Chapter 403: The Mysterious District

Xu Qing's slaughter continued, and he still walked through his own personal hell.

In truth, what those prison guards of District Ding saw was both correct and incorrect.

What was correct was that Xu Qing was in the midst of a slaughter, and his expression truly remained without a ripple from beginning to end.

What was incorrect was... he was not suppressing his emotions.

Having crawled out of piles of corpses time and again, having walked along the edge of death time and again, and having survived twice after seeing a god open its eyes, he no longer needed to suppress his emotions.

Slaughter was his instinct.

If you want to harm me, I will kill you.

The malice and cruelty these prisoners held from the start had already destined their ending; whether here or outside, it was the same.

And Xu Qing's strikes did not soften because of the prisoners' mental collapse, nor did they pause because of the other party's wails.

He walked as he struck.

He caught up to one terrified, fleeing prisoner after another, found their fatal points, and, following the knowledge learned in his secret training, slaughtered them one by one.

Of course, he still needed their Golden Cores, so during this process, shrill screams echoed continuously.

Until, half an incense stick of time later, Xu Qing stood amidst the corpses covering the ground, holding the head of a Twin-Faced Clan cultivator in his left hand.

Under the thick stench of blood, his expression remained calm as he raised his head to look at the prison guards at the entrance, whose expressions were heavy with gravity.

"They're gone."

Xu Qing dropped the head in his hand and spoke softly.

The guards' expressions were solemn. After a long moment, they simultaneously bowed to Xu Qing in unison.

The middle-aged guard at the very front spoke in a deep voice.

"Welcome, Brother Xu Qing, to the Prison Division!"

Behind him, all the guards spoke in unison.

"Welcome, Brother Xu Qing, to the Prison Division!"

In any place, the strong are respected.

The Prison Division was the same, only here, besides being personally formidable, one also needed to make them feel that we are of the same kind.

If one achieved this, one naturally gained their recognition.

And if one was extraordinary, then what one gained would inevitably be respect.

Like Xu Qing at this moment; that was exactly how it was.

Xu Qing returned the bow. Feeling his fifth Tiangong rapidly materializing within his body, he asked a question.

"Can I go kill the ones in the other cells?"

Hearing this, the guards of District Ding all revealed expressions of deep emotion.

"Xu Qing, although we can handle the prisoners of the Prison Division, but... killing too many is ultimately not good. Everyone's quota for this month has been used up by you this time."

The middle-aged guard spoke with a bitter smile.

"However, you don't need to be anxious. Every month, many criminals are brought in as replacements. According to everyone's tacit understanding, basically, however many are brought in, that is how many of the original prisoners we can handle."

As he spoke, the middle-aged guard pushed open the prison gate. As everyone walked out, Xu Qing glanced at the spot where he had just placed his storage bag.

The surrounding guards coughed dryly, looked at each other, and each took out some spirit stones to hand to the middle-aged guard.

After the middle-aged guard took them, he sighed.

"It was finally my turn to bring in a newcomer, and I thought I could make a fortune, but I didn't expect..." He shook his head and distributed the spirit stones to three or five guards.

These guards accepted them with smiles; they were the ones who had bet on Xu Qing to win.

Afterward, the middle-aged cultivator kept a portion of the remaining spirit stones and gave them to Xu Qing according to a certain payout ratio.

Xu Qing's previous judgment was correct; these people following him were doing so to gamble.

Most of them had bet that Xu Qing wouldn't last long, and the one acting as the bookie was the middle-aged guard. Clearly, although some had bet on Xu Qing's success and gained a profit, Xu Qing had also gained quite a bit.

After all, his odds were very high.

Holding the spirit stones, Xu Qing was satisfied.

The other guards each had their own cells to guard. After cupping their fists and leaving one after another, the middle-aged guard took Xu Qing to the registration office.

On the way, his attitude was completely different from before.

"Brother Xu Qing, I usually guard the thirty-fifth floor. If you don't understand anything in the future, you can come find me. Now I'll take you to register, assign you a cell, get your guard's Dao robe, and record your aura so you can enter on your own when you come to work in the future."

