137: Chapter 137 The Enemy at the Gates: The Last Line of Defense of the Temple of Ten Thousand Faces

A ghost hand, twisted from torture devices, chains, and fragments of suffering souls, emitted a nauseating aura of filthy laws as it clawed fiercely toward the nearly formed key of memory in mid-air!

"Traitorous Judge!" Lei Xiao (Original)'s eyes nearly split from rage, his roar filled with bone-deep hatred.

"Hee hee hee... It is indeed this official!" From deep within the rift, that raspy voice carried a twisted sense of pleasure. "That stupid dragon Ao Jin's remnant soul has finally dissipated... Perfect. I'll take these heroic soul powers you've gathered for myself! They'll be just right for polluting the core of the Well of Reincarnation!"

Before the ghost hand even arrived, that filthy aura of laws surged forward like a tide, attempting to corrode the pillar of heroic spirit light and pollute the pure memories and emotions within!

At this critical juncture—

"Stealing things at my ceremony?" Lin Chen's voice rang out coldly, without a hint of panic. "Have you asked me, the 'administrator'?"

His left hand continued to maintain the heroic spirit summoning ritual, while his right hand rose like lightning, palm facing the jagged rift in the earth.

[nether domain asset system], [Temporary Controlled Area] highest authority—Rule Expulsion Order!

"In this area, 'betrayers', 'rule polluters', and 'Netherworld traitors' are prohibited from entering and committing acts of harm."

"Violators shall be expelled!"

The moment his voice fell, the underlying rules of this section of the Jingyuan Tributary—where Lin Chen had spent 20 billion nether talismans to buy 24-hour management rights—roared in response!

Buzz——!!!

The space across the entire river reach suddenly froze! The filthy ghost hand reaching for the key of memory abruptly stopped, as if slamming into an invisible wall of rules covered in spikes!

The filthy rules entwined around the ghost hand collided violently with the pure Netherworld rules bolstered by Lin Chen's management authority, producing a tooth-aching "sizzle" of corrosion!

"What?!" The Judge's voice, a mix of shock and fury, came from the depths of the rift. "You can actually mobilize area rule authority to such a degree?! This is impossible! Unless... unless you bribed the underlying rules of the Netherworld?! How much would that cost..."

"None of your business." Lin Chen interrupted his suspicious questioning, his gaze sharp. "Since you've come, don't think about leaving."

With another thought, he fully opened his management authority!

"Additional Area Rules: Execute against target 'Traitorous Judge'—Rule Imprisonment, Energy Stripping, Evidence Traceback!"

Three invisible chains of rules materialized out of thin air, ignoring spatial distance to instantly entwine the filthy ghost hand. Following the connection between the hand and its main body, they stabbed fiercely into the depths of the rift!

"Ahhh! You dare?!" The Judge let out a shriek of pain.

Rule Imprisonment took effect, and the ghost hand's movements completely stiffened!

Energy Stripping activated. The power of the ghost hand and the Judge's main body behind it began to be forcibly drawn out, turning into a stream of pure rule energy that fed back into this area!

And what terrified the Judge most was the Evidence Traceback!

"No! Stop! You can't—!" The Judge's roar of extreme terror echoed from the depths of the rift.

But it was too late.

Through the connection of the rule chains, the evidence of that year's betrayal—the Judge's collusion with the traitorous Dragon Aspect Ao Ming, his acceptance of the Void Devourer's power pollution, and the key memory of him backstabbing the Lord of the Underworld with a fragment of the Book of Life and Death when he was at his weakest—was forcibly extracted and stripped from the depths of the Judge's soul. Like a public execution, it was played with absolute clarity on the light screen above the Jingyuan Tributary!

In the images, the Judge's twisted and greedy face intertwined with Ao Ming's sinister grin. The shocked and indignant eyes of the Lord of the Underworld stung the hearts of everyone present.

