After a while sitting, which was probably about an entire day and night, some commotion began to happen. The elevator came down and with it came three individuals, but something was off about them. Unlike the rest of the inmate disciples, these three still had their Qi around them. They were wearing a bracelet of sorts that was not allowing the formation in this prison to stop their Qi from circulating regularly.
"That's him," one of the three said as he pointed at me.
"Your luck seems pretty bad Xiao Meng, you shouldn't have crossed the young master and attacked his disciples." The leader of the three said.
Now I think I understood what's going on. The guys from yesterday at the trial exam went crying to their master, and now that he knows I'm in prison he sent three guys to kill me. Also, since I'm supposedly unable to use Qi due to the prison's rules. They'll be able to do whatever they want to me here.
"Aren't you afraid of the sect, killing people isn't really tolerated here?" I said calmly.
"Look at him, a coward hiding behind sect rules, you think we really care, or that people actually give a fuck if you live and die here in prison? As long as you're here, death is not an impossibility, so no one will complain." The leader of the three said.
"Good, but one thing bothers me in your statement, you're saying that I'm a coward, while you're using numbers and the ability to use Qi here, I have no idea how you managed to bribe your way into prison…" I said as I stood up and looked him in the eyes, "But like I said before, if anyone dares cross me, their end won't be gentle."
"Let me see how you act once I remove that smug out of your face!" the kid said as he drew a sword and dashed at me.
If there was anyone else besides me, this would have been that person's end, after all, anyone imprisoned here is no stronger than a mortal. But, he made a grave mistake in charging headlong without worrying about his safety.
The moment the sword was a few inches away from my chest, I dodged to the side, something a 'mortal' or a person without Qi powering their movement would have been incapable of.
And before shock could even appear on the kid's face, I had already jabbed one finger down the kid's neck, stabbing into his throat.
A hole like that would be fatal for anyone, but if he had the time to swallow a pill he could save himself. But the poison in my nails was enough to render all chances of survival abysmal.
The kid coughed as blood burst from the hole in his neck and his mouth, he grabbed his neck but couldn't utter a word as his eyes rolled back up.
The two other kids looked at each other and turned back, only to realize that the elevator had already risen.
"Now, you thought you could come here and do whatever you wanted, but now that you're trapped here with me, how does it feel?"
"Not possible! You shouldn't be able to use Qi! What the hell?! That wasn't what brother Yu Bai had said!"
"Oh, good thank you for telling me the name of the person who sent you," I said, and immediately the man grabbed his mouth as if he had spoken something he shouldn't have. Such a comic reaction.
The two died immediately after, it wasn't hard, especially since they were far below my own cultivation level that they didn't even pose a challenge.
But with three bodies here and the heat from this place, the floor would soon stink. Though I wouldn't care about getting sick from it, I'm not a fan of the smell of carcasses.
"Where is does this hole lead to?" I asked, the question was general, but the rest of the inmates knew that they had to answer.
One of them spoke, "It goes down until the ninth level. There is a Corrupted Fire Vine there."
"What's a corrupted Fire Vein?" I asked.
"A corrupted Fire Vine it's not suitable for cultivation, unlike normal Fire Veins that can help Yan type cultivators to increase their Yan Qi, a corrupted one is full of destructive energy that will constantly destroy one's cultivation if ingested. So they're using it to torture people."
"That's pretty harsh, I didn't think that the sect would resolve to such tortures against their own disciples," I said as I threw the three bodies down the hole.
"They're not used on disciples of the sect, the worst punishment for disciples of the sect is the sixth level, any more is reserved for deserters, traitors, and captured criminals, like the ones from the Purple Cloud Sect," the man said.
Immediately, I felt a chill running down my spine, "Oh, so you're saying that the people from the Purple Cloud Sect are down there?" I asked.
"Only a few, many had already died, and the majority are still hiding behind the barrier." The kid said.
"Oh, good to know," I said, "This seems interesting, I think I'll go down and have a look," I said.
"Hey, are you mad? You know if you go down there, there is no way for you to climb back up. Unless expressed by the punishment hall elder no one is allowed to leave this prison. And if you go down, you'll die before the Punishment Hall elder can even save you."
"Thanks for worrying about me, but the lower levels piqued my interest," I said and jumped down the hole.
Though anyone else would have fallen to their death since they can't use their Qi. I'm not like any of them.
I pulled the poison god's flying sword and placed it under my foot as I accelerated going down.
The distance between each floor increased exponentially, and so did the heat.
It took me twenty seconds to reach the fifth floor while not only free falling but accelerating as I went down, and the time doubled for each level.
The heat itself would become unbearable to anyone that isn't an alchemist or has a Heart Flame protecting them.
If the disciples of the Purple Cloud Sect are on the lower floors, they must be suffering through literal hell.
All of the rooms in this tower were build inside halls, and the lower one gets the hotter it goes, but after the eighth floor, I saw a bright light. It seems that the ninth level is actually the volcano itself. And the moment I got out of the deep elevator hole I was assaulted with waves of aggressive Yan energy.
There was a massive magmatic current running under the elevator's hole. While there was a solid piece of ground in the middle of this place, it didn't look any safer than the magma itself.
Looking around, I saw hundreds of burnt and charred remains of people sprawled all over the place. And among the charred remains were still a few cultivators that were suffering through this hellish place.
