Opportunity and risk appeared together.
Most people considered the opportunity; Zhou Yi did exactly the opposite.
Azure Sky King clearly harbored ill intentions. Ordinary people would willingly risk their lives for divine martial arts.
Master supreme divine arts, advance to Innate Grandmaster in ten years, and become a grandmaster of one's generation.
Why did this plot feel strangely familiar?
Zhou Yi shrugged. He was neither the son of some great master, nor did his ancestors have a blood feud waiting to be avenged. Compared to a protagonist favored by fate, he was more like a minor villain squeezing silver from abused prisoners.
So, getting a transmission secret art for free is enough for me!
Carrying a bucket, Zhou Yi entered Cell A-2. Yellow Sky King was imprisoned inside.
The cell had a similar layout. Yellow Sky King was locked fast to the torture rack, his hair disheveled and his Daoist robe stained with blackish-red blood.
His arms were twisted like noodles, broken in who knew how many places. All ten fingers had been severed, leaving only bare palms.
"Heavenly King, please eat."
Zhou Yi used the transmission secret art. As expected, the Black Armor Guard standing watch at the door showed no reaction.
Yellow Sky King paused slightly, then continued eating as though nothing had happened and asked through transmission.
"Who are you? Are you here to rescue this poor Daoist?"
"No."
Zhou Yi's thoughts spun rapidly as he replied, "I have come to send Heavenly King to heaven!"
"This poor Daoist should have thought of it long ago. Those noble clans are nothing but fence-sitters—when the east wind blows hard, they follow the east wind; when the west wind blows hard, they follow the west wind..." Yellow Sky King muttered.
Zhou Yi frowned slightly and did not continue deceiving him.
After delivering the meal, he went to find Warden Zheng, claiming he had caught a chill and requesting one or two months of leave.
"You rascal, you live like an old turtle!"
Warden Zheng waved his hand and did not make things difficult for Zhou Yi.
Spring Breeze Pavilion.
Orioles sang and swallows danced, crimson sleeves fluttering.
It was not yet evening, yet the place was already full. Today was the day to choose the courtesan queen.
The pleasure quarter put forth ten or twenty pure courtesans, who displayed their talents in turn: zither, chess, dance, painting, calligraphy, and poetry. Two or three were eliminated every ten days, until the last remaining one became the courtesan queen.
Round after round of such selection earned far more than a pure courtesan's first night.
Wealthy merchants and great tycoons flung money without blinking to support their beauties. Who knew how many red silk notes were tossed for a single tune.
"Miss Nongyu's zither skills are peerless! A reward!"
The fat man with ten jade thumb rings on his hands waved and scattered a stack of silver notes.
"Miss Lianxiang's poem has spread throughout Shenjing. It surpasses most examination candidates and deserves first place!"
The speaker was a scholar. He could not throw money around like the fat man, so he called on friends and invited fellow students to lend support. Their momentum was considerable.
"What rubbish poetry? Someone already said it was bought by Lianxiang with money from outside."
"Do not spout nonsense and besmirch her reputation! My father is a vice prefect of the capital yamen. If you dare slander her again, I'll have you arrested!"
"A mere vice prefect dares act so arrogantly? This young master is at Marquis Weiyuan's Estate. Come arrest me if you can!"
"Crude boor!"
"Useless trash!"
"..."
Shenjing was the capital of Fengyang Kingdom. Toss a brick anywhere and it could hit a sixth-rank official; a mere vice prefect was truly nothing. But once he began trading insults with nobles and meritorious families, scholars immediately came to his aid, and public sentiment surged like a tidal wave.
Seeing the quarrel escalating, the madam smiled until her eyes became slits.
Nothing major could happen beneath the Son of Heaven's feet. The plants mixed into both crowds would naturally guide the conversation, and in the end, victory or defeat would fall upon the courtesan queen selection.
Once they started competing out of spite like this, she would earn at least tens of thousands of taels of silver!
Second-floor private room.
The side facing the stage below had no wall, allowing them to clearly watch the pure courtesans perform. If they grew tired, they could lower the brocade curtains and sip tea with the girls while discussing the Dao.
Zhou Yi reclined halfway on a soft couch, beauties tucked beneath both arms while someone poured him wine and placed food in his bowl.
From time to time, he told jokes he had heard in his previous life. The two girls with low thresholds for laughter let out clear, tinkling giggles.
