Otherwise, knowing the vastness of the heavens and the breadth of the earth might make her afraid and hesitant to push forward.

Qin Ruqing found herself in a strange state.

She tried to grasp the fleeting feeling of her past encounters with the rules while continuously convincing herself.

“I have strong control over my Dao Physique…” Repeatedly reinforcing this thought, her Dao Physique seemed to respond with excitement.

It operated at its limit, not to heal her wounds but to understand the rules.

She couldn’t see her own appearance now, not knowing when her eyes had turned a bright green.

However, she sensed that the world before her seemed different.

For Qin Ruqing, energy in the world had once been spiritual energy, absorbed as naturally as breathing.

But now, when her Dao Physique reached a certain level, the world’s energy seemed to have transformed into rules.

These rules were like threads weaving the world into a grand net.

If the situation weren’t so urgent, Qin Ruqing would have loved to observe this woven world.

Unfortunately, she had no time.

Even though she saw the rules’ power, she didn’t know how to use it.

Qin Ruqing could only convince herself and absorb these thread-like rules as if they were spiritual energy.

“No matter what, there’s no time to ponder—just try swallowing it!”

Using all her focus and strength, she pulled a thread of rule energy from the world net.

Her body felt nothing, but her mind was in excruciating pain.

Fortunately, Qin Ruqing had survived many perilous situations and managed to endure the pain.

Her strength began to rise.

She detached from the mysterious netted world and was astonished to find that she had indeed become stronger.

She looked at her hand in curiosity, dodging the beast’s attacks, and excitedly said:

“Wow, it really works?! What kind of rule is this? So intuitive! If I could master it completely, wouldn’t that mean I could become an immortal… Oh, but that’s unlikely. Even now, my strength has only improved a bit. I’m still far from mastering it!”

“But,” Qin Ruqing glanced at the fog beast, “it should be enough to deal with the current crisis.”

She clearly felt that the influence of the resentment on her mind had significantly diminished.

She had the strength to fight back!

Holding the Lotus Flower, the magic artifact radiated light, making her eyes shine brightly. “Let you experience the power of my artifact-enhanced Blue Lotus Seal!”

“The ancient human cultivators sealed you here. Why can’t you just stay put? I haven’t provoked you; why are you bothering me?”

Muttering, Qin Ruqing began her counterattack.

She didn’t aim to defeat the resentment completely; she wasn’t sure how long the rule power she had absorbed would last and was unfamiliar with the rules.

Her main goal was to find a way out and ensure her survival.

Showing off was unnecessary.

The Golden Flame already had a suppressive effect on soul entities.

After a few powerful strikes, the beast’s form began to waver, and the dark red resentment seemed to dissipate.

Qin Ruqing was hopeful and intensified her attack.

Finally, the massive dark red soul fog could no longer maintain its beast form and turned into a mass of mist.

Qin Ruqing watched closely to see if the transparent barrier outside the ancient hall was weakening, hoping to escape.

However, just as she waited, the situation changed abruptly.

The dissipating resentment suddenly transformed into red light and rapidly entered Qin Ruqing’s body.

Her eyes turned red instantly, and her demeanor changed dramatically.

Qin Ruqing mentally shouted in alarm.

It was too late—the resentment had entered her body and began to quickly consume her sanity.

This was the ancient beast emperor’s resentment, powerful enough to leave Qin Ruqing no time to react.

She was unable to resist, even with the rule power she had harnessed.

Just before her last bit of sanity was swallowed, Qin Ruqing vaguely heard a sigh from the void.

The mural that had previously harmed her among the twelve ancient murals suddenly blazed with light, and a figure began to appear from it.

The figure was shrouded in white, obscuring its face, leaving only a vague outline visible.

The figure looked at Qin Ruqing, whose eyes were glowing red, and with a simple gesture, effortlessly pulled out the beast emperor’s resentment that was about to consume her last shred of sanity.

The figure calmly formed several hand seals, condensed the dark red resentment into a sphere, and resealed it back into the wall’s carving.

The surrounding space seemed to freeze. Qin Ruqing closed her eyes and appeared to faint.

The figure’s ethereal voice called out, “Wake up.”

Soon, Qin Ruqing hesitantly opened her eyes.

Her consciousness was stuck at the moment when things changed too quickly for her to react.

The scene before her was no longer the ancient hall but seemed to be another dimension.

Her gaze fell on a faintly glowing, yet elusive figure in front of her.

