They let out silent wails as their spirit bodies were pulled, compressed, and twisted.

The movements of the [King of Hell] were as casual as kneading a snowball. He kneaded and squeezed those billions of spiritual elements and that endless venomous resentment with ease. The dark green flames and resentment were highly condensed, emitting a piercing shriek as souls were crushed into a ball.

For a moment, even Qi Xing and Sasa were stunned.

Only a few seconds later, that sea of the dead that had blotted out the sky vanished. In its place was something in the palm of the [King of Hell]… No, it was no longer a "ball."

He relaxed the fingers of his left hand, and that aggregate of resentful souls, compressed to the extreme, "stood" up on its own above his palm, transforming into a concrete humanoid shape.

It was a person as tall as Qi Xing, with a silhouette somewhat similar to his, but its entire body was composed of the purest darkness and dark green ghost fire.

This "person" had no facial features, only a mouth that kept splitting open, letting out a silent roar. The hatred it radiated was ten million times more terrifying than that of the army of billions just a moment ago.

"Qi Xing, kid, do you think people believe in gods because of their omnipotent power?"

The [King of Hell] kneaded the figure, continuing nonchalantly, "To be able to create worlds, to be able to create life… but is that really so amazing?"

"If I had never descended into this universe, if Samael had always sat on the throne ruling this world, if she had always been the strongest and the creator of this universe—would she then be perfect?"

"Should all the living beings of this world kneel before her, respect her, and view her as their god?"

Good question.

If Jesus had never descended, if Sasa had always been the true god and overlord of this buttery Sasa Universe, and if there had never been 'enemies from the heavens,' then should the living beings of this world just honestly let Sasa mess them around and crawl beneath her rule?

In any case, it would be impossible for them to successfully resist.

Even with one's knees, one could tell that if Yego hadn't come down to intervene, the people in this world could spend an eternal eon and still never overcome Sasa, this system administrator. It was just like NPCs in a game; no matter what, they could never jump out and rebel against the game developer.

So, can powerful strength itself serve as a reason to become a god?

Sasa huddled on Qi Xing's left arm, not daring to speak.

But Qi Xing shook his head, "At least my own conviction would not allow me to bow to an 'omnipotent god' itself."

"If she is unreasonable and lacks fairness and justice, no matter how strong she is, she will be an enemy that my fists must fight to the death against."

"Well said." The [King of Hell] nodded, "The second move is coming, kid."

Having said that, he flicked his finger, as if brushing away a speck of dust, and nonchalantly flicked the super vengeful spirit in his hand away.

Swoosh—! That condensed vengeful spirit instantly turned into a bolt of pitch-black lightning, carrying the weight of a world's accumulated resentment from eons past, and blasted toward Qi Xing's [Sun] light barrier!

Not daring to be careless, Qi Xing poured his full power into the [silver coin], strengthening the might of the [Sun], and prepared to meet the second move of the [King of Hell].

But the scene that followed made both him and Sasa gasp in shock.

That pitch-black lightning, at the very instant before it was about to collide with the light barrier, struck a starting pose with an incredible posture.

Its humanoid silhouette became incredibly clear amidst the resentment, and it was undeniably a figure identical to Qi Xing.

Its right arm was raised high, five fingers clenched into a fist. Lightning flashed—it was the shriek of billions of souls and the most vicious curse against the Creator of Darkness.

That posture—that trajectory of force—that way of mobilizing the strength of the entire body—

"Wah!" Sasa shrieked involuntarily.

But the black lightning was faster than her shriek. The giant fist, condensing the resentment of eons, kept expanding in her vision—it was going to smash her head to pieces with one punch!

[Thunder Fist]! This was undeniably the signature move of [Venerable Leipu] himself!

The black [Thunder Fist] and the golden [Sun] collided with a boom. The [Sun] that Qi Xing was maintaining with all his might, the glorious sun that should have purified the darkness, emitted a groan under the pressure of this "knock-off" yet filled with real [Thunder Fist], and shattered upon impact!

This was the second move of the [King of Hell]! This was the very version of himself that Qi Xing had personally said he would fight against for being "unjust"!

"If you are defeated, then, kid…" Reaching out to touch his chin, the [King of Hell] mused, "Then you might as well die for me."

Volume 8: People of Freedom and the Free World: 265: Vengeance Is Mine

Damn it!

In various works of the combat genre, the protagonist being forced to fight their own clone is a trope that is no longer rare; it could even be said to be rampant.

Despite this, Qi Xing still couldn't help but curse in his heart at this very moment.