Then he told a tragic love story. The girls felt it as if it had happened to them, tears streaming down their faces.
"This is the true blessing of life!"
Zhou Yi nestled among jade and leaned against fragrance, utterly carefree.
Having taken paid sick leave from the Heavenly Prison, Zhou Yi removed his aged disguise and changed into a handsome young man. He had stayed at Spring Breeze Pavilion for more than half a month straight.
It was easy for disguise arts to turn youth into age, but exceedingly difficult to turn age into youth.
Under the effects of his longevity talent, Zhou Yi had stopped growing after adulthood. He only needed to alter his complexion, face shape, and voice slightly. Even if Zhang Zhou were reborn, he would not recognize him.
Few of the other Heavenly Prison jailers remembered what Zhou Yi had looked like when he was young.
"I am like a ghost, an immortal ghost, wandering through the mortal world!"
Zhou Yi swirled his wine cup and muttered, "Empire or imperial clan, civil officials or military generals, a peerless genius of an era or one whose power overshadows the court—they are all but passing clouds before one's eyes!"
Yellow Sky King had colluded with the southern noble clans. The Heavenly Prison had already become a powder keg, so Zhou Yi would return after the storm passed.
Crash!
A tremendous sound rang out, followed by a woman's scream, interrupting Zhou Yi's thoughts.
"I've got plenty of silver! I can sleep with whichever one I want! Are you looking down on me?"
The man speaking was short and fat, yet the strength in his hands was astonishing. He smashed the table with one palm and gripped the madam by the neck as he shouted.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The madam could not speak. She only felt as if her neck were about to snap.
"Where did this country bumpkin come from, daring to cause trouble at Spring Breeze Pavilion!" Before the words had finished, a figure had arrived. Blade-light swept straight for the man's neck, with no thought of holding back.
"We are the Desert North Twins, not country bumpkins."
The short fat man threw down the madam. His body bounced from the ground like a leather ball, spinning round and round in midair to deflect the blade before crashing chest-first into the swordsman.
Bang! Bang!
After several successive booms, the swordsman slammed into the wall and slowly slid down.
He spat out several mouthfuls of blood mixed with chunks of internal organs. After twitching twice, he fell silent.
The madam's face turned deathly pale as she trembled. That swordsman had been an Attendant of the hidden proprietor, a figure with sinews of steel and bones of iron, yet he could not even last a single exchange. She no longer dared say that anyone was not for sale.
"Nongyu, why haven't you come to serve this lord yet!"
"Hahahaha!"
The short fat man laughed heartily, grabbed Nongyu by the lapels, and took her away in several leaps.
The Spring Breeze Pavilion attendants skillfully carried away the swordsman's corpse, scrubbed the bloodstains clean, and replaced the tables and chairs, as if nothing had happened.
A short while later.
The guests became lively again, continuing the music and continuing the dancing.
"How many first-rate experts has this made?"
While Zhou Yi had been fooling around at Spring Breeze Pavilion, he had seen several first-rate experts in half a month. Among them were some whose depths he could not discern, very likely top experts of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.
Brothels and taverns had the most well-informed news. The day after Azure Sky King was imprisoned, people were already discussing it.
Fifteen years ago, Azure Sky King had only been an ordinary disciple of the Great River Gang, with average martial talent.
While escorting goods by boat, he had unexpectedly dredged up an inheritance of divine arts from a river. In merely ten years, he broke through to Innate Grandmaster. Had he not encountered Grand Marshal Li Wu, no one in Fengyang Kingdom could have restrained him. At the very least, he could have secured half the realm!
The rumors spread with astonishing speed. Clearly, someone was fanning the flames.
People of the martial world had no interest in rebelling and claiming kingship, but they could not resist the temptation of divine arts. Experts from all over Fengyang Kingdom gathered in Shenjing one after another.
"Noble clans, noble clans—you all deserve execution!"
Zhou Yi gently shook his head and opened his mouth to eat a grape peeled by one of the girls.
That night.
The stars and moon were dimmed, while dark clouds blanketed the sky.
The Court of Judicial Review suddenly caught fire, which in an instant spread to dozens of pavilions.
The blaze soared into the heavens, burning the sky dark red. The city patrol's manpower was utterly incapable of controlling it.
The Court of Judicial Review held many important case files. Its vice minister immediately gave orders to call on the Heavenly Prison's Imperial Guards for assistance. The Heavenly Prison stood right beside the Court of Judicial Review, and upon receiving the command, the Imperial Guards commander immediately dispatched troops to extinguish the fire.
