The Thickening Mist

Reality.

Black Prison.

Inside the rock cave.

Chen Jichuan lay on a flat patch of ground, his feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent and together, both hands raised above his head and laid flat, palms up, arms stretched straight.

This was a small stretching and corrective trick Lu Peng had taught him in the Great Yan World.

Chen Jichuan had once been hunched over, his back bent and posture utterly unsightly.

After more than a month.

By persisting with the Foundation of Rectification Stretching, he had completely corrected his hunchback. His waist and back had become straight and erect, and even the poise of his shoulders and neck was no worse than that of ballet dancers from his previous life.

On his abdomen.

There was another one-hundred-and-twenty-pound chunk of Yantie Ore.

With such a boulder placed on his stomach, he could still sleep soundly without the slightest pain. It was clear that the Iron Bull Technique had already reached great mastery.

"Hah!"

After returning from the Great Yan World, Chen Jichuan breathed out a mouthful of foul air from his chest.

He opened his eyes.

First, he moved the boulder off his abdomen. Feeling his blood and qi, he mobilized Origin Force to nourish himself. The Iron Bull Technique had improved considerably once more.

The forty-first year of Great Yan.

The winds and clouds of the world shifted, crowds surged and flowed, and each generation brought forth its own talents.

Chen Jichuan was in Lingnan, living in Langning Prefecture, watching the years slip by and facing the changes of the world with indifference.

His name had long shaken the martial world of Great Yan.

He could be said to have achieved both success and fame.

But upon returning to reality.

Only thirty-seven days had passed.

Black Prison remained unchanged.

The rock cave was stifling, desolate, and cold.

It made one feel unable to breathe.

Chen Jichuan had long grown accustomed to the extreme contrast brought by the intertwining of time and space. He remained unmoved.

With a thought, he called up the Immortal Register—

Name: Chen Jichuan

Age: 18

Immortal Tier: None

Official Position: None

Level: 4

Talent: Creation

Spells: Iron Bull Technique (Fourth Layer), Jade Belt Technique (Fourth Layer), Land-Flying Technique (Fourth Layer), Water-Splitting Technique (Fourth Layer), Golden Shovel Finger (Fourth Layer), Iron Broom Technique (Fourth Layer), Crouching Tiger Technique (Third Layer), Golden Blade Exchange Palm Technique (Fourth Layer), Eagle Claw Technique (Third Layer), Wave-Wrapping Technique

Immortal Salary: 1

Origin Force: 14253

This past month and more had been extremely fulfilling for Chen Jichuan—

Every day, he spent six shichen in Great Yan.

Then he spent another six shichen cultivating in reality.

Even so.

While his consciousness and thoughts entered the Great Yan World and his body remained outside, Chen Jichuan still pressed a massive boulder upon his abdomen to practice the Iron Bull Technique, or carried one on his back like a fierce tiger to practice the Crouching Tiger Technique.

When he spared no Origin Force.

Even by racing against time.

His achievements still fell far short of what he had attained in forty-one years in the Great Yan World—twenty-one actual years. The Iron Bull Technique and Jade Belt Technique, for instance, were each one layer lower, reaching only the Fourth Layer.

Yet that single layer of difference, in the Great Yan World, was the gap between prefectural experts like Lu Xiong and Yang Xu, and the foremost masters of Great Yan such as Chen Jichuan of Southern Chen and Tan Jinxuan, Scattering Flower Legs.

It was the difference between heaven and earth.

But there was no helping it.

After all, the time had been too short.

Chen Jichuan cultivated diligently. He rotated through nine martial arts over six shichen each day without resting for a moment. Since his strength had increased, mining Spirit Stones took little time. Spending barely two ke, he could mine around ten Spirit Stones each day.

After thirty-seven days.

He had gained 20,849 points of Origin Force and spent a full 6,000 points before reaching his current level.

If time had been sufficient.

Chen Jichuan would have wished to leave behind not a single point of Origin Force.

But he could not.

First.

The number and intensity of daily practice sessions were limited, and so was the amount of Origin Force his body could absorb. Even if Chen Jichuan had more Origin Force, it would be pointless if his body could not absorb it.

Second.

"Fifty-six days."

"Of the five hundred miners, some have died and some have left. As of yesterday, only two hundred remained."

As time passed—

Nausea.

Vomiting.

Nosebleeds.

Bloody stools.

Peeling skin.

Hair loss.

Sores growing atop their heads.

Pus running from the soles of their feet.

Severe fatigue.

Mouth ulcers.

Coughing blood.

The various symptoms were too numerous to describe in a few words.

In short, more and more miners were suffering mutations triggered by Spirit Stone radiation.

All manner of strange deaths increased alongside them—

Self-immolation.

Melting into water.

Freezing.

Petrification.

They were bizarre and grotesque, enough to strike terror into people's hearts.

Every day, Chen Jichuan used the Insight Art to examine the remaining miners. Other than Chen Shaohe, he had yet to find a second person who had awakened a talent.

But judging from the current trend.

No one could say for certain what day someone might awaken.

Once that happened.

With transcendent power upon them, an awakened person would surely turn the world upside down.

However, since Wusheng Sect had organized the capture and transport of this group of miners, how could it possibly have failed to take precautions?

Around the outer perimeter of this mine, who knew how many Black Armor soldiers were hidden?

Once someone awakened and caused a disturbance.

This place would inevitably descend into chaos.

Ordinary people might think they could flee amid the confusion.

But they must not forget.

Black Prison was sealed shut.

Wusheng Sect guarded the exits. If chaos broke out here and someone suspected of being a transcendent tried to escape, Black Prison would likely be placed under martial lockdown in an instant.

