"Li Zhiming, right? I'm Zhang Qiong, Second Level Patrol Guard Captain and a disciple of Tianyang Peak."
"I've heard of you. You're the direct disciple of Qingluan Peak. Your crime was colluding with the demon race, but the sect remembered your past merits and merely crippled your cultivation, demoting you to a jailer."
"Under normal circumstances, you'd have been expelled from the sect, or locked away in the depths of Xuyuan to rot until death," Zhang Qiong said, casting a sideways glance at Li Zhiming.
"Is there any difference between my current situation and being locked in a cell? I'm just allowed to walk around a bit more."
Li Zhiming replied offhandedly.
"Hmph, and you're still not satisfied?"
"If it were up to me and the Disciplinary Hall, I would have thrown you down to the Third Level of Xuyuan Prison to rot, or stripped away your cultivation entirely and expelled you from the sect—or executed you on the spot!"
Zhang Qiong let out a cold snort, his eyes filled with intense disgust.
He once had a junior brother whom he held very dear, but that brother had died unjustly because of a traitor. Because of this, he utterly detested people like Li Zhiming.
"Traitors deserve to die for their crimes!"
"Still, you don't need to worry. While I despise sect traitors like you more than anything, I won't abuse my authority for personal grudges. Since the sect assigned you here as a jailer, I'll treat you like any other ordinary jailer," Zhang Qiong added.
"Well, then I really should thank you."
Li Zhiming replied with a blank expression.
"Hmph, I'm simply carrying out my duty. You don't rank high enough to thank me!"
"Ahead is the East District. There are quite a few vacant cells, and they're all your responsibility to manage. There are also a few unhandled corpses lying around—just toss them straight into Xuyuan."
"Remember, you are only allowed to move around within the East District. If I catch you wandering off or slacking, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
With this warning, Zhang Qiong turned and walked away, acting as though he couldn't bear to spend even a single second longer in Li Zhiming's company.
Li Zhiming glanced after Zhang Qiong, completely unbothered by the man's attitude.
One day, he would wash away the false charges against him.
The layout of the Second Level of Xuyuan differed from the First. It was divided into four districts: East, West, South, and North. Each district was managed by several formidable Patrol Guard Captains like Zhang Qiong.
As Li Zhiming arrived at the Ninth Section, he noticed that the cells holding prisoners were all secured with dark-iron locks and multiple layers of seals.
Only the empty cells had their doors open, waiting for someone to come and clean them out.
"Have some mercy! Please, give me something to eat!"
A disheveled prisoner reached out through the bars, but before his hand could even touch them, he was struck as if by lightning. His body convulsed violently, and he collapsed straight to the ground.
"Young master, am I pretty?"
From another cell came the seductive, sweet voice of a voluptuous woman.
Li Zhiming turned his head to look at her, their eyes locking.
A pale pink light flickered in the woman's eyes. "Come here, young master. Open the door for me, and I'll help you cultivate tonight!"
Her voice was soft and alluring.
Li Zhiming's eyes glazed over, and he took step after step toward the front of the cell.
"Yes, just like that. Find a way to open the door lock."
The woman's seductive voice continued to coax him.
Li Zhiming raised his hand, moving it directly toward the dark-iron lock.
"A little closer, just a little closer, and young master can spend a wonderful night with me!"
Right as Li Zhiming's hand was about to touch the dark-iron lock, clarity suddenly returned to his eyes.
With a smile, Li Zhiming pulled his hand back.
"Your charm arts aren't bad, but your looks are a bit lacking, and you're also a little bit saggy."
"You!"
Hearing this, anger flared in the woman's chest.
Her seductive face distorted before transforming into a baring, snarling fox face.
"Vixen, save your breath and stop scheming. I'm just a lowly jailer—I don't have the ability to open this dark-iron lock!"
Not wanting to waste any more time here, Li Zhiming spoke dismissively and continued deeper into the corridor to look for cells with open doors.
"Damn you, man, stop right there!"
Incensed beyond measure, the vixen was furious. Her prized charm arts hadn't even been able to seduce an inexperienced kid—it was the ultimate humiliation!
The Second Level of Xuyuan Prison was far more lively than the First, but this inevitably caused Li Zhiming a bit of worry.
If everyone was living peacefully and there were no corpses to be found, how was he supposed to trigger his collection rewards?
"What if... what if I kill someone myself? Would that still trigger the corpse collection rewards?"
A sudden thought popped into Li Zhiming's mind.
"Are you the new jailer? There are three cells inside—go clean them up. There are two corpses in total."
A Patrol Disciple walking past pinched his nose and urged Li Zhiming along.
"Understood."
Nodding, Li Zhiming walked over to the open-doored cell.
Inside lay the corpse of a dog demon. Li Zhiming crouched down and began his examination.
Once he confirmed the wolf demon was thoroughly dead, he initiated the collection.
[Collected corpse of Rank Eight dog demon: Lifespan +10, Physique +2,000, True Qi Value +2,999, Enhancement Points +5. Rewards obtained: Innate Trait - All-Encompassing Hearing, Innate Trait - Acute Smell.]
