The first prison afflicting Xiao Bai had passed, taking a full eighteen minutes!
Without any pause, the second prison followed immediately.
An icy aura swept outward.
The ice prison of the five prisons had begun!
The arrival of the ice prison even suppressed the seven lamps surrounding Xiao Bai, shrinking their flames by half.
Fortunately, the six livestock soul mark exerted its power again, absorbing every last trace of the ice prison's cold.
Everything fell quiet once more.
Chen Miao did not know what the other two were thinking, but his own heart had begun to grow restless.
It was two in the morning. There was roughly another hour before the remaining five prisons ended.
According to the plan, Chen Miao had instructed Three-Tail to act at one in the morning, helping Zhong Cai break his restraints and escape.
By that point, the ritual would more or less have entered the Third Phase.
Chen Miao had stalled for a little while earlier, but the entire ritual would end by four in the morning at the latest.
Zhong Cai needed to arrive with people from the Administration sometime between three and three thirty in the morning.
If he did not, Chen Miao would have no choice but to take a gamble.
At the very least, he could not let Elder Bamboo get his way.
If Elder Bamboo succeeded, Chen Miao would certainly die. If he sabotaged Elder Bamboo's ritual, however, he would not necessarily die.
At least until Elder Bamboo found someone else who understood the Six Livestock Art, Chen Miao would suffer some torment at worst.
Elder Bamboo would be even less willing to abandon Xiao Bai, the crucial "raw material." Xiao Bai might even end up living better.
Old Ghost and Old Woman would also benefit, saved by Chen