Xu Qing nodded. As they walked along, passing cell after cell, his gaze occasionally fell upon them, and deep down, he still felt some regret.

This expression was noticed by the middle-aged guard, who smiled and spoke.

"Actually, there is another way, and that is for you to suppress District Ding-One on the eighty-eighth floor. When that time comes, you can choose to be promoted to a guard of District Bing."

This time, his smile was not a fake one, but carried sincerity.

"Once you become a guard of District Bing, you won't have any restrictions on handling prisoners, and the military merit given will also be more."

"Below the eighty-ninth floor?" Xu Qing asked. He had heard the other party mention District Bing before.

"That's right. The Prison Division is divided into four areas: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. Everything above the eighty-ninth floor is District Ding."

"Below the eighty-ninth floor is District Bing. As for District Yi and District Jia, that is not something we can know. In fact, District Bing is already very mysterious; I have never been there, and I don't know exactly how many floors there are."

"I only know that the prisoners imprisoned there have a cultivation base of at least Nascent Soul at their weakest, and the degree of cruelty is far beyond District Ding."

During their conversation, the middle-aged guard brought Xu Qing to the registration office located on the ninth floor. There, Xu Qing obtained the black flame Dao robe of the Prison Division and recorded his aura.

As for the cell he was to oversee, it was also arranged.

"District Ding-One-Three-Two." Upon seeing the cell Xu Qing was to guard, the middle-aged guard's expression was somewhat surprised, and he looked at Xu Qing a few more times.

Xu Qing was puzzled and looked at him.

"Is there a problem?"

"Ding-One-Three-Two, how should I put it? It is both extremely auspicious and extremely ominous. It is on the fifty-seventh floor." The middle-aged guard shook his head, his gaze toward Xu Qing somewhat complex.

Xu Qing frowned.

"It has nothing to do with the prisoners. Although the prisoners inside are indeed more malevolent than those in other districts, it is still District Ding after all. Saying it is extremely ominous is because its successive overseers have mostly died inexplicably outside; it's somewhat unlucky."

"However, not all overseers have died; there are still some who are fine. And saying it is extremely auspicious is because our Palace Master was the overseer of District Ding-One-Three-Two when he was at the Golden Core cultivation stage."

"And District Ding-One-Three-Two hasn't had a new overseer for nearly a hundred years."

Xu Qing's gaze sharpened; this matter caught his attention.

So he took out the jade slip given to him that recorded the prisoner data for District Ding-One-Three-Two and scanned it roughly with his spiritual sense.

There were very few prisoners in District Ding-One-Three-Two. At first glance, Xu Qing didn't see any problems, but he didn't intend to go to District Ding-One-Three-Two immediately; instead, he prepared to go back and study it further.

Just like that, after Xu Qing asked about some more matters regarding the Prison Division, he left this number one prison of the Feng Hai County.

By the time he reached the outside, it was already dusk.

Xu Qing felt that the experiences of this day were very rich, from meeting the Palace Master to taking on the role of a guard, followed by the slaughter of prisoners, and his own fifth Tiangong was also about to complete its materialization.

"Next, I need to build a Sword Pavilion." After walking out of the Prison Division, Xu Qing looked at the circles of Sword Pavilions of different heights on the ground. He arrived at the outermost layer, and a thousand feet away from the last Sword Pavilion, he took out his command sword and stabbed it into the ground.

The next instant, the command sword shone with brilliant light, and a booming sound came from within. A ten-zhang-tall Sword Pavilion stood up before his eyes, identical in style to the other Sword Pavilions around it.

Ten zhang was also the base height.

As the Sword Pavilion formed, the command sword returned and was put away by Xu Qing. He walked into the Sword Pavilion.

Seen from the outside, this pavilion was ten zhang tall, but the interior was not so; it was similar in structure to a cave dwelling, divided into several rooms where one could refine elixirs, refine weapons, go into seclusion to rest, or receive guests.

It even possessed a spirit-gathering array, so the spiritual energy inside the Sword Pavilion was very abundant; breathing and exhaling here was much more comfortable than outside.

Thus, Xu Qing did not return to his branch sect but chose to rest here.

