Chapter 784

"Although I have a brief connection with the stars, under the Ten Kings' rule, favoritism is not allowed. Go to the Records Office, leave your testimony, and follow all subsequent procedures; you two must obey my orders and not act on your own." Han Ya turned and walked toward the door. "This is no place for mortals of the living world to linger. Mr. Dan Heng, Xing, follow me."

As Han Ya activated the mechanism, the structure inside the Hidden Prison began to shift slightly. Xing gazed down at the bottomless Hidden Prison, instinctively swallowed, and pulled back the foot that had reached the edge a bit.

"Along this journey, you must all watch your footing. The terrain within the Hidden Prison is treacherous; a moment's carelessness will send you plunging into the depths. If luck turns against you, before rescue arrives, you may freeze into the deep ice or be burned to charcoal by the scorching flames."

——

Spirit Cage.

"This place is so gloomy…… Speaking of which, how many prisoners can this place hold?"

"At the very least, it's probably on the order of tens of thousands." Xu Tong stroked his chin. "Come to think of it, I once watched an old civilization's film about what they called the 'Underworld' and the 'Eighteen Levels of Hell'; I suspect that hell's appearance is not unlike the Hidden Prison."

"Have you seen the wanted list that Xing is holding?" Shan Da turned the steering wheel, excitement in his voice: "This Hidden Prison truly lives up to 'teeming with talent'—not only does it have the ruined remains of the Abundance Envoy who vanished in an instant, but even the legendary first Eternal Kind is here; that thing must be at least four or five thousand years old—what's the difference between it and an antique?"

"I think that Eternal Kind should be handed over to Ruan Mei for study. As they say, specialization breeds expertise; the Immortal Vessel may be competent in warfare and martial pursuits, but when it comes to researching Abundance, perhaps it truly falls short compared to letting a genius study it for a few years."

Xia Dou rested his chin, gazing at the barren landscape outside the window: "That Cloud Knight can reattach a severed head; if that regenerative power could be extracted by Miss Ruan Mei's skilled hands and given to those limbless people across the universe, wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"You're overthinking it; Ruan Mei probably has no interest in that." Xu Tong let out a light sigh. "Besides, with Ruan Mei's skill, mending limbs is child's play, yet she couldn't be bothered to promote this technology…… Not every genius is willing to tend to ordinary people's feelings—even Miss Black Tower, I'd guess, has no interest in doing such a thing."

——

"Just ask how many layers this place has—let me embarrass myself in front of you two; even as a judge, I don't know."

"It was as if a chatterbox had been opened; the guide Han Ya, who usually remained silent, began to chatter on end: 'Among the judges, there's a rumor that a short-lived kind prisoner tried to escape but accidentally fell… When we found him, he was already a frail old man.'"

"Thinking about it, did he spend a lifetime's worth of time during his fall, or did some Eternal Kind prisoners drain his vital energy to age him? That's unknown. In any case, you two had better not try it lightly."

"Besides, I've heard the Living World is about to hold the Martial Exhibition Ceremony. Han Ya still remembers watching a sword duel with her sister when they were young. The Cloud Knight defending Luofu's arena was extraordinarily heroic, his sword light like lightning. The foreign challenger had a head of fiery hair and a hand forged of steel, his punches like thunder. They fought for a long time, with no clear victor."

"In the blink of an eye, so much time has passed. Han Ya and her sister have become beings of the underworld; they will no longer get excited over any competition."

"Xing, how crowded is the Star River Sea for this Martial Exhibition Ceremony?"

Xing recalled the scene of just arriving at the port earlier: "Bustling and crowded, with no end in sight."

"How nice. It's a pity Han Ya is swamped with work and can't watch the match… With my current appearance, going there would probably scare people."

——

The Valkyrie of the End.

"A head of fiery hair, hands forged from…… Isn't this Lu Ka?"

Ge Lei initially didn't react, but after thinking it over, Ge Lei suddenly recalled that Bei Luobo Ge also had such a fierce fighter who fought with iron fists.

"No, it's not Lu Ka. Han Ya and Xue Yi are both people of the Immortal Vessel; this must have happened at least several hundred years ago, Lu Ka couldn't possibly live that long. Moreover, Lu Ka he……

Strength still isn't enough.

Bolun Xiede wanted to speak but held back. She looked toward the center of the arena——it was empty, the duel between humans and gods had not yet begun. In her eyes, Lu Ka's strength paled in comparison to that of the Immortal Vessel; he couldn't even beat the local bigwig Si Wa Luo, let alone the Immortal Vessel's monsters who have trained their sword arts for hundreds of years. Even without comparing to outstanding figures like Yan Qing and Yun Li, those instructors of the Cloud Cavalry on the Immortal Vessel would likely beat him.

As for that head of fiery red hair…… it's probably a martial artist from another planet, right?

"Elder sister, an outsider from outside the Immortal Vessel can fight the Luo Fu defenders to a draw, showing that there are still many experts beyond the Star Sea; winning the martial arts tournament's championship isn't necessarily Yan Qing and Yun Li."

Bolun Xiede nodded and said, "I think Luan Po and Bo Ti Ou have a chance to take first place; it's a pity we don't know where those two are now—they both have Hunt Patrol strength, and somehow we need to send someone to cheer them on."

——

"Under Han Ya's guidance, Xing and Dan Heng arrived at the Yin Cold Prison. As soon as they got there, Xing couldn't help but shiver."

"…It's cold."

"The chill emanating from the North Peak of the Ultimate Realm Cave Heaven seeps in here. Even hardy longevity beings can't withstand it." Han Ya was about to explain this to Xing when suddenly a few muffled "thud thud" sounds came from afar.

"Huh? Did you two hear something?" Han Ya blocked the two behind her and went alone toward the source of the sound, saying, "Let me see what's going on."

The source of the sound was an area stacked with crates and baskets; after looking around, Dan Heng noticed that some of these mountain‑high piles of boxes looked familiar.

Han Ya explained the situation: "A few days ago, the underworld couriers received a summons saying the company's transport ship had been attacked by the Bu Li people. Afterwards, a large herd of fiendish beasts were dumped here. Given that the martial arts tournament is underway, there's bound to be troublemakers stirring. But I've never seen cargo and bandits thrown into prison together."

"It seems the company has provoked the Bu Li people…"

"I've heard that the people of the Erudition Society seem to have created something dangerous. The archives of the Hall of Causality contain many records of these scholars, who, in their pursuit of the limits of mechanical art, always delve into forbidden research."

Han Ya gazed up at the mountain‑high stack of crates before her, also feeling puzzled: "I've seen the mechs inside the crates; their design closely resembles that of the Bu Li people. I really don't know what they're planning this time."

Just as Han Ya was about to lead everyone away, she suddenly saw that the lock on one of the crates had been opened.

"Strange, I don't recall ever doing a secondary inspection of the contained items…"

Han Ya took a deep breath; the chill of the Yin Cold Prison seeped into her lungs as she slowly bent over, lowering her head into the gap of the opened crate.

When she made out what was inside, Han Ya's pupils contracted sharply.

"No mechs."

"…There was only a fainted warrior lying still inside."