"It really was you, you dog!" Thunder and fire surged from Lei Xiao (Original); he wished he could rush into the rift and tear the Judge to pieces.

Su Qingyu covered her mouth, tears in her eyes, feeling an endless sorrow for the fate of the First Generation Underworld Lord.

Zhang Hao cursed even louder: "You old bastard! You ungrateful piece of trash!"

"No—! This is a frame-up! A forgery!" The Judge denied it hysterically from the depths of the rift, but the evidence in the images was as solid as iron.

"Whether it's a forgery or not, you know best," Lin Chen said coldly. "I will carve these crimes onto every stone tablet in the Netherworld, letting your infamy spread for eternity."

"And now..." He looked at the ghost hand, which was firmly imprisoned by the rule chains and having its energy continuously stripped. "I'll collect some interest first."

He manipulated the rule chains and exerted sudden force!

Crack! Crack-crack—!

The filthy ghost hand was crushed alive by the rule chains! At the moment of its collapse, a portion of pure soul power and rule fragments belonging to the Judge's main body were stripped away. Instead of polluting, they were purified by Lin Chen's management authority, turning into a dark-gold stream of energy.

Lin Chen guided this energy stream directly into the heroic spirit light pillar above!

"Using a traitor's power to nourish the key of heroic souls is quite fitting."

Receiving this "supplement" from the traitor's main body, the heroic spirit light pillar shone even brighter. The silver key phantom within solidified and took shape at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Ding—

A crisp chime rang out, as if from the depths of the long river of time.

A silver key, crystal clear throughout and seemingly containing countless flowing lights and shadows, slowly descended from the light pillar and hovered before Lin Chen—[key of memory · Rule Proof], fully activated!

The second key was in hand!

"Ahhh! My power! My evidence! Lin Chen! I will not rest until you are dead!!" From the depths of the rift, the Judge, having suffered a heavy blow, roared in exasperation. However, his voice was noticeably weaker and tinged with terror. He realized that this contemporary 'Lord of the Underworld' had methods far more bizarre and unreasonable than he had imagined!

"I'll be waiting anytime." Lin Chen put away the key of memory, not even glancing at the rift. "But the next time we meet will be the moment your soul is extinguished."

The Judge's remaining consciousness hissed with malice as the rift quickly closed and disappeared, clearly not daring to stay any longer.

The Jingyuan Tributary returned to peace, with only the heroic spirit light spots that had not yet fully dispersed drifting down slowly like golden snow.

"Boss, you're awesome!" Zhang Hao's ghost body wobbled with excitement. "You drove that old traitor away in just two moves! And even snatched a bunch of his power!"

"It was only a portion of the power he projected across space," Lin Chen shook his head. "His main body is hidden in the deeper, filthier rule crevices of the Netherworld; he won't be that easy to root out. However, with this 'gift' from him, the power of the key of memory should be even stronger than expected."

He felt the faint resonance between the two keys in his hand and looked at the constantly ticking countdown on the system interface—68 hours, 41 minutes, 22 seconds.

"Time is running out. With two keys in hand, it's time to get the third and meet that 'Soul Vortex'."

According to Lei Xiao (Original)'s intelligence and the guidance of the Saintess's memories, although the coordinates of the Soul Vortex had appeared early due to the collapse of the Well of Reincarnation, its outskirts would surely be guarded by heavy forces of the Thousand Faces Cult. Furthermore, the vortex itself was a terrifying forbidden zone that devoured all souls.

"Any news from Lei Xiao (Subordinate)'s side?" Lin Chen contacted the troops staying behind to monitor.

Soon, Lei Xiao (Subordinate)'s report came back: "My Lord! A large-scale enemy gathering has been discovered on the outskirts of the Soul Vortex! The numbers far exceed any previous stronghold! Moreover... the devouring range of the vortex itself is expanding. We had to retreat fifty miles! It seems... hungrier!"

As expected.

