Chapter 1 The Destination

The convoy drove into the Iron Walls.

“The destination is ahead, Sector B14.”

The notification sound echoed from the old car's broken car stereo.

The entire Snow Cage had been divided into dozens of different large areas.

These areas were divided according to the danger level of the "criminals"... After the full implementation of the Deepwater Zone, as long as a transcendent used the mental network, they would leave certain traces, and the mental strength of the criminals imprisoned in the Snow Cage could also be seen at a glance in the database.

Of course, there were also ruthless people who didn't make any mental connections at all.

However, the three major institutions of East洲 were not to be trifled with. Every prisoner sent in would be personally inspected by the adjudicators of Chang野 before being sent in, to avoid any mistakes.

Over the years, there had never been a breach, and all those sent in had been successfully subdued and imprisoned.

This time, the prisoner escorted by the Gu family was the "traitor" who had followed Gu Lushi in the previous cemetery turmoil. Gu Lushi was dead, and this case involved complex forces. After all, under the command of the Gu family in Chang野, there were other small families who attached themselves... The old master Gu's old faction regained power, ending the protracted war between the new and old factions. The first thing he did was naturally to eliminate future troubles!

Luo Yu piloted a heavy helicopter, maneuvering in the air.

The defense rights of the Iron Walls were jointly responsible by the Five Great Families and the Three Great Institutions. The Gu family's escort this time had already gone through layers of approval. He had obtained a large number of special privileges and could supervise the escort mission from the air.

"Young Master, the prisoner has been successfully escorted, everything is as usual."

In fact, with Gu Nanfeng sitting in charge, there would be no surprises in this imprisonment mission.

In most cases, dispatching two Fourth Order members was enough to ensure stability for this kind of escort mission.

In the face of a Feng Hao (Bestowed Title), all conspiracies and tricks are meaningless.

Gu Nanfeng and Zhong Gui finally drove into the Iron Walls. This broken car stalled as expected on the last section of the road, and even failed to start again. The two had no choice but to get out of the car and walk.

The escort mission proceeded smoothly, with Gu family transcendents and Luo Yu supervising.

Gu Nanfeng then took Zhong Gui straight to the location of Tianshao (Heavenly Sheath).

Along the way, they passed many Iron Wall prisons. In those dark rooms, one after another gloomy transcendent aura emanated...

Zhong Gui's expression was a little strange.

He subconsciously moved closer to Gu Nanfeng... The closer the prisoners in the Snow Cage lived to Tianshao, the higher their danger level.

"Didn't you say that this stone can weaken a transcendent's 'Source Quality'?"

Zhong Gui whispered, "These guys' auras are still so powerful..."

"Actually, these auras are already very weak."

Gu Nanfeng said lightly, "If you stay here for a month, even the Eleventh Layer of the Deep Sea will only have the strength of a Third Order or so at most."

"As for the auras you just sensed..."

He paused slightly, looked at a certain prison, and said calmly, "One of them is indeed powerful. It's just a newly imprisoned 'Feng Hao', who hasn't really come into contact with 'Tianshao' yet."

"Zhu Wang?"

Zhong Gui said in surprise. His reaction speed was extremely fast, and he immediately guessed who the owner of that powerful aura was.

How many Feng Hao are there in the entire Five Continents?

Who else could it be other than the temporary Grand Adjudicator who was recently imprisoned in the "Snow Cage"?

As soon as he said this... the mental aura in a certain prison trembled slightly.

His mental power could spread through the prison.

Transcendent of Feng Hao level were too powerful. The Three Great Institutions gave up on specially customizing special materials to limit the display of their abilities... As long as the imprisoned person could not break through the cage.

A little leakage of mental power could not change anything.

Zhu Wang was imprisoned here, indicating that this was already the core area of the entire Tundra Prison... Zhong Gui could already see that not far ahead was the location of Tianshao!

At this moment, thousands of strands of mist danced in the wind, condensing into a burly and majestic human figure in front of the two.

"Nanfeng, you're here."

A low and hoarse voice vibrated in the throat of the human-shaped mist.

This figure floated in the air.

Zhong Gui felt a palpitation. He looked down, and under the dim light, the figure floated off the ground, and there was not even a shadow under him...

It was the most important large prison in the entire East洲!

In this place, even Feng Hao level transcendents could be imprisoned!

Then... the Five Great Families and the Three Great Institutions must send out sufficiently powerful transcendents to suppress it. In order to deal with possible crises, the strength of the garrison must be at least Feng Hao.

"Mr. Gui."

Gu Nanfeng bowed slightly and said softly, "This is my friend. I brought him here to try to decipher 'Tianshao'."

There were two wardens in this Snow Cage, both of whom were Feng Hao.

One was once the Gu family's "Life Giver", and the other was successfully promoted to become the "Grand Warden" of East洲's largest prison through the selection system of the Three Great Institutions.

The Mr. Gui in front of him was the "Grand Warden"!

He was the younger brother of "Mr. Shan".

These two were both pride of Chang野 in their youth, but later... Mr. Gui came to 铁壁 (Iron Walls). From that day on, he hid his reputation and completely disappeared from the world's sight.

This Grand Warden usually acted extremely low-key. He adhered to the precepts and did not leave the Iron Walls.

