Chapter 2256: Whip Of Heavenly Punishment

“That’s a Soul Summoning Banner!”

“That’s the War Priest’s magic weapon!”

The Plague Monarch and Doomsday Spirit immediately felt awful. They had never expected this human to use a monster’s weapon against them!

The Soul Summoning Banner wasn’t all that useful against beings like them. However, while the Plague Monarch’s cockroaches, rats, mosquitoes, and flies excelled in numbers and were nearly impossible to stop effectively, their souls were just too weak. They couldn't withstand a single wave of the Soul Summoning Banner.

Zu An was really glad that he hadn’t destroyed this weapon. He'd felt that the banner was too sinister at first, but after a lot of hesitation, he had chosen to repair it instead of destroying it. Now, it seemed even clearer than ever like weapons and artifacts weren’t inherently good or evil. What was more important was the one who was using them and what they were being used for.

The Plague Monarch felt a bit broken-hearted, but he still asked with a sinister smile, “Do you think a single Soul Summoning Banner can really deal with all of my plague seeds? Those were nothing more than the embodiment of some laws. Once their souls return, I’ll still be able to create them endlessly.”

As long as the Doomsday Spirit stalled Zu An for a bit, the Plague Monarch believed it would be able to find a way to spread those plague seeds again. Thus, after it spoke, it opened its large mouth to suck all of the scattered plague souls back.

However, even after it sucked for a long time, there was no response at all.

“I’m sucking!”

“I’m going to keep sucking...?”

“???”

Even after it tried three times, apart from inhaling a lot of air, not even a single hair came back. The Plague Monarch was stupefied. What was going on right now?

“Soul return? That seems to just be what I happen to be good at.” With a raise of Zu An’s hand, there was a transparent sphere that appeared. Within the sphere, countless transparent figures tried to flee while screaming in grief.

He was now the underworld emperor, so all things obeyed him after death. Some events that took place in places further away were one thing, but even souls of the dead that had perished right in front of him wanted to flee?

The Plague Monarch’s eyes narrowed. It could feel that it had completely lost connection over the plague seeds. Their power was completely in Zu An’s hands. However, it said with a cold snort, “You’re just playing god!”

Then, it said to the Doomsday Spirit, “Let’s not hold back anymore and use our strongest abilities. We’ll show him just how powerful we are!”

Afterward, its entire body surged with demonic energy. It became several times stronger than before.

“Plague Monarch, it seems you had some abilities I didn’t even know about before!” The Doomsday Spirit roared with laughter. It also felt a boost in spirits and erupted with light.

The two secretly discussed their plan of attack.

“We’ll attack together!”

After it shouted, however, the Doomsday Spirit shot away like lightning, immediately turning tail to run.

The guy they were facing was too terrifying! He'd so easily neutralized the skills the Plague Monarch was most proud of. No wonder so many monsters had been killed by him before. They hadn’t died for no reason!

The Doomsday Spirit knew its ability could control and stir up one’s emotions, and that its skill was most useful when used in the dark to incite disharmony. This kind of frontal clash really wasn’t its forte. If it stayed behind and fought to the death, it would most likely die.

I’m the glorious Doomsday Spirit! Why would I let myself die in a frontal battle? Wouldn’t that be the greatest humiliation to me?

But I’ll have to trouble the Plague Monarch now, and have him hold up that incredible disaster of a human. Judging from how its power suddenly increased severalfold, it definitely has a lot of trump cards.

The only thing it could do was control the Imperial Palace’s guards to help it, which in its opinion, paid off its debt. When it thought of that, it reflexively turned around to take a look; but then its eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

The Plague Monarch wasn’t doing what they planned at all, and had instead turned tail to run as well, running even faster than it was! The Plague Monarch had already rushed toward the horizon in the blink of an eye. Its eruption of aura was just a bluff, and it had also fooled its colleague so they could stall the enemy.

The Doomsday Spirit exclaimed, “You &%@#*!”

The only thing it was grateful for was that the Plague Monarch wasn’t stupid enough to have run in the same direction as it had. The guards in the Imperial Palace were rushing at Zu An like a tidal wave, so he could probably only chase after one of them. Since things had already reached this point, it would just depend on whose luck was better!

Each of the monsters was praying for that demon to chase after the other.

Wait, just who is the monster here?!

...

Meanwhile, all of the Imperial Palace soldiers had started rushing at Zu An, whether they were the emperor’s guards or the empress’ troops. Even the Armed Escort Division and Embroidered Envoy were attacking him. Their eyes were all red. Only a few people were able to just barely remain clear-headed.

It was clear that this was the Doomsday Spirit’s ability. Only upon reaching a certain level of strength would someone be able to avoid being controlled.

