Judgment!

It was a bizarre sensation. Four or five tourists clearly stood between He Lingchuan and the divine statue, yet he was utterly certain that this so-called "Eye of Truth" was glaring directly at him! A shiver ran down his spine, but his body refused to obey—he could neither turn around nor take a step. Then, the statue opened both eyes. Miaozhantian's head had originally been tilted downward at a forty-five-degree angle with her eyes slightly closed. Placed high on the dais, her gaze naturally looked down upon the crowd. Now, as she opened them, her purple-glowing irises locked directly onto He Lingchuan. He discovered at once that he could not even tear his gaze away. His surroundings abruptly transformed. The statue of Miaozhantian swelled rapidly in his vision until her figure loomed titanically, expanding far beyond his field of view. The tourists beside him vanished one by one, their voices fading into silence one after another, until even Lu Shishi was gone. In this vast, nameless expanse, only He Lingchuan seemed to remain. Only the vault of the Golden Hall still glittered like the Milky Way, but from He Lingchuan's perspective, it too had receded to an infinite distance, as though truly hung high in the sky, boundless and vast. Just where on earth had he been brought?! Suddenly, he could move again. He Lingchuan took two confused steps backward, only to discover that he was standing on the scale pan! When had he ended up on the balance scale? With a clang, the touchstone dropped onto the opposite, empty pan. Whether he had shrunk or the touchstone had grown, its base was now at least seven feet across, glowing with radiant, dazzling golden light. Just as before, the touchstone's arrival did not disturb the scale's balance. A sigh seemed to drift from the void; He Lingchuan faintly detected disappointment in it. Had the testing of him already begun? Why was she disappointed? The Eye of Truth atop the scale rolled twice, locking its gaze onto him. Compared to the eyeball he had seen in Gange Hall in Panlong City, this giant eye was at least a hundred times larger and a hundred times more horrifying. He Lingchuan could even see its twitching eyelid. The stare of this colossal eyeball made him feel as though every secret in his heart lay bare with nowhere to hide. "Where is this place?" He looked around in panic, shouting loudly, "Who's there?!" This was the normal reaction of an ordinary person. A gentle, magnetic woman's voice resonated through the space, as grand as the sustained chord of a pipe organ: "Your name?" He Lingchuan asked in return, "Who are you?!" "I am Miaozhantian," the woman's voice said. "And you?" This very first question stumped He Lingchuan. His alias in Beijia was He Xiao, but if he gave that name, would it pass the test of the touchstone? Miaozhantian was renowned for discerning truth from falsehood, right from wrong. Could a mere mortal like him escape the Dharma Eye of a celestial god? "Well?" Miaozhantian prompted. "I will ask you only three questions. Answer truthfully; do not dream of deceiving the Dharma Eye." She did not follow up with "otherwise," because there was no need. Every mortal should know the consequences of angering a celestial god. He Lingchuan suddenly felt a faint warmth in his chest. It was not the divine bone necklace within his lapels, but something else growing warm. That tiny bit of warmth alone made him feel heat once more in this vast, boundless expanse. It was like spring sunlight filtering through dappled leaves onto a person's body. Or like trudging through ice and snow, only to catch sight of a small cabin with a hearth fire burning before the next blizzard struck. Such warmth might normally be negligible, but right now it possessed a power that settled the mind. He Lingchuan's tense, anxious thoughts suddenly eased. The sense of helplessness born of facing an omnipotent celestial god alone also gradually dissipated. What was he doing? The last thing he should do right now was let himself be controlled by her! Since he was already standing here, right beneath the eyes of a deity, his only choice was to summon every ounce of vigilance and maneuver carefully with her! Under the scrutiny of the giant eyeball, he bowed his head and said humbly, "I... my name is He Xiao." Creak, creak. The balance scale's arms began to rock. Because it was enlarged a hundredfold, even the slightest movement became shockingly immense. The pans rose and dipped erratically, making He Lingchuan feel as if he were standing on a small sampan tossed relentlessly by towering waves. Was the touchstone weighing the truth of his words? Fortunately, this terrifying swaying soon slowed, the up-and-down oscillation of the pans diminishing until it quickly settled to a standstill. The two arms were balanced, the two pans hanging in an almost perfectly level line. Had this answer passed? He Lingchuan did recall that He Xiao was the name he had used before the age of three to five. No, not his—the original self's. The golden pan was polished to a brilliant sheen, brighter than a mirror. He Lingchuan looked down at its surface and inadvertently noticed that the myriad stars in the sky were reflected so clearly that each one could be counted. Even how they twinkled and the colors of light they emitted were sharp and distinct. By contrast, his own reflection, though closest, was the murkiest—his face wasn't even discernable. Could this be considered normal? He stealthily raised his head and peeked at the giant eyeball atop the scale. It was staring right back at him without blinking. "Good. The second question," Miaozhantian continued. "What connection do you have