"If you want to speak, you must endure the Ghost Thorn Whip!" The grey-robed man sneered, and his arm suddenly jerked.

The black whip transformed into a thick black shadow, shooting out like a poisonous dragon towards Han Li's face.

Before the whip shadow arrived, a bone-chilling sharpness swept over, almost piercing Han Li's skin.

Han Li stood there quietly, showing no intention of dodging.

The black whip shadow stopped an inch away from his face, the sharp tip only inches from his eyes.

Han Li looked calmly at the black whip in front of him, not even blinking.

"You have some courage. No wonder Lord Yin Gua personally took action to capture you. Considering this is your first offense, I'll spare you this whip. If you dare to talk back, it won't be so cheap." The grey-robed man took a deep look at Han Li, flicked his wrist, retracted the black whip, and continued walking forward.

Han Li's eyes flickered slightly. He stepped forward to follow, saying nothing more.

"Li Fellow Daoist, a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him. It's best not to clash with them," Shi Chuan Kong said to Han Li in a barely audible voice.

Han Li nodded.

His sudden outburst was not out of impulse or recklessness, but to test the grey-robed man's attitude towards him.

The attitudes of Yin Gua and You Luo filled him with a sense of unease.

After what just happened, Han Li had a better understanding.

The group walked for a while, and a huge space appeared ahead, where the air temperature suddenly became scorching hot.

This was a underground plaza similar to the one in the previous circular building, with burning furnaces emitting rolling heat.

The air here seemed to be on fire. Every breath felt like one’s lungs were being licked by flames.

The plaza was filled with stone pillars, each with a prisoner bound to it.

The prisoners' bodies were roasted red by the flames, and they were letting out miserable screams.

Nearby stood some grey-robed guards, holding something similar to a kettle, occasionally pouring a milky white liquid into the mouths of some dying prisoners.

After the dying prisoners were given the white liquid, their breath would recover somewhat, allowing them to continue enduring the scorching heat.

Han Li and the others' expressions changed slightly upon seeing this scene.

"Hehe, kid, since you had the guts to take my whip, I'll give you an explanation. This is the first level of the Ninefold Nether Prison, the Purgatory. Enjoy the sights." The grey-robed man glanced at Han Li and the others, sneering as he spoke.

"Chief Warden!" Some of the guards nearby saw the grey-robed man and hurriedly bowed in greeting.

The grey-robed man waved his hand to them and led Han Li forward, soon arriving at a staircase leading down to the next level.

This level also had a huge plaza, but the plaza was filled with black pools, emitting a bone-chilling cold.

The black pools were filled with prisoners, their faces pale and trembling, emitting miserable screams.

"This level is the Frost Hell," the grey-robed man said casually, then led the group past the plaza, arriving at another staircase leading down to the third level.

The third level's plaza also had some pools, but they were filled with poisonous snakes, scorpions, and other creatures.

Prisoners were driven into these pools, enduring the pain of being bitten and torn by the snakes and scorpions.

Then came the fourth level, the fifth level, the sixth level...

The grey-robed man seemed to want Han Li and the others to see everything clearly, taking them through each level.

The prisoners in each level were enduring extreme pain, some of which even Han Li had never heard of or seen.

Hu San, Shi Chuan Kong, and the others looked pale as they went along.

The group spent a full half hour finally arriving at the ninth level of the Nether Prison.

To Han Li and the others' surprise, the ninth level did not have furnaces or cold pools for tormenting prisoners. Instead, there were only prison cells, which looked quite clean.

However, the baleful aura here was extremely dense, several times more than the upper levels. It was almost visible to the naked eye, with waves of grey mist drifting everywhere.

Moreover, the baleful aura here was different from ordinary baleful aura, possessing a sense of ferocity. In the rolling baleful aura, one could vaguely hear some muffled sounds, like the wails of a hundred ghosts.

As soon as Han Li and the five others stepped into this level, they felt as if they were being pierced by millions of steel needles, and their expressions changed drastically.

The grey-robed man saw Han Li and the others' expressions and chuckled coldly. Without stopping, he continued walking deeper into the prison.

The number of prison cells here was not large, only twenty or thirty, and most of them were empty. Only a few cells contained prisoners.

Moreover, there was not a single guard to be seen on the entire ninth level, and the imprisoned prisoners were also silent, creating an atmosphere of deathly silence.

"Get in!" The grey-robed man opened five prison cells and locked Han Li and the five others inside.

"This is the ninth level, the Avici Hell. Spend your time here and enjoy it," the grey-robed man sneered a few times, seemingly unwilling to stay here any longer. He immediately turned and left.

Han Li watched the man leave, frowned slightly, and carefully surveyed his surroundings.

He could endure the pain of the baleful aura invading his body.

After taking a few glances, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he made a soft sound of surprise.

The prison cells themselves were nothing special, just ordinary prison cells with some simple restrictions placed on them.

Han Li and the others could barely walk. They could not exert much strength, making these prisons sufficient to confine them.

These prison cells were of the barred cage type, making it easy to see the prisoners in the other cells.