By then.

Whether Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe chose to flee amid the chaos or remain in the rock cave, neither choice would end well.

"It is like boiling a frog in warm water."

"If I keep waiting."

"I can gain more Origin Force, and my strength can grow stronger day by day. But once trouble erupts, there will surely be far more variables in escaping Black Prison."

Variables could be good or bad.

But Chen Jichuan could not gamble.

Nor did he have the capital to gamble.

"Two hundred people."

"It has to be today. We cannot delay any longer!"

Chen Jichuan turned his head and looked over.

Chen Shaohe sat nearby with his eyes closed, resting his mind.

From a month ago, when they had roughly set the date based on the number of remaining miners, to the day before yesterday, when they officially chose the day of action, Chen Shaohe had begun resting his mind from early this morning, lest something go wrong at the crucial moment because he lacked mental energy.

Chen Shaohe had not wasted these days either.

He practiced the Flame Control Technique every day and could already control the shape, size, and temperature of flames. By rubbing his hands together, he could launch fireballs dozens of paces away. Whoever encountered them would burn.

Its destructive power was not to be underestimated.

"Black Prison."

"Wusheng Sect."

Chen Jichuan silently calculated, unusually calm.

Six years in Black Prison had indeed been torment.

If this had been before.

At the thought that the coming operation would determine whether they could escape Black Prison, Chen Jichuan's heart would have pounded wildly.

But in the Great Yan World, he had lived through forty-one years. He practiced martial arts and cultivated every day, challenged the experts of Lingnan, and fought hundreds of battles, large and small. He had long forged a calm and steady disposition.

When trouble arose, he did not panic.

Chen Shaohe, on the other hand.

His ears twitched slightly. Hearing the faint sound made by his fourth brother, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Light shone in his eyes. Though he tried his utmost to suppress it, beneath the covering of Hate-Iron grease, a trace of excitement could still faintly be seen on his face.

Looking more closely, even his heartbeat and pulse differed greatly from normal.

"Fourth Brother."

Chen Shaohe looked at Chen Jichuan and felt his mouth go somewhat dry.

"Don't be nervous."

"There are still two shichen left."

Chen Jichuan understood Chen Shaohe and spoke to help calm him.

"Fourth Brother."

"I—"

Chen Shaohe was only sixteen, after all. It was inevitable that he would feel flustered.

Chen Jichuan smiled as usual and spoke with Chen Shaohe, easing his tension.

In truth.

Using the time difference in the Great Yan World, Chen Jichuan had already prepared many contingency plans. He had considered every aspect hundreds, even thousands of times, trying his utmost to anticipate everything clearly and sort out every thread.

What sort of situation they might face, and what response they should make.

He had gone over it tirelessly.

Again and again.

Then he had brought it out to discuss with Chen Shaohe, continuing to fill in the gaps until the day before yesterday. There might still be many uncertainties and many errors or omissions, but based on what they knew at present, it was already the most thorough plan possible.

As for the rest.

They could only adapt to circumstances.

Escaping Black Prison.

It sounded simple, but only after making plans and considering every possibility did they realize how difficult it was.

Even though Chen Jichuan now possessed Level Four combat power, and even though Chen Shaohe also possessed a Level Four ability.

Successfully escaping would be no easy task.

While Chen Jichuan lit a fire and cooked.

He gave Chen Shaohe one final review—

"The entire operation."

"Can roughly be divided into three steps."

After eating.

"Ah~"

Chen Jichuan opened his mouth.

"Fourth Brother."

"Bear with it."

Chen Shaohe held Chen Jichuan's cheeks with both hands, flames rising from his palms. The flames were exquisitely controlled, flashing in and out inside Chen Jichuan's mouth, again and again and again.

They flashed seven or eight times.

Only then did Chen Shaohe withdraw his hands.

Holding a fluorescent stone, he peered inside.

High-temperature burns had raised tiny blisters throughout Chen Jichuan's mouth and across his tongue.

After more than a month, Chen Shaohe's Fire Control Technique had become exceptionally precise. With nearly ten days and dozens of practice runs, the blisters he burned out now looked roughly like mouth ulcers after being popped and left for two hours.

"..."

"..."

Flames were terrifying.

Burns hurt beyond measure.

As the tiny blisters rose one after another, Chen Jichuan's entire face trembled. Yet he forced his mouth open until Chen Shaohe withdrew the flames.

He endured the pain without a word.

After a while, he used a wooden splinter torn from the handle of an iron pick to pop the blisters.

The sensation was exquisitely agonizing.

Not something that could be told to outsiders.

"My turn!"

Chen Shaohe had watched many times, and every time still made his scalp go numb. But at the thought of getting out, no pain could stop him. Gritting his teeth, he did the same.

The time drew near.

Chen Jichuan's mouth had already festered beyond recognition.

He had barely gotten used to it.

He rose and went deeper into the cave.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He swung the iron pick and smashed down with all his strength, reducing the stone posts, stone mills, gravel, stone knives, and other training equipment they had made over the past month to rubble.

He erased every trace.

With the fluorescent stone in hand, he even chiseled away every scorch mark Chen Shaohe had left on the cave walls while practicing the Flame Control Technique.

His strength had increased greatly.

Chiseling mountains and splitting rocks took no effort at all.

When everything was finished, Chen Jichuan still had half an hour left to rest.

He sat beside Chen Shaohe.

"Fourth Brother."

"Fifth Brother."

The two brothers exchanged a look and sat in silence, each able to hear the other's heartbeat—

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

Before they knew it.

The mist grew thicker.