Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique

Night fell.

The entire Demon Subduing Prison was deathly still, save for the occasional patrol of wardens making their rounds; no one else stirred.

By regulation, executioners were to remain quietly in their quarters after dark. Each room had a chamber pot, and no one was permitted to leave without urgent cause. Violators would be dealt with according to Demon Subduing Bureau rules.

Primordial Yang Fist: Fifth Layer (11/1600)(+)

Golden Bell Shield: Fourth Layer (112/800)(+)

Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique: Uninitiated (0/100)(+)

Universal Proficiency: 1100

After executing the Evil Spirit today, Ning Xiu earned another 500 Universal Proficiency points. His accumulated total was now substantial—time to put them to use.

First, he added 100 Universal Proficiency points to the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique, directly advancing it to the first layer. Now Ning Xiu could wield some of its abilities.

Sitting on the bed, he began cultivating the technique the White Fox Woman had taught him. Soon, his pupils rapidly turned white, giving him a somewhat eerie appearance.

Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique, Proficiency +1

"This Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique is truly marvelous," Ning Xiu marveled.

In his vision, the room was filled with black-gray turbid qi that was ordinarily invisible. This qi was formless and ethereal, sometimes passing through walls to leave, other times seeping through doors to enter.

If his guess was correct, this black-gray turbid qi was the Evil Qi emitted by the Demonic Creatures imprisoned here. With countless such beings held in the Demon Subduing Prison, the Evil Qi had long since saturated the entire facility.

To prevent this Evil Qi from affecting the people of Chaotian Capital, this was likely why the prison had been built underground.

As for the remaining 1000 Universal Proficiency points, Ning Xiu poured them all into Primordial Yang Fist.

Though Primordial Yang Fist had already reached the fifth layer and boosted his blood vitality considerably, it was still insufficient to resist the Evil Qi that erupted when a Demonic Creature died.

Every time he executed a Demonic Creature, Ning Xiu still saw bizarre and horrifying visions, felt a stifling pressure in his chest, and suffered from headaches and dizziness.

Thus, his current priority was to train Primordial Yang Fist until his blood vitality could completely ignore the Evil Qi.

Only when he could execute Demonic Creatures without suffering hallucinations would it be time to improve his other martial arts and techniques.

Just as Ning Xiu was cultivating the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique, an unexpected incident occurred in the Huang Zone of the Demon Subduing Prison.

A tall, thin warden stood in a pool of blood. Around him, seven wardens lay dead in gruesome states—some missing arms, others with their heads severed from their bodies.

Blood had even splattered onto the walls, leaving streaks of red.

"I only came to take my child away. Why did you have to block me?" the tall, thin warden said, his eyes curving into crescent moons as he smiled.

Leaving bloody footprints behind, he walked away as calmly as if killing seven people were no more than crushing a few ants.

Following the scent, he arrived before Cell No. 8 in the Huang Zone and pushed the door open directly: "Lan'er, your uncle has come to take you home."

But the cell was empty. The familiar scent of his niece lingered, yet its owner was nowhere to be found. The tall, thin warden's expression instantly froze.

In the Demon Subduing Prison, each demon had its own cell and was rarely moved. If a cell was empty, it meant the occupant had already been executed.

At this thought, the tall, thin warden's crescent eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of deep blue pupils. The smile on his lips faded, and his entire presence turned as cold as an icehouse, chilling the very air.

"Lan'er... your uncle came too late..."

Outside the cell, a ring of talismans suddenly appeared on the corridor wall, and a Cloth-Robed Old Daoist stepped out from within.

When he saw the tall, thin warden and the bloody carnage nearby, the old Daoist shook his head: "I rushed as fast as I could, but I was still too late. Who are you, daring to break into the Demon Subduing Prison and slaughter wardens? Do you know this is a capital offense?"

The tall, thin warden erupted in a burst of green mist. Within that mist, his form instantly transformed.

He became a Green-Haired Man with handsome features, beast ears atop his head, and seven large green tails swishing freely behind him.

"Oh, a Seven-Tailed Fox Demon!" the old Daoist said with mild surprise.

Human cultivation had many paths, each graded from one to nine in terms of power, and Demonic Creatures were no exception.