The prisoners confined here were all extraordinary.

Although Han Li's immortal spiritual power was sealed, his spiritual eye foundation was still there, making his eyesight extremely sharp.

These people all had extremely high cultivation levels. The weakest of them was at the Golden Immortal level, and nearly half of them were Grand Unity Realm existences.

Moreover, these prisoners were not only from various Grey World races, but there were also two like them, from the True Immortal World.

"Li Fellow Daoist, did you discover something?" Shi Chuan Kong, who was imprisoned next to Han Li, heard Han Li's soft exclamation and quietly moved closer, asking in a low voice.

Han Li did not hide anything and told Shi Chuan Kong what he had seen.

"Li Fellow Daoist, are we really going to wait here to die? You have so many tricks up your sleeve. Do you have any way to escape?" Shi Chuan Kong glanced at the two True Immortal World individuals and then withdrew his gaze, clearly not caring about them. He quietly discussed escape plans.

"Our immortal spiritual power has been imprisoned. We are not much different from ordinary mortals. This is the bottom level of the Nether Prison. How could I have any means to escape?" Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, coming to the Nether Prison and still wanting to escape. How naive." Just then, a cold voice came from the side.

Han Li and Shi Chuan Kong's expressions changed slightly. They turned their heads to look, and the voice came from a prison cell not far away.

The prison cell contained a gaunt man with disheveled hair. On his arms, ankles, and other exposed areas, one could see extinguished black scales. He appeared to be some kind of Grey World alien race.

One could not see his face, but his ears were extremely long, almost reaching his shoulders, suggesting that he had extraordinary hearing.

Han Li looked towards the man, his gaze falling on the man's large ears.

Their divine sense was sealed, making it impossible to use sound transmission techniques. He and Shi Chuan Kong had kept their voices to a minimum, but it was still heard by this person.

"Who are you? Why do you say that?" Han Li asked, frowning slightly.

"What do you think this Nether Prison is?" The long-eared man did not answer Han Li's question, but instead cackled coldly and asked.

Hu San, Mo Guang, and Baili Yan heard the voice and also looked over.

"Isn't this a prison of the Nine Nether Race?" Shi Chuan Kong said strangely.

"A prison? Haha! Where did you people come from? Don't you even know that..." The long-eared man laughed loudly.

"What do you mean by that?" Shi Chuan Kong's expression turned ugly, and he said in a deep voice.

"A bunch of newbies. Let me tell you, this Nether Prison is where the Nine Nether Race refines high-level puppets. All the prisoners imprisoned here are raw materials to be used for refining puppets," the long-eared man sneered at Shi Chuan Kong and said with a cold laugh.

Upon hearing this, Shi Chuan Kong's expression changed.

Han Li frowned slightly, not showing too much surprise.

He had seen the situation inside the puppet refining fortress before. After coming down here, he had some premonition.

"You came down from the upper levels, you should have seen the situations of each level, right? That is the initial body tempering of the prisoners, to facilitate subsequent refinement. From the moment you were captured and brought into the Nether Prison, you were destined to become slaves of the Nine Nether Race, don't even think about escaping!" As he spoke, the long-eared man's expression suddenly became agitated, and he roared hoarsely.

"Slaves..." Shi Chuan Kong and the others' faces turned extremely ugly upon hearing the long-eared man's words.

"Yes, slaves. You will soon become puppets of the Nine Nether Race, controlled by them for life, played with in the palms of their hands," after roaring, the long-eared man's entire body seemed to have been drained of strength. He leaned against the prison cell, saying woodenly.

"Explain clearly, what's going on?" Shi Chuan Kong's face was ashen, and he said in a cold voice.

He was the young master of Guangyuanzhai, with a noble status and a sense of pride. If he was going to become a slave to be slaughtered, he would rather choose death.

The long-eared man seemed to have lost interest. No matter how Shi Chuan Kong asked, he no longer responded.

"This fellow Daoist seems to know quite a bit about the Nine Nether Race's puppetry. I once explored a puppet refining fortress in the Baizang District. The situation inside was indeed somewhat similar to the upper levels," Han Li said slowly, looking at the long-eared man.

The long-eared man's eyes twitched, and he glanced at Han Li, but still did not open his mouth.

"The Nine Nether Race's puppetry is unrivaled in the Grey World. The puppets refined in the Baizang District are just crude puppets with great strength and agility. They are not implanted with Nether Soul Worms. After being refined into puppets, their own consciousness basically disappears. That could be considered a quick release. You, who were brought here, are different. Your bodies will soon be implanted with Nether Soul Worms, making it impossible to control your life and death. You can only be enslaved by the Nine Nether Race forever." A hoarse voice came from another prison cell. It was an old man with white hair.

He was also a Grey World alien race, with facial features similar to Han Li and the others, his face was full of sinister aura and fierceness.

However, the old man had a long black snake tail dragging behind him, it was unknown what race he belonged to.

"Nether Soul Worm? What is that?" Han Li looked at the white-haired old man and asked.

Shi Chuan Kong and the others also looked towards the old man's direction.