Those time travelers that year

This method of arriving silently to his side is truly terrifying. Doesn't it mean that this person could assassinate him anytime, anywhere?! Moreover, this is the realm of a god, and it exists in a spacetime overlap. This person traversed the overlapping spacetime outside without being detected, concealed his spiritual senses, and walked directly to his side!?

Upon realizing this, the City God broke out in a cold sweat and lived in constant fear.

'Who exactly are you?!' Suppressing his inner unease, the City God increased the infusion of magical and divine power. The protective divine light emanating from the City God's seal suddenly surged to a tangible level, allowing him to calm down a little.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, City God, didn't you notice?!" This young man, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, had jet-black hair and dark golden eyes. He was very handsome, or rather, had feminine features. But no matter how he tried to sense him, the City God couldn't find the person in front of him in his divine sense... It was as if this person was merely a phantom, a phantom he had imagined, a phantom that shouldn't exist.

Wait, what did he say he didn't notice...?

The City God, regaining his senses, was stunned for a moment, then his face changed like a Peking Opera mask being changed, and his body shone with divine light, as if it was about to burst forth at any moment. However, he really, really had the urge to turn around and run away right now.

The person in front of me just now claimed to be the City God… Aside from those extraterrestrials who took his true spirit, hidden within the seal, from their original world, there was another completely unrelated person in this world who uttered this term. Not to mention, the names and language of this world are entirely different from the world this person came from.

In other words, the person in front of you is...

'Who are you, sir?!' Realizing this, the City God was well aware that the person before him, like himself, was not a native of this world, but an outsider. 'This world…'

"Ah! Enough with the talk!" The newcomer waved his hand and said, "Let me introduce myself. Um, my name is Charles... just as you guessed." Charles gave a meaningful smile. "I am not a native of this world... Unlike you, City God, I am a reincarnation! And..." He pointed to the imperial city below, which had been destroyed by that giant god, outside the overlapping space-time, and said, "...because of the efforts of these reincarnators under the command of the main god, um, the little ones who brought you to this world—my relatives who were reincarnated into this world were all wiped out in this city."

"So, to put it simply!" With a smile, looking at the City God who was trembling as he listened to his words, Xia Er said slowly, "Although I don't care much about it, the price is by no means low!"

"...Your Excellency, this is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" The City God forced a smile and said hesitantly, "This whole drama is because of these outsiders. I was just caught up in it."

"Alright! No need for polite talk! Hehe..." After sizing up the City God in front of him, Xia Er said nonchalantly, "Let me tell you, I actually saw everything from beginning to end—don't you wonder why I didn't take action?!"

"...What brings you here, Your Excellency?!"

“You know what it feels like when you’re bored and suddenly find a mouse in your house? My first reaction was to stomp it to death. But after looking around, I realized… it wasn’t just a rice-stealing mouse, but a—very good prey!”

The City God's face turned ashen.

At this point, Charles understood what the man in front of him was talking about. He understood that the man had witnessed everything from beginning to end, yet he hadn't made a single move, simply watching him do as he pleased.

This sent chills down his spine.

"How do you plan to compensate us?" Xia Er asked, looking at the City God with a half-smile.

'Your Excellency, I can actually explain these things…'

"Then tell me about it!"

"That is..." The City God paused, then with lightning speed, unleashed a golden divine light, tinged with crimson, towards Xia Er. "In the name of the City God, I swear to betray you!"

The divine light shone down, and Xia Er didn't dodge, letting it shine upon him. Once the light touched him, Xia Er noticed a reddish-black glow emanating from his body. Upon seeing this reddish-black light, the City God was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

"So it was a demon here, hahaha..." the City God laughed loudly. "Heaven cherishes life, and today I, the City God, will act on behalf of Heaven and slay you, this disguised peerless demon!"

"You demon, you have committed the heinous crime of killing! I sentence you to be unforgivable!" With the City God's shout and the infusion of his magic and divine power, the City God's seal floating above him seemed to sense the black light emanating from Xia Er's body. Instantly, its golden light intensified, and golden chains appeared out of thin air along with talismans for subduing demons, forming a net that descended upon Xia Er.

"Command the four directions, earth, fire, wind, and water, suppress the evil spirits for me!" Seeing the net of heaven and earth covering Xia Er, the City God once again cast a spell, directly controlling this divine kingdom. Relying on the power of the divine kingdom and combining it with the divine talisman of his City God status, he evolved earth, fire, wind, and water to form a demon-sealing formation, which was then used to suppress Xia Er.

'Reward the good and punish the evil—order it!'

Although Xia Er appeared to be powerless to resist, knowing that this guy probably possessed powerful or strange supernatural abilities, the City God hardened his heart and directly activated his own source power, injecting it into the seal. Despite the damage to his own foundation, he also unleashed a supernatural power specifically designed for such wicked people with evil karma, intending to completely suppress, defeat, and kill him in one blow.

