Earth Prison

"Have you heard? A great battle broke out in the Slums last night. Many innocent civilians were caught up in it, and the casualties were heavy."

"I know about it. I heard it was a Snake person demon causing trouble. Many Demon Slayer Envoys died at its hands."

"I also heard that the Deputy Chief Envoy led the team last night, and two Bronze Toad Envoys fell as well."

"Then aren't the only Bronze Toad Envoys left Wen Xuan and the newly promoted Tu Qing?"

"Exactly."

Fang Mu arrived at the Demon Slayer Division early in the morning and immediately heard many people whispering among themselves.

Fang Mu was not surprised that the Demon Slayer Envoys had suffered heavy casualties, because that Snake person was indeed absurdly powerful.

But the fact that two Bronze Toad Envoys at the third- or fourth-grade level had also died made Fang Mu feel that the coincidence was a little too neat.

"Amitabha! Envoy Fang, you're here quite early!"

At that moment, Huihai walked out of the main hall. He was somewhat surprised to see Fang Mu and greeted him with a smile.

"You're not late either, Master!"

Fang Mu replied with a smile, but inwardly cursed Huihai thoroughly. That old schemer had nearly been killed by him.

After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, the two walked out of the Demon Slayer Division's main hall, intending to head to the Mortal Prison.

"Fang Mu, this is the key to the Earth Prison. From now on, you'll be responsible for slaying the demons inside."

"This is the Earth Prison's universal key. Don't lose it. If any demons escape, you'll be held accountable."

Fang Mu stared dumbfoundedly at the string of keys Tu Qing tossed over.

"Didn't you say it was a universal key? Why is there a whole string of them?"

Fang Mu looked suspiciously at the ill-intentioned Tu Qing and questioned him.

"Hmph! Go take a look yourself and you'll know."

"My father is going into seclusion for a while. The demons in the Earth Prison are yours to deal with." Tu Qing snorted coldly and turned to leave.

He sneered inwardly. The demons imprisoned in the Earth Prison were extremely dangerous.

The Deputy Chief Envoy of the Demon Slayer Division had accidentally lost his life there not long ago.

Now, only one Chief Envoy and Fang Mu, an Envoy, remained in the Demon Slayer Division.

That Chief Envoy was as crafty as a ghost and almost never entered the prison. He always shoved the work off onto his subordinates.

He had managed to survive until now by relying on his ability to hide from danger.

As he looked at the keys in Fang Mu's hand, an unusual glint flashed through Huihai's eyes.

Fang Mu caught Huihai's strange gaze immediately.

Suspicion rose in his heart. Could Huihai's ultimate target be the Earth Prison?

If that was true, things would be troublesome. That treacherous Tu Qing had truly brought him a great disaster.

Without revealing anything, Fang Mu put away the keys and called over several Demon Slayer Envoys to accompany Huihai to the Mortal Character Prison and purify its demonic energy.

Among the Demon Slayer Envoys he had called at random, his clone was conspicuously included.

Huihai did not refuse or object. He merely smiled and nodded at Fang Mu before entering the Mortal Prison.

"Fang Mu, you don't need to kill the demons in the Earth Prison immediately."

"The Earth Prison has formations that can automatically absorb demonic energy, causing the demons inside to grow weaker and weaker."

"So you can wait until the demons in the Earth Prison are on their last legs before making your move."

Just as Fang Mu was about to enter the prison, Wen Xuan called out to him and explained.

"Thank you!" Fang Mu was somewhat surprised, but still offered his thanks.

"Fang Mu! I don't know why, but I always feel that you're different from the other Demon Slayer Envoys."

"Cultivate well! If you can advance to the Innate Realm, I'll give you a boundless gift from a previous life."

After saying that, Wen Xuan turned and left, leaving behind Fang Mu, who stood there with tightly furrowed brows, utterly bewildered.

There was no love without cause, nor hatred without cause.

