555: Ma Yuan died, and was not included in the Investiture of the Gods!

Ma Yuan hurriedly dodged, both shocked and angry; as a dignified Qi Immortal, he was actually forced into such a predicament by a group of brats!

The excruciating pain of his shattered shoulder bone and the heartache of his damaged Magic Treasure intertwined, causing his ferocity to erupt.

"You juniors are pushing too far!"

He violently spat a mouthful of vital blood onto the bone lamp; the flame "boomed" and surged, instantly enveloping his entire body.

The emerald green flames spun wildly, forming a protective fire vortex that temporarily blocked the follow-up attacks from the golden brick and the universe ring.

Taking advantage of this respite, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes as he stared fixedly at Nezha: "Little beast, you destroyed my Magic Treasure and injured my physical body. If I don't tear you apart today, I won't be able to vent the hatred in my heart!"

Just as Ma Yuan's ferocity flared and he recklessly activated his secret technique, preparing to fight Nezha and the others to the death...

Atop the city wall of Chentang Pass, Lady Yin held the heaven shaking bow, focusing and nocking an arrow.

Her eyes suddenly shone like cold stars.

The bow body trembled slightly, emitting a low Dragon roar, and mysterious patterns seemed to light up on both ends of the bow.

She pinched the air with her right hand, nocking a pitch-black arrow onto the bowstring.

The arrowhead pointed directly at the core of the wildly spinning emerald fire vortex above the clouds, specifically at the Tanzhong acupoint on Ma Yuan's chest, which was the central hub for his "Heart Qi" circulation!

"Old evil Daoist, watch me break your evil Spell!"

Lady Yin shouted clearly, pulling the bow like a full moon, the string sounding like thunder!

"Boom—!!!"

The moment the bowstring vibrated, it felt as if the entire Chentang Pass trembled along with it!

The arrow seemed to ignore spatial distance; it had already appeared before Ma Yuan's protective fire vortex the moment it left the string!

The speed was fast to the extreme!

Ma Yuan was fully activating the bone lamp, preparing to cast a mutually destructive Spell, when a hair-raising, fatal crisis suddenly rose in his spiritual sense!

"What?" Ma Yuan's expression changed in horror; he wanted to dodge, wanted to strengthen his defense, but it was already too late.

The arrow pierced directly through his emerald phosphorus evil fire, striking with extreme precision at the location of Ma Yuan's Tanzhong acupoint!

"Argh—!!!"

Ma Yuan let out a miserable howl!

The emerald green flames around his body were suddenly extinguished, as if their source had been pinched off!

The bone lamp in his hand made a "crack" sound, dense cracks appeared on the lamp body, and the emerald oil-like flame instantly dimmed, nearly extinguishing.

The incomparably powerful "Heaven-Supporting Hand" condensed from pure "Heart Qi" behind his head,

under this single arrow, collapsed with a boom like a sand sculpture that had its skeleton removed!

It turned into wisps of bleak grey-white smoke, rapidly dissolving into the air.

His Heart Qi was broken! His Divine Ability backfired!

Ma Yuan felt as if he had been struck in the chest by a heavy hammer, his face instantly turning pale as paper.

A mouthful of black blood mixed with visceral fragments and Origin essence spewed out, and his aura declined sharply like a deflated leather bag!

Bang!

He took another hit from a golden brick on the back of his head; he saw stars, and his brain felt dizzy!

"Heaven shaking... bow... Nüwa Palace... Pfft!"

The fire-tipped spear pierced through his heart: "Old Devil Head, you talk too much!"

Nezha shook the fire-tipped spear, and the raging flames directly ignited Ma Yuan's body, burning fiercely.

Ma Yuan's body turned to ashes in the raging flames, and a weak yet incomparably condensed Soul, entwined with thick black Karma, fled from within in a panic.

"Fortunately, fortunately, the Investiture of the Gods tribulation has begun... The Disciples of The Three Teachings can have their true spirits ascend to the investiture of the gods list... Even if the body dies and the Dao vanishes, as long as the true spirit is not extinguished and ascends to that investiture of the gods list, I can still get a divine position in the Heavenly Court in the future, enjoy incense, and even have hope of reforming my physical body!"

