Who would specially create an Great Emperor to build some grand formation for these criminal slaves?
To be honest, they were not qualified for that!
This Emperor, after working for so long to build this so-called grand formation, which was essentially a warped spacetime akin to a singularity, was purely to research how the Human Celestial Court could develop from the peak of mid-level technological civilization to truly advanced technological civilization!
Being able to locally modify universal constants, gravity, and dimensions were common methods of advanced technological civilization.
And being able to create a singularity was the hallmark of the most top-tier advanced technological civilization, achievable only with immense energy and a minuscule chance.
This Emperor clearly could not create a singularity, only a pseudo-singularity, nor could he extend it for countless light-years. The light membrane only spanned a million light-years, meaning one could completely fly out of it with enough time.
It was a failed product, from the perspective of that Emperor.
However, science was about continuous trial and error for progress. That Emperor collected the research reports from this experiment and returned to the Celestial Court to continue his studies.
This was essentially a scientific experiment!
But even a failed product had some use, so it was put to good use, directly trapping these former criminal slaves to accept their punishment within!
"Emperor, when will ordinary humans like us be able to use methods to modify universal constants... even if it's just within a limited scope of the universe, that would be great!"
Si Hanwen muttered, but his feet stepped into the grand formation.
As soon as he entered, it was as if he had entered another world.
All around him was a primeval wilderness, the appearance of the Great Desolate Continent before it was altered by humans, with no trace of any technological items.
It was as if he had directly leaped from a high-tech era to the Stone Age.
And these criminal slaves would be punished in this Stone Age-like environment.
"Detecting... confirming identity... Si family's second young master... Si Hanwen..."
"Would you like me to introduce you to the details of the criminal slave punishment zone and the breeding area?"
A robot approached, speaking in a hoarse voice.
"Yes, this young master requires an introduction."
Si Hanwen looked at the robot, naturally understanding that it was impossible for the current Human Race to personally oversee the criminal slave punishment zone.
Everything here, all punishment measures, were arranged by robots, operating according to fixed programs.
Humans, even ordinary citizens, were engaged in cultivation. Who would have the time to idly guard criminal slaves for a million years? Humans did not engage in such foolishness.
"The situation here is..."
The robot was introducing the situation to Si Hanwen...
...
In the special troughs for criminal slaves.
This was an environment similar to medieval slavery on Earth.
The troughs were filled with stench, and flies constantly buzzed in the air.
Ma Yuan, a former disciple of the Jie Sect, a demon who had devoured over ten million human hearts, had not only had his cultivation crippled but had also been reduced to a mortal demon.
He was bound by numerous iron chains to a wooden post nearby, his movements restricted, unable to move more than five meters from the post.
Beside the wooden post was a water trough. Ma Yuan, like an animal, numbly drank water from it.
The water did not taste good.
This was because the Human Celestial Court had specifically simulated the sanitary conditions of ancient Europe on Earth.
In the 19th century, Western Earth's sanitary conditions were extremely poor, with streets being filthy and feces present everywhere, with no sanitation workers to clean them.
Moreover, the sanitary environment simulated by the Human Celestial Court was even earlier, dating back to the 4th century AD.
It was an incredibly terrible sanitary environment.
And the sanitary conditions for slaves in that era were even worse, far inferior to those of ordinary free people.
Now, Ma Yuan, a former Xuanxian cultivator of the Jie Sect, a true demon immortal, an immortal.
The water he drank from the trough had the same sanitary conditions as water drunk by slaves and horses in the 4th century AD.
The taste was self-explanatory.
"Over a million years..."
Ma Yuan muttered as he drank.
"When will my sin of devouring ten million human hearts be repaid?"
"When will my atonement be complete?"
"When will the Human Race set me free?"
"I am a demon immortal, I am a demon immortal, an immortal, I want freedom, I am not a beast, I am not a beast..."
Ma Yuan numbly chanted this.
Repeating this sentence.
Constantly repeating these words.
His eyes held a hollow, lifeless gaze, his entire body like a walking corpse.
Ran Deng Daoist, the former deputy leader of the Chan Sect, was also bound by numerous iron chains to a wooden post.
Watching Ma Yuan's numb and vacant eyes, Ran Deng Daoist knew that Ma Yuan, this Xuanxian demon, had his spirit completely broken.
His Dao heart had utterly collapsed.
"Over a million years of beastly life."
"He, a mere Xuanxian, already had a poor disposition. After a million years as a beast, living and eating in such conditions, tormented by the Human Race for over a million years..."
"His spirit breaking, becoming numb and indifferent, is normal."
Ran Deng did not care about Ma Yuan's childish words.
Ma Yuan's words were very naive, talking about atonement and then being released by the Human Race.
That was wishful thinking. Even the Ma Yuan from seven hundred thousand years ago would not have believed that the Human Race would let him go.
Why did Ma Yuan believe it now?
Because his spirit had broken, his mind was confused, and he had lost his reason.
He no longer knew what he was saying, merely repeating his own fondest wishes.
Pathetic, truly pathetic.
Ran Deng Daoist sighed at Ma Yuan's pathetic state.
But then he thought of himself and also sighed.
Ran Deng Daoist, as a former quasi-sage great divine ability user, had a very high adaptability.
Five thousand years after becoming a criminal slave in the 60,000th year of the Heavenly Emperor calendar, Ran Deng Daoist had already found beauty in the life of a criminal slave.
And he was willing to accept his identity.
After all, the high-tech enjoyments of the Human Race were truly enticing. Ran Deng Daoist, with genuine sincerity and an objective evaluation, found that life as a criminal slave in a human sci-fi city surpassed his life in the Jade Void Palace.
There seemed to be nothing to lament.
At that time, Ran Deng Daoist, carried away by his excitement, even privately stated that the Human Race's technology was excellent and that being a criminal slave was not bad.
This statement was overheard by a surveillance device.
Then, the Human Emperors, spurred by Ran Deng Daoist's remark, truly took his words seriously and directly cast him down into the primitive environment.
In the 60,000th year of the Heavenly Emperor calendar, Ran Deng was cast down here to atone in a primitive environment.
It was now the 1.3 millionth year of the Heavenly Emperor calendar, a full million years of criminal slave life that Ran Deng Daoist had spent here.
Although Ran Deng Daoist had a strong Dao heart and his spirit had not broken, the hardship of his life could not help but make him curse the Human Celestial Court in his heart.
Ran Deng Daoist, in his futile rage, used this method to vent his emotions.
After all, he did not want to become the next Ma Yuan.