Chapter 546: The End of the Great Prison (Two-in-One)

Outside the window, black vortexes woven from clouds suddenly surfaced in the once-calm sky. Muffled thunder rumbled from within, sounding like horse-drawn carriages galloping across the high heavens.

These clouds blanketed every corner of the sky. With each passing second, they seemed to sink lower. Looking up, it felt as though the entire sky was collapsing.

The shrouded territory below lay in total darkness, battered by violent gales.

In the Sand Tower District, the orange-yellow sand abruptly turned dark yellow. At a glance, it looked pitch-black and dreary.

It hadn't transformed into anything else; the sand was still sand.

But now, damp moisture clung to the grains.

Atomized mist seeped from between the grains, sticking together into pea-sized drops. These condensed into a web of wet trails, converged into finger-thick trickles, and pooled into streams two paces wide...

Finally, they merged into two torrential rivers, roaring toward the Desolate Forest and Haidu to the east and west amid deafening thunder.

In the Haidu District, the azure sea had turned pitch-black. Massive amounts of silt churned beneath the waves, and pairs of crimson eyes opened in the dark, glaring up at the ships on the surface.

The once-tranquil maritime world was now a hunting ground for sea beasts.

And this was only the most inconspicuous change.

Giant, abyss-like rifts tore open across the ocean. One even stretched for hundreds of miles. Seawater plummeted into it like a waterfall, dragging in and devouring any ships that drifted too close.

The sea level was dropping at a visible rate.

In the Desolate Forest District, faint blue sparks appeared on the dead branches. They danced continuously, spreading across vast tracts of the woods. It was easy to foresee that before long, this forest, which barely had any greenery to begin with, would become a feast of flames.

But...

Bitter winds howled past. When the blue sparks tried to touch the withered leaves and deadwood, they first struck a freezing layer of ice. Sizzle, sizzle.

White vapor filled the air. The blue incantations laid down in advance by the Wizard Tribe lit up across the ground. Snow suddenly began to fall, swallowing the unwilling flames and extinguishing them completely.

However... some kind of anomaly occurred. The incantations left by the Wizard Tribe suddenly flared, glowing hundreds of times brighter than before. The bitter chill instantly turned into a raging blizzard. Temperatures plummeted, and frost vines grew wildly, wantonly swallowing everything in their path. Before long, the entire Desolate Forest was completely frozen over.

Every insect, every tender shoot, and even the criminals who failed to raise their defenses in time were frozen solid.

From the outside, the entire Desolate Forest appeared to have become a realm of ice and snow, deathly silent.

Inside the room, Yan Jing looked at the withered Mu Tian, his eyes calm.

Just as he'd said before, the man before him was far too proud to let anyone else taint what was his. When he saw the mission stating that the Great Prison was marching toward its doom, he'd guessed it would come to this.

That was why he'd seized every single second he could.

Just to make it in time for today.

It was a pity those criminals had racked their brains to fight over all this. They fought tooth and nail, only to end up brawling over a pile of trash.

"Heh, you're disappointed, aren't you?"

Looking like a centenarian, Mu Tian lay on the floor and chuckled at Yan Jing, who sat beside him:

"It's a shame those guys aren't here. Otherwise, I'd really love to see the looks on their faces."

Yan Jing smiled:

"No wonder you repeatedly tried to give the Great Prison to me. Torn up as it is, only a pauper like me might actually want it."

"Haha."

Mu Tian laughed, slowly closing his eyes:

"Think about it. If it was actually something good, would I leave it for you?"

"You aren't my son."

Yan Jing smiled and shook his head:

"I don't have the blessing to be your son."

Mu Tian kept his eyes shut, the corners of his mouth curving upward as if he had fallen asleep.

After a long while, he finally opened them:

"Yan Jing, I truly wanted to give the Great Prison to you."

"In my eyes, there are only two people in this world fit to be the master of the Great Prison. Me, or you."

"Why?" Yan Jing smiled.

"You've lived for hundreds of years. I don't believe you haven't met anyone stronger than me in that time, nor do I believe you haven't seen anyone smarter."

"How long have we even known each other?"

"I don't know," Mu Tian laughed. "It's just an inexplicable feeling."

"Last time I heard a conversation like this, the speaker was trying to test the other party's ambition," Yan Jing chuckled.

"And how did the other party respond?"

"He deliberately dropped his chopsticks in fright. If he didn't do that, he worried the man across from him would chop off his head."

