255: The second henchman of Tianji Palace

For Xiao Shi, it wasn't difficult to find out which city Xiang Zizhen was currently in.

He went directly to Tianji Hall.

He contacted Wu Muzhen again to get information from him.

Wu Muzhen immediately explained seriously.

"According to the intelligence I gathered previously with the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, Xiang Zizhen has always been in Star City, but..."

"Recently, Xiang Zizhen's position in the Star Luo Army has changed."

"About half a month ago, he was transferred from Star City and dispatched to Prison City."

It had been some time since Wu Muzhen used the Eye of Heavenly Secrets to investigate the whereabouts of these Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect members.

Their locations and movements would more or less change over time.

Xiao Shi had long realized this.

Therefore, he had always asked Wu Muzhen to keep an eye on the whereabouts of these Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect members.

Now, Xiang Zizhen's job transfer.

It made Xiao Shi frown.

As the prime suspect in Qin Mo's murder, his every move was of particular concern to Xiao Shi.

"What exactly was the job transfer?"

Xiao Shi asked.

"Originally, Xiang Zizhen served as a commander in the Star Luo Army, but now he has been transferred to Prison City, where he will serve as the Warden."

"Prison City is an extremely important and special city in our Star Luo Province."

"It is also the largest prison in our Star Luo Province."

"Its value and significance are extraordinary."

"It is directly under the jurisdiction of the Star Luo Lord. Both the Prison Guards and the Warden in Prison City are usually transferred from the Star Luo Army."

"This Xiang Zizhen can not only infiltrate the Star Luo Army but also rise to the position of Warden. His capabilities are even greater than I imagined!"

Wu Muzhen exclaimed.

"From what you're saying, becoming a Warden from a commander is a promotion?"

Xiao Shi asked.

"Of course."

Wu Muzhen nodded.

"As the largest prison in Star Luo Province, those who can serve as Prison Guards must be the most trustworthy and reliable individuals in the Star Luo Army!"

"The Warden is even more deeply trusted by the Star Luo Lord; one could say he is the Star Luo Lord's confidant!"

"In all aspects, they are definitely superior to ordinary Star Luo Army soldiers."

"Many Star Luo Army soldiers dream of being transferred to Prison City to become Prison Guards."

Wu Muzhen's words made Xiao Shi fall into deep thought.

Qin Mo had just died.

And Xiang Zizhen was promoted?

This directly intensified his suspicion of Xiang Zizhen.

Especially since the position of Warden is often held only by trusted confidants of the Star Luo Lord!

Could this guy have gained a high position from the Star Luo Lord by sacrificing Qin Mo?

If that were true.

Then this Xiang Zizhen would be too dangerous for the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect!

He might at any time use the lives of other Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect members to gain benefits from the Star Luo Lord.

The biggest contradiction remained.

Xiang Zizhen's character... Logically speaking.

He wasn't that kind of person.

But all the current signs made Xiao Shi feel that Xiang Zizhen was problematic!

"I'll only have answers after I personally approach him and investigate."

Xiao Shi understood that relying solely on overheard information made it difficult to discern the truth now.

Only by personally interacting and understanding the situation could he find the answers.

However.

Now that Xiang Zizhen had been transferred to Prison City, the difficulty of approaching him was much greater than before.

This might require him to become a Prison Guard himself.

But from the information Wu Muzhen conveyed, Xiao Shi already realized that becoming a Prison Guard would not be easy.

Xiao Shi decided to go to Prison City first.

Once there, he would gather more detailed information.

Prison City is located in the eastern part of Star Luo Province.

Among the many cities in Star Luo Province, Star City, Prison City, and Military City are the three most special cities.

Star City is the main city of Star Luo Province.

Military City is the headquarters of the Star Luo Army.

And Prison City is the prison of Star Luo Province.

When Xiao Shi arrived at Prison City, he clearly felt the difference between this city and other cities.

This was the largest city Xiao Shi had ever seen!

The city was dozens of times the size of Five Shadow City, standing on a plain, with dark black city walls nearly a hundred zhang high!

It exuded a terrifying pressure.

There were also numerous visible and hidden array patterns beneath the city walls, as if to lock time and space, carrying a powerful suppressive force.

Within this city, black high towers stood tall, and at the top of each tower, there was a massive sphere.

Powerful energy permeated the interior of these spheres, constantly surging, sometimes turning into lightning, sometimes into giant eyes.

Constantly changing!

