Chapter 304: Leading the Internal Friction, Making a Feint to the East and Attacking the West (48k, please subscribe)

Inside the high walls of the prison, that hazy white light now encompassed the entire structure, shrouding everyone within; should the slightest anomaly appear, it would strike it down immediately.

It must be a formation, or perhaps something else intertwined with it; regardless, for now, Du En silently cast the Ice Breath Art to erase and conceal his own presence, and he was not detected.

At the same time, he utilized his Spirit-Seeking technique, moving along certain nodal points of the veins to avoid being sensed by that light while he, a being with a physical form, was in motion.

Moving stealthily along this path, he successfully arrived outside the central courtyard.

Several people were lying here, and their condition looked truly shocking.

They were suffering direct attacks from that hazy white light; at this moment, parts of their bodies were as if wiped away out of thin air—they were clearly still alive, and the existing parts could still move, but they could neither touch nor see the vanished portions.

"Ahhh!"

"Calm down! Stop screaming! Just listening to you makes me want to scream!"

"That's right, it's just that some parts have temporarily disappeared; does he really dare to kill us? Ahhh..."

"Then why are you howling like a ghost?!"

"I'm scared!"

Listening to the conversation between these few people and observing their situation, Du En quickly sensed the clues.

"Uncontrollable fear, and it appears hazy white; it's like a strange object called the Terror Illusion Light, but there are differences in the specifics. At the very least, that wouldn't make a person's body disappear like this. So, is it a mixture of other spatial-type things or methods?"

Clearly, this was another method of composite fusion.

And more crucially, the entire central courtyard was currently covered by a thick, white-shroud-like white light, making it look impossible to enter by any clever means.

So, how was he to enter?

Du En did not choose to rashly force his way in; after thinking for a moment, he opened his hand.

There sat an ice box, containing a portion of the Iron Sand Guard.

"It is thanks to Yang Dong's subconscious disdain and contempt for methods that have failed before that I was able to secretly intercept a bit, and it hasn't been discovered until now."

Looking back at where Tang Wenren was in the midst of a fierce battle, then scanning the surroundings here, he saw no noisy commotion of someone jumping out to mock him in impatience; Du En generally determined that his little maneuver had not yet been discovered by that fellow.

Thus, he changed his direction and position, then sent the ice box in his hand into the white light shell of the central courtyard.

Crack!

The box began to shatter.

Naturally, he could not let this Dream Soul Iron Sand and the Hazy Terror Light clash just like that, so Du En carefully controlled the speed of the fragmentation while igniting a fire inside, using Golden Flame to scorch it.

Although his own life-bound magic treasure had not yet been refined, it contained a strange object called Dream Stone, whose properties were quite similar to Dream Soul Sand, and it came with a specialized processing method known as Dream Melting.

At this moment, he applied it directly, regulating it with his moderately accomplished artifact-refining attainments to process the Dream Soul Iron Sand and exert his own influence upon it.

Boom!

As the ice box shattered, the Golden Flame also extinguished and vanished.

The iron sand, engraved with a touch of gold, permeated the area and began to call out to and gather the other normal iron sand.

That hazy white light barrier clearly would not actively target the Iron Sand Guard, so the iron sand successfully gathered, and then.

"Ga! Ga-ga-ga-ga..."

The Iron Sand Guard, assembled with the partially mutated iron sand as its core, seemed to have poor internal coordination; it lowered its head and kept emitting strange sounds from within that humanoid form.

Then, next.

Boom!

It suddenly raised its head, two points of gold lighting up on its face like a pair of eyes, and then it swung its hand, directly counterattacking the light barrier that served as the prison's defense.

In Du En's field of vision, it expanded out of thin air, reaching the boundary of his divine sense in an instant; it finally revealed its strangeness, though it was still within a controllable range.

Looking small but actually large, the suddenly erupted giant force slapped against the hazy white light barrier, causing it to tremble and shake repeatedly, as if caught off guard and stunned in astonishment.

