Chapter 22: Special Decree—The Punishment of Lingchi

"The Son of Heaven, your chance has already been given."
His gaze swept over the dozens of quasi-emperors before him, yet King Chujiang’s face betrayed not a trace of emotion. His deep voice echoed faintly:
"The twelve sovereigns have committed the crime of rebellion. You did not step forth to defend the throne—you are already doomed."
"And now, you have wounded my underworld’s ghostly soldiers. Your crimes have compounded; you are beyond forgiveness."
As his words drifted out, the temperature at that place plummeted with frightening speed. In a matter of moments, within tens of thousands of miles, the world seemed transformed into an icy hell.
A chilling and sinister force spread forth, filling all who stood there with a nameless, unspeakable dread.
"King Chujiang!"
"You are but a quasi-emperor at your peak! How could you hope to stand against us, the sovereigns of the Northern Realms, united in number?"
At this moment, a woman clad in plain white stepped forward, her gaze clouded with darkness. Biting her lip, she moved a step ahead, her voice full of venom:
"I warn you, do not court death!"
Beside her, a man as gentle as jade also stepped forth. His eyes were deep, and he spoke in a calm, detached manner: "King Chujiang, you are indeed arrogant."
"Even if you were once a Supreme Immortal Emperor, now you are but at the peak of the quasi-emperor realm. How much of your former might can you still wield?"
With this, he glanced at the other quasi-emperors assembled: "Everyone, have your armies withdraw. Lest they be harmed when we cross arms with King Chujiang."
"Indeed."
An elderly man, appearing to be in his seventies, with snow-white hair, coughed lightly and spoke in an indifferent tone: "King Chujiang, you and I are old and should be at peace in our twilight years. Why make things difficult for one another?"
"Besides... do you truly think it would take us great effort to end your life?"
"If we kill you, at worst, we’ll flee Tianyuan and wander the stars for the rest of our days."
"But you... you will lose not only your life..."
He sighed, shaking his head with genuine regret.
"Indeed, King Chujiang, you have truly overestimated yourself."
"King Chujiang, you’re nothing but a pile of old bones now, and yet you still leap about—such a laughingstock."
"Do you still fancy yourself the Immortal Emperor of old?"
...
In an instant, dozens of quasi-emperors hurled words of scorn. Throughout, King Chujiang’s expression remained cold and detached, his gaze fixed upon them as if staring at men already dead.
Only when their jeers and insults finally subsided did he slowly raise his left hand. As endless winds, snow, and ghostly chill gathered in his palm, his deep voice sounded again:
"In the old days, the Son of Heaven founded the Underworld, established the Ten Yama Kings, and ruled over the Nine Hells..."
"I, with my meager talent, was fortunate to govern one hell, named the Ice Prison..."
A glimmer of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, and his voice paused for a breath.
"The true essence of the Ice Prison is ever-changing. Ages ago, I followed the Son of Heaven across the heavens, slaying gods and devils, eradicating all evildoers..."

"Today, I shall once more invoke the Ice Prison and reveal its true form..."
As he spoke, the nostalgia in his eyes was swiftly replaced by a biting coldness.
A most uncanny power surged from his body, and the endless storm of wind and snow in his palm instantly swept across tens of thousands of miles.
At the same time, King Chujiang’s figure vanished!
Then, a low voice rang from all directions between heaven and earth:
"Let you ants see with your own eyes... the true Ice Hell..."
With that, the very void trembled!
A chill more intense than anything before surged from every corner, and the billowing snow and wind abruptly stilled.
Countless snowflakes, swirling in the frigid wind, carried a keen, piercing force as they rushed toward the assembled quasi-emperors!
"Not good!"
Suddenly, a quasi-emperor cried out in alarm—he had discovered that he could no longer move his body!
"King Chujiang, dare you?!"
The rest of the quasi-emperors glared furiously, shouting in unison.
"Ha..."
But in reply came only a contemptuous, low laugh...
A series of gruesome, wet tearing sounds filled the air as the endless wind and snow transformed into blades of icy cold, slicing across the bodies of the gathered.
Yet, strangely, not a single drop of blood fell!
"This coldness..."
The woman who had spoken before stared in disbelief, her voice breaking into a wail of anguish:
"He intends to forge us into his own domain!"
With this realization, the quasi-emperors’ faces twisted with unwilling fury. One after another, they shouted, preparing to self-destruct:
"Bastard, how can we let you rest easy!"
But in the very next instant, as the sinister wind swept by, their hearts sank!
All they could feel was utter despair and limitless terror.
They found, to their horror, that their bodies no longer obeyed their will. Even their souls began to show signs of being forcibly torn away!
"Ah!!!"

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream rang out. One quasi-emperor began to bleed from every orifice, the light in his eyes fading to confusion as his entire being—a faint, ice-blue soul shadow—rapidly merged into this hell of ice!
His memories were being forcibly erased, erased before their eyes, while the others could do nothing, blocked as they were by the endless cold and that mysterious force.
"You have defied the Son of Heaven and wounded my underworld troops. Such crimes deserve death a thousand times over."
"Now, by the Son of Heaven’s might, I bestow upon you the punishment of death by a thousand cuts!"
Once more, that deep voice resounded from every direction in the void. As despair and terror filled their hearts, they saw—
The endless wind and snow had become countless visible and invisible blades of ice, all streaking toward their bodies!
"Ah!!"
"King Chujiang!!"
"Spare us, King Chujiang, spare us!!"
"Bastard, if you have the courage, fight us honorably!"
Then, flesh and blood rained from the sky, mingling with the screams, curses, pleas, and furious shouts of the doomed. The millions of soldiers below stared in terror, their bodies shaking uncontrollably!
They watched as the bodies of the dozens of quasi-emperors, trapped in the Ice Hell, began to shed their flesh, piece by piece...
Quasi-emperors were beings of immense strength and vitality—such wounds should have healed in the blink of an eye.
Yet as their flesh fell away, not a hint of recovery could be seen!
This hell could even sever the very spark of life!
No one dared speak; no one dared even blink—
For fear that the next execution would fall upon them.
"No... Impossible..."
At that very moment, a quasi-emperor’s eyes widened in abject terror as he cried out in disbelief!
He saw that the soul of the first, the one who bled from every orifice, had fully merged with the Ice Hell the instant his body shattered—
And became a spectral, ice-blue shadow, bearing an invisible blade, advancing toward him!
Nor was that the end—
The remaining quasi-emperors, as their bodies dissolved and memories were wiped away, likewise became frigid specters, each wielding a formless blade, turning on their former comrades...