On a platform high above the skies, a young man knelt, bound in chains and encircled by several towering, mighty figures.
Their presence was suffocating—so immense that the very space around them trembled with each subtle shift in their posture.
Yet, despite the crushing pressure, the young man remained defiant. His gaze, laced with utter mockery and contempt, met theirs without flinching.
Seeing such a scene unfolding, the mighty figures certainly did not hold back. They unleashed their divine might, causing the void itself to quiver under their tremendous might.
The young man, though nearly crushed beneath their overwhelming presence, radiated a stubborn, unyielding brilliance.
Coughing a mouthful of blood, he looked at those people again with utter contempt and disdain as if their divine presences were nothing but a joke to him.
With blood at his lips and defiance in his soul, he looked up once more—his disdain clearer than ever, as if to say : Your divinity means nothing to me.
From nearby, a booming voice echoed through the void, "Human Great Emperor, you have stood against the Divine, rebelled against the Immortals, defied the Heavens' Will, and gathered a measly group of rebels—all to overthrow the Rule of the Heavens. Do you acknowledge your wrongdoings?"
As the words reached the young Emperor's ears and reverberated in his mind, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
'Standing against the Divine?'
'Rebelling against the Immortals?'
'Defying the Heavens' Will?'
'And finally, Overthrowing the Rule of the Heavens?'
Who even in their dreams make such lousy accusations?
The Young Emperor couldn't contain his laughter. The more he thought about the absurd accusations hurled against him, the more ridiculous they seemed.
The Young Emperor couldn't control his laughter the more he thought about the ridiculous accusations against him.
Sensing such an absurd atmosphere, from atop the divine throne, a thunderous voice erupted, shaking the very void, "Human Great Emperor, how dare you! Even now, you still have the audacity to laugh? Aren't you afraid that the Heaven's Will would exterminate those hiding cockroaches from your Human Race after your demise?"
Another voice rang out from the distant horizon—calm, cold, and resolute : "Not only the remaining rebels of the Human Race, all those who had helped the Human Great Emperor to reach this point and stand against us and the Heavens, will be purged, their souls will be condemned and upon death, they will enter the Forbidden Land of Nether Hell to atone for their sins for ten thousand years. Only then, if they still exist, may they be accepted by the Heavens once more—to serve the Immortals and Divines, body and soul, for all eternity. The Heavens wills it."
As the commanding voice fell and the decree settled in the air, countless voices echoed across the void, carrying endless might within, resonating with the same self-righteous fury.
"The Heavens wills it."
"The Heavens wills it."
"The Heavens wills it."
Hearing such claims, the Young Emperor snorted in disdain, his golden eyes gleaming with scorn.
"The Heavens wills it?"
'No, it was the Immortals who rule over the Heavens and suppress all beings to become an Immortal to stand upto them, wills it...'
At that moment, an ethereal yet supremely commanding voice echoed through the void, deciding the young Emperor's fate in the hands of the gathered Immortals, leaving no room for going back.
"Myriad Heavenly Tribulations descends—suppress the fate, erase the divine soul, forgo the Eternal Path of Nine Heavenly Reincarnations."
As the voice fell, the previously clamoring Immortals abruptly fell silent, momentarily taken aback by the severity of the punishment.
Suppression of one's fate.
Destruction of one's Consciousness and Divine Soul.
And ultimately, the complete closure of the Path of Heavenly Reincarnation.
And all of this would be carried out solely by the Heaven's Will, through the descent of the Myriad Heavenly Tribulations upon the sinner.
No matter how one looked at it, this was the severing of all roads—a complete and absolute end for the young Human Great Emperor.
Even though some Immortals weren't pleased with such a harsh verdict of the Heavens, as they secretly harbored the ambitions to enslave the Human Great Emperor and control the entire Human Race through him—they dared not voice their thoughts and discontent.
The one delivering the decree was inviolable.
Even such a fleeting thought of resistance against a mere judgment would be seen as defiance toward the Heaven's Will.
And should such a thing occur, even Immortals would be reduced to little more than burning charcoal beneath the wrath of the Heavenly Tribulations.
