The Fire Prison was far more cruel than Fu Huan had imagined.

After spending less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea there, Fu Huan felt dizzy, and her entire body collapsed on the ground without any strength.

Lying on the ground, Fu Huan looked up at the ceiling illuminated red by the firelight, and scenes from the recent past flashed before her eyes.

She was grateful that she had recognized Cold Luan’s true face early, otherwise, she would still be in this Fire Prison without understanding why.

Cold Luan was now determined to see her dead.

She couldn’t continue to wait passively for death.

With this thought, Fu Huan gritted her teeth and gathered her strength to sit up, trying repeatedly to repair her inner energy using her usual methods of gathering and condensing qi.

……

When Cold Luan heard that Fu Huan had been imprisoned in the Fire Prison, she was in an excellent mood. In her leisure time, she even strolled with Zhu Ling through the streets of the lower realm.

…

…

Zhu Ling walked beside her, noticing that Cold Luan hadn’t stopped smiling since earlier, giving her a sense of unease.

Supreme Deity Fu Huan was, after all, a Phoenix Girl. Although she had lost her cultivation, she might recover it any day.

Now that Supreme Deity Cold Luan had openly broken with her and also offended Lord Underworld God, if the two of them were to retaliate, there would likely be no benefit at all.

This was Zhu Ling’s thinking, but Cold Luan beside her thought differently.

Passing by a rouge shop, she became interested and entered, browsing through the items.

As soon as she stepped into the rouge shop, Cold Luan’s brow furrowed involuntarily. She looked around at the people in the shop, then her gaze fixed on a dressed woman with ordinary features.

“What’s wrong?” Zhu Ling sensed something amiss and lowered her voice to ask Cold Luan.

Cold Luan didn’t speak, still staring at the dressed woman, gradually frowning, her gaze becoming increasingly sharp.

Strange, how could such a dressed woman occasionally emit wisps of spiritual power?

Moreover, this spiritual power seemed deliberately suppressed, but because this woman’s cultivation was not high, she couldn’t suppress it completely. Most importantly, she detected that the woman’s appearance was deliberately disguised with illusion magic.

Who could this be?

And why would she do this?

Cold Luan’s eyes revealed her thoughts as she deliberately sat down next to the woman and pretended to select rouge.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

As soon as Cold Luan sat down, the woman beside her couldn’t help but cough, then clutched her chest, appearing to be in great discomfort.

“Miss, what’s wrong?” the shopkeeper asked, looking at the woman with concern.

“It’s nothing, just an old ailment. Please wrap these up for me.” The woman pointed to several items of rouge.

The shopkeeper nodded and called someone over to package them.

“Miss, you look unfamiliar. You’re not a local, are you?” the shopkeeper asked with a smile, having made a sale.

“Yes, I just moved here recently,” the woman said.

The shopkeeper nodded in understanding. “Is that so? Where do you live, miss? Since your health isn’t good, would you like me to have someone deliver these to your home?”

“That won’t be necessary. I live on the outskirts, quite far away,” the woman said, paid for her purchases, took her rouge, and left.

Cold Luan listened to all of these words from the side.

After the woman left, Cold Luan followed her.

Cold Luan trailed behind the woman, concealing her presence. The woman couldn’t detect Cold Luan’s existence at all as she headed toward the outskirts.

But just as she stepped into the deserted outskirts, she flashed away and disappeared.

In the instant the woman vanished, Cold Luan caught a clear glimpse of her face—a stunning beauty.

“Supreme Deity, that woman just now must have been a celestial immortal,” Zhu Ling said.

Cold Luan nodded, carefully recalling the people in the Celestial Realm, but couldn’t think of anyone matching this description.

Since this woman was a celestial immortal, why was she secretly living in the lower realm?

Could she have escaped from the Celestial Prison?

“Let’s go back to the Celestial Realm, to the Celestial Prison,” Cold Luan said.

“Supreme Deity wants to handle this matter?” Zhu Ling was surprised.

Cold Luan laughed lightly, curling her lips. “If that woman was indeed an escapee from the Celestial Prison, then capturing her and bringing her back would certainly be meritorious.”

“The Celestial Emperor is becoming increasingly disappointed with Fu Huan. This is the perfect opportunity for me to impress him.” With that, Cold Luan vanished.

A moment later.

“What did you say? No one has escaped?” Cold Luan appeared in the Celestial Prison, questioning the person in charge.

The person in charge flipped through all the registers and couldn’t find anyone who had escaped from the Celestial Prison. Finally, he said helplessly, “Yes, the Celestial Prison has always been strict. No one can escape.”

Hearing this, Cold Luan bit her lip and frowned deeply.

“What’s wrong, Supreme Deity Cold Luan? Has something happened?” the person in charge asked anxiously.

“It’s nothing.”

Cold Luan left the Celestial Prison and walked out.

“Supreme Deity, perhaps we were overthinking,” Zhu Ling tried to console Cold Luan, afraid she would become angry when they returned.

Cold Luan continued to frown, not answering Zhu Ling, and walked forward on her own.

Passing by an intersection, she paused her steps. “Great Emperor Ziwei said last time that he would help me continue to request the Celestial Emperor’s blessing for my marriage to Si Qing. It seems he hasn’t given me a result yet.”

Zhu Ling nodded.

“Let’s go. Since we’re passing by, let’s pay a visit to His Excellency and ask about the progress of the imperial marriage decree,” Cold Luan smiled lightly. Just thinking about having an 80% chance of success made her heart flutter uncontrollably.

Arriving at Ziwei Palace, Great Emperor Ziwei was in the small garden at the back, drinking tea alone.

“Greetings to Great Emperor Ziwei,” Cold Luan bowed slightly to Great Emperor Ziwei.

