Chapter 295 Well Said! Me Too! (6600, Seeking Monthly Tickets~)

The moment he mastered the Flame of Atonement, Su Zhou knew.

Rather than say that this was the power of his true soul, granting him a divine ability, it was more accurate to say that swallowing the true soul—this divine object entwined with the dual power of resentment and vows—was itself the ritual to unlock this power hidden deep within his soul.

"So this is the Flame of Atonement."

Slowly rising from his seat, Su Zhou raised his right hand. Black, cold flames were burning, originating from his heart and extending to the palm of his hand, releasing circles of white halos into the surrounding air.

At the same time, throughout the entire Qin Hang Academy, whether students or professors, all felt a sense of fear and vigilance from an unknown source—a soul's instinctive reaction to perceiving a power that was too dangerous, a power whose very existence signified great calamity and death.

"Who is it?"

Qiu Wubing, the former Deputy Director of the National Security Bureau and now the Dean of Qin Hang Academy, suddenly opened his eyes from his meditative state. The powerful spiritual energy reaction even caused violent convection currents in the surrounding air—this Dean of the Academy possessed the strength of a peak extraordinary, and though usually unassuming, he was truly worthy of his position and reputation.

However, after slightly sensing the direction from which the danger came, the Dean clicked his tongue and sat back down: "It's Professor Su, figures."

"Relying on his talent, he doesn't even go to the closed cultivation room. Isn't he afraid of cultivation going awry and blowing up the office?"

Many of the professors who were teaching quickly realized where this sudden threat originated.

"It's Professor Su, nothing to worry about."

"Quiet, get used to it. Periodically feeling the pressure of a high-level cultivator is beneficial for your future cultivation and combat."

"He broke through again. (Calmly)"

At the same time, Su Zhou did not retract the Flame of Atonement.

On the contrary, he observed the cold light in his palm with great curiosity.

Under Su Zhou's gaze, he could analyze that the so-called Flame of Atonement was a condensed form of karma fire, stabilized by the power of vows, preventing it from becoming a self-collapsing, berserk curse fire. The principle was simple, but the structure extremely complex, the difficulty akin to using nano-sized grains of sand as materials, building a Great Wall grain by grain.

High-concentration karma fire, stabilized by vows, wouldn't actively harm anyone, but it could trigger the self-destruction and self-combustion of all similar things within a certain range—karma, demonic thoughts, and curse power, burning away souls and beliefs in the process.

If Su Zhou hadn't advanced to the Commander Realm, and hadn't eaten two Wisdom Fruits, strengthening his soul and granting him a thinking speed that allowed him to enter bullet time, with one second equivalent to several minutes for others, then the consequence of him awakening the Flame of Atonement would probably have been the complete burning away of his own soul.

After experimenting with the Flame of Atonement, Su Zhou found that he could control the karma fire to fly and rotate around him, just like controlling his spiritual energy. However, the karma fire had a limited amount, based on the number of evil people he had killed.

Currently, Su Zhou could only control enough Flame of Atonement to cover his two arms at most.

"Interesting, just don't know about its destructive power."

At this time, Su Zhou was trying to use the Armor of Azure alongside the Flame of Atonement—although the amount of karma fire was small, it was more than enough as a cannonball. When the time came, he would mix some karma fire into his dragon breath, accelerated to several times the speed of sound by the Armor of Azure's launcher, to see who could withstand it!

"Even, I can bundle the Armor of Azure launchers together, make them look like a Gatling gun, and use it to fire karma fire—three thousand six hundred revolutions per breath, compassionate karma fire ferries evildoers!"

A great idea, but he couldn't find a test subject.

Just as Yala was about to hint to Su Zhou to take a stroll outside and see if any lucky little evildoers happened to run into him, Su Zhou suddenly had a whimsical idea: "Speaking of evildoers, isn't there one right here?"

"Wait, are you talking about me?"

