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From ancient times until now, the peace treaty between humans, Saintfiends, and Demi-Immortals ensured that representatives of that species could survive easily in the prison. It wasn’t the same with other species. The reason members of other species weren’t executed on the spot for their crimes was that it would be a big waste. Instead, their cultivation bases were turned into a power source for the county capital’s taboo treasure.

As long as they didn’t all die at once, and as long as there were more to replace those who did die, then it wouldn’t matter if thousands or even tens of thousands perished. To a certain degree, the lives of the prisoners were fully in the control of the Corrections Division. As a result, the prison abounded with an aura of death, and was a very sinister and gloomy place. Thus, it was no wonder that the jailers who served there were terrifying and fierce.

A good example was Ghost Hand, who had previously taught one of Xu Qing’s classes. He was one of the jailers, and he had a baleful aura that Xu Qing had been able to sense quite clearly.

Based on what Xu Qing had learned in the classes during his training, the Corrections Division had been around since Sea-Sealing County was first formed. And the very first palace lord of the Swordsage Palace had been in charge.

It contained a hundred and seventy-seven levels, all of which contained dimensional spaces, unending warding spells, countless spell formations, shocking defensive precautions, and other secrets. Even a Void Returning expert who forced their way into the prison would end up trapped and unable to flee.

A lot of that was due to the tradition of having the palace lord stay there. That tradition had been in place from the moment the prison was built, and had been started at the suggestion of the first palace lord himself. Successive generations of palace lords had always honored the tradition, and kept both their offices and residences in the prison itself.

In addition to housing prisoners and powering the taboo treasure, the prison served another function. Intimidation. It was one way that humans struck fear into the hearts of all of the nonhumans that lived in Sea-Sealing County.

Over the years, no one other than the Corrections Division knew exactly how many cultivators had been imprisoned. People who attempted to estimate or make calculations would say that the number... was the same as the number of stars in the sky.

Xu Qing thought about all of that as he left the Swordsage Palace and headed to the Corrections Division.

From up above, the ground above the prison looked transparent, making it possible to look down toward the very depths of the prison. However, though the dozens of levels at the top were clearly visible, everything in the chasm below was so dark that it seemed like a sinister ghast hollow.

The closer one got, the more profound that sinister atmosphere grew. In fact, when Xu Qing arrived and stood at the very edge of the Corrections Division, he could sense immense pressure coming from the prison depths. He also felt faint vibrations through his feet, making it seem like some massive, subterranean monster was struggling deep below. There was also a boundless baleful aura that rose up from below, accompanied by faint howls and screams.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing kept his assignment medallion gripped firmly in his hand as he proceeded. Soon, he sensed that he had run into an invisible membrane blocking his path. Next, a terrifying wave of divine will weighed down on him. It contained brutal power as well as a force of expulsion. It was as if some invisible giant had waved its hand to swat him away.

Xu Qing’s mind reeled, but he didn’t back up. He held up his assignment medallion and said, “Swordsage Xu Qing here, reporting for duty.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the terrifying divine will focused on the assignment medallion. Shortly thereafter, the divine will faded away. The invisible membrane glowed with red light, and then materialized in front of Xu Qing in the form of a door made of flowing blood, set into a wall.

The door seemed simple and archaic, and overflowed with the sensation of time. It was covered with countless magical symbols, each of which pulsed with immense power. Together, they formed the image of a huge beast which glared at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked at it expressionlessly.

A moment passed, then the door creaked open and an unprepossessing middle-aged cultivator walked out. He wore a swordsage uniform that looked very similar to Xu Qing’s. The difference was that instead of the design manifesting as a red flame, it was pure black. He had some scars on his face that were obviously injuries inflicted by magical techniques that couldn’t be removed. The skin around them was withered, making him look unusually fierce.

He also had triangular eyes. Looking at Xu Qing through those eyes, he flashed an eerie grin.

“Welcome to the Corrections Division.”

With that, he turned and walked in the other direction.

Xu Qing followed, stepping through the door and thus passing to the other side of the wall.

He was now able to look down into the chasm of the prison, and could also see the staircase winding down around the edges. Xu Qing followed the jailer down the staircase into the Corrections Division.

He sensed a cold and sinister aura from below, and the howls echoed around him, like those of wild animals. At the same time, darkness was everywhere. Not even the sunlight from above could penetrate the sinister haze which filled the place.

Xu Qing didn’t pay close attention to all of that. As he reached the first level of the prison, he looked around at the various cell blocks built into the wall. Every cell block was massive, and contained countless cells inside. Within them were innumerable inmates from all sorts of species. The smell of blood and gore pervaded, creating a very noxious aroma.

Xu Qing took it all in calmly and without any reaction.

The jailer leading the way would occasionally look back at him, and soon seemed intrigued by Xu Qing’s calm expression.

As they went further down into the depths of the prison, Xu Qing finally spotted other jailers. Most were older in years, and thanks to the sinister atmosphere of the prison, all of them abounded with cold, baleful auras. Some dragged corpses dripping with blood.

Their brutal nature caused Xu Qing’s eyes to narrow. He also noticed that the jailers who looked at him seemed either cold, cheerfully ruthless, or suspicious. Xu Qing wasn’t worried about the gazes. He could sense that every single jailer had a very powerful cultivation base, such that each one would definitely be a famous person outside the prison.

