Chapter 900: Chapter 623: Divine Prison
Wang Changming’s figure flickered, instantly blinking over to catch Lu Chenzhou. At this moment, Chenzhou had already lost consciousness, fainting in his master’s arms, his body convulsing, blood flowing from all seven orifices, and from thirty-six thousand pores all over his body, strange fleshy nodules sprouted, like toad warts.
Bang, bang, bang!
The warts exploded, emitting foul-smelling green poisonous pus that flowed out, corroding everything in its path. The high-grade sixth rank Spiritual Armor covering Old Wang’s body instantly dissolved into molten iron. The toxic water then began to corrode his Protective True Gang Barrier; a single drop landed on his arm and bored through the body of this Seventh Realm Martial Artist, the poison spreading rapidly along his meridians, unstoppable.
"Quick, get back!"
Heart Dream Emperor reacted swiftly, yanking Old Wang away, then used a Spiritual Barrier to temporarily isolate Lu Chenzhou, blocking the spreading poisonous fog.
Zheng!
Prince Northern Guardian raised his saber and chopped off Old Wang’s arms on the spot, the severed arms turning to white smoke.
At this moment, Wang Changming couldn’t care about the pain of losing both arms. He stared at Lu Chenzhou, face ashen.
All present were Seventh Realm, and their stronghold even had Emperor Shitian, an Eighth Realm expert, overseeing it. The enemy had launched a precise strike against Lu Chenzhou alone. Without doubt, Lu Chenzhou had been cursed by the enemy.
"Divine Alliance?"
"Is this their revenge?"
"Truly despicable. Can’t defeat us in the open, so they skulk in the shadows with their petty tricks!"
The crowd cursed angrily.
Emperor Shitian arrived and shook his head, saying:
"Divine Alliance? I don’t think so. To curse-kill the Military Leader to this extent must require someone who has mastered Seventh Rank—or even higher—Causality Dao at the Second Step. If the Divine Race had such methods, they would’ve used them long ago. I suspect it’s those few from the Eye of Truth who acted. But that doesn’t matter now. Does anyone here know the Dao of Severe Poison? Figure out a way to force the toxin out from the Military Leader."
Dao of Severe Poison?
The assembled experts exchanged looks. In Tianxia, few cultivated this path. The Dao of Severe Poison didn’t fit Martial Artists’ style or temperament—it was considered a minor path in everyone’s heart.
"Wait, we have a Guest Elder called [Five Poison Heavenly Doctor], from a minor world, self-created the Poison Doctor Dao, and lives on Black Cloud Mountain."
Prince Northern Guardian suddenly said.
"A Guest Elder?"
Old Wang felt uneasy inside.
These Seventh Realm experts from foreign civilizations were indeed under contract, but the restrictions were weak, so they generally handled peripheral tasks.
Emperor Shitian said:
"Go invite the Five Poison Heavenly Doctor. Fellow Wang, don’t worry. With me overseeing here, she won’t dare act out of line. What matters now is to detoxify the Military Leader."
Black Cloud Mountain was not far from the mine.
Soon, an old crone with a somewhat ugly face arrived, back hunched under a large pottery jar, tearing through the sky.
"Greetings, Senior Emperor Shitian."
"Heavenly Doctor, we trouble you. As long as you can save the Military Leader, the reward due will not be lacking."
Emperor Shitian released a hint of majesty.
The old crone smiled, "All of you are too polite. If not for Tianxia Civilization, our world would have been exterminated by the Great Demon Venerable long ago. I will do my utmost to save him."
She stepped up to Lu Chenzhou’s side.
A stench assaulted her. The burly man before her, under an indescribably malicious curse, had lost all his hair and beard, his entire body swollen like a giant, toxic water flowing all around him, corroding everything nearby. If not for Emperor Shitian sealing Lu Chenzhou with a Spiritual Barrier, even the experts present would have been dragged into disaster.
The old crone grew more horrified the longer she looked.
Soon she turned around and shook her head, saying, "Forgive me, all of you overestimate me. I am but a mid- Seventh Realm poison cultivator. How could I resolve a strange poison of at least Sixth Rank Dao, compounded from over a hundred kinds of Seventh and Eighth Realm poisons?"