In an instant, Yala became vigilant. The black hat originally perched on Su Zhou's head instantly transformed into an octopus-like shape, seven or eight tentacles tightly grasping Su Zhou's hair, clamping itself to his head: "I warn you, Su Zhou, you're playing with fire!"

"Who said I was talking about you? I'm talking about myself!"

Annoyed, Su Zhou patted Yala and said, quite matter-of-factly: "Am I not evil enough, with enough curses on me, to try out the power of the karma fire?"

As he said this, gazing at the black and white cold flames, a certain firm light flickered in his eyes: "Moreover, this is my own divine ability—I'm very clear that with something like the Flame of Atonement, if even the user themselves doesn't have the awareness to be burned and judged by it, how can they use it as a weapon to judge others?"

Those who kill must be prepared to be killed, and those who judge must be prepared to be judged.

Yala, having returned to its hat shape, felt the firmness in Su Zhou's heart and couldn't help but recall the Su Zhou from two years ago, when he first awakened the Demon Lord of Devouring Evil divine ability, muttering to himself, wondering why he, a chivalrous hero, would gain an 'evil' divine ability.

Times change. The young whippersnapper from back then had gradually become a guy with awareness.

Indeed, as people often say, those who are good at swimming drown, and those who play with fire are bound to be burned. If someone who controls karma fire doesn't test their own composition, how can they claim to truly control it?

"You kid, you're truly a born Demon Lord, able to recognize yourself as evil with such confidence."

Carrying Su Zhou's phone, it rolled off his head, not wanting to be affected by the karma fire, and Yala shook its head on the table: "Although it's unlikely to burn yourself to death, I warn you, when karma fire ignites, it's extremely painful."

But having said this, it couldn't help but laugh—how little pain had Su Zhou endured in his battles all this time?

Just as he himself had said, those who couldn't endure pain couldn't bear immortality. Su Zhou, who possessed the Blood of Immortality, was perhaps the most pain-tolerant person in the world.

So, it remained silent, quietly watching Su Zhou touch the cold flame with his fingertip.

Then, in an instant, the karma fire, which could only barely cover the young man's arms, suddenly soared, turning into a blazing fire, enveloping Su Zhou's entire body.

And at the moment of contact with the karma fire, Su Zhou asked himself.

——Am I an evildoer?

He questioned himself, judged his own actions, and then easily obtained the answer.

Of course I am.

I kill people according to my whims, and my battles inevitably affect the innocent. I violate many local laws, often cause trouble for others without remorse, and often rely on my power to do extreme things regardless of the consequences.

I am certainly not a heinous villain, but if I were to use my own standards, if I met myself, I would definitely beat myself up.

"Double standards, truly an instinct, I'm no exception."

With a sigh, Su Zhou then laughed: "But at least I can see this point, which means I'm not too bad. Deep down, I'm still a kind and righteous good boy."

But soon, he noticed something was wrong.

"Strange, why doesn't it hurt?"

Black flames were burning all over Su Zhou's body. Su Zhou thought he should be in immense pain, at least more painful than when he and the National Teacher Demon Emperor were tearing apart each other's internal organs, eating each other's flesh and blood, or more painful and tiring than when he fought the Water God for a day and night… but not only did he not feel any pain,

Even, his conscience… no, his body was a little hot.

"This burns, it's quite warm? Didn't expect this cold flame to have some temperature after being lit."

Su Zhou tried to control the black karma fire on his body, but he didn't succeed. After all, what he could control was the source of the Flame of Atonement, and what was burning on his body was the sin ignited by the karma fire, which was essentially not the same thing.

To this, the young man was puzzled: "In theory, I can indeed burn myself—does this thing really have any power?!"

Su 'Nobita' Zhou let out a cry for help.

"Weird, after this karma fire ignites, you should feel a burning sensation similar to being in the center of the sun, how come it's only hot… oh, I get it!"

