Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 501 The Demon's Prison

"Boom!!!"

The longsword emitted a sharp cry, as if it were an outpouring of Jiang Duanchao's anger. In an instant, it transformed into a dazzling streak of light, piercing towards Jiang Duanchao's rear with overwhelming force.

The moment Jiang Duanchao saw Liang Jin appear unharmed before him, his anger was instantly ignited and burned fiercely. He knew that he had been ruthlessly deceived by Shen Cangming!

In his world, deception is an unforgivable crime!

Therefore, he was determined to make this person who dared to deceive him pay a heavy price!
Before engaging in a life-or-death duel with Liang Jin, he had only one thought in his mind: to kill Shen Cangming first to vent his hatred.

He didn't even have the patience to ask Shen Cangming why he had deceived him.

In his view, the only fate of a deceiver is death.

This sword strike was filled with Jiang Duanchao's boundless rage, and the surging killing intent seemed to ignite the surrounding air.

However, the power of this sword strike was not great.

After all, in Jiang Duanchao's eyes, killing a seriously injured person would not require much effort.

Therefore, when Jiang Duanchao decisively thrust out this sword, he didn't even bother to look back.

In his mind, the outcome was already predetermined; Shen Cangming had no chance of escaping this fatal blow.

"call out!!!"

The longsword pierced the air almost in the blink of an eye, emitting a piercing whistling sound, and with an unstoppable momentum, it fiercely thrust towards Shen Cangming.

Shen Cangming, who was meditating with his eyes closed, seemed to sense a fatal crisis and suddenly opened his eyes, a fierce glint flashing in them.

He instantly drew his longsword, met Jiang Duanchao's flying sword, and with all his might, slashed down with his sword.

"BOOM!!!!!!"

A deafening roar, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, echoed through the mountains and forests.

Ye Xianqing and Wen Hengrong, who were nearby, were thrown away like two fallen leaves caught in a whirlwind by the powerful force.

They flew in an arc through the air before crashing heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

As the smoke gradually dissipated.

Jiang Duanchao's sword was cleaved and sent flying back, embedding itself deeply in the ground.

Shen Cangming took two steps back, leaving two deep footprints on the ground beneath his feet.

His face was flushed, clearly indicating that it wouldn't be easy for him to withstand Jiang Duanchao's sword strike, yet he still succeeded.

"Ok?"

Jiang Duanchao finally couldn't help but turn around, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty as he stared intently at Shen Cangming, as if trying to see right through him:
"Weren't you seriously injured?"

"How come... your injury is healed now?!"

A deep wave of emotion surged within Jiang Duanchao's heart.

Previously, he had personally examined Shen Cangming's injuries. Shen Cangming was clearly severely injured, his breath was weak, and his life hung by a thread.

But the Shen Cangming who appeared before him at this moment had a firm gaze, a steady breath, and a chilling aura emanating from the long sword in his hand.

There wasn't a trace of injury left on him.
Jiang Duanchao finally realized that things were developing in a direction he couldn't control, and a sense of unease spread through his heart.

Liang Jin then spoke, his voice calm yet carrying a hint of smugness:

"To lure you here and save his life, I paid the price of a piece of Frost Jade Toad Ointment."

It turned out that Liang Jin had given Shen Cangming the Cold Jade Ice Toad Ointment, which then took effect.

This miraculous healing elixir came from the system, and its speed and effectiveness in healing injuries far exceeded ordinary people's imagination, allowing Shen Cangming's injuries to recover to almost 70-80% in a short period of time.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Duanchao, though not entirely clear about the specific origin and wonders of the Cold Jade Toad Ointment, understood that it was all a carefully laid trap by Liang Jin and Shen Cangming, and he had been like a foolish prey, walking right into it.

This made Jiang Duanchao glare angrily at Shen Cangming, and he questioned him sharply:

"Shen Cangming, why did you do this?!"

He couldn't understand why Shen Cangming would betray him and choose to help Liang Jin instead.

In his mind, Shen Cangming's behavior was simply incomprehensible.

Shen Cangming said in a deep voice:

"You don't need to know, all you need to do is die!"

His voice was cold and tinged with mockery.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Duanchao was so angry that he laughed instead.

He burst into laughter, his laughter filled with anger and madness, his eyes flashing with murderous intent like two sharp blades.

He pulled the sword from the ground, pointed the tip at Shen Cangming, and began to curse:

"Traitor! Liar! Rascal!"

"You deserve to die!!!"

At this moment, Jiang Duanchao's killing intent surged like a tidal wave and converged on Shen Cangming.