The crowd’s faces turned ashen.
The only poison Dao expert was also helpless.
After thinking, the old crone took out a centipede-like, seven-colored worm, speaking with obvious pain, "This is a Seventh Rank Blood Poison Gu I spent countless effort refining. If you trust me, I’ll send it into the Military Leader’s body. The Blood Poison Gu will devour tainted blood and should temporarily relieve the toxicity. But at most, it’ll buy you a year.
Within that year, you must find an Eighth Rank, Rare Treasure Level universal detoxification treasure, called [Blood Cleansing Grass], and use more than ten drops of Heavenly Immortal Dew, along with several Seventh Rank rare medicinal herbs from the list I’ll provide, to concoct a Treasure Medicine for the Military Leader to take.
This should resolve the strange poison in his body. But forgive my bluntness—even with my low cultivation, I can see that with Military Leader’s constitution, these poisons are indeed potent, but not enough to inflict this much harm on a fleshly body invincible at the same realm. The true origin is that bizarre curse. If it cannot be broken, detoxification is but a superficial fix."
"Use it," Emperor Shitian said, "Here are thirty high-grade Primordial Stones, enough to compensate you. If any remains, take them as your reward."
The old crone accepted the Primordial Stones. She chanted a spell, and the seven-colored centipede turned into a rainbow light, trying to burrow into Lu Chenzhou’s body, only to be blocked by his powerful flesh.
"This... Even after being corroded by that strange poison and falling unconscious, the Military Leader’s flesh is still this strong?"
The old crone was stunned.
This Blood Poison Gu was her trump card—if dueling and going all out, it could pierce the armor of a Late Seventh Realm expert, draining their blood dry.
Emperor Shitian sighed. With Spiritual Power as a blade, he made a small incision on Lu Chenzhou’s flesh, allowing the centipede to burrow inside, where it began devouring poisonous blood.
"Only the Military Leader could survive this. Any other Seventh Realm Peak would long since be soul scattered."
"This centipede can last only a month."
"I’ll go search for Blood Cleansing Grass. Heavenly Doctor, do you know where it grows?" Wang Changming asked.
The Heavenly Doctor pondered, "Such an Eighth Rank Rare Treasure is a fateful encounter, hard to find. However, I do know of one place where Eighth Rank Blood Cleansing Grass might grow, but that world is extremely perilous—even an ordinary Eighth Realm entering may not return alive."
"Where?"
"Divine Prison Realm."
At her words, the experts’ expressions all changed.
Wang Changming fell silent.
"It’s actually there."
The Divine Prison Realm—a special Great World, built by the Divine Court just like the Mystic Sky Realm.
As the name suggests, the world’s purpose is to imprison those too troublesome to kill, suppressed in Divine Court custody. The weakest kept there were Seventh Realm; moreover, there were not a few Ancient Evil Creatures at True Spirit Level or Demon Dao Ancestor-level fiends, like the famed [Demon Hou Daoist] of old.
Though the ages saw most perish of old age, some powerful obsessions, under the twisted rules of this Great Universe, could birth formidable ghostly beings or even unnamed demons—all were possible.
In short—
The Divine Prison Realm was an absolute forbidden zone.
According to stories, those who went in and returned alive were extremely rare.
It’s rumored that Black Boat Ancestor and Kunxu Ancestor had both once entered Divine Prison, obtaining great fortune.
But those two were Third Step experts.
The old crone said, "I know a little Qi Observation Technique. The Military Leader’s fortune is boundless, deeply blessed, and his Dao profound... I feel you all might as well wait and see; in my view, the Military Leader still has hope to survive this ordeal."
"How likely?"
"Fifty percent."
"Then how’s that different from waiting to die! Lu Chenzhou is my disciple—I will go to Divine Prison Realm."
Wang Changming spoke gravely.
Emperor Shitian frowned.
"If you go to Divine Prison Realm, it’s just suicide! It’s among the top forbidden zones in the Three Thousand Worlds, far less safe than those sealed with Demigods."
"So we just leave it to fate?"