431. On the drawbacks of the Heavenly Court's bureaucratic system

One of the functions of the City God is to reward good and punish evil. In the Eastern fantasy system, there is a very interesting rule: post-death reckoning. As long as you have not become an immortal and cannot escape the record in the Book of Life and Death, then underworld messengers will drag you away with chains when your time is up, and then reward or punish you according to your deeds in life.

Good people will be reborn into wealthy and noble families in their next life, living a life of comfort and happiness, or achieving great success. Bad people, on the other hand, will be sent to the eighteenth level of hell, where they will be subjected to various forms of torture and torment to cleanse their sins, before being sent to be reincarnated.

Even if someone is an emperor on earth, they will still face reckoning after death. After death, all living beings are equal...

As a member of the underworld system, the City God naturally possesses this ability. In fact, most of the deceased souls go through a process with the City God before being sent to the underworld. In other words, the City God is actually a local agency of the underworld, equivalent to a local police station or a local court.

Naturally, this would be the combination of the Public Security Bureau and the court, giving the City God the authority to judge, arrest, and execute criminals. However, this authority doesn't actually belong to the City God, but rather is issued by the Heavenly Court and the Underworld. This means it's subject to various restrictions, only effective against the dead and mischievous mountain spirits and monsters, and utterly useless against the living and cultivators.

It can be said that the position of City God is actually a front created by the bigwigs who are too lazy to manage those trivial matters and disturb their own quiet cultivation (staying at home) and seclusion (being a shut-in).

The authority itself does not actually belong to the City God. The authority a City God possesses comes from above and is issued downwards. The City God's seal is merely a medium used to activate this issued authority. Precisely because it does not belong to the City God, the City God can cultivate the magical power of a cultivator in addition to the divine path. The two do not conflict. However, if the City God wants to use the authority below, he must do so in accordance with the rules and circumstances.

For example, when rewarding good and punishing evil, the target must be the soul of a dead human being. However, there are exceptions, such as encountering demons and monsters who have committed a great deal of killing.

Initially, the divine light that the City God showered upon Xia Er was merely a means of judging whether the target was good or evil. This divine light had no destructive power, but it represented the City God's divine might; in other words, this divine light was used to buy time. However, after this divine light touched Xia Er, it directly revealed Xia Er's true nature, instantly giving the City God the opportunity to activate the authority within the seal.

First, there's the Heavenly Net, a massive formation used in conjunction with the Day and Night Patrol Gods, the Shackled Generals, the Ox-Horse Generals, the Fan-Xie Generals, and other ghostly soldiers to capture demons and monsters. Unfortunately, this City God is currently alone and unable to accomplish this, so he has to make do with what he has…

This move, while not lethal, possessed the power to bind space and imprison magic, along with the effects of soul suppression and mental intimidation. Following this, leveraging the blessing gained from controlling this divine kingdom, the Four Symbols Demon-Sealing Array was constructed using earth, fire, wind, and water elements. This forcibly created an alternate dimension, placing Xia Er, who was bound by the Heavenly Net, inside and firmly suppressing him, rendering him completely immobile.

Finally, there is the system of rewarding good and punishing evil, used to judge the sins and good deeds committed by a target throughout their life. Good deeds will be rewarded and sins will be punished.

As the City God shouted, tokens appeared in the void around him. Some of these tokens were inscribed with the word "reward," while others were inscribed with the word "punishment." After appearing, these tokens hovered beside the City God, aimed at Xia Er, who appeared to be bound and shackled.

'You have committed heinous crimes!'

'You deserve to be punished!'

As the City God proclaimed, the tokens inscribed with the word "reward" vanished into the void. Afterwards, all the tokens inscribed with the word "punishment" surrounded and imprisoned Xia Er from all sides.

The City God was confident. He had preemptively bound the demon with a net of heaven and earth, then used the power of this divine kingdom to manipulate the four elements of earth, fire, wind, and water into a demon-sealing array, trapping the demon within. Furthermore, with the added power of this divine kingdom and the double suppression of the activated seal and divine talisman, even a demon king could be directly suppressed and slowly obliterated by the City God. Not to mention, this being, displaying such monstrous bloodlust, had already activated the power to reward good and punish evil. This was a genuine power capable of influencing cause and effect, destiny. If it was good, this person would be granted a peaceful and smooth life; if it was evil, their soul would be directly suppressed and cast into the eighteenth level of hell.

There is no underworld in this world, so once the soul is expelled, it will fall directly into the hands of the City God. At that point, he can do whatever he wants with it, right?

(City God: I'm asking you, with such a huge advantage, how can I possibly lose!?)

Whether the Demon King would be instantly defeated, Xia Er didn't know, but he did know one thing: his strength was likely above the Demon King's. Whether he had reached the level of a Demon Saint or Demon God was unknown. And so…!