Although the cities Xiao Shi had seen in the past also possessed a certain degree of overt defensive power.

The defenses of this city, however, were the strongest Xiao Shi had ever seen among all cities!

And this was only the visible part.

He believed that in unseen places.

Even more astonishing defenses were hidden.

When Xiao Shi arrived at the gate of Prison City.

He found that the guards here would conduct a detailed inspection and registration of every person entering the city.

And a valuable item had to be impounded before one could enter the city.

If one caused trouble in the city or violated the city's rules, the impounded item would not be returned.

Usually, the higher the cultivation of the person entering the city, the greater the value required for the impounded item.

Xiao Shi had never seen such a rule before.

When he impounded an item and stepped into the city.

The first thing he saw.

It was a giant fortress located in the city.

This fortress was like a city within a city, but its entire body was dark red, exuding a brutal and bloody aura.

The surrounding void where it stood showed faint signs of collapse, as if the space-time it occupied was different from this world.

This dark red fortress... was precisely the largest prison in Star Luo Province!

"What a strong aura of evil!"

As soon as Xiao Shi stepped into the city, he felt a wave of bloody evil aura, making him feel as if he had returned to his time among the Demonic Path forces.

However, these evil auras.

All emanated from the huge prison in the city.

On the way there, Xiao Shi had already learned about this largest prison in Star Luo Province.

He thus knew.

In this prison, four different types of criminals were primarily held.

The first type were the most heinous criminals in the Star Luo Territory.

This included not only Star Luo Province.

But also villains from other provinces.

The second type were the various Heretical Organizations in the Star Luo Territory.

The harm caused by these Heretical Organizations to the entire Star Luo Territory was even greater than the harm from the Demonic Path forces.

For example, the Seven Stars Province was destroyed by evil spirits and Ghoulish Spirits created by a Heretical Organization.

Although compared to the neighboring Cang Yan Territory.

There were not many Heretical Organizations in the Star Luo Territory.

But there were still a few Heretical Organizations lurking in the Star Luo Territory.

The third type of prisoners were various spirits and Outliers.

Like evil spirits and Ghoulish Spirits.

They belonged to two different types of spirits.

The last type of prisoners, and the most numerous in this prison, were... people from the Demonic Path forces!

It is worth mentioning.

The location of Prison City happened to be right on the border of the Orthodox Faction in Star Luo Province.

Adjacent to the Demonic Path forces.

Perhaps it was for this reason, coupled with the fact that nearly half of Star Luo Province's territory belonged to the Demonic Path forces, that the number of Demonic Path forces members in the prison was large.

And the position of Prison Guard, which made many Star Luo Army soldiers eager, was because there were no wars in Star Luo Province, and these Star Luo Army soldiers were not needed to suppress various regions.

Therefore, these Star Luo Army soldiers usually had no extra benefits to gain... Relatively speaking.

The position of Prison Guard offered significant benefits!

As a result, many Star Luo Army soldiers vied for the position of Prison Guard.

"To become a Prison Guard, one must first become a Star Luo Army soldier."

"Although with my abilities and conditions, becoming a Star Luo Army soldier is not difficult, it is very difficult to become a Prison Guard."

Xiao Shi knew.

The conditions for becoming a Star Luo Army soldier primarily depended on two points.

First, aptitude and talent.

Second, various identity checks.

To prevent people from Heretical Organizations or Demonic Path forces from secretly infiltrating the Star Luo Army.

Aptitude and talent were not difficult for Xiao Shi.

The identity check would also not directly reveal that he was a member of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

It could be said that becoming a Star Luo Army soldier was not difficult for him.

The difficulty was how to go from being a Star Luo Army soldier to a Prison Guard.

The position of Prison Guard had always been coveted by many Star Luo Army soldiers.

To become a Prison Guard, it wasn't enough to have strong aptitude and talent.

Even with high aptitude and talent, if one was just a newcomer, it would be impossible to become a Prison Guard.

To usually hold the position of Prison Guard.

On one hand, it depended on seniority, based on rank and experience; the higher the seniority, the more hope one had of becoming a Prison Guard.

On the other hand, it depended on the Star Luo Lord's trust in the individual.

Only Star Luo Army soldiers who had gained the Star Luo Lord's trust could serve as Prison Guards.

"Whether I join the Star Luo Army with my main body or a clone, I definitely won't be able to become a Prison Guard in a short time."

"This requires starting from the bottom and climbing up step by step. It's too slow! I don't have that much time."

