Chapter 938: Hall of Sinners

The Immortal Fairy had been observing Bai Ye for two nights now, and she was certain that this little girl was somehow connected to the Primordial Laurel Tree, likely functioning as a manifestation of the tree's own consciousness or something of that nature.

Supposedly planted by Fairy Ying Tian, forty thousand years was more than enough time for the tree to birth its own spiritual sentience.

It was similar to the principle of how the Immortal of Time, before ascending to immortality, would frequently deploy a clone to act on his behalf.

Yet, Bai Ye was far from being just a manifestation of the Primordial Laurel Tree, though the Immortal Fairy had not yet managed to unravel the deeper truth of her existence.

"Little Yangzi isn't quite clever enough; he still requires this Immortal to worry over him," the Immortal Fairy muttered, shaking her head with a smirk of satisfaction, convinced that Lu Yang truly could not survive without her intellect.

"But then again, the girl harbors no ill intent toward Little Yangzi, so there is no need for this Immortal to fret. Should I even bother uncovering whatever it is that Bai Ye is hiding?"

The Immortal Fairy leaned back against her throne of sculpted ice and snow, pondering for a moment before the immense toll of her mental exertion quickly lulled her to sleep.

......

Lu Yang felt they had seen most of the Laurel Celestial Palace, yet a lingering sense of absence tugged at him, as though the tour lacked a vital piece, leaving his mind feeling strangely hollow.

"By the way, Junior Sister Lan, does your sect possess a place similar to our Prisoner Peak?"

Lu Yang suddenly remembered that he had not yet visited the Laurel Celestial Palace’s equivalent of the confinement grounds.

"Ah?"

"Senior Brother, do you wish to visit the Palace of Sinners?"

The Laurel Celestial Palace possessed its own judicial authority, and naturally maintained a facility akin to Prisoner Peak, known as the Palace of Sinners.

Lan Ting had not anticipated Lu Yang's interest in such a grim place; believing it unsuited for him, she had purposefully avoided taking him there.

"Just to broaden my horizons," Lu Yang said with a genial smile, curious to see how the confinement facilities of other immortal sects compared to his own.

The Palace of Sinners was not a forbidden zone, and disciples of the Celestial Palace were permitted to enter and exit freely.

Lan Ting led Lu Yang to a relatively diminutive structure, so small it scarcely resembled a prison meant to hold wrongdoers.

As they stepped inside, candles lining both walls sensed their presence and flickered to life with a soft hiss, illuminating the corridor that stretched into the depths.

"The prisoners are all kept below," Lan Ting said, pointing toward a subterranean passage.

The tunnel was steeped in silence, echoing only with the sound of their footsteps, which prompted the candles along the underground walls to ignite in sequence as they advanced.

Noticing Lu Yang’s keen gaze fixed on the candles, Lan Ting explained with a smile, "It is like this: the candles in the Palace of Sinners used to burn continuously, which I felt was terribly wasteful. So, I designed a spell formation that keeps them extinguished normally, but triggers them to light upon detecting sound. It is rather convenient."

"Because it saved the sect a considerable amount of wax, I was awarded one thousand contribution points for it."

"An excellent design indeed," Lu Yang nodded in approval, surprised to learn she had created the formation, though he really should have remembered her natural talent for such innovations.

After all, Lan Ting had been the very first to propose the concept of an automated meat-skewering formation.

"Did you apply for a patent?"

"No, it seemed rather troublesome." Unlike the Dao Seeking Sect, which possessed a mature patent application process, the semi-secluded Laurel Celestial Palace cared little for such matters.

Lu Yang offered a word of counsel, "It would be wise to secure one. Calculating the time, solar lamps meant to replace candles should be hitting the market by now, but sound-activated solar lamps likely do not exist yet. If you secure the patent for this formation, you could earn a handsome sum of spirit stones."

"Do you mean the solar lamps promoted by the newly emerged Solar Energy Technology Development Chamber of Commerce?" Lan Ting had heard whispers of this rising merchant group during a recent mission outside, noting their frequent advertisements through the Phantasmagoria.

"So they have already established their production lines? They certainly move quickly," Lu Yang murmured to himself before adding aloud, "Yes, those exact solar lamps."

