Earth Prison

"Did you hear? There was a big battle in the Slums last night. Many innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire, and the casualties were heavy."

"I heard about that. I heard it was caused by Snake person demons, and 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 also perished."

"Doesn't that mean Wen Xuan and the newly promoted Tu Qing are the only Bronze Toad Envoys left?"

"Exactly."

Fang Mu, arriving at the Demon Slayer Division early in the morning, overheard many people whispering and discussing.

Fang Mu wasn't surprised by the heavy casualties among the Demon Slayer Envoys, as the Snake person was indeed outrageously strong.

However, the deaths of two Bronze Toad Envoys, both at the third or fourth rank, struck Fang Mu as too coincidental.

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

At that moment, Huihai walked in from outside the main hall. Seeing Fang Mu, he seemed a bit surprised and greeted him with a smile.

"Master, you're not late either!"

Fang Mu replied with a smile, but inwardly, he cursed Huihai thoroughly. The old schemer had almost gotten him killed.

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

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

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

Fang Mu stared blankly at Tu Qing, who tossed him a set of keys.

"Didn't you say it was a universal key? Why is there a set?"

Fang Mu looked suspiciously at the approaching Tu Qing and retorted.

"Hmph! You'll know when you go and see for yourself."

"My father needs to go into seclusion during this period, so the demons in Earth Prison will be your responsibility." Tu Qing snorted and turned to leave.

He sneered inwardly, knowing how dangerous the demons imprisoned in Earth Prison were.

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

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

The Chief Envoy of the Demon Slayer Division was incredibly cunning, rarely entering the prisons himself, always pushing the work onto his subordinates.

It was precisely by hiding that he had managed to survive until now.

Looking at the keys in Fang Mu's hand, a strange glint flashed in Huihai's eyes.

Fang Mu immediately caught Huihai's peculiar glance.

He couldn't help but feel suspicious. Was Huihai's ultimate goal Earth Prison?

If that were the case, it would be troublesome. That scoundrel Tu Qing had truly brought him a great crisis.

Without showing any change in his expression, Fang Mu put away the keys and called out to a few Demon Slayer Envoys to accompany Huihai to the Mortal Character Prison to purify the demonic energy.

Among the randomly selected Demon Slayer Envoys, a clone was present.

Huihai did not refuse or object. He nodded at Fang Mu with a smile and entered the Mortal Prison.

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

"Earth Prison has formations that automatically absorb demonic energy, causing the demons' strength to weaken over time."

"So, for the demons in Earth Prison, you can wait until they are on their last breath before acting."

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

"Thank you!" Fang Mu was a little surprised but still expressed his gratitude.

"Fang Mu! For some reason, I always feel you are different from other Demon Slayer Envoys."

"Cultivate well! If you can advance to the Innate Realm, I will give you a 'Boundless Past' gift."

With that, Wen Xuan turned and left, leaving Fang Mu frowning and puzzled.

There is no love without reason, nor is there hate without reason.

Fang Mu couldn't understand why Wen Xuan would say such things to him.

Shaking his head, Fang Mu didn't dwell on the question any further. Advancing to the Innate Realm wasn't that easy; it wasn't like digging up cabbage, where you could find a basketful.

Entering the Mortal Character Prison, amidst a series of clanking chains, the iron-forged elevator room slowly descended.

From Mortal Character Prison One Star to Mortal Character Prison Seven Star, the elevator room stopped firmly in the Seven Star area.

Fang Mu walked onto the iron chain bridge with practiced ease, proceeding straight ahead.

Upon reaching the end, he arrived before a massive stone wall.

This mountain wall seemed like a masterpiece of nature, constructed from an unknown type of black brick, impervious to swords, blades, fire, and water.

Beyond this wall was the true path to Earth Prison.

The deep prison beneath Mortal Character Prison Seven Star was filled with mechanisms and traps, all designed to mislead those with ulterior motives.

Once past the seven-star defense line of the Mortal Character Prison, descent into the deep prison meant almost certain death.

Fang Mu only qualified to learn this secret after becoming a Demon Slayer Division Envoy.

He couldn't help but feel a chill of fear, thankful he hadn't been curious enough to investigate further; otherwise, curiosity might have truly killed the cat.

He took out a circular token from his keyring and inserted it into the mountain wall, turning it gently.

Amidst a series of mechanical sounds, the mountain wall emitted a deep rumbling.

The mountain wall split down the middle with a straight seam, moving to the left and right, revealing a spacious entrance.

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

Fang Mu removed the circular token and stepped into the tunnel. After only a couple of steps, the mountain wall rumbled again, quickly closing on its own.

After the mountain wall closed, Fang Mu, who had been holding his breath and on high alert, finally let out a sigh of relief.

When he opened the Earth Prison, he had sensed a hidden gaze upon him.

If his guess was correct, it must have been that old schemer Huihai; he was indeed coveting the Earth Prison.

Fortunately, Huihai had only been lurking in the shadows and hadn't made a move.

It was clear he wasn't ready to reveal himself, but this still made Fang Mu break out in a cold sweat.

Fang Mu felt he needed to figure out Huihai's objective first to gain the upper hand.

Pulling his thoughts back, Fang Mu began walking towards the passage ahead.

The mountain passage was pitch black; even holding a palace lantern only illuminated a few meters around him.

After walking along the straight passage for a while, it began to descend along a series of stairs.

In the quiet stairwell, the silence was so profound that only his own footsteps could be heard.

"No wonder Tu Shan and the Chief Envoy never come here. Spending too long in this cursed place would surely leave a psychological scar."

Fang Mu muttered to himself, and soon arrived at a straight passage with a heavy iron gate.

He inserted a key into the keyhole and tried all the keys before the heavy iron gate slowly opened on its own.

Stepping inside the heavy iron gate, Fang Mu also felt a bead of sweat trickle down his back.

Fortunately, the gate had no anti-theft measures; otherwise, after trying so many keys, the door would have either locked itself or fired countless hidden mechanisms, turning him into a sieve.

Thus, Fang Mu overcame all obstacles, either going straight or downwards, opening countless heavy iron gates without knowing how many.

This made Fang Mu wonder if he wouldn't be able to escape if he couldn't defeat a demon.

Because of this series of locked heavy iron gates, just finding the keys and unlocking them would take considerable time.

Fang Mu counted and found there were eighteen heavy iron gates and eighteen keys.

Including the circular token from before, that made nineteen keys.

Adding the new token key he received for becoming an Envoy, that made twenty.