Chapter 175 - 204: Elder, Sect Leader, Old Ancestor! Why Are You All Here?
After entering the depths of the prison, Su Bai paid no mind to the few others present and began taking out his spoils of war.
First came those from the Canghai Sect.
Deep within the cavern, the Canghai Sect’s Inner Sect Elder, Xiao Heifeng, had noticed the commotion of Su Bai’s return and was peeking through his half-open right eye.
He watched as Su Bai took a Golden Jade Pendant from his robes and gave it a gentle shake.
A person tumbled out of the Jade Pendant.
It was an old man in a black robe with a sinister face.
His entire body emanated a dense, chilling Ghost Qi that was hard to ignore.
Upon seeing this man, Xiao Heifeng’s eyes shot wide open!
His face filled with disbelief as he stammered,
"Elder Xu!?"
That’s right!
The old man in the black robe, whom Su Bai had produced from the Golden Jade Pendant—a special spatial storage item—was none other than a Divine Platform Realm Elder from the Canghai Sect with the surname Xu!
This man’s Cultivation was a notch higher than Xiao Heifeng’s, so his standing within the sect was naturally higher as well.
On any other day, Xiao Heifeng would have had to address him respectfully as "Elder."
The Golden Jade Pendant in Su Bai’s hand had belonged to the Vice Sect Leader of Rashomon.
Su Bai had fiddled with it earlier and discovered that its internal storage space was massive. It could hold not only a Divine Thought Incarnation but also living people.
It hadn’t taken Su Bai long to figure out the perfect use for such an item.
It was for capturing people!
Hearing Xiao Heifeng’s cry, Su Bai glanced at him but paid him no further mind.
He continued to pull people out.
With a flick of his arm, several more figures tumbled out.
They were of varying builds—some tall, some short, some fat, some thin.
But every single one of them was either wreathed in Ghost Qi or seething with Evil Qi.
Most importantly...
Xiao Heifeng knew every single one of them!
"Elder Liu! Elder Mu! Elder Ding! Elder Luo..."
"Is that... the Sect Leader!?"
Xiao Heifeng was completely dumbfounded.
He couldn’t help but rub his eyes, fearing they were playing tricks on him.
But a closer look confirmed it—they were all high-ranking members of his Canghai Sect!
One Spirit Transformation expert, four Divine Platform experts, and one Daoist Palace expert!
One of them was even the current Sect Leader of the Canghai Sect!
Xiao Heifeng’s mind was buzzing, a giant question mark hanging over his head.
’What is going on?’
’Why are the sect’s Elders and the Sect Leader—all these familiar faces—here?’
’Did the entire Canghai Sect leadership decide to move house?’
And strangely, they didn’t respond when he called out to them. Their eyes were vacant and their expressions wooden, as if they had lost their souls.
"Fake! It’s all fake! It has to be!"
"He must have found people to impersonate them, just to trick me..."
Xiao Heifeng’s eyes were wide and his body trembled as he muttered to himself, trying to find some way to rationalize what he was seeing.
Just as he was struggling to process it all, trying to explain the scene before him,
two more figures were shaken out from the Jade Pendant in Su Bai’s hand.
One was a gaunt, stooped old man in a gray robe.
His Ghost Qi was as thick as an abyss!
The other was a towering figure, nine zhang tall, with a green face, sharp fangs, and an exceptionally burly frame. Deep red markings coiled around its body.
Corpse qi had completely solidified all over its body, which was covered in thick, multicolored fur.
Some patches of this fur had even turned a deep crimson, emitting a terrifying Evil Qi.
Its mere presence exuded an air of supreme authority, of looking down upon the world with exceptional ferocity.
When he saw these two, it was as if a thousand thunderbolts roared in Xiao Heifeng’s mind!
He was plunged into a vortex of stupor, completely unable to pull himself out.
"That’s... the Ancestor! And the Corpse Ancestor!"
The two legendary figures who held the Canghai Sect aloft!
The Canghai Ancestor and the Corpse Ancestor that had been refined for generations—they were all here!
This was no longer a question of the Canghai Sect’s leadership moving house.
This was...
Someone had completely gutted the entire foundation of the Canghai Sect!
Xiao Heifeng stared, wide-eyed, at Su Bai, who was still pulling more people out.
Like a normal person seeing a ghost in broad daylight, he was stupefied for a long moment, utterly speechless.
Only a single thought circled endlessly in his mind.
’This... this man.’
’Just what kind of monster is he!?’
