The Heavenly Prison was dark and damp, and waves of putrid air assailed the senses.
It was the dead of night. The prisoners in the Heavenly Prison had all fallen asleep. Dressed in black, Ye Jing pushed the Breath Concealment Art to its utmost.
His figure flitted through the Heavenly Prison like a ghost, swiftly making his way toward the cell where Yao Qingyin was held.
In a cell in the Great Li Heavenly Prison.
The cell's four walls had been built from solid Dragon-Severing Stone, and its gate had been forged from Millennium Meteorite Iron.
The cell was sealed on all sides, with sunlight filtering in only through the small, square window, bringing a sliver of light to the gloomy prison.
Yao Qingyin's breath was weak, her hair slightly disheveled and her clothes spattered with blood. She sat on a mat of dried grass, leaning against the corner like a walking corpse. Her eyes were hollow with despair; only when she looked at the blue figure outside the iron bars did a trace of hatred appear in them.
"Medicine Girl, you should tell us about the Secret Realm. That way, you'll suffer less."
"Don't worry. The Sword Sect Master has used the Sword Sect's centuries-old foundation to guarantee your life. Our Great Li Imperial Family won't cross the bridge and tear it down behind us."
Outside the iron bars, Lei Wujie stood in blue robes, his face cold. In all these days, no matter what tortures he had inflicted, Yao Qingyin had refused to reveal a single thing about the Secret Realm.
Unfortunately, the Great Li Imperial Family had ordered him not to take her life. Otherwise, if he used the Heavenly Thunder Torture and subjected Yao Qingyin to endless bolts of lightning, even if her bones were made of iron, she would have to talk.
But the Heavenly Thunder Torture was too brutal. With this woman's cultivation at only the Innate Realm, the slightest misstep could cost her life and destroy her cultivation.
For days, he had pressed her for information about the Secret Realm that Yao Xingchen had discovered all those years ago, but he had made no progress. Since force had failed, Lei Wujie could only try persuasion.
The eyes that had been lifeless a moment ago filled with fury. Yao Qingyin glared at Lei Wujie, her face twisted with rage, and spat at him.
"Pah! My Medicine Manor served the Great Li Imperial Family faithfully for a thousand years, yet in the end, our entire clan was wiped out. And now the Great Li Imperial Family still wants the Secret Realm of my ancestors? Keep dreaming!"
"If you've got the guts, kill me with one palm strike. Otherwise, if I ever escape the Heavenly Prison, I'll uproot the entire Great Li Imperial Family!"
Faced with the thick threat in Yao Qingyin's words, Lei Wujie sneered. "Escape?"
He glanced around at the prison, which was as impregnable as an iron fortress, and continued to persuade her. "This Heavenly Cell No. 1 is the most secure place in the Great Li Heavenly Prison."
"Its walls are built from Dragon-Severing Stone, and its iron gate was forged from Millennium Meteorite Iron."
"Before you, ten prisoners were locked in this cell. Every one of them was a founder of a sect, but no matter how immense their abilities, they all ended up as dried bones, dying of old age in this Heavenly Prison."
"You're nothing but a lowly cultivator in the Innate Realm, yet you think you'll escape one day!"
Seeing Yao Qingyin's ashen face, Lei Wujie continued coaxing her. "Little girl, if you keep guarding that Secret Realm, you'll spend your whole life trapped in this Heavenly Cell No. 1, and end up as nothing but dried bones. You can forget about ever taking revenge."
"Medicine Girl, your Medicine Manor suffered such a terrible injustice, and you carry such a Blood Feud. Can you really let yourself wither away in this Heavenly Prison? Don't you want to avenge your Medicine Manor kin who died so cruelly?"
"Think of your father, your grandfather, all your Medicine Manor clansmen dying before your eyes. If you tell me what you know about that Secret Realm, I'll set you free this instant."
"As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. With your talent, when the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm comes, you might still find an opportunity. Then, uprooting the Great Li Imperial Clan may not be impossible."
Lei Wujie's words clung to Yao Qingyin's heart like maggots in her bones, and she began to waver.
Though the Medicine Manor had fallen into decline, it was still a well-known clan in the Imperial Capital. Yao Qingyin naturally recognized Millennium Meteorite Iron and Dragon-Severing Stone.
Millennium Meteorite Iron was a rare and precious treasure of the world. Even if a trace were added to an ordinary sword, it would instantly become incomparably sharp, like a divine weapon.
The entire iron gate had been forged from Millennium Meteorite Iron. One could only imagine how hard it was.
Dragon-Severing Stone was no less extraordinary. It was made from the hardest Vajra stone in the world, and the Dragon-Severing Stone was covered in Array Patterns that greatly increased its hardness.
Of all the people in Great Li, fewer than three could escape a Heavenly Prison built from these two materials.
She wasn't afraid of the many tortures in the Great Li Heavenly Prison. What she feared was being unable to escape it.
When she had first been locked in the Heavenly Prison, Yao Qingyin had clung to a sliver of hope. But now that she had heard Lei Wujie himself explain the marvels of Heavenly Cell No. 1, her eyes filled with despair.
To escape Heavenly Cell No. 1 by her own strength would be harder than ascending to heaven. Only someone with power great enough to reach the heavens could sneak into the Heavenly Prison and rescue her.
But how could that be possible? In the thousand years since the Great Li Heavenly Prison was established, no one had ever managed to rescue a prisoner from it.
Besides, she had no family or friends left. Who would risk so much to save her from the Heavenly Prison?
She didn't know anyone that powerful. Even Senior Jian Xuzi was certainly not capable of it.
"Who?!"
As Yao Qingyin sat lost in thought, Lei Wujie's cold shout jolted her back to her senses.
She looked in the direction of Lei Wujie's gaze and saw a mysterious figure in black robes suspended in midair, no more than three feet above the ground.
Lei Wujie's face turned ashen. This person had infiltrated the Great Li Heavenly Prison, and not one of the Great Grandmasters guarding it had noticed, as if the intruder had walked right in through an open door.
It would have been understandable if the intruder had evaded the Great Grandmasters. Though they were first-rate figures throughout Great Li, they still fell short of the heights of Peak of Humanity.
If a Peak of Humanity expert made a move, evading a Great Grandmaster's senses would not be difficult. But Lei Wujie hadn't expected this person to nearly fool even him.
Though he had been coaxing Yao Qingyin, his senses had long since enveloped the entire Great Li Heavenly Prison. The Divine Soul of someone at Peak of Humanity was so powerful that splitting their attention was as easy as breathing.
With his senses blanketing the entire Great Li Heavenly Prison, not a single disturbance could escape him.
Yet this mysterious man in black robes had not only evaded his senses, but had already slipped to within fifteen feet of him.
At that distance, even someone at Peak of Humanity was in danger. If the intruder came within nine feet, Lei Wujie could be gravely wounded in an instant.
On high alert, Lei Wujie stared at the Black Robe before him, his face grave and his eyes full of wariness.
Seeing that his whereabouts had been exposed, Ye Jing stopped hiding. With a single sword-step, he appeared before Lei Wujie, ready to fight.
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