Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Time passed, indiscernible in length, when the sound of footsteps approached; Zhao Sheng and Leng Sha walked shoulder to shoulder.

"We're here; it's number three's turn today. Be careful once you're inside not to be bewitched—the one locked up there is a Snake Demon."

Zhao Sheng took out the Pass Token, undid the Prohibition outside the door, and opened the prison gate.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered, and he paused in his step.

At that moment, the Ear Reporting God was rapidly flying around his head, its little face filled with urgency.

"Something's not right, there's a situation!" Zhao Sheng was alert in his mind, his Divine Sense suddenly burst forth, searching every nook and corner of the cell.

However, he found nothing.

In cell number three, there was a Snake Man locked up, its body covered in Scale Armor, with a large lump of flesh on its forehead.

"No wonder it was locked up in the Fourteenth Layer Hell. The power of incense on it is so dense it's almost shedding its demonic form and transforming into a Wild God."

Zhao Sheng was secretly shocked and became even more cautious inside.

This Snake Man probably had quite a fortunate encounter, its strength not the slightest bit inferior to a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

According to the records, creatures close to becoming a Wild God, like this Great Demon, would definitely have many followers, perhaps it had even subjugated several Divine Servants.

Just then, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind Zhao Sheng's head, and a streak of black light flashed, aiming to crack open his skull.

Whoosh!

The moment it touched his hair, a layer of red flame enveloped Zhao Sheng's entire body.

The black shadow was as if it had hit an iron wall, emitting a shrill and miserable scream.

Zhao Sheng's form flashed, he shifted three feet into the air, his right hand shot out like lightning, and he grasped the black shadow.

The black shadow dissipated in an instant, revealing its true form as a two-foot-long black-haired rat.

The Black Rat squeaked pitifully, struggling desperately.

But Zhao Sheng's strength was not something little demons could shake,

"A Space Escaping Rat? What a rare treasure beast! This Snake Demon even has such a seldom seen Vengeful Demon under its command."

Zhao Sheng's Spiritual Power operated, the Red Lotus Karma Fire instantly grew several times stronger, engulfing the Rat Demon to prevent its escape.

"You... who are you?"

At this time, the Snake Man locked on the rack suddenly spoke, its voice filled with apprehension.

According to the previous plan, the Space Escaping Rat was responsible for smuggling the Divine Pill in.

Once its demonic power restored, it would break free of the constraints and escape from prison.

Afterwards, people from the Ghost God Association would take care of the aftermath.

The prison guard standing before it boasted formidable Spiritual Power and an imposing aura, unmistakably a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Could someone tell this deity, what on earth is going on?

"You ask who I am? I am just an ordinary Prison Guard."

Zhao Sheng saw through the other party's plot, his mood lightening.

"My Treasure Vault contains an Ancient Spiritual Treasure. If you release me, I am willing to gift you with a Spiritual Treasure."

The voice of the Snake Man suddenly stopped, confusion flashed in its eyes, and a large amount of fresh blood spurted from its chest as its heart was abruptly ripped out.

Zhao Sheng held up the heart of the Snake Demon, seeing its surface shine with brilliant Divine Light, and within it appeared a phantom-like "Bright Pearl"

with a Tao True Text of extreme complexity faintly visible inside.

At one glance, Zhao Sheng felt a flicker of mystical realization; the Bright Pearl was indeed a Law Fragment that had manifested into a form of Divine authority after falling to the human world.

With this thought, he reflected on the Heavenly Dao Sect's actions of appointing Divine Spirits and the true face of the Divine Tao Decree; everything made sense.

They say when the Heavenly Dao loses its authority, all spirits vie for it!

"Ah! This deity curses you! May your Divine Soul utterly perish!"

The Snake Demon let out a long howl, spitting out hundreds of ghostly blue Divine Lights towards Zhao Sheng, while at the same time its Demon Soul burst from its head, aiming straight for Zhao Sheng's brow.

"Heh, seeking your own death!"

Zhao Sheng's expression was one of amusement as Red Lotus Karma Fire rose in his hand, effortlessly devouring the Demon Soul as it formed into a six-petaled red lotus.

Red flames swept through the cell, the blue light was swept away in an instant, the Evil Ice on the walls also evaporated instantly, and the temperature in the cell soared dramatically.

Hum!

Just at that moment, a piercing hum suddenly resonated within the Divine Prison, and a layer of electric light emerged from the surrounding walls, blocking the Red Lotus Karma Fire that swept through the area.

Zhao Sheng saw this and his figure became nothingness.

