Longevity starts from having a daughter in old age - Chapter 297
Chapter 297: Chapter 266: Sky Prison_1
Xu Mu and Xu Lingyu traveled by carriage from the princess’s mansion to the imperial capital’s Palm Immortal Office. On the way, Xu Mu wanted to bond with Xu Lingyu, but the latter stayed quiet as a closed bottle without uttering a single word.
If he hadn’t known that the other party wasn’t mute, he would’ve suspected him of being so.
Of course, for a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage, unless practicing a distinct martial method, they wouldn’t become mute.
“I really don’t know how Li Youlan managed to recruit him, and it seems like she trusts him a great deal!”
He also learned that Xu Lingyu had joined earlier than the others.
“Soul Cultivator!”
He remembered Li Youlan’s introduction of Xu Lingyu.
A Soul Cultivator, put simply, is someone who focuses on cultivating soul power. These people tend to have stronger spiritual power than cultivators of the same level and are rumored to project their souls out of their bodies, exist for extended periods in the external world, and have profound spiritual attack methods.
The focus of endeavors varies between Soul Cultivation, Body Cultivation, and Law Cultivation. If one were to speak of differences, they wouldn’t be so drastic as to be completely divergent.
On this mission, Xu Mu was tasked with refining souls, whereas Xu Lingyu was in charge of attracting them.
In simple terms – bait!
Seeing that Xu Lingyu was unwilling to talk, Xu Mu stopped prying and closed his eyes to recharge, waiting for the carriage to approach the Palm Immortal Office.
Clop clop clop! Clop clop!
“Why is it so slow today?”
He calculated the time and mumbled curiously.
“My lord, the city is crowded because of a festival!”
The loyal coachman outside answered respectfully.
“Festival?”
Xu Mu was puzzled for a moment. He opened the carriage window and saw that indeed there was a significant crowd. The roads were packed. If their carriage hadn’t belonged to the princess’s mansion, their journey might have been even slower.
The dressing style of these people varied considerably. It was evident they weren’t locals.
“It would be nice if we could fly!”
Xu Mu muttered to himself as he closed the carriage window.
The coachman outside didn’t respond.
The carriage took double the usual time to arrive at the entrance of the Palm Immortal Office.
“We have arrived, my lords!”
The coachman pulled back the curtain and said respectfully.
“Mmm.”
Xu Mu nodded. As he was about to get up, Xu Lingyu arrogantly got up first and stepped out.
He’s pretty proactive in this aspect!
Xu Mu thought to himself.
He followed Xu Lingyu and stepped out of the carriage.
“My lords, I’ll return first! And come to pick you up as your task nears completion!”
“Okay.”
Xu Mu waved his hand. The coachman drove the carriage away down another street, back to the princess’s mansion.
They had to stay here for quite a long time, and the coachman couldn’t wait indefinitely.
Ignoring their conversation, Xu Lingyu quickly walked to the gate and handed a token to the guard.
“Mission!”
Xu Lingyu’s voice was indifferent, like an emotionless robot. Coupled with his hidden eyes, it gave a cold, standoffish impression that was hard to approach.
I wonder how he doesn’t get beaten up acting so high and mighty every day!
Xu Mu grumbled inwardly.
The guard was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, even if he was annoyed with Xu Lingyu, he dared not offend him on a whim. After accepting and verifying the token, someone from the Palm Immortal Office quickly came and ushered them in.
“Please follow me!”
Leading them was a guard from the Palm Immortal Office, dressed in black armor, and the two closely followed three steps behind.
Xu Mu’s eyebrows knitted slightly. Being in an area devoid of spiritual energy after a long period in a region full of it was rather uncomfortable.
“I wonder how those remnant souls in the sky prison manage to survive in this environment?” Xu Mu speculated inwardly.
Under the guidance of the Palm Immortal Office’s guard, they entered a gloomy underground passage. Xu Mu felt an inexplicable chill over his body, like stepping into an ice cave, and a sense of despair began to grow in his heart.
Xu Mu circulated his martial method and managed to dissolve this unexpected sensation.
“This is not simply caused by the yin qi but also by some other energy, it’s very strange!” he thought to himself.
At this point, the guard leading the way spoke up, “This is where the sky prison is located. Although both of you have high cultivation skills, you still need to be cautious. There are many formations in here, try not to use divine intent and spiritual power as much as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble.”
“Alright!”
Both of them nodded simultaneously.
Just thinking about the fact that this place could detain even cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage, they could imagine how strong the defenses must be. The two of them clearly wouldn’t cause trouble willingly as long as their brains were functioning properly.
After walking down the tunnel for who knows how long, a metal door appeared before them. They didn’t know what the door was made of. Its dark and shiny surface was embossed with two monster beasts that each resembled a horned lion, and their eyes emitted a sense of strong suppression.
Two guards wearing black armors were sitting with lowered heads as if they were sleeping. Each of them held a long spear in their hands which crossed and blocked the massive iron door.
“These two are here to clean up the remnant souls. Can you please open the prison gate?” The guiding Palm Immortal Office’s guard approached and said.
“Token!”
The two lifted their heads, revealing a pair of uncanny ruby-like eyes.
The guiding guard took out a token. After the two checked it, they lifted their spears.
Squeak, squeak!
The heavy iron door slowly opened, revealing a two-man high and one zhang wide passage. Lucien lamps illuminated the passageway with a bleak, snowy white light, exposing one iron door after another.
The guard took back his token and continued on, while the two followed closely.
“Friend, are all prisoners locked up behind these doors?” Xu Mu asked.
Without turning back, the guard replied, “That’s right!”
“Why can’t we hear any noise?” Xu Mu asked.
The guard turned around with a puzzled look and said, “My friend, you jest! Prisoners locked up here have either been stripped of their cultivation or sealed with numerous prohibitions. They wouldn’t be able to make a sound, let alone make a move! Moreover, the prison walls are engraved with sound-proofing formations, so even if they were to cast spells, it wouldn’t pass through!”
“Hehe! Sorry for the ignorance! It’s my first time in such a place, you must excuse me!” Xu Mu said with some embarrassment.
He had thought that this sky prison was like a mortal’s prison, needing ventilation and whatnot.
“No worries! This is usually the reaction of those who come here for the first time.”
The guard didn’t say much and continued leading the way. Instead, Xu Lingyu looked at him a bit surprised.
Xu Mu continued to ask, “Could you briefly introduce the situation of the Sky Prison to us, just for some mental preparation?”
“Okay!”
The guard nodded and said, “The entire sky prison is divided into nine layers, housing prisoners according to their cultivation level and the severity of their crimes. There are guards on every layer, but I’m sorry that I cannot disclose the specific cultivation level and number. The number of cells decreases as one goes further down…”
The guard spoke of things that were hardly secret, but it helped to prevent the two from committing any taboo.
They traversed through to the eighth level of the dungeon before they stopped and entered into a spacious hall. In it, there stood ten large ding pots, each with three legs and two ears. Nine of them, roughly the same size, were arranged in a special pattern around the hall. There was another that was ten times bigger than the others, standing tall in the center.
There were already quite a few people in the hall by then, shuttling between the ten large ding, seemingly observing the text on them. Hearing the noise of the two entering, many of them turned to look at them, but quickly looked away again, seemingly uninterested in their arrival.
“The spell controlling methods are recorded on these dings. You two can study them carefully. As for the exact start time of the task, we’ll have to wait for the Prince’s arrival,”
The guiding guard finished speaking and excused himself, leaving the two of them behind.
Xu Mu went towards one of the dings.