Then, it naturally launched a counterattack.

After all, the highest priority of this light barrier was to cover and guard the central courtyard; it would erase any enemy that dared to attempt to step inside.

The two defensive means, the Hazy Terror Light and the Iron Sand Guard, had thus directly started fighting!

And then, because of the intense collision occurring internally—like grains of iron sand getting into the gears—the power output remained unchanged, so it directly broke the whole through a single point, causing a series of defensive measures closely related to both to begin a cascading collapse.

A path appeared as a result.

Du En immediately flashed inside, stepping into the central courtyard, which appeared more empty and like a vacant lot compared to the other courtyards.

Inside was a Golden Core stage member of the Prison Construction Department, a female cultivator who looked young and beautiful; she had been feeling a bit bored, lying on her side with her crossed legs tucked in, her gaze wandering, unrestrained and casual.

When Du En flashed before her, she appeared quite surprised, as if she had only just reacted to the fact that someone could actually break in.

"Eh?! Wait..."

I can cooperate!

Before she could even say this sentence, she had already been wrapped into an ice shell by Du En's spell; he then specially condensed a handle, picked her up, and hurried back the way he came, leaving her no possibility to continue making a sound.

Huh? No, we're colleagues after all, and I'm a delicate female cultivator; how can you have no sense of chivalry at all?!

She could only weep without tears.

Once he left, those few people, whose means had been broken, had already recovered to normal; they stopped screaming immediately, and without even wiping away their tears, they hurriedly rushed into the central courtyard.

Just as they entered, they happened to run into Yang Dong, who had projected himself over in a great hurry.

"Good, good, good. I didn't expect that you would actually have such means!"

Yang Dong couldn't help but sneer repeatedly, his laughter making the scalps of those few people tingle.

"Wait!"

"It wasn't us!"

"We just got in, we haven't done anything yet!"

"Really, you have to believe us!"

Facing their explanations, Yang Dong had wanted to rebuke them, but suddenly thinking of something, he subconsciously looked away toward the other side.

In that other place, Tang Wenren, who had originally been suppressed to the point of death, was currently staging a desperate comeback.

He wielded his natal dharma treasure, casting various high-grade and top-grade spells with ease, directly transforming the surrounding area into a place where the Five Elements crisscrossed to contend against the various remaining methods, completely living up to his reputation as a genius!

Looking closely again, Du En was standing right behind him, calm and composed, gazing over silently, as if he would strike fiercely the moment he revealed any flaw!

In fact, had he not looked over just now, that secretly raised hand of this Du Youli would not have been naturally lowered again!

To act, one must do the whole set; Tang Wenren could be said to be self-taught, using Du En's naturally calm and indifferent expression to make his water-spirit reflection look truly authentic through various small gestures.

Yang Dong was frightened on the spot, breaking out in a cold sweat, not daring to be distracted too much, with only a sliver of focus remaining.

Then, he was suddenly furious!

Because while he was distracted confirming things on this side, the few people in the central courtyard had already tacitly scattered and fled!

"And you say it wasn't you! If it wasn't you, why are you running!"

"I am such a fool! Trusting them is worse than trusting that I can break through to the Nascent Divinity stage!"

"Fortunately, just in case, I actually have a final resort!"

Seeing that things were looking very bad, the affected setups everywhere, whether being debugged or restarted, all needed time, and it was very likely they would let them abduct the people.

Thus, Yang Dong turned ruthless on the spot and directly activated his final resort!

In an instant, this prison, where the white light had been dim and the iron sand had faded, immediately showed new, very violent activity.

Rumble, rumble, rumble~

One could only see that at the eight edge positions of the prison, those connecting paths outside the courtyards that looked very plain suddenly had their ground pulled open, revealing deep, dark voids beneath.

Then, massive behemoths with glowing scarlet eyes rushed out rapidly, revealing their beast-shaped puppet swarm—neither gold nor wood, capable of resisting spells, spirits, and all aspects—purely Grade 4 mid-tier.

