279: Chapter 279 Reorganization, Return

After about half an hour, after Chen Ran finished replenishing the consumed Divine Soul power on his body, he pulled a box out from under the bed.

The box was opened, and inside lay an exquisite jade box.

This was a box he bought from the black market a few days ago to store the Yao Beast core.

Ever since he captured that Phantom Soul Mirage and obtained its Yao Beast core, he had been storing it inside the jade box to slow down the rate at which its Yao Qi dissipated.

"A Yao Beast core whose quality is comparable to a Tier 2 is not easy to refine."

Chen Ran held that white-and-translucent bead, which seemed to contain countless clouds and mists, in his hand and examined it carefully for a period of time.

That Phantom Soul Mirage was an ancient remnant species Yao Beast.

With a noble Bloodline and formidable strength, it was several times stronger than Yao Beasts of the same rank.

Even though that Yao Beast's strength was only at the Peak of the Third Rank, its Yao Qi quality was by no means inferior to an ordinary Tier 2 Yao Beast core.

Ever since his Breakthrough to the Innate Realm, his Cultivation speed had slowed down a lot.

Although accumulating a year's worth of kung fu every day seemed like a lot, that was only in the early stages of the Martial Dao.

A Martial Artist only needed to polish their Qi and blood and forge their tendons and bones to achieve a very obvious improvement.

The further one went along in Cultivation, the test was actually no longer something that could be simply stacked with diligence.

Instead, it was accumulated from multiple aspects such as talent, Comprehension Ability, Family background, luck, and resources.

At its most fundamental level, a Genius from some small place might be second to none in the county town, and after practicing for eight years, could Breakthrough to around a Seventh-Rank Martial Artist.

However, in the hands of those big families in the capital, just the Bone-Tempering Medicinal Pills and Qi-Blood Medicinal Pills issued every month could be equivalent to several years of their bitter cultivation.

Just from what Chen Ran understood, most of the children of aristocratic families and powerful nobles were not weaker than the middle three ranks in strength.

Just like Lin Wan, who possessed extremely high talent paired with those top-tier resources.

Now she was close to a Breakthrough to the Fourth-Rank Aperture Condensation Realm, and ascending to the Return to Truth Realm later on was merely a matter of time.

Chen Ran pondered that now that he was at the Innate Realm, his bitter cultivation of one year per day had become very slow.

If he wanted to enhance his strength, it was either waiting quietly for time or consuming resources to grow stronger.

"Which other faction knows Alchemy?"

Chen Ran had no choice but to put away the Yao Beast core first; if a Tier 2 Yao Beast core could be refined into a Medicinal Pill, it would also be a considerable boost for him.

The long night was boundless, so Chen Ran simply sorted all the things he needed to do during this period.

"First, refine Medicinal Pills; second, secretly investigate Master Xuandu's case; and finally, see if there are any suitable Yao Beasts..."

Chen Ran muttered to himself, suddenly thinking of something.

He groped out a scroll of records from his sleeve, the surface of which was wrapped by a bamboo tube, feeling somewhat hard to the touch.

That was what Chen Ran had snatched from Jiang Mengli a few months ago when the Red Lotus Demonic Cult sneaked into the capital to search for a hidden treasury.

It was said that this scroll of records recorded ancient Cultivation methods,

however, Shen Jixuan had also said at that time that these things recorded in ancient times were no different from waste paper nowadays.

Therefore, Chen Ran temporarily sealed it on his body, waiting for an opportunity to explore it again.

"Now that my Divine Soul has grown stronger and my memory is astonishing, perhaps I can comprehend new things from it!"

Chen Ran pulled open the bamboo tube and swept his gaze across those handwritings.

An hour later,

Chen Ran threw the bamboo tube onto the head of the bed: "Who says that having a good memory means Comprehension Ability will also get better."

Within this hour, he had tried the Cultivation methods recorded within it more than a dozen times.

Still, he didn't feel the "Qi sensation" recorded in that Cultivation Technique.

Even though he could now read ten lines at a glance and never forget what he saw,

regarding this martial arts talent, there really was no actual progress.

With no words spoken through the night, the next morning,

Chen Ran went out early and headed straight for the Celestial Prison.

Beneath the Celestial Prison, upon the dim steps, footsteps echoed once again.

Clatter, clatter.

Every step of those footsteps left a reverberation within the empty stairs.

The footsteps gradually stopped, as if that person had stopped at a certain place.

Accompanied by a rumble of vibrations,

the doors of the deep layer of the Celestial Prison slowly opened to both sides.

A young man dressed in dark robes with a tall and upright figure appeared in the middle of the line of sight once again.

Chen Ran put away the token at his waist and stepped forward.

The door behind him closed with a click, completely blocking off his retreat.

Today, when he returned to the fifth layer of the Celestial Prison, he had already specially asked someone to report it and made a registration form.

The further back one went in this Celestial Prison, the stricter the review intensity and guard intensity were compared to before.

Even with his current Cultivation, he couldn't move around as he pleased in this deep layer.

"This Formation is truly marvelous, truly living up to being something left over from ancient times."

Chen Ran turned his head to glance at the tightly closed door behind him. These Formations could operate automatically and constantly suppressed the prisoners' Qi and blood and true essence.

Formations were a craft that only big places like the capital possessed. If placed in a small city, let alone a Formation, most people wouldn't even have heard of it once.

Chen Ran moved forward step by step, the Evil Qi in front of him being overbearing, and his robe hems dancing with the wind.

Coming here today, he still had to explore further to see what interesting things prisoners in this deep layer actually had.

Not long after walking forward, a voice suddenly rang in Chen Ran's ears.

"Benefactor, why have you come to this place again?"

Chen Ran raised his eyes and looked over, seeing that the monk locked up in the first cell was likewise gazing at him.

Chen Ran shook the package at his waist and casually replied:

"Great Master, starting from today, I am also one of the Jailers guarding this layer, and I've come to inspect the Celestial Prison today."

"Oh, that's quite rare?"

Master Xuandu was obviously stunned for a moment, then continued:

"However, Benefactor must be careful. The prisoners locked up in the depths of the Celestial Prison are overly dangerous; do not let them frighten your mind."

Chen Ran's lips curled up:

"Great Master, rest assured. I am a person with a bold heart, so there won't be any problems."

"I have a task today and it's not very convenient. We can chat another day if there's a chance."

Before giving Master Xuandu a chance to continue speaking, he saw the young man already waving his hand, his figure gradually disappearing from sight.

Leaving behind only a ground full of silence.

Even the Jailers were extremely terrified of the deep layer of the Celestial Prison, yet this young man acted as if nothing was the matter, walking right in as if turning a blind eye.

He didn't know whether he truly had a bold heart or simply didn't take guarding the Celestial Prison to heart at all.

Master Xuandu put his hands together, a flash of golden light passing through his eyes, murmuring as if puzzled and somewhat suspicious:

"Is it an illusion? Why does this person's body... have such a profound Karmic Obstruction aura?"