Executing the Prisoners and Receiving Heaven's Way's Gift
A few days later, an order came from above.
A deacon in black armor entered the first floor and expressionlessly handed a roll of names to Old Zhou: "Execution in three days, at noon."
Then he turned and left.
Old Zhou unfolded the roster, glanced at it, his face darkened, and then handed it to the young jailers beside him for them to read.
The roster listed more than a dozen names, followed by their respective prison wards and charges.
Chen Du leaned over and took a look. Most of the charges were things like "slaughtering living beings," "devouring cities," and "betraying the Divine Dynasty." Every word was heavy with weight.
Old Zhou put the list away, glanced at everyone, and said in a calm voice, "You all know the rules. The execution is carried out with the Divine Prison Blade. Those killed by that blade have their souls devoured, without even a chance for reincarnation. Therefore, none of these people on the list are innocent; they are all heinous criminals."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the several pale-faced young jailers. "Who's going?"
No one answered. The young prison guards looked at each other, some looking down at the ground, others pretending to straighten their clothes.
This wasn't the first time prisoners had been executed, but this time, there were a few names on the list that they recognized.
The Netherworld Prison Giant Python in the third prison area is at the Seventh Realm.
The Bone Ape of the Seventh Prison District, Eighth Realms.
There was also a young man who was held in solitary confinement in the deepest iron cell. His name on the roster was simply written as "Ninth Realms," without even a description of his crime.
The young jailers didn't even dare to approach the Ninth Realm, let alone make a move.
Old Zhou sighed and turned to Chen Du: "Qin Dong, you go."
Chen Du nodded without saying anything more.
He followed Old Zhou through layers of iron gates, all the way to the execution platform at the deepest part of the first level.
The execution platform was a huge black stone platform, its surface engraved with dark red array patterns, with four bronze pillars standing at the four corners, and thick chains wrapped around the pillars.
The prisoners on the roster had been brought to the platform, one by one, and were tightly bound by chains, unable to move.
Chen Du glanced over and saw that the Netherworld Prison Giant Python had shrunk to the size of a human, but its demonic aura was still intense.
The Bone Ape, with chains piercing its shoulder blades, knelt on the platform, panting heavily, its eyes filled with rage.
But the young man in the far corner was unusually quiet.
He looked to be in his early twenties, with delicate features, and wore an old robe whose color was long since faded.
His eyes were tightly closed, his lips slightly pursed; he neither struggled nor shouted.
Chains were wrapped around his body, leaving deep bloody marks, but his expression was as calm as if he were meditating.
Old Zhou handed Chen Du a short, jet-black knife. The blade was only about a foot long, entirely black, with a cold, eerie blue sheen at the edge—this was the Divine Prison Blade.
It was icy cold to the touch and unusually heavy, as if I were holding not just a knife, but the will of an entire prison.
Chen Du gripped the hilt of his knife and walked toward the first prisoner.
As the Netherworld Prison Giant Python was led to the execution platform, it suddenly let out a shrill cry, "Injustice! I've been wronged!"
Its sound was high-pitched and distorted, as if squeezed out from between its teeth.
Chen Du looked down into its eyes; those snake pupils were filled with fear and resentment, yet strangely, there was no trace of injustice.
He paused for two breaths, then raised his hand and slashed.
As the blade sliced through the air, the giant python's head rolled to the ground, its soul instantly devoured by the Divine Prison Blade, leaving not even a scream behind.
White Qi surged from his sea of consciousness, a single strand that was ten years old.
The second one, the third one.
The Bone Ape also cried out that it was wronged, its voice louder and hoarser.
But its eyes held only violence and resentment, not injustice.
Chen Du slashed down with his sword, and White Qi surged again, marking the passage of a hundred years.
One prisoner after another was brought in, and one after another was beheaded.
Some cried out, some cursed, and some struggled desperately.
But Chen Du couldn't see any real injustice in anyone's eyes.
The White Qi accumulated more and more in his sea of consciousness, ten years, a hundred years, a hundred years, ten years, a hundred years... until the very last one.
When the young man from the Ninth Realm was brought onto the stage, his eyes were still closed.
The chains dragged on the ground, making a heavy thud.
He didn't cry out for justice, didn't open his eyes, and didn't even dabble in breathing.
Chen Du stood in front of him, looking down at him.
The young face was expressionless, as if he had already accepted everything.
Chen Du raised the knife, paused for a moment, and then brought the blade down. The moment the knife entered the neck, the young man finally opened his eyes.
In those eyes, there was no fear, no resentment, no violence, only peace and acceptance.
Chen Du's blade did not stop; the Divine Prison Blade slashed down, and the young man's head rolled to the ground, his soul devoured by the blade.
