Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension-Chapter 496 - 328 Human Mine_2

Chapter 496 -328 Human Mine_2

“I confess, I confess, just stop hitting me,” he pleaded.

A moment later, overcome by the lashing, the wolf-headed creature finally burst out in human speech.

Qi Peng gave two more lashes before he stopped, reaching out to extract a Sound-shifting Shell, his expression vicious as he said, “Spill everything you know.”

The wolf-headed man sobbed and spoke, while Zhao Sheng quietly observed from the side.

In the southern part of Diancang Province, deep within Zilao Mountain, there lay a Wolf God Temple.

A naive young man, having wandered into Zilao Mountain by mistake, stumbled into the Wolf God Temple and encountered a Divine Spirit.

Twenty years later, the youth, having been granted divine instruction in cultivation, could transform into a wolf form, possessing immense strength and speed like the wind. Since descending the mountain, he had been invincible, with no one able to stand in his way.

Latterly, in an attempt to build a temple for the Wolf God, the young man inadvertently provoked the local Taoist Temple and was thus captured by a Taoist, who turned him in to be imprisoned in the Divine Prison.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

“Tell me, do you remember the location of that Divine Temple?” Qi Peng, his face flush with excitement and eyes glittering, pressed further.

By then, the wolf-headed man had shed his demonic power and reverted to his normal human form, looking like an utterly ordinary young fellow.

“I truly don’t remember, I only know that the temple is around the southern foot of Zilao Mountain…” the man replied.

Half an hour later, Qi Peng walked out of the cell disgruntled, shaking his hand as droplets of blood and flesh flew around.

“Damn waste! When it comes to the crucial point, it’s always ‘I don’t know this, I don’t know that.’ Keep torturing him for a while longer. As soon as he’s no longer of use, just kill him and feed him to the dogs,” he declared.

In the Da Gu Heavenly Dynasty, the Heavenly Dao Sect is held as the sole authority, wielding the power to divide and govern all Divine Spirits.

Those who, without the Heavenly Dao’s Decree of God Sealing, declare themselves deities and establish temples are deemed Wild Gods and lascivious shrines—all subjected to severe crackdown and destruction.

For Prison Guards to discover any trace of a Wild God amounts to at least a small merit.

No wonder Qi Peng was so eager.

Upon leaving the cell, Zhao Sheng asked, “Can an inmate in the Divine Prison really be put to death so casually?”

Qi Peng replied with a smug smile, “Once you’re in the Divine Prison, don’t even dream of getting out alive. That includes you and me!”

Zhao Sheng fell silent, taken aback by the extent of Qi Peng’s pessimism.

“Unless… you can accumulate three Great Merits, you might then transfer out from your role as a Prison Guard.”

“Has anyone ever managed that?” Zhao Sheng immediately inquired.

“Not a single one in at least the past sixty years. However, the current Nascent Soul Great Priest of the Prison God Temple was once a Prison Guard. Now he’s revered throughout the Five Provinces of Tianbei,” said Qi Peng, his face betraying a mix of admiration and longing as he spoke.

Four hours later, the two emerged from the tenth cell block.

Zhao Sheng noticed that not every prisoner was subject to harsh torture; most were merely glanced at to check if they were dead. The visit also included changing out the Blood-sucking Leeches and tossing a few big chunks of stinking meat to the prisoners to keep them from being drained to mummies and starving to death.

The inmates of the Divine Prison were essentially human resources, not to be killed off haphazardly until every last bit of value had been extracted from them.

…

After a day of patrolling the third layer of the prison, Zhao Sheng and his group of five completed their rounds and, upon handing over to the next shift, retired to their own cell block.

Prison Guards rotated every three days, which meant working one day and resting for two—quite a generous schedule.

Still, life in the Divine Prison was almost like being imprisoned; the entertainment was scarce and life monotonously austere.

Some guards, whose spirit had not been extinguished, would use their rest time for arduous cultivation, as they enjoyed generous remuneration, the chance to exchange for Cultivation Techniques, and ample supply of spirit stone and elixir.

However, most guards had long since given up on cultivation, spending their days either gambling and boasting, or indulging in wine, women, and food.

Such corruption could not be detached from the guards’ poor Spirit Root aptitude and the oppressive, somber atmosphere of the Divine Prison.

Day after day, year after year, with no hope in cultivation and no future in sight, most guards chose to abandon themselves to despair. Many even became twisted, often deriving pleasure from the torment of inmates.

After a night’s sleep, Qi Peng woke Zhao Sheng up and said as he got up, “Come on, let’s go eat at the Happy Forest and you can meet the other companions.”

Zhao Sheng followed him out and, after half a circle along the corridor and having walked about three or four miles, a spacious area covering a dozen acres came into view.