Fang Mu could not understand why Wen Xuan had said those things to him.

He shook his head and stopped dwelling on the question. Advancing to the Innate Realm was not so easy—it was not as if Innate experts were cabbages, with whole basketsful to be dug up.

Entering the Mortal Character Prison, Fang Mu descended slowly in the iron lift as a series of chains slid and clattered.

From the Mortal Character Prison's first star to its seventh star, the lift finally came to a firm stop in the seven-star area.

Fang Mu crossed the iron chain bridge with practiced ease and proceeded along the path ahead.

When he reached the end, he arrived before a massive stone wall.

The wall seemed to have been crafted by supernatural workmanship. It had been built from unknown black bricks and was impervious to blades, swords, water, and fire.

Only beyond the wall lay the true passage to the Earth Prison.

The deep prison beneath the seven-star dungeon of the Mortal Character Prison was filled entirely with mechanisms and traps, all designed to mislead people with ulterior motives.

As long as one crossed the Mortal Character Prison's seven-star defensive line and descended into the deep prison, survival was virtually impossible.

Fang Mu had only learned this secret after becoming an Envoy of the Demon Slayer Division.

He could not help feeling a lingering fear and secretly congratulating himself for never descending out of curiosity to investigate. Otherwise, curiosity might truly have killed the cat.

He took out a round token from the ring of keys and fitted it into the stone wall, then gently turned it once.

Amid a series of mechanical noises, the stone wall emitted a deep rumble.

A straight crack appeared down the middle of the wall. It split apart and moved toward either side, revealing a spacious entrance.

The passage beyond the entrance was paved with bluestone slabs, and the entire corridor was straight and narrow.

Fang Mu removed the round token and stepped into the passage. After he had taken only two steps, the stone wall rumbled again and quickly closed on its own.

Once the stone wall had closed, Fang Mu, who had been on full alert with his heart in his throat, finally let out a secret sigh of relief.

When he had opened the Earth Prison, he had sensed a gaze watching him from the shadows.

If his guess was correct, it had been that old schemer Huihai. He truly was coveting the Earth Prison.

Fortunately, he had only hidden in the darkness to spy and had not taken action.

Clearly, he was not yet prepared to expose himself, but this still gave Fang Mu a cold sweat.

Fang Mu felt that he had to figure out Huihai's purpose first. Only then could he seize the initiative.

Gathering his thoughts, Fang Mu strode down the passage ahead.

The passage through the stone wall was pitch-black. Even with a palace lantern raised, he could illuminate only a few meters around him.

After following the straight passage for a while, it began descending along a series of steps.

The secluded stairway was so quiet that the only sound was the tap-tap of his own footsteps.

"No wonder Tu Shan and the Chief Envoy never come here. After walking through this ghastly place for long enough, anyone would probably be left with psychological scars."

Fang Mu muttered under his breath. Before long, he arrived at another straight passage, where a massive fine-iron door stood.

He took out a key and inserted it into the lock. Only after trying every key did the fine-iron door slowly open on its own.

As he walked through the fine-iron door, Fang Mu secretly wiped away a cold sweat.

Fortunately, the door had no anti-theft mechanism. Otherwise, after trying so many keys, even if it did not lock itself permanently, it would have fired countless hidden mechanisms and projectiles, turning him into a sieve.

Thus, Fang Mu crossed five passes and cut down six generals, proceeding onward—sometimes straight ahead, sometimes downward. He had no idea how many fine-iron doors he had opened.

This made Fang Mu wonder whether, if he were unable to defeat the demons and wanted to flee, he would even be able to escape.

With such a long series of fine-iron doors locked shut, just finding the right keys and opening them would consume an unknown amount of time.

Fang Mu counted and discovered that there were no fewer than eighteen fine-iron doors, along with eighteen keys.

Adding the round token from earlier made nineteen keys in total.

Then there was the new token-key he had exchanged for after becoming an Envoy, bringing the total to twenty.