"Li Zhiming, you colluded with demonic evil-doers and murdered disciples of our sect! Your cultivation shall be stripped away, and you shall be expelled from the sect!"
"Utter nonsense!"
"Based solely on the biased words of this despicable pair, you pass arbitrary judgment on me. I refuse to accept this!"
"Li Zhiming, we found documents detailing collusion with the demonic path and a demonic cultivation manual in your bedchamber. How do you explain this?"
"A demonic manual? Documents? Impossible, absolutely impossible! This is a setup!"
"Li Zhiming, confessions will be met with leniency, resistance with severity!"
"When one wants to condemn someone, charges can always be found!"
"Hmph, still defiant? Effective immediately, Li Zhiming's cultivation is stripped away, and he is demoted to a menial laborer in Xuyuan Prison. None shall release him, and he shall not leave!"
...
"You wretched scum, you will come to a horrible end!"
The young man rubbed his throbbing head and snapped awake.
A dim room, mottled walls, and an oil lamp burning quietly.
His expression was sluggish; he still could not accept the reality that he had been demoted to a jailer in Xuyuan Prison.
His name was Li Zhiming. In his previous life, he was a person from Earth who died of illness and transmigrated into this world where martial arts flourished.
Though an orphan, he possessed decent martial arts talent and entered the Zhenyuan Sect at the age of eleven, becoming a disciple of Qingluan Peak in the Inner Sect.
Through years of diligent cultivation, his cultivation advanced steadily, and his realm improved rapidly. Not long ago, he earned a spot to participate in the trials for personal disciples.
However, just seven days ago, while he was out on a mission with a fellow disciple and his beloved junior sister, the two of them ambushed him.
Upon returning to the sect, this wretched pair actually twisted the truth and accused him of colluding with the demonic path.
Before he even left the sect, his junior sister had secretly forged evidence of his collusion with demonic cultivators and hid a demonic manual in his room.
With conclusive evidence, Li Zhiming could not escape his doom. His cultivation was abolished, and he was demoted to a menial laborer in Xuyuan Prison.
"Oh no!"
Li Zhiming suddenly sensed his vital energy reversing, and he spat out a mouthful of thick, dark blood.
Having had his cultivation abolished, he was no different from an ordinary person and simply could not withstand the Yin Demonic Dead Qi of Xuyuan Prison.
Xuyuan Prison was located in the deep mountains to the west of the sect, originally a massive natural crater.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the founder of the Zhenyuan Sect joined forces with the lords of the five supreme powers of the Dongxuan Domain in Yingzhou.
They turned this giant natural crater into a massive prison designed to suppress demonic evil-doers and mighty beings of the demon race.
Later, to maintain the operation of Xuyuan Prison, the Zhenyuan Sect came into being, and under the leadership of the founder, gradually grew into the sixth superpower of Yingzhou.
In time, Xuyuan Prison imprisoned more than just demon race members and demonic evil-doers.
Traitors of the sect, disciples who committed grave mistakes, and captives from hostile sects were also suppressed here.
A strong, dense chill lingered at the bottom of the abyss, combining with the demonic and evil qi accumulated over tens of thousands of years to form an energy known as Yin Demonic Dead Qi.
This energy would invade a person's flesh, blood, and bone marrow, causing excruciating pain. Ordinary people simply could not survive in Xuyuan Prison, lasting at most ten days.
After his cultivation was abolished, Li Zhiming was no different from an ordinary person.
Fortunately, having cultivated for many years, his physical foundation was solid, which allowed him to endure for three days on a grievously wounded body.
At this rate, he could last at most five more days before dying here!
"Five days, I only have about five days left!"
Li Zhiming wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and began to ponder a countermeasure.
Because he had been a rather outstanding Inner Sect disciple who made significant contributions to the sect,
the sect showed some leniency: after abolishing his cultivation, they merely demoted him to a menial laborer in Xuyuan Prison without locking him in a cell or expelling him from the sect.
The quarters he now lived in were specially designated for prison laborers, located at the very top level of the Zhenyuan Sect where the Yin Demonic Dead Qi was weakest.
Even so, it was not something his crumbling body could endure.
Normally, even laborers received a stipend.
Although it was only twenty gold coins and a Vitality Pill, it was better than nothing.
The Vitality Pill, in particular, was a medicinal pill capable of resisting Yin Demonic Dead Qi.
Laborer disciples received one pill each month, which they could take when their bodies could no longer hold out, in order to purge the Yin Demonic Dead Qi from within and delay the time of its complete eruption.
However, he had been here for three days, and his stipend had yet to be issued.
"I cannot just sit here and wait for death. I must find a way out of this predicament."
Li Zhiming paced back and forth in the room, searching for any possible solutions.
Soon, the sound of footsteps came from outside.
"Li Zhiming, someone is here to see you."
A disciple wearing coarse cloth, also a prison laborer, called out from outside the door.
Li Zhiming looked through the bars to the outside, where a young woman with hair falling over her shoulders, an outstanding figure, and a bright, radiant face was walking over slowly.
"Tian Yaoyao!"
The moment Li Zhiming saw this person, his gaze turned abruptly cold, and his hands clenched involuntarily.
