Yang Yun's angry voice echoed from within the office, "Would this Respected Envoy be afraid of you?"

Xiao Mu smiled and said, "If you're not afraid, why won't you come out for a battle?"

Yang Yun was clearly scared, but his pride wouldn't let him admit it. He stubbornly said, "This Respected Envoy has said, I have no time to spar with you."

Xiao Mu laughed again, "If Respected Envoy Yang is scared and dares not battle, just say it outright. As a fellow member of the Great Tang Ruins, would I really force Respected Envoy Yang into a fight?"

"Respected Envoy Yang, how about it? Just admit that you're not as strong as me, that you are no match for me, and I, Xiao Mu, will turn around and leave, never to bring up this matter of sparring again."

Yang Yun furiously said, "Xiao Mu, you are too arrogant, this Respected Envoy really wants to teach you a harsh lesson."

"Haha!"

Xiao Mu couldn't help but laugh, "Respected Envoy Yang, those are your words. You want to teach me a lesson, fine, I'll stand outside the Reward and Punishment Hall waiting for you to come out. Please, Respected Envoy Yang, come out. Respected Envoy Yang, Respected Envoy Yang..."

After calling out several times, he received no response from Yang Yun.

Du Wenzhen made a strange noise, "Old Xiao, did you scare him away?"

"No way?"

The corner of Xiao Mu's mouth twitched.

Scare him away? Yang Yun shouldn't be that cowardly, right? After all, he is a leader and an official of the Reward and Punishment Hall, a mighty figure at the Mid Yin God Realm.

Would someone of his stature be scared away by me?

Doesn't he care about his face?

"Respected Envoy Yang, please come out!"

Xiao Mu, unwilling to give up just yet, called out towards the Reward and Punishment Hall once more, still without any response.

"Haha! He really got scared away!" Du Wenzhen exclaimed.

No way?

Xiao Mu gave Du Wenzhen a strange look and stepped into the Reward and Punishment Hall.

Upon entering, he saw that the workers of the Reward and Punishment Hall almost simultaneously turned their heads to look at him as if on cue.

However, as Xiao Mu looked back at them, the workers immediately turned their heads away, as if fearful of bringing trouble upon themselves.

"Brother, where's Respected Envoy Yang?" Xiao Mu walked up to the work window of the young worker he had dealt with before, knocking on the window.

"Respected Envoy Yang..."

The young worker's face twitched, too scared to answer Xiao Mu's question for fear of getting in trouble with Yang Yun. However, he covertly gave Xiao Mu a meaningful look, glancing towards a modest door in a corner on the left side of the hall.

Clearly, Yang Yun had entered through that door.

"Thanks, brother!"

Xiao Mu expressed his gratitude and headed for the door.

The young worker's face immediately turned green.

"Brother, you've got potential. I, Old Du, like you. If Yang Yun bullies you, just mention my name, Old Du. If I can't make him cry, I'll do a handstand and drink urine," Du Wenzhen slapped the young worker's shoulder and followed Xiao Mu.

Behind the small door was a spacious corridor, which led to a large office. Inside the office, the essence of divine spirits faintly permeated, lightly seeping out.

That was the true aura of a Yin God!

What's going on?

Xiao Mu's expression grew serious. There was a true Yin God in the Reward and Punishment Hall—could it be Mr. Cui?

Xiao Mu was aware that the real official in charge of the Reward and Punishment Hall was Mr. Cui, but had never met the person.

It was said that Mr. Cui was the Yin Spirit of an ancient dynasty's prefect who had attained Dao. However, the exact dynasty, except for Mr. Cui himself, was a mystery to many.

Some said he was from the Tang dynasty, others from the Five Dynasties, and there were even those who thought it was the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties.

Regardless of the era one hailed from, becoming a true Yin God meant their strength was not to be underestimated.

Clearly sensing the danger, Du Wenzhen stopped in his tracks, "Old Xiao, I'll wait for you outside."

After saying that, he used an Escape Art to leave at at least twice the speed he came in with.

He didn't want to provoke a true Yin God.

Of course, the reason for his retreat was key because they were inside the Great Tang Ruins.

A Yin God of the Great Tang Ruins might only beat up Xiao Mu, but they wouldn't kill him.

After sensing the presence of the Yin God, Xiao Mu was somewhat intimidated, but after thinking it over, he clenched his teeth and still made his way toward the massive office.

