the charm hanging on his neck.

This was a high-rank talisman bestowed upon him by the teachings of the Lord of Redemption—the Exile Talisman! It contained a one-time Exile spell, blessed by the Divine, with priority of high order!

In a split second, a layer of Spirit Light enveloped Fang Xing and Lu Zhong.

Almost instantaneously, the two were banished from the mortal realm, their forms vanishing without a trace.

...

The Underworld.

All around was scarlet red, mixed with heat and high temperatures.

The earth dried and cracked…

Occasionally, one could see resentful souls lying on the ground, wailing, their forms continuously becoming ephemeral…

Some ghosts seemed unable to endure the agony and directly dissolved into nothingness, souls shattered.

This is the First Level of the Eighteen Levels of Hell—Burning Hell!

Without concerns of reincarnation or others, only torturing souls was needed. Therefore, there were almost no Gods of the Underworld here, only various tortures.

Hiss hiss!

A flash of Spirit Light.

The figures of Fang Xing and Lu Zhong appeared almost simultaneously in a part of the Burning Hell.

"It's so hot..."

Fang Xing used his hand as a fan, waving a couple of times.

He felt it was hot, let alone imagine the torture those souls must endure.

Not far away, Lu Zhong was already on the verge of death, seemingly about to die in the next breath.

"Oh God… I'm here!"

Though Lu Zhong was on the brink of death, his eyes were bright, as if sighting the Divine Country he longed for.

But the next moment!

——Advanced Natural Healing!

A green Spirit Light fell upon him, swiftly healing his wounds.

Lu Zhong stood up in disbelief, staring at Fang Xing.

This was undoubtedly a demon from the Yang God realm, inexplicably attempting to heal him.

Clearly, the other was contemplating some brutal torture for him!

One thought led Lu Zhong's face immediately to show a determination of dying rather than yielding.

If not for the teachings of the Lord of Redemption forbidding suicide, he would have ended it himself at the very moment of descending to the Fallen Hell, then have his Divine Soul head to the Divine Country.

But now it wasn't too late, given his rank in the Church, soon a Divine Envoy would descend to rescue him from the sea of misery.

Yet, it didn't take long for Lu Zhong's face to show a puzzling uncertainty.

He quickly knelt down, loudly praying: "Lord of Redemption, you are the embodiment of salvation, the adjudicator of justice in this world… I pray for your favor, for your listening, for you to cast down a glance…"

After a long time, there was still no response.

Lu Zhong suddenly turned, glaring at Fang Xing with eyes filled with ferocity: "Evil demon, was it you?"

"Haha… You're merely affected by one of my Talents."

Fang Xing laughed heartily.

Unexpectedly, the effect of 'God's Eye Can't Reach' was so good, as if opening the fog of war.

Not only himself, but any divine officer intertwined with his destiny or too close in proximity, would suffer a disturbance in signal.

Yet, this situation was indeed one he orchestrated.

After all, Fang Xing had long wanted to visit the Underworld to glimpse the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Earlier, he had even sensed Lu Zhong carrying a 'ticket', which he unceremoniously hitched a ride on, no, rather, it was Lu Zhong who forcibly pulled him onto the ride.

At this moment, Lu Zhong's expression was somewhat collapsed, muttering to himself: "My lord... why is your mighty power unable to reach this place? No, no... I cannot waver... my faith..."

Fang Xing ignored him and focused on his own perception.

"Hmm, the eighteen levels of hell are indeed the lower plane structure. This is the First Level, Burning Hell, and the second level is Ice Hell... Only the souls that endure and survive the torment of the Ice and Fire Dual Realm will actively descend to the deeper levels of hell..."

"The third level, seems to be the Suspension Prison? Followed by the Tongue-pulling Hell, Skin Stripping Hell, Pulverizing Hell, Car Wrecking Hell... all the way to the final Abyss Hell!"

"In summary, the souls of unbelievers landing in this place, even if they endure through the first seventeen levels of hell, must suffer eternal torture and torment in the eighteenth level, Abyss Hell... as a deterrent to those unbelievers."

"Huh? No, that's wrong... the structure of these eighteen levels of hell is somewhat peculiar... similar to an upside-down pyramid... spirituality flows within... is this an array to extract the essence by continuously tormenting souls?"

Fang Xing couldn't help but marvel.

The gods really have played tricks with faith, even the souls of unbelievers, contribute greatly after death, killing two birds with one stone.

