After the fortress sentenced martial artists and locked them in Hell, it left them alone.
So, except for the slightly smaller space and perpetual lack of light, this place was actually no different from the outside world.
It was even more brutal.
Because prisoners who came in wanted to gain status and earn their fellow inmates’ respect, they had to possess formidable strength. As for the weak, they could only be grandsons!
At this moment.
Jun Changxiao and Shang Youhen were locked in and immediately surrounded by fellow inmates.
Nine-Layer Hell had nine layers, each forming its own system, each with its own welcoming ceremony that no newcomer could avoid.
Jun Changxiao glanced at the prisoners gradually closing in and smiled: “So do you think I’m the boss or the grandson?”
“Boss or grandson.”
The eyepatch man rubbed his nose and said: “Only after we welcome you will we know.”
“Brothers!”
“Give these two a proper welcome!”
“Whoosh whoosh!”
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”
In an instant, several thousand prisoners’ cultivation exploded, then they charged forward like muscular brutes.
“Slap!”
The lights in all four directions shut off.
The First Layer of Hell plunged into darkness again, that sinister atmosphere erupting once more.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Spiritual energy and martial techniques flashed, instead bringing brief illumination.
After about ten minutes or so, there was no more sound or movement inside the prison, and that sinister atmosphere became even more bone-chilling.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, a wisp of firelight appeared.
Jun Changxiao’s face emerged, then he lit the cigar in his mouth, raised his head and exhaled a smoke ring.
Because the black robe covering his head had already fallen off, combined with the flickering flames, his entire bald head was positively gleaming.
“Slap!”
Just at this moment, the lights turned on again, and the prison was filled with light.
Shang Youhen stood in his original position, his facial expression blank, then he stiffly raised his head to look up at Jun Changxiao in the heights.
Why was he up high?
Because the several thousand prisoners who had attacked earlier were all bruised and battered, stacked together, with Jun Changxiao sitting on top smoking, that posturing aura unprecedentedly intense.
He closed his eyes and sang: “Being invincible is so, so lonely! Being invincible is so, so empty! Alone at the peak…”
“Pffft!”
“Pffft!”
The many prisoners stacked like building blocks, their internal organs seemingly suffering another heavy blow, all spat blood on the spot.
When others sang it cost money, when Gou Sheng sang it cost lives!
“The one hiding at the edge of heaven, can you hear my confession, my loneliness, endless loneliness!”
“Pffft!”
Just as Jun Changxiao drew out the long note on ‘loneliness,’ Shang Youhen standing below couldn’t help but spit blood.
Even uninjured people could hear themselves getting internal injuries—it was clear that although Gou Sheng was devastatingly handsome, he truly had no talent for singing. He was destined only to act, not to be a trainee.
After finishing the song, Jun Changxiao still had his head raised and eyes closed, completely immersed in the feeling of how lonely invincibility was.
“Ah…”
“Sect Master!”
Shang Youhen pressed down the boiling blood in his body and stopped him: “Please don’t sing anymore. If you keep singing, this disciple might die…”
The prisoners stacked together, already bleeding from all seven orifices, strongly agreed!
“Alright then.”
Jun Changxiao abandoned the thought of expressing his feelings, grabbed the eyepatch man lying nearby, and said: “Who’s the boss, who’s the grandson?”
“You… you’re the boss, I… I’m the grandson!”
“Swish!”
Jun Changxiao directly threw him down, then leaped up and sat directly on his back, crossed his legs, and with both hands resting said: “From this moment on, I’m the boss of this layer of Hell. Who agrees, who objects?”
“A… agree!”
The eyepatch man, being sat on, was first to speak.
He’d been squatting here for a long time and welcomed nearly seventy percent of the prisoners. Although he’d encountered formidable opponents and taken losses, today was the first time meeting someone this strong—several thousand people resolved in such a short time!
“Agree!”
“Agree!”
The prisoners all expressed their stance.
The newly arrived fellow inmate had formidable strength, and his singing was super ‘pleasant’—only idiots would object!
This was Nine-Layer Hell, this was strength above all.
When Jun Changxiao displayed absolute strength and brutally thrashed the prisoners who ‘welcomed’ him, he immediately gained their recognition.
In the outside world.
Some people not only wouldn’t recognize this, they’d hold grudges and then find elders to take revenge.
Seeing the prisoners submit, Shang Youhen wiped away the blood from his mouth corner, thinking admiringly: “The Sect Master is simply too amazing!”
Because his ancestor was trapped in Nine-Layer Hell, he had some understanding of this place. Being able to conquer all prisoners, even conquer a layer of Hell, absolutely represented strength!
“Click click click!”
“Click click click click click!”
Just then, from a direction the lights couldn’t reach, came the sound of chains.
Shang Youhen turned his head to look, his gaze immediately filling with shock.
He saw that in that darkness, a disheveled person walked over barefoot.
His hands hung naturally, long chains dragging on the ground, his prison uniform different from everyone else’s, with the very conspicuous characters ‘Main Culprit’ on his chest.
Jun Changxiao frowned.
Although the suddenly appearing prisoner was filthy and disheveled, though his appearance couldn’t be seen clearly, the aura emanating from his body clearly had Lower Breaking Sky Realm strength!
An expert!
A high-level expert!
“Sect Master!”
Shang Youhen transmitted: “This is the First Layer of Hell’s main culprit!”
“Main culprit?”
Jun Changxiao hadn’t heard of this.
Shang Youhen hastily explained: “Each layer of Nine-Layer Hell imprisons a main culprit. They’re all thoroughly evil villains who, if released, would bring calamity to mortal beings.”
“Heh heh heh!”
Suddenly, the main culprit stopped, swept aside his disheveled hair, revealing a pair of extremely hollow eyes, and said hoarsely: “Young man, what does thoroughly evil mean?”
Shang Youhen was dumbstruck.
He’d just communicated with the Sect Master via sound transmission—could he actually hear it?
“Heh heh heh!”
The main culprit laughed strangely: “Young man, do you know there’s a divine beast called Tingdi on Yama Continent?”
“Tingdi?”
Shang Youhen immediately remembered that on Yama Continent there was a divine beast named Tingdi that could discern all things in the world through listening, especially skilled at hearing hearts!
Could it be…
He was Tingdi?!
Jun Changxiao had also heard of Tingdi, and moreover from Journey to the West, but he hadn’t expected that in different systems of the high martial universe, such a thing also existed.
“I cultivated for tens of thousands of years to reach my current strength. Because I accidentally heard something I shouldn’t have heard, I was locked in the First Layer of Hell by Starry Sky Fortress. Tell me, what kind of thorough evil is this!” The main culprit’s face contorted, clearly filled with extreme resentment.
“And you!”
He pointed at Jun Changxiao, nearly roaring: “Of any living being in the mortal universe, I can roughly hear their hearts, so why can’t I hear yours!”
“…”
Jun Changxiao’s facial expression was quite spectacular.
Why does it concern me that you can’t hear it? Why are you getting so angry?
“Maybe…”
Jun Changxiao adopted a melancholy expression: “I’m too handsome, so you can’t penetrate my heart.”
—