As for necessary protection, such as arrays and poisons, Xu Qing naturally would not be negligent.

Although the Sword Pavilion itself had decent protection, Xu Qing still arranged things according to his own habits, only then feeling at ease.

Next, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.

Time passed.

During this period, he also received a voice transmission via jade slip from the Captain, informing him that the assessments for all newly promoted Sword Holders had ended, and he told Xu Qing about the position he had obtained in a very boastful tone.

"The Jiangong still values your Senior Brother highly; they arranged for me to be in the Merit Records Office!"

"That little girl Qingqiu was arranged for inspections, Kong Xianglong is in the Field Office specifically responsible for chasing down murderers. Out of all the newly promoted Sword Holders, including you, there are only five administrative positions, and I am one of them."

The Captain was incomparably proud, and the sound of him eating an apple even came through the jade slip.

"What about you, Xu Qing? Are you busy as the Palace Master's accompanying scribe?"

"It's alright." Xu Qing was somewhat surprised at why the Captain was so proud.

"Little Ah Qing, you don't understand, do you? Let me tell you, others see me getting this position and sneer at it, but they are stupid. I am different. The moment I got the position, I saw that it wasn't simple."

"The Merit Records Office, that is the place that audits military merit. If used well, the power is immense."

"At the same time, I can macro-view whose military merit is increasing fiercely, and then coordinate the increase in military merit of all Sword Holders. Combined with the tasks they complete and their cultivation bases, I can see which tasks are the simplest yet have the most military merit."

"Additionally, as long as I compile enough statistics, I can also see which areas are more suitable for obtaining military merit. This position is too critical. Even with careful study, I can even see a lot of intelligence from the clues within."

The Captain's voice carried excitement; he was extremely satisfied with this position.

After listening, Xu Qing's expression turned strange. He felt that perhaps when the Jiangong arranged this position for the Captain, they hadn't thought that deeply...

"Enough talk, I'm going to continue digging into this Merit Records Office. Little Ah Qing, you wait. It won't be long before I find a good method and area to get military merit, and I'll take you to get some!"

The Captain ended the call with great interest, fully immersed in his research.

Seeing this, Xu Qing also had some expectations.

"Military merit!" Xu Qing raised his head to look at the distant heaven and earth. That was the direction of Zhaoxia Continent, and also where Mount Zhaoxia was located.

"And the Emperor Sword. I now also have one chance to gain insight; I must go and gain insight as soon as possible." Xu Qing took a deep breath and took out his command sword.

Gaining insight into the Emperor Sword required an advance appointment. After all, there were many Sword Holders, and the number per day was limited. Thus, Xu Qing used his command sword to complete the appointment; the time was the dusk of the next day.

After doing all this, Xu Qing thought of the matter of Ding-One-Three-Two, so he took out the prisoner data jade slip and checked it carefully.

There were not many prisoners in District Ding-One-Three-Two, only fourteen, and all of them had been imprisoned for over five hundred years, with some even for a thousand. During this period, no new prisoners had been imprisoned, and the prisoners inside had not died.

However, because there had been a lack of overseers for a hundred years, they had no time for fresh air. For a hundred years, they had been in their cages and never went out, only receiving some spiritual energy at fixed times to maintain basic survival.

Xu Qing studied for a long time until dawn, but he didn't see anything too special.

If there really was something, it was that the prisoners in this District Ding-One-Three-Two lived longer than those in other districts.

With deep thought, Xu Qing decided to go and take a look.

So after dawn, he went to the Prison Division, went straight to the fifty-seventh floor, and stood before the prison gate of District Ding-One-Three-Two.

The dark-green prison gate revealed antiquity and the vicissitudes of time.

Xu Qing stood silently for a while, his eyes revealing decisiveness as he raised his hand to slowly push open the prison gate that hadn't been opened for a hundred years...

A breath of decay drifted out from the gap of the slowly opening gate, permeating the surroundings.

At the same time, on other floors, quite a few guards were also leaning out on the stairs, looking toward where Xu Qing was.

"Ding-One-Three-Two, it's opened again."

No update tomorrow. ===== CHAPTER 404 =====