This was his junior sister, the woman he once loved.
He entered the sect at age eleven, and five years had passed since then.
The two of them had cultivated together and lived together, but five years of affection had brought only a cruel betrayal!
All those sworn oaths of eternal love were nothing more than bullshit!
"Stand outside and keep watch. Without my orders, no one is allowed near this cell," Tian Yaoyao commanded.
Naturally, the jailer dared not talk back to Tian Yaoyao; she was an elite disciple of the Inner Sect, and a single word from her could cost him his life.
He bowed respectfully and went to guard the door as ordered.
"Wretch, what are you here for?!" Li Zhiming demanded.
"Hehe, Senior Brother Li, I simply don't love you anymore. Can't I go look for a better man?"
Tian Yaoyao laughed softly, the smile lifting the corners of her red lips carrying a peculiar charm.
"So you teamed up with Qi Yang to scheme against me and frame me with slander. I never expected you to be so venomous and cold-hearted!"
"Senior Brother Li, I didn't come here to listen to you vent. No matter what you say, it won't change the current reality. Right now, you are just a traitor who colluded with demonic evildoers, and you can only stay in Xuyuan Prison and wait for death!"
Tian Yaoyao crossed her arms, pushing her ample breasts into rounded globes. Such a marvelous curve caused the jailer keeping watch outside to steal a couple of glances.
"Now, I'll give you a chance to survive. Hand over the legacy you obtained earlier in the ruins, and I can let you live securely."
"If you behave well, I even have a way to fish you out of here." Tian Yaoyao walked closer to Senior Brother Li and whispered, dropping all pretense.
"So that's how it is. You and that scumbag Qi Yang did all this just to scheme for the legacy I acquired in those ruins."
"Hehe, even if I die, I will never hand the legacy over to you. You two can give up on that pipe dream." Li Zhiming sneered.
Bang!
With a muffled sound, Tian Yaoyao directly seized Li Zhiming by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Li Zhiming, don't court death! For the sake of all these years between us, I've spared your worthless life, so don't test my bottom line!" Tian Yaoyao's face was twisted with ferocity.
"If you have the ability, kill me right now." Not only did Li Zhiming feel no fear, but a smile even appeared on his face, though it looked somewhat haggard.
"Don't think I wouldn't dare kill you!"
As Tian Yaoyao exerted force with her hand, Li Zhiming's face turned purplish-red, veins bulged on his forehead and neck, and his breathing began to grow difficult.
Only when Li Zhiming saw stars in his vision and began to lose consciousness did Tian Yaoyao loosen her grip.
"Li Zhiming, you've got backbone. Since you won't hand over the legacy, I'll make your life a living hell!"
"Heart-Devouring Gu!"
A gu insect appeared in Tian Yaoyao's hand. She pinched Li Zhiming's mouth open and forced him to swallow it.
"Heart-Devouring Gu! You actually know this kind of demonic cultivation method?!"
"What Heart-Devouring Gu? Senior Brother Li, are your eyes playing tricks on you? Your junior sister didn't do anything just now, you know."
Tian Yaoyao spoke in a soft whisper by Li Zhiming's ear, a morbid smile on her face.
"You..."
Li Zhiming clenched his fists and coughed twice. Tian Yaoyao was clearly playing the fool and pretending to be innocent.
"I'll give you two days to think about it."
Tian Yaoyao snapped her fingers.
Instantly, Li Zhiming felt a wrenching pain in his abdomen.
This heart-piercing agony caused him to collapse directly onto the ground, curling up like a lobster.
"It will hurt for an hour every single hour. After twenty hours, the Heart-Devouring Gu will start devouring your organs, and by then you'll experience the ultimate agony!"
Tian Yaoyao crouched down and whispered into Li Zhiming's ear.
"I'll come check on you in three days. I hope your mouth is still as tough then as it is today."
With that, she turned and left the room.
"Take care, Senior Sister," the guard outside saluted.
Tian Yaoyao glanced at him, her hand flicking lightly as a cold flash swept past.
The jailer let out a miserable scream, falling to the ground while clutching his eyes and wailing.
Two bloody eyeballs rolled onto the ground and were crushed under Tian Yaoyao's foot.
"Do I look good?"
Tian Yaoyao bent over, deliberately showing off the assets on her chest.
"What a pity, you'll never get to see it again."
Tian Yaoyao let out a long sigh, shook her head, and departed.
Inside the room, Li Zhiming gritted his teeth, his face pale, the pain causing dense beads of sweat to break out on his forehead.
He had witnessed everything happening outside.
Tian Yaoyao was truly so ruthless and venomous, disguising herself as a sweet junior sister by his side for all these years—she must have suffered terribly to keep up such an act!
Just as Li Zhiming was suffering excruciating agony, a string of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Suitable host found. Binding God-Level Corpse-Collecting System. Help the deceased collect corpses to receive bountiful rewards.]
[Host detected in a near-death state. Triggering unique reward: Status Reset!]
[Status Reset: Physical status can be reset, but a large amount of data will be lost.]
"What the hell?"
Seeing the text continuously appearing, Li Zhiming rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.