"Haha, it seems the two sides weren't evenly matched back then." Mu Tian kept his smile.

"Unfortunately, we are. No, I should say, at this exact moment, you are much stronger than me."

"How about it, Yan Jing? Take my head right now, and this Great Prison is yours."

Yan Jing smiled and stood up:

"Not interested."

"That woman reached an agreement with you. If I kill you now, I'd be standing in her way."

Mu Tian stared blankly:

"So what are you going to do?"

"Wait for her to dissolve the contract with you herself." Yan Jing's gaze was calm.

Mu Tian burst into laughter once more:

"Yan Jing, I told you before, you aren't frank enough."

"What's the difference? If you kill me, she'll be yours sooner or later."

"It makes a difference to me." Yan Jing turned, walking toward the door and waving his hand:

"I'm off. I still need to go fix my Great Prison."

He watched Yan Jing's figure vanish through the doorway as the doors closed.

The amusement in Mu Tian's eyes gradually faded, and he withdrew the lethal attack that had been secretly brewing in his palm.

It was the most powerful of all his killing moves, but its cast speed was very slow, and its range was very short.

"Yan Jing... Yan Jing..."

Mu Tian murmured:

"What a pity."

"Hurry! Furl the sails!!!"

Amid the torrential storm, Zhou Mian roared at his crewmen. Right now, two ocean currents were swirling in a vortex beneath the surface under his control, barely managing to resist the pull of the rifts tearing across the sea.

Even so, in just an hour or two, his forces had suffered disastrous losses. As the presence with the most ships in these waters, at least a fifth of his fleet had already lost contact completely.

"Didn't Mu Tian step into the Tenth Tier?!"

He looked at Song Huien beside him:

"Is he starting the purge already?"

Song Huien's expression was just as grim:

"No, it doesn't look like a purge."

She bit her lower lip:

"He's probably linked his status as the Lord of the Domain directly with the entire Great Prison."

"How is that even pos—"

Zhou Mian suddenly fell silent halfway through his sentence.

A Lord of the Domain had always needed to bind themselves to their Domain to wield maximum power.

Everyone knew the Great Prison was marching toward its doom, so everyone assumed Mu Tian wouldn't tie himself to the Great Prison anymore.

Several times in the past when the Great Prison's resources ran dry, Mu Tian had severed his connection well in advance.

He hadn't expected that this time, of all times...

In other words, Mu Tian had most likely been faking it.

He had not advanced into the Tenth Tier.

He forced his move only to back up and pave the way for his son.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but clench his fists and roar, "He wants to die! Is he dragging all of us down with him?!"

"Men! Contact the outside! Send this news out!!!"

But across from him, Song Huien shook her head:

"All information channels have been blocked."

"The Great Prison side must have severed the central hub and the spatial connection points. Right now, other than the ones holding power over the Great Prison, no one can open a channel to the outside from within."

"Unless the outside world forcefully breaks in."

Zhou Mian's face paled.

The outside world forcing its way in?

News of Mu Tian reaching the Tenth Tier had probably spread far and wide by now. Who would come knocking to seek their own death?

"Fuck it, we fight!!!"

Zhou Mian gripped his fists tightly:

"Since Mu Tian is faking it, we fight!"

"He's the one leaving us no way out. Don't blame us for rebelling."

"Mu Tian isn't the only one over there..." Song Huien's words were like a basin of cold water poured directly over Zhou Mian's newly ignited fighting spirit. Indeed, Mu Tian wasn't the only one on the other side.

There was also Yan Jing.

Thinking of Yan Jing's face, he could not suppress a shudder.

"Then are we just going to wait here to die?"

He refused to accept it.

If Mu Tian had stepped into the Tenth Tier, they would remain criminals.

If Mu Tian failed, they would die along with him.

Where in the world was there such logic?

Beside him, Song Huien appeared much calmer by comparison:

"The sky is falling, the desert is flooding, the sea is tearing apart, and the Desolate Forest is frozen... There's still one place to go..."

Zhou Mian's eyes lit up:

"Elite City."

Song Huien's expression turned cold:

"Whether to seek refuge or to join forces and storm the Great Prison, we have to make a trip to Elite City."

Song Huien and Zhou Mian spent several hours rushing to the gates of Elite City.

Looking at the relatively peaceful Elite City, the two breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the side bordering the Desolate Forest was already covered in a layer of frost, at least... this place was the least affected.