"An emerging industry brings countless commercial opportunities, and you should seize this chance to turn a profit. While we cultivators must not let our minds be blinded by wealth, the path of cultivation cannot do without spirit stones. With a patent in hand, a steady stream of wealth will ensure a much smoother journey in your future training."

"Very well." Though Lan Ting remained indifferent to patents, she knew that if Senior Brother Lu Yang suggested it, it was undoubtedly something worth doing.

Junior Sister Tao would certainly never receive such thoughtful guidance from him, would she?

As they conversed, the pair reached the end of the passage, where they encountered a gatekeeper draped in a flowing black robe.

The gatekeeper's head was bowed low, furiously scribbling something down.

"This is Elder Mo Ran."

"Disciple Lu Yang pays his respects to Elder Mo Ran," Lu Yang greeted politely.

Sensing their approach, Elder Mo Ran hastily covered the pages she was writing on. "Ah, so it is the youngest disciple of Daoist Bu Yu. What crime did you commit to be brought in here?"

"Eh?"

Lu Yang’s confusion only served to confuse Elder Mo Ran in turn. "Did you not follow in your master's footsteps, committing some offense in the outside world only to be captured and brought to our Celestial Palace?"

Lan Ting quickly stepped in to explain that Lu Yang was merely visiting the palace as a guest, and was entirely unlike Daoist Bu Yu.

"Then I have misunderstood. I assumed it was a traditional inheritance of your lineage." Bound by her duties, Elder Mo Ran rarely left the Palace of Sinners and was largely ignorant of recent developments.

"Did my master visit the Palace of Sinners in the past?" Lu Yang inquired cautiously, astonished to find that the places his master had frequented exceeded his wildest imaginations, extending even to a place as secluded as the Laurel Celestial Palace.

Elder Mo Ran let out a cold snort. "Is there any immortal sect's prison that man has *not* visited?"

"If you wish to look around inside, let Martial Niece Lan guide you. This is hardly her first time here, and she knows the layout well. I shall not accompany you." Elder Mo Ran disliked conversation and detested activity; the serene, deathly quiet of the Palace of Sinners suited her perfectly.

As she watched the two figures recede into the distance, a faint coldness flickered in Elder Mo Ran’s eyes.

"They could not have seen what I was writing. If they did, they cannot be allowed to leave here alive!"

Elder Mo Ran lowered her head and resumed writing: Godlord Dawnlight firmly gripped Chu Xian'er by her slender waist. Facing the siege of the celestial host across the heavens, he stood immovable, as resolute as a sculpted statue...

Bearing the token provided by Elder Mo Ran, the two passed through the grand warding formation and entered the true Palace of Sinners.

"Our Palace of Sinners serves the same purpose as your Prisoner Peak, holding offenders captured in the outside world. The prisoners confined here range from the Foundation Establishment stage at the lowest to the Integration stage at the highest."

Speaking of the Integration stage prisoners, a touch of pride colored Lan Ting's tone. The highest cultivation level among the disciples of the Celestial Palace was merely the Integration stage; capturing such powerful criminals alive during external missions was an incredibly daunting task.

Take the recently captured Elder of the Heartless Sect, for instance—had it not been for the combined efforts of Lu Yang, Mangu, and herself, capturing him alive would have been nigh impossible.

Lu Yang reflected silently, recalling that the lowest-ranking prisoners on their own Prisoner Peak were at the Integration stage, while the highest was the immortal Guan Shanhai.

Disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect also captured criminals during their missions, but any who fell below the Integration stage were handed directly to the local authorities, as there was no need to bring them back to Prisoner Peak.

The cells on Prisoner Peak were limited in number and had to be spared for significant threats.

Lu Yang noticed that the door of every cell bore the name of the inmate, their crime, and the remainder of their sentence. The shortest sentence belonged to a thief who was due for release in just a few days.

The Celestial Palace did not separate its prisoners by gender, which explained how Daoist Bu Yu had managed to end up here in the past.

Prisoner Peak possessed similar placards detailing names and transgressions, with the sole exception that no remaining sentences were ever listed.

The inmates of Prisoner Peak were either murderers or instigators of rebellion; there was no such thing as a remaining sentence for them, as they were destined to spend the rest of their natural lives confined to the peak.