At this moment, his hatred for Shen Cangming far exceeded his hostility towards Liang Jin.

He wished he could tear Shen Cangming to pieces immediately to vent his hatred.

The terrifying killing intent that enveloped him caused Shen Cangming's expression to change.

Although he and Jiang Duanchao were both third-rank martial artists, the difference in strength between the three ranks was like heaven and earth.

Shen Cangming knew very well that he was no match for Jiang Duanchao.

Under the oppressive force of this powerful killing intent, he felt as if he were in an ice cellar, his whole body was cold, and his hands and feet were somewhat unresponsive.

Just as Jiang Duanchao was about to make a move against Shen Cangming, his expression suddenly hardened, as if he had sensed a deadly danger.

follow.

Jiang Duanchao suddenly turned around, staring at Liang Jin with a wary expression.

At this moment, Jiang Duanchao felt a strong surge of martial intent and killing intent coming towards him like a surging tide!

He knew that Liang Jin was about to make his move!

Therefore, Jiang Duanchao had no choice but to be on full alert and prepare for this life-or-death battle.

He glanced at Liang Jin's still empty hands, frowned slightly, and secretly guessed:
"The intent of the fist? The intent of the palm? Or the intent of the finger?"

The jade-faced fire monkey on Liang Jin's shoulder leaped to the side, seemingly aware of the impending danger and not wanting to hinder its master.

Liang Jin slowly took two steps forward, his voice steady and firm:
"Shen Cangming, there's no need to interfere."

Upon hearing this, Shen Cangming immediately stepped aside, leaving the battlefield to Liang Jin and Jiang Duanchao.

Ye Xianqing, who was not far away, suddenly smelled a peculiar fragrance.

The fragrance acted like an invisible hook, instantly catching his olfactory nerves and causing him to involuntarily take a deep breath.

The fragrance is wonderful, like a woman's natural scent, carrying an indescribable allure.

The aroma, in particular, made his blood surge, and he felt as if a fire was burning in his lower abdomen, with a strange heat spreading throughout his body.

When Ye Xianqing looked up, she discovered that the fragrance was coming from the direction of Wen Hengrong.

In that instant, even the most naive Ye Xianqing understood what was going on.

He instantly flew into a rage, his eyes widening as if spitting fire, and roared:
"You wretch! Not only did you betray us, but you even dared to poison me?!"

With that, Ye Xianqing raised his longsword, its blade gleaming with cold light, and charged towards Wen Hengrong with a heart full of anger.

Wen Hengrong did indeed poison him.

She knew that from the moment she chose to betray Ye Xianqing, she had to take more actions to show her stance.

Simply leading the way is far from enough to gain Liang Jin's complete trust.

If she could kill Ye Xianqing, then she could truly put Liang Jin at ease and win a chance for survival in this cruel struggle within the martial world.

Wen Hengrong immediately raised the poisoned needle in her hand.

She was no match for Ye Xianqing in a direct confrontation, so she could only release hidden weapons while retreating quickly to create distance between herself and Ye Xianqing, waiting for the poison to take effect.

Who would have thought that before Liang Jin and Jiang Duanchao could even make a move, Ye Xianqing and Wen Hengrong would start fighting first.

Shen Cangming didn't even bother to glance at the two juniors. In his eyes, their fight was nothing more than a minor squabble, not worth mentioning.

He already wanted to kill Wen Hengrong to silence her, and now he was even more eager for Ye Xianqing to kill Wen Hengrong so that he could personally deal with Ye Xianqing, thus saving himself some effort.

Liang Jin and Jiang Duanchao, likewise, did not care about the lives or deaths of Ye Xianqing and Wen Hengrong.

Their entire attention was focused on each other; a thrilling showdown was about to begin!
………………

the other side.

After overcoming numerous hardships, Zhao Xiling and the group of martial artists finally arrived at the Abyss of Calamity.

The so-called "evil waters and perilous abyss" is an extremely peculiar terrain within the Burial Dragon Ridge.

In the valley, a river rushes down and flows into an underground cave at the end of the valley, forming nine deep underground pools.

These deep pools are said to have once housed ancient ferocious creatures, which were later trained by the Youhuan tribe to guard this place.

This place is also the site of an important sacrificial ceremony held by the Youhuan tribe called the "Shedding of Skin Sacrifice," which is generally regarded by outsiders as the coming-of-age ceremony of the Youhuan tribe.

Then the Great Qian army arrived and, with their overwhelming force, wiped out all the ancient ferocious creatures that had inhabited the area, leading to their complete extinction.

