Chapter 204 - 233: Celestial Net Swordsmaster, Soul Search! Secrets of the Prison
Deep within a cavern in the Great Xia Prison.
Su Bai stared at the intricate golden runes that had appeared on the Celestial Net Sword. After studying them for a while, he still couldn’t make out anything significant.
A moment later, he tore his gaze from the Celestial Net Sword and looked toward the deepest part of the cavern.
His eyes shifted slightly as a thought occurred to him.
’If my previous guess was correct, I can only obtain the complete set of mysterious runes by uniting the Celestial Net Sword and the Mingfeng Saber.’
’In that case, even though that person took the Mingfeng Saber, he must still have designs on the Celestial Net Sword.’
’So, all I have to do is lie in wait for him.’
With that thought, Su Bai’s figure flickered and he vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was standing before the Sect Leader of Rashomon, who had been dead for many years.
In the deepest part of the cavern, black chains, like demon dragons rising from an abyss, pierced through the limbs of the Rashomon Sect Leader before him.
SHINK!
With a surge of Demonic Qi, Su Bai plunged the Celestial Net Sword in his hand back into the man’s chest.
Then, a thought crossed his mind.
’Right. This Sect Leader of Rashomon was the previous Sword Master of the Celestial Net Sword, so he has a deep connection to it.’
’Perhaps Rashomon has considerable knowledge about the secrets of the Celestial Net Sword and the Mingfeng Saber.’
’I used a Divine Thought Incarnation to capture one of their Vice Sect Leaders from Rashomon before.’
’Maybe I can get something out of him.’
As inspiration struck, Su Bai’s figure flickered and he vanished once more.
Previously, after Su Bai had slain Ao Gu in the East Sea, he had obtained a Golden Jade Pendant.
Using the wisp of Divine Thoughts left in the Jade Pendant, Su Bai had located Rashomon’s headquarters.
He then dispatched a Divine Thought Incarnation to capture the owner of the Golden Jade Pendant—the Vice Sect Leader of Rashomon.
’He’s at the Dao Palace Realm of Cultivation. He shouldn’t have died so easily, right?’
As Su Bai walked, his gaze swept over the numerous criminals suspended there.
"Damn you! I am the current Celestial Net Swordsmaster of the Celestial Net Sword Sect!"
"My grandfather is an ancestor of the Celestial Net Sword Sect! You’d better let me go, or else my ancestor will come looking for you!"
As Su Bai passed by one of the chains, an angry roar suddenly erupted beside him.
He glanced up.
He saw a young man in a white robe, his black hair disheveled and his face contorted in a ferocious expression like an Evil Ghost. He was furiously yanking at the black chains that pierced his Blood Bones, roaring with rage.
Su Bai shot him a glance, then casually began to flip through the man’s criminal Record on the Purification Tripod.
He soon discovered that the man, relying on the fact that his grandfather was one of the ancestors of the Celestial Net Sword Sect, had been arrogant, domineering, and lawless since childhood.
At the age of fifteen, he had raped a female disciple within the sect. When the matter was exposed, the brat turned around and framed her, claiming she had seduced him first.
His excuse to absolve himself was something along the lines of...
"If she wasn’t trying to seduce me, why would she dress so Qingliang and revealingly?"
"A woman like that is just asking for it!"
How fucking outrageous!
It almost made Su Bai’s blood pressure skyrocket!
He read on...
He found that the man had even framed the female disciple in the end, claiming she was a spy sent by a Demon Sect.
This led to her Cultivation being crippled, and her entire clan was implicated.
Some were killed, some were maimed, and others were forced to flee.
The poor female disciple was already dead, yet she still had to endure the scorn and curses of the masses.
Meanwhile, the true culprit, the brat, continued to thrive within the sect.
In fact, he had even obtained his current status as Swordsmaster by framing several other disciples in the sect whose talent surpassed his own.
Over the past several decades, his crimes had become innumerable.
So much so that, while hiding under the guise of a Righteous Sect, his own Sin Value had reached a staggering Seven-Star level!
Even some Demons would feel inferior in the face of such sin.
After reading everything, what truly surprised Su Bai was the man’s real identity.
He wasn’t actually the grandson of that Celestial Net Ancestor.
He was the Celestial Net Ancestor’s biological son!
Well, I’ll be!
’No wonder he could commit crimes in the sect for so many years and still get away with it.’
’So that’s how it is!’
Su Bai clicked his tongue in amazement and couldn’t help but remark, "The old man has no integrity, and he lets his son run wild."
