Heavenly Prison… It was a mysterious forbidden area and it was also a legend which circulated inside the Moxi Clan for millions of years. It was just 5000 years ago when the patriarch of the Moxi Clan opened a piece of ancient jade passed down by the ancestors. With that piece of jade, they managed to connect a space passage to the legendary Heavenly Prison. When the patriarch finally returned from the Heavenly Prison, his divine bloodline was greatly strengthened and he received a great boost to his strength. From then on, Heavenly Prison became one of the paths of trail that must be experienced by the Moxi Clan’s patriarch candidate. Only by coming out alive from the Heavenly Prison would the individual receive the qualifications to succeed the position of the Moxi Clan patriarch.
According to the stories and legends left behind, the so-called Heavenly Prison was a place where souls were banished. People of the Divine Realm who violated the rules of the Divine Realm had their souls banished to the Heavenly Prison by Tianfa and they would be stuck there for eternity. Within the Heavenly Prison, those banished souls were able to condense themselves into physical entities. They were able to unleash powerful attacks on the intruders, but they had no consciousness of their own. The moment anyone enters the Heavenly Prison, those souls would attack them relentlessly.
At this very moment, Li Qing held his Ice Sword and behind him, there was a huge phantom of a god-beast which couldn’t be seen clearly. His body was covered with blood and his handsome face pale to the extreme. After entering the Heavenly Prison, Li Qing was finally able to meet opponents who were able to threaten him. In front of him, there was a third grade god soul and several tens of angel souls.
Li Qing shouted loudly as he swung his Ice Sword. In an instant, he attacked the third grade god soul with cold qi emanating from his Ice Sword. Although the third grade gods were god of lower ranks in the Divine Realm, they were practically invincible existences in the Blue Waves Continent. It completely ignored Li Qing’s attack as it sent a punch towards Li Qing’s chest.
Hong, Li Qing met the punch head on and was sent flying. In a flash, the angels surrounding Li Qing started to chase after him. They wanted to attack him while he was injured by the punch of the god soul, but a rank 10 water magic appeared in the air. The rank 10 water magic, World of Snow and Ice, managed to slow the angels down and they were unable to catch up to Li Qing who was sent flying away by the punch. When Li Qing realized that he was falling towards a hillside, he took advantage of the terrain as he rolled downwards. Currently, Li Qing was in extreme pain as he felt as though every bone in his body was broken. His internal organs seemed as though they had been smashed into mush by that punch from the god soul.
At this point, Li Qing didn’t have the time to think about his injuries. His consciousness started to become hazy as Li Qing felt as though his life force was rapidly fading from his body.
“Congeal the senses, calm the qi. Disperse qi all over the body, limbs and bones. Stop all breathing and there would be no pulse……” At this moment, words flashed through the mind of Li Qing. This was the lifesaving technique Long Yi had taught him before leaving. It was known as Tortoise Breathing **. In an instant, Li Qing activated this technique as he stopped breathing altogether. Although he seemed to have died, his managed to maintain his body vitality. Moreover, the function of his entire body was also maintained. This was a peerless lifesaving technique.
Actually, Li Qing played a little trick when he was facing the god and angel souls. If he didn’t resort to any tricks and fought the souls head-on, he would have been dead long ago and he would never have the chance to use his Tortoise Breathing **. The strength behind the punch was no laughing matter. It was the full strength punch of a third grade god soul… With Li Qing’s current strength, there was no way he would be able to escape unscathed from the punch. When faced with the punch, Li Qing had no way to run as he was surrounded by the angel souls. However, he spotted the hillside in the distance and decided that he had to land in the hillside in order to survive. As a result, he faced the punch of the god soul head-on and placed a bet with his life on the line. When that punch of that third grade god soul almost smashed into him, Li Qing instantly made that phantom of a god-beast behind him appear in front of him. It forcefully blocked the punch, and Li Qing quickly casted the rank 10 water magic. The moment the World of Snow and Ice appeared to slow down the souls, Li Qing instantly activated his Tortoise Breathing ** in order to trick the souls. Thinking that Li Qing was already dead, the souls started to drift away.
