Chapter 133: The Non-Existent Underground Sixth Floor
Li Yuanqing knew that his chance had come. Therefore, he quickly asked, “At the Demon Judgment Division? Brother Zhao, what do you mean?”
Zhao Tai’an stared intently at Li Yuanqing, as if trying to determine if he was trustworthy.
After a while, Zhao Tai’an sighed.
“Brother Li, I can feel that you’re different from us. You don’t seem to be bound by the rules here. That’s why I’m telling you the truth. I hope that someone can free this place and let us human cultivators stand up!”
Towards the end, Zhao Tai’an’s tone became extremely agitated and he even choked up.
Li Yuanqing was silent for a moment before nodding again. “Brother Zhao, I’ve already had this intention. Trust me.”
“Okay, okay.”
Zhao Tai’an agreed repeatedly. Then, he composed himself and continued.
“Actually, the real responsibility of the Demon Judgment Division is not only to capture demons, but also to capture some human cultivators who kill demons. This is the real reason why the Demon Judgment Division was established.
“It’s simply a tool for the upper-level demons to rule us, but it’s also a place where we humans fight to join. I’m really ashamed…”
Zhao Tai’an let out a long sigh and continued, “The Demon Judgment Division has a total of eight floors. On the surface, there are only three floors. Actually, there are five floors underground. They are all cells used to imprison prisoners. After the human cultivators who resisted were captured, they all died.”
At this moment, Hu Jiujiu interrupted, “In that case, the five floors underground should be filled with killing intent…”
Zhao Tai’an shook his head and said with a solemn expression, “On the contrary, the five underground floors are very clean! It looks like no one has ever been detained!”
“What? But how is that possible?” Hu Jiujiu’s expression changed slightly in disbelief.
Li Yuanqing nodded. He pondered and said, “What does this mean? This means that these human criminals have probably been secretly dealt with, or rather…” At this point, Li Yuanqing looked up. “There are other unknown s.p.a.ces in the underground prison of the Demon Judgment Division?”
This wave of a.n.a.lysis was very logical.
Zhao Tai’an had never thought of this before. His and Hu Jiujiu’s expressions changed slightly.
Zhao Tai’an continued, “That’s very likely the case. However, I’ve been here for so many years. I’ve been around the five underground floors many times, but I didn’t find anything. Those criminals seemed to have evaporated, leaving no traces behind!
“However, every time a cultivator who resisted the demons was imprisoned in the underground prison, there would be some mysterious demon cultivators who would come after less than a day. Even the warden of the Demon Judgment Division was respectful. No one knew what they did…”
Zhao Tai’an paused and a.s.serted, “There’s a huge secret in the Demon Judgment Division!”
Li Yuanqing’s expression was solemn as he listened. “Brother Zhao, do you think this big secret is related to the fact that human cultivators can’t advance?”
Zhao Tai’an’s expression was solemn. “I don’t know, but it’s very likely to be related. There are some unclear relationships involved, and I can only guess.”
Li Yuanqing nodded and said, “I’ll keep my mouth shut about these things. I want to join your patrol in the name of service. It’ll make everything easier.”
“No problem, leave this to me. Last night, Brother Li made a move. The brothers of my patrol team are all extremely impressed with you.” Zhao Tai’an cupped his hands politely.
“Okay, Brother Zhao, you guys go back first. Don’t arouse suspicion. I’ll report to the patrol team tonight.”
Li Yuanqing also cupped his hands politely.
“Alright, take care, brother!”
…
At this moment, in a mysterious s.p.a.ce, darkness filled the air.
It was a deep black, as if it could absorb all light. Any creature that walked here would seem to be drowned. There was no sign of anyone.
And in such darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly opened. The vertical pupils in his eyes shrank. He sneered. “How dare you kill my clone. Human ant, no matter who you are, you will die an ugly death!”
A figure walked out of the darkness. The figure had a fair face and looked like a handsome scholar. As he walked, he opened the fan in his hand. There were words on it: Righteous Evil Qi!
The scholar walked out of the darkness and turned around to bow to the darkness. “Please instruct me, Brother.”
“Someone killed my clone. Bring my descendants and find him to kill him!”
“Yes!” The scholar smiled gently and turned to leave.
His eyes looked up in the darkness. His gaze seemed to have pa.s.sed through countless s.p.a.ces and arrived at the center of Black Dragon City.
The human-faced snake statue stood here. It was the tallest building in the town.
“It should be just a little bit more. My energy is almost full. Just a little more…”
…
Li Yuanqing brought Hu Jiujiu back to the courtyard he had bought.
