Deeper into the Divine Prison, Obtaining a Lower First-Level Law
"What kind of lousy wine is this! It's as weak as water! The food is cold, and the meat is tough! Is this the kind of treatment you get in Divine Prison? Do you even know who I am?!"
He smashed the wine cup on the table, splashing the wine onto the brocade.
Old Zhou quickly stepped forward with a fawning smile, "Your Highness, please calm down, I'll go and change it right away, I'll go and change it right away."
He turned back and winked at Chen Du, signaling him to follow, and the two left the cell.
After walking a few steps away, Chen Du asked, "Who is this person?"
Old Zhou lowered his voice. "The current emperor's youngest brother, Prince Duan Zhao Xuan, has a fief in the Southern Border, and is incredibly wealthy. But this man, sigh..."
He sighed and shook his head. "He forcibly abducts women, seizes fertile land, and kills people without hesitation. He employs a gang of thugs who will snatch any daughter they fancy or seize any piece of land they desire. When people complain to the authorities, they dare not intervene."
Later, he grew increasingly audacious and even secretly recruited soldiers in his fiefdom, plotting a rebellion.
Chen Du raised an eyebrow slightly. "Rebellion? Why not go to death row?"
"Yes, according to the law, he should be executed, even his entire clan should be exterminated." Old Zhou's voice was even lower. "But the prime minister only said one thing in court: His Majesty is very affectionate towards his brothers, so why not lock him up in the Divine Prison for a few days to reflect on his actions, and release him when he has come to his senses?" Then the emperor agreed. Locking him up in the Divine Prison for a few days to reflect on his actions is treason.
He shook his head with a wry smile and didn't say anything more.
Chen Du glanced back at the direction of the luxurious prison cell, where Prince Duan was still cursing and complaining about the wine and food.
He withdrew his gaze, his heart already weighing the matter.
But he can't do it now.
Killing this prince would be like alerting the enemy.
The prime minister's suggestion and the emperor's approval were backed by a whole set of court rules that were rotten to the core.
He's just a jailer; he can't change anything for now.
But he has plenty of time.
He memorized the location of the cell, then turned and followed Old Zhou back.
Chen Du's expression remained rather unpleasant after returning from Prince Duan's prison.
He sat at the entrance of the stone house, looking at the dim lights in the depths of the corridor, a feeling of inexplicable frustration welling up inside him.
Shen Xing, the deputy general of the Northern Border, was framed instead of defending someone. Despite his Ninth Realm cultivation, his soul was completely devoured by the Divine Prison Blade.
Gu Changqing had roamed the martial world for decades, saving countless people in the Northern Border. Yet, just for punishing a disgraced exiled official, he was imprisoned in an iron cell, deprived of food and water, awaiting death.
Meanwhile, Prince Duan Zhao Xuan, who forcibly seized women, occupied fertile land, killed countless people, and even plotted a rebellion, lived in a prison cell with a brocade-covered bed, drank wine, complained about the food, and waited for the emperor to show mercy and release him.
Good people don't get rewarded, while bad people go unpunished.
This Heavenly Dragon Divine Dynasty is rotten to the core.
Old Zhou squatted down next to him, smoking. Judging from his expression, he guessed about 70-80% of what was going on.
The old man was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "You think there's only this one little prince?"
He exhaled a puff of smoke and lowered his voice, "I heard from the stewards above that the current emperor, who has been on the throne for thirty years, has not attended court for more than twenty years. His memorials are piled up in the imperial study and getting moldy. He approves whatever the prime minister says."
The prime minister's surname was Wei, and his name was Wei Changgeng. He wielded immense power and sold official positions and titles openly. A governorship or a general's title could be bought with money.
Money can buy you an official position, an official position can buy you more money, and money can buy you a higher position. The Divine Dynasty is rotten to the core.
He tapped his pipe again and continued, "Two years ago, there was a famine in the Northern Border. The imperial court allocated disaster relief funds, but after layers of embezzlement, not even a tenth of it reached the people."
Last year, three million taels of silver were allocated for dike repairs in the Southern Border, but only three miles of road were actually repaired. What happened to the rest of the money? It went into Wei Changgeng's own treasury.
It wasn't that no one in the court was willing to impeach officials, but those who did were either demoted or imprisoned.
People like Shen Xing are considered lucky; they were only imprisoned in the Divine Prison. A few with more guts died on the way there, never even reaching the gates of the Divine Prison.
Chen Du listened in silence without responding.
He raised his head and stared at the dimmest light at the end of the corridor, his gaze as cold as ice.
This is the Heavenly Dragon Divine Dynasty.
The emperor was incompetent, the prime minister was treacherous, the loyal and virtuous were wronged, and the wicked went unpunished.
