And so, the Chishui Kingdom's biennial martial tournament came to an end!
Compared with previous years, this year's tournament had not been carried through to the end, but it had been even more spectacular!
The little prince Lin Heng's astonishing performance would surely spread swiftly throughout the Chishui Kingdom, and even the entire Divine Firmament Human Race!
Chishui Royal City, the Demon-Subduing Army's headquarters.
Accompanied by Hong San, Lin Heng entered the legendary Ten Fiends Prison!
The prison was underground and not particularly large, consisting of a single cell resembling an underground cavern!
A great formation enveloped the entire cell!
Not only could the formation continuously unleash lightning and flames to torment the criminals imprisoned there, it could also keep their power from circulating smoothly and create a formidable illusion that caused them to lose their minds!
Of course, to conserve resources, the formation was not activated when there were no prisoners inside.
In fact, most of the time, there were no prisoners here!
Even when someone was locked up here, they would not last long before being tortured to death!
Only those with high cultivation could hold out a little longer.
A Quasi-God Realm expert, however, could completely disregard the formation here.
But powerful enemies in the Quasi-God Realm were naturally killed outright, not imprisoned!
As soon as Lin Heng and Hong San entered the Ten Fiends Prison, the formation activated!
Lightning and fire immediately raged around them!
Hong San shielded Lin Heng, who did not stop him.
"Congratulations, host. You have successfully checked in at the Ten Fiends Prison in Chishui Royal City. The system rewards you with the divine skill Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes!" "Would you like to activate Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes immediately?"
Lin Heng was already very experienced.
He did not rush. First, he looked at the system's description of Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes.
Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes was the innate divine ability of an exotic beast known as the Blood-Pupiled Fox. Under normal circumstances, other demonic beasts could not obtain this ability through cultivation, much less humans.
The Blood-Pupiled Fox was both an exotic beast and a ferocious beast. It was exceedingly vicious and loved nothing more than using Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes to make living beings of all races lose themselves and serve it!
Lin Heng reckoned that someone once imprisoned here must have fallen under the control of Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes, allowing him to obtain the skill by checking in here.
Perhaps it had been those ten heinous criminals!
They had been unlucky enough to encounter a Blood-Pupiled Fox, then committed many unforgivable crimes under its control!
Because Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes was an innate divine ability and Blood-Pupiled Foxes were exceedingly rare, ordinary experts simply could not detect that the ten people had been controlled.
After all, the Blood-Pupiled Fox controlling them could make them behave much like ordinary people who enjoyed committing evil deeds!
Lin Heng considered it for a while, then activated Soul-Terrorizing Fierce Eyes after all.
If he did not activate a divine skill reward like this, he could not give it to anyone else either. Leaving it idle in the system warehouse would be far too wasteful!
As usual, a mysterious force erupted within Lin Heng's body, then split in two and surged into his eyes!
Lin Heng felt a brief sting in both eyes, but afterward, he felt nothing unusual!
Hall of Longevity.
Lin Changqing was attending to the kingdom's affairs.
Xi Zhaoqu had just returned from the Demon-Subduing Army's headquarters and was respectfully serving tea at the ruler's side.
"Your Majesty, everyone knows the little prince and the Su Clan have a deep grudge. Why did Your Majesty have the little prince thrown into the Ten Fiends Prison?"
As Lin Changqing raised his teacup to drink, Xi Zhaoqu could not contain his puzzlement. "Is Your Majesty not worried that the Su Clan will strike at the little prince from the shadows?"
"Chief Steward Xi, do you think the Su Clan has the nerve?"
Lin Changqing asked calmly.
"This servant thinks..."
Xi Zhaoqu hesitated.
"Speak freely!"
"This servant thinks the grand commander has the nerve!"
Xi Zhaoqu answered truthfully.
"Indeed!"
Lin Changqing sneered. "The Su Clan even dared to assassinate someone living in the royal palace. How could they let someone they hate so deeply off when he has been locked up in the Ten Fiends Prison?"
