Chapter 238 - 219: The Third Level
One million!
Chen Ming was somewhat surprised by this number; it exceeded his expectations. There were three Third Grade individuals here, all deserving of death. If he killed them all, he would gain three hundred thousand experience points.
His experience points could then surpass six million, not far from ten million.
"This warden position is indeed a good gig!"
He was delighted in his heart. If it were under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be easy for him to kill a Second Grade individual. He would have to use the power of the Mingfeng Sword and risk inviting even more terrifying enemies.
In the prison, however, these Second Grade individuals were sealed with the Dragon Sealing Needle, bound by five iron chains, easily killable without any psychological burden and without fearing the wrath of the sects behind these Second Grade individuals.
People died in the Six Gates prison; those seeking revenge would target the Six Gates.
With a wave of his hand, Chen Ming retrieved the Mingfeng Sword, immediately sensing it transmitting an idea, as if asking if he wanted to view this person’s memory.
"Save it for later."
He soothed the sword’s emotions and suddenly thought that if Deng Ziyang were here, he could use the Blood Demon Technique to devour this blood and flesh, preventing waste—
Uh—
Thinking this far, he shook his head forcefully. No, this idea was too sinister. Continuing this way, he would truly become a demonic overlord.
"It’s all the Longevity Sect’s fault; its cultivation techniques are too sinister, either taking others’ blood and cultivation or seizing their primordial spirit."
Such thoughts filled Chen Ming’s mind.
Only the Nine Nether Sect was somewhat normal, practicing just a lifebound object.
...
Chen Ming went to the neighboring cells and killed the other two Second Grade criminals.
One, surnamed Lü, was a sponsor of a certain aristocratic family but conspired with a notorious criminal to loot the entire family, sparing not even the servants, killing over a thousand people.
The other, surnamed Shi, was a traitor to the Six Gates. To frame a sect, he lost his mind and attacked over ten trade caravans. His plot was only exposed when he targeted a seemingly insignificant caravan that happened to be escorted by an expert from the Eight Righteous Sect.
All in all, those imprisoned here had at least hundreds of lives on their hands.
In reality, reaching Second Grade cultivation, unless their evil deeds were atrocious and had a terrible impact, the Six Gates would not easily arrest them and throw them into prison.
Especially in a place like Xiazhou, which Second Grade didn’t have fellow disciples or several close friends?
At this level, it’s essentially a power play among factions.
Lone wolves like Chen Ming are extremely rare.
[You’ve killed an LV81 enemy, gaining 950,000 experience points.]
[You’ve killed an LV85 enemy, gaining 1,150,000 experience points.]
After killing these two, Chen Ming looked at his status panel.
[Level: 70]
[Current Points: 6,729,875]
[Cultivation Technique: Iron Horse Stance (Fifth Level Perfection), Five Elements True Skill (Missing) (Seventh Level 242,456/10,000,000)]
[Martial Skill: Three Talents Fist (Major Accomplishment), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Major Accomplishment), Zhuang’s Flying Knife (Major Accomplishment), Swallow Returning Sword Technique (Major Accomplishment), Vermilion Bird Swordsmanship (Major Accomplishment), Phoenix Dance of Nine Heavens (Fourth Level 3,908/400,000), Solitude of Heaven and Earth (Second Level 35,734/2,000,000)]
[Secret Technique: Disguise Technique (Major Accomplishment), Artifact Nurturing Technique (First Layer 1/100,000), Artifact Control Technique (Fourth Layer 1/400,000)]
"Six million seven hundred thousand!"
Chen Ming felt a surge of excitement. This trip was indeed worthwhile; otherwise, how could he have amassed such a large amount of experience points in such a short time?
"Just four more Second Grade kills are needed."
This thought flashed through his mind, and he closed the cell doors, then returned to the entrance of the first cell earlier.
He sensed slightly and found that of the people hiding in the cell, two were missing, evidently having sneaked away while he was busy in the other cells.
The two were Lei Chun and Deng Wei.
Chen Ming silently praised, "Clever enough."
These two escaped and probably passed on the message, hopefully bringing reinforcements, right?
Then he stood at the doorway, as if nothing had happened, waiting for the reinforcements to arrive.
...
After waiting for about half a tea’s time, he hadn’t seen any reinforcements but did see the saber-wielding junior brother Xiao Jiu approach. "Senior Brother, come quickly."
"But what about these people?"
"Master said not to worry about them." Xiao Jiu said, seeing he wasn’t moving, urging, "Hurry up, don’t keep Master and Martial Uncle waiting; the third floor is about to open."
Chen Ming could only follow meekly, asking in a whisper, "Will there be any danger on the third floor? Are we going in too?"
Xiao Jiu said, "With Master and Martial Uncle there, how could there be danger? Hurry up."
Following him, Chen Ming passed through another heavy door, entering the area where First Grade experts were imprisoned. As soon as he stepped in, he felt a prickling pain.
Xiao Jiu reminded, "Senior Brother, don’t use Gang Yuan. Master said that beneath is the Yuan Magnetic Ore Vein, which specifically counters a martial artist’s Gang Yuan; using it here may cause it to spiral out of control."
