Trapped Dragon Prison

Gao San, head of the Jiangbei National Security Department, spoke up. "Is there any result from the investigation?"

"Chief, the security cameras were smashed. Nobody saw anything in the surrounding area, and not a single person reported a crime."

"That's right, Chief. Aside from six human-shaped deep craters and some bloodstains at the scene, there were no other energy fluctuations."

"No energy fluctuations can only mean the deed was done by an expert."

"Could a cyborg have appeared in our district?"

"Unlikely to be a cyborg, the probability of an awakened esper is much higher."

"If it's an awakened, their ability is at least A-class. It's impossible for a newly awakened person to have such immense power."

A large crowd below was chattering and discussing all at once.

"Everyone focus your attention on mercenaries and espers, and investigate in those directions. Little Zhao, tomorrow you go check if there are any prisoners who recently came out of Trapped Dragon Prison," Gao San instructed after pondering for a long time.

Trapped Dragon Prison was a large prison in Huaxia used to hold heavy-duty criminals.

The little one was lying on the bed humming the melody of a song and playing with his cell phone. Before long, the sound grew softer and softer, and he fell asleep in a daze.

Ling Yun did not want to sleep. His consciousness entered his sea of consciousness, where the Power of Time had already transformed into a solid bead the size of a glass marble.

Let's call it the Samsara Pearl from now on, he thought. After studying it for half a day, he still couldn't wield its power, so with no results he had no choice but to withdraw.

Extremely bored, he swept his divine sense across every corner of Jiangbei City, and his divine sense stopped in a dimly lit alley.

A woman possessed a cold and striking beauty, yet at that moment her face was pale as she continuously retreated backward.

"What are you, you, you guys trying to do?" a woman asked with some fear.

"Hehe, what are we doing? A robbery! Hand over your cell phone and money right now." Several punks revealed greedy, lecherous smiles.

"Elder Brother, I don't have any money," the woman said, shaking her head.

"No money? Search her..."

Ling Yun's divine sense could not bear to watch any further. Lying on the bed, he reached out and touched the air, and a black whirlpool immediately appeared in the void, while an oval-shaped, two-meter-tall black whirlpool also appeared in the alley.

Just as the woman was reaching the verge of despair, she saw a black opening appear behind the punks, and in an instant an formless giant hand slapped out.

Without even understanding what was going on, the several punks were slammed against the side wall. Their faces were all bruised and battered, and they were knocked unconscious one by one.

Seeing that the punks had all passed out and then looking at that suddenly appearing black opening, the woman felt a bit wary.

Yet she herself had not been harmed, and she knew she had been saved by a kind person. However, she was somewhat frightened silly and stood without reacting for a long time. Several seconds later, the black opening vanished, and only then did the woman snap to her senses and hurry off to call the police.

Ling Yun withdrew his right hand and muttered to himself, Am I trying to be a good person? Heh, my state of mind has changed, hasn't it!

After saying this, he clearly felt a trace of energy he had never seen before flow into his glabella and merge into the Samsara Pearl, causing a sudden shock in his heart.

Ling Yun immediately entered his sea of consciousness to observe the Samsara Pearl closely. It was still the same size as before, but the only difference was that it was a bit redder. At this moment, he also received a piece of information belonging to the Samsara Pearl within his mind.

Ling Yun was pleasantly surprised. Oh, it turned out that the energy that had just merged into the Samsara Pearl was the Power of Merit, also known as Merit Points. Only with Merit Points could the Power of Time be wielded; when the Power of Time turned into the Samsara Pearl, merit was required to operate it. Having understood this point, he finally realized that his previous self had been acting like an utter fool.

With black lines running all down his head, Ling Yun fiercely complained to himself inwardly, So it turns out you don't need a catchphrase.

He had just played the good guy for once, never expecting it to actually trigger merit, which finally unlocked the secret of the Samsara Pearl.

The acquired Merit Points were stored within the Samsara Pearl, and he could enter the interior of the bead to check them. The Samsara Pearl could also sense a person's value of sins.

The Samsara Pearl possessed two additional abilities. First, it could open the Gate of Time, though that required far too much merit, and the information provided by the Samsara Pearl was incomplete, so he couldn't research it for now and had to let it go. Second was the time ratio, which could alter the flow rate of time and manipulate time.

Withdrawing from his sea of consciousness, Ling Yun relied on the trace of Merit Points he had just obtained to successfully cause the potted plant by the window to bloom.

