Chapter 370: Hiding in a Prison Cell Should Be Safe

After the thunder tribulation, the Venerable of Natural Disasters lay gasping for his last breath, his entire body charred black, looking like little more than a corpse.

"Damn it, how could a mere Body Integration stage cultivator encounter a thunder tribulation of such immense power!"

Deputy Sect Leader Shi did not reply, thinking to himself that a thunder tribulation valued at a billion spiritual stones naturally carried great power.

Having already experienced a thunder tribulation once before, Deputy Sect Leader Shi was fully prepared.

The charred Deputy Sect Leader resembled a statue until a faint cracking sound echoed, his skin splitting open as he tore it away, emerging completely renewed.

"The novice-level Cicada Shedding Method?" The Venerable of Natural Disasters recognized the technique.

Deputy Sect Leader Shi glanced at him sideways without a word, swallowing a medicinal pill, a sight that filled the Venerable of Natural Disasters with intense envy.

The novice-level Cicada Shedding Method could only keep his body clean; the depleted state from enduring the thunder tribulation still required medicinal pills to restore.

The Venerable of Natural Disasters wanted to seize the pills, but his body was in the absolute worst condition; the fact that he could move at all was a testament to his solid foundation, let alone robbing someone of pills.

Refining the medicinal energy of the pill, Deputy Sect Leader Shi sneered at the Venerable of Natural Disasters.

"I finally managed to turn over a new leaf and start a career, only to have it ruined by you ancient cultivators. Falling into my hands, consider it your bad luck!"

Deputy Sect Leader Shi no longer cared about divine abilities, spells, or the rules of engagement, raining punches and kicks upon the Venerable of Natural Disasters to vent the fury in his heart.

"You wretched scoundrel, how dare you cut off my path to wealth!"

"Did you truly think the cultivators of this era were easy targets!"

"If I do not beat you so badly that your own mother cannot recognize you, my surname is not Shi!"

The Venerable of Natural Disasters was beaten black and blue, not a single bone left whole in his entire body, with his crotch receiving particularly special attention.

With a flick of his right wrist, Deputy Sect Leader Shi produced an iron chain as thick as an arm, binding the Venerable of Natural Disasters tightly and hoisting him over his shoulder like a slaughtered pig before walking away.

"No, this cannot be, I cannot let him take me away!" The Venerable of Natural Disasters realized that Deputy Sect Leader Shi was a ruthless man; following him would offer absolutely no way to survive!

He had to escape!

He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, his body dissolving into green smoke as he broke free from the chains, tearing open a spatial rift and vanishing from sight.

"Burning his life span!" Deputy Sect Leader Shi's eyes narrowed, not expecting the Venerable of Natural Disasters to be so ruthless; his chains could lock both flesh and soul, and given the Venerable's condition, without burning several millennia of life span, he could never have escaped.

"Quite ruthless indeed, burning it like that, how many years do you have left to live?"

Faced with the Venerable of Natural Disasters' escape methods, Deputy Sect Leader Shi was helpless: "Forget it, since he ran, so be it. I will just find other ancient cultivators to take my revenge upon."

The Venerable of Natural Disasters was still fleeing for his life; after this battle, it would be difficult for him to gain any advantage in the struggle of the great era.

"My thinking was flawed; earlier I sought a deserted, uninhabited place, only to run into that lunatic undergoing a thunder tribulation. This time, I shall hide inside a city!"

He promptly adjusted his strategy, heading toward the nearest city.

"Dayan County, a fine name. Wild geese flying south, a rise from the ashes, it suits my current situation perfectly!"

To be safe, he used his divine sense to investigate the condition of Dayan County.

"It appears to be a prosperous city, and the county governor is merely at the Deity Transformation stage, perfectly suited for hiding!"

The Venerable of Natural Disasters smiled faintly; a prosperous city with a weak governor was an absolutely perfect location!

Heaven is helping me!

After burning his life span, his realm had dropped once again, falling to the early stage of Body Integration, barely retaining his status in that realm.

Due to the unique nature of the Void Refining stage, a fallback from the Body Integration stage would bypass Void Refining and plunge directly into the Deity Transformation stage.

"Luck is always on my side!"

He slipped into Dayan County, pondering where the most suitable place to hide and restore his realm would be.

"I can restore my cultivation by devouring the vitality of others, a process best left undisturbed, and I also need a place filled with the aura of death!"

The Venerable of Natural Disasters thought of a brilliant location.

