The turmoil in Luoyang Prison remained confined to a limited area. Ever since the Heavenly Punishment Palace had dispatched large numbers of immortal troops into Luoyang Prison, the demons and monsters that had been active on the outskirts had gradually withdrawn inside, allowing Nine Central City to enjoy a relatively peaceful stretch for the time being.
Most of Nine Central City's immortal citizens had finally been granted a rare period of relative peace, whether in their daily lives or in their cultivation. Yet the steady stream of immortal troops passing through the city from elsewhere, then being dispatched into Luoyang Prison, reminded everyone that the fighting there was far from over.
"Judging by the numbers, the immortal troops from our Nine Central City fighting in Luoyang Prison already number in the hundreds of thousands. And that's before counting the great forces sent into Luoyang Prison later, or the troops assigned to reinforce the outer defenses. With all the soldiers drafted from various regions, the numbers must have grown quite a bit. How many times has the Heavenly Punishment Palace sent reinforcements now? If you count them all, the troops it has dispatched alone must be close to five hundred thousand. I hear quite a few are elite forces under the palace's direct command. Good heavens, are they planning to conquer Luoyang Prison in one fell swoop?"
The temporary calm in Nine Central City naturally gave the gossipmongers more room to multiply. The story of Third-Rank Alchemy Saint Dongfang defecting from the Honghao Celestial Court and fleeing all the way to Luoyang Prison—and of the astonishing number of immortal troops sent in after him—had spread like wildfire. Not just in Nine Central City, but throughout the immortal regions and cities of the other Celestial Courts, everyone was talking about the Heavenly