"Calling this family a pair of beasts would be an insult to beasts."
"Don’t you worry..."
Then, Su Bai glanced at the Celestial Net Swordsmaster and said in a placating tone, "I’ll make a trip to the Celestial Net Sword Sect another day."
"I’ll drag that ancestor of yours here too."
"You and your grandfather can have a reunion in prison... no, wait. You and your father."
Hearing this, the expression on the Celestial Net Sword Sect’s Swordsmaster froze.
Before he could even react, he saw Su Bai staring intently at him.
The look in Su Bai’s eyes made his blood run cold.
"Wh-what do you want?" he stammered.
"Nothing much."
"Just finding you a new home!"
The moment Su Bai finished speaking, the Celestial Net Sword Sect’s Swordsmaster let out a horrifying, desperate scream!
And then he vanished on the spot.
SPLAT!
All that remained was the black chain that had bound him, swaying gently in the air and spattering a spray of blood!
Inside the Dharma Tripod Prison.
Boundless Karmic Fire surged within a silvery-white cell.
The Swordsmaster had just come to his senses and was clutching his bleeding chest in agony.
BOOM—
In an instant, the Karmic Fire roared to life!
He looked around in terror.
He saw mass after mass of deep-red Karmic Fire rushing violently toward him!
His eyes twitched, his pupils trembling violently.
He stumbled back several steps, pressing himself tightly against the prison wall.
He roared in despair, "L-let me out! Let me out now!"
"AHHH!!"
The next moment, his entire body was completely engulfed by the boundless Karmic Fire!
After imprisoning the man in the Dharma Tripod Prison, Su Bai continued on his way.
As he walked, the screams, roars, and pleas for mercy from the criminals who still had some Vitality left in them echoed through the void...
The sounds rose and fell, an unending chorus.
Having spent so long in the prison, Su Bai was long accustomed to it, and his heart remained completely unmoved.
Before long, he stopped in front of another black chain.
This chain bound a man in a Golden Robe, his head hanging low, his aura feeble.
This was the Vice Sect Leader of Rashomon.
With a simple gesture, Su Bai made the chains in the void tremble, pulling the man over to him.
Then, Su Bai reached out and placed his fingers on the man’s forehead, performing a Soul Search while simultaneously checking his criminal Record on the Purification Tripod.
「Some time later.」
Su Bai had smoothly obtained the secrets he was after.
’Rashomon really did know a few things.’ Su Bai returned the man to his original spot, a hint of surprise on his face.
This man was the current Vice Sect Leader of Rashomon, a position of considerable status.
From his memories, Su Bai learned that many years ago, the Celestial Net Sword had been Rashomon’s Sect’s Sacred Artifact.
Furthermore, Rashomon had participated in the previous disturbance in the Xia Imperial City involving the Dual Sacred Artifacts; they were one of the masterminds behind the plot.
’The criminal who escaped from the prison and started spouting nonsense in the Imperial City—that was their doing.’
’Their goal was to exploit the greed of both the Righteous and Demon Daos, incite a bloody battle with the Great Xia Dynasty, and use the chaos to fish in troubled waters, ultimately seizing the Dual Sacred Artifacts for their master.’
’And the gray-robed man who just stole the Mingfeng Saber is the one behind it all—the true master of Rashomon.’
’This person has always been mysterious and cautious. Not even Rashomon, who works for him, knows his true identity.’
’Besides obtaining the Dual Sacred Artifacts, this person has another objective: to seize the item belonging to the Demon Venerable from beneath the prison... ’
’An item belonging to the Demon Venerable?’
Su Bai’s Heart Spirit stirred.
The so-called Demon Venerable was the one who, many years ago, united the Demon Sects within the Dayu Immortal Dynasty and led the major clans of the Demon Race to incite a bloody rebellion.
Legend had it that in order to slay this Demon, the Dayu Immortal Dynasty paid a terrible price—its original Eighteen Provinces were shattered, reduced to the current Thirteen Provinces.
After the Demon Venerable’s death, his body and all his treasures vanished without a trace, shrouded in mystery.
Su Bai had never expected that an item belonging to the Demon Venerable was actually hidden in the depths of the Great Xia Prison!
But Su Bai was more familiar with the depths of the prison than anyone.
There was only that mysterious 9th Layer tower.
’Could it be... that the mysterious item of the Demon Venerable is inside the 9th Layer tower?’
’Or is it being suppressed by the tower?’