But in that very instant, deep within his sea of consciousness, his innate talent for [Heaven's Way of Evil] suddenly trembled.
A wisp of Black Qi surged in, five hundred years old! Thick, heavy, and bone-chilling Black Qi.
Chen Du stood there, knife in hand, looking down at the headless corpse.
The White Qi and Black Qi were clearly distinct in his mind. The White Qi piled up into a small mountain, but the Black Qi of the past five hundred years weighed heavily on top of all the White Qi.
He slowly withdrew his gaze and handed the Divine Prison Blade back to Old Zhou.
Old Zhou took the knife, glanced at the corpses on the platform, and nodded. "Clean job. Go back now."
Chen Du followed the others back, without saying a word the whole way.
The image of that young man from the Ninth Realm with his eyes closed kept replaying in his mind.
He clearly killed so many people, but only one was innocent.
Chen Du returned to the stone house, closed the door, and sat cross-legged on the bed.
He first drew out all the White Qi and Black Qi that had accumulated in his sea of consciousness.
White Qi like a mountain, Black Qi like an abyss, the two auras slowly rotating above his palm.
He closed his eyes and simultaneously pushed both forces toward the innate talent [Heaven's Way's Gift] deep within his sea of consciousness.
The White Qi and Black Qi surged into the talent, then vanished without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.
A moment later, the Heaven's Way's Gift suddenly trembled, and three items appeared out of thin air in front of him.
The first item was a small white jade bottle, its surface warm and smooth, containing a single pill.
The elixir was enveloped in a faint blue glow, like a miniature star.
The Ninth Tier elixir can help him comprehend the laws and cleanse his physical body and soul.
The second item was a short knife.
The blade was jet black, with a cold, eerie light emanating from its edge, somewhat similar to the Divine Prison Blade, but with a deeper, more profound aura.
He probed the blade with his Spiritual Power and was astonished to find that it contained a complete and condensed Lower Second-Level Law, like a blade of law sealed within the sword.
The third item was a yellowed scripture. The cover was blank, but when opened, dense, ancient patterns came into view.
The Ninth Tier cultivation technique contains a Lower Second-Level Law called "Prison-Splitting".
With his own strength, he could tear apart all cages and constraints, whether they were shackles of the flesh or the shackles of the laws, all of which could be severed in one stroke.
Chen Du carefully put away the three items one by one, his heart filled with an indescribable shock.
A bottle of elixirs, a divine weapon, and a cultivation manual.
Each one of them would be enough to make Ninth Tier expert fight tooth and nail, but at this moment, they lay quietly in front of him, like a handful of candy that the Heavenly Dao had casually tossed to him.
He slowly exhaled.
In the Divine Prison, as long as he receives [the Heaven's Way's Gift], he can stay for almost an endless amount of time.
Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
[You begin to comprehend the "Prison-Splitting" technique. This technique is based on "ripping" and "prison," emphasizing the ability to sever all laws with a single strike. You use Divine Revelation Reading and analyze its meridian pathways, discovering that its core lies in compressing one's own True Essence to its limit, then breaking through the surface with a single point, tearing everything apart in one blow.]
[You tried to circulate your True Essence, but it stagnated at your dantian. You hadn't yet grasped its depth, so you put your contemplation on hold.]
[You begin to comprehend the "Prison-Splitting" law within the divine weapon. The law within the blade is complete and condensed. You repeatedly try to touch it with your Spiritual Power, attempting to imprint it into your sea of consciousness. However, the power of the law is as heavy as a mountain; each touch shakes your soul as if it were being hammered. You try hundreds of times, each time only managing to barely remember the basics, a far cry from true mastery. You temporarily give up.]
[You begin consuming a Ninth Tier elixir. As the elixir enters your body, its medicinal power surges like a celestial river flowing backward, cleansing your meridians, bones, and flesh. You aid in the refining process using the aid of the Become a Saint on the Spot technique, and use the World as a Book to deduce the trajectory of the elixir's power.]
[But the power of the elixir is too immense; each refining is like fighting a battle within your body. You can only gnaw at it little by little. After three years, you've only managed to digest less than a tenth... Keep going.]
[Over the past three years, you've tried countless times: three cultivation techniques, three fundamental laws, a single elixir—each one within reach, yet always falling short of the mark.]
[You're not impatient. Three years is too short for Ninth Tier cultivation technique. You spent sixty years comprehending the "Grand Pure Heavenly Master Dao-Subduing True Scripture" in the Celestial Master Realm before you even scratched the surface. And these three things are all of equal rank to that true scripture. You just need more time.]