'I hereby proclaim to Heaven that you shall be punished for your evil deeds…'

'In your lifetime, the total number of murders you have committed is... total... total... total... total... total... total...'

The City God couldn't continue. In fact, at this moment, his eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief, as if he had witnessed something utterly unbelievable. What had he seen? The number of killings committed by Xia Er... was actually in the hundreds of millions!?

Rubbing his eyes, the City God repeatedly checked whether the number displayed before him, a number visible only to him and wielded by authority, was an error. Unfortunately, no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the number did indeed begin with "hundred million."

'You, you, you…' At this moment, the City God froze, pointing incredulously at Xia Er, who was surrounded by layers of barriers. 'This, this, how is this possible? Such a massive massacre, why, why?!'

"Ah! Don't be surprised!" Charles, who was sealed off by layers of barriers, said in a relaxed and calm tone, "Before that, I went to a terrible world. The rules of that world were practically garbage. The world was constantly being destroyed and then restarted. And there, the least valuable thing was human life."

"So, I did cause quite a commotion in that world, destroying a world called the Wasteland along with its king, and incidentally, I also destroyed an entire civilization... In truth, I did commit a heinous crime."

He opened his mouth, utterly speechless. In his previous role as City God, the number of criminals he dealt with was at most in the hundreds; a thousand was considered a major case, and ten thousand would be a serious matter that would lead to accountability. As for a hundred thousand, those were most likely ghost kings or demon kings, requiring prior notice and the involvement of a group of colleagues.

And millions?! Tens of millions?! Hundreds of millions?!

Sorry, but if this really happens, the higher-ups will send 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals down to restore harmony.

In other words, Xia Er's massacres, amounting to hundreds of millions, were not something a mere City God could judge. In such cases, the matter should be reported to the Heavenly Court, which would then take him to the Lingxiao Palace for judgment by the immortals, followed by the Heavenly Emperor's ruling, and finally, he should be taken to the Execution Platform.

Instead of letting a mere city god overstep his authority...

Because of some other things, the next two chapters will be released after 5 PM.

432. The City God who can still struggle

As a member of the system, he couldn't defy its power. Moreover, the Heavenly Court's system was far more stringent than any secular bureaucratic system. Making exceptions wasn't impossible, but one needed at least a powerful backer. A City God wanting such a backer?! Forget it!

While standardized magical artifacts are very useful and form the basis for the Heavenly Court to suppress all dissent, they also have significant flaws, at least in the frustrating issue of authorization. Whether or not authorization has been granted, and to what extent, is a crucial factor. Just like the City Gods, who are divided into county-level, provincial-level, and so on, even cities are categorized into different ranks—this is the so-called issue of authorization.

Although he was once the City God of a dynasty, it's clear that this City God wouldn't have the right to judge someone burdened with hundreds of millions of murders. After the magical artifact's mechanism determined the amount of murder committed by the seemingly sealed-off Xia Er, its first reaction wasn't to confront him, but rather to automatically suggest that the City God contact the Underworld and, incidentally, report to the Heavenly Court's Lingxiao Palace…

If he could, the City God would have a strong urge to cry, but unfortunately, he couldn't. If he could, he would also like to smash the imperial seal, but unfortunately, that was also unrealistic.

And so, caught between a rock and a hard place, he could only stand there dumbfounded, watching as the Heavenly Net and the Four Symbols Demon-Sealing Formation trapped Xia Er.

"Hey! You're out of moves, aren't you!?" After waiting for a while, Xia Er still hadn't received any further moves. He couldn't help but speak from within the seal, "If I'm not mistaken, that thing, oh right, it's called the Reward Good and Punish Evil technique. It should involve things like cause and effect and fate, right? What's wrong? This is a power that can threaten me. Why don't you strike it down?"

He opened his mouth, but faced with this predicament, he didn't know how to respond. In fact, upon seeing the hundreds of millions of deaths, the City God knew the problem was serious. This level of depravity was far beyond what a minor deity like himself could handle!

"Alright! Looks like you've run out of tricks!" After waiting for a while and not seeing the City God make any further moves, Xia Er was unaware that due to some system issues, the City God's Seal, as a standard magical artifact, had been automatically locked and was constantly urging the City God, as the user, to quickly contact the Underworld and Heaven, which were currently inaccessible.

Originally, I just wanted to see what methods the City God in the fantasy system had. Before that, apart from the "Immortal-Dissolving Qi Hand" that seemed capable of shattering a deity's divine body and turning him into a mortal... why didn't he have any other moves?!

"Since you've run out of tricks, then you're worthless!"

With a sigh, Xia Er swept his hand across the inescapable net surrounding him, then placed it on it. The next moment, extremely hot flames swept out, instantly burning the entire net to ashes. The inescapable net, capable of spatial binding, magical imprisonment, and incidentally soul suppression and mental intimidation, was burned to ashes.

