Chapter 456: The Ghost Fire Well—A Place of Penal Imprisonment

With Hua Changxi's departure, the Hua family courtyard fell silent.

As cultivators with extraordinary hearing, every member of the Hua family had heard the argument between Hua Changxi and Hua Sanlang in the yard.

Hua Changxi's declaration—that she would not establish a 'Hua Imperial Dynasty'—completely extinguished the fervent hopes of the Hua family, who operated on the principle of 'family first.'

No one in the entire Hua family spoke.

Yet in every heart, a silent storm was raging.

After leaving the Xuan Yuan Manor, Hua Changxi returned directly to the Lingguang Hall.

Upon arrival, she immediately sent a message to Yun You, the logistics steward, instructing her to procure materials for forging armor and weapons, and then notified Die Wu of Wutong Forest to deliver those materials to the Lihuo Cliff for the weapon smiths to refine.

The demon clans of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the sea demons of the ocean realms...

As news of demon incursions multiplied, Hua Changxi suddenly realized that beyond guarding Nanxiangcheng, the Zhu Que Army also bore the responsibility of protecting the human race.

Moreover, the Zhu Que Army needed combat experience!

However, with the logistics supply system not yet established and armor and weapons still incomplete, it was not yet time for the Zhu Que Army to venture out for training.

Afterwards, Hua Changxi sent messages to stewards of other departments, ordering them to intensify the training of the Zhu Que Army; having given her instructions, she lingered not a moment, her form darting away as a crimson shadow speeding toward the mass grave in the southeast.

The reason she had left the Hua family in such haste was twofold: first, there was indeed nothing more to say to her family, and second, she had sensed the 'Fire Axe' she had condensed in the heart of the mass grave trembling.

Something had happened at the mass grave!

Half an hour later, Hua Changxi appeared alone at the edge of the mass grave.

The moment she arrived, her brows knitted together.

The trembling of the 'Fire Axe' was not caused by intruders entering the mass grave, but by ghost qi seeping out from beneath the ground again.

Prince Shou was already dead; how could ghost qi still be leaking out?

Hua Changxi's expression darkened slightly; she could wait no longer—tonight, she would explore the Ghost Fire Well.

Immediately, she lightly tapped the ground and leaped into the heart of the mass grave, appearing before the 'Fire Axe.'

At that moment, the 'Fire Axe' hummed incessantly; the crimson flames upon its blade were visibly weakened from striving to suppress the ghost qi surging from below.

Hua Changxi infused spiritual power into the 'Fire Axe'; only when it blazed with brilliance once more did she turn her attention to the ground beneath.

The imperial family had arranged a concealment array here; though Hua Changxi was not skilled in breaking arrays, she gathered fire spiritual energy in her hand, quickly condensed a new 'Fire Axe,' and then, gripping it, slashed down with tremendous force.

"Boom~"

As the Fire Axe fell, a spiritual barrier abruptly rose.

Then, with a loud 'bang,' the spiritual barrier shattered explosively, its fragments scattering in myriad points of light.

Once the array was broken, the true face of the mass grave's interior was revealed—a deep chasm stretching a thousand zhang across, filled with swirling ghost qi that obscured its full extent.

Standing at the edge of the chasm, Hua Changxi watched the churning ghost qi within, her brows tightly furrowed, her heart heavy as iron.

The chasm was bottomless, and the ghost qi so dense it had nearly become solid; even her divine sense plunged in like a clay ox into the sea, yielding no return; she could only faintly discern several blood-red chains deep at the bottom, writhing slowly in the darkness like living creatures, coiling and tightening as if suppressing some unspeakable entity.

It was Jing Sheng!

Hua Changxi's pupils trembled slightly; those blood-red chains were identical to the bloodline chains of Jing Sheng, the boy with the Nether Eye, and in her view, those crimson chains also seemed to be preventing the ghost qi from leaking outward.

Jing Sheng and the Ghost Fire Well must be connected in some way!

In the next instant, Hua Changxi took a deep breath; fiery light blazed in her right palm like rolling crimson clouds, ripples spread through the void, and a fire lotus rose slowly from her palm.

The fire lotus soared upward, then slowly sank into the chasm.

Wherever it passed, the ghost qi scattered and evaporated like snow meeting boiling water.

Darkness was torn asunder, and light flooded in like a tide.

As the fire lotus descended further, the contours of the chasm gradually became clear—the valley walls were jagged as bones, inscribed with many incomprehensible runes.

And in the center of the valley floor stood a colossal white platform—a giant skull carved from a massive skeleton, viewed from above!

Meanwhile, at the four corners of the skull—east, south, west, and north—stood four stone statues of Zhu Que crafted from fire crystals.

At that moment, endless ghost qi gushed from the skull's mouth, and deep within its two eye sockets, eerie and terrifying green flames could be seen.

The fire lotus finally hovered above the skull.

Its light formed a canopy, weaving a barrier of crimson flames directly over the skull—the ghost qi seeping from the skull's mouth was burned into nothingness before it could even rise.

Hua Changxi drifted down, standing before the skull platform.

In front of the platform stood a black stele of profound stone, three zhang tall; its surface was mirror-smooth yet radiated a chilling coldness.

Upon it was engraved a line of striking blood-red characters, as if written with the blood of countless departed souls: "Better to suffer a thousand cuts than enter the Ghost Fire Well"—Nanxiangcheng Prison Warden Office.

"Prison Warden..."

Hua Changxi murmured softly, suddenly realizing something: the Ghost Fire Well was very likely a penal prison for imprisoning Zhu Que soldiers who had committed offenses.