Ian Shawking’s gaze swept the prison, his heart cold. Not far off, a warden was swapping out the basin of god and demon blood for a new, oversized wooden tub.
In the blood river beside them, monsters spawned from the filthy blood, crawling out to secretly latch onto a prisoner and suck his blood.
Ian withdrew his gaze. Quinn Shepherd was right beside him, chatting easily with Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor, smiling as if nothing had happened.
Dragon-Qilin lay curled at Quinn’s feet, snoring away, while the plump Dragon-Sparrow perched atop his head, absentmindedly preening her feathers.
Ian narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Heavenly Venerable, visiting hours are over. It’s time for you to leave!"
Quinn said, "Your Majesty, Junior Brother, stay safe in here. There will come a day when you’re freed. I’ll go on ahead."
"Take care!" Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor bid him farewell.
Quinn returned the gesture. Ian followed closely behind, watching him like a hawk to prevent any tricks.
At the prison gate, Ian checked the rune lock on the wooden door again, inspecting it even more thoroughly, but found nothing amiss.
He didn’t bother escorting Quinn out of the city, instead rushing straight to the Judge’s Hall to check the official ledger. All the entries were still there, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and go to send Quinn out of the city.
Outside the city, Quinn Shepherd turned and smiled, "Left Adjutant, you needn't see me off any further."
Ian Shawking bowed deeply and said, "I respectfully bid farewell to the Heavenly Venerable..."
Suddenly, he froze. This time, the words he spoke were exactly the same as the last time Quinn Shepherd toyed with him using divine-sense illusion arts!
Cold sweat broke out on Ian Shawking's forehead. With a burst of divine-sense power, he shouted, "Break!"
The world once again drained of color, turning black and white. Then even the black and white faded, and reality reappeared. Ian Shawking opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings, beads of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.
He found himself still standing inside the Great Prison. Not far away, wardens were swapping out the wooden blood basins, collecting fresh blood, while monsters in the blood river were being born and quietly crawling into the cages to suck the blood of the prisoners.
Dragon-Qilin was still snoring, Annie was still preening her feathers, and Quinn Shepherd was still chatting with Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor in their cages.
Sweat the size of beans dotted Ian Shawking's forehead. His voice was hoarse as he cried out, "White Jasper! Is there a flaw hidden in the Threefold Undying Mind you passed to me?"
Inside the cage, the Imperial Preceptor White Jasper turned his head, his gaze dull and empty, eyes hollow as if he were a walking corpse. His mouth opened and closed like a puppet: "The Heavenly Court's divine-sense arts are far too outdated. The flaw isn't only in the Threefold Undying Mind, but also in Left Adjutant's own foundation. Left Adjutant, you were born too early; everything you learned in the past—your Daos, your divine-sense arts—are all wrong now. Take the Divine Treasury, for example."
In the other cage, Emperor Evan turned his head as well, his gaze equally blank and hollow, his mouth opening and closing: "The Divine Treasuries you cultivated in the past were Spirit Embryo, Five Luminaries, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Heaven-Man, Life-and-Death, Divine Bridge. But the Divine Treasuries transformed by Everpeace Reform are completely different. You've already cultivated to the High Heaven Hall Stage, your realm fixed, and you can't change your foundational Divine Treasuries anymore. Your realm is extremely high, so you don't need to alter your foundation. Yet, this leaves a fatal flaw in your arts."