"Order all troops to assemble at the Fortress," Lin Chen commanded decisively. "Bring all the equipment we can carry. Issue all the latest products from the arsenal. This time, it's a general offensive."

An hour later, at the Netherworld Fortress.

After the full-scale operation of the arsenal and supplements from previous battle spoils, Lin Chen now had over eighty thousand Yin soldiers under his command. All were equipped with at least two generations of standard soul armor and battle sabers, with an ample supply of talismans. Lei Xiao (Original), after obtaining Ao Jin's inheritance, had stabilized his strength at the peak of a Ghost General, becoming the top combat power second only to Lin Chen. Zhang Hao's Special Operations Team had also expanded to three hundred people, specializing in reconnaissance and interference.

Little Red Clothes had even used the "Memory Corridor Core" rule fragments Lin Chen gave her, combined with arsenal technology, to tinker with several experimental [memory interference projectors]. Their effects were unknown, but they looked incredibly sinister.

The army assembled, their killing intent piercing the sky.

Lin Chen stood on the general's platform, holding the keys of suffering and memory, his gaze sweeping over the steel-like military formation below.

"Target: Soul Vortex." His voice spread across the field through an amplification formation. "In this battle, there will be no probing, no holding back."

"Either we crush the vortex, get the last key, and reverse the collapse of the Well of Reincarnation."

"Or, the Netherworld collapses, and all things return to the void."

"Are you afraid?"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Eighty thousand Yin soldiers roared in unison, their soul fires burning like a sea.

"Good." Lin Chen nodded. With a wave of his hand, an unprecedentedly massive teleportation gate opened on the Fortress square. Behind the gate was the terrifying scene of distorted space and the slowly turning dark vortex.

"Set out!"

The black torrent surged once more, charging toward the final battlefield.

Passing through the teleportation gate, a thick sense of despair and soul-level hunger rushed at them. In the distance, the dark Soul Vortex that connected heaven and earth rotated slowly like a millstone, crushing everything. Below the vortex, the black mass of the enemy array was endless. It was interspersed with a large number of Abyssal Monsters with eerie auras and twisted forms, as well as many Thousand Faces Cult elites with fluttering black robes and wailing masks. At the very front of the array, three hundred-foot-tall "gate"-like objects pieced together from countless skeletons and suffering souls were emitting ripples that stabilized space—this was the final defense line set up by the Thousand Faces Cult to block all outsiders from approaching the vortex and buy time for their ritual.

Lei Xiao (Subordinate) came forward, his expression solemn: "My Lord, we tried several probing attacks, but those three 'soul skeleton gates' are extremely bizarre. Most of our attacks are absorbed by them, which only serves to reinforce them. Moreover, they seem to be connected to the vortex, so their energy is nearly infinite."

Zhang Hao added: "When I used Mind Reading on them, I found that behind those gates... there seem to be countless madly howling souls. They are both the 'bricks' and the 'power source' of the gates."

Lin Chen looked at the three massive gates emitting an ominous aura and the greedily rotating Soul Vortex behind them, his eyes narrowing slightly.

This kind of turtle-shell tactic of absorbing attacks and converting them into energy again?

He turned to look at the eager Little Red Clothes beside him and the equally excited doll in her arms.

"Little Red Clothes, can your new toy deal with this kind of 'damage-absorbing' target?"

Little Red Clothes looked up, a pure yet eerie smile appearing on her pale face. She nodded vigorously and then patted the [memory interference projector] beside her, which had a ferocious shape and was covered in irregular mirrors and crystal tubes.

(Hook: Little Red Clothes activates the projector, and a distorted beam of light with constantly shifting colors shoots toward the nearest soul skeleton gate. The beam causes no physical damage, but the suffering, howling soul faces on the gate's surface suddenly freeze. Immediately afterward, they begin to chaotically manifest completely different memory images full of happiness or peace. The energy flow of the entire gate instantly falls into bizarre disorder and... self-conflict?)