Take fox demons, for example: a two-tailed fox demon could match a human eighth-rank cultivator, a three-tailed matched seventh-rank, and so on.

This Seven-Tailed Fox Demon before him was at the third rank—a notable existence even in all of Chaotian Capital.

"You killed my niece. One day, humanity will repay this with ten thousand lives. Tell the Demon Subduing Bureau to remember that," the fox demon said, clasping his hands. A current of air swirled around him, whipping the corridor into a gale.

The old Daoist braced himself against the wall, ready to strike after the fox demon made the first move, then subdue him.

But to his surprise, the moment the fox demon was fully enveloped by the wind, he turned and fled without a backward glance, darting toward the other end of the corridor.

The entire escape was clean and decisive, without a hint of hesitation—clearly a plan he'd already made.

The old Daoist was taken aback, then laughed in exasperation: "You little fox whelp! I thought you were brave, dropping threats and then running away."

With that, he immediately gave chase in the direction the Seven-Tailed Fox Demon had fled.

The Demon Subduing Prison was directly under the emperor's authority. Allowing a fox demon to sneak in and kill several wardens was already a grave dereliction of duty.

If they let this Demonic Creature come and go as it pleased, the Demon Subduing Bureau's face would be thoroughly lost tonight.

Qing Ying wrapped himself in wind, riding the gale as he surged forward at tremendous speed. In less than two breaths, he had already covered over a hundred zhang.

Fox demons were traditionally distinguished by the color of their fur, which indicated their elemental affinity. Green foxes excelled at wind and often studied the Wind Path. Red foxes favored fire and wielded flame techniques.

And the White Fox was a one-in-ten-thousand existence, capable of learning any technique.

This time, Qing Ying had relied on his mastery of the Wind Path—his ability to move without shadow or trace—to disguise himself as a prison guard and infiltrate the Demon Subduing Prison, intending to rescue his imprisoned niece, Bai Ling.

But he hadn't expected to arrive too late, and on top of that, the Demon Subduing Bureau had caught wind of him. He didn't know if he could even make it out of the prison alive tonight.

Just as Qing Ying was sprinting, the floor ahead suddenly bulged upward, forming an earthen wall that blocked his path.

A black and a white figure passed through the wall, and two Daoists materialized in the corridor out of thin air.

The Black-Robed Daoist was gaunt as a skeleton, with live snakes threaded through his earlobes as rings, a beast-skull club in hand, his vacant eyes fixed on Qing Ying.

The White-Robed Daoist was a beautiful woman, tall and wide-hipped, with narrow shoulders and a slender waist. The loose white robe she wore, though proper in cut, strained across her chest, full and firm, looking anything but dignified.

With a seductive glint in her eyes, the White-Robed Daoist crossed her arms and chuckled. "A handsome fox, not bad at all. Looks like this year's winter solstice coat is taken care of."

"Immortal Path Rank 3." Seeing the two suddenly appear before him, Qing Ying exclaimed in shock.

He hadn't expected the Demon Subduing Bureau to arrive so quickly, and with two Rank 3 Demon Subduing Captains at that.

He couldn't see through the old Daoist's strength—likely an Immortal Path Rank 2 existence.

He'd thought he could rely on his Wind Path speed to shake off the old Daoist and escape the prison swiftly, but he hadn't anticipated so many Demon Subduing Captains converging. Qing Ying knew now that leaving easily tonight was impossible.

Without hesitation, he channeled wind into his palms, forming a vortex, and slammed both hands toward the black and white Daoists, fighting for a sliver of hope.

Boom!

The entire Demon Subduing Prison shook violently. Ning Xiu, who had been cultivating, quickly stopped his practice of the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique, afraid that a lapse in focus would lead to a mishap.

"What's going on?" Watching the door and wooden bed tremble slightly in his room, Ning Xiu was deeply puzzled.

Could the capital of Great Shang, Chaotian Capital, be experiencing an earthquake?

He hurriedly opened the door and poked his head out, only to see prison guards already maintaining order in the corridor, shouting, "Everyone back to bed! The Demon Subduing Captains are handling business in the prison. No one leaves their room until tomorrow."