Jailer puppet dogs!

Their numbers were vast, surging forward in a grand, mighty force, totaling 1,600; in the eyes of the Golden Core stage cultivators who were still struggling and attempting to stand, it was like seeing a ghost as the dogs charged fiercely past their edges, the gale they whipped up directly helping them take flight on the spot and pile up with the ruins of the buildings.

"Jie jie jie!"

"That's right! The prison is just like this; the final resort is to kill indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe, wiping out everyone inside!"

Yang Dong laughed heartily, and amidst this exaggerated laughter, those few Golden Core stage cultivators who had scattered and fled quickly let out continuous screams one after another, clearly having been caught and dealt with.

Although they hadn't actually died, they would inevitably suffer a brutal, devastating ordeal.

"Hahaha! See that! This is what happens to those who dare to—uh... wait, where are my prisoners?"

The puppet dog swarm, like a gale sweeping away fallen leaves, quickly finished off those unlucky ones, but the most crucial prisoners could not be found, not even a single hair.

Yang Dong's heart skipped a beat; disregarding his pride or anything else, his main body, still building the wall, turned his head directly to look at the spiritual light screen suspended over the wilderness and asked An Ruqin inside: "Where are the people?"

"In Du Youli's hands."

An Ruqin replied coldly and directly.

"Ah?"

Yang Dong was first stunned on the spot, then realized the situation and immediately wanted to go crazy.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You didn't ask me to tell you."

"Hiss..."

Yang Dong was truly going crazy now.

He waved his hand directly and cut off the projection.

The moment the image disappeared, the people at the hub saw Yang Dong's twisted face and couldn't help but look at each other.

"Supervisor An, this, are we really not going to do anything?"

It was obvious that Yang Dong was about to lose control!

But regarding this, An Ruqin's gaze dropped, still cold, and she only said slowly: "No need; after all, he is Supervisor Yang, holding an important position in the Construction Division, so he should know his limits."

Although he was ranked in the Construction Division, it was only because his professional skills were outstanding enough to be called a Grand Artisan, not for any other reason!

Not to mention his temperament was eccentric and irritable, strange and peculiar... in any case, he was very strange!

If they didn't stop him now, he would definitely cause a huge mess, and it wouldn't even be impossible for him to accidentally kill someone!

Everyone knew this clearly and was screaming in their hearts, but now that An Ruqin had said this, facing her earnest, even cold gaze, they were tongue-tied for a moment, unable and powerless to speak.

When it came down to it, of the two people in charge of this matter, one was out of control and the other was a bystander; what could they, these Golden Core stage runners, do now?

They couldn't even reconnect the image!

The people from the Prison Punishment Division all tightened their expressions and buried their heads in their work; although they had finished most of what they needed to do, they just wanted to stay out of it now and not get overly involved in this matter.

Although sometimes, it wasn't up to them whether they wanted to or not.

But they had no good way out and could only respond passively.

As for the people from the Construction Division, they were at their wits' end, silently bowing their heads to work while bracing themselves against the cold, piercing gazes from behind, making one last effort to try and secretly send a message to Yang Dong.

Do one's best and leave the rest to fate...

"Annoying, annoying, annoying! One or two, all daring to obstruct me!"

Yang Dong didn't know his subordinates' inner thoughts at all; he rejected and scattered them all right then, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He threw away what was in his hand, jumped onto the top of the wall, and roared viciously at the prison: "Du Youli, you are the one who played me the hardest!"

"Is that so?"

The abrupt response made the supervisor look down in astonishment, only to see Du En standing at the base of the wall.

"You, you, you..."

He was so scared he almost jumped back, but then he laughed wildly: "Ga ga ga! Du Youli, oh Du Youli, you still arrived a bit too late; I have already finished building the wall, don't even think about breaking through it again!"

"Indeed, I just tried."

Tried?

When did that happen?

Forget it, never mind!

