Chapter 426: World in the Mural

Autumn and winter are separated by a single snowfall.

In the fifth month of Xu Qing's arrival in the county capital, winter quietly set in with the descent of the first snow.

Amidst the silver-clad landscape, snowflakes cascaded onto the tops of buildings, into the streets, and onto the hair of passersby. While adorning the entire land, it also made the city appear to have gained many white-haired individuals.

The first snow came suddenly and was quite heavy. It fell outside the Bureau of Penal Affairs and settled on the sword pavilions.

Through the wind and snow, Xu Qing, clad in a white Sword Holder robe, walked towards the Bureau in this world of white. Today was his day to report to duty in District C.

Days earlier, he had completed the suppression of District D1 and passed the promotion assessment. From that moment, he was no longer a common jailer in District D but had become a jailer in District C. As for his post as guardian of D132, Xu Qing did not relinquish it; he would hold both positions concurrently.

The uniform of a District C jailer was no different from that of District D, save for a black emblem at the collar. This emblem was shaped like a twig. If the Bureau of Penal Affairs were likened to a great tree, then District D jailers were its leaves, and District C jailers were its branches.

As he descended the stairs of the Bureau of Penal Affairs, Xu Qing distinctly felt the honor represented by this emblem, for every District D jailer he encountered greeted him with respectful deference. Xu Qing returned their bows, walked to the 88th floor, passed the 89th, and took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn as he stepped onto the stairs leading to the 90th floor.

"The 90th floor..." Xu Qing murmured to himself, his steps firm as he slowly descended.

A soft tapping sound emanated from Xu Qing's feet. It was the sound of his footsteps on the stairs, now echoing around him, remarkably clear in the quiet environment. The light from the upper levels of the Bureau of Penal Affairs could not penetrate the depth of the 90th floor, so the world that unfolded before Xu Qing's eyes grew progressively dimmer.

Only when he reached the last step leading to the 90th floor did Xu Qing pause, looking up at the Bureau of Penal Affairs' ninetieth level.

This place was completely different from District D. The ground was damp and covered in moss. Although only one floor separated it from above, when Xu Qing looked up, a feeling arose in his heart as if a whole world lay between him and District D. For while this place was also circular, it had no cells, no cell doors! The entire circular wall, as far as the eye could see, was covered in murals.

These murals permeated the entire wall surface, depicting the sun, moon, clouds, and mist, mountains, rivers, and architecture, as well as all living beings! It was like a complete world! Yet the colors were monotonous, all in dark hues.

Xu Qing's mind trembled. Looking at the paintings, he thought of the Danqing clan from D132.

After a long moment, Xu Qing approached the murals. Upon closer inspection, his pupils contracted. These murals seemed alive; everything within them was changing. Clouds drifted, and mountains shifted. It was as if a dark world truly existed there, and Xu Qing stood outside, observing it all.

"The 90th floor has only one cell." A cold voice, tinged with a hint of familiarity, abruptly came from behind Xu Qing.

Xu Qing spun around and saw a figure emerging from the darkness. It was a tall old man, exuding pressure, his eyes cold, and his entire being radiating a dense murderous aura. Staring at him for too long would evoke ghostly wails in one's mind, as if countless beings had died by his hand, their aggrieved souls perpetually circling him, spreading malevolence to all living things.

"Greetings, Senior Ghost Hand!" Xu Qing immediately recognized the other party as the instructor who had taught them, the newly promoted Sword Holders, about the fatal weaknesses of various races during their secret training. That day, as his assistant, Xu Qing had personally witnessed the old man bringing out countless corpses, and even killing some on the spot.

He had inwardly guessed that the old man must be from a deeper level. Seeing him now, Xu Qing felt no great surprise, bowing respectfully.

The old man glanced at Xu Qing, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. "I remember you, the little fellow who poisoned 'Sickly Ghost.' To have risen so quickly from District D, that's impressive." The old man chuckled, though his pervasive murderous aura made his smile seem sinister. A common person might have felt a chill, but Xu Qing was accustomed to it and found it normal.

Noting Xu Qing's unchanging expression, the old man was even more pleased. In fact, he had thought highly of Xu Qing when he first chose him as an assistant. Walking closer to Xu Qing, he gazed at the murals and spoke flatly. "Most of the jailers in District C are Nascent Soul cultivators. Do you know why?"

"Because the method of suppressing criminals in District C is different from District D?" Xu Qing thought for a moment and replied.

"I thought you would say the criminals' cultivation is deeper," the old man chuckled. "While it's true that District C has stronger criminals, including Nascent Soul and Spiritual Treasure cultivators, that's not the main point. The crucial factor is... only Nascent Soul jailers can bear the rules of a small world without being crushed by them." The old man's gaze remained on the murals, his voice echoing all around.

"The rules of a small world?" Xu Qing mused, also looking at the murals.

"From the 90th floor all the way to the 122nd floor, it's all District C, a total of thirty-three floors," the old man slowly explained. "District C has no cells like District D; each floor is simply these murals. Each mural is a small world! These thirty-three small worlds are the prisons of District C!"

As Ghost Hand spoke, Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with surprise. He had suspected this when he first saw the murals, especially having experienced the Grand Void Realm, so he wasn't entirely ignorant of small worlds. Still, he was utterly shaken by the scale of the Bureau of Penal Affairs' methods. "If thirty-three small worlds serve as the prisons of District C, then what will the lower District B and District A be like?" Xu Qing took a deep breath.