"Okay."
Chen Ming agreed solemnly, thinking, I know this better than you.
This place, used to imprison First Grade experts, naturally had unique features. It’s important to know that a First Grade expert’s Gang Yuan merges with the primordial spirit, possessing many incredible abilities that the Dragon Sealing Needle can’t fully restrict.
Only such a place can truly imprison a First Grade powerhouse.
Soon, Chen Ming heard an elderly voice arise, "Thank you, sir, for helping this old man escape. I owe you a great debt of gratitude."
Zhou You said, "You’re too kind, old sir, I’m here to rescue my junior brother. Helping you was just along the way. While they haven’t reacted yet, old sir, please leave quickly."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ming realized that they had released another First Grade powerhouse as well, feeling somewhat regretful, "Couldn’t kill that First Grade either. What a pity, I wonder how much experience points I’d get for killing a First Grade powerhouse?"
"Then farewell."
He saw an old man with disheveled hair, wearing a prison uniform, walk out of a cell, and in a flash, he vanished over Chen Ming’s head.
This person was quite sensible, not asking why Zhou You and the others didn’t leave together.
Chen Ming also saw Fang Yong, Zhou You’s junior brother, who was in his thirties, fairly young.
The cultivation techniques of the Longevity Sect are all like this, advancing very rapidly once cultivated. Even with slightly poor aptitude, they can rival and even surpass those geniuses in cultivation.
Therefore, few people can resist the recruitment by the Longevity Sect; the worse the aptitude, the more they come from humble backgrounds, and the more they desire to join the Longevity Sect to gain powerful strength.
At this moment, Zhou You instructed, "Xiaoqi, Xiao Jiu, close the gate of the passage."
"Yes."
Chen Ming and Xiao Jiu turned around and together closed the heavy gate.
Without a key, it would be very difficult to break through this gate.
However, Chen Ming found it strange; wasn’t this cutting off their escape route? Once they had the Demon Sword, how would they leave here?
Or was there another exit on the third level?
He wondered, following behind Xiao Jiu, walking inside, all the way to the end, where he saw Zhou You, Fang Yong, and Zhou Yilan standing in front of a wall.
There was a door on the wall, but it wasn’t real; it was drawn.
The first time Chen Ming came here, he asked his subordinates why a door was drawn here?
All five subordinates expressed they didn’t know, only that the painting had existed for a long time.
At this moment, Zhou You held a writing brush in his hand, standing solemnly before the wall, seemingly brewing something.
Chen Ming could feel an unusual fluctuation emanating from the writing brush.
"Could that be the key to the third layer?"
He guessed, quickly seeing the brush light up slightly,
Zhou You finally moved, holding the brush, and wrote a stroke in the void. He wrote slowly, as if the brush weighed a thousand pounds.
After writing a horizontal stroke, he sighed, as if writing that one stroke had consumed him greatly.
After a brief pause, he wrote the second stroke...
In a moment, the character "Open" was fully written.
After finishing the last stroke, the door painted on the wall lit up and slowly opened.
The door became real!
Chen Ming watched dumbfounded, suddenly recalling Xia Mudan’s mention of a "Secret Realm." Could this, too, be a Secret Realm?
Thinking this, Xiao Jiu beside him had already asked excitedly, "Master, is this...a Secret Realm?"
Still wearing prison clothes, Fang Yong calmly said, "This is a Secret Realm, and yet it is not."
"What do you mean?"
Xiao Jiu was confused.
Fang Yong said, "Inside is like a Secret Realm, an independent space. But it hasn’t truly formed its own world, so naturally, it cannot generate any treasures."
With a sigh, he added, "Maybe in tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of years, this small space might become a genuine Secret Realm."
Zhou You, having caught his breath, put away the brush and said, "Xiaoqi, Xiao Jiu. You two go in front."
Hearing this, Chen Ming’s mouth twitched slightly.
Well, as expected of the Nine Nether Sect, a Demonic Dao style, letting disciples lead the way.
Other sects would at least pretend. In such cases, the mentor naturally protects the disciple.
"Yes."
Xiao Jiu had already moved, obviously accustomed to this.
Chen Ming could only follow along, thinking, this Demonic Dao sect is really not easy to deal with. He walked along with Xiao Jiu inside.
As he stepped through the door, a strange sensation washed over him, as if he had stepped from an oasis into a desert, an extremely parched feeling enveloped his entire body.
It was as if a fish had left the water, very uncomfortable.
"Sure enough, the environment is different from the human world."
Chen Ming quickly understood what was going on; this space had no "Spiritual Energy," and he could no longer absorb nature’s spiritual energy to restore his Gang Yuan.
He couldn’t help but think of the Fire Element Space beneath Prince Zhenhai’s Mansion, which was filled with violent Fire Element Qi. This space, in contrast, simply had no Qi at all.
"Imprisoned in such a place, even a Demon Path Sacred Artifact would be useless, right?"
PS: Begging for monthly tickets.