This enormous thing, though it looks as majestic as a mountain, has long had its foundation eroded by decay.
He sneered, silently hoping in his heart that it would collapse one day.
Old Zhou glanced at him, as if guessing what he was thinking, and patted him on the shoulder. "Kid, don't overthink it. How many years has the Divine Prison existed? It's even older than the Heavenly Dragon Divine Dynasty."
Looking back, countless dynasties have risen and fallen in this land, but the Divine Prison has always remained.
Whoever rules the world will need people like us, and will rely on this prison.
Even if the sky falls, the Divine Prison won't collapse. Just focus on doing your own thing.
Chen Du nodded.
Old Zhou is right, the change of dynasties has nothing to do with him.
He only needs to develop slowly within this Divine Prison, waiting for the right time to make his move.
In the following days, he took advantage of a break during his night patrols to test Soul Devouring's Wrath in a secluded corner.
He pointed his fingers like a knife, and with his anger, he activated the Soul Devouring Law, unleashing a slash.
Where the blade's energy passed, the air seemed to be torn open, causing the dark energy to surge and the soul power to churn.
Although it was just a casual attempt, he clearly felt that the killing power of this move far exceeded any of the techniques he had learned before.
The next day, Old Zhou found him and stuffed a thicker set of copper keys into his hand.
"The key to the third floor—those kids are too scared to go down. From now on, you'll be in charge of executing prisoners below the third floor."
Chen Du took the keys and nodded.
It seems that Old Zhou has placed even more trust in him.
That night, he did not go to the execution platform, but instead walked alone up the stone steps to the third level.
The Dao Resonance essence of the third layer far surpasses that of the first layer, enabling one to Become a Saint on the Spot and the World as a Book, thus condensing higher-level cultivation techniques.
I've been there before, but with Old Zhou and other prison guards around, it wasn't appropriate to document it on the spot.
Chen Du did not linger on the first floor.
He walked down the stone steps, through the dimly lit corridor on the second floor, and down to the third floor.
The suppressive force of the third layer was heavier than that of the two layers above. The air was as thick as waterlogged cotton, and you could feel the pressure from all directions with every step you took.
Instead of going to the prison areas where prisoners were held, he went to a long-abandoned side cave at the deepest part of the third level.
This was once the earliest base of the third layer of the array. Later, the array was moved and the old array was abandoned, but the suppressing power accumulated over millions of years still remained at the bottom of the stone, so dense that even the stone walls gleamed with a dark, cold light.
He sat cross-legged in the center of the side cave, closed his eyes, and concentrated. Then he activated [Become a Saint on the Spot].
The Dao Resonance surged from the depths of the stone wall, flooding into the sea of consciousness like a tide.
It was a mixture of the power that had dissipated from the struggles of all the prisoners on the third level over thousands of years, the Daoist intent left behind by all the guards during their suppression, and the lingering effects of all the formations in operation, all mixed together, rich and heavy. Immediately afterwards [The World as a Book] was activated.
The Dao Resonance, as if guided by an invisible hand, surged, intertwined, and condensed within his sea of consciousness.
A moment later, a scroll of cultivation technique slowly took shape.
Chen Du opened his eyes, his pupils suddenly contracting.
He obtained a cultivation technique called "Netherworld Prison Soul Devouring Spirit Suppression Suppressing Scripture," which was at the Tenth Tier level and contained a Lower First-Level Law called "Netherworld Prison Soul Devouring Spirit Suppression."
This law was actually a combination of all the laws from the six Ninth Tier cultivation techniques he had previously obtained.
Netherworld Prison Soul Lock, Qi-Breaking, Spirit Devouring, Xingtian, Prison Cage, Soul Devouring.
The six Lower Second-Level Laws are interconnected, superimposed, and merged within the framework of this Tenth Tier cultivation technique, ultimately condensing into a complete and vast Lower First-Level Law.
He read the manual word by word, his heart filled with an indescribable shock.
The six laws merged into one, transforming into a Lower First-Level Law.
The prerequisite is that all six laws must be cultivated to the Ninth-Level Domain, which is the Peak Stage of the Ninth Realm, the Martial Law Domain Realm.
If one can go a step further on this foundation and thoroughly comprehend this Lower First-Level Law, then one will have crossed the threshold of the Tenth Realm Martial Law First Stage.
He firmly imprinted this technique into his mind and slowly stood up.
The third floor was indeed a whole level higher than the first floor.
The first level only grants Ninth Tier cultivation techniques, containing Lower Second-Level Laws.
The third level directly granted him Tenth Tier cultivation technique, containing Lower First-Level Law.
He walked steadily toward the outside of the side cave.
The third level is just the beginning... The fourth level, the fifth level, and even deeper levels await him, with even more heaven-defying techniques.