Over the years, 铁壁 was not peaceful. These cunning villains had also organized several riots... However, with Mr. Gui's existence, these riots were nipped in the bud.

His ability was called 鬼蜮 (Ghost Domain).

Due to the adverse effects of "Tianshao", Mr. Gui's main body was on the outer edge of the Iron Walls. Under normal circumstances, he would not approach the core area... Therefore, he retained the greatest strength. Those Feng Hao who were imprisoned in the Snow Cage had their strength severely weakened due to prolonged contact with the Iron Walls. Even if they found an opportunity to escape, they could not compete with Mr. Gui at all.

"This matter... is originally against the rules."

The figure in the gray mist slowly spoke, then suddenly changed the subject and said, "But Mr. Xue told me that the deciphering of the ancient text of 'Tianshao' is very important. If he can really understand something, it is not impossible to make an exception."

The "Mr. Xue" he mentioned was another Feng Hao stationed at the Iron Walls.

The Gu family's Life Giver.

"Thank you, Grand Warden."

Gu Nanfeng sincerely saluted. The figure in the gray mist nodded and then dissipated. His voice lingered in Zhong Gui's ears, "When studying the ancient text, it's best to just look at it from a distance. Never touch 'Tianshao', it may cause permanent damage to your ability..."

There was another reason why this prison could be built.

That was... after leaving "Tianshao", the weakened power would be restored.

Therefore, the "wardens" who came to the Iron Walls would rotate regularly.

The Five Great Families and the Three Great Institutions offered generous rewards, and many transcendents were willing to come to the 铁壁 (Iron Walls). Although their abilities would be suppressed... they would gradually recover after the mission ended, but it would take some time.

But touching "Tianshao" was not necessarily the case.

There were transcendents who permanently lost their abilities because they directly touched Tianshao...

Therefore, every warden who came to the 铁壁 (Iron Walls) kept this in mind, staying far away from Tianshao on weekdays. After all, the big figures in Chang野 had been trying to figure out what that giant stone was for hundreds of years, but they still didn't understand.

...

...

Zhong Gui stood before Tianshao.

He looked at the giant stone in front of him that pierced through the frozen snow and the cold sky.

The giant stone was like a sharp sword, inserted straight into the top of the sky. At this moment, he was as small as an ant, standing on the ground, looking from a distance, he could only see the clouds that Tianshao pierced through the dome... He could not see its true end.

He was a little dazed.

"Ha..."

Silently exhaling a breath, Zhong Gui looked back and saw Gu Nanfeng holding a wooden sword, standing not far away, maintaining a certain safe distance, neither disturbing him nor being affected by Tianshao.

The two looked at each other, and Gu Nanfeng nodded, indicating that Zhong Gui could study with peace of mind.

Around Tianshao, there was unprecedented silence.

No wind lingered.

Zhong Gui turned his head back. In Gu Nanfeng's vision, the ancient text study officially began.

But in reality, Zhong Gui was just staring blankly at the ancient text on Tianshao.

His expression was quite complicated...

He had told half a lie in the conversation with Gu Nanfeng in the car.

This year, Gu Nanfeng had indeed been very good to him. He had not lied about this.

But... why come to Tianshao?

He didn't know either.

Was it because the young master Gu was kind and righteous to him?

Perhaps it was... but Zhong Gui knew in his heart that the real reason that attracted him to Tianshao, the reason why he was willing to endure the cold on the road, was a vague guidance.

Yes, this was something that could not be said at all.

It was as if...

An autumn cicada wanting to chase the spring breeze, a moth wanting to witness the sunrise.

Standing before "Tianshao", countless trivial thoughts echoed in his mind. For a time, Zhong Gui fell into a long memory. Those ancient texts that he had never seen before... for some reason became extremely familiar.

He seemed to have fallen into a dream again.

Why did he come to Tianshao?

The real reason was actually very absurd. The blood in Zhong Gui's body, which had been cold for who knows how many years, suddenly burned overnight.

He felt that he had to come to a place.

That place had a towering stone sword.

And iron walls as fragile as paper.

That place was called Snow Cage.

But... Zhong Gui always felt that something was missing from this muddled dream?

His blood was still cold.

Perhaps it was missing a little... temperature?

In a trance, he seemed to hear a piercing alarm sound. The roar of the aerial propellers was getting louder and louder, as well as Gu Nanfeng's roar from behind. Perhaps it was because he had unconsciously immersed himself in the "Ancient Text Dream", everything became very slow.

But in fact, it was only in an instant.

Countless sounds erupted at the same time!

"Boom--"

A roar enough to shatter a mountain thousands of feet high exploded at a very close distance.

A giant with hot steam emitting from his body directly smashed the iron wall in front of Zhong Gui with a shoulder charge. Zhong Gui stared blankly at the scene where the real world and the illusory dream overlapped—

"Roar!"

The giant roared loudly. After smashing through layers of iron walls, he crashed into Tianshao without hesitation. Under the scorching mist, he did not show any painful expression, but stretched out two huge palms, forcefully clenched the stone sword, wanting to pull it out.

A sorrowful roar resounded through the sky.

In countless hot mists, Zhong Gui stared blankly at the big guy covered in billions of degrees of heat...

He could no longer tell whether he was in a dream or in reality.

Why... were two lines of hot tears flowing from the face of that big guy wrapped in steam.

Was it...

Crying?