In Bloodsin City's Yu Clan was a certain old woman. She spent most of her time in secluded cultivation nowadays, but today, she had suddenly appeared in the sky above the main hall of the clan after sensing a change in the city. She had a crooked figure and looked completely unremarkable, yet her eyes emanated an extremely sharp aura seemingly capable of piercing through everything.
She stared at the sky and observed the change happening. The look in her eyes changed as she muttered, "The devilish aura is stirring. Is the Devil Domain trying to attack the surface again?"
At a different spot in the city was a massive temple. Numerous monks could be seen chanting some religious scriptures; one Buddhist symbol after another formed in the air as they slowly purified the devilish aura hovering above the city.
An old monk who had been seated in meditation for an untold amount of years suddenly opened his turbid eyes and muttered, "Amitabha. The devilish aura is stirring. Looks like trouble is brewing for the Bloodsin City yet again."
Apart from these two, a few other concealed super experts had also sensed the change. They all did the same thing: tell their people to start paying closer attention to the Devil Domain. The moment anything happened, they would react immediately to prevent another devil invasion.
...
Not one of them had noticed that the devilish aura had actually seeped into the ground and had all converged at a certain tiny restricted space.
Imperial Nether Prison.
This was a unique battle technique exclusive to the Imperial Nether Clan. Only those with a high-tier bloodline within the clan and the Nether Soul Domain would be able to awaken it.
The Imperial Nether Prison was an innate ability capable of summoning the Nether Soul Domain out of one's body and transforming it into a prison to trap one's enemies. The prison's owner would be an absolute master of the space within it and would be able to freely do as he wished to those trapped within.
Any person who wasn't much more powerful than the prison owner would be completely helpless once trapped. This ability was in fact one of the main trump cards of the Imperial Nether Clan. Presently, Xiang Shaoyun was completely engrossed in the comprehension of this newly awakened ability.
The Imperial Nether Prison felt completely different to him than other battle techniques. He needed to train and comprehend any other battle techniques he wanted to use, but that was not the case for the Imperial Nether Prison. He only needed to accept these symbols for the comprehension to come naturally to him.
Finally, new ancient symbols stopped appearing. He then slowly urged his Nether Soul Domain to move. Instantly, the Nether Soul Domain flooded out of him and filled the room. It did not stop and even spread to outside of it. Both Du Xuanhao and Jin Wo were given a fright as they thought they were under attack.
Inside the room, Xiang Shaoyun was able to sense them clearly. He spoke to them through voice transmission, "Don't worry. It's me."
They calmed down after hearing Xiang Shaoyun's voice.
"Your highness, what power is this? It makes me feel very uncomfortable," said Jin Wo in agitation.
"I feel like I am being restricted by something," said Du Xuanhao with a frown.
"Y-young master, h-have you awakened the Imperial Nether Clan's innate ability, Imperial Nether Prison?" Devouring Ghost's surprised voice also rang out.
"You know about the Imperial Nether Prison as well?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in astonishment.
"Of course. This is one of the Imperial Nether Clan's strongest innate abilities. Looks like my decision to bring you here is correct. Continue your comprehension, but be discreet about it. Avoid attracting the attention of those old freaks in the city or things will become very troublesome for us," said Devouring Ghost.
"Ok," Xiang Shaoyun replied and started withdrawing the Imperial Nether Prison. He did not fully withdraw it, though. He maintained enough of it to cover his room and continued studying it.
"Prison, from its name, it is obvious this is used for imprisonment. The restrictive force from the Nether Soul Domain is the energy powering the prison. However, this is not its final form. Solidify!" Xiang Shaoyun continued studying the essence of the ability when he suddenly shouted and stirred his soul power. He started waving all 10 of his fingers, manipulating the nether soul energy around him.
Swish! Swish!
Strands of nether soul energy appeared and took the form of chains. Each looked like a real chain, swaying about as it changed freely in length, showcasing the ability to shackle anything. At the command of his thought, the 10 chains immediately shot toward a broken chair in the room.
Bang!
The chair was instantly crushed into pieces. Clearly, the chair was too badly damaged to handle the chains' might. Xiang Shaoyun used the same method to manipulate the 10 chains, sending them flying like 10 nimble dragons. They were extremely flexible and agile, capable of shrinking and extending freely.
Apart from that, he also learned that the moment one went inside the Imperial Nether Prison, one’s combat prowess would drop by at least 30 percent. One's connection with spiritual energy and external astral energy would also be severed.
The nether soul energy was also capable of eroding the mind of those trapped within, causing them to completely lose themselves and eventually die through the complete erasure of their souls. These were the wondrous functions of the Nether Soul Domain, allowing one to become the master of the space within the prison.
Of course, for the Nether Soul Prison to be able to do all that, the Nether Soul Domain needed to first grow stronger so as to ensure the user had a sufficiently powerful soul to make use of such power.
After finding out about all that, Xiang Shaoyun burst out with laughter and said, "What a great ability. I can definitely catch any opponent by surprise with it."
He did not know if his Imperial Nether Clan bloodline came from the mother he had never met, but he did not intend to think too much about its origin anyway. He considered anything capable of helping him grow stronger to be something good for him. Finally, Xiang Shaoyun had the time to take a look at the ghostrunes in his Nether Soul Domain. His eyes almost popped out in shock.
"There are only about 10,000 of them left? But not one of them is below the Transformation Realm anymore. There are about 300 or 400 Kings, and there are even two new Emperors!" a wide smile formed on Xiang Shaoyun's face.
When the ghostrunes sensed Xiang Shaoyun's attention, they immediately knelt down and greeted him, "Greetings, master."
"Rise, everyone," said Xiang Shaoyun. He was quite surprised, as he had not expected that all these ghostrunes would so easily acknowledge him as their master. He asked, "What do you think about living outside?"
"No, master. We wish to keep staying here. This place is very suited to us. We swear to remain forever loyal to you, master," vowed Gui Qi on behalf of all the ghostrunes.
All the ghostrunes had an expectant look. It was obvious none of them wanted to leave.
"Haha, sure. I was just joking," said Xiang Shaoyun. "You can stay here, but you will have to obey my every command in the future. Otherwise, I will either kick all of you out or directly kill all of you in here."
"Yes, master," the ghostrunes replied.
"Splendid. I have a perfect chance for you to demonstrate your loyalty," said Xiang Shaoyun with a glint in his eyes.