This kind of ability was quite despicable. It sent countless people to their deaths, and if one retaliated, it would involve taking many of their lives. If one didn’t, being attacked by all of these soldiers at the same time would still be quite headache-inducing.

In order to temporarily avoid the manipulated guards, Zu An flew straight into the sky. Then, he looked toward the monsters that had flown in opposite directions. He didn’t choose to chase after a single one, and spread his arms instead. He closed his eyes, as if he was trying to communicate with something.

In an instant, the Plague Monarch and Doomsday Spirit’s surroundings were covered by dark clouds. Then, countless lightning bolts appeared out of thin air.

The two monsters were shocked. Lightning had evil-eradicating effects to begin with, so it was the natural enemy of monsters. They quickly dodged to the side to change directions and avoid the lightning.

However, the lightning immediately turned into a sea of electricity. They had nowhere to escape to. In an instant, their surroundings were completely swallowed up by the sea of lightning.

The two monsters both used their greatest skills and took out all kinds of life-saving treasures, and only then did they barely escape the sea of lightning. However, their bodies seemed to have become a size smaller, and perhaps even a bit dimmer. It was obvious that their injuries weren’t light.

But they didn’t have a moment to catch their breath at all. A bolt of lightning that seemed to light up the world lashed at them like the whip of judgment. They seemed to have been locked onto by the will of the world, so how could they avoid this incredibly terrifying whip of heavenly punishment?

There was a loud boom, and they were blasted until their bodies were blown to dust.

“This bastard can freaking control the entire world! How are we even supposed to fight against that?!”

“How can I just die like this?!”

Those were the final thoughts of the Plague Monarch and the Doomsday Spirit.

Following the Doomsday Spirit’s death, the Imperial Palace guards who were being mind-controlled had the red in their eyes fade, gradually waking up one by one. As they looked at Zu An, they were full of shock. Even though they had been controlled by the Doomsday Spirit, their memories still remained. Zu An hadn’t even needed to do too much to summon lightning and destroy the enemy. That whip of lightning that seemed to cover the entire world especially made them tremble from their very souls.

It wasn’t just them. Even the strongest cultivators present were incredibly shocked. The higher one’s cultivation, the more they understood just how inconceivable this was. Perhaps there were some cultivators who were proficient in lightning skills, but it was usually on a small scale. How could it compare to an entire ocean of lightning like that of legendary heavenly tribulation?

Is this even something the power of man can control?

Yun Jianyue remembered how she had borrowed that something cage to defeat Zhao Han with tribulation lightning. She'd never expected that Zu An could already control such powerful lightning himself! After all, she had just met him not too long ago at the Devil Sect General Headquarters. Back then, he clearly hadn't been able to do this yet.

Sigh, if you improve this quickly, how am I even supposed to catch up?

She suddenly noticed that the other women's eyes were shining dazzlingly as if they were starstruck. She felt more and more annoyed.

You’re so handsome and so strong too; no wonder you’re attracting so many bees and butterflies.

Honglei, Honglei, just where are you? I might not be able to hold the fort alone...

...

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the eight dukes finished wrapping up the matter of the Jiang clan. They sensed the battle that was taking place in the Imperial Palace, and all of them hesitated.

What if Zu An really clashed with the emperor? Who should we help?

In theory, they had to help the emperor. As the final pillars of the empire, they were supposed to support the royal family.

But after the Meng clan affair, and now everything that had taken place outside the Jiang clan, they understood very well that Zu An had already reached a level far beyond what they could hope to understand. If they made him their enemy, that would be no different from throwing their lives away.

As such, when the aura of monsters appeared, they hurried over to help. However, all they managed to do was watch as Zu An controlled heavenly lightning to eradicate the two powerful monsters. They exchanged a look, seeing the same shock and admiration in each other’s eyes.

Zu An descended from above. No one knew who started it, but shouts soon began.

“The regent is without equal under the sky!”

“Long live the regent!”

...

When they saw everyone present kneel, the remaining four dukes didn’t feel any more psychological burden. They also bowed. As cultivators, they revered the strong to begin with, let alone someone like this, who was already strong to the point that he resonated with the world.

Deafening shouts echoed across the entire Imperial Palace until everyone in the capital could hear it.

The great clans all looked in the Imperial Palace’s direction. They hurriedly summoned their clan members for a meeting to figure out what to do next.

In the Jiang manor, with the help of the academy’s Divine Physician Ji Dengtu, Jiang Boyang’s condition had stabilized. Almost everyone was at the highest point of the Jiang manor, looking in the Imperial Palace’s direction. After seeing Zu An summon the terrifying lightning to obliterate the two monsters, none of them could calm down.

After a while, Jiang Boyang sighed and said, “Starting today, the world is probably going to change.”