After Old Zhou left, Chen Du basically took over the management of the first three floors.
When the young jailers saw him, they would politely call him "Uncle Qin," and when they encountered something they were unsure about during their patrols, they would habitually run over to ask him for advice.
Chen Du did not refuse, making arrangements and carrying out punishments as needed, managing the first three levels in an orderly manner.
But this peaceful period didn't last long.
One day, a middle-aged man dressed in dark gold armor stepped down from above.
Those were people from the Divine Prison Bureau, with a deacon's token hanging from their waists, a stern face, and sharp eyes.
He walked straight up to Chen Du, looked the "old jailer" up and down, and said, "The fourth and fifth floors are short-handed. You guys from the first to the third floors, send a few people up to help. Go tomorrow."
Before Chen Du could answer, the young prison guards beside him had already turned pale.
Some people instinctively took a step back, some lowered their heads and pretended not to hear, and others secretly winked at Chen Du, the meaning of which was clear... Please don't call on me.
The fourth and fifth floors are where monsters from the Tenth Realm are imprisoned.
These prison guards from the Fourth Realm and fifth tiers, when they went to that kind of place, would tremble with fear even when delivering food to prisoners, let alone patrolling or carrying out executions.
Chen Du glanced at them, but didn't make things difficult. He simply nodded to the steward and said, "I'll go."
The deacon glanced at him, seemingly surprised that the old jailer dared to respond, but said nothing more and turned to leave.
Early the next morning, Chen Du, along with two other young prison guards who had been forcibly assigned, walked up the stone steps toward the fourth floor.
The two young men didn't dare to say a word the whole way, their steps grew heavier and heavier, and their faces grew paler and paler.
The entrance to the fourth level was even more imposing than that of the third level, with the array patterns on the stone door as dense as a spider web.
As soon as the door was pushed open, a chilling aura that seeped into your bones rushed out.
Chen Du squinted slightly. The light on the fourth floor was much dimmer than on the three floors above. The oil lamps on both sides of the corridor had been replaced with a ghostly blue phosphorescent flame, which burned quietly and could not illuminate more than a few feet away.
Water droplets seeped from the stone wall, and an indescribable smell filled the air, like a mixture of rust, rotting flesh, and some ancient, eerie aura.
The prisoners in the cells were quieter than those upstairs, but that quiet was even more unsettling.
Occasionally, a gaze would be cast from the darkness, cold and steady, carrying an oppressive feeling that had not diminished despite years of imprisonment.
The two young jailers huddled behind Chen Du, even their breathing became soft.
Chen Du walked ahead, his pace neither hurried nor slow.
His power spread silently, sweeping across the cells on both sides.
The prisoners held on the fourth level were almost all from the Tenth Realm.
Some of their auras were weak, as if they had been suppressed for too long.
Some, however, remained as calm as an abyss, even showing a faint tendency to break through the chains of runes.
He withdrew his Spiritual Power, his expression calm.
The environment here was much more gloomy than the three floors above, but it felt more welcoming to him.
The concentration of Dao Resonance in the fourth layer is significantly higher than that in the third layer.
As for the prisoners of the Tenth Realms imprisoned here, he estimated that if they were killed, each of them would have accumulated thousands of years' worth of White Qi or Black Qi.
He walked slowly forward, memorizing the location of each cell and the characteristics of every scent.
The fourth floor, the fifth floor.
This will be his new hunting ground.
The fourth and fifth floors are completely different from the three floors above.
It wasn't just that the light was dimmer and the gloom was heavier; more importantly, there was a new type of person here: the people from the Divine Prison Bureau.
On his first day there, Chen Du noticed that there were figures dressed in dark gold or silver-gray armor scattered in the corridor, outside the cells, and beside the array nodes.
They exuded a calm and composed aura, their demeanor steady, with the tokens of the Divine Prison Bureau hanging at their waists, and their gazes sharp and indifferent.
As Chen Du ascended to the Seventh Realm, Eighth Realm, and Ninth Realms, he encountered more than one of them.
These people are the guardians of the Divine Prison Bureau, responsible for the supervision and execution of all prison areas from the fourth level down.
