33: Chapter 33 Malevolent Energy Gathers, Monsters Run Rampant

The Celestial Prison, Section C cell block.

The air was thick with a smell of blood and rot, more intense than usual.

The aftershocks of the Official Silver Case were still raging within the capital, as a large number of officials, merchants, and Jianghu figures involved were being continuously escorted in.

The once relatively spacious Section C cell block was now overcrowded.

Chen Ran carried a heavy wooden bucket, moving expressionlessly through the narrow corridor.

"Let me out! I am innocent! I want to see the Emperor!"

"I am the nephew of the Minister of Revenue! If you dare to treat me like this, just wait until I get out—I will make you regret it!"

"Please, give me some water to drink, I beg you, Brother Jailer..."

On both sides of the cells, those who were once high and mighty were now either screaming wildly or weeping bitterly, making a disgraceful spectacle of themselves.

Chen Ran turned a deaf ear to these sounds.

He skillfully picked up a long-handled wooden ladle, stirred the bucket, scooped up a ladle of sour-smelling brown rice porridge, and accurately poured it into the broken bowl under the cell door.

"Eat."

Chen Ran's voice had no fluctuations, just like an emotionless food-delivery machine.

However, at an angle no one noticed, a flash of undisguised pleasure flickered in his eyes.

[Eye of Investigation] quietly activated.

[Name: Wang Fugui]

[Identity: Capital City Wealthy Merchant (Accomplice in the Official Silver Case)]

[Sin Value: Heavy (Forced buying and selling, drove people to death)]

[Status: Terrified, Desperate]

...

[Name: Liu Dadao]

[Identity: Remnant of the Black Wind Fortress]

[Sin Value: Extremely Heavy (Murder and robbery)]

[Status: Seriously injured, resentful]

...

Chen Ran's gaze swept over the new prisoners one by one, as if he were looking at a lush patch of leeks ready for harvest.

"They are all experience babies."

Chen Ran sighed silently in his heart.

The Official Silver Case involved a wide range of people; the harder Lin Wan cracked down outside, the more "tenants" there were in the Celestial Prison, and the more "wool" he could shear.

This feeling of growing stronger steadily every day just by delivering meals on time, without having to do it himself, was simply wonderful.

After finishing the meal delivery round, Chen Ran returned to the jailer's lounge.

The hour of the Rat had passed.

Deep in his mind, that ancient and mysterious [heavenly book of prison suppression] slowly opened, emitting a faint golden light.

[Stationed at the Celestial Prison for one day, obtained basic reward: One year of cultivation base.]

[Participated in the Karma of prisoner Wang Fugui (delivering meals), low participation, obtained additional reward: Three months of cultivation base.]

[Participated in the Karma of prisoner Liu Dadao (delivering meals), low participation, obtained additional reward: Four months of cultivation base.]

...

A series of rapid notification sounds rang out in his mind, as pleasant as celestial music.

As the settlement finished, streams of pure Internal Energy appeared out of thin air in his Dantian, rapidly merging into the surging river of True Qi within his body.

Chen Ran closed his eyes, feeling the surging power within his body.

"Total cultivation base, eighty-seven years."

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, a satisfied arc curling at the corners of his mouth.

He was only a little bit of accumulation away from the ninety-year cultivation base milestone.

However, as his cultivation base continued to deepen, Chen Ran gradually felt something unusual.

Although the True Qi in his body was immense, it seemed somewhat impure and violent, with a faint feeling that it was about to overflow from his body.

"The limit of the sixth-grade Inner Breath Realm is approaching; I must find a place to vent, and by the way, temper the new blade I bought."

Chen Ran touched the cold and heavy black iron long saber at his waist, a flash of sharp light crossing his eyes.

Deep in the night, the Mass Grave outside the city.

The night wind howled, sounding like ghosts crying and wolves howling.

This was the place outside the capital specifically used for burying nameless corpses and executed prisoners, filled with Yin Qi all year round and soaring with Evil Qi.

If ordinary people came near here, at best they would fall seriously ill, and at worst they would be struck by the Evil Qi and die on the spot.

But for Chen Ran, this was an excellent place to practice his saber skills.

He changed into a night-traveling outfit, wore that familiar opera mask on his face, and appeared quietly at the edge of the Mass Grave like a ghost.

"The Evil Qi here is even more intense than in the Celestial Prison."

Chen Ran took a deep breath, feeling the cold, bone-piercing Aura in the air; not only did he not feel uncomfortable, but he felt the True Qi in his body become more active.

He slowly drew the black iron long saber from his waist.

"Clang—"

A crisp ringing of the saber echoed in the night sky.

The surface of the black iron long saber was covered in mottled rust and looked unremarkable, but under the infusion of Chen Ran's sixth-grade Inner Breath, the blade faintly revealed a dark red light.

"Woooo..."

Seemingly having sensed the Aura of a living person, the Evil Qi deep in the Mass Grave began to churn violently.

In the dense black fog, several twisted and hideous phantoms faintly emerged.

These were phantoms condensed from Evil Qi and resentment; although they had no physical form, they could directly attack a person's spirit and Soul.

"Just in time."

Chen Ran looked at the Evil Qi phantoms baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they lunged over, showing no fear in his eyes, but rather a hint of excitement.

He gripped the saber with both hands, and the True Qi in his body erupted like a volcanic eruption.

"Mad Tiger Saber Technique!"

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a deafening tiger roar, Chen Ran slashed out with his saber.

The violent Saber Qi turned into a fierce tiger descending the mountain, carrying an unstoppable Aura as it slammed into the group of Evil Qi phantoms.

"Swoosh—"

Just like a hot knife cutting through butter, the moment those hideous phantoms touched the Saber Qi, they let out a shrill scream, then were torn to pieces by the violent power, turning into wisps of black smoke that dissipated into the air.

"Too weak."

Chen Ran shook his head, feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

These phantoms condensed from Evil Qi might be a fatal threat to ordinary Martial Artists, but in front of his eighty-seven years of profound cultivation base, they were as fragile as paper.

He did not stop his movements, but continued to wield the black iron long saber in his hand.

One slash after another.

The saber light was like lightning, and the Saber Qi crisscrossed.

Chen Ran pushed the rigidity and ferocity of the Mad Tiger Saber Technique to the extreme; every slash he made left a deep trench in the ground of the Mass Grave.

He was using the Evil Qi here to temper his saber skills, while also taking the opportunity to vent the violent True Qi in his body.

As time passed, the rust on the surface of the black iron long saber began to flake off bit by bit, revealing the dark, ink-like blade underneath.

At the edge of the blade, a heart-palpitating cold light faintly flickered.

"Boom!"

Chen Ran leaped up suddenly, holding the saber with both hands, and slashed down from the air.

A terrifying Saber Qi several zhang long whistled out, slamming heavily onto a huge stone tablet in the center of the Mass Grave.

"Crack!"

The hard stone tablet was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, then shattered with a boom, turning into a pile of rubble scattered all over the ground.

Chen Ran landed steadily and let out a long breath of stale air.

The True Qi in his body finally calmed down, and that feeling of bloating and pain disappeared along with it.

He looked down at the black iron long saber in his hand and nodded with satisfaction.

After this tempering, this blade seemed to have become sharper and more compatible with his True Qi.

"Time to go back."

Chen Ran sheathed his saber and turned to leave.

However, he did not notice that in the crevices of the stone tablet he had just shattered, there remained a trace of an extremely faint Aura that did not belong to this Mass Grave.

It was a faint, dark red Aura with a scorching temperature.

A remnant of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

Chen Ran's figure merged into the night like a ghost and soon disappeared.