Li Ang's right thumb pinched between the second and third joints of his little finger. His ring finger was bent below his thumb, and his index and middle fingers were joined and stretched straight, forming a standard Sword technique.

With his sword finger, he quickly drew a pattern in the air and shouted, "The Supreme Heavenly Master taught me to slay the deceitful, Divine Master to strike down foes, fearless of the powerful, first the demons, then the nocturnal spirits! What deity would not yield, what ghost dare resist? Swift as the mandate!"

The sound was so loud that Xing Hechou and Wanli Fengdao, who were awakened by it, nearly spewed out a mouthful of water.

Both of them had read the notes written by Scholar Zhu, and knew that the incantation Li Ang recited was indeed authentic. But from their vantage point, the pattern Li Ang gestured in the air clearly looked like a chicken pecking at grains.

As Li Ang completed the final stroke, a nameless chill swept through the hall, and a towering figure wearing a Skull Mask and heavy armor slowly rose from the floor in front of Li Ang, speaking in a deep and hoarse voice, "The Soul Locking Warden is here, greeting True Master Xi Menzi!"

The burly figure held a short-handled sickle in his right hand and carried a lantern bound with chains in his left, his appearance fierce and intimidating, exuding an imposing aura with an almost palpable malevolence.

Needless to say, this figure was none other than Chaichai, dressed in paper cosplay armor.

Miss Chai was deeply immersed in her role, and while speaking, she knelt on one knee; from the gaps of her armor, a ghastly green light continuously emanated—it was actually several powerful green glow sticks she had placed inside her specialty cosplay paper armor.

Xing Hechou and Wanli Fengdao twitched the corners of their eyes, knowing the truth, but the commoners in the hall, unaware of the actual situation, almost dropped their jaws upon hearing the commanding and mighty name "Soul Locking Warden."

In the popular Infernal Underworld System, the highest rank naturally belongs to the Eastern Mount Tai's Compassionate Holy Emperor. This is followed by the Northern Darkness Emperor of Feng Du, the Five Direction Demon Emperors, the Luofeng Six Heavens, and the Ten Kings of Yama from the Underworld.

(Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, as a figure of Zen Buddhism who was integrated into the Underworld System, is not included in this ranking.)

Below King Yama are the City Gods established by the Underworld at the threshold of the yin and yang realms. Each City God oversees a city, along with their bureaucratic aides and assistants of varying ranks, managing the spirits of the living and the dead, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked.

In the legends of the Taoist Door, Orthodox Cultivators would only erect a high altar to summon the vast officials from the Thunder Department during the most dangerous of times to execute overly powerful evil spirits and demons. If the demon was weaker, the Cultivators would resolve the issue themselves, and if unable to do so, they would request assistance from the Yin officials of the City System. Lesser independent Cultivators could at most conjure up nameless Lone-souled Wild Spirits to employ.

The "Soul-locking Prison Master" that Daoist Xi Menzi had summoned did not seem to belong to the City System, and considering the fearsome, intimidating figure with the sickle and the lantern, radiating green light, it was probably a high-ranking direct officer from the Underworld...

So, how powerful must Daoist Xi Menzi be, to summon a direct Underworld officer with just a Sword technique and hand seal, without the need for an altar?

Including a few criminals, everyone in the hall was utterly terrified, and in an instant, Li Ang gained an additional fifteen points of Power of Faith.

[Swamp God Power: 430/1000]

This was much faster than the natural growth of the Divine Mark. Previously, Li Ang had used Divine Power to cultivate and evolve Worms, and the charge bar of Swamp God Power had been in overall decline, a case of expenditures exceeding income.

Now that he'd finally found an easy and quick way to amass Power of Faith, he had to take full advantage of the situation!

"True Master, have you summoned me because there is another dreadful demon or evil spirit to be exterminated?"

Miss Chai, knowing what was on Li Ang's mind, cooperated well, waving the lantern in her hand with great presence and said in a deep voice, "The inmates in my Ghost Prison, the Specters and evil spirits, are almost depleted."