To Xu Qing, they seemed like a pack of wolves.

The people in the Swordsage Palace also seemed like wolves, but here, everyone was far more brutal and blood-soaked. They rejected anyone who wasn’t a jailer, as if they had been here so long that the only people they recognized as important were the jailers and inmates.

As for Xu Qing, he was currently neither an inmate nor a jailer. Because of his physical appearance, and his penchant for disguising his true nature, he stuck out to the jailers like a bright torch on a dark night. Like a little lamb led into the den of wolves.

Despite how everyone was looking at him, Xu Qing remained calm and silent as he followed the jailer down to Level 89. That was the exact middle of the prison. Above it were eighty-eight levels and below it were eighty-eight. This level had no cell block. Instead, it had a pitch-black hall with twenty-one pillars in it, going from floor to ceiling. Coiling around each pillar were numerous black dracolizards that glared at Xu Qing in sinister fashion. At the same time, the torchlight in the hall was so dim it didn’t illuminate much. All Xu Qing could see was a person seated cross-legged at the far end of the hall.

Looking very respectful, the jailer said, “He’s here, Palace Lord.”

The jailer then backed up, going all the way to the stairs, where he waited.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed to the figure at the far end of the hall.

“Swordsage Xu Qing, here to offer greetings, Palace Lord.”

The moment the words left his mouth, a huge eye opened in the darkness of the hall. It seemed to be several dozen meters tall, with a vertical pupil amidst yellow. Within the eye floated numerous black motes, almost like a smoke or mist within the eye.

Beneath the eye sat a burly middle-aged man in a black suit of armor, with flowing black hair. A long spear rested in front of him as he sat in front of the huge eye, pulsing with terrifying fluctuations.

Looking at him, Xu Qing’s mind spun, and he suddenly felt like he was looking at a god. This person had no mutagen, but he emanated such incredible pressure that he truly seemed like the god of this prison. This man was the current palace lord of the Swordsage Palace!

Opening his eyes, he looked coldly at Xu Qing. His gaze was like lightning, causing Xu Qing’s flesh and blood to tremble. His soul almost seemed incapable of standing up to the force, as though it might explode.

Then the gaze retracted, and Xu Qing stood there with his face ashen, trembling. The palace lord then spoke in a deep voice.

“Every swordsage is a sharp sword wielded for humankind as a whole. They should be ready to sacrifice their lives at any moment, all for humanity’s sake.”

The palace lord’s voice resonated with power as he spoke those twenty-seven words, all of which echoed like heavenly thunder in Xu Qing’s ears. [1]

“Though swordsages differ in terms of cultivation base and rank, it doesn’t matter if you’re talking about you or me, we’re all sharp swords that defend humankind! I normally don’t like showing favor to anyone. But you earned the veneration of the Grand Emperor, something borne witness to by many outsiders. Therefore, I issued a dharmic decree that you should be appointed as my secretary-general.

“However, the entire purpose of that was to show respect to the Grand Emperor. You, Xu Qing, are simply a new swordsage who hasn’t accomplished anything. Therefore, you don’t deserve anything special.

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s no difference between you and any of the other new swordsages. And you obviously can’t compare to those who have already performed amazing services.”

The palace lord spoke calmly, yet the pressure that came with his words caused all of Level 89 to tremble.

“Do you understand?”

Xu Qing nodded. What the palace lord said made sense to him. Besides, he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be working as a secretary-general.

“In the Swordsage Palace,” the palace lord continued coolly, “we don’t raise greenhouse flowers. If you thought you could skate by because of the Grand Emperor’s veneration, perhaps by taking it easy here, then you can screw off back to Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and enjoy the glory of your 30,000-meter light there!”

After a moment of silence in which Xu Qing acclimated to the pressure, he looked up and said, “Palace Lord, is there really anywhere in this world where one can ‘take it easy’?”

The palace lord looked back at him.

“I don’t know the answer myself,” Xu Qing continued. “I do know that some people ‘take it easy’ after others endure extremely difficult circumstances on their behalf. But there’s another way to ‘take it easy.’ And that’s to kill every single enemy that threatens you. I don’t like owing people things, so I don’t want to be the former. I want to be the latter, and always have been.”

Xu Qing rarely talked so much, so after saying those things, he bowed deeply and didn’t say anything further.

The palace lord looked at him, his eyes shining brightly. “You can keep the title of secretary-general. However, I don’t have any need for you to follow me around doing that type of work. I’m going to have you work as a jailer. I want to see exactly how you behave as the second type of person you just described.”

Having received his orders, Xu Qing bowed again to the palace lord, then turned and left.

After watching Xu Qing disappear, the palace lord coolly said, “What do you think of him?”

“He speaks sincerely,” came the response, a voice that rumbled through Level 89 like the roar of a wild beast.

The dracolizards coiled around the twenty-one pillars all trembled and bowed their heads.

“My thoughts exactly.” With that, the palace lord produced a jade slip which contained information from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture’s Swordsage Court. It had all of the details about Xu Qing. It even mentioned that he had started out at Peerless City, a city that had vanished when the god’s eyes opened.

“The god’s eyes opened on him twice, yet he survived, then slaughtered his way to prominence. I suppose he deserves some mentoring.” The palace lord closed his eyes.

1. In Chinese he spoke twenty-seven characters, and I managed to match that same number (27) in terms of how many English words. Woot! ☜