A blood-red moon hung in the sky, casting its eerie light upon a silent landscape of broken walls and ruins. The once-prosperous Greenwood City had become a living hell. Charred beams crackled faintly, their last embers dying. The thick stench of blood, mixed with dust and despair, congealed in the cold air.
Several figures wreathed in black aura moved leisurely through the devastation. Leading them was Daoist Blood Soul, a Golden Core stage demonic cultivator, holding a swirling black banner that greedily sucked in the dissipating souls of the recently slain.
"Nothing but the weak souls of common mortals. Better than nothing, I suppose," he spat, displeased.
"Master, with your mighty powers, refining your 'Hundred Ghosts Banner' with the lives of this city will surely increase its potency!" a disciple flattered, casually kicking aside the body of a child.
Daoist Blood Soul chuckled darkly, his gaze suddenly snapping towards a pile of collapsed rubble. "Hmm? A stray fish slipped the net?"
A figure rose slowly from the ruins. It was Lin Mo. His clothes were torn and stained with grime and dark blood, but his eyes… his eyes were deep, calm, like ancient glaciers, devoid of any fluctuation.
"A mere insect, tenacious nonetheless," Daoist Blood Soul lost interest and waved a dismissive hand. "Deal with it."
A Foundation Establishment stage disciple grinned viciously and lunged at Lin Mo, his claw-like hand, shrouded in sinister black energy, aimed straight for Lin Mo's forehead to seize his soul.
Lin Mo slowly raised his eyelids.
"You. For slaughtering mortals, your sin is grave."
As the words fell, the demonic cultivator's body froze mid-lunge. His grin twisted into pure terror. Countless pale golden chains, shimmering with an energy that was not spiritual power but something more fundamental—the power of Law—materialized from nothingness, binding him instantly.
"In accordance with Article 3,720 of the Life Volume of the Lex Universae, the malicious deprivation of an innocent being's right to existence constitutes a capital offense." Lin Mo's voice was a dispassionate pronouncement. "I sentence you to... Soul Annihilation."
"No—!" The disciple's short, desperate scream was cut short as his body, his nascent core, and his wailing soul were erased from existence, dissolving into the finest particles as if wiped away by an unseen hand.
Silence.
A deathly stillness fell, broken only by the heavy breathing of Daoist Blood Soul and his remaining disciples, and the mindless shrieks from the banner.
Instant annihilation.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator, obliterated by a few calmly spoken words!
Daoist Blood Soul's pupils contracted sharply, all arrogance replaced by shock and disbelief.
"You... What are you?!" he shouted, his Golden Core spinning wildly as torrents of black demonic energy surged forth, forming layers of defense around him. He stared at Lin Mo, trying to see through him, but the result was the same—a mortal, through and through.
But how could a mortal wield the power of literal law, erasing a cultivator with a sentence?
Lin Mo's gaze passed over the space where the disciple had vanished and settled on Daoist Blood Soul and the banner seething with resentful energy.
"Your sin is heavier," he stated, his voice flat.
He then raised a hand, pointing at Daoist Blood Soul and his terrified remaining disciples.
"Do you submit to judgment?"
His tone was placid, yet it carried an indisputable authority, like a god passing sentence on ants.
Enraged and terrified, Daoist Blood Soul snarled, "Feigning mystery and deceit! All of you, attack! Tear him apart, refine his soul!"
The remaining disciples, though terrified, compelled by their master's authority, summoned their most venomous spells and poisoned flying swords, charging at Lin Mo with desperate cries.
Lin Mo stood his ground, his posture unchanged.
He watched their approach, seeing the thick, invisible "karmic sin" clinging to them—condensed from the resentment of countless innocents.
"Verdict is as follows," his voice turned icy, delivering the finality. "Soul Annihilation."
Boom—!
An invisible force of Law descended like divine retribution.
The charging disciples, regardless of their cultivation base, all met the same fate as the first. In less than a heartbeat, they were utterly unmade, vanishing into nothingness.
Not a single scream was uttered.
Witnessing the instantaneous evaporation of all his disciples, a boundless chill shot up Daoist Blood Soul's spine. He let out a shrill cry, abandoning all pretense of mastery. He hurled his cherished Hundred Ghosts Banner towards Lin Mo like a massive cloud of darkness, while his body transformed into a streak of blood light, fleeing madly towards the city outskirts.
Lin Mo did not even glance at the banner or the wailing ghosts swarming towards him.
His eyes were locked on the fleeing streak of blood.
"Primary culprit. Sentence enhanced."
He extended a finger, pointing lightly in the direction of the escape.
"Judgment. Executed immediately."
Miles away, Daoist Blood Soul felt an indescribable terror descend. The space around him solidified completely, his escape light shattering. He turned his head in horror, seeing a colossal finger, composed of countless pale golden runes, bridging space itself, growing infinitely large in his vision.
"No! Senior, spare me! I beg—!"
The law permits no bargaining.
The golden finger touched the center of his forehead.
In the next moment, Daoist Blood Soul, the Golden Core demonic cultivator who had ravaged hundreds of miles and slaughtered cities, along with his vile banner, was reduced to mere dust, scattered into the void.
A night wind blew, stirring the ashes on the ground.
Lin Mo slowly lowered his finger, his cold, impassive eyes sweeping over the ruins returned to silence.
His judgment had only just begun. The "sins" of this world would be measured and sentenced by him alone.