He stood on the central star-white-gold platform. Lin Tao and Tie Shan looked out across the vast underground round hall.
The four Heavy Netherworld Executioners had dissolved into the depths of the liquid silver pool. That left only faint ripples of silver fluid that lapped against the foundation bedrock eighty meters below. High above, the three nested green jade rings rotated in smooth, undisturbed harmony, their pale green soft glow bathing the black diamond dome in calm light.
Lin Tao raised his left hand, focusing his test sight array on the main execution pipeline of the Nine Springs Registry Core.
The mask is total, Lin Tao observed, the amber tracking data confirming the complete calm distance of the mortal registries. Forty-one million, eight hundred and ninety-two thousand, one hundred and four mortal soul records across the seven southern provinces have been unhooked from the active scanning catalog. Every single reference pointer now resolves to 0x00000000.
To the cosmic running system, the Southern Sovereign Basin had ceased to exist.
On the surface world miles above, millions of living human beings continued their daily routines without the slightest interruption. In the mountain villages of Mount Taiyi, stonemasons swung their mallets against iron ore. In the Azure River Valley, farmers guided water oxen through muddy paddies. In the city streets, children ran laughing through autumn markets. The invisible death sentence that had hung over their heads since the Emperor’s decree had been quietly cut at the root.
