31: Chapter 31 Torturing the Holy Son

Great Xia Imperial Palace, the deepest part of the dungeon.

Dark and damp.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and mold, making one want to retch upon inhaling it.

Moonlight stones embedded in the walls emitted a faint, cold light, casting ghostly shadows of figures.

The four Marquis Elders of the Ziyang Holy Land were hung on the wall like cured meat.

Specially crafted Black Iron chains pierced through their shoulder blades.

The power of the Nine Dragons Heaven-Locking Grand Array suppressed all their magical power; with their cultivation crippled, they couldn't even defeat a strong man now.

Any semblance of Marquis dignity was long gone, leaving only despair in their murky eyes.

In the center of the dungeon stood a solitary cell.

The former Ziyang Saint, Zi Wuji, received "better" treatment.

He wasn't chained through his shoulder blades, but his limbs were bound by thick chains and stretched wide, nailed to the stone wall.

His purple-gold battle armor was shattered, and he was covered in blood.

That face, once exceptionally handsome, was now ash-gray.

He stared blankly at the dungeon ceiling, muttering repeatedly.

"It's gone."

"It's all over."

"The Human Emperor's decree... was eaten..."

"That's not a human, that's a devil..."

He had been frightened out of his wits.

That arrogant Dao Heart had completely shattered after witnessing his own Old Ancestor's decree being swallowed like a snack.

It could never be pieced back together.

A light sound of footsteps echoed from afar, breaking the silence of the dungeon.

The four Elders lifted their heads with difficulty.

When they saw who it was, their eyes filled with terror, and their bodies shook violently, causing the chains to rattle.

It was Li Xuan.

He was still wearing the same simple white robes, with a gentle smile on his face; he didn't look like he was coming to interrogate prisoners, but rather like he was visiting a neighbor.

Yet, the Qi on him, though faint and almost imperceptible, was connected to the entire sky.

This terrifying aura left the four former Marquises without even the courage to look at him.

Li Xuan ignored the four wastes and walked straight to the door of Zi Wuji's cell.

The commander of the Imperial Guards guarding the door immediately knelt on one knee, his voice filled with reverence.

"Greetings, Retired Emperor!"

"Hmm."

Li Xuan waved his hand and stepped inside.

Hearing the movement, Zi Wuji's unfocused eyes finally regained some focus.

Upon seeing it was Li Xuan, the color drained from his face, and he began to struggle violently as if electrocuted.

"Ah! Don't come over! Devil! Don't come over!"

"Let me go! I am the Saint of Ziyang Holy Land! If you dare to touch me, Ziyang Holy Land will never let you go!"

He shrieked shrilly, his voice sharp and piercing; there was no trace of a Saint's demeanor left, and he looked like a madman.

"Noisy."

Li Xuan frowned slightly.

He spat out the two words calmly.

An invisible field of Mental Energy instantly filled the entire cell.

Zi Wuji's screaming stopped.

An invisible force gripped his throat, and he could only let out "he-he" sounds, his face flushed red.

"Wouldn't it have been better to be like this from the start?"

Li Xuan walked in front of him and extended a finger.

He ignored the other's terrified gaze and lightly tapped his forehead.

"I originally wanted to chat about life with you."

"Since you are unwilling, then forget it."

"I'll just see for myself."

"Soul Search!"

A vast, boundless power of the Divine Soul instantly crushed Zi Wuji's fragile Sea of Consciousness!

"No!"

Zi Wuji let out a final, tragic cry in his heart.

His eyes instantly became dull and vacant.

All memories—childhood fun, the hardships of growing up, the secrets of the Sect, the mysteries of Cultivation Techniques.

His love, his hate, his fear, his pride.

Everything was ruthlessly exposed before this overbearing power.

Li Xuan closed his eyes slightly and began to quickly flip through Zi Wuji's thirty years of life.

Time passed bit by bit.

Outside the dungeon, Emperor Li Zhan, who had already been alarmed, was waiting anxiously with Empress Su Yue Chan.

They didn't know what the Retired Emperor was doing, but the occasional wisps of aura drifting from the depths of the dungeon made their hearts palpitate.

It didn't know how much time had passed.

Li Xuan's figure reappeared at the dungeon entrance.

His expression was normal, but his eyes were much deeper than before.

"Retired Emperor."

Li Zhan hurriedly went up to greet him.

"Handle the people inside."

Li Xuan ordered indifferently.

"Keep it quiet, don't scare the children."

After speaking, without waiting for Li Zhan to reply, his figure flickered and vanished from the spot.

Li Zhan bowed respectfully, and when he turned to look into the depths of the dungeon, his eyes were cold.

He waved a hand at the Imperial Guard commander behind him, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Clean it up."

"Yes!"

Inside Zhaoyang Hall, it was quiet.

Li Xuan sat cross-legged in the main seat, not immediately cultivating, but digesting the vast memories in his mind.

His expression changed several times, from calm to surprise, to gravity, and finally into a hint of interest.

"Interesting... truly interesting."

He chuckled softly.

It turned out that the place he had always thought of as Great Xia had a resounding name in the true world of Cultivation.

Wilderness Desolation!

A cursed land of exile!