The words of the elder Ghost Hand continued to echo. "I am the Prison Lord of the first of these thirty-three worlds, leading a group of District C jailers from the first world to guard this realm! Your assignment is to this first world prison, but since your cultivation hasn't reached Nascent Soul, you cannot bear the power of this world's rules on your own. I'll take you to a secondary realm first, so you can get a feel for it."

As he spoke, the old man exhaled a puff of black mist onto the mural. As the mist descended and spread, the mural's colors became vibrant. It was no longer dim and dark, but full of color, eventually displaying every hue, becoming truly lifelike. "Let's go." The old man walked into the now colorful mural, his hands behind his back.

Xu Qing followed, and in an instant, he and the old man stepped into the mural, entering the first of the thirty-three worlds.

What unfolded before Xu Qing was a boundless void. Deep within that void lay a gray continent, enveloped by a red, eggshell-like light barrier. Covering it were countless runes, formed by an innumerable array of formations and restrictions—billions of them—creating an astonishing seal that completely enveloped and tightly sealed the entire continent. Moreover, these runes flashed in unison, seemingly following a specific pattern, ensuring that at least a million runes flickered simultaneously at every given moment, operating eternally. As the sealing formations rotated, four gigantic, illusory statues also emerged around the continent. These four statues were immense, vastly different in appearance from humans, resembling more closely ferocious beasts. Their heads were as large as the continent itself, positioned in the cardinal directions, all looking down at the continent, their gazes converging to form the sun and moon. As the formation runes shimmered, these four figures slowly shifted their positions, creating the alternation of day and night.

This scene was immensely vast, causing powerful ripples in Xu Qing's mind.

In the void, the old man, who was ahead, spoke in a deep voice. "This is the First World. This void was extracted from the Void Realm by the first Palace Lord and integrated here to conceal the aura of the First World. The runic seal of the outer shell can be seen as the laws of this world, refined by our Sword Holder Palace. And those four statues are the original four Heavenly Dao embodiments of this realm. Now, leave your mark within the formation. That way, you won't be suppressed by the rules when you enter."

As he spoke, the old man took a step, entering the sealing formation, passing through it, and directly descending onto the continent.

Xu Qing formed a hand seal, imprinting his mark into the light-shell formation, and followed. As the continent grew clearer in his eyes, their figures passed through everything, appearing amidst the sky and clouds. Below them lay the land and mountains of this small world.

"The moment this realm was transformed into a prison, a law was established: external beings are forbidden from procreating here," the old man slowly stated, continuing to walk.

As Xu Qing followed, he noticed that this world was quite vast, with a landscape predominantly of deserts and desolate wilderness. Spiritual energy was extremely scarce; upon his arrival, he even felt a sense of suffocation. It was as if his entire body was bound by an invisible force, suppressed by countless mountains, making it difficult to exert even a tenth of his power, severely restricted. Fortunately, as the array of the outer light shell began to operate, Xu Qing quickly returned to normal, feeling a sense of ease. This experience gave him a deeper understanding of this prison.

At the same time, the climate of this world was extremely harsh. From a high vantage point, one could see dust storms raging in some areas, the wind within capable of stripping flesh from bone. In other places, poisonous rain poured down, causing all life within to wail in agony. Still elsewhere, magnetic storms permeated the air, with streaks of heavenly lightning descending, obliterating everything.

"Within the thirty-three world prisons, countless races and anomalies are confined, suffering in these small worlds, their lives not their own, and all rules here are controlled by our Bureau of Penal Affairs." The old man waved his hand, and immediately the desert terrain below transformed, mountains rising from the ground, the landscape becoming a tangled network of peaks. This was not the end; he waved his hand again, and the mountains instantly vanished, an endless amount of water vapor gathered, and vast amounts of seawater seeped from the ground. In the next moment, the area transformed into a sea. Moving mountains and overturning seas, all changes were under his single command.

Xu Qing watched this scene, his expression solemn.

"Xu Qing, do you know why prisons themselves inspire fear?" the old man asked Xu Qing.

"Because of deprivation," Xu Qing replied solemnly.

"Precisely. Taking away what originally belonged to them, turning what was once commonplace into something they desperately yearn for but can no longer possess—the pain generated by such a contrast is the most heart-wrenching."

"The principle of the thirty-three world prisons is to use the small world's own laws as a cage, allowing all Nascent Soul cultivators imprisoned in this First World to be infiltrated by this realm. We do not restrict their cultivation; they remain Nascent Soul, but they are Nascent Souls *of the small world*."

"A Four-Flame Foundation Establishment on the Wanggu Continent is roughly comparable to a Nascent Soul in a small world. The power of a Golden Core with one palace is almost equivalent to a mid-Nascent Soul."

"Thus, these prisoners, who were once accustomed to wielding a single spell on the Wanggu Continent to summon wind and rain, now find their power drastically diminished. That feeling of being bound by the world will make them, knowing the beauty of the outside, crave it even more intensely and suffer even more."

"What they once possessed has been stripped away. What was once the simplest thing for them has now become the most extravagant desire. This," the old man said, looking at Xu Qing, his voice deep, "is the prison of District C in the Bureau of Penal Affairs."