Chapter 43: The Third Level of the Imperial Prison
"No wonder so many people are fighting for the treasures of heaven and earth. It feels really good to break through with a huge amount of true energy in one go."
What warriors pursue is strength, and inner strength is the foundation of strength.
When the internal strength is greatly improved, it is like a gourmet eating delicacies or a drunkard drinking fine wine. The feeling of comfort comes from inside out and the taste is extraordinary.
Cao Jinxing opened his eyes and saw frost all around. The entire cellar had turned into an ice cellar.
Xuanyuan Shisi squatted beside him, watching him nervously. When he saw him open his eyes again, he was happy, shrank his body, and jumped into his arms.
"A bit heavy."
Fourteen's ability to shrink is similar to shrinking bones. The shape changes but the mass remains unchanged, so ordinary people cannot hold him.
Cao Jinxing held Fourteen in his arms, opened the iron gate, returned to the room on the ground floor, had a big meal, and slept until dawn.
There is no need to be on time when going to the imperial prison. If there is really something unusual, they can send a signal and he can get there quickly with his lightness skills.
This opportunity is rare. If I don’t seize the time and slack off now, I will be sorry for his previous overtime work .
As usual, I bought some food on the way to work and ate it while walking. When I arrived, Su Yunsheng and Sun Lang were already practicing on the first floor.
"grown ups."
Su Yunsheng came over and saluted, saying, "Lord Shen told you to go to the third floor to find him when you arrive."
"Um."
Cao Jinxing ate his meat bun and nodded: "You two continue, I'll go down and take a look."
There are nine levels of imperial prison.
The first floor holds criminals who are not good at fighting and serious thieves below the innate level ; the second floor is for big thieves in the innate realm; the third floor and above are for big bandits and demonic tycoons.
At present, the most valuable person in the entire third level is Xiang Qianli, the left envoy of Mingzong Guangming, who is at the peak of Tongyou realm.
However, he was seriously injured, and the eunuch Meng Chong, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, used the "Great Soul-Searching Hand" to suck out the essence of his right arm. His entire right hand lost all its essence and became skin and bones. His realm plummeted, and he only had the strength of the fifth level of Tongyou, so he was imprisoned on the third level.
The further down you go, the darker it gets.
The humidity on the third floor was already very high, and the ground was icy cold. The chilly air seeped through the ground and the boots into the feet. Without a solid foundation of internal energy, one would be crippled in a few days.
"coming."
Just as I walked down the stairs, I saw two people standing at the entrance. In addition to Shen Xiang, there was also an old man in gray and white cloth, with a hunched body, but the sword energy around him was so strong that it soared straight into the sky!
Master!
Shen Xiang said, "Please be careful. I will introduce you. This is Senior Xu Quan, the third level prison. His ancestor is the great zither master Xu Yan. His family inherited the fifth-grade Mi Meng sword technique. His swordsmanship is superb and well-known in Jiangnan."
The so-called Jiqin is the erhu.
Xu Yan was a zither player in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was a great musician who could play the instrument with just a single string. What was even more memorable was his unique skill, the fifth-grade lower-level "Dream Sword Technique".
When Cao Jinxing was choosing the fifth-grade martial arts, he had read a lot of martial arts and knew the general idea (introduction) of many martial arts. The Dream Sword happened to be one of them.
The reviewers were full of praise for this sword technique.
——"Ever-changing, like a dream!"
This is a rare soft sword technique. The sword is hidden in the body. The sword moves are so fast and secret that it makes people dizzy.
"sorry."
Cao Jinxing bowed.
Xu Quan smiled and said, "Master Cao is so young, yet he has such accomplishments. It is the old man who is disrespectful."
"yes."
Shen Xiang looked Cao Jinxing up and down, and said in surprise: "After not seeing you for one night, your realm has improved by leaps and bounds. Maybe you stole something good."
"By chance, I got a jade peach."
There was no point in hiding it from them—they had already eaten it anyway.
Furthermore, a direct descendant of a great clan like Shen Xiang has no shortage of rare talents and treasures.
"You're lucky."
Shen Xiang said this casually and skipped over it, going straight to the point: "Yesterday I took you to see the second floor, today I took you to see the third floor, and by the way, we went to the central secret room to take a look at the central defense mechanism to broaden our horizons. It was not a wasted trip."
The entire imperial prison is a large array of mechanisms.
Each floor has its own control room to operate the mechanisms on that floor and deal with prisoners escaping.
Currently, the central hub of the first three floors is in the hands of Shen Xiang. Yesterday, he intended to hand over the first and second floors to Cao Jinxing, but was rejected.
——I'm here for vacation, and you're still looking for work for me?
Cao Jinxing had no interest in this kind of power of life and death, which others saw as his own.
Xu Quan said: "Then I will go back to the secret room and wait for the two adults."
"Please, senior."
After he left, Shen Xiang sent a message to Cao Jinxing, "There are many other prison guards like him in the entire prison. Most of them came here to seek help from the Pacification Office for their martial arts or magical weapons. Xu Quan took the initiative to come to the prison for five years just for his ancestor's fifth-grade magical weapon, the [Purple Myrtle Soft Sword]."
Ziwei soft sword...
The corner of Cao Jinxing's mouth twitched. Here he comes again, that lazy planner is here again!
“That’s not right.”
After thinking for a while, Cao Jinxing said, "Aren't you afraid that someone with bad intentions might sneak in?"
“It’s not that simple.”
Shen Xiang led the way and said with a smile: "Do you think anyone can enter? Not to mention the prison guards, even the jailers who deliver meals have to guarantee the innocence of three generations, let alone them? One of the many conditions for entering the imperial prison is to bring your family to the capital, and put them under the eyes of the Jinyiwei. If you have the slightest intention of doing something wrong, your family will be destroyed in an instant!"
"Um……"
Cao Jinxing nodded, this was the style of the Jinyiwei.
He looked around and found that the defenses on the third floor had been significantly strengthened, and the iron door of the cell was large and thick.
Each door has only a small door less than 15 centimeters long and wide near the ground.
At this time, the jailers were pushing carts and putting bowls of rice into the small door one by one.
"The iron gate is made of cold iron. If you want to break it, you must have the means to boil iron and melt gold. Not to mention that this means is extremely rare. Even if they have it, they can't use it."
Shen Xiang stretched out his hand and pointed at the various cells one by one: "Wanli Changhong Yun Poxiao, Iron-armed Dragon King Xue Cheng, Thousand-handed Human Slaughter Murong Jun, Wheel King Shao Changgeng... Which of these people is not a famous thief and devil, and which one does not have amazing skills? What is the result? Their collarbones were pierced, and they have no place to display their skills. Now the only thing they can do is to wait until the time of death... The emperor is refining the elixir and is in need of death row prisoners to test the medicine. With martial arts masters like these, he can try a few more times."
“…”
Too cruel!
Cao Jinxing was secretly shocked. It was almost impossible to break through with such tight defense. The only thing he could do was to wait for rescue.
But the imperial prison is heavily guarded and has many traps. Attacking by force would be suicidal, and going in alone would be equally fatal!
No wonder people say that entering the Imperial Prison is like having one foot halfway into the gates of hell.
Cao Jinxing asked curiously, "Is there any record of successful escape?"
“…Only one case.”
Shen Xiang's expression became more serious than ever before: "He escaped from the ninth floor of the Imperial Prison... He is the leader of the Demon Sect, Li Shengtian, who has unified the three sects of the Demon Sect and commands all the demons in the world!"