"What on earth is an innate trait?"
Puzzled, Li Zhiming circulated the Qi of Taichu within his body, conjuring a crimson flame that burned the dog demon to ashes right on the spot.
When the flames died down, Li Zhiming finished tidying up the cell.
[Innate traits successfully fused.]
Suddenly, Li Zhiming felt his hearing expand exponentially, and his sense of smell did the same.
He could hear sounds from much farther away and with far greater detail, and he could easily distinguish all the various odors lingering in the air.
"So that's how it is."
Withdrawing his focus, Li Zhiming moved on to the second cell.
[Collected corpse of Corpse God Cult member: Lifespan +8, Physique +1,800, True Qi Value +2,500, Enhancement Points +10.]
[Physique threshold broken.]
[True Qi threshold broken.]
[Congratulations, host, you have stepped into the Rank Nine Perfection!]
"Awesome!"
Li Zhiming let out a long breath, feeling immensely refreshed.
Corpses from the Second Level really hit differently! He had no desire whatsoever to go back to the First Level.
After cleaning up all three cells, Li Zhiming continued his search.
He found that the East District no longer had any corpses left to handle—only empty rooms waiting to be swept.
"Not a bad haul. At least I've advanced another minor realm."
Content, Li Zhiming returned to his quarters.
Today, he had accumulated another ten enhancement points.
He opened his attribute panel.
He tapped the plus sign next to the Qingyang Art.
[Enhancing Qingyang Art requires ten enhancement points.]
[Enhancing Youyun Dance requires twenty enhancement points.]
Li Zhiming chose to enhance the Qingyang Art.
Advancing his cultivation technique would naturally cause his realm to rise alongside it.
Besides, before his cultivation had been crippled, his mastery of the Qingyang Art had barely reached the Proficient stage.
To train it back to Proficiency the hard way would take a whole month.
It was much better to use enhancement points directly.
[Enhancement Points -10]
[Qingyang Art enhancement complete.]
[Congratulations, host has successfully elevated the Qingyang Art to the Proficient stage.]
[Realm: Rank Nine Perfection → Early Rank Eight]
Li Zhiming jerked to his feet and rapidly threw a flurry of punches into the empty air before him.
His fists moved so fast they left several afterimages in their wake, accompanied by sharp gusts of wind.
"It's back, it's all back!"
Li Zhiming was overwhelmed with excitement.
In just a single day, he had climbed back from being a cripple to the Rank Eight realm.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he returned to Rank Seven!
Just as Li Zhiming was getting ready to rest, a rapid flurry of footsteps echoed outside his door.
"They're here!"
Thanks to the integrated innate traits of the dog demon, his auditory perception had been massively upgraded.
Combined with his own keen awareness, he could easily tell who was approaching simply by the frequency and weight of their footsteps.
The three individuals arriving were obviously Jiang Yuan's men.
"Li Zhiming, are we coming in, or are you coming out?"
"Make your choice."
Wang Junfei's voice rang out from outside.
"The door's unlocked."
"Heh, you're quite cooperative."
With a cold sneer, Wang Junfei pushed the door open.
The three of them stepped right in front of Li Zhiming.
"We aren't going to waste any breath on you."
"Hand over everything you have on you, cripple one of your own arms, and go back down to the First Level to kneel and apologize to our boss. Do that, and you might dodge a brutal beating."
"Otherwise, heh."
Wang Junfei cracked his knuckles, a series of crisp, popping sounds echoing in the room.
"You want resources? Fine."
Li Zhiming tossed out a jade vial.
The vial rolled across the floor, coming to a stop right at the feet of Wang Junfei and his companions.
"A single Vitality Pill. Pick it up," Li Zhiming said with a faint smile.
"You... you're courting death!"
Seeing this, Wang Junfei felt utterly humiliated, and rage instantly boiled over in his chest.
"This bastard's a tough nut. Stop messing around with him and just hit him," said the scarred man.
Before his voice had even faded, Wang Junfei made his move. With a sudden burst of speed, he lunged toward Li Zhiming, shouting, "Li Zhiming, since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit of fine wine, don't blame us for being ruthless!"
"Heh!"
Li Zhiming merely let out a cold laugh. In his eyes, Wang Junfei's ferocious charge looked as slow as a crawling turtle.
Standing his ground without a single dodge, he calmly waited for the attack to land.
Bang!
With a muffled thud, Wang Junfei threw a punch straight toward Li Zhiming's face.
Yet the strike missed its mark entirely, intercepted mid-air by Li Zhiming's palm.
The corners of Li Zhiming's mouth curled upward into a mesmerizing, wicked smile.
The next second, his eyes turned sharp as ice, and his palm exerted sudden, brutal force.
A miserable shriek rang out.
Wang Junfei's hand had been crushed straight into pieces!
Aah!
Screaming in agony, Wang Junfei dropped to one knee, staring at his mangled, deformed hand with a face painted in sheer terror.