Subsequently, this place became the secret prison of the Great Qian Dynasty, named Jiuyuan Rock Prison.

With the arrival of Zhao Xiling and her group, this long-sealed secret prison was finally reopened.

“Boom, boom, boom!!!”

The dilapidated gate was slowly pushed open by the crowd, emitting a dull sound as if telling the story of the vicissitudes of time.

The air circulation inside was normal, after all, the prison gate had been damaged long ago, and the air inside and outside had been circulating continuously.

Near the gate, corpses can be seen scattered everywhere.

These corpses belong to the jailers who once guarded the Nine Abyss Rock Prison. Their bones have long since decayed, and with the erosion of time, only skeletons remain, lying there quietly.

Upon seeing these corpses, Canxin couldn't help but offer a slight salute to them.

After all, the Nine Abyss Rock Prison was guarded by the Six Doors back then, and these prison guards could be considered, in a sense, his predecessors.

They stood firm in their posts to protect the prison, but tragically lost their lives there.

This spirit is certainly worthy of respect from future generations.

"Canxin, you know this place well."

"Is there any government agency or organization that can tell us about it?"

Zhao Xiling could no longer ride in the sedan chair, so she got off and walked to Canxin's side, asking him a question.

Can Xin immediately responded:

"Although this is my first time in the Nine Abyss Rock Prison, I have seen information about it in the secret manuals of the Six Doors."

"In order to prevent the prisoners held here from escaping, there are indeed many mechanisms built here with six doors."

"Five steps ahead of me is the first mechanism—the Ghost Lantern."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly looked towards the front of Canxin.

Five steps in front of Canxin, there was an iron chain walkway leading to the underground.

Between the entrances of the iron chain walkway, there are two bronze lamp slave statues.

These two statues, with their simple and lifelike shapes, resemble two loyal guardians, quietly protecting this walkway.

Canxin explained:
"The lamp oil is mixed with red mercury from failed alchemy, which vaporizes into a deadly, sweet-smelling toxic mist upon contact with body temperature within three steps."

"Therefore, when passing by them, one must use the tortoise breathing technique to lower one's body temperature."

"When passing between these two ghost lanterns, you must never step on the ground in the middle. Otherwise, it will cause the seven beast heads to spit out steel balls containing thunderous sounds, and no expert within thirty feet will be spared."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

They secretly rejoiced that they hadn't acted rashly after entering the Nine Abyss Rock Prison.

If it weren't for Canxin's warning, so many people walking over would inevitably trigger the trap, and the consequences would be unimaginable if they were caught off guard.

Canxin stretched out his hand again and pointed to the iron chain walkway leading to the underground.

The end of the iron chain walkway is shrouded in darkness, as if leading to a mysterious and unknown world, inspiring awe and fear.

All that could be heard was Canxin saying:

"When we reach the end of this iron chain walkway, we will encounter seven traps, known as the Seven Calamities of the Mirage Realm."

"These are: the Greedy Calamity's Shedding Scale Pool, with a trap at the bottom that can strangle someone; the Wrathful Calamity's Bone Harp, containing a sound-producing mechanism made from the bones of a criminal; and the Foolish Calamity's Painted Skin Niche, which uses human skin and painting techniques to lure people into illusions..."

"Next came the prison cells, which were also full of traps and mechanisms, and were called the Eight Gates Miasma Cave."

"These are the Blood Gill Prison, whose walls are covered with gill-like mechanisms that can scrape bones and flesh; the Placental Prison, which contains a tough membrane mechanism that can suffocate people; and the Eye-Gouging Steps, which contain countless fine needles that can blind people..."

Canxin continued speaking, recounting all the mechanisms she knew.

Everyone listened attentively, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

They knew they couldn't afford not to listen carefully.

The prison is heavily guarded. Although the guards from the Six Doors are no longer protecting it, the traps and mechanisms there can still be deadly!

The mechanisms of the Six Doors were so terrifying that they inspired fear throughout the martial arts world, and countless notorious bandits perished because of them.

After Canxin finished explaining the location of the prison cell's mechanism, he suddenly paused and looked at Zhao Xiling.

There was a hint of inquiry in his gaze.

Zhao Xiling glanced at her indifferently, then turned and gave an order to everyone:

"Alright, now that you've said that, let's go!"

The group looked at each other, but they had lost the enthusiasm they had shown when exploring the poisonous miasma. At this moment, not a single person stepped forward to clear a path.

Everyone's gaze eventually and involuntarily turned to Canxin.

Since there are professionals present, others naturally don't want to take any risks.