Yala Doraemon carefully examined Su Zhou and then came to a rather strange conclusion: "You have too much vow power, it's blocking the karma fire."

"Good heavens, I forgot that you saved two worlds, oh, and recently there was the contract with the Beast God Realm… let's put it this way, your soul is basically wrapped in several layers of insanely thick vow power and merit. Don't even mention karma fire, even if a god or immortal cast the Nailhead Seven Arrows curse on you, the one who dies will definitely be them, not you."

"In these two worlds, before all the lives that remember you and praise you disappear, you can basically say that you are immune to all curses."

As Yala finished speaking, the karma fire on Su Zhou's body began to gradually extinguish… theoretically speaking, karma fire cannot be extinguished before it burns away sins, but who told Su Zhou that the vow power on his body was as vast and endless as the sea? The fact that the Flame of Atonement could burn for a few minutes was because Su Zhou instinctively controlled the vow power on his body, taking the initiative to let it burn.

"Why can't I see the vow power and merit on my body?" This was Su Zhou's question.

"If you had a mirror that could reflect merit, you would be able to see the merit on your body—diviners never divine their own fate, and the same is true for vow power, you can't see it yourself." This was Yala's answer.

After all this, Su Zhou didn't succeed in trying out the power of his new divine ability. His aggrieved appearance was somewhat like a big boy who couldn't find a place to play with his new toy.

In the end, he still had to listen to Yala's suggestion, take a stroll around and see if there were any heinous people in the vicinity who met the conditions, so he could try it out—from a certain point of view, this was also a kind of evil thought, but Su Zhou, who had long adapted to his Demon Lord identity, didn't care.

"Now I'm going to catch a little cutie and try out the power of the Flame of Atonement—who will be so lucky?"

Unfortunately, for six whole hours, from afternoon to late at night, Su Zhou flew over half of the Zheng Country and didn't find a target that met the requirements—after all, he was looking for someone heinous who wouldn't be missed if they died. It wasn't that Zheng Country didn't have such people, but those people had already been caught by Su Zhou a few months ago. Where would any be left until now?

However, in the end, Su Zhou, who had already flown abroad, found a suitable candidate in Southeast Asia.

It was a middle-aged man in a clinic, beating an old man.

It was a patient who was beating a doctor.

Agustin, 39 years old, male, unemployed, awakened one.

Agustin's ancestors could be considered rich peasants, with a lot of land in their home. Although they couldn't become rich, it was enough to save enough money to support him in going to college in the city and receiving higher education.

At that time, Agustin was still a country boy full of awe for the big city, timidly gazing at the brightly lit streets, but soon, he was immersed in endless entertainment under the temptation of those around him, throwing the hopes and expectations of his family behind him.

Even, at a party, he became addicted to drugs.

He didn't finish college, and his body was hollowed out. After returning to his rural home, Agustin was locked in a cowshed by his extremely disappointed family and forced to kick his drug addiction. He seemed to have turned over a new leaf and began to farm with his parents… Everyone thought that although Agustin had made a mistake, he was now a normal person.

However, having seen the prosperity of the big city, how could he go back to enduring this boring life? So one day, Agustin's father, who accidentally had a fever, suddenly had a severe condition, and his grief-stricken mother also passed away soon after.

Why? Who knew.

Soon, Agustin, who obtained all the land ownership in his home, excitedly sold it all, scraped together a sum of money, saying he was going to the city to do big business.

Several years later, impoverished and heavily in debt, he returned to his old home again… and this time, he had nothing left.

Begging, stealing, digging tree roots in the mountains, rummaging through trash cans, and snatching food with livestock, Agustin was extremely resentful. He resented those classmates who had tempted him, resented the big brother who had handed him a cigarette, resented his parents who had wholeheartedly wanted him to suffer, and resented the partners who ran away after failing to make money… Of course, he never resented himself, because everyone else was wrong. As long as he was given another chance, he would definitely turn over and become an elite!