Instinctively, she took a step back, unsure whether this figure was a threat or something else, given the recent events.

It might even be another form of beast resentment.

The figure seemed to understand her concern and began to introduce itself: “I am the guardian of the City of Sin. Or, using a term you might be familiar with, the judge of the City of Sin.”

Qin Ruqing recalled the towering, enigmatic figure from the court of judgment and exclaimed in surprise, “You’re the judge of the City of Sin? The one who sits in the court of judgment?!”

The figure shook its head, “That was merely a projection of my divine consciousness to handle affairs. The real me has been sleeping within the mural.”

Qin Ruqing remained silent for a moment before suddenly bowing deeply.

She spoke loudly, “Please forgive me, senior! I did not recognize your presence earlier and acted recklessly, disturbing you. I have realized my mistake!”

Qin Ruqing was quick to admit her fault.

As soon as she realized this figure was the one she had seen in the mural—the one that caused her eyes to bleed from looking too long—she understood the gravity of the situation.

The mural depicted ancient events, and anyone who could remain in a mural from that time would be an immensely powerful being.

The thought of such a figure made Qin Ruqing’s scalp tingle with fear.

She didn’t waste a second and immediately began to apologize.

Admitting fault to a great being was not shameful.

She wasn’t sure if her previous actions had angered the great being, but she knew she had to show proper respect as a junior.

Her hasty and respectful apology surprised the figure, who smiled gently and said, “It’s alright. You did not disturb me. The bleeding from your eyes was a reaction to the rules of the mural, not my doing.”

Qin Ruqing shook her head, sincerely replying, “But I still disturbed your slumber.”

The figure sighed but did not seem to hold a grudge. Instead, it said, “Perhaps it is for the best.”

Qin Ruqing didn’t understand what was good about this situation but wisely chose not to ask further.

She remained kneeling and asked, “Are you one of the figures from the mural?”

She remembered that the mural had three light orbs and instinctively guessed the figure might be one of them.

The figure shook its head, speaking with a hint of reverence, “No, I am not comparable to the great beings depicted in the mural.”

Qin Ruqing couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be called a great being by another great being.

She couldn’t even dare to imagine it.

The figure seemed to be absorbing the messages from its own spiritual essence and murmured after a while, “Now, the Four Hells Prisons are managed by the Fifth Celestial Family… Are you not from the Fifth Clan?”

The Four Hells Prison Hall were indeed older than the Fifth Family, as she had suspected.

Qin Ruqing briefly considered this before introducing herself properly.

“It is as I thought…” The figure sighed with complexity, then looked at Qin Ruqing, “Since you have come to the Four Hells for the inheritance trial, and now that you have entered the Ghost Path, you still need to complete the final test.”

Qin Ruqing immediately straightened up, knowing that the crucial part was here.

The figure continued, “You only need to answer one question, which will affect your rating.”

“To achieve a Heavenly Grade rating, you need to end the judgment cycle of the residents of Sin City. Now that you know the truth about Sin City, their fate is in your hands.”

The figure pointed to the wall, “You just need to destroy the core of the formation and release the beast’s resentment.

Once the beast’s resentment no longer affects the residents of Sin City, their judgment will naturally end.”

“What is your choice?”

Qin Ruqing didn’t expect the problem she faced to be even more complex than the trolley problem.

What should she choose?

Before knowing the truth about Sin City, Qin Ruqing had been focused on rescuing its residents.

But now that she knew the truth, while the ancestors of Sin City were guilty, she didn’t think their descendants should be condemned to endless cycles of judgment and curses.

However, if she destroyed the formation, the resentment sealed by ancient great beings would escape and cause chaos in the entire human realm.

In this situation, Qin Ruqing knew she had no right or position to judge the residents of Sin City or tamper with the ancient formation.

From the beginning, this problem was unsolvable.

Qin Ruqing remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.

The figure waited patiently.

After some time, she seemed to have reached a decision, gave a respectful bow to the figure, and said:

“The ancient formation created to seal the beast’s resentment was established by great beings of old. I dare not act recklessly.”

She set the tone.

This was the most important direction, and Qin Ruqing needed to emphasize it.

“However,” she continued, straightening her back and speaking slowly, “I also believe that the descendants of the original residents of Sin City should not be condemned to such a cycle of judgment.”

“This is a problem I cannot choose from. I can only seek a clever solution, approaching it from a different angle.”