Chapter 427: The World in the Mural

Between autumn and winter, there is actually only a snowfall apart.

In the fifth month since Xu Qing came to the capital, winter in the capital arrived silently with the fall of the first snow.

In that silver-clad world, snowflakes fell on the tops of buildings, in streets, and on the hair of pedestrians.

While decorating the entire land, it also made the city look like it had many white-headed people.

The first snow came suddenly and was also very heavy.

It fell outside the Prison Division and on the Sword Pavilions.

And in the wind and snow, Xu Qing, in white Sword-Holder Daoist robes, walked toward the Prison Division in this snowy world.

Today was the day he went on duty in Bing District.

A few days ago, he completed the suppression of Ding District One and passed the promotion assessment. From that moment on, he was no longer a Ding District jailer, but a Bing District jailer.

As for the guard position of Ding One-Three-Two, Xu Qing did not resign; he would concurrently hold Ding One-Three-Two.

And the attire of a Bing District jailer was no different from that of a Ding District, except that there was an extra black badge on the collar.

The appearance of this badge was a tree branch.

If the Prison Division were compared to a big tree, then Ding District jailers were the leaves, and Bing District was the branches.

Walking down the steps of the Prison Division at this moment, Xu Qing clearly felt the glory represented by this badge, because all the Ding District jailers who saw him along the way bowed respectfully.

Xu Qing returned the salute and walked to the eighty-eighth floor, passed the eighty-ninth floor, and when stepping down the steps to the ninetieth floor, he took a deep breath, his expression revealing solemnity.

"Ninetieth floor..." Xu Qing murmured in his heart, his footsteps firm as he walked down slowly.

The sound of "tap-tap" came from under Xu Qing's feet.

That was the sound of his footsteps landing on the steps, echoing in the surroundings at this moment, exceptionally obvious in this quiet environment.

And the light from the top of the Prison Division could not shine into the depth of the ninetieth floor, so the world presented in Xu Qing's eyes was increasingly dim.

Until he finished walking the last step to the ninetieth floor, Xu Qing's footsteps paused, and he looked up at the ninetieth floor of the Prison Division.

This place was completely different from Ding District.

The ground was damp and covered with moss. Although it was only separated by one layer from above, when Xu Qing looked up, a feeling of being separated from Ding District by a world rose in his heart.

Because this place was also circular, but there were no cells, and even more so, no cell doors!

The entire circular wall, as far as the eye could see, was all murals.

These murals filled the entire wall, with sun, moon, clouds, and mist painted inside, as well as mountains, rivers, buildings, and all living things!

Like a complete world!

It was just that the colors were monotonous, all dark.

Xu Qing's mind shook. Looking at this painting, he thought of the Danqing tribe of Ding One-Three-Two.

After a long while, Xu Qing walked toward the mural. After examining it carefully, his pupils constricted.

These murals seemed alive; everything inside was changing, clouds and mist were drifting, mountains and rivers were changing.

It was as if that was truly a dark world, and Xu Qing was standing outside the world to overlook everything.

"Ninetieth floor, there is only one cell."

A voice that was cold and carried a hint of familiarity came very abruptly from behind Xu Qing.

Xu Qing turned around abruptly and saw the figure walking out of the darkness.

That was a tall old man, filled with pressure, his gaze cold, and his whole body exuding a thick malevolent aura. Staying with him for a long time would cause bursts of ghost wailing and wolf howling to emerge in one's mind.

It seemed that the number of living beings who died in his hands was countless, causing countless resentful souls to surround him all year round, exuding malice toward all living people.

"Greetings, Senior Ghost Hand!"

Xu Qing immediately recognized that the other party was the instructor who explained the fatal points of the Myriad Tribes to them, the newly promoted Sword-Holders, during the Sword-Holder secret training.

On that day, Xu Qing, as his assistant, saw with his own eyes the old man take out countless corpses, and even killed some on the spot.

He had heard Kong Xianglong say before that the other party was a jailer, but Xu Qing had never met him in the Prison Division in these few months. At that time, he guessed in his heart that the other party should be in a deeper layer.

Seeing him at this moment, Xu Qing was not too surprised, and bowed respectfully.

The old man glanced at Xu Qing, a touch of appreciation appearing in his eyes.

"I remember you, the little guy who poisoned the Sick Ghost."

"Promoted from Ding District so quickly, not bad."

The old man smiled, but his whole body's malevolent aura was too heavy, and at this moment, this smile also carried a sense of eeriness. If it were an ordinary person, they might feel their heart hair-raising, but Xu Qing was accustomed to it, and instead felt that this was normal.

Noticing that Xu Qing's expression did not change, the old man was even more satisfied in his heart. In fact, when he chose Xu Qing as his assistant, he was very optimistic about him.

Walking to Xu Qing's side at this moment, he looked at the mural and spoke indifferently.

"The jailers of Bing District are mostly Nascent Soul. Do you know why?"

"Because the method of suppressing prisoners in Bing District is different from Ding District?" Xu Qing thought for a moment and answered.

"I thought you would say the prisoners' cultivation is deeper." The old man smiled.

"The prisoners in Bing District do indeed have deeper cultivation, and there are both Nascent Soul prisoners and Spirit Treasury prisoners. But this is not the point. The point is... only Nascent Soul jailers can carry the rules of a small world in their bodies without being crushed by it."

The old man's gaze remained on the mural, his voice echoing in all directions.

"The rules of a small world?" Xu Qing was lost in thought and looked at the mural as well.

"From the ninetieth floor to the one hundred and twenty-second floor, they are all Bing District, a total of thirty-three floors." The old man spoke slowly.

"Bing District does not have any cells like Ding District. Every floor is a mural like this."

"Every mural is a small world! These thirty-three small worlds are the cells of Bing District!"