And the world seemed to hear the voice of this 'person', and without any emotion, gave him an opportunity.

In the era of spiritual energy recovery, he was judged to have excellent talent and could cultivate smoothly.

Overjoyed, Agustin seized this last chance. He began to greedily cultivate the publicly available free cultivation methods all over the world, or steal, or deceive to obtain wealth—in the end, he actually managed to cultivate to the awakening level and became a locally recognized formal cultivator.

Since then, Agustin's old home seemed to have fallen into hell.

"Let you all look down on me before! Now I'm a cultivator master, what, do I need to explain why I'm slapping you?"

"I'm taking things from your store because I think highly of you! How dare you give me an attitude?!"

"I only stole a chicken from your house before, and you chased me into the mountains… what, I only killed all the livestock in your house, but didn't kill you, be grateful!"

"Go ahead and report it to the authorities, see if anyone here cares, who cares!"

Having obtained extraordinary power and being located in a remote town that the local government couldn't control, with no other cultivators in the entire village except himself—at this point, Agustin finally grasped this unprecedented power, a power that made everyone dare to be angry but not speak out—he had never felt so good, and never felt so great.

Soon, he became addicted to drugs again, started smoking and drinking, and spent a life that could be described as intoxicating.

Then, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Cultivation can prevent all diseases, but being only at the awakening level was a little too early to prevent cancer—even extraordinary cultivators who haven't achieved spiritual organ formation can get cancer. How could Agustin, who lived such a chaotic life, be an exception?

"Are you cursing me?!"

In a fit of rage, Agustin punched the old doctor with half his hair white to the ground, knocking out several teeth. His eyes were filled with nothing but cruelty: "You just want me to die, right? I only took some medicine and needles from you, and you really think you're a doctor!"

"I'm telling you, if something happens to me, none of you here can live! I'm an awakened one, I mean what I say!"

"Well said. I also mean what I say."

Then, he heard a sentence in Chinese.

And a mass of black flames falling from the sky.

In that instant, Agustin instinctively reviewed everything he had done in his life.

Were the things he had done evil?

Without a doubt, of course they were!

But so what if they were evil? Everything was about what made him feel good, everything was about what made him happy. What did he care about what other people thought? If they couldn't make him feel good, then they weren't good to him, and if they weren't good to him, was there any need for them to exist?

Then, a severe, scorching pain that seemed to crush his soul, take out all his internal organs and bones, all his muscles and nerves, and burn them inch by inch with fire, descended on Agustin's entire body.

"Ahhhhhhhh—"

Trembling, the old doctor, who wanted to pick up his teeth, watched, whether in fear or relief, Agustin being enveloped in black flames, listening to the other party suddenly let out a violent scream that directly hoarsened his throat.

Agustin was still very conscious. He could feel that the flame wouldn't kill him so quickly… no, it would kill him, and quickly, but his time seemed to be lengthened by the pain, even every moment was as long as if he had spent several months.

He didn't even lose his ability to think. Black karma fire rose, Agustin could clearly feel how his soul was becoming its fuel, but he could only feel this pain bit by bit, feel this… punishment.

And Su Zhou stood high in the sky, gazing down at the dark village beneath him.

Evil, sometimes, doesn't only happen in high places, it also appears in some remote corners, committed by the most inconspicuous of people.

Just like good, they are such subtle things, permeating people's lives.

Reaching out his hand, Su Zhou poured some holy water and then, controlling it with spiritual energy, sprinkled it on the old doctor's body, healing his injuries, making him repeatedly shout miracles in surprise and awe.

Then, Su Zhou didn't care about the 'ordinary evildoer' who was about to be burned to ashes by the karma fire, his very soul being burned, but instead wandered around the village, treating some ordinary people who were often beaten and scolded by this evildoer.

After doing all this, the evildoer also died, both body and soul turned to ashes, scattered with the wind.