They all knew that Canxin was very familiar with the mechanisms here, and with her leading the way, everyone's safety could be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

Although Canxin is a woman, she is not indecisive.

She stepped forward and looked at the Xuanluan Guard, Ding Feng, and Gu Jinfu:
"The princess will be under your protection for the time being."

After saying that, Canxin took the lead and walked ahead alone.

Her figure was firm and composed, like a majestic mountain peak, giving people an invisible sense of security.

Everyone followed behind her, using her method to get through the traps.

This made their journey very smooth.

After crossing the iron chain walkway, they arrived at the bottom of this huge cave.

It was so deep that a thick, cold chill permeated the surroundings, a chill that seemed to penetrate to the bone, making one shiver uncontrollably.

It was also very dark here, but fortunately there were some oil lamps that could be lit, and since most of the people here were martial arts masters, they did not have high requirements for light sources.

The space here is also very large, and the sound of people walking in it echoes, just like walking in an underground city. The emptiness and silence make people feel a strange unease.

Especially along the way, there were more and more skeletons on the ground.

It is not hard to see that these prison guards were still carrying out their normal work before they died.

But disaster struck suddenly; poisonous miasma surged from the ground, engulfing the entire Burial Dragon Ridge like a raging tide.

Everyone in this underground prison had no chance to escape and was left there forever, becoming victims of time.

soon.

The group finally arrived at the prison area.

For many highly skilled criminals in the imperial prison, ordinary cells simply cannot contain them.

They can knock down a wall with one palm and punch through a prison door with one punch.

Even if they rely on their bare hands to dig in the ground, they can still carve out a tunnel to escape.

But this place is a natural prison.

Located underground, the only passage leading to the surface is a single iron chain walkway.

Moreover, this place is a cave, filled with incredibly hard abyssal rocks, which are dozens of times harder than ordinary granite. This is beyond the reach of even a martial artist's hands.

All you need to do is carve a hole in the rock wall here, stuff the wanted criminals inside, and add a black iron prison door, and you can imprison the martial artists here.

When everyone arrived and looked around, they saw that the rock wall was covered with countless cells, looking like a giant beehive.

A rough estimate suggests that nearly a thousand wanted criminals were once imprisoned here!
A martial artist carrying a torch came to one of the cells and took a look.

One glance was enough to drastically change his expression, as if he had seen a ghost, and he cried out in terror:
"This, this, this, this... could it be..."

"They imprisoned... a monster?!"

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly gathered around to take a look.

This sight caused everyone to gasp in surprise.

Inside the cell, there was indeed a skeleton, clearly belonging to a wanted criminal imprisoned there.

But the remains of this criminal were completely different from the remains of the prison guards outside!
If the prison guard's remains were those of a normal human being.

The corpse of that wanted criminal really looked like a monster!
Although his upper body bones were deformed, at least he could still be identified as a human.

The most outrageous thing was his lower body skeleton, which could no longer be called leg bones, but rather resembled... snake bones!
A monster with a human-like upper body and a snake-like lower body!

"What kind of freak is this? How could a wanted criminal look like this?"

"Go and see the other cells, see the other wanted prisoners!"

A martial artist shouted.

The group immediately dispersed to observe from other cells.

Upon closer inspection, everyone's faces grew increasingly solemn and filled with fear!
They were horrified to discover that the remains of all the prisoners in the cells had been deformed to varying degrees!
Some of the skeletons were only slightly deformed and still roughly resembled human figures.

Some of the skeletons were so deformed that the hand and foot bones were indistinguishable. Apart from the skull in front of the head, which was recognizable as a human skull, the rest of the skeletons were indistinguishable from snake bones.

It could be described as having a human head and a snake's body!

This situation was eerie, evil, and terrifying to everyone.

demon……

This place is clearly the imperial prison, a place where criminals wanted by the imperial court are imprisoned.

Why then did it become a place that imprisons hundreds of demons?
Especially since what happened here was something that no one had ever heard of before, they couldn't help but feel as if they had glimpsed some secrets of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Looking at the prison where countless demons were imprisoned, everyone was affected by the eerie scene, and the atmosphere fell silent.

Then, everyone's eyes turned to Canxin and Zhao Xiling, hoping to get an answer from them.

Zhao Xiling was about to speak immediately.

suddenly!

"what!!!!"

A sharp and shrill scream suddenly erupted!
The screams came from the back of the line.

The voice seemed to contain immense fear and despair.

Everyone was startled by the sudden scream and quickly turned to look at the end of the line.

This sight sent chills down everyone's spines...

(End of this chapter)