Because he had just barely taken that [Thunder Fist] from the other side, and he immediately and incredibly clearly felt it—this "Player 2 color" dark Qi Xing person before him was strong. Ridiculously strong.

Being able to break the divine power of the [Sun] with a single punch, the power of this [Thunder Fist] strike was even stronger than that of his, the real deal!

And this, damn it, was only natural!

Because according to what the [King of Hell] implied, he had used the possibility of "what if Sasa hadn't been shattered by Jesus back then" as a blueprint to create an alternate Qi Xing who could fight "omnipotent Samael" head-on, or at the very least, had the qualifications to stand up and challenge her—a "Hero Qi Xing."

A hero who could challenge the "never-defeated" Sasa in her prime, wielding the full divine power of all thirty [silver coins]… how strong would that be?

The answer was self-evident: at least far stronger than this "Demon King Qi Xing" who only held fourteen [silver coins] in his hands right now!

As for why the [King of Hell] could mold Hero Qi Xing out of a pile of vengeful spirits from time immemorial? This answer, too, was a matter of course.

Deep within the human heart, there is a conscience. As long as one follows this conscience, one can intuitively judge what is right and what is wrong. In the East, this is the core concept of Yangmingism; in the West, this conscience is viewed as divinity.

It is just that this conscience and divinity are easily obscured by personal desires and stained with dust. This is corruption. This Truth exists in both the East and the West.

—In other words, if one were to eliminate personal desires, having neither private affairs nor selfish greed, and if all one's actions were no longer born of the "self," but were purely driven by the "conscience" or "public indignation" shared by the world, fighting for peace under heaven and in obedience to "public righteousness"… such an existence would undoubtedly be a hero.

The [King of Hell] used all the spirits in this universe since time immemorial that "resented the Creator of Darkness"—this most massive and pure "public indignation"—to condense and create a [Selfless Vessel] capable of fighting an evil god.

If this is not "Hero Qi Xing," then what could it be?

His fist could even shoot down the [Sun]!

The golden light exploded into fragments filling the sky. Seeing that vengeful spirit not stopping at all, with another black [Thunder Fist] aiming straight for his face, a countermeasure flashed rapidly through Qi Xing's mind.

How to deal with it? Switch to another [silver coin] authority? Impossible, that would inevitably fail to cope with the "Hero Qi Xing" capable of challenging the "omnipotent Sasa."

At the critical moment, it was the instinct of a martial artist that made Qi Xing raise his left hand. [Venerable Leipu] did not retreat but advanced, opening his left hand and heading straight to meet the [Hero]'s Thunder Fist!

—[Yin-Yang Fate-Reversing Nine-Transformation Tribulation-Hand]!

Qi Xing's left palm bloomed like a lotus, and in the center of his palm, a vortex of swirling black and white energy surged forward to meet it.

The black lightning's Thunder Fist slammed solidly into Qi Xing's left palm. However, the penetration the vengeful spirit hero had anticipated did not occur.

Qi Xing's left palm seemed to transform into the deepest millstone in the world. The violent force capable of shattering the [Sun] was gripped tightly by the power of the Yin-Yang millstone the moment it touched his palm!

The power that could even challenge gods caused the veins on Qi Xing's left arm to bulge. Yet, he still used the Tribulation-Hand to forcibly "borrow" this ancient resentment, grinding it down and dissolving it.

At the same time, in the instant his left palm was deadlocked with the vengeful spirit's [Thunder Fist], Qi Xing also threw out his right fist, carrying his own golden [Thunder Fist], and with the power of the [Dominator], smashed it violently toward the center of the black energy!

The golden Demon King [Thunder Fist], riding a tyrannical will, and the black Hero [Thunder Fist], carrying the public indignation of eons—two destructive forces with the same origin but fundamentally opposite natures collided with a boom between the hands of the two "Qi Xings"!

That was not an explosion, but the most terrifying gnashing in the world.

Golden divine power and black deathly resentment devoured each other frantically. Qi Xing's left-hand [Yin-Yang Millstone] spun at high speed, attempting to resolve both forces together; yet the two forces themselves fought desperately for the right to victory, emitting piercing shrieks that were enough to tear space itself apart!

In the end, the two forces reached a terrifying singularity of balance—and then violently recoiled!

Qi Xing and that condensed vengeful spirit were both sent flying backward by this violent recoil force, pulling apart an almost infinite distance in the void of the [Inner Realm] before they each stabilized their figures.

Neither yielded, neither defeated.

"Not bad, the third move." The [King of Hell] nodded.