The moment they set foot in the airspace above the city, several figures rushed out from within and blocked their path.

The leader was naturally Zhan Cangtian. He looked different from how he had when he fled in disgrace before; he wore a smile, his eyes brimming with confidence. What surprised the two were the people standing behind him.

Bai Yue and Bai Chen.

"Aren't you two on the worst terms with Big Brother Zhan?" Song Huien smiled:

"What, now that things have gone south, you know to come running here for help."

Bai Chen's expression was sour.

The two of them indeed shared an irreconcilable grudge with Zhan Cangtian, but for the sake of the people in the Sky Domain, they were forced to come seek his aid.

If they were any later, once those cloud clusters closed in, a single bolt of lightning could electrocute a massive swath of the domain's residents.

"Are you any better? Even calling him Big Brother Zhan," Bai Yue shot back coldly:

"Back then, you came looking to collaborate with us. When that fell through, you went to Zhou Mian. Now you suddenly remember to call him Big Brother Zhan. Seems to me you're just paying lip service." Song Huien's face darkened. Just as she was about to snap back, Zhan Cangtian intervened with a laugh:

"Heh, no need to argue. We'll all be family from now on. Let the past stay in the past."

"As long as you are in Elite City, all of you are my, Zhan Cangtian's, younger brothers and sisters."

Hearing his words, the group fell silent.

Although these words sounded pleasant, anyone could hear that Zhan Cangtian had already established the hierarchy—

They were all younger siblings, and he was the elder brother.

But forced to submit under another's roof as they were, none of them voiced any complaints.

As for what they were actually thinking, no one could say for sure.

Song Huien smiled:

"Then, Big Brother Zhan, what do we do next?"

"What do we do?"

Zhan Cangtian grinned:

"We fight our way up, of course."

"Since they refuse to let us leave, they should be prepared for this."

"But their side isn't weak." Song Huien's beautiful eyes shifted:

"You must have seen the strength that human displayed last time... He isn't ordinarily strong... Why don't we wait for Merkel and the others?"

"They have nowhere else to go, so they should be arriving soon."

"Merkel..."

Zhan Cangtian pondered for a moment:

"That works too."

Although he was confident he wouldn't lose to Yan Jing—the last time was merely carelessness—it was indeed better to be as thorough as possible in matters like this.

Thus, the group waited from that night until the afternoon of the next day.

However, they never saw Merkel arrive. Instead, they only received news from their subordinate summiters.

"The Wizard Tribe... all of the Wizard Tribe have returned to Haidu..."

"Haidu..." Zhou Mian widened his eyes:

"Impossible. At a time like this, what are they going to Haidu for?"

He had witnessed the harsh deterioration of Haidu with his own eyes; it was absolutely unsuited for survival now.

Suddenly, he seemed to recall something.

"Could it be Mao Si..."

He muttered under his breath.

That cat, alongside a newly ascended summiter named Wuhe, had indeed been stirring up a lot of trouble in Haidu recently.

But since the two had consistently avoided his jurisdiction, he hadn't bothered with them.

He had been far too busy recently; he really could not keep track of every single corner.

What truly caught his attention was the meeting between Mao Si and Wen Xu.

"What cat are you talking about?"

Zhan Cangtian looked at Zhou Mian.

"It's nothing."

Zhou Mian shook his head:

"Nothing at all."

"Since that's the case, we won't wait anymore."

Zhan Cangtian's face darkened:

"We gave them a chance. Let them come begging us when the time comes. Either way, the five of us are enough."

"They only have one person on their side, at most add Weng Lingxiao to the mix. Moreover..."

He sneered.

It wasn't even certain if Weng Lingxiao would defect.

"If Weng Lingxiao sides with Yan Jing, I'll deal with him."

Song Huien volunteered.

It wasn't just that she wanted to appear proactive.

More importantly, she didn't want to face Yan Jing.

Even if it was four against one.

"No, we need you to dispel that type of control from before."

Zhan Cangtian's single sentence dragged Song Huien back to reality. Everyone present was shrewd; who couldn't see through her little scheme?

"Bai Yue will do it. Take on Weng Lingxiao."

Bai Yue's combat strength could be considered the weakest among them; using them to stall Weng Lingxiao was the most appropriate choice.

"Agreed."

Bai Chen nodded.

Naturally, Bai Yue also agreed.

Out of five people, three were already standing on that side.

With no other choice, Song Huien could only smile awkwardly:

"That works, that works."