136. Is this soul ring meant as a gift for the rabbit spirit?

Chen Sheng, who had fallen into silence, thought: "..."

A moment later, having grown tired of listening to the wailing—or rather, the sounds resembling a crying baby—Chen Sheng thought: "..."

Then, Chen Sheng suddenly stood up.

He picked up the little female ghost by her collar with one hand and set off immediately.

"W... where are we going?" The little female ghost finally stopped crying. Grabbed by the scruff of her neck, she couldn't move an inch.

"Didn't someone challenge someone to a fight?" Chen Sheng asked back with a puzzled look.

"Oh, oh, then head that way." The little female ghost hurriedly pointed the way for Chen Sheng.

However, Chen Sheng came to a halt. Glancing at the bizarre buildings on either side, he said, "This doesn't seem to be the way to the Food City."

Having visited that "Food City" once before, he naturally retained some impression of it. Though the exact route had mostly slipped his mind, the general direction was still within his recollection, especially given the distinctive architecture of this area.

"That's a fierce spirit who has publicly voiced support for Lu Jinsheng, the Lord of Food City. Besides, there's a rumor that defeating ten fierce spirits grants you a soul ring," the little female ghost said uncertainly. As she spoke, she looked extremely guilty, her eyes darting around evasively. It was obvious she didn't mean what she was saying.

Chen Sheng didn't press the matter. He merely raised an eyebrow and asked, "A soul ring?"

Since there was a soul ring involved, would he get it only to hand it over to that rabbit spirit?

If not, he wasn't going.

Even if he did get to hand it over, he still wouldn't go—he valued his life too much.

"I think that's what it's called. I don't know the details myself, I've only ever heard of it, never actually seen one. After all, who could possibly defeat a fierce spirit..." the little female ghost whimpered weakly.

Chen Sheng nodded and said, "Not going."

The little female ghost: "..."

Her grayish-white face froze in blank astonishment. She stared at Chen Sheng, seemingly at a loss for words; after all, he had just nodded in agreement while explicitly stating he wouldn't go.

Didn't he find that contradiction strange at all?

"However, if you want to complete the final step, you do need a soul ring," the little female ghost said. Those six beings had been dead for so long that information regarding "Them" had spread everywhere under the guidance of "Demise," though the ultimate purpose of "Demise's" actions remained entirely unknown.

The little female ghost's remark managed to change Chen Sheng's mind. He asked, "Is this fierce spirit you mentioned powerful?"

"Not on the leaderboard." The little female ghost immediately beamed. That much she could be certain of. Determining whether a fierce spirit was formidable was quite simple—one only needed to check if its name appeared on the punitive leaderboard artifact.

"What do you mean?" Chen Sheng exercised his philosophy of asking when he didn't understand, refusing to pretend to know things the way an eager student might fake understanding in a classroom.

The little female ghost hurried to explain.

After explaining the leaderboard, she added, "That fierce spirit definitely can't beat you!"

She spoke this sentence with exceptional confidence!

After all, not only was that fierce spirit absent from the leaderboard, but the punitive artifact it wielded was also thoroughly mediocre—merely an evil ghost relic that had been upgraded into a punitive artifact after accepting that fierce spirit's value of existence!

Though punitive artifacts had no rigid grading system, artifacts of this category invariably scraped the bottom of the barrel under normal circumstances.

And being able to voice support for a mere ghost that wasn't even a fierce spirit clearly indicated that the fierce spirit's own strength left much to be desired.

After all, contempt chains were ubiquitous.

Much like in the gaming community, where certain Dota players couldn't help but look down on League of Legends (LoL) players, while some League of Legends players inherently looked down on Honor of Kings players.

As for Honor of Kings players...

Well, they presumably looked down on "kid" players and "couple" players.

Among the fierce spirits of this eerie world, a similar contempt chain undoubtedly existed.

Fierce spirits that wielded superior punitive artifacts and could suppress them to a certain degree sat at the very top of the chain due to their supreme strength.

Such fierce spirits typically looked down upon those who possessed superior artifacts yet lacked the ability to suppress them, functioning practically as artifact slaves.

Extending downwards from there were fierce spirits wielding ordinary punitive artifacts.

And at the absolute bottom of the contempt chain were those who wielded ordinary punitive artifacts and couldn't even suppress those.

The fierce spirit the little female ghost referred to belonged squarely to this bottom tier.

Such fierce spirits would still show a modicum of respect to entities like Lu Jinsheng, the Lord of Food City. In other words, as long as ghost copper coins were offered in sufficient quantity, this type of fierce spirit could be hired to risk their lives using their punitive artifacts—let alone merely uttering a few words of support.

