Chapter 31: The Prison Warden

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Heavy footsteps rang out as two figures burst from the cavern one after another, each wielding a three-meter-long halberd. Fearlessly, they charged into the crowd, cutting their way through the gathered combatants.

They wore blue-and-white armor, their faces an ironlike greenish-white and utterly expressionless. They were the two prison guards just mentioned.

There were as many as four or five hundred gifted warriors present. Naturally, none of them feared two guards and a hound. They surged forward to surround and kill them, each thinking that whether they seized the guards’ weapons, stripped away their armor, or slew the enormous hound, they would be claiming something of immense value.

Hundreds of attacks descended upon the two guards and the hound—various supernatural abilities, weapons, and pieces of equipment. The three were forced back again and again, howling without pause.

But that was all: they were merely driven backward. They suffered no substantial injuries. Their armor was not even broken. Their faces showed no pain from the blows; instead, a savage ferocity burst forth from them. One of the prison guards swung his halberd and thrust it into a gifted warrior’s chest, the bloodstained tip emerging from his back.

With his dying strength, the warrior hacked at the guard’s unprotected blue-white face, leaving behind a shallow cut. Not a drop of blood flowed, and the guard seemed entirely insensible to pain.

“Undead creatures?!” You Fengtian blurted out at the sight.

Many of those present noticed it as well. Their first thought was of the blood slaves created years ago by the Blood Spirit Cult. Those monsters on the battlefield had seemed to feel no pain, inflicting grievous losses upon the gifted-warrior world of Donghua.

“Ah!” The enormous hound pounced on another person, its sharp claws plunging into his chest. Countless blades and swords struck its back, leaving only marks without penetrating its defenses.

At that moment, more heavy footsteps came from within the cavern, accompanied by the low growls of hounds.

“Everyone, watch the cavern! There are more of them!” Zhu Qingtong continued to shout in warning.

Sure enough, over the next dozen seconds, six more prison guards dressed and armed in the same manner emerged one after another, followed by three enormous hounds. They joined the battle without a word, concerned only with fighting. Their immunity to pain and boundless strength forced the gifted warriors to retreat again and again.

A moment later, accompanied by even heavier footsteps, a man emerged from the cavern clad in full heavy armor and carrying a massive sword. Once he had straightened to his full height, everyone present drew a sharp breath.

The creature stood roughly two meters and eighty centimeters tall and was tremendously powerfully built. His blue-white face resembled that of a rakshasa demon. His armor was clearly twice as thick as that of the other prison guards, protecting nearly every part of his body.

An immensely powerful aura of strength erupted from him.

“You wretched intruders! You trespassed upon the Water Spirit Domain’s Ice Prison Island, slaughtered the ice beasts guarding the island, and released the unforgivable ghost prisoners! Your crimes are beyond pardon! The prison guardians swear to slaughter every one of you! You will remain here forever as ghost prisoners!”

His voice had a strange timbre, as though he were roaring from deep within his belly.

The Water Spirit Domain’s Ice Prison Island!

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Those words provided everyone present with another important clue.

Many people remembered the name. The Water Spirit Domain was said to be a powerful cultivation sect located across the sea in the otherworldly continent of Seeking Immortals. It specialized in water-based immortal arts and rarely appeared on the mainland, making it extraordinarily mysterious.

Quite a few people were overjoyed. If this truly was a place belonging to the Water Spirit Domain, perhaps they could obtain even rarer and more precious equipment, cultivation manuals, immortal techniques, and the like. It was said to be a major sect!

The thought of becoming rich and famous after a single battle surged into their minds, and many of them immediately grew flushed with excitement.

Zhu Qingtong frowned and cautiously said to You Fengtian, “Elder You, if this really is the place where the Water Spirit Domain imprisons its criminals, perhaps we should stop here. Offending such a major sect may not be wise. We still know far too little about the powerful forces of the otherworldly realm.”

You Fengtian lowered his voice. “This place... In my view, it must have been created by a disruption in space and time. It has already broken away from the Water Spirit Domain’s control on the continent of Seeking Immortals and become a minor world of its own.”

He kept his voice low enough that only the few people nearby could hear him.

A minor world! Most people had never even heard the term.

Shuisheng had never encountered it in any of the books he had read either.

But Zhu Qingtong and Yan Ruobing appeared to understand.

“Let’s wait and see. Let the others charge in first,” You Fengtian said.

Yan Tong immediately ordered his subordinates to fall back. The members of the Yan family withdrew from the crowd and retreated toward the beach near the sea.

The other six or seven hundred gifted warriors did not share their caution. Desperate to seize the treasures, they brandished their weapons and continued attacking the prison guards and giant hounds. Soon, gifted warriors who had heard the news from every part of the island streamed into the battle as well.

“Elder, that giant should be the warden of Ice Prison Island, or perhaps its guardian general,” Yan Ning said. “Whether it’s his armor or that massive sword, they’re all priceless treasures!”

“Even if they’re priceless, you still need to be alive to take them home,” Wen Fengxian retorted.

Indeed, nearly a thousand gifted warriors had now gathered on the battlefield, surrounding a single warden, eight prison guards, and four enormous hounds.

Their numerical advantage had yet to translate into any advantage on the battlefield. One gifted warrior after another fell beneath the prison guards’ halberds and the hounds’ claws and fangs.

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Some gifted warriors tried to seize the halberd shafts with both arms, but the prison guards possessed immense strength. With a single sweep, they flung the warriors away like hawthorns skewered on a candied fruit stick, sending them crashing into a whole swath of people.

Suddenly, the warden let out a tigerlike roar. The sound shook the heads of the hundred or more gifted warriors surrounding him until their ears rang, and their movements froze for an instant.

Before they could react, the warden swung his massive sword and cleaved into the crowd like a hurricane.

A shower of flesh and blood erupted among them. Wherever the great sword passed, the bodies of most of those struck were sliced in two along with their weapons.

At least forty people died beneath that single blow. Broken bodies and severed limbs were scattered across the ground in a horrifying display.

The man from the Three Mountains Sect who had only just escaped with his life was among the dead. His eyes remained wide open, as though he could not believe that fate had denied him one more chance to survive.

The gifted warriors were terrified by the attack. In an instant, they scattered like startled birds and fleeing beasts.

Their dreams of striking it rich by seizing the treasures vanished without a trace.

Now, it seemed, the most important thing was to escape with their lives.

“You trespassed upon the Water Spirit Domain’s Ice Prison Island, slaughtered the ice beasts guarding the island, and committed an unforgivable crime! Kill them!” the warden roared.

The prison guards formed groups of two guards and one hound, then launched attacks in every direction. One panicked, isolated, or sluggish gifted warrior after another was tackled by the faster giant hounds, only to be killed by a single thrust from the prison guards’ halberds.

The guards moved like machines. Not one movement was wasted; there was no hesitation, no clumsiness, and not the slightest trace of emotion.

The gifted warriors from every faction completed their transformation in an instant. Only moments ago, they had been hunters. Now they had become prey.

Perhaps the prison guardians would never have emerged if the waterway had not been drained. Their actions, driven by greed, had made it easier for the guardians to attack—and planted the seeds of their own destruction.

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