Li Qing won the bet. At least, it appeared so for the time being. He managed to barely keep his life. As a matter of fact, Li Qing really drew the shortest stick this time. In this mysterious forbidden area, the majority of the souls were ordinary angels and other stuff which had the strength of angels. There were extremely little god souls, and the number of these third grade god souls could be counted on one hand. In the Divine Realm, Main Gods were on the top of the hierarchy. Under the Main Gods, there were Gods of the first to fifth grade. Generally, only fifth grade god souls would be trapped in the Heavenly Prison. Since the time the Heavenly Prison was made into a path of trail, every patriarch which emerged from the Heavenly Prison had never met a soul of a god higher than the fifth grade before. However, Li Qing managed to meet the soul of a third grade god inside the Heavenly Prison…… There was only one explanation, Li Qing had really bad luck.
…………………
Nine Deviation Village was located at the border of the Proud Moon Empire. Inside the Moxi Village, all the Moxi clansmen had gathered and appeared to be discussing something. Even Si Bi, her cousin Susu and her cousin-in-law were present in the meeting. All of them were waiting for the final result of 18th Path of Test, the Heavenly Prison.
Many people recognized Si Bi, and they didn’t feel as though anything was off as she was wearing her signature hood.
There was a time limit for the opening of the space passage linking to the Heavenly Prison. Five hours on the Blue Waves Continent was equivalent to five days inside the Heavenly Prison. The ancient jade handed down in the Moxi Clan was able to keep the space passage open for Five Hours on the Blue Waves Continent. As such, the individual taking the trail would have to stay in the Heavenly Prison for five days before coming out. After five days, the person taking the trail would be sent out regardless. Naturally, there were many patriarch candidates in the history of the Moxi Clan who fell at the final pass. They were sent out of the Heavenly Prison with a corpse and they had to be brought back to the clan in a coffin. However, there were cases where the candidate didn’t return. There was only one reason for his, and it was that they were completely annihilated inside the Heavenly Prison and their body was completely destroyed.
Si Bi looked at the timer in the middle of the square and muttered, “Ten more minutes, Li Qing, you must preserve.”
Yes, despite the exceeding complexities between Si Bi and Li Qing, there was a complicated relationship existing between the two of them. It was impossible for them to become lovers in their life, however, they still cared for each other regardless. For Si Bi, she treated Li Qing as her younger brother. As such, she was worried for this younger brother when he entered the Heavenly Prison. She didn’t want to see him fall and fail to become the Moxi Clan patriarch.
Susu patted Si Bi’s hand as she said, “Don’t worry, Li Qing will be fine.”
Si Bi nodded her head and took a deep breath. Then, she finally said, “Yes, we should believe in him. He will certainly return alive because he has yet to see my husband.”
Susu stared at Si Bi with a strange expression on her face as she asked, “Why does Li Qing coming out have to do with your husband? What’s the connection between him and your husband??”
Si Bi smiled and replied, “To Li Qing, my husband occupies a higher position in his heart compared to me.”
“Don’t speak nonsense.” Susu clearly didn’t believe anything Si Bi was saying.
Si Bi no longer explained herself. She couldn’t tell Susu the matter about Li Qing becoming Long Yi’s servant. Besides, Long Yi had always treated Li Qing like a brother instead of a servant. The true question was whether the complicated relationship between Li Qing and Si Bi could be resolved. Was Li Qing really able to let go of the feelings he had for Si Bi?
As the patriarch of the Moxi Clan looked at the time, he had a calm expression on his face. However, hidden behind his calm expression was a tempest of emotions. His heart had already tightened up long ago as he was praying to the gods that Li Qing would be able to emerge from the Heavenly Prison alive. Li Qing was his blood and flesh. As the patriarch’s son, Li Qing was entrusted with the patriarch’s great expectations. If anything were to happen to Li Qing, as a father, the patriarch would be unable to control his emotions.
“Patriarch, there is only one minute left.” The words of an elder made the sturdy body of the patriarch tremble. Unknowingly, the patriarch had his fists clenched so tight that his knuckles had become white.