Not long after the Imperial Guards left, dozens of figures appeared outside the Heavenly Prison.
Tall and short, fat and thin, every one of them looked strange and bizarre.
Monks and Daoists alike, not a trace of compassion could be seen upon them—only clear ferocity.
The Heavenly Prison gates were forged from refined steel, and its walls were a full zhang thick on all four sides. Even an Innate Grandmaster could not blast them open.
"When will the gates open?"
"Still another quarter hour."
"Hehehe, Big-Head Ghost, didn't you say only fools would come?"
"Two big stupid bears, you are the fools!"
"One Cave of Ghosts, once this is over, I'll send you to meet King Yama."
"..."
As they spoke, a tremendous sound came from ahead.
Boom!
The Heavenly Prison gates fell in response. It was not that the refined steel gates had broken, but that explosives from within had blasted apart the gateposts.
The jailers on duty within the prison wore bewildered expressions as the Black Armor Army began forming ranks.
"Kill!"
A long howl rang out as dozens of figures rushed through the prison gates at lightning speed.
"Impudent! This is the vital ground of the Heavenly Prison. Those who storm it shall be executed to the ninth—"
Before the Black Armor Army commander could finish, a Flying Needle hidden weapon pierced through his armor and shredded his heart meridian.
Several hundred Black Armor Army soldiers could kill a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert by mounting horses and charging, but in infantry combat on foot, it became a one-sided slaughter.
What was more, there was more than one top expert among the nighttime raiders.
"Haha... What a satisfying slaughter!"
The short fat man wielded two bronze hammers, each hammerhead as large as a human head. He rushed into the prison and began smashing wildly. Jailers were injured if grazed and died if struck; in moments, more than twenty people had died beneath his hammers.
Red and white matter coated the hammerheads. He stuck out his tongue and licked them, growing ever more frenzied in his killing.
The short fat man was the first to reach Cell A-1. Raising his hammer and bringing it down, he smashed apart the cell bars.
"Azure Sky King, I've come to save you!"
"You two dogs from the Desert North..."
Azure Sky King slowly raised his head. Beneath his tangled hair was a handsome, dignified face.
"You aren't Azure Sky King?"
The short fat man had never seen Azure Sky King, but he had heard that the martial alliance leader of Jiangnan was a wrinkled old man.
Suddenly, his heart jolted. His eyes filled with horror as he trembled and said, "You are Li Wu, the God of Slaughter!"
"You bear are not stupid beyond saving."
Li Wu gave a light shake, and the chains binding his limbs opened by themselves.
"I don't care who you are, you'll die all the same!"
Though the short fat man spoke fiercely, both bronze hammers flew from his hands while he himself turned and fled like a bouncing ball.
"I heard you enjoy watching dogs eat people. Tomorrow, this general will find hunting hounds and see how many you can feed."
Li Wu's figure flickered, and he instantly appeared behind the short fat man. With repeated flicks of his fingers, invisible force shattered his limbs. With a light brush, Innate true qi sealed the acupoints throughout his body.
The several experts outside the cell saw Li Wu as though they had seen a ghost.
"Retreat!"
"This is a trap!"
But it was already too late. Li Wu passed by several of them, and they all collapsed, their breath extinguished.
"Li Wu, you are ruthless indeed!"
The speaker had a head of snowy white hair. His azure Daoist robe fluttered without wind; he was a master of the Daoist sect who had deeply cultivated internal qi.
Li Wu said slowly, "From today onward, all true disciples and lay disciples of Jiangnan Tianyi Temple and Golden Light Temple shall be judged guilty of treason!"
"Amitabha!"
The monk held a spade, golden internal qi bursting from his body as though a Vajra had descended into the world.
"We cannot escape. Attack together!"
Impermanence Ghost's hands were black as ink, emitting poisonous gas with a stench that assaulted the nose. He darted through the prison like a phantom.
"Below Innate, all are ants!"
A green longsword abruptly appeared in Li Wu's hand. Driven by Innate true qi, it wheeled and danced nimbly through the air, cleaving Impermanence Ghost into two.
The Daoist and monk also failed to last more than a few exchanges before dying beneath the flying sword!
The remaining martial world experts no longer had any will to resist. They threw down their weapons and knelt to beg for mercy...
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