"It's not about eradicating evil spirits," Li Ang shook his head. "I just want you to take a look at the souls of these murderous villains and administer reward and punishment accordingly."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing those words, Chaichai turned around and gazed at the trembling, tongue-tied Leader of the criminals. She stepped forward, one deliberate step at a time. Beneath the Skull Mask, a green light burst forth (in reality, she had taken a green glow stick out from inside her armor).

"Abusing parents, burgling homes, highway robbery, seeking ill-gotten wealth, harming lives, committing all manner of crimes, your sins are unforgivable!"

Miss Chai snorted coldly, "You are sentenced to Ice Hell, to endure the piercing cold winds, festering frozen wounds, and iron worms devouring your brain marrow for five hundred years!"

As she spoke, she brandished her paper scythe over the criminal's head in a sweeping motion.

The criminal instantly rolled his eyes back, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed, unconscious and oblivious to life or death.

The lantern in Miss Chai's hand also burst into a brighter green light than before. It looked as if she had indeed snatched away the evildoer's soul with her lantern.

"This... this..."

The thug who had held a knife to Li Ang's throat watched his accomplice fall to the ground. He reacted as if he had been shocked, releasing the short dagger from his grip and retreating several steps with a trembling body, his face white as a sheet.

Miss Chai turned her head slowly, her figure ethereal, and in a flash, she appeared before him, her eyes flickering with green light, as if to scrutinize his spirit and soul.

"You have committed evil, violated laws, acted with boundless greed, and harmed the innocent. You are sentenced to Black Cord Hell, to suffer the Hot Iron Chord Saw, where your skin shall burn to the flesh and your bones shall boil to the marrow for two hundred years."

As she finished speaking, she made another sweeping gesture, and the thug's eyes turned white as he collapsed.

Seeing their two accomplices collapse so eerily (in reality, they had been knocked unconscious by Li Ang using the Cat's Eye's abilities), the remaining six criminals dared not resist any further. They hastily released the hostages they were holding and scattered in panic. They made their way towards the room next to the hall, trying to escape through to the backyard and climb over the wall to the street—even if they were caught by the official army on the street, thrown into the dungeons, and beheaded after autumn, it would still be far better than suffering directly the torments of hell.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The six criminals pounded on the door frantically, but the thin wooden door was like a thick stone city wall; no matter how hard they punched, kicked, or rammed their bodies into it, it wouldn't budge an inch.

"Help! Somebody, please help!"

One criminal, as he watched the Soul Locking Warden approach step by slow step, was even so frightened that he wet his pants. Tears streamed down his face as he cried out loudly, desperately hoping for someone to come to their rescue.

All this, in the eyes of the crowd in the main hall, was so bizarre—from their viewpoint, the door was clearly already open, and the six thugs were merely crowding at a doorway without a door, only steps away from passing through the courtyard and escaping over the wall.

The onlookers simply took this strange scene as the work of the Immortal Master's supernatural powers (in reality, the six criminals were just under the influence of an Illusion Technique). Respect and awe for Daoist Xi Menzi soared.

[Swamp God Power: 440/1000]

[Swamp God Power: 450/1000]

[Swamp God Power: 460/1000]

Li Ang watched the Power of Faith in his player information panel rise, his heart pleased, but his face remained impassive, watching the events unfold with indifference.

Stay silent, act like an expert.

"Great one, Immortal Master, I have an elderly mother in her eighties to care for, and a wailing baby to feed at home. I beg you to spare my life, and in the future, I will..."

Feeling that escape was impossible, one of the criminals burst into tears, kneeling on the ground. He was about to say, "in the future, I will become a law-abiding benefactor, build temples, and worship the Immortal Master," but he was abruptly interrupted by Chaichai.

"Fickle in the face of profit, inducing others to break the law, inciting disputes, repaying kindness with resentment. You are sentenced to Knife Mountain Hell, to suffer cleaving by axes for two hundred years."

Chaichai slashed with her scythe. Her voice, cold and tinged with anger, declared, "Daoist Xi Menzi has an immortal's bearing and is an upright person; how could he ever take interest in vulgar trash like you? Go to your death."

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