As soon as Ghost Hand's words came out, Xu Qing's eyes revealed a strange glint. He had guessed it when he saw the mural before, especially after experiencing the Grand Void Realm, so he was not completely ignorant about things like small worlds.

But he was still shocked by the handwriting of the Prison Division.

"Using thirty-three small worlds as the prison of Bing District, then what would the Yi District and Jia District further down... look like?" Xu Qing took a deep breath.

And the old man Ghost Hand's words were still echoing.

"Old man, I am the jailer of the first world among the thirty-three world prisons, leading a group of jailers in the first world of Bing District to guard this world!"

"Your appointment is to be arranged in this first world prison, but your cultivation is not yet Nascent Soul, so it is difficult for you to bear the rules of a world by yourself. I will take you to this world first to let you feel it."

The old man said, spitting a black mist at the mural.

As the mist fell and spread to the surroundings, the mural became vivid in color where it passed.

It was no longer dark and dull, but had more colors, and was lifelike in the end.

"Let's go."

The old man stood with his hands behind his back and walked toward the mural that had recovered its color.

Xu Qing followed behind, and in an instant, he stepped into the mural with the old man and walked to the first world of the thirty-three worlds.

Presented before Xu Qing was a boundless void.

In the depths of that void, there was a gray continent, covered with a red light shell like an eggshell.

It was filled with countless formations and restrictions formed by runes, the number of which was no less than hundreds of millions, forming an astonishing seal that shrouded the entire continent, sealing it tightly.

And those runes shone with each other, seemingly following a certain law, causing at least a million runes to flash simultaneously at every moment, operating eternally.

And as the formation seal rotated, four illusory statues also appeared around this continent.

These four statues were incomparably huge, and their appearance was very different from the human race, more like fierce beasts.

Their heads were the same size as the continent. At this moment, they were lined up in the east, west, south, and north, looking down at the continent simultaneously.

Their gazes gathered, turning into the sun and moon.

As the formation runes shone, these four figures were also slowly changing their positions, so there was an alternation of the sun and moon.

This scene was incomparably vast, making Xu Qing's mind surge violently.

"This is the first world. This void was taken from the Void Realm by the first Palace Master and integrated into this place to cover the aura of the first world."

In the void, the old man was in front and spoke in a deep voice.

"The rune seal on the outer shell can be seen as the laws of this world, which have been refined by my Sword-Holding Palace. And those four statues are the four initial Heavenly Dao bodies of this world."

"Now, leave your brand in the formation so that you will not be suppressed by the rules after you step in."

Amidst his words, the old man walked forward, fell into the formation seal, shuttled through it, and descended directly onto that continent.

Xu Qing heard this, formed a seal, and hit his mark into the light shell formation, following behind.

As the continent became clearer and clearer in his eyes, their figures passed through everything and appeared in the clouds and mist of the firmament.

Below was the mountain range of this small world.

"The moment this world was transformed into a prison, the law was set: foreign living beings cannot reproduce."

The old man spoke slowly and continued to walk.

Xu Qing followed while noticing that the range of this world was not small. The overall terrain was mainly desert and wilderness, the spiritual energy was extremely thin, and even as soon as he arrived, he had a feeling of suffocation.

It was as if his whole body was bound by invisible force, suppressed by infinite mountains, and even one-tenth of his ten-percent power was difficult to exert, being severely restricted.

Fortunately, soon, as the formation of the outer light shell operated, Xu Qing felt relaxed in an instant.

This experience gave him more understanding of this prison.

At the same time, the climate of this world was extremely harsh. Standing at the highest point, one could see sandstorms sweeping in some places, and the wind inside had the power to scrape bones.

In some places, poisonous rain poured down, and all things inside could only wail.

There were also places where magnetic storms filled the air, and streaks of heavenly thunder fell, destroying everything.

"In the thirty-three world prisons, countless Myriad Tribes and weird things are imprisoned. They suffer in the small world, and their life and death are not up to themselves. And all the rules of this place are mastered by my Prison Division."

The old man waved his hand, and the desert on the ground changed instantly. Huge mountains rose from the ground, and the terrain turned into crisscrossing mountain ranges.

It was not over. He waved his hand again, and the mountain ranges here were instantly wiped out. Infinite water vapor gathered in an instant, a large amount of seawater seeped out from the ground, and the next moment, this place turned into a vast ocean.

Moving mountains and filling seas, all changes were in his hands.

Xu Qing looked at this scene, his expression revealing solemnity.

"Xu Qing, do you know why the prison itself makes people fear?" The old man looked at Xu Qing.

"Because of deprivation." Xu Qing answered solemnly.

"That's right. Depriving them of what originally belonged to them, turning what they were accustomed to in their daily lives into something they dream of but cannot possess again—the pain formed by this contrast is the most heart-eating."

The old man looked at the ocean below, his voice echoing.

"The principle of the thirty-three world prisons is to use the laws of the small world itself as a cage, letting all the Nascent Soul prisoners imprisoned in this first world prison be eroded by this world."

"We did not restrict their cultivation; they are still Nascent Soul, but they are Nascent Soul of the small world."

"The four fires of Foundation Establishment on the Wanggu Continent are about comparable to the Nascent Soul of the small world, and the power of one palace of Golden Core is not much different from the middle stage of Nascent Soul."

"In this way, these prisoners in this world, who are accustomed to calling wind and rain with one spell on the Wanggu Continent, now have their power sharply reduced. That feeling of being bound by heaven and earth, which makes them know the beauty of the outside world, will make them more eager and more painful."

"What was once possessed is taken away, and what was once the simplest thing that belonged to them has now become the most extravagant longing."

"This is the prison of Bing District of the Prison Division." The old man looked at Xu Qing and spoke in a deep voice.