I must teach him a harsh lesson, otherwise, the reputation of Grand Artisan Yang will be completely lost today!

Yang Dong immediately waved his hand decisively, and puppet dogs were shifted in from thin air, surrounding Du En completely and baring their vicious claws and fangs.

He did not attempt to ambush Yang Dong either, because that would have been useless.

This was not only because the other side was at the Nascent Soul mid-stage, with a major realm gap between them, but also because the repaired high wall, having been recast, had avoided the wave of collapsing prison defense measures and could be said to have survived completely, its power fully intact.

Every drink and every peck, such is fate!

Yang Dong was also sweating in his heart, thinking it was fortunate that his actions were swift, otherwise he reckoned this Du Youli would have already run off.

It was a given that he could not beat him, but catching him off guard and managing to stun or knock him away for a moment was doable; once he broke through the wall again, that would be his victory!

"However, there are no 'ifs' in all things!"

"The advantage is with me right now!"

"Attack!"

The giant puppet dogs responded silently, the ground exploding as they trampled, stirring up a storm as they moved; their speed was astonishing, as if teleporting, and they were genuine Nascent Soul combat power.

Du En dared not underestimate this, revealing his Inexhaustible Azure Spirit Body, then wrapping himself in mud-stone cast armor, stimulating golden flames, whipping up wind and sand, sprouting trees, and propelling giant cannons.

In an instant, his firepower was fully unleashed, a complete output from the Golden Core perfection realm, and he clashed head-on with this group of terrifying giant puppet dogs!

For a time, dust and smoke rose, and thunderous roars echoed, as if the ground were constantly thundering; Yang Dong's face twitched as he watched, quite dumbfounded and appearing incredulous.

"This fellow, this fellow, could he, perhaps, be able to beat me?"

As a second-rate elite who relied on external forces to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, to be honest, even with the advantage of a major realm, he could at most far surpass a strong first-rate Golden Core perfection, but against a peculiar genius at Golden Core perfection, it was hard to say.

Taking Tang Wenren, who was taught personally by a True Person, as an example, after his actual observations, he felt it should be about an 80-20 split, and he still had a full 80 percent certainty of winning.

But this Du En, Du Youli, before his eyes...

Watching a giant puppet dog with strength comparable to his own—or rather, one made using his own strength as a template—get directly knocked away, scattering various debris, with a claw even broken off and used directly as a weapon, Yang Dong's temples throbbed, and his vision went a bit dark.

It was several times more exaggerated than the combat power of the genius Tang!

Should I perhaps stop standing on the wall attracting attention?

He only felt terrified, not even daring to be arrogant or noisy.

However, the giant puppet dogs were numerous after all, totaling one thousand six hundred, and by taking turns participating in the siege, even Du En would gradually find it difficult to hold out alone.

The other side remained calm, only taking a moment to ask: "Is Supervisor Yang not curious about where that prisoner went?"

"Huh?!"

Oh, right!

Where was the key prisoner?

Yang Dong was shocked, suddenly thinking of something, and immediately hurried to form hand seals, creating another projection and placing it on Tang Wenren's side.

Then he saw this Hub City genius, after crushing those remaining measures, quickly flying rapidly toward the opposite side of the battle focus with a touch of excited laughter.

And on his back, he was clearly carrying a person.

He was obviously doing this kind of thing for the first time, feeling only great excitement in his heart and expression, galloping away with all his might!

Yang Dong did not doubt it for a moment and hurriedly and anxiously shifted eight hundred giant puppet dogs to intercept.

The two sides quickly began to fight...

"Supervisor Yang, I have won."

"Ah?!"

The words that suddenly rang out from Du En made Yang Dong stare in astonishment.

Won?

Wasn't he blocked by me?

The next instant, he discovered something through the monitoring of the high wall's measures.

He hurriedly waved his hand, and another spiritual light screen was generated, projecting the scene at the other end.

Yang Dong's eyes widened as he watched!

The prisoner over there was currently ascending!

(End of chapter)