"Very well, I'll go," Chen Sheng agreed decisively.

Before long, Chen Sheng tracked down that fierce spirit.

It was a fierce spirit clutching an animal chess set, clad in somewhat retro attire. Naturally, its punitive artifact was that very animal chess set. It was an item tied to its death; after it transformed into a ghost, the set became an evil ghost relic possessing control abilities. Once it completed the fierce spirit sacrificial ritual and ascended to a fierce spirit, the animal chess set acknowledged its value of existence, soaring straight up to become a punitive artifact.

Because punitive artifacts held an extraordinary status in this world, the moment the animal chess set transitioned from an evil ghost relic to a punitive artifact, it instantly broke free from the fierce spirit's control, turning the tables to become the master instead.

Without a second word, Chen Sheng struck immediately. He soon discovered that the little female ghost hadn't lied at all—this fierce spirit was indeed terribly weak, vastly inferior even to Xu Qingqian, the theatrical master who had surpassed Jiao Niang.

For in just a single exchange, the fierce spirit dissolved into ash and vanished. Along with it, the animal chess set lost its luster, hitting the ground and immediately showing signs of decay.

This left Chen Sheng glancing left and right, his eyes filled with strange bewilderment.

"Did I fail to kill this fierce spirit?" he asked.

Because after the fierce spirit disintegrated into ash, Chen Sheng suddenly felt a peculiar sensation. He sensed a very strange lingering intent in the air; as long as that intent persisted, the fierce spirit that had just been reduced to ashes could reappear once more.

"Fierce spirits are undying and indestructible. Even if killed, as long as their value of existence remains acknowledged, they can manifest once again. To truly kill a fierce spirit, one must make the world no longer acknowledge its value of existence, erasing it completely from this realm," the little female ghost explained. As she spoke, a trace of undisguised envy flickered in her white eyes.

To a ghost that had perpetually failed to complete the fierce spirit sacrificial ritual and ascend simply because it couldn't grasp addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division beyond ten, any fierce spirit was an object of jealousy and envy.

Because every single one of them was a former victor!

And though this fierce spirit had been instantly annihilated upon meeting Chen Sheng, that was merely because it had encountered an irresistible, formidable enemy.

Of that much, the little female ghost was acutely aware.

The madman of the mortal world holding her fateful collar was none other than the Seventh Child!

Furthermore, the fact that he was recognized as the Seventh Child by the God-Defiers meant that this mortal madman was on the verge of ascension—he was about to become a god! Throughout the history of this world, entities of such caliber numbered exactly seven!

"What is this fierce spirit's value of existence?" Hearing this, Chen Sheng's eyes flashed with an eager itch to try; he wanted to see if he could manage to erase this fierce spirit's value of existence.

"The universally recognized external title of this fierce spirit is 'The Ultimate Defiance of the Coward.' Therefore, its value of existence should be that even the most cowardly person will have a moment of defiance." The little female ghost once again displayed her encyclopedia-like side.

Chen Sheng: "..."

He carefully sensed that lingering intent and indeed detected a trace of extremely faint defiance. What was more, this trace of defiance was continuously gathering strength, as if preparing to unleash a final, mutually destructive blow.

This actually suited the animal chess set rather well.

In animal chess, the lowliest rat possessed the ability to restrain the mightiest elephant.

Chen Sheng departed decisively.

The value of existence harbored by this fierce spirit was truly extraordinary.

His subsequent encounters only served to cement this conviction. No matter how weak the fierce spirits he encountered were—even if they were wiped out in a single exchange—the value of existence they left behind remained entirely beyond his ability to resolve.

"Does this mean that these fierce spirits may look entirely ordinary now, yet every single one of them was once extraordinary in their own right?"

Chen Sheng gained a faint realization.

He continued toward the Food City like a pilgrim, save for the fact that his form of pilgrimage involved granting a free recall to any fierce spirit he encountered along the way, or any that had publicly declared support for Lu Jinsheng, Lord of Food City.

Finally, before reaching the Food City, Chen Sheng had accumulated ten fierce spirits. As the tenth fierce spirit turned to ash, a pitch-black ring blossomed behind the back of Chen Sheng's head, leaving him silent for a moment.

It wasn't because this soul ring couldn't be handed over to the rabbit spirit, but rather because it gave Chen Sheng a deeply bizarre sensation.

Suspended behind his head, had the color been different, it would have given the uncanny impression of a halo of karmic merit.

Chen Sheng stepped into the Food City.