After burning down the Heavenly Net, and looking at the alternate space created by the Four Symbols Demon Sealing Array, Xia Er grasped the Blazing Sword in mid-air and drew it out. Then, with a casual slash, he cut through the entire space created by the Four Symbols Demon Sealing Array, along with the sealing power.

After cleaving through the entire space, Xia Er strode out as if nothing had happened, arriving before the bewildered City God. "Looks like you're really out of options!" Looking at the City God's growing panic, Xia Er said, "Of course, I never expected a mere lower-ranking deity from the Heavenly Court system to be very powerful. Perhaps in your original world, with the support of the Heavenly Court and its rules, you might have been able to cause me some trouble!"

"But this isn't the Heavenly Court world anymore!"

"No wonder you needed to rely on those reincarnators to drop this unlucky guy; the truth is, you can't beat him at all right now..."

"Now then! May you die in this world?!"

"You, you..." Staggering back a few steps, the City God's face was ashen. The power of this demon before him far exceeded his expectations; the Heavenly Net and the Four Symbols Demon Sealing Technique had been torn apart so easily. "What exactly are you?!"

"You've already come into my world, and you still want to ask who I am?" Shrugging, Charles said with a smile, "Guess! And while you're at it, guess how you're going to die!"

"Don't get too cocky!" Sensing Xia Er's undisguised and naked malice, the City God's face turned incredibly ugly. He immediately recalled the City God Seal, then poured divine and magical power into it. Through the connection between the seal and the divine talisman, he began to relentlessly draw upon the power of the entire divine kingdom. "I may not necessarily lose!"

"Then let's give it a try!" Seeing the City God's movements, Xia Er's eyes lit up, and he just stood there, leaning on his sword, watching his performance.

'You demon, you will surely pay the price!'

Clearly realizing that the situation was not going well, and sensing that Xia Er was unlikely to let him go, the City God made a painful decision: to get through this calamity first, no matter the cost.

As he drew power from this divine kingdom through the seal and divine runes, the kingdom began to crumble, with countless bottomless cracks crisscrossing its interior. The entire world trembled, and rumbling sounds echoed from the earth. Even at the very edges of the divine kingdom, it began to disintegrate and crumble into chaos.

"The universe possesses a vast and righteous spirit; let righteousness reside in your heart!"

Under the City God's extraction, the entire divine kingdom inevitably began to collapse. However, the City God also extracted a huge amount of energy, which he poured into the seal in his hand. Instantly, the seal shone brightly, and a golden light, accompanied by a righteous and upright aura, soared into the sky, enveloping the entire divine kingdom and even extending outwards to the sky over a thousand miles away.

Suddenly, outside, as the sky was ablaze with fiery rain, a golden light appeared in the sky, carrying a majestic aura that swept away the dark clouds and fiery rain, bringing endless sunlight into the world.

However, while clearing away the fire rain saved the army of ordinary humans, the remaining resentment and curses, through some unseen connection, directly entangled the giant god. No matter how the giant god roared, he could not erase these resentments and curses; the golden aura surrounding him dimmed and was extinguished.

In another divine realm above the sky, boundless righteous energy permeated every corner.

"Heaven and earth possess righteous energy, which manifests in myriad forms. Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, it becomes the sun and stars. Vast and boundless, it fills the vast expanse of the heavens..." Enveloped in this righteous energy, the City God, like a great Confucian scholar, exuded an awe-inspiring righteousness, fearlessly causing all evil to retreat. Furthermore, after he spoke, this righteous energy spontaneously transformed, some settling below to form towering mountains and winding rivers, while others rose to the heavens, becoming the sun, moon, stars, and the boundless sky.

Once I finished my work, I sent it directly; I didn't have to wait until 5 PM.

433. The City God, who seemed to see hope.

In the world where this City God originated, cultivation methods flourished. Even when faced with great calamities and human suffering, various immortal and Buddhist sects remained in the mortal realm to slay demons and uphold righteousness when the Heavenly Court and the Underworld could no longer manage the situation. In fact, if it weren't for the great changes in the world and the onset of the Great Calamity, demons and monsters like the Centipede Demon and the Black Mountain Demon wouldn't have had the chance to run rampant; they would have been pacified long ago by those who acted on behalf of Heaven.

Those who know a little about the inside story will understand that almost every City God was deified after death, and the vast majority of them actually came from Confucianism.

The Confucian scholars of that world were not merely those weak and incompetent pedants. The true orthodox Confucian scholars were actually cultivators who studied the Four Books and Five Classics and cultivated righteous energy. It can be said that every great Confucian scholar, after death, would be directly appointed to a divine position by the Heavenly Court and the Underworld, often as the City God of a local area or an official post in the underworld.