Jade Soul Flower

Wang Fugui had been busy lately.

As a Grade D jailer on the first floor of the Heavenly Prison, Wang Fugui had spent over thirty years fishing in muddy waters. He had been on the verge of retirement when the Heavenly Prison collapsed.

With fewer staff and more work, Wang Fugui's leisurely days had abruptly given way to enforced busyness.

Even so, he felt somewhat fortunate.

At least his age and low cultivation meant he did not have to be sent out on dangerous capture missions like the others.

"Eh, eh... Ye, my boy?" Wang Fugui rubbed his eyes as he watched a figure wandering through the Heavenly Prison.

"Uncle Wang?" Ye Wuyou greeted him with a smile.

"You brat... You vanished for over twenty days. I thought you were dead. Eh?"

Uncle Wang paused briefly, then leaned closer to Ye Wuyou and reached out to squeeze his shoulder, surprise in his eyes.

"You've reached the first realm?"

"Just luck."

"You brat..."

A wistful look entered Uncle Wang's eyes.

He had been the one to bring Ye Wuyou in. At first, the boy had known nothing whatsoever about cultivation, but how many days had it been?

A little over a month, even counting every last day?

Uncle Wang glanced around, then pulled Ye Wuyou aside and whispered.

"In ordinary times, breaking through to the first realm would certainly be wonderful news. You could collect a Grade D Warden Token, become an official employee, and get a raise."

"But right now... keep it quiet, and don't register it yet. Just stay here with your Uncle Wang until this period passes. Once things settle down, you can get your official status, and I'll help find you a match, get you a wife..."

Uncle Wang talked on and on, but Ye Wuyou looked around at the figures coming and going.

Those jailers were travel-worn, their faces tinged with exhaustion, and here and there, patches of blood stained their clothes.

Seemingly noticing Ye Wuyou's gaze, Uncle Wang glanced over and explained quietly.

"Stop looking. Plenty of prisoners escaped during the riot, especially from the lower floors. That was where the riot started."

"Now that things inside the Heavenly Prison have stabilized, someone has to catch those escaped prisoners. But how could that be easy? Those fellows finally managed to escape. They'll fight you with their lives on the line."

"We're all small fry. Those aren't matters for us to meddle in..."

Ye Wuyou's expression shifted slightly.

He could sense that every word Uncle Wang was saying to him now came from the heart.

Whatever Uncle Wang had been like toward him before, at least right now, he genuinely did not want anything to happen to him.

But he... already had everything arranged for him.

The Prison Warden had clearly said he wanted to take him as a disciple, yet Ye Wuyou could not even see him.

"The Prison Warden should return in about half a month. Until then, he hopes Lord Zhao will instruct Young Master Ye properly..."

Upon hearing those words, the elderly Zhao Changhe had seemed rather angry, but there was nothing he could do.

He could only leave him with one curt remark.

"Come to the Heavenly Prison tomorrow morning and pick up a mission yourself."

[How dare that old bastard order me around? I simply won't go. Filled with disdain, you instead looked over the four sisters, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Amid the swirling snow, their thin garments gradually vanished before your eyes, leaving them stark naked...]

An official one rank higher could crush you to death, and under another man's eaves, you had to bow your head. He still had to listen to Senior Zhao.

Ye Wuyou took out a brand-new waist token bearing a large [D], then looked at the stunned Uncle Wang and said quietly.

"Uncle Wang, do you know where I can pick up a mission?"

This was the first time Ye Wuyou had learned that the Heavenly Prison even offered missions.

That was only natural. Previously, only those of [Grade C] and above had been authorized to carry out missions. [Grade D] jailers basically just guarded the entrance and handled miscellaneous chores.

The Heavenly Prison had always been generous, and it certainly did not skimp on compensation for missions.

Besides fixed monetary rewards, it also offered cultivation resources.

Pills, cultivation methods, rare medicinal ingredients, and even weapons... all could be exchanged for [contribution points].

Perhaps that was why a prison could have several [Grade A] experts like Zhao Changhe.

