198: Chapter 198 Spirit Body, Possession!

Rumble.

A vast Aura, like clouds and mist, spread out from within his line of sight. The eerie purple Qi, carrying a chilling coldness, struck straight at his heart.

Merely standing at a distance and watching was enough to make the hair on his body stand on end.

Chen Ran frowned and looked cautiously toward the center of the mist.

Within the mist, Shen Jixuan was half-kneeling on the ground, head tilted upward. Purple flame-like Qi rays were frantically escaping from his eyes and mouth, filling the entire area within a few breaths.

Crack! Crack! A scalp-numbing sound of cracking rang out.

His battered Physical Body appeared like cracked porcelain, with dense cracks emerging across its surface.

Immediately after, large chunks of flesh peeled away and dissipated like flying ash.

Finally, his whole body slumped to the ground, turning into a limp corpse.

Hum— The chains in the surrounding prison cells rattled, and several golden runic inscriptions lit up, as if intending to suppress him once more.

However, as the mist expanded, the runes gradually began to flicker.

Crack. Until the last rune dimmed.

An extremely cold and viscous fluctuation suddenly surged up from the ruins.

The surrounding temperature instantly dropped to freezing.

A layer of pale frost formed on the walls of the cell at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chen Ran's pupils constricted slightly.

Within the ruins, a figure that was entirely semi-transparent and radiating an eerie, cold silver light slowly floated into mid-air.

The face of that figure was exactly the same as Shen Jixuan's!

Only now, he was no longer in that spirit body form, but was a "Spirit Body" condensed entirely from pure Divine Soul power.

"This is... Divine Soul manifestation?"

Chen Ran's heart stirred. This kind of technique didn't really have much to do with martial arts; it was already close to immortal arts.

He could clearly feel that after turning into a spirit body, Shen Jixuan's Aura had surged several times over compared to before.

"Kid, being a part of this old man's path to re-ascending the Dao is your honor."

Whoosh! Shen Jixuan let out a long howl, and his spirit body turned into a streak of silver light, rushing straight toward Chen Ran's glabella at an incredible speed.

Chen Ran snorted coldly, and the crimson True Qi within his body erupted, wrapping him in three layers inside and out.

He attempted to resist the figure before him.

However, Shen Jixuan didn't care at all. Instead, he revealed the posture of a victor, grinned, and said: "Hahaha, this body, this old man accepts it!"

The silver streak of light completely ignored the obstruction of the True Qi, passing through it as if it were an illusion, and instantly submerged into Chen Ran's glabella.

Click. The atmosphere inside the entire prison first froze, then fell into a deep, deathly silence.

...

In the Zhenyu Division, inside an extremely luxurious room.

In front of a chessboard covered by a black cloth, two middle-aged men sat opposite each other.

The middle-aged man on the left, who was only in his thirties, had graying hair and was draped in a coat, frowning as he stared at the chessboard in front of him.

The chessboard was divided into black and white sides. At this moment, the entire board was filled with black pieces, while the white pieces had been surrounded and reduced to only a handful.

"Brother Fan, if it really isn't working, just concede. Losing to the dignified Minister of the Ministry of Justice is nothing to be ashamed of."

Sitting halfway beside the chessboard was a man in a black robe. Although his age was similar to the man opposite him, his temperament was clearly much more unrestrained.

Fan Weizhao shook his head and pushed the chessboard forward with a smile.

"I'm old, I can't beat you anymore." He said casually: "The capital has been turbulent lately; I've vaguely heard some bad rumors at the imperial court."

Fan Weizhao stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window not far away, and looked down at the entire dark, oppressive prison.

From his current perspective, the houses on the ground of the prison were no bigger than a thumb, and the pedestrians were about the size of ants.

This was a habit he had developed. Whenever he was under great pressure, he would come to watch the myriad states of life below. Comparing the two, his mood would be much more relieved.

Zhong Ya waved one hand, and an invisible blast of Qi blew across, sweeping all the pieces on the chessboard into the box.

"I know you are under a lot of pressure right now, but those rumors at court are just rumors after all, and they are only a microcosm of these recent days."

Zhong Ya knew the reason for his old friend's anxiety. Ever since the previous Warden of the prison chose to resign and retreat behind the scenes, the entire prison had fallen into a state of being leaderless.

As one of the few remaining Deputy Wardens of the prison, Fan Weizhao could be said to be the second-in-command of the entire prison. It stood to reason that after working for so many years, he should have been promoted.

However, because of some rumors at the court recently, which caused panic, Fan Weizhao's promotion had been delayed again and again, leading to his current awkward position.

"I heard that the Emperor has already awakened and has given new orders. Once those rumors are dealt with and everything is over, your promotion is a certainty."

"I hope so..." Fan Weizhao squeezed out a smile. "Who can say for sure about matters at court? Just in these few months, more officials have been sent over from that side than in the past three years."

"It's fortunate that our Zhenyu Division belongs to a relatively unpopular sector, so not many people are watching it."

"I heard that the Demon Suppression Division's Demon-Slaying Squad also stirred up quite a storm before. Every once in a while, the Yao Beasts transported out of the prison would bizarrely explode and die. After the Longque Hall investigated, they really ferreted out quite a few corrupt officials from within."

The conversation between the two, even if just a small piece were pulled out, would be secret information enough to shock the capital.

Just as they were chatting happily, a dull, thunderous roar suddenly came to their ears.

Rumble.

Immediately following, a continuous vibration came from beneath the prison, and the entire Zhenyu Division building was shaken, swaying to and fro.

The chessboard in the room clattered to the ground, and the candlelight flickered unsteadily before finally extinguishing.

A terrifying pressure, accompanied by cold Yin Qi, assaulted them.

The moment they came into contact with that Aura, the True Qi in their bodies instantly solidified. It was as if they had been targeted by a peerless Vicious Beast, and cold sweat instantly soaked their backs.

Fan Weizhao's expression changed abruptly. He and his old friend beside him looked at each other, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes.

"That commotion... came from the prison?"

"It can't be wrong. With such a strong Aura, is some Senior taking action in the Zhenyu Division?"

Zhong Ya could sense that directly beneath the prison, a massive and bizarre Aura was rising and spreading outward without any concealment.

This commotion could not possibly have been caused casually; something must have happened inside the prison.

Fan Weizhao flicked his legs, leaped down from the upper floor, and borrowing the gale, quickly rushed toward the source of the disturbance, leaving behind a sentence before he left:

"Notify Lord Lin, I am going to check the situation!"

At the same time, the previously calm Zhenyu Division instantly boiled over due to this commotion. Several figures with profound Auras opened their eyes, looking toward the depths of the prison with suspicion and uncertainty.