"Since Your Majesty knows that, why place the little prince under the Su Clan's control?"
Xi Zhaoqu was even more puzzled.
"The little prince is too headstrong and spoiled. The Ten Fiends Prison is an excellent place to temper his character."
Lin Changqing remained composed. "Besides, the little prince seriously injured Su Song's grandson this morning. I also need to give our grand commander an explanation. With the little prince locked up in the Ten Fiends Prison, I imagine our grand commander is quite satisfied."
"This..."
Xi Zhaoqu was somewhat confused.
His instinct told him that the ruler was not telling the truth.
"As for whether the little prince will fall victim to the Su Clan's murderous hands, there is really no need to worry."
Lin Changqing continued, "The Ten Fiends Prison is Su Clan territory, after all. If the little prince really does fall victim to their murderous hands, how will Su Song explain it to me? Besides explaining it to me, he will also have to explain it to the Great Xia Imperial Clan. If the Great Xia Imperial Clan refuses to listen and comes straight to demand an accounting, can the Su Clan withstand them?"
"Oh."
Xi Zhaoqu nodded as though he understood.
In truth, Xi Zhaoqu felt that the ruler's words were somewhat contradictory.
First, the ruler had emphasized how bold the Su Clan was, then he said they probably would not dare lay murderous hands on the little prince. The logic clearly did not hold!
Since the ruler was unwilling to speak plainly, Xi Zhaoqu did not dare ask further!
"Chief Steward Xi, Hong San struck you this morning, but don't take it too much to heart. He has labored in the palace for many years and even burned his Divine Body to protect the Devil-Sealing Well. The least we can do is let him spend his remaining years in peace. After all, he doesn't have much time left!"
"Your Majesty worries too much. Hong San is this servant's senior and one of the people this servant respects most. Even if he beat this servant to death, this servant would not resent him!"
Xi Zhaoqu answered, saying one thing while thinking another.
"Mm, you may leave."
Lin Changqing waved a hand, and Xi Zhaoqu bowed and withdrew.
After Xi Zhaoqu left the Hall of Longevity, Lin Changqing narrowed his eyes and gave a cold snort.
Lin Changqing had been willing to accept Hong San's recommendation and appoint Xi Zhaoqu chief steward of the royal palace's internal affairs. Naturally, he knew Xi Zhaoqu well.
Under normal circumstances, if Xi Zhaoqu had been struck so hard that his face swelled, there was absolutely no way he would have let the matter rest!
Yet this morning, Xi Zhaoqu had actually swallowed that bitter grievance. Lin Changqing had found it very strange at the time.
When Hong San and Lin Heng appeared at the martial arena, Lin Changqing noticed that Hong San not only looked remarkably well, but that his eyes, which had grown increasingly clouded, were bright and lively again, and his whole bearing was full of confidence. Lin Changqing finally understood.
The old Hong San was back, and he was even stronger than before!
No one knew Hong San better than he did!
When he said he would throw Lin Heng into the Ten Fiends Prison, he had also meant to test Hong San.
Hong San had immediately stepped forward, even showing signs of defying his orders. That made him all the more certain that he had seen correctly.
The Hong San of today, even if he had not stepped directly into the God Realm, should be at the High-Stage Quasi-God level!
That being the case, with Hong San accompanying Lin Heng, Lin Changqing had no need to worry too much!
As for why Hong San had suddenly recovered and grown stronger, Lin Changqing naturally did not know. He only guessed that it must have something to do with the invincible goddess Liu Ling'er.
"Su Song, you'd better not strike from the shadows. Otherwise, I won't need to deal with you; you and the entire Su Clan will bring destruction upon yourselves!"
The corners of Lin Changqing's mouth curled up slightly.
His youngest son was clearly no pushover either. He was the sort who repaid every grudge and was unwilling to wait too long to do it!