Their gazes fell upon the sinner—the Human Great Emperor. For a brief moment, they were silent before reacting.
At this moment, the young man, kneeling on the high platform, bounded by the indestructible immortal chains, showed no fear or madness even when faced with such a severe punishment that would completely end his life, not leaving a fleeting chance for reincarnation in the future at all. Instead, he looked toward the distant horizon, as though he could see the very place from which the verdict had descended.
Seated on divine thrones, the Immortals slowly nodded their heads almost in unison. Though the Emperor's face revealed nothing, they understood the weight of despair that pressed down upon his soul.
At this moment, the Human Great Emperor was not looking at them. He was gazing far beyond, feeling the cold, judgmental gaze of a superior being fixated on his very essence—constantly suppressing his divine soul and will.
"Divine Punishment Immortal..." the young man murmured the words.
He had specifically heard whispers of her existence from his allies when he was waging war against the Heavens and the Immortals.
To enact Absolute Judgment, the Divine Punishment Immortal herself descends from the High Heavens—delivers the Decree, thereby becoming the embodiment of the Heaven's Will.
However, this was well within his previous calculations and adjustments.
To carry out his plan, her presence here was essential.
Until now, the young Emperor had been quite worried that these showy Immortals might execute the punishment themselves, bypassing both the formal process and the authority of the Divine Punishment Immortal.
But now, after hearing her ethereal voice and the cold judgment delivered on behalf of the Heavens, the young Emperor exhaled a long breath, releasing the weight of his earlier concerns, and laughed heartily.
Seeing this, not only the Immortals, but even the distant Divine Punishment Immortal was momentarily taken aback, unable to comprehend the other's thought process.
Why was he even laughing in such a dire situation?
Could it be that he had he lost all hopes, his sanity finally shattering under the weight of Heaven's Judgement?
As these thoughts flickered through their minds, the Immortals seated high upon their divine thrones came to a silent conclusion — perhaps that was the case.
If any of them were in the Human Great Emperor's place, faced with such an overwhelming punishment from the Heavens, they might have abandoned their rationale and charged straight at the Divine Punishment Immortal, determined to drag her down with them before meeting their own end.
However, the young Emperor—who stood at the receiving end of this damnable Heavenly Punishment—never entertained such reckless thoughts.
He understood the Divine Punishment Immortal better than any of the other Immortals present here, all thanks to the vital information his allies had provided during his past battles against the Immortals and his defiance of the Heavens itself.
Others might not know, but he knew better than anyone that to blindly charge at her, casting aside all reason, would only result in a quicker demise.
If the intelligence he had gathered on Heaven's most formidable figures was accurate, then even the combined might of all the Immortals present here wouldn't be enough to bring down the Divine Punishment Immortal.
She belonged to a different realm entirely.
It was no wonder she was known as Heaven's Emissary—Inviolable, Untouchable.
To stand against her was to court certain death—for no escape, no salvation, no resistance was possible.
However, enraging the woman further had always been part of his plan—to hasten the descent of Heavenly Judgement.
Though it was undoubtedly akin to courting death, at this moment, the young Emperor had no other path forward.
And so, a single, resolute thought surged from the depths of his consciousness, bypassing all the Immortals present here to enact and see his Judgement and swiftly delivered itself to the Divine Punishment Immortal at the distant horizon.
It wasn't that he possessed such overwhelming power as to evade the senses of all the gathered Immortals. Rather, it was because the Divine Punishment Immortal was already suppressing his divine soul, will, and consciousness—which resulted in such a situation where she could only hear his final thoughts before Judgement descended.
Knowing the situation, the young Human Great Emperor didn't hold back in the slightest and voiced his deepest thoughts to her without hesitation.
"Divine Lady, you're being too harsh in delivering the punishment on behalf of the Heaven's Will. Just wait—next time, I'll be the one to punish you thoroughly... spanking your bottoms red before I leave."
As his words echoed in her mind, the atmosphere across the distant horizon grew increasingly oppressive. Dark clouds loomed in the skies, crackling with wrathful lightning, and the world fell into an eerie silence.