Countless holes appeared on the ground, and there were many flying ants stationed in the underground nest.
Now, all these flying ants flew out. They entered Li Yuanqing’s domain.
“Let’s change courtyards. This pomegranate tree has a lot of death energy stored in it. It’s very likely to expose my location.”
As Li Yuanqing spoke, he quickly packed his things.
Hu Jiujiu nodded repeatedly and watched as Li Yuanqing put everything back into his domain. Then, he brought Hu Jiujiu to the courtyard next door to stay.
After settling down in the room, Li Yuanqing floated in the air.
The Man-eating Vine crawled out of it and hid underground.
Two tall werewolves were also released.
“Jiujiu, guard this place with them. Tell me if anyone comes in.” Li Yuanqing stopped talking after giving his instructions.
Hu Jiujiu nodded and turned into a little fox. Then, she stood on the werewolf’s shoulder proudly and instructed the werewolf to stand guard.
Li Yuanqing took out a purple Eight Treasures Gourd from his domain.
“System, what’s the use of the Purple Golden Gourd?”
“The Purple Golden Gourd is a first-grade Dharma treasure that can attack and defend at the same time! The host can enter the gourd to cultivate. The time flow is one-tenth of the outside world. However, it needs to recharge for three days after a day of usage. It can also be used to collect demons. As long as the other party is kept in the gourd, the host can activate its power and refine it to death! It has a great restraining effect on demons!”
Hearing the system’s introduction, Li Yuanqing immediately understood how to use this thing.
As long as he cultivated in this gourd, one day would be equivalent to ten days. He would give it a try.
Thinking of this, Li Yuanqing used his mind to communicate with the gourd in his hand. Then, the s.p.a.ce around him distorted and Li Yuanqing opened his eyes.
He had arrived at an unfamiliar place.
This place looked flat. Li Yuanqing estimated that it was the size of seven or eight basketball courts. Other than that, there was nothing special.
Li Yuanqing sat cross-legged on the ground and started cultivating.
As Li Yuanqing circulated his cultivation technique, he gradually entered an introspective state.
Ten days pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. Li Yuanqing opened his eyes. There was a glint in his eyes.
Li Yuanqing sensed his body. Cultivating in the gourd for ten days was equivalent to a hundred days in the catacombs! He could clearly feel the bottleneck of the second-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm. It could be said that he had already taken half a step.
If he could continue cultivating in the gourd for ten days, he was completely confident that he could break through. But the time had come.
Li Yuanqing flew out of the gourd and looked around. It was already dark outside the window.
Li Yuanqing walked out of the room and saw a little fox lying proudly on the werewolf’s head.
A werewolf was fanning his head with a fan.
The other was holding a pot of tea.
The little fox snapped her fingers, and the werewolf would hand over the tea in his hand.
The little fox tasted it and clicked her tongue. She was as comfortable as she could be.
Li Yuanqing’s face darkened and he coughed lightly.
Hu Jiujiu was shocked and hurriedly threw away the teacup in her hand. Then, she jumped to the ground and turned into a slender girl.
Hu Jiujiu smiled sweetly and said, “Master, are you done cultivating?”
“Yeah … how long has it been?” Li Yuanqing asked.
“It’s been a day.” Hu Jiujiu replied eagerly.
Li Yuanqing nodded and was about to lecture her.
Suddenly, there was a commotion from the Man-eating Vine underground. Li Yuanqing immediately sensed that it was alerting him.
With a thought, Li Yuanqing retracted the Man-eating Vine into his domain. Then, he retracted the werewolves into his domain and grabbed Hu Jiujiu’s hand.
Hu Jiujiu blushed and was about to speak. She felt the s.p.a.ce around her distort. When she opened her eyes again, she realized that she and Li Yuanqing had come to a strange s.p.a.ce.
“Master, this is…”
Li Yuanqing shook his head and said, “Don’t speak. Restrain your aura.”
He released a trace of his divine sense through the Purple Gold Gourd, and everything within a hundred meters was still vivid in his mind.
In the courtyard next door, with the pomegranate tree as the center, there was a sudden commotion. It was as if something huge was hammering underground, almost instantly. The ground of the entire courtyard suddenly collapsed.
What followed was a loud bang.
Everything in the courtyard, including the pomegranate tree, was instantly crushed into powder. The courtyard turned into a hundred-meter-deep pit. Many stone walls in the courtyard next door where Li Yuanqing was at began to collapse.
Li Yuanqing’s heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He felt a trace of relief. Fortunately, he was more cautious and moved his nest in time. Otherwise, even if he had the Purple Gold Gourd, he might also be killed by such a huge force.