Never mind the fifth realm-even someone in the fourth realm could easily find a cultivation sect outside and settle comfortably into a position as an attendant elder, enjoying the splendors of the mortal world.

But in those worldly sects, if you came from poverty and had no backing, then even if you rendered a contribution as great as the heavens or possessed extraordinary talent, the opportunities and rewards would most likely end up in some elder's son's hands...

All he could say was that the cultivation resources provided within the Heavenly Prison far exceeded those offered by worldly sects.

And all of it came from missions and contributions.

Still, even [Grade D] jailers could take missions now. It seemed the Heavenly Prison really had lost a great many people...

[Grade B mission: Capture the fugitive criminal, Wavebreaker Blade Shen Cang... Ten taels of gold, three Jade Realm Pills, one mystic-grade cultivation method, 300 contribution points]

[Grade C mission: Capture the fugitive criminal, Thief Mo Anshan... Ten taels of gold, three Barrier-Breaking Pills, 100 contribution points]

[Grade B mission:...]

Ye Wuyou looked around by the service window. This was a room on the Heavenly Prison's second floor, seemingly set up as a temporary measure. Outside the door stood a huge wooden board densely covered in missions.

Ninety percent involved capturing fugitives.

Some of these missions also had notes appended to them.

[3/4, original members of Grade B Team Three. Currently seeking one accompanying cultivation physician. Come by if interested...]

[1/5, second-realm sword cultivator here. All colleagues welcome. Currently seeking a formation master, physician, and body-refining cultivator]

[3/4, original members of Grade C Team Two. Physician wanted...]

The notes attached to each mission called for at least four people.

It seemed a group of four was required before they would be allowed to take a mission.

Judging by the wording of these notes... cultivators apparently had different specializations, too.

A sensible combination of cultivators with different specialties could produce an effect greater than one plus one equaling two.

Tsk... Were physicians really in such short supply? It looked like Chun Tao enjoyed considerable status as a second-realm physician.

Ye Wuyou also spotted a [Grade A mission]: Slay the fugitive fifth-tier Black Bear Spirit. This fiend was extremely cunning... Reward: 1,000 contribution points.

A black bear? A fiend?

Could it be the black bear that had deliberately allowed itself to be captured that day?

Had that fiend not only thrown the Heavenly Prison into chaos, but also successfully escaped?

Ye Wuyou withdrew his gaze without looking further. This was not a mission he could complete.

The same applied to those Grade B missions. Wavebreaker Blade, for instance, was clearly identified as a fourth-realm cultivator.

The rewards were generous, but completing it was plainly impossible. Taking it anyway would mean throwing his life away.

His gaze continued to sweep across the board, then stopped.

[Grade C mission: Capture the fugitive fiend, Qingqiu Demon Fox, a third-tier demonic beast. This demon fox poses a relatively low threat and had not recovered from serious injuries when she escaped. However, she excels at disrupting others with illusions, making her difficult to capture]

[Reward: Five taels of gold, four jade soul flowers, 100 contribution points]

Jade soul flowers-Ye Wuyou had heard of them during his intensive study of cultivation over the past few days.

Jade soul flowers were of little help to cultivation, but they had a fairly good nourishing effect on the soul.

Ordinary cultivators, however, did not cultivate their souls below the third realm, and even those above it did not necessarily specialize in doing so.

Thus, this reward looked decent, but was actually rather like chicken ribs: little meat to enjoy, yet a shame to discard.

But... he thought of what he had done to Xia Anmeng before.

She had only given him those two cultivation manuals because she had sworn a binding heart-demon oath and could not violate it...

If they met again, Ye Wuyou could imagine the crazed expression that woman would wear.

If she had a body, she would probably want to straddle him on the ground and tear into him with her teeth.

And Lu Caiwei had spent so many days on the Heavenly Prison's Eighth Layer that her soul had also been damaged. Otherwise, he would not have needed to split his own soul to save her.

Although Ye Wuyou had resolved to live off a woman, it would not be bad if he could eat that soft rice with a firm hand.

Then this would be the mission.