Wang Changming retorted.
"Let me go—I’m good at survival, and have the Cosmic Light Sword, so I can travel faster," said Yaochi Immortal Daoist.
"I’ll go with Yaochi Immortal. I have the Heavenly Escape Mysterious Light—with any mishap, I can carry her out," Bai Feng volunteered.
The Divine Prison Realm may mean nine deaths and one life, but as long as there’s any hope, no one would give up.
Emperor Shitian said, "Even if Divine Prison Realm had no other dangers, the tormenting Arrays and Restriction Rules left from suppressing criminals alone would guarantee death. Eighth Realm Cultivation is the bare minimum, and even Quasi-Eighth Realm or those with powerful trump cards won’t make it. The Eternal Immortal is currently in West River Territory, not far from Divine Prison Realm. I’ll contact him. We only have one year—from Mystic Sky to Divine Prison the journey costs too much time."
Emperor Shitian’s tone brooked no argument.
He wanted to save Lu Chenzhou, but he would not let others throw away their lives making pointless sacrifices.
Otherwise this’d only bring disaster to Tianxia.
...
West River Territory.
"Who are these enemies, exactly? They seem even stronger than Heavenly Gu Daoist. Sigh, Chenzhou’s road has truly been fraught with disaster."
News having reached him, the Eternal Immortal did not hesitate. Alone, he swept aside the tides of Ruins Sea, and flew toward Divine Prison Realm.
"I just obtained the Great Power Level saber arts inheritance ’Heaven and Earth Creation’ from the Blade Ancestor Cave Mansion. If I unleash that killing move, I may even stand a chance of gravely wounding a Second Step expert. If luck is with me, Clear Heart Grass might be found on the seventh layer of Divine Prison, no need to go into the eighth or ninth layers..." the Eternal Immortal muttered to himself.
Though his talent was "exceptionally ordinary."
Still, he worked hard to become stronger.
...
"What? It succeeded at once?"
Wangyue Demon Saint looked up, wan and disbelieving, at the flickering, vanishing golden thread—this meant Lu Chenzhou had fallen under a curse, his Qi Mechanism unstable, half a foot into the Ghost Gate.
"My painstaking effort in forging the Treasure Robe and sacrificing an Array was not in vain. Hahaha, I did it!"
...
"Succeeded?"
Lord Toad’s eyes widened greatly.
"It’s confirmed Lu Chenzhou was cursed, but his vitality is immense—he won’t die right away."
"Haha, good! This is a result even the Witches failed to achieve in decades of attempts!"
Lord Toad clasped his hands behind his back, face full of pride, calling other Evil Gods to descend. He raised his voice and proclaimed:
"Lu Chenzhou has been cursed, and now his life hangs by a thread. He isn’t so hard to kill, after all!"
"So that means he’s not dead yet?"
The Witch glanced at Lord Toad’s smug face.
His tone was very calm.
He would never celebrate halfway through the game.
Nobody knew Lu Chenzhou better than he did.
Seeing the Witch skeptical, Lord Toad sneered:
"Not only did this kid take a Seventh Rank Causality Dao Great Divine Power curse, but also Sixth Rank Severe Poison—my own painstakingly blended strange poison. Only Eighth Rank Rare Treasure Clear Heart Grass can detoxify it, and Clear Heart Grass can only be born in places of utmost resentment and Evil Qi."
"Divine Prison Realm?"
"Exactly! Tianxia doesn’t even have a Second Step expert—none will get out of there alive. Even if by luck they find it, the timing for Healing will likely be missed. With this double insurance, this kid is surely doomed!"
Lord Toad was confident.
"Impressive."
"Worthy of a Primordial Being."
"The Causality Dao truly is strong."
A few weaker Evil Gods began to flatter.
Lord Toad basked in the praise.
With his descent and Wangyue Demon Saint’s curse-killing of numerous once-vexing prodigies across the myriad worlds, his fame swelled and swelled, now second only to Witch, Old Mother, and Blood God.
The Witch pondered inwardly.
"Could he really have succeeded?"
Truly, even a blind cat can catch a dead mouse once in a while.