A gatekeeper ghost still stood at the entrance, but unlike the previous one, it seemed to have been replaced. Upon seeing Chen Sheng, this gatekeeper ghost immediately stepped aside, closing the irregular gates of the Food City the moment Chen Sheng entered.

The fierce spirit power of the gatekeeper vanished, but simultaneously, a powerful ghost wielding domain power emerged.

It was the Closing Gate Ghost!

And it was Lu Jinsheng's greatest reliance, for this Closing Gate Ghost still possessed a punitive artifact in its hands.

Chen Sheng hadn't felt much previously, but having slaughtered a fair number of fierce spirits by now, a single glance allowed him to spot the flaw in the Closing Gate Ghost.

Even with the domain acting as a camouflage, that flaw remained glaringly obvious.

Without even mobilizing the power of the gallows punitive artifact, Chen Sheng summoned roaring flames around himself. Though they looked like fire, they were actually Chen Sheng's "exclusive skill," or rather, his special power.

Flame Qi!

As the flame-like radiance unfurled like a canvas, Chen Sheng raised his hand and slashed downward.

Instantly, a blade of light manifested.

This was a form Chen Sheng had been unable to display in the past.

The blade light flashed and vanished, and the Closing Gate Ghost shattered instantly. Chen Sheng had struck directly at its flaw, instantly collapsing its domain and destroying the Closing Gate Ghost along with it.

Deprived of the Closing Gate Ghost's support, the punitive artifact invited by Lu Jinsheng, the Lord of Food City, immediately lost its fighting spirit. Instead of fleeing, it chose submission.

It was an iron rod.

It looked very much like three steel reinforcement bars commonly found on construction sites, twisted tightly together.

Chen Sheng reached out and grabbed the iron rod, instantly feeling an intent residing within it. However, it was extremely vague, and he couldn't make heads or tails of it. This ought to be a punitive artifact upgraded after accepting a fierce spirit's value of existence, rather than an artifact born as one by nature.

In short, this was an ordinary punitive artifact.

Looking at the iron rod, a trace of excitement inevitably surfaced in Chen Sheng's eyes. If one spoke of the figure every man's childhood found impossible to forget, a certain spot was bound to be reserved for a monkey.

A rebellious monkey.

Ever since its birth, this unruly monkey had never done a single proper thing. From a legal standpoint, it had engaged in gang gatherings, disturbing public order, insubordination, showing utter disrespect for elders, openly defying authority, and practically every other unlawful act imaginable—oh, and public urination, utterly lacking in civic virtue.

All in all, this rebellious monkey's record was stained with countless blemishes.

Yet, no matter who thought of this rebellious monkey, the very first impression in their mind was invariably—a hero!

There were elements of artistic beautification at play here; through generations of refinement, the creature had been transformed from a demon that seduced female monkeys, lured the greedy and lustful into the mountains to be butchered and devoured raw—an absolute demon king—into a mischievous monkey merely lacking proper guidance.

Ultimately, however, it boiled down to the "unique charm" exuding from the very bones of this rebellious monkey: I've had enough of this!

Most people never learned how to say no.

When someone asked to borrow money, knowing full well their character was vile, they still couldn't bring themselves to refuse outright.

When invited by others to events they loathed from the bottom of their hearts, they still couldn't bring themselves to decline in the end.

When faced with others taking what they loved, even when they cherished the item dearly, they still couldn't voice their true desires.

Yet this rebellious monkey dared.

Not only did it dare to speak it, it dared to act upon it!

Especially when facing that supreme position, the monkey could rightly and boldly declare: "Why shouldn't Old Sun sit here?"

Everyone harbored a "Zhang San" in their hearts, and if one were to give that Zhang San a more fitting name, it would be none other than the rebellious monkey Sun Wukong!

Chen Sheng stared at the iron rod and said, "There once was a rod inscribed with the words 'Ruyi Jingu Bang.' Since you are also a rod—though looking at you, you hardly seem capable of conforming to one's every whim—how about we carve a different line instead: 'When the laws of punishment remain unknown, majesty becomes immeasurable.' What do you think?"

The moment Chen Sheng's words fell, nine large characters instantly materialized upon the iron rod.

In an instant, a terrifying force that warped the ten directions erupted outward.

Even with the derivative rules of the Food City protecting it, the city began to disintegrate under the sheer impact of this erupting power.

Yet this power was not lasting, for five of the newly manifested nine characters vanished in a flash, leaving only four characters behind—"Majesty Immeasurable."

"Is it because it cannot withstand the full nine characters?"