201: Chapter 201, Investigation

Chen Ran shook his head and withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness.

As his consciousness returned and he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the celestial prison.

The prison door of the celestial prison had shattered, and the walls forged from black stone were covered in cracks.

The entire air was still filled with a chilling aura.

Shen Jixuan, who should have been in the cell, had disappeared, his corpse having merged with the rubble.

Chen Ran stood amidst the ruins, faintly hearing movements coming from afar.

His gaze shifted and finally rested on the cell door; the prisoner in the deep Jiazi-numbered cell of this celestial prison had now completely returned to his fate.

He had transformed into one of the nutrients for the heavenly book of prison suppression.

"Senior Shen, go well on your journey."

No one would have expected that this old ghost of departed souls, who was once famous in the Jianghu, would die so stiflingly within his Sea of Consciousness.

There was no magnificent finale, no earth-shattering battle.

Even until the very end, Shen Jixuan was still looking for an opportunity to seize his body.

However, it was precisely because of his special identity and methods that—if it had been an ordinary Martial Artist—they would have had their Sea of Consciousness shattered and become a Puppet manipulated by others under such an offensive from Shen Jixuan.

Chen Ran whispered in his heart.

"Is someone coming?"

He activated his talent [Heavenly Net], and his Divine Thought spread outward, enveloping the entire celestial prison.

In his perception, he heard the chaotic footsteps of Jailers, and further away, several figures with profound auras were rushing toward this direction.

They were likely attracted by the previous anomaly in the celestial prison.

Although the commotion caused by his clash with Shen Jixuan was quite large, it was mainly a confrontation of Divine Souls, occurring in just a single thought.

From the moment he struck to now, the total time of the battle was only a few breaths.

"Having attracted so many people, I'm afraid it won't be easy to slip away."

"Since I'm going to make a scene, I might as well make it a big one; Shen Jixuan dying alone is too conspicuous."

Chen Ran simply waved one hand, his figure surging like a gust of wind, crushing all the surrounding prison cells.

In a cell not far from Shen Jixuan's, a white-haired old man with a goatee stared blankly at this scene.

Before he could recover from the shock, he saw in the darkness a large amount of steel twisting sounds, accompanied by several muffled groans.

Chen Ran's speed was extremely fast, passing through the fourth level of the celestial prison like an arrow released from a bow.

Every time he passed by a cell, he would strike out with a palm.

The palm wind whistled, carrying True Qi that pierced through the body.

Before those prisoners had a chance to react, their bodies were instantly shattered.

The fourth level of the celestial prison held only death row prisoners.

Therefore, Chen Ran did not feel much pressure when dealing with them.

With his current Realm and strength, to say nothing of facing these prisoners who had been locked in the prison for a long time and had lost their vitality,

even if these prisoners were in their prime, they would not be his match.

Every time he passed a cell, the heavenly book of prison suppression in his Sea of Consciousness would pop up a message.

[Prisoner Lu Boyan has died, calculating participation.]

[Prisoner Dong Xie has died, calculating participation.]

[Prisoner Gu Feng has died, calculating participation.]

All the currently living prisoners turned into nutrients for the heavenly book of prison suppression.

...

Rumble.

The tremors from below the celestial prison became increasingly intense.

Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao stopped in front of the doorway, his expression changing slightly; he felt a surge of extremely brutal True Qi from the depths.

Only a Martial Artist at the Return to Truth Realm could cause such a massive commotion.

However, there were no such experts stationed in the Zhenyu Division, and even he, as the Deputy Warden, was only at the Aperture Condensation Realm.

"Exactly what expert is acting within the celestial prison?"

To have this level of power, it must at least be a high-ranking official from the Demon Suppression Division.

Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao hesitated for a moment, wanting to go in and scout the situation, but worried about angering the other party.

Fortunately, Zhong Ya also rushed over from not far away.

"How is it? What's the situation inside?"

"Not clear, it shouldn't be a prisoner breaking out; it looks more like someone is experimenting with a Cultivation Technique in the celestial prison..."

There were rumors before that some old monsters in the capital loved to use death row prisoners in the celestial prison to experiment with Cultivation Techniques, and they would cause some trouble from time to time.

After all, their Zhenyu Division was just a department under the Demon Suppression Division, and a very unpopular one at that.

They were only responsible for holding prisoners and interrogating clues on a daily basis, without any real power...

Just as the two were deep in thought, a sound of breaking through the air came from afar.

Under the moonlight, a young man in brocade clothes arrived, stepping on the moon, and landed steadily on the ground, asking:

"Who is in charge here?"

The young man had white hair and a handsome face, and his brocade clothes were engraved with several strange-looking Yao Beasts.

Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao's pupils contracted slightly as he recognized the attire on that person; it was the outfit of a captain level of the Demon-Slaying Squad.

Such a young captain, even within the Demon Suppression Division system, was an extremely rare existence.

A captain level of the Demon-Slaying Squad was at least a Third Grade Return to Truth Realm existence, and one who had fought their way up through real achievements.

This was much fiercer than those who were just mixing for positions in their Zhenyu Division.

"My Lord, there was a sudden riot in the celestial prison tonight, and we have just arrived."

"As for what exactly happened at the bottom of this celestial prison, this subordinate does not know."

Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao's tone was respectful, and he did not put on any airs just because the other party looked young.

Having worked in this celestial prison for so many years, he still possessed the skill of observing people's expressions.

Soon, rustling sounds came from outside the celestial prison.

Several more figures with steady auras appeared in front of the celestial prison.

They were all people sent by the Demon Suppression Division to check the situation here.

Xia An nodded slightly, looked around, and finally took a few glances at the deep entrance of the celestial prison.

"Let's go, let's go in and take a look."

...

Fourth level of the celestial prison,

The entire place was visibly in ruins, with the whole corridor covered in shattered steel bars and several giant pits on the ground.

Just a glance over, wherever the eyes could reach, all the rooms looked as if they had been dug out by a plow.

What was even more serious was that within the entire line of sight, not a single trace of a living person could be found.

At this moment, a Jailer came to them and spoke respectfully:

"Report, Officer, we have checked all the cells and confirmed that the deceased are all prisoners who were previously detained; not a single prisoner has escaped."

"After comparing the information, we can currently determine that the entire Jiazi-numbered cell block has been wiped out, without leaving a single survivor."

Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao looked at the Jailer reporting in front of him, and he felt terrible.

He had only just taken over the celestial prison not long ago, and he heard such news. If others were to know that the Great Wei celestial prison was entered and exited so casually by someone,

then his originally bleak future would be completely gone.

"Keep investigating for me! How could there only be this little action!?"

Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao urged his subordinates to supervise, while he trotted two steps to the young man in brocade clothes and said flatteringly:

"Lord Xia, give me some time; after I investigate clearly, I will definitely tell you immediately."

Seeing that the person opposite did not reply, Deputy Warden Fan Weizhao looked up in confusion:

He saw that Lord Xia from the Demon-Slaying Squad was squatting on a shattered wall, seemingly examining something.