Chapter 824: Seeking Death in Vain

"Oh? You know me?"

"It's interesting how you thought of using the God of Drama's path to disguise yourself as a referee." Kongwang's dual pupils stared into Chen Ling's eyes as he slowly spoke, "...Thanks to you, I was able to accumulate the souls of the deceased in the shortest amount of time."

Chen Ling's brows gradually furrowed.

When Chen Ling saw the few souls beside Kongwang just now, he felt a sense of strangeness, because they were all participants who had died in the Dark Palace. Now, Kongwang's words directly enlightened him.

If Kongwang had been continuously taking the scattered souls of deceased participants from the old district since the beginning, then as soon as the rescue team came to collect the bodies, they would have immediately noticed something was wrong. A large part of Kongwang's power came from the souls he captured. If the organizers had detected him early on, and he didn't have enough souls with him, he would have been in an extremely passive situation.

But every time a participant died, their body and soul would be taken out of the old district. This made it difficult for Kongwang to secretly capture souls. There was only one place that could meet his requirements for soul capture:

The Dark Palace!

In a short period, there were heavy casualties, and the rescue team arrived very late. He was able to complete his soul accumulation in the shortest time, and his strength grew to a terrifying degree!

In other words, Chen Ling's arrangements in the Dark Palace contributed to Kongwang's current unstoppable power!

Meanwhile, the referees nearby remained completely bewildered.

Disguised referees?

What disguised referees?

"Stealing the fruits of others' labor is not a good habit," Chen Ling said coldly.

Kongwang did not respond to Chen Ling. He merely lifted a fingertip, and the God of Power's path converged from all directions, firmly restraining Chen Ling's body in place. It was as if an invisible giant hand slowly lifted his body from the ground.

Crackle—crackle…!

Chen Ling did not resist, allowing his bones and flesh to twist and deform under Kongwang's power, without any change in his expression.

"As thanks, I will treat your soul kindly," Kongwang said calmly.

"Heh, no need," Chen Ling sneered. "You'd best scatter my ashes completely. Otherwise, if there's even a slightest chance of my survival, I'll crawl out of hell to kill you."

"You?"

As Kongwang finished speaking, he pointed a finger at Chen Ling's forehead.

Under the influence of the Ghost Dao divine ability, a crimson mark spread across Chen Ling's forehead. Pale chains pierced through the void and entered Chen Ling's body, as if searching for something.

Immediately after, the chains conveyed a response. Kongwang, expressionless, pulled hard with his fingertip, and an almost transparent soul was forcibly extracted!

Chen Ling's heart suddenly stopped!

"...Hmm?" Kongwang was slightly taken aback when he saw the extremely weak soul he had extracted.

Before he could react, the eyes of the nearby referees immediately turned red. They had witnessed "Wang Xuan" having his soul seized, and their initial fear was largely replaced by rage. They gritted their teeth fiercely!

"Damn it! No reinforcements! Can't escape! Let's fight him to the death!!"

"Charge!!!"

The auras of several referees erupted, and they swarmed forward. However, a few referees, feeling fear, dared not advance and took advantage of the chaotic skirmish to sprint wildly into the distance!

Among the referees fighting Kongwang, there were also two sixth-rank individuals. They were much calmer facing Kongwang, wary of the Ghost Dao divine abilities that could be unleashed at any moment, while also using their domains to cooperate with other fifth-ranks to contend with him. For a time, the ground shook violently, and all buildings within several miles were razed to the ground!

Boom, boom, boom—!!

Consecutive roars, accompanied by flames, transformed the entire sky into a purgatory.

On the ruined ground, Chen Ling's body lay stiffly in place, eyes wide open, heart stopped, as if dead.

"Watch out!! He's going to shock souls again!" a referee immediately shouted when he saw Kongwang raise his hand, preparing to form a hand seal.

The referees' hearts trembled. They immediately turned and ran into the distance, attempting to evade the soul-shaking blow... But after only a few steps, the expected shock did not occur. Instead, Kongwang's spectral figure directly shifted behind them, his peak power gathered in his palm, striking an unsuspecting referee into a mist of blood!

The crowd witnessed another person's soul being extracted, their eyes filled with shock!

"He cheated?!?!"

Kongwang seemed to have understood their deepest fears, using only a feint to tear a gap in their dense encirclement and effortlessly kill one person!

Just as everyone was still immersed in shock, Kongwang parted his lips lightly and, like a clap of thunder, uttered another word:

"Shake!!"

There was no hand seal, no preparatory action.

A single word was enough to momentarily shake the souls of the stunned onlookers from their bodies, stiffening all their movements and minimizing their reaction capabilities!

Among the army of souls, a certain soul brightened slightly, and the power of the God of Books' path descended behind Kongwang. He then appeared instantly before a sixth-rank referee, as if stepping on wind, and with a raised hand, unleashed a stream of ink!

The ink, like a soft sword, cleaved open the referee's head, and crimson blood instantly splattered across the ground!

One second later, the souls of the remaining people returned to their bodies.

"Damn it!! What in hell are his abilities?!" Another sixth-rank referee saw this scene, veins bulging on his neck, and roared in fury.

By now, the remaining referees were completely routed. Everyone was terrified by Kongwang's bizarre methods; some dared not advance from their spots, while others turned around to join the ranks of those fleeing!

Kongwang was not interested in the escaping fifth-rank referees. His yin-yang eyes locked onto the sole remaining sixth-rank referee, a murderous intent fixing on his target!

The referee trembled all over, feeling a chill surge from his feet to the crown of his head. After a moment of hesitation, he cursed under his breath and turned to flee into the distance!

Kongwang calmly watched this scene, then casually took a step, his figure following closely behind!

The environment gradually returned to a deathly silence.

The chaotic battleground shifted into the distance, leaving only a stiff, motionless body on the scarred earth.

After an unknown period, Chen Ling's eyelids suddenly twitched faintly...

Blood began to supply Chen Ling's body again, and he gradually regained vitality. With a slight flutter of his eyelids, Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes...

"Revived?" Chen Ling abruptly sat up from the ground!

He looked down at his body and was suddenly stunned...

His broken arm hadn't healed, and the audience's expectation value remained at 70... It was as if he had never died.

Chen Ling felt himself over for a long time, confirming that his soul was still there and that [嘲] also showed no signs of disturbance. Deep bewilderment appeared in his eyes.

"...Not dead?"

"That doesn't make sense... My soul is still here, and [嘲] is here too. So what did he just take...?"