But Qi Xing had no time to rejoice that he had survived the second move.

That vengeful spirit hero was merely a "selfless" vessel; it had no self, only the executive will of "public indignation." Before the real Qi Xing could recover and reorganize his strength, "Hero Qi Xing" had already recklessly spurred its power. Dark true energy surged from its palm, transforming into lightning blade light, sweeping across the sky with the momentum of swallowing heaven and earth!

Isn't this exactly one of Qi Xing's own three ultimate moves, the [Thunder-Fire Sword]?

Qi Xing knew his own moves best. This move could not be parried; he could only spit out his own true energy, also transforming it into thunderous blades, and strike back to intersect it.

Neither yielded, neither defeated. —Yes, evenly matched. To think they were evenly matched!

The condensed vengeful spirit created by the [King of Hell] was a "Hero Qi Xing" who, even if not necessarily able to win, at least had the qualifications to challenge the "omnipotent Samael."

Now, Demon King Qi Xing, [Venerable Leipu], who only had fourteen [silver coins], should theoretically not be able to beat it at all and would only be smashed to death by the "Hero" under its fist. However, [Venerable Leipu] was not smashed to death by the "Hero."

The second move, the third move. The fourth move, [Thunder God Leg]! The fifth move, [Wuji Vibration Zen]!!

Qi Xing's own signature skills were unleashed one after another by "Hero Qi Xing," and each move was even more tyrannical, sharper, and carried the feeling of heaven collapsing and earth shattering than his own!

But the real Qi Xing not only did not die, but instead became closer and closer to the vengeful spirit incarnation of "public indignation" before him, and the moves in his hands became more and more perfect.

When the seventh move, the [Five Thunders Demon-Slaying Blade], collided and shattered in the air, Demon King Qi Xing had actually already reached the same realm as the "Hero"!

Blood shot from the corner of Qi Xing's mouth, and lightning intersected on the scars on his face. But within the vengeful spirit body of the "Hero," flickering blue-white soul fire also splashed out one after another like blood, flying to Qi Xing's side.

Impact, pain, their thoughts flooded into Qi Xing's mind. Their regrets, sorrow, reluctance, hatred for the blind heavens—all kinds of churning emotions all flooded into Qi Xing's heart. As the records of the suffering of the masses flowed, power also poured out in an incredible way.

When the eighth move was about to arrive, Qi Xing finally couldn't help but turn his head to look at the [King of Hell]. Looking at the smile on his face, at this point, who couldn't see that this was no mere combat trial?

"Hey, wait a second." Before the eighth move had been unleashed, Qi Xing suddenly spoke to the vengeful spirit, "I have something to say."

Volume 8: People of Freedom and the Free World: 266: I Will Retribute

Something to say? The vengeful spirit, of course, wouldn't "wait" for you.

Just as Qi Xing raised his hand to say he wanted to talk, that vengeful spirit "Hero" had already, without a word, continued to swing its fist to strike. A move of [Great Five Elements Thunder-Rush Hand] blasted straight toward Qi Xing.

Good grief, not even talking; this was truly reaching the realm of selflessness. All foolish thoughts were lost, leaving only the sole public indignation. Every move had the terrifying power to destroy and burn the earth to nothing, to shave the planet bald.

If Qi Xing were still in the state he was in when the battle first started, he really might not have been able to withstand the fierce assault of this "if-line Hero."

…But at this point, even someone as stupid as Sasa could see that the [King of Hell] was obviously intentionally using these vengeful spirits of the masses to let Qi Xing practice his moves. Letting him personally experience to what extent such a non-existent possibility, a Qi Xing who had no [silver coins] at all, could fight against the completely arrogant and completely fallen Samael.

After a short eight moves, Qi Xing's complete realm had surged and exploded to an incredible degree.

—So much so that, although he didn't know how to defeat the "Hero" before him, he absolutely knew what he should do so as not to lose!

…Besides, every move of this vengeful spirit only knew how to aim at Sasa; actually, after watching it a lot, it was quite easy to find the flaws.

Sasa gripped Qi Xing's neck tightly, clinging to his back like a koala, watching attacks that could crush her to dust if they even grazed her flying all around, not daring to move a muscle.

But even so, she still couldn't help but glance at the [King of Hell] watching the show on the throne—Brother, what kind of tricks are you trying to pull?

Finally, the eighth move of the "Hero" was also parried by Qi Xing. The movements of the black vengeful spirit finally stopped. It wasn't that it wanted to stop, but because the last move could not be wasted.