However, the next instant, his figure reappeared in the same place, except that the heart containing Law Fragments had vanished, and in its place was a tuft of blood-stained fur.

"Brother, what happened?"

Leng Sha was the first to rush in, and immediately noticed the Snake Demon corpse.

"What the hell! Who triggered the prohibition?"

The voice was accompanied by a portly Great Han, brandishing a Nine-Ring Blade, from which each golden ring emitted a chilling coldness, as large as an adult's fist.

"Oh no, we're in trouble! This Snake Demon was a prisoner specially instructed by the superior to be guarded by the Yan Family. Now that it has died mysteriously, how are we going to explain to the superior?"

Zhao Sheng lifted his right hand, holding a strand of blood-stained fur between his fingers, and gestured to the two, "I only saw a black light flash by just now; the Snake Demon's heart has disappeared without a trace. I only had time to launch a Fire Saber strike, and barely managed to sever this snippet."

"Let me see!"

The portly Great Han snatched the fur, examined it closely, and even sniffed it, his face suddenly changing.

"This... this is the fur of a Sky Escape Rat!" This person, likewise quite knowledgeable, shouted in surprise.

Leng Sha frowned and said sternly, "Sky Escape Rats are extremely rare. Rumor has it that the Ghost God Association has bred two pairs. Could it be that someone from the Ghost God Association deliberately killed the demon to silence it?"

"You're right, this Snake Demon possessed divine authority. People from the Ghost God Association wouldn't stand by idly. Killing the demon to seize the treasure is their true objective."

No sooner had the voice faded away did a colossal figure, standing three meters tall and clad in full armor, stride in, followed by a thin and pointy-faced old man.

The colossal figure was one of the only two Class A Prison Guards in the Divine Prison, a Divinity Realm Innate Grandmaster with Foundation Establishment Level combat power.

"Don't worry, with this tuft of fur here, even if the Sky Escape Rat Demon has already fled, we will certainly be able to trace its whereabouts."

The thin-faced old man hailed from the Central South Peak Jieyun Temple and delighted in fortune-telling and divination throughout his life.

Although he often made mistakes, he never tired of it.

After speaking, he carefully took out a Black Glass Turtle Shell.

The Black Glass Turtle Shell was crystal clear, with naturally-formed Nine Palaces Bagua patterns on its back—mysterious and profound, with an ancient touch.

The old man captured a thread of essence from the fur and fed it into the Black Glass Turtle Shell, tapping the shell repeatedly with his fingers and channeling strands of special Spiritual Power.

The Turtle Shell gently vibrated, emitting a muffled sound like that of a wooden fish.

A black light shot out from the Turtle Shell, moving on its own without wind, pointing diagonally upward.

"Let's go!"

The old man, holding the turtle shell, dashed out of the cell, closely chasing after it.

"Tao is boundless! Let's chase as well."

After Leng Sha spoke, he immediately set off in pursuit.

The colossal figure seemed to teleport, stepping out and shrinking the land into inches, leaping twenty or thirty yards away.

Zhao Sheng did not start to move right away; his figure vanished for a few moments and, only after reappearing, did he rush out of the cell to join the pursuit.

It was only at this point that the Prison Captain Xiao Moluo belatedly arrived, appearing in the corridor of the Fourteenth Layer Hell.

Xiao Moluo blocked everyone's path and asked sternly, "Stop, what has happened here?"

"Reporting to the superior, the Snake Demon in cell number three just had its heart plucked out by a Sky Escape Rat Demon and has now died. We're about to track down this demon and capture it as swiftly as possible."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Moluo's old face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and his features became even more ferocious and terrifying.

In a somewhat infuriated growl, he exclaimed, "What are you dawdling for? Get after it now!"

"Yes, sir!"

The crowd roared back with affirmation, then swiftly made their escape.

However, three days passed in the blink of an eye, and despite searching everywhere, inside and out, they couldn't find even a single rat hair, let alone capture the Sky Escape Rat Demon.

Zhao Sheng was also called in for questioning multiple times but managed to dodge every time.

In the Divine Prison, nobody knew that the Sky Escape Rat had long been destroyed without a trace. It was normal not to find it; it would have been strange if they could.

Because of this incident, the Divine Prison was in an uproar for over half a month, until the investigation turned up nothing, and the event was suppressed.

Only when the aftermath of the event had completely subsided three months later, did things settle.

One night, a month afterward, Zhao Sheng quietly disappeared from his Cultivation Room.

When he reappeared, he was already in the bookshelf aisle on the first floor of Zhenlang Pavilion.