Speak of the devil.
The men from the Divine Sword Guards escorted a group of criminals and walked over briskly.
Leading the way was a Lord Amethyst Sword.
The lieutenant stepped forward and saluted. "Greetings, my Lord."
"I'll leave them to you guys. Torture them to the maximum limit," ordered the Lord Amethyst Sword.
"Yes, my Lord," replied the lieutenant.
After the handover,
the Divine Sword Guards left and the lieutenant began to distribute the tasks.
There were nearly a hundred criminals, and each guard was given one. Xiao Ran was special, and he was given three, and all three were at the highest level of evolution amongst the captives.
One was a Level 1 Grand Master Realm, while the other two were at Level 10 of the Master Realm.
"Lock all three of them in the Purgatory and skin them alive," the lieutenant ordered.
"All right," Xiao Ran nodded.
He escorted the three of them into the Purgatory.
He decided to lump them altogether. He unlocked the cell of the Demon Lord and threw the three new residents inside.
Heavy chains bound his four limbs and securely confined him to the metal rack.
Fear was written all over the Demon Lord's face. "Why did you lock them in here with me?"
Pow!
Xiao Ran gave him a tight slap and glared at him. "Do you think this is your home? Do I need your permission to lock up a few people?"
"The Purgatory is so big, surely it has no shortage of cells." The Demon Master weakly defended himself.
Xiao Ran raised the whip,
and lashed in the empty air, resulting in a loud explosive bang.
All four jumped out of their skins simultaneously.
"Let the three of them go first," the jittery Demon Lord suggested magnanimously.
"So modest." Xiao Ran said.
He lashed out with his whip towards the demon.
The other three onlookers instinctively twitched, feeling their scalps go numb.
The Demon Lord was too pitiful. Every time the whip hit him, his skin would split open and blood would splatter everywhere. Even from hundreds of meters away, one could hear his heartrending screams loud and clear.
"It's your turn now," Xiao Ran said.
The Grand Master got a shock. He decided to try enticement. "Can we discuss this?"
"Tell me about it."
"How about I give you money and you let me go?"
"Where's the money?" Xiao Ran asked.
"I can gather hundreds of thousands of taels from the disciples outside."
"You're trying to scam your way out by making use of other innocent people?" Xiao Ran retorted and gave a brutal lash.
The excruciating pain made the master grimace and he broke out in cold sweat.
"I… how about I teach you a technique? You will be able to practice it to the level of Grand Master Realm."
"Not interested." Xiao Ran hit out again.
Even though his evolution level was high, his cries were very loud and particularly heartrending. As the saying goes, the older they got, the more afraid of death they became.
When it was the last two criminals' turn, one of them had toughened up his physical body and said proudly, "You're just a little dungeon guard. You won't be able to break through my defense."
"I don't believe it!" Xiao Ran said.
Just one lash from the whip knocked him unconscious.
After the punishment,
the Golden Tome of Creation appeared. It flipped open to a page and revealed the crimes they had committed. All of them were scum. None of them were good. Even ten deaths was inadequate punishment.
He obtained a total of four items, 300,000 Mastery Points, 20 years of Martial Arts evolution, Earth-rank Technique Realm Card, and 30 years of soul evolution.
He added 300,000 Mastery Points to the Phoenix Essence Sword Technique. It did not reflect any change in realm level.
He was still 175 years away before his Martial Arts evolution could level up again. He was 115 years away from becoming a Spiritual Master.
Earth-rank Technique Realm Card: Increase an Earth-rank Technique to the level of Genesis instantly.
Xiao Ran only had the Blood Demon Saber Technique, which was an Earth-rank Top-grade technique.
The rest of the martial arts were all Heaven-rank techniques. They were either special techniques or Godfiend techniques.
He utilized this Earth-rank Technique Realm Card on the Blood Demon Saber Technique and refreshed his attributes.
Blood Demon Saber Technique: Genesis
"I'm afraid not even the Patriarch of the Blood Blade Sect has reached this height!" Xiao Ran said.
He left the cell and locked the door.