From Zi Wuji's memories, he learned that the world he was in was unimaginably large, collectively called "Eastern Wasteland."

The entire Eastern Wasteland was vast, spanning countless billions of miles.

And the territory that they, a group of natives, were so smug about, didn't even count as a corner on the map of the Eastern Wasteland.

It was an "exclave" separated by a vast "Sea of Returning Ruins" that even Saints feared.

Here, the Laws were incomplete, the Spiritual Qi was thin, and the Heavenly Dao was flawed.

To the true cultivators of the Eastern Wasteland, this was the trashiest novice village.

No, not even a novice village.

At most, it was a prison for holding exiles.

Only Sects that couldn't survive in the Eastern Wasteland, or Loose Cultivators who had committed crimes, would risk crossing the dangerous "Sea of Returning Ruins" to come to this barren land to become kings and hegemons.

For example, Ziyang Holy Land.

In Zi Wuji's memory, the majestic Ziyang Holy Land didn't even count as third-rate among the true powers of the Eastern Wasteland; at most, it was a small township School.

They ran to this wilderness because they offended an Immortal Divine Dynasty in the Southern Domain of the Eastern Wasteland and were beaten to the point of near-extinction before fleeing here in embarrassment.

Above the Ziyang Holy Land, there were "Ancient Families" with legacies spanning hundreds of thousands of years.

There were "Immortal Divine Dynasties" ruling over billions of territories.

And there were "Supreme Holy Lands" that were transcendent and lived as long as the heavens and earth!

In these powers, the Marquis Realm was seen everywhere, and Venerables couldn't be considered top experts.

Even, every family had a true Saint Old Ancestor sitting in charge; those were the existences capable of overturning heaven and earth.

"Good fellow."

Li Xuan rubbed his chin, his expression strange.

"After all that, I'm still a village bully in the novice village?"

However, he didn't feel disappointed; instead, Battle Intent burned in the depths of his eyes.

Only with challenges is it interesting.

Always bullying fish in the novice village would get boring sooner or later.

He also learned a more important piece of information from Zi Wuji's memories.

In twenty years, it would be the "Heavenly Mandate Hegemony War," which happened once every ten thousand years in the Eastern Wasteland.

By then, all Prodigies of the entire Eastern Wasteland would gather in the Divine Land of the Central Province to compete for the "Heavenly Mandate Luck," which was illusory yet real.

It is said that those who can stand out in the Hegemony War have a great possibility of proving the Dao and becoming an Emperor in the future, becoming the protagonist of an era.

Zi Wuji was established as a Saint because his talent had a tiny possibility of winning a sliver of Luck for the Ziyang Holy Land.

"Heavenly Mandate Hegemony War?"

"Is it the grand finals of a battle royale?"

Li Xuan's gaze looked toward the side hall.

Inside the hall, his one-year-old son, Li Changsheng, was sleeping soundly while hugging a wooden sword.

In another room, his newly born daughter, Li Qingyue, was lying quietly in her cradle.

"Prodigies of the Eastern Wasteland?"

Li Xuan smiled proudly.

Are your Prodigies very strong?

Can they be stronger than my son with the innate "Supreme Sword Body"?

Can they be stronger than my daughter with the innate "Lunar Holy Body"?

When the time comes, throwing these two kids of mine out will surely shock many people.

Thinking of that scene, Li Xuan's mood was excellent.

Just then, the long-lost System notification sound rang in his mind one after another.

[Ding! Detected that the Host has obtained a large amount of worldview information, starting data correction.]

[Ding! Correction complete! Main Quest module enabled!]

[Main Quest released: 'Step out of the Novice Village'!]

[Task description: A frog in a well, how can it know the vastness of the world? Please have the Host unify the Wilderness Desolation within ten years, conquer the surrounding hundred countries, and successfully upgrade the Great Xia Divine Dynasty to a 'King-level Divine Dynasty'!]

[Task reward: Obtain massive Divine Dynasty Luck! Unlock core function — 'hall of offspring'!]

"hall of offspring?"

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, becoming interested.

Before he could ask in detail, the System's next prompt invigorated him.

[Ding! Detected that Great Xia's national fortune is insufficient. To assist the Host, the 'Concubine Recruitment Guide' task is specially released!]

[Task description: Three thousand miles to the east of Great Xia, in the 'Heavenly Treasure Pavilion' branch within Skywind City, there is a Daughter of Destiny named 'Su Muxue', who possesses the world-rare 'Ten Thousand Treasures Glazed Body'.]

[Guide: If the Host successfully brings her into the harem, not only will you receive generous rewards, but the other party's special Physique can also provide huge assistance to your expansion cause!]

[Countdown: Thirty days.]

With a series of System prompts, the smile on Li Xuan's face grew broader.

Just as he was sleepy, someone brought him a pillow.

He was worrying about how to spread Great Xia's reputation to attract more Daughters of Destiny, and the System directly gave him a precise location.

"Heavenly Treasure Pavilion... Ten Thousand Treasures Glazed Body?"

Li Xuan quickly found the locations of "Skywind City" and "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion" on the vast memory map in his mind.

He opened his eyes, his gaze deep.

"Su Muxue, is it."

"I am coming."