Ma Yuan's Soul secretly rejoiced: "As long as the green hills remain, I don't have to worry about running out of firewood!"

"Li Jing, Lady Yin, and those few little beasts, wait until I am conferred as a righteous god in the Heavenly Court, I will settle the score with you slowly!"

He did not hesitate any longer; his Soul body turned into a barely perceptible grey-black stream of light, and fled with all his might directly toward the place where he sensed the investiture of the gods list!

However, just as Ma Yuan's Soul rushed out of the range of Chentang Pass,

"Hum!"

The Void Realm in front of him rippled with pale golden circles without warning.

In the center of the ripples, a divine general walked out silently.

This divine general's figure was not very tall, but he gave people a feeling of standing tall and upright, with strict laws.

He had a face like ancient bronze, eyes like bright stars, wore a Xiezhi crown, and was dressed in mysterious black divine armor embroidered with patterns of mountains, rivers, and penal codes.

He held a black-covered book in his hands.

Behind this divine general, two huge phantoms faintly appeared: one with an ox head, holding a steel fork, his body wrapped in Soul-locking chains; the other with a horse face, holding a mourning stick!

"Sinful Soul Ma Yuan, stop." The divine general spoke; his voice was not loud, but it carried a majesty that pierced directly into the Soul, as if the Heavenly Dao laws were passing judgment here.

Ma Yuan's Soul suddenly stalled, shocked and uncertain: "Who are you? How dare you block my path to the list? I am a person responding to the tribulation, my true spirit should belong to the investiture of the gods list, this is a rule jointly set by The Three Teachings!"

"Rules?"

The divine general's expression remained unchanged as he slowly opened the book in his hand.

The book turned pages without wind, rustling, and finally stopped at a certain page.

On that page, images of Ma Yuan's life appeared, clearly showing him using evil Spells to harm living beings, eating human hearts alive, condensing "Heart Qi",

skinning and dismantling bones, and refining the bone heart lamp, among other bloody scenes; beside the images were dense ancient seal characters recording his Karma.

"Ma Yuan of Skull Mountain Bone Cave, practiced for 1,700 years. During this time, to refine the evil Spell 'Heart Qi', he ate a total of over 36,500 Mortal hearts, causing countless innocent living beings to suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, never to be reincarnated.

His sins are profound."

Every time the divine general read a sentence, the images of sin on the book became clearer, and the white light emitted became more intense, causing the black energy on Ma Yuan's Soul body to "sizzle" and making him let out painful wails.

"No! That is necessary for cultivation! Between Heaven and Earth, the strong prey on the weak, what crime is there?"

"The investiture of the gods list does not care about good or evil in life, it only records the true spirits in the tribulation!" Ma Yuan's Soul body twisted and roared in struggle.

"That is incorrect." Another peaceful yet supremely majestic voice sounded.

Ma Yuan's Soul looked up in horror, only to see the clouds at a higher altitude parting, and a simple white jade carriage slowly driving out; sitting on the carriage was none other than Venus.

He held a whisk and looked at Ma Yuan with compassionate eyes.

"Who are you?" Ma Yuan's Soul trembled.

"Venus, under the seat of the Great Heavenly Venerate of the Heavenly Court!"

Venus nodded slightly, his voice spreading in all directions: "His Majesty has an edict: The matter of the investiture of the gods, although it is for the Xuanmen to end the tribulation, it is also for the Heavenly Court to recruit talent."

"However, the Heavenly Court is the hub of the Three Realms' order. The righteous gods recruited, even if they cannot all be paragons of morality, must strictly adhere to the bottom line and have reverence in their hearts."

"If one is cruel and lawless, harms lives with evil Spells, and has profound Karma like Ma Yuan, and can still ascend to the list and become a god based on the tribulation, then where is the majesty of the Heavenly Court?"

"Where is the justice of the Heavenly Dao? Would this not be condoning demons and chilling the hearts of those in the world who wish to do good?"