In their eyes, Chen Du was just an old prison guard transferred down from above to help out, with a cultivation level of only the third or fourth realm. He wasn't even worthy of carrying their shoes.
They never looked at him directly, and when they did glance at him, it was with an undisguised contempt.
Chen Du didn't care. He kept his head down and his back hunched over, following the two young prison guards as they moved things around, delivered water and food, looking no different from any of the old prison guards.
But his Spiritual Power was always spreading out in the dark, taking in every trace of aura from the fourth and fifth levels.
Unbeknownst to them, the "old jailer" was already scrutinizing them under their dismissive gaze.
He noticed one of them.
He was a slender middle-aged man with the Seventh Realm cultivation level. He wore the silver-gray armor of the Divine Prison Bureau, had a pale face without a beard, and had a sinister look in his eyes.
This man didn't talk much, but Chen Du noticed that he was always observing him unintentionally. During patrols, when delivering meals, and when carrying things, that cold gaze would sweep over him from time to time, like a snake hiding in the shadows.
Chen Du remained calm and pretended not to see it, but he had already made a mental note of this person.
In fact, that person's name was Li Han.
It was clearly written in the register of the Divine Prison Bureau that he was transferred from outside three months ago, with a cultivation level of the Seventh Realm, and was assigned to patrol the fifth level.
What wasn't written in the booklet was that this person came from the Demon Spirit Sect.
The Demon Spirit Sect, the largest demonic sect in the Southern Border, was besieged and attacked by the Heavenly Dragon Divine Dynasty several decades ago, suffering heavy casualties, but its roots were not eradicated.
They had always wanted to find a hole in the body of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Dynasty, and the Divine Prison Bureau was one of the places they most wanted to infiltrate.
Li Han wasn't considered top-tier in the Demon Spirit Sect, but his advantages lay in his youth, clean background, and meticulous mind.
He was placed in the lower ranks of the Divine Dynasty and spent decades climbing the ranks step by step. Finally, some time ago, he found an opportunity to be transferred to the Divine Prison Bureau.
His original mission was to remain in hiding for a long time, awaiting instructions from the Demon Spirit Sect.
But when he learned that the first three floors were in charge of an old jailer, his mind changed.
The first three levels are the top three levels of the Divine Prison, but they are also the three levels with the most frequent entry and exit and the most information flow.
If this old jailer could be turned into a puppet, it would be like planting a pair of eyes on the outermost layer of the Divine Prison.
This is something worth doing.
Moreover, he could easily manipulate an old prison guard at the third or fourth level.
That night, Li Han slipped down from the fifth floor to the fourth floor.
Chen Du was walking alone on the stone steps back to the third floor when he suddenly heard very light footsteps behind him.
He didn't stop walking, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
The person has arrived.
Without wasting words, Li Han formed a hand seal, and a dark soul light shot out from his fingertips, silently heading straight for Chen Du's head.
That was the Demon Spirit Sect's Soul-Seizing Secret Art. When activated at the Seventh Realm, it was enough to completely suppress the soul of a cultivator at the third or fourth level, and then use a secret method to brand Puppet Seal.
The instant the soul light entered the back of Chen Du's head, Li Han's lips curled into a smile. It was done.
He's just an old jailer; he's easy to catch.
But the next moment, his smile froze.
The moment the soul light entered, he felt a backlash.
A power he had never experienced before, so vast it nearly crushed his soul, surged from the depths of his hunched body.
His prized Soul-Seizing Secret Art was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, instantly evaporating in the face of that power.
When his Spiritual Power touched the other's sea of consciousness, it was like putting his hand into a furnace. Intense pain exploded from the depths of his soul, and his consciousness went blank for a moment.
Chen Du slowly turned around. His expression remained unchanged, his back was still hunched, and his eyes were still cloudy.
But Li Han looked into those cloudy eyes, he felt as if his soul was being gripped by something cold.
He opened his mouth, but only a hoarse, breathy sound escaped his throat.
That overwhelming aura, which he couldn't comprehend, vanished completely in an instant.
The stone steps were as quiet as if nothing had happened, but Li Han had already slumped to the ground, his face pale and covered in cold sweat.
His Soul-Seizing Secret Art shattered.
His spirit was severely damaged.
The "old jailer" in front of him was looking down at him without saying a word.