As Xiao Ran passed by the cell of the Deluge Dragon and met his gaze, the Deluge Dragon got scared out of its wits. "Don't come over, my vital energy hasn't recovered."
"You can do it." Xiao Ran grinned.
The Deluge Dragon became even more agitated.
After leaving the Purgatory,
a dungeon guard handed over a lunch box. "Brother Xiao, my Lord wants you to deliver the food to the Eldest Princess."
"Okay." Xiao Ran accepted the lunch box.
He entered the Purgatory again,
and stopped at cell number 1.
Opening the cell door, he walked in and placed the lunch box on the table. "Place the lunch box at the door after you're done."
He turned around and left.
The Eldest Princess looked at his retreating back with mixed emotions. "Who exactly is he?"
Back on the ninth floor,
Little Zhou had already laid out six dishes and a soup. They were all meat dishes. "Brother Xiao, come and eat."
"Aren't you afraid of the foul sinister atmosphere?" Xiao Ran sat on the chair.
Little Zhou had a bitter expression on his face. "There's nothing we can do about it. We've caught so many criminals this time, we have to do it here!"
"Bear with it a little longer. We will be transferred out of here in less than three months," Xiao Ran said.
"I hope that nothing will happen during this final period of time."
After taking just two bites, Little Zhou closed his eyes and fell unconscious on the table.
"The food is poisoned!" Xiao Ran turned ashen-faced.
He took Little Zhou's pulse and checked his condition.
After he ascertained that Little Zhou only passed out with no major injury, he began to feel relieved.
"Who poisoned the food? What is their motive for doing this?" Speculation swirled in Xiao Ran's mind.
Activating his spiritual soul energy, he began examining the situation outside.
The dungeon guards on the ninth floor were all taken down, and so were the guards on the eighth floor… Everyone on the first floor, including the lieutenant, were lying on the ground.
Hurried footsteps could be heard coming from outside.
Three people from the God Enforcement Division entered the Celestial Dungeon from outside. The leader was a Divine Constable who held the same rank as a Lord Amethyst Sword of the Divine Sword Guards. He had two Saint Constables with him.
"What are they doing here at this hour?"
Retracting his spiritual soul energy, Xiao Ran laid on the table and pretended to have fainted.
The three of them headed straight for the ninth floor.
"The foul sinister atmosphere here is so dense. I wonder how is the Sacred Progeny now?" The Divine Constable said with a frown.
"The Sacred Progeny has an infusion of Northern Sky Demonic Energy bestowed by the sect master. It can protect him for a short period of time. He should be fine."
"I hope so." Divine Constable nodded.
"They're not from the God Enforcement Division?" Xiao Ran realized with a shock.
The food in the Celestial Dungeon was prepared by its own exclusive canteen, and had to undergo strict screening. These guys not only managed to drug the canteen food, they could still masquerade as the higher-ups of the God Enforcement Division. Things were not as simple as they look.
A short while later,
after rescuing the Sacred Progeny, the trio passed by the main hall.
The Sacred Progeny inadvertently glanced to the side and stopped when he saw the unconscious Xiao Ran and Little Zhou.
"What is it?" the Divine Constable inquired.
"During the time of my imprisonment, these two people bullied me quite a bit. Allow me to vent my anger," the Sacred Progeny said.
He walked over with a sneer.
He grabbed Little Zhou's clothes and lifted him up. "I've already said that a mere Celestial Dungeon can't confine me."
He gave Little Zhou two slaps and one kick before throwing him to the ground.
He walked up to Xiao Ran and smiled sinisterly. "I am Luo Xuan, weren't you looking for me? Get up!"
He kicked Xiao Ran viciously.
A hand grabbed his leg without any warning and Xiao Ran stood up from the chair with an icy cold expression.
"I'm up."
The Sacred Progeny's expression changed drastically as fear flashed through his eyes. "Why aren't you poisoned?"
"This poison is too mild," Xiao Ran said.
He pulled with all his might. The tremendous force was not something the provocateur could withstand. The hand smashed him brutally to the ground.