Hearing this, Ning Xiu closed the door. He had a feeling that something major had happened in the Demon Subduing Prison tonight.

When the sky falls, there are always the tall to hold it up. Ning Xiu was just a minor apprentice of the Champion Camp, not even a low-ranking Iron Horse Demon Subduing Captain. Whatever was happening in the prison, it wasn't his concern.

With the prison still shaking, it wasn't a good environment for cultivation. Ning Xiu set aside his diligence, lay down on his bed, and began to rest.

Early the next morning, Ning Xiu quickly headed to the main hall. Everyone was curious about the cause of last night's commotion.

If he went early to ask the duty guard for information, the man might have the patience to explain a thing or two.

"Sir, what exactly happened in the prison last night? It shook so violently." Ning Xiu asked in a low voice, looking at the guard holding a roster.

"Nothing much. A fox demon slipped into the prison, got caught by the big shots from the Demon Subduing Bureau, had a big fight, and now it's locked up in the Heaven Zone." The guard's expression was indifferent, his tone flat.

Clearly, this was a man used to storms.

"Ning Xiu, right? You've executed three Evil Spirits already, not bad. Today, try your hand at Xuan Zone Cell 36. If you can handle the Evil Qi there, you'll take all your executions in the Xuan Zone from now on. One kill there counts as two in the Huang Zone."

Since the Demon Subduing Prison was divided into four zones—Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang—each zone held Evil Spirits of varying danger levels.

Being able to execute in the Xuan Zone was a good thing for Ning Xiu, and he agreed immediately.

After parting with the guard, he arrived at Xuan Zone Cell 36. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw a bald, black-maned giant of a man locked inside.

The man had a fierce face, bulging muscles, and his hands and feet were bound in iron chains, yet his whole body still exuded a murderous aura that kept others at a distance.

"Sending a greenhorn to execute me? Is the Demon Subduing Bureau that short on men? Kid, I suggest you scram, or even tied up, I might just accidentally eat you alive." The man glared at Ning Xiu with eyes like copper bells, trying to intimidate him with a show of force.

But to his surprise, Ning Xiu remained utterly calm, staring back at the man as if he were an idiot.

"Enough chatter. I'll just send you on your way." Picking up the Wild Goose Feather Saber from the wooden table in the cell, Ning Xiu swung it straight at the man's head.

Yet the man dodged with ease, sidestepping Ning Xiu's attack, then reached out and grabbed the blade, lunging at Ning Xiu with one hand.

This was the first time since executing three Evil Spirits that Ning Xiu had encountered one that fought back. No wonder this guy was locked in the Xuan Zone—he was special.

Unfazed, Ning Xiu countered with a Primordial Yang Fist, knocking the man's hand back, then swiftly jabbed two fingers at his throat, piercing it at lightning speed.

The Golden Bell Shield was a hard-body martial art; at high levels, it made one impervious to blades and fire, water and weapons alike.

Though Ning Xiu hadn't reached that stage yet, with the Golden Bell Shield at the fourth layer, his finger joints were as hard as bronze or iron, no different from ordinary sharp weapons.

"Gurgle!"

The man clutched his throat, blood gushing between his fingers. The sudden pain also brought out his savage nature.

He opened his mouth wide like a basin and bit down on Ning Xiu's shoulder, but the moment his teeth sank in, he felt only a jarring pain in his roots, as if he'd bitten a rock instead of a man.

Ning Xiu hooked his fingers and yanked, widening the wound on the man's throat.

At the same time, he drove the Wild Goose Feather Saber into the man's abdomen, gutting him open.

Within moments, the man collapsed against the wall, his breath gone.

[Killed a human. Gained Universal Proficiency +800]

"This isn't an Evil Spirit. It's a human." Frowning at the warm blood on his fingers, Ning Xiu muttered.

He'd thought it was another shapeshifting Evil Spirit, but it turned out to be a person. So why was he locked up in the Demon Subduing Prison?

Ning Xiu quickly tore open the man's clothes, and there on his chest and belly was a tattoo of a three-headed, furious demon god, treading on black clouds and spewing flames.

"So it's the Black Heaven Gate. No wonder." Seeing the tattoo, Ning Xiu's confusion cleared in an instant.