Great Emperor Ziwei nodded upon seeing Cold Luan and gestured for her to sit in the chair opposite him.

Cold Luan thanked him and sat down. “Why does the Great Emperor look so worried today? Is it because of Sister Fu Huan’s situation?”

“This child is becoming more and more troublesome as she grows older,” Great Emperor Ziwei sighed, his heart concerned about Fu Huan, wondering how she was faring in the Fire Prison.

“Alas, I went to the Fire Prison earlier hoping to see her, but the guards wouldn’t let me in. They said the Celestial Emperor had decreed that no one was allowed to visit,” Cold Luan said.

After speaking, she wiped away tears. “She was doing fine at Immortal Mountain Manor. How did she end up in the Fire Prison? I wonder who Sister Fu Huan has offended recently to suffer so much.”

“Enough, let’s not talk about it anymore. It might be good for her to experience some hardship,” Great Emperor Ziwei sighed.

Cold Luan nodded and joined Great Emperor Ziwei for tea.

After quite a while, Cold Luan spoke again, “Has the Celestial Emperor agreed to my marriage with Lord Underworld God?”

“The Celestial Emperor said he would consider it carefully,” Great Emperor Ziwei said.

“Good, that’s good,” Cold Luan smiled.

……

Upon leaving Ziwei Palace, Cold Luan let out a long sigh. As long as the Celestial Emperor didn’t issue the marriage decree, her heart would remain unsettled.

Si Qing was the man she loved most in this lifetime. She was determined to have him at any cost!

As for Fu Huan, a person without cultivation imprisoned in the Fire Prison would likely not survive much longer.

As she was walking, Cold Luan spotted the Celestial Emperor’s figure from a distance, emerging from behind a nearby rockery.

Seeing this, Cold Luan instinctively hid behind a pillar, concealing herself.

After emerging from behind the rockery, the Celestial Emperor looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he straightened his robes and belt, then strode away alone.

After the Celestial Emperor left, Cold Luan’s gaze turned toward the rockery.

Behind the rockery was a forbidden area—this much she knew.

But for many years, those who knew about this place understood that a heinous criminal was imprisoned behind this forbidden area. However, whether that criminal was male or female, old or young, no one knew.

But just now, after the Celestial Emperor emerged, he was in high spirits and adjusting his clothes, clearly indicating that the person in the forbidden area was a woman.

Likely a young woman.

A woman…

Cold Luan instantly became more curious and investigative about the person in the forbidden area. Without even speaking to Zhu Ling, she concealed her form and hid behind the rockery.

Behind the rockery was a massive seal, and this seal was infused with Fu Huan’s phoenix power.

Phoenix power?

Upon sensing this, Cold Luan’s expression suddenly darkened.

No wonder the Celestial Emperor was so fond of Fu Huan. It turned out that Fu Huan had been hiding from her that she had some connection to the Celestial Emperor’s forbidden area.

Cold Luan frowned, knowing she couldn’t break through this seal. Just as she was about to turn and leave, streams of spiritual power suddenly emanated from inside.

This spiritual power…

It was the same aura as the woman she had encountered in the rouge shop!

Cold Luan was stunned by this realization.

The same aura—what was going on? Could it be that the person in this forbidden area could actually come and go freely, and this forbidden area was just a facade?

Or was her judgment wrong, and there were two people involved?

The more Cold Luan thought about it, the more confused she became. But the aura was clearly from the same person. What was happening?

Perhaps she needed to find a way to see the person inside to know for sure.

……

In the Fire Prison, Fu Huan repeatedly tried to gather her true energy, but failed each time. Leaning against the wall, she felt powerless. Her eyelids twitched severely, giving her a sense that something bad was about to happen.

Growing increasingly frustrated, Fu Huan waved her sleeve, intending to remove her outer robe due to the heat. As she did so, a porcelain bottle fell out of her sleeve.

It was the medicinal pill Si Qing had given her.

Fu Huan picked up the porcelain bottle. As soon as her hand touched it, a coolness spread through her palm, causing her to instinctively grip the bottle tightly.

Feeling the cool porcelain bottle, Fu Huan opened the lid and poured out two medicinal pills, which she consumed.

After swallowing the two pills, before long, Fu Huan felt a hint of coldness gradually emerge from her dantian, quickly spreading throughout her body.

In this Fire Prison surrounded by raging flames, Fu Huan’s entire body felt a chilling coolness.

After a while, warmth gradually rose from her dantian. At the same time, Fu Huan felt several streams of energy flowing toward her various meridians.

Detecting these energy streams, Fu Huan suddenly became overjoyed. This feeling was all too familiar to her.

She then put the porcelain bottle back into her sleeve and activated her inner force to re-gather her true energy…

……

Cui Ling Palace.

“Zhu Ling, I recall that the Celestial Emperor’s attendant, Tong Yan, seems to have some interest in you, correct?” Cold Luan sat in a chair, smiling at Zhu Ling.

Zhu Ling’s heart sank, and she bit her lip without speaking.

“Come here,” Cold Luan beckoned to Zhu Ling.

Although Zhu Ling was somewhat afraid, she dared not defy Cold Luan’s wishes. She stepped forward, moving closer to Cold Luan.

“If you can obtain some secrets about the person in the forbidden area from Tong Yan, I will help you train well and assist you in ascending to become a celestial immortal in the future. How does that sound?”

Ascending to become a celestial immortal—it must be said that this temptation was extremely great for an ordinary celestial attendant.

“But I don’t have much interaction with Tong Yan. How can I…”

Before Zhu Ling could finish speaking, Cold Luan had already hooked her finger around Zhu Ling’s collar. “The quickest and simplest way is to go and tell him everything.”