with the Dafang Pot?" Just a few words, striking directly at He Lingchuan's fatal vulnerability. Miaozhantian did not ask if He Lingchuan knew of the Dafang Pot, nor where it was. Her question was vague and broad; if He Lingchuan had the slightest tie to the Dafang Pot, it would be impossible to skirt around it. Yet from the moment he was summoned, He Lingchuan had repeatedly steeled his expectations. The celestial gods and the Demon Emperor hadn't brought him here just to make casual small talk, had they? Wasn't their sole purpose in seeing him the Dafang Pot? Therefore, the words "Dafang Pot" could no longer stir the slightest ripple in his heart. "Da... what?" He looked utterly bewildered, even gazing up at the giant eyeball. "Heavenly Venerable, please see clearly! I don't know what that is, and I have nothing to do with it!" The moment the words left his mouth, the Pupil of Mulian widened to its absolute limit, blood vessels bursting at the corners! Startled, He Lingchuan took two steps back. "Let us see the result." The scale began to rock up and down once more. This time, however, the oscillation was small, and He Lingchuan found his position sinking lower and lower until he had to tilt his head back to see the touchstone. His side had sunk. In other words, not only had he spoken the "truth," but his words carried immense weight! He had spoken with undeniable certainty. Miaozhantian fell silent, seemingly astonished by this outcome. The stars across the sky suddenly flickered. Whether He Lingchuan looked down at the reflection in the pan or looked up at the stars above, he realized that they were not stars at all—they were eyes! Countless blinking eyes! They varied in shape: some resembled human eyes, while others belonged to creatures unknown. When they blinked in unison, the eeriness and horror were beyond words. The eyes widened to their fullest all at once, every gaze converging upon He Lingchuan. They were scrutinizing him, assessing him, and every single gaze dripped with profound malice! A crushing, overwhelming pressure threatened to stare him to death where he stood. He Lingchuan went with the flow: his knees gave way, and he collapsed onto the pan. Without needing to fake anything, his face turned deathly pale and cold sweat poured down. So he wasn't just facing Miaozhantian; countless deities were hidden behind the firmament, awaiting his answers. He was nothing more than a mere mortal—how could he draw such an immense spectacle? Boundless divine majesty descended abruptly, unyielding and irresistible, enough to drive a mortal insane in an instant. He Lingchuan even heard countless voices in his ears, like whispers, yet more like endless debate, echoing from vast distances until only faint reverberations reached him. Were the deities arguing among themselves? He instinctively curled into himself, his lips trembling incessantly as if he were about to pass out into shock at any second. These reactions were not an act; they were simply the result of letting his guard down and not forcing himself to stay tough. "Enough." This time, Miaozhantian's voice resonated with authority. "Since we invoked the Eye of Truth, we must trust the verdict it gives!" The moment she spoke, the sweeping divine might vanished, and the space instantly returned to empty tranquility. The suffocating, crushing pressure vanished alongside it, so fast it felt like an illusion. The space became dead silent. After an unknowable length of time, He Lingchuan tentatively called out, "H-Heavenly Venerable?" Only then did Miaozhantian speak again. "Very good. We have one final question left." He Lingchuan held his breath and waited. He had already broken through two-thirds of this deadly dilemma. As long as he answered the final question properly, this great tribulation would be survived. "What is your connection to the Mou Kingdom?" It was the same style of question: broad and all-encompassing. Huh? The Mou Kingdom? This was a question he had never anticipated in his wildest dreams. He Lingchuan instinctively shook his head, completely honest this time. "Answer." "None at all." He collected himself. "I've only heard of the Mou Kingdom. I've never been there, and I've c-certainly never had any ties to it!" The scale went into motion once again. Without question, the touchstone tilted upward, and his pan sank. The truth—truth so absolute it could not be truer. The firmament suddenly darkened, and the surrounding scenery receded like an ebbing tide. It was a bizarre sensation, like a painted canvas submerged in water, its pigments washing away. Yet right at that moment, He Lingchuan suddenly heard a gruff, booming voice: "This body isn't bad. Why not claim it?" The transformation stalled abruptly. Beyond the peeled-away canvas lay a void, within which something seemed to bare fangs and brandish claws, lunging toward He Lingchuan. The thing was pitch-black and formless; He Lingchuan only knew it carried boundless pressure, against which he had zero power to resist. Like a mouse before a lion. Had the darkening of the firmament not been interrupted, he likely wouldn't have seen this at all. Miaozhantian's voice rang out once more, shedding its earlier warmth and gentleness, clearly displeased by her counterpart's presumptuousness: "You must not!" The other voice countered, "After paying such a steep price, we should at least recoup some of the cost!" Yet before Miaozhantian could act, a beam of azure light flared within the void unveiled beneath the canvas. Was it a mark? Illuminated by it, the dark shadow recoiled with a whoosh. The booming voice let out an astonished exclamation: "Why is there a mark of Nailuotian?!"