Xiao Shi immediately ruled out this method.

This method was only suitable for Thousand Weapons Mountain, not for Prison Guards.

"The most suitable method is to find the corpse of a Prison Guard... turn this Prison Guard's corpse into my clone, and then, using this Prison Guard's identity, approach and investigate Xiang Zizhen!"

Xiao Shi's eyes flickered.

However, this method also presented several difficulties.

First, finding a Prison Guard's corpse that matched his own soul.

Secondly, this Prison Guard's corpse must also possess sufficient strength and cultivation.

Preferably also at the Martial Soul Realm.

And the most troublesome part... even if he possessed the dead Prison Guard's body through soul possession and turned him into his clone, he wouldn't have the original's memories.

This way, even if he entered the prison, he would be exposed instantly.

"As for memories, I can investigate through Tianji Hall's intelligence. Although the information gathered won't be as complete as actual memories, it should be enough for me to deal with others without revealing any flaws..."

Xiao Shi fell into contemplation.

In that case, the key was to find a Prison Guard's corpse that matched his soul and possessed Martial Soul Realm strength.

"I can't look for a Prison Guard who everyone knows is dead; it's best to look for those who are missing or whose life and death are unknown."

"Otherwise, I'll just catch a lone Prison Guard, kill him, and take his place."

After some thought, Xiao Shi decided to observe Prison City first.

He would see if such an opportunity arose before proceeding.

After two days of observation.

Xiao Shi realized that implementing this plan would be incredibly difficult.

Most of the time, the Prison Guards in Prison City stayed in the prison and rarely went out.

At the same time, Prison City was also guarded by Martial Demon Realm Experts, and not just one Martial Demon Realm Expert!

Even if Xiao Shi wanted to assassinate a Prison Guard in the city, he couldn't hide it from these Martial Demon Realm Experts.

Finding a Prison Guard's corpse was even more impossible.

There were no Prison Guard graves in the city.

Moreover, a corpse resurrected from a grave would be treated as an anomaly.

"This is a bit tricky..."

Xiao Shi frowned deeply.

He realized that finding a suitable corpse was impossible within Prison City.

He could only find a way from outside.

"Or..."

"I need some high-level people to help!"

Xiao Shi immediately thought of Wu Muzhen.

As a Martial Demon Realm Expert in Star Luo Province, although Xiao Shi hadn't asked about his specific identity in Star Luo Province, if Wu Muzhen were to get him a Prison Guard's corpse, he might be capable of doing so.

Thinking of this.

Xiao Shi contacted Wu Muzhen again.

As the number one subordinate of Tianji Hall, Wu Muzhen had always handled all of Xiao Shi's requests with dedication and responsibility.

However, when Xiao Shi asked him this time if he could get a Prison Guard's corpse.

Wu Muzhen was in a difficult situation.

He didn't dare to kill these Prison Guards!

Given the status and position of Prison Guards in Star Luo Province.

Even a Martial Demon Realm Expert like him wouldn't dare to touch them.

After all, these Prison Guards.

Could be said to be people highly valued by the Star Luo Lord.

Whoever dared to touch them would face the wrath of the Star Luo Lord!

Xiao Shi didn't expect that even Wu Muzhen had no solution.

He thought for a moment and asked.

"Then can you find out the whereabouts of the Prison Guards who are not in the city?"

Since Wu Muzhen didn't dare to kill.

Xiao Shi planned to hunt them himself.

Anyway, he was performing a soul replacement, not a conventional killing.

As long as the disguise was in place, the Star Luo Lord wouldn't notice anything unusual.

"This..."

Wu Muzhen was sweating profusely at this moment.

He had always been able to accomplish what Xiao Shi asked him to do before.

But this time, it was truly beyond his capabilities.

Because he had already exhausted his energy when he previously investigated the members of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect with the Eye of Heavenly Secrets.

Now, he couldn't use the Eye of Heavenly Secrets for investigation anymore.

This made him anxious.

He worried that if he couldn't accomplish this task, Xiao Shi wouldn't ask him to do things in the future.

After an internal struggle.

He gritted his teeth.

"If it's about the whereabouts of these Prison Guards, I can introduce the Hall Master to someone. He is a high-ranking member of the Star Luo Army and also a member of our Tianji Hall. He should be able to track the movements of these Prison Guards..."

Xiao Shi nodded.

He really should develop another subordinate in Tianji Hall.

Just Wu Muzhen alone was clearly starting to be insufficient.