"To the prison cells!"

The prisoners in a jail possessed the fewest human rights; even if an accident occurred, no one would care.

Transforming into dense smoke, he slipped into the jail.

The moment he entered the prison, he heard two people arguing.

"I already told you, this law is not used that way. Has something gone wrong with your brain?"

"Nonsense, this law was drafted by me, how could I not know how to use it?"

"Just because you drafted it means you understand it? Yunzhi was raised by me, and even I do not know how powerful she is now!"

"Bullshit logic!"

You are the one with bullshit logic.

Daoist Buyu argued with the Minister of Justice; the once elegant and gentle Minister of Justice was growing increasingly irritable.

"Wait a moment." Daoist Buyu raised his hand, sensing something amiss.

"Who is there!"

"What a heavy scent of blood!" The Minister of Justice was quite surprised; he had executed many heinous criminals, but none possessed a blood aura as heavy as that of the Venerable of Natural Disasters.

Demonic cultivators feared the power of the righteous path and used secret methods to conceal the blood scent on their bodies, but the Venerable of Natural Disasters had no such concept; in the Great Yu era, the amount of blood scent was trivial, and sometimes it could even serve as a symbol of honor.

"Heh heh, to think you could actually discover this deity, you two juniors have some ability. Since that is the case, become this deity's nourishment!" The Venerable of Natural Disasters assumed he had merely been careless and leaked his aura earlier, but that was a trivial matter; he naturally had ways to control these two men!

If he could not deal with others, could he really not handle these two prisoners?

A sinister, terrifying light suddenly flashed, and wicked energy swirled within the narrow space, generating a force akin to a black hole as silent screams echoed through the air, seemingly originating from an endless abyss.

"Become this deity's slaves!"

The Minister of Justice struck out fiercely, a manifestation of a golden hand slapping away the dense smoke, causing the Venerable of Natural Disasters to tumble and roll onto the ground; the sinister light, the wicked energy, and the silent screams all vanished instantly.

"What sort of trivial thing dares to display such parlor tricks before this official."

The Venerable of Natural Disasters lay on the ground, unable to recover his wits.

How had he been knocked down?

"A demonic cultivator, capture him!" Daoist Buyu moved, his sword-heart throbbing as thousands of sword-qi flowed, vast and unending, filling the entire space.

It was impossible for the Venerable of Natural Disasters to even tear through space to escape!

Daoist Buyu escaped frequently himself, so he knew exactly how to deal with those who frequently ran away.

It was only because Yunzhi had taken action that he could be confined here; anyone else would lack the certainty to hold him.

The Venerable of Natural Disasters: "..."

The Venerable of Natural Disasters remained silent for a long time, not even knowing what expression to show to reflect his current state of mind.

What was the situation? Why were such powerful individuals locked inside a prison?

They were even more powerful than that lunatic undergoing the thunder tribulation just now!

There were no restrictions or seals in this cell either, so what were you two doing locked up in here? Were you staying here because the jail is warm in winter and cool in summer?

"What sort of person is this?" The Minister of Justice had never seen anyone seek death so boldly.

"Who knows, definitely nothing good. It is likely some ancient cultivator who has never seen the world, got injured by someone, and fled to the prison to nurse his wounds. Capture him first, this counts as a great service for the two of us, it can reduce our sentences!" Daoist Buyu said excitedly. Sitting in prison, and merits fall straight from heaven.

Hearing the words of the Wordless Daoist, the Minister of Justice felt a sudden surge of excitement.

Yun Zhi, who had been tailing the Scourge Venerable all this time, let out a soft sigh at the spectacle, realizing it was futile to expect him to flee back to his old lair.

There was simply no helping it; the Scourge Venerable’s luck was utterly atrocious. First, he had crossed paths with old horse, taking two brutal hooves to the chest. Then, he had been dragged into a heavenly tribulation alongside Vice Cult Leader Shi. Most recently, he had plunged headfirst into the Dayandun prefectural dungeon—the very place holding her master and the Minister of Justice—only to be swiftly subdued by the two masters at the peak of the Body Integration Stage. Surviving such a relentless gauntlet of disasters was a miracle in its own right.

Even Yun Zhi had never witnessed a soul so thoroughly forsaken by fortune.

It was probably best to just take him back for a thorough interrogation under torture.

Stepping forward into the dim light of the dungeon cell, she revealed herself. "Master, Minister, it has been a long time."