It was gone, all gone. The Merit Points he had just gotten were gone just like that. However, Ling Yun didn't have much of an emotional reaction; if they were gone, he would just earn them back. At worst, he would just play the good guy a few more times.

His divine sense opened wide once again! The range swept across the entire country, but his target was not to save those in suffering and distress; rather, through the Samsara Pearl, he checked for people steeped in heavy sins and those whose hands were stained with blood.

"Hm? This place—a prison. Everyone inside has sins. Hm? They also possess a trace of microscopic energy within their bodies? This bit of energy doesn't even reach five percent of my current strength, far too weak. Ancient martial inner force, plus bodily mutation? It seems the ones locked up here are all heavy criminals. Trapped Dragon Prison, is it? Rather interesting," Ling Yun muttered, stroking his chin.

His divine sense slowly seeped into the interior of the prison, moving from the outside in. Suddenly, Ling Yun said in pleasant surprise, "It's you. Your sin value is so heavy, and your killing intent is equally heavy. I'll make an example out of you."

Li Qingfeng had been locked up in this prison for five years. Over these past five years, he had already broken through from the Innate Realm to the Core Condensation Realm, and in another month he would have served his sentence and been released from prison. As long as he acted as an agent for the state according to the terms of the signed treaty from then on, he could stay alive.

Yet even though Li Qingfeng was in the Core Condensation Realm, he had no way to shake off the control of the headache pills.

Everyone serving time in this prison was controlled by headache pills.

The rule was that every prisoner received a single antidote pill every three months.

And the headache pills also acted up once every three months. The state used precisely this method to control the prisoners and keep their post-prison lives in check.

Suddenly, Li Qingfeng felt danger. He was being targeted.

He began looking around his surroundings, but did not spot any suspicious individuals. The feeling grew increasingly intense—there was no mistake, someone was staring at him.

"Who is it? Come out! What kind of skill is it to hide in the dark?" Li Qingfeng shouted loudly.

The surroundings were dead quiet, without any abnormalities.

"I say, Old Li, aren't you going to sleep at this hour? What are you howling blindly for?" A neighbor in the adjoining cell asked with some grievance, having been woken up by him; he already had poor sleep to begin with.

"Old Lu, do you have a feeling like you're being watched?" Li Qingfeng asked, remaining vigilant.

"Old Li, what are you afraid of in this prison? Is there anyone who would target you? If you don't target others, you should burn high incense, haha."

"Old Lu, I—"

A miserable scream of "Ah" startled this entire block of cells, and the source of the sound was none other than Li Qingfeng.

A few seconds earlier, a black hole had manifested within Li Qingfeng's cell. The moment it manifested, he was grabbed by an invisible giant hand.

He was suspended in midair!

His entire body's protective qi and even his bones were crushed to pieces. The whole process happened far too fast; he didn't even have time to react before he was hurled by the immense force against the cell door.

The cell door collapsed and flew outward, and Li Qingfeng breathed his last. The black whirlpool then vanished.

"Old Li! Old Li! What happened?" Seeing the flying cell door, Old Lu's expression changed as he pursued the question.

At this moment, the occupants of the other cells had also been woken up. Hearing the screams, the prison guards ran over, began asking what had happened, and then sprinted over to the cell where Li Qingfeng was being held.

Seeing that the cell door was shattered, the prison guards were greatly shocked. Li Qingfeng was lying dead on the floor. One of the prison guards checked him and discovered he had already passed away, with blood seeping out all over his body. He died with his eyes open, and it was obvious he had suffered extreme agony before death. This state of death made their hair stand on end and caused their whole bodies to tremble, sending cold sweat pouring down in the heat of midsummer.

"Hey, I say, Warden, what on earth happened to Old Li?" Old Lu waved a hand.

The other cells also wanted to know what was going on and began asking one after another.

"He's d-d-dead," one prison guard stammered incoherently.

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

As a high-security prisoner whose cultivation had recently even reached the Core Condensation Realm, Li Qingfeng had died mysteriously right under their noses. How could they not be shocked? The top ten experts of Trapped Dragon Prison, who were unfathomably powerful in their eyes, had been slain. Just how terrifying must the strength of the person who finished him off be? It went without saying.

"Bah, too weak. Grab him and toss him and he's done for. No fun at all," Ling Yun muttered, rubbing his nose in speechlessness.

If Li Qingfeng could hear what he was saying, he would probably be able to vomit several more liters of blood. Are you kidding me? I struggled for a full two seconds, alright?

"Hm, slaughtering this guy got me a pretty decent amount of Merit Points, hehe," Ling Yun wore a wretched smile.

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