This moment, all the clansmen of the Moxi Clan had their hearts in their mouths as they waited for the final moment to pass. No one knew when it happened, as the sky had already lost its luster and a cold wind started to brew. Big snowflakes started floating down from the sky as the whole world was covered in a blanket of white.
“Qian’er, what happened? Aren’t you worried about Li Qing?” A beautiful girl grabbed the girl called Qian’er at her side and asked with concern in her voice. These girls were the ones who were talking about Li Qing when he had returned from the 17th path of test, the Underworld Demonic Forest. The girl called Qian’er was one of the girls inside the Moxi Clan who developed feelings for the aloof and handsome Li Qing.
“Big sister, I am fine. However, I have this nagging feeling inside me. Do you think the young patriarch would meet with an accident inside? He wouldn’t be in trouble would he?” This beautiful girl called Qian’er covered her mouth as she said with a pale face
“Stupid little sister, young patriarch is so wise and mighty! How would anything bad happen to him.” The other girl started to console Qian’er.
Finally, the timer started to ring as it signaled the end of the trail. Everyone instantly opened their eyes wide as they waited for Li Qing to be transported out.
A burst of dazzling light blinded everyone in the room as Li Qing appeared in the middle of the room. His clothes were stained with blood and his eyes were closed.
“Qing’er……” looking at the appearance of his beloved son, the patriarch of the Moxi Clan was no longer able to maintain his dignified appearance. He rushed up to examine Li Qing.
“Ah…… How can this be? How could this happen? Qing’er……” The patriarch of the Moxi Clan checked Li Qing’s pulse before he checked for his breath. In an instant, the patriarch’s face turned white. With a loud roar, he collapsed into the snowland with tears flowing from his aged eyes.
When the rest of the clan members saw how their patriarch was acting, they had a clear idea on what had happened. They started to bawl as they stared at the lifeless figure of Li Qing in the middle of the room. Their young patriarch, the hope of their Moxi Clan had fallen at the final pass.
“Impossible, impossible… Li Qing cannot die.” Si Bi muttered absent-mindedly as her vision blurred.
On the other hand, Qian’er was unable to accept the fact that Li Qing was dead and she fainted on the spot. At this moment, Qian’er wasn’t the only girl who had fainted when they realized that their young patriarch was dead.
The elders behind the patriarch sighed simultaneously as they got ready to take away Li Qing’s corpse.
“All of you get out of my way. There is no way Li Qing would die inside the Heavenly Prison!” Si Bi rushed over as she casted Holy Light Illuminating Heaven Magic.
As she rushed forward, she didn’t have the time to care about her appearance. Her hood fell off her head as her long green hair fell past her shoulders. The clear and beautiful face appeared in front of everyone as she pushed past the elders who were already beside Li Qing.
Everyone was stunned as they looked at SI Bi. The elders were no exception.
“You are Si Bi?” One of the elders hesitated when he asked. Of course, he recognized Si Bi. However, he was shocked at her transformation. Wasn’t she extremely ugly in the past?
Si Bi didn’t reply the elder. She squatted in front of Li Qing’s body as she recalled about the times she had spent with him. She felt sick in her heart when she thought about this younger brother of hers. When Si Bi examined Li Qing’s breathing and pulse like the elders, she suddenly sensed that in the midst of the Li Qing’s ice cold body, there was a trace of warmth flowing through his body. Could it be……
Si Bi’s expression hardened as she wiped the tears off her face. Pressing her finger against Li Qing’s neck, she started checking for his pulse again. No one bothered her. Si Bi’s actions ignited the hopes of all the clansmen again. Seeing as Si Bi would suddenly become serious and check for signs of life, they naturally knew that it was possible that their young patriarch was still alive
Si Bi finally managed to feel a weak pulse after waiting for a long time. Instantly, she broke into a radiant smile as she declared, “Li Qing is not dead. He is still alive.”
Regarding the concern Si Bi had towards Li Qing, nobody had anything to say about it. Under such circumstances, if Si Bi didn’t have any emotional fluctuation, everyone would have thought that she was a heartless monster. Other than romantic love, familial love and friendship existed between the both of them.