Su Bai ignored Xiao Heifeng completely. Having emptied out the Canghai Sect members, he started on those from the White Bone Hall.
To outsiders, it looked as if he had killed many experts during his trip to the North Sea.
After all, when the boundless golden light had faded, many people had simply vanished, presumably annihilated by his punch.
In reality, however, he had merely knocked out those with decent Cultivation and quickly stored them in the Golden Jade Pendant.
After all, the rewards from imprisoning them were the most stable and long-term.
He had to admit, the Canghai Ancestor’s Cultivation was quite impressive. Due to his many years of practice, he was even a bit stronger than Ao Gu, whom Su Bai had killed before.
It had taken Su Bai two or three punches to knock him out and bag him.
As for the Corpse Ancestor, there wasn’t much to say. Its Physique was powerful, but its Divine Spirit was far too weak.
Su Bai had only needed a few attacks with his Divine Thoughts to completely crush its Divine Spirit before tossing it into the Golden Jade Pendant.
The people from the White Bone Hall, by comparison, were much easier to deal with.
As for the Bai Gu Enchantress, a single punch from Su Bai had nearly shattered her pink skeleton.
Su Bai had annihilated most of her male consorts, capturing only the ones with the highest Cultivation.
Now, the depths of the cavern had become thoroughly lively.
More than twenty people, tightly bound in black chains, were now feeding the Tripod with their very beings.
Merit +1... Merit +1...
Su Bai watched as the numbers in the Merit column of his Tripod Master status shot upward.
In just a short while, his Merit reward broke one hundred, then headed straight for one thousand.
’My Experience Points income has also multiplied!’
A look of delight appeared on Su Bai’s face as he continuously monitored the information of each criminal in the Purification Tripod.
Su Bai had been in the Divine Platform Realm for a while now, and he hadn’t used his Experience Points to upgrade some of his Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques.
Now, after personally toiling away in the North Sea, his hard work was finally paying off.
It was a huge boom in Experience Points!
At the same time, once these people were dealt with, Su Bai would also get a considerable number of lottery draws.
’They really are useful, dead or alive!’
’Right, I can use my draws for the prize wheel and for Cultivation Techniques.’
After he was done observing, Su Bai began to spin the prize wheel and draw for Cultivation Techniques.
He had killed a fair number of criminals this time. Although their Cultivation was relatively weak, every little bit counted. When added up, the rewards were still quite substantial.
「Some time later.」
Su Bai successfully obtained thirty million Experience Points and five hundred thousand Tier Two Experience Points.
As for the Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques...
Most of them were Fifth or Sixth Grade. There were only two Seventh Grade techniques, so the quality wasn’t very high.
Although obtaining these Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques didn’t significantly boost Su Bai’s power, they did strengthen his Martial Dao foundation.
By the time he finished his work in the depths of the prison, the sun had already set behind the mountains, leaving no trace of its light. The sky was a dusky gray, dotted with a smattering of stars. Night had clearly fallen.
But the Imperial City was still bustling with activity. It was brightly lit, and the streets were filled with pedestrians.
The air was filled with the cries of street vendors, loud laughter, and the playful shouts of children, all rising and falling in a constant rhythm.
With nothing else to do for the moment, Su Bai left the prison, planning to head to the street to buy something to eat.
’Hm? Why are there so many new faces?’
He hadn’t walked more than a few steps before he noticed many unfamiliar faces in varied attire.
There was a Swordsman sitting in a teahouse, cradling a Black Saber, his sharp gaze sweeping in all directions with a blank expression.
There was a young man in a silver robe holding a Jade Flute, his eyes narrowed as he strolled along, singing loudly.
There was a woman in brocade robes feasting in a tavern, completely ignoring her ladylike image as she ate and drank with abandon.
There was a burly giant of a man whose few steps made the ground tremble slightly...
Though their appearances and demeanors differed, all of them possessed Cultivation of varying strength.
Su Bai retracted his gaze, his mind stirring.
He found a stall selling meat buns and had just sat down and taken a couple of bites when he suddenly remembered something.
’It must be that news of the Celestial Net Sword and the Mingfeng Saber has spread completely over the past three days.’
’Some people must have caught wind of it and entered the Imperial City, but they haven’t made a move yet, choosing to observe from the shadows.’
Just as he was thinking this,
suddenly—
"Murder! Someone’s been murdered! AHHH!!"
A bloodcurdling scream suddenly erupted from a corner of the city.
In an instant, it echoed in all directions!