At the same time, Su Zhou also obtained all the data of the Flame of Atonement—whether it was the essence of ignoring any energy defense and directly attacking the soul, or the judgment of questioning the heart directly, Su Zhou had tested it all.

But compared to the beginning, Su Zhou didn't have much excitement.

"Why, Yala, this person clearly already had extraordinary power, why did they still have to oppress ordinary people, to commit such vulgar evil?"

Floating in the night sky that no one could detect, stepping on the flowing clouds, Su Zhou muttered in confusion: "With extraordinary power, they still want to find a sense of superiority among these ordinary people who even have difficulty cultivating? We can control thunder, control floods, control storms—we can control celestial phenomena, transcend nature, why, why do we have to persecute those who are weaker?"

"Even if they ignore it, even if they think they are different and disdain being compared to ordinary people, the world is vast and the starry sky is boundless. Where can't they go? Why stay in the countryside?"

Having never thought about these things, the young man, whose thinking was inherently strange and who was even called a 'monster' by some, always couldn't understand some of the most basic things—he was always confused by them.

"Could it be that some people really have to oppress and persecute others in order to be happy?"

And above Su Zhou's head, the snake spirit replied rather dismissively: "This question is too naive, Su Zhou. If they don't inflict violence on the weaker, how can the stronger enjoy the pleasure of being strong?"

"Even, this is the factory setting of humans. The selfish gene describes it this way—living in groups, admiring and obeying the strong, and oppressing the weak when they are strong, and being complacent and satisfied with their own power."

"It is precisely because of this that the weak who dare to resist the strong, and the strong who treat everyone with kindness, are rare animals that make people marvel—but coincidentally, civilization is something that promotes something opposite to human nature."

As he said this, Yala smiled calmly: "It is precisely because of this that such contradictory things can be considered interesting."

This wasn't a meaningful answer, but for the current Su Zhou, it was enough.

"At least, I can kill them." He muttered to himself, "That's enough."

The night was still long, there were still many evildoers. Su Zhou didn't stop, and the entire Southeast Asia would usher in a night of being baptized by black flames.

And the next morning, Su Zhou, finally feeling much better and having made the Flame of Atonement grow a circle, returned to Qin Hang Academy, but learned some rather astonishing news from Yan Sheng.

[We usually don't care how you eliminate evil and do good in the country, Professor Su, but if you want to go abroad to punish evil and promote good next time, it's best to tell us first—they thought it was some kind of divine punishment and are asking us for help, requesting assistance from high-level extraordinaries.]

At first, Yan Sheng only slightly cautioned Su Zhou and told him that the government had already settled the relevant aftermath for him. To this, Su Zhou naturally agreed wholeheartedly—I was wrong, I'll do it again next time—but the second sentence quickly made the young man frown.

[However, in the coming days, Professor Su, you may not be so leisurely. Taking advantage of the fact that the Europa Union Concordance Bureau is searching the entire territory for 'True Demons' and the military forces stationed at the space-time channel have been weakened, the Descending Spirit Society has gathered the organization's full strength and advanced into the 'Demon Beast Realm'.]

[Now, it is difficult for the Europa Union alone to prevent the deterioration of the situation. To this, they have applied for extraordinary power assistance from all over the world. After a night of meetings, the Sages decided to send you as the Zheng Country's support representative to the Demon Beast Realm in the Europa region to eliminate the living forces of the Descending Spirit Society.]

[Of course, all of this depends on your decision.]

"...An uninteresting question, Yan Sheng, you don't even need to say the last sentence."

At first, Su Zhou was still stunned, shocked by the Descending Spirit Society's large-scale plan, but soon, he showed a gentle and polite smile.

Lowering his head, the young man gazed at the black and white flames in his palm. After a night of burning and tempering, Su Zhou was now able to control it with ease, and even unleash it in actual combat.

He said calmly: "Of course I will go."

"And, the sooner the better."

Wrote until dawn... but it's a 6600+ big chapter, seeking double monthly tickets~