Hu Jiujiu had no idea what was happening outside. She could only stare at Li Yuanqing.
Li Yuanqing suddenly opened his eyes and said, “This place has been discovered. Let’s move quickly!”
“What?”
Before Hu Jiujiu could understand what he meant, Li Yuanqing pulled her out of the gourd.
Li Yuanqing raised his hand and put away the Purple Gold Gourd before pulling Hu Jiujiu out of the room.
Hu Jiujiu saw that the courtyard next door had become a huge pit. She looked shocked. “W-what’s going on?”
“The other party must have discovered us. Hurry up and follow me!”
Li Yuanqing did not say anything else. He just pulled Hu Jiujiu and left quickly.
As expected, when Li Yuanqing had just left, the scholar waved the fan in his hand and rushed over with a group of demon cultivators.
The scholar smiled gently, giving off a magnanimous feeling. But his words were indeed extremely cold.
“Search! Kill all the living people found here!”
A group of demon cultivators received the order and scattered to search.
After a while, the team regrouped. The captain reported, “Patriarch, there are no traces of living people.”
The scholar narrowed his eyes and sneered. “The other party is very cunning. He actually escaped! Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
The scholar left with a group of people.
After that, the human cultivators living nearby discovered the situation here and gathered around to watch.
All of them were extremely surprised, not knowing how this happened.
Li Yuanqing brought Hu Jiujiu to the vicinity of the Demon Judgment Division. He thought for a moment and decided to let Hu Jiujiu transform into a little fox and return to his domain. Only then did he walk into the Demon Judgment Division.
As expected, Zhao Tai’an was returning with a group of people.
Zhao Tai’an saw Li Yuanqing and greeted him. The humans in the patrol team looked at Li Yuanqing with admiration and came forward to greet him.
Li Yuanqing nodded lightly and brought Zhao Tai’an to the Demon Judgment Division. There were many rooms and courtyards. The outermost area was the hall.
Li Yuanqing used the Aura Divination Art to take a look. Zhao Tai’an no longer had that thick death aura. Only then was he relieved. He said, “Brother Zhao, are you done patrolling today?”
Zhao Tai’an nodded. “It’s done. I’m the captain. I’ll bring you to register first. This way, you’ll officially be a member of the patrol team and it’ll be convenient for you to enter and leave this place.”
“No problem!”
Zhao Tai’an took out a piece of jade from the record book at the back of the hall and briefly registered Li Yuanqing. Then, he gave Li Yuanqing a patrolling waist token. This way, Li Yuanqing would be considered a member of the patrol team. His name could also be found in the personnel book.
Suddenly, Li Yuanqing had an idea.
“Thank you, Brother Zhao. I’ll do the rest myself.”
Zhao Tai’an nodded. “Be careful.”
Zhao Tai’an left with the patrol team members.
Li Yuanqing walked to the backyard. A man-eating vine emerged from under his feet and quietly burrowed into the ground. He walked all the way to the entrance of the underground prison before stopping.
At this moment, the system announcement sounded in his mind.
[Congratulations to the host for signing in at the Demon Judgment Division’s prison. You have received a hundredfold reward!]
[One: A hundred years of cultivation!]
[Two: Two Mystic mystery boxes!”]
“Receive reward one!”
[Ding! Cultivation level received!]
As the system broadcast ended, Li Yuanqing felt the cultivation in his body begin to rise steadily. This time, a hundred years of cultivation surged out. The feeling was very obvious!
An extremely cold power immediately invaded Li Yuanqing’s body. He had actually suppressed this cultivation that was about to break through.
Li Yuanqing was shocked. He suppressed his hundred years of cultivation and stopped trying to break through. It seemed like it was safer to advance in the Purple Gold Gourd.
With a thought from Li Yuanqing, the Man-eating Vine began to shuttle underground and quickly burrowed into the ceiling of the bas.e.m.e.nt.
The underground prison floor was clean.
Then, there was silence on the second floor of the underground prison.
Then the third floor…
Fourth floor…
There was still no one on the fifth floor.
Li Yuanqing continued to control the Man-eating Vine to dig down. When the Man-eating Vine reached a mysterious s.p.a.ce, he stopped cautiously. Then, his heart trembled! He immediately controlled the Man-eating Vine to retract crazily!
However, he was still caught by the other party.
After the Man-eating Vine was completely retracted, Li Yuanqing no longer hesitated. He circulated the Shadowless Art and Sand Escape Technique to retreat quickly.
A demon emerged from it. He glanced at the Man-Eating Vine in his hand and narrowed his eyes.
“Who is it!”