And among them was a person that I wouldn't have recognized if it was not for his stature.
An old man, with barely any meat on his flesh, with a child-like stature.
I dove down toward the old man, and noticed that he was barely hanging on, thanks to his small alchemical knowledge, he was able to resist the heat from this place but it was at a great cost.
"Elder Yun," I said to the man who didn't seem to be able to reply.
I pulled a pill from my pouch and gave it to the man, the moment the pill fell into his mouth, I placed my palm on his back and slowly helped him circulate the pill.
Soon, the elder opened his eyes, and spoke, "Euh, thank you, benefactor," He said.
I smiled at the old man, "Who are these?" I asked as I tilted my head to the few cultivators that were struggling through this hellish torment.
"A few elders of our sect, all of them. It's thanks to a certain cultivation method that we managed to survive so long, but I don't think we'll be able to survive. Benefactor, you shouldn't have come here."
I shook my head at the old man and said, "It's my duty to help my sect members, is it not?"
"Euh, were you a disciple of our sect? I can't remember seeing someone like you before, I'd remember you, child."
"Is that so," I grinned, "then maybe a game of Go will freshen your memory, but after we get out of here," I smiled at the old man.
"Ah! Shen Bao! How come, you look so different. And your cultivation level, in just a year, you're already fifth level Core Cultivation, that's impressive."
"I had some good fortuitous encounters, Elder Yun,
"That's good, that's good," the old man said with a sad smile on his face, "But you shouldn't have come here, you foolishly came to this place, now you'll be stuck, you should have survived and grown stronger if you wanted to avenge our sect, now you'll only waste your life." Elder Yun said remorsefully.
"Don't worry, you think I'd come here without a plan?" I said.
"Based on our matches, I say your strategies are always ingenious, but against absolute power, strategy isn't a useful child."
"I'll never admit that, no matter how strong anyone is, there is always a weakness to be exploited, nothing is perfect and even the strongest man can be killed with the right means. Rotate the Qi in that pill, I'll wake the rest of the cultivators." I said and fed pills to the rest of the elders.
Some of them were people I've seen back at the palace but the rest I didn't know. I managed to bring back the elders to consciousness soon after. But this was just a temporary solution.
"Though we thank you for your benevolence, this doesn't resolve our conundrum," one of the elders said.
"I know, but this isn't the extent of my plans. I can get you out of here, but I'll need something from you." I said.
"What does a naked man have to offer, Shen Bao, we have nothing left," Elder Yun said.
"You still do, your dignity and trust, I need them. First off, I'll need a sliver of divine sense from all of you." I said.
The elders looked at each other, and one of them spoke up," Shen Bao, I know you are a disciple of our sect but don't you think you're going too far, you want us to submit our lives to your whims?"
"It is the only way for me to trust you, and it is the only way for you to leave, what I'm about to do is disclose one of my secrets, and if someone untrustworthy was to know of them then I'll be ruined," I said.
"We won't betray you, just get us out." Another said.
"No, unless you give me a sliver of your Divine Sense, then you won't leave."
"You could be just a traitor that defected to the Three-Legged Raven sect and wants a greater hold over us to spill secrets!" more elders began doubting me.
But elder Yun was the first to pull a sliver of divine sense and gave it to me, "Shen Bao, if it wasn't for your arrival we would have died, I don't believe that you'll betray us. But I also don't want to be indebted without offering anything back for your to trust me."
"Elder Yun! Are you mad! You'll be at the mercy of his whims!"
"Quiet! If it wasn't for Shen Bao, how long do you think we would have survived? He said that he has a way, I trust him, and you should."
With the elder's words, more surrendered their divine sense to me, and once the last one gave me his divine sense though reluctantly, I smiled at them, "Good! Now it's time for you to rest. I said and pulled my Pagoda Token, summoning the pagoda into this hellish place.
I configured the pagoda to immediately take the elders to the third floor that had the five biomes. And all of us appeared inside it.
"What's this?" Elder Yun asked while the rest of the cultivators immediately sat down to cultivate in the rich Qi that the pagoda gave.
"This is a small world I own now," I said.
"No wonder you wanted our Sliver of Divine sense, with a treasure as precious as this, wars can be waged to obtain it."
"Yes, I'm also planning on taking the entirety of the Purple Cloud Sect here, but as I said without complete trust, I can't have anyone here."
"I'll have to apologize to brother Shen Bao," one of the elders who was the most aggressive towards giving his divine sense said.
"No worries, now rest up and cultivate. Arslan!" I said as the purple armored Lion came bounding towards me, he cooed and rubbed his head against my hand.
"That's a sixth-tier Demonic Beast! How. No, I don't want to be surprised anymore." Elder Yun shook his head.
"Arslan these are friends don't eat any one of them," I said smiling, but this was a tacit threat to anyone who would try something stupid, like try and go to other floors or take what doesn't belong to them.
"You can cultivate here and build lodgings if you wish, but you're not allowed to leave this place until I come back. So please wait for me." I said and left before I heard any complaints.
Now with the elders secured, I need a way to leave this prison, I can't just leave from the front door. But, if I manage to force the sect itself to release all the prisoners, then it will be a different story.
I grinned as I gazed at the magmatic current.