On each stone table, large bowls of appetizing food were carelessly laid out, while groups of Prison Guards occupied the tables, feasting sumptuously.

The diet of the Prison Guards was undeniably lavish; even a wealthy family could go bankrupt if they were to have just one such meal.

Zhao Sheng followed Qi Peng to find a corner to sit in, his stomach rumbling like a drum at the sight of a large basin full of meat and vegetables.

As an Innate Great Martial Sect member, even twice the amount of meat would not be too much for him to eat.

In Happy Forest, there was no limit to the amount of food one could eat; the challenge was to see if you could eat enough to bankrupt the Divine Prison.

Zhao Sheng did not hold back, grabbing a large and fatty elbow joint and devouring it in just a few bites, crunching loudly, without even spitting out the bones.

Qi Peng watched, stunned, at his side.

“Go on, eat up!” Zhao Sheng grabbed two pieces of trotters and tossed them into his mouth, chewing on both sides while calling out indistinctly to Qi Peng.

“Hey, don’t just focus on the meat. Try our prison’s unique Primordial Yang Wine. It’ll drive away the cold of the cell!” Qi Peng held up a jug of old wine and placed it beside Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng took the jug, gulped it down in one go, then exhaled a faint grey mist, and praised with a laugh, “Good wine! I feel much warmer now.”

There were about twenty prison guards in the Happy Forest at the time, some eating and drinking while chatting and laughing, others eating alone at their tables.

“Today, brother, I made a small merit; I uncovered a den of bandits…”

“Hehe, Brother, do me a favor and give me an extension of half a month; when my salary is paid, I will repay you with interest…”

“I heard that a new batch of prisoners is going to be locked up soon… our chance to earn merits is coming again…”

“Later, shall we play a hand in the inner room?”

“No thanks, brother. I want to exchange for more elixir pills. I’m close to breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Level.”

“…In the seventh layer of the prison, there’s a Beauty locked up, with an incredibly striking appearance. Brother, do you want to find an opportunity to take a look?”

“…”

Zhao Sheng silently sorted through the useful information, to familiarize himself with the Divine Prison environment as swiftly as possible.

Qi Peng was clearly a veteran here. He knew everyone, and after greeting everyone in the vicinity, he inadvertently introduced Zhao Sheng to quite a few people.

Zhao Sheng stayed in Happy Forest for four hours, while Qi Peng had scampered off to gamble his money away long before.

He returned to his cell block alone, casually picked a Cultivation Room, and entered.

A Spirit Gathering Array was set up on the floor of the Cultivation Room.

Zhao Sheng took out Ding Jiwu’s Identity Token, slotted it into the center of the Spirit Gathering Array, and the formation suddenly activated; rich Spiritual Energy rushed into the room from all directions.

But along with the Spiritual Energy, there came streams of bone-chilling Yin Sha coldness.

Zhao Sheng was not alarmed but delighted, as this Yin Sha was perfect nourishment for the Karmic Fire, transforming it into special Spiritual Power.

He immediately sat down cross-legged in the middle of the Spirit Gathering Array. The Red Lotus pattern on his forehead detached from his skin, floating out, and in a flash, it turned into a circle of crimson flame, burning fiercely in mid-air.

Seven lifetimes as a human, with three consecutively spent in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Zhao Sheng was already well-versed in how to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

In this life, he was not planning to use Foundation Establishment Pills but rather intended to painstakingly hone himself, bit by bit, until his cultivation was perfect, achieving natural foundation building.

Without a doubt, he was walking the path of Ancient Method Cultivators, as the saying goes, the Qi Sea in the Dantian filled with pure yang energy, and when the cultivation was perfect, the Jade Liquid would come!

……

One month later, in the fourth layer of the prison,

Cell number twenty-six, the prisoner was a Loose Cultivator who practiced the Blood Soul Scripture, having slaughtered three large estates, each with over a thousand people, just to harvest essence blood.

This type of prisoner was a hot commodity in the Divine Prison; they definitely couldn’t be allowed to die easily – becoming a blood ox was their ultimate fate.

Moreover, after such individuals perished, there was a chance of condensing a Blood Spirit Pill. These pills could extend one’s life and were invaluable.

The prison guards fought fiercely over this prisoner. Only after Zhao Sheng showed his prowess and severely intimidated the others did he acquire the right to handle him.

In the cell, after Zhao Sheng finished replacing the Blood-sucking Leeches, he looked up at the Prison God Map, his eyes flashing with an indescribable Divine Light.

A moment later, he strode out of the cell and closed the double prison doors behind him, thinking to himself:

“The Heavenly Dao Sect is more corrupt than I imagined, yet… they are also stronger than I realized… Accumulate as much merit as possible, exchange for more of the Red Lotus Karma Fire Scripture…”