Anyway, the souls of unbelievers are usually plastered on walls, nowadays it's just waste utilization, seems like nothing at all.

"Hungry... I'm so hungry..."

Just as Lu Zhong was collapsing, Fang Xing was contemplating, when a soul drifted over.

He appeared in middle age, a face full of weathering and bandages wrapped around his hands, seemingly a warrior with rich experience in his youth.

But now, this soul's lower limbs were illusory, clearly tortured to a certain extent, even his consciousness was somewhat blurred.

"In the eighteen levels of hell, naturally, there is no food."

"Thus, the souls that fall to this place must constantly endure the torment of hunger and thirst..."

Fang Xing sighed once.

Outside these eighteen levels of hell, there is actually an unseen starving ghost hell.

Fortunately, Druids are never starved wherever they go.

With this thought, he took out a few seeds from his bosom and planted them on the ground.

It's quite strange!

The temperature of the ground in Burning Hell is extremely high, the seeds should be roasted upon landing.

But now, those few seeds' shells just turned a little red, they actually started to take root and sprout...

Before long, stalks of bamboo red as fire grew, each segment pulling higher.

This 'Fire Jade Bamboo' is a byproduct of Fang Xing planting Green Spirit Bamboo, considered a mutated spirit plant, extremely requiring fire spiritual energy.

Coincidentally, in Burning Hell, there is nothing else, but heat is abundant.

The Fire Jade Bamboo continued growing, expanding... and then emitted a blasting sound.

Pa!

A segment of bamboo cracked open, landing in Fang Xing's hand.

Fang Xing broke it open, inside, there was spirit rice like red jade, now actually already steamed.

The red jade spirit rice, each grain crystal clear like jade, also carried a rich fragrance.

Even the collapsing Lu Zhong nearby subconsciously moved his neck.

"Here you go."

Fang Xing wasn't hungry at the moment and directly tossed the bamboo tube containing the bamboo rice to the wandering soul.

The wandering soul reached out, actually able to grasp the bamboo tube, and immediately started devouring.

"Don't rush... there is plenty here."

Fang Xing smiled a bit and planted another strange vine.

When green gourds grew on the vine, a refreshing coolness burst out.

Fang Xing plucked a green-skinned gourd, opened the mouth of the gourd, and instantly, a burst of sweet spring surged forth.

As a legendary druid, if he wanted, given time, he could fill the eighteen levels of hell with various plants, turning hell into heaven with just a flip of the hand.

By this time, the warrior's soul, as hungry ghost-like as it was, had already finished eating dozens of bamboo rice segments, seemed somewhat more clear-headed.

"Alright, having eaten my meal, you have to work for me."

Fang Xing grabbed the soul, enchanting soul technique glimmered in his eyes.

After obtaining the heritage of the rightful and evil ten sects, complementing his enchanting soul magic, his soul searching technique now surpassed blue.

Soon, the whole life of this middle-aged warrior appeared before his eyes.

This battle-worn veteran was named 'Wu Yong,' a devout believer of the War God, for the sake of divine duties, he once could give up everything, even joined the elite corps of the War God, survived death-defying situations dozens of times, then retired back to the countryside, got married and had children.

Speaking of it, it should be a common story, yet he married a wife too beautiful, and the divine officers within the War Church, not every single one is a saint of serene desire...

When the incident happened, Wu Yong had lost both his wife and children, in madness, he sharpened the rusty battle saber he brought back from the battlefield to a deadly edge, took the life of that priest.

Then, he was branded as an 'unbeliever,' not only killed, but had to descend to hell after death, eventually vanish...

"He did still have faith, but the War God's church abandoned him."

Fang Xing shook his head and tossed the soul away.

Lu Zhong shivered all over, possessed by the soul, seemingly felt the soul's whole life: "No..."

Two lines of blood tears flowed from his eyes, after all, as a temple warrior, righteousness must be observed: "Why would it be like this?"

"It's simple, because the procedure was wrong, no matter how righteous Wu Yong's actions were, he had to die!"

Fang Xing sneered coldly: "In the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty, even if wronged, you may plead for the Shangguan to vindicate you, but you cannot vindicate yourself! That is called rebellion! Of course, it must be severely suppressed!"

"But that is not the key, the key is though Wu Yong killed the War God's priest, he still believed in the War God... yet the divine abandoned him, letting him suffer here until soul vanished..."

Fang Xing's eyes lit up, as if grasping something: "This violated the covenant between man and god, one offers faith, receives redemption posthumously, this should not have been violated!"