"Respected Envoy Yang Yun, if you do not wish to battle, just admit that you are not my equal, and I won't make things difficult for you. Why bother hiding then?"

Xiao Mu, very alert, did not enter the office but stood at the entrance and called out to Yang Yun.

"Presumptuous!"

A sudden low shout of an unfamiliar middle-aged man came from inside the office, filled with authority. With that shout, an endless oppressive force immediately emanated from the office, bearing down on Xiao Mu.

Xiao Mu's expression tensed.

That oppressive force suddenly transformed, and some kind of rule power appeared in the air.

The middle-aged man's Yin God from the office had taken action; his voice turned into will, condensed into form, and hung over Xiao Mu's head like dark clouds.

One after another, black streaks of ill luck emerged from Xiao Mu, leaving his body and rushing toward the high skies.

This change caused Xiao Mu's face to turn pale, as he had a very direct feeling that the black ill luck rising from his body was actually all the wrongdoings and misdeeds he had committed throughout his life, from childhood to adulthood.

As the middle-aged man in the office issued his rebuke, all the bad deeds and wrongdoings Xiao Mu had done since childhood began to steam up without any concealment, converging in the air.

In the sky, far above, there seemed to exist some kind of will, which in an instant received the information contained within the black ill luck and responded.

Punishment!

Powerful rule forces poured down from the high skies as if transforming into thunderstrike, bombing down on Xiao Mu.

Boom!

A golden thunderstrike struck down directly on Xiao Mu's head.

Xiao Mu's face turned harsh.

At that moment, he understood exactly what Mr. Cui's identity as a Yin God was.

The Stove God!

The Stove God who 'speaks of good tidings in heaven and brings auspiciousness to the earth'!

The rank of the Stove God is slightly lower than that of the Land God, but he serves as heaven's overseer of the common folk.

The common folk, whether they do good or bad, are all under the Stove God's surveillance, to be reported to the heavens, where they either receive blessings or suffer punishment.

But this time, Mr. Cui used his authority as the Stove God to report not the good but the bad deeds Xiao Mu had done since childhood.

As soon as these misdeeds were reported, punishment followed forthwith.

Watching the golden tribulation thunder descend from the sky, Xiao Mu's complexion changed, and cold sweat immediately began rolling down his face.

A flash of yellow brilliance, Xiao Mu activated his Earth Escape Technique, dodging desperately the golden tribulation thunder that symbolized punishment from heaven.

Boom!

However, Xiao Mu soon found that the thunderstrike was too fast; even with his post-mutation Earth Escape Technique, he could not evade it.

Moreover, the thunderstrike seemed to take form, like a giant hand, locking onto Xiao Mu's body to grasp it, ensuring that no one and nothing else would be affected.

Xiao Mu used his Earth Escape Technique to flee, blinking across hundreds, thousands of meters, but the speed of the golden tribulation thunder was faster. No matter how far he went, it always loomed over his head.

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Mu had escaped the broad corridor and returned to the Reward and Punishment Hall, even fleeing outside the hall.

Seeing Xiao Mu flee, Du Wenzhen and all the workers in the Reward and Punishment Hall were completely dumbfounded.

Especially Du Wenzhen, whose eyes were wide open, yet he quickly retracted his neck in a posture that suggested Xiao Mu's deeds had nothing to do with him.

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Mu had escaped from the Reward and Punishment Hall, but the golden tribulation thunder still relentlessly pursued him, getting closer and closer, about to descend upon his head.

Being struck by the thunderstrike meant that even if he didn't die, he would be gravely injured.

Perhaps Mr. Cui didn't intend to kill him but certainly wanted to teach him a harsh lesson.

Dammit!

Xiao Mu cursed in his heart.

Old Cui loved to meddle too much; what did his dispute with Yang Yun have to do with him?

Seeing the thunderstrike creeping closer and closer, with no way to dodge, Xiao Mu's face turned pale, but then he suddenly remembered something, and an idea struck him.

He thought of the Seal of the Heavenly Emperor.

With one thought, the Seal of the Heavenly Emperor within him violently shook.

Hum!

As if sensing the presence of the golden tribulation thunder in the air, and with Xiao Mu's deliberate guidance, a supreme intention emerged from the Seal of the Heavenly Emperor and rushed toward the golden tribulation thunder in the sky.

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