OUTSIDE OF TIME

525 Mysterious Area

Xu Qing’s massacre continued, and hell was still moving.

In fact, what the Pawns in Area D saw was both correct and incorrect.

What was correct was that Xu Qing’s expression didn’t fluctuate at all during the massacre.

What was incorrect was that… he wasn’t controlling his emotions.

Time and time again, he had crawled out of a pile of corpses and wandered on the verge of death. He had seen the god open its eyes twice, and struggled to survive. He no longer needed to control his emotions.

Killing was his instinct.

If you want to harm me, I’ll kill you.

The initial malice and cruelty of these criminals had already determined the outcome. Regardless of whether it was here or outside, it was the same.

Xu Qing was relentless in his attacks, showing no mercy because of the criminals’ mental breakdown or their desperate wails.

He continued to attack.

He caught up to one prisoner after another who was fleeing in fear and killed them by attacking their fatal spots which he had learned from the secret training.

Of course, he still needed the golden cores, so the process was accompanied by mournful cries that continued to echo through the area.

After another half an incense stick of time passed, Xu Qing held the head of a Two Faces Race cultivator in his left hand and stood among the corpses.

He stood calmly under the dense stench of blood, and looked at the solemn-looking Pawns at the entrance of the cell.

“Finished.”

Xu Qing threw down the head in his hand and spoke softly.

The Pawns’ expressions were solemn. After a long time, they bowed to Xu Qing in unison.

The middle-aged Pawn at the front spoke in a low voice.

“Welcome, Brother Xu Qing, to the Prison Department!”

Behind him, all the Pawns spoke in unison.

“Welcome, Brother Xu Qing, to the Prison Department!”

In any place, the strong were respected.

It was the same for the Prison Department. However, other than being powerful, they also had to feel that they were the same kind of people.

If someone could do this, they would naturally obtain their recognition.

And, if that someone could go beyond it, then what they would obtain would definitely be respect.

This is what Xu Qing did.

Xu Qing bowed and returned the greeting. Sensing that the Fifth Heavenly Palace was rapidly materializing in his body, he asked.

“Can I kill those from the other cells?”

When the Pawns, they sighed with emotion.

“Xu Qing, although we can kill the prisoners here, it’s still not good to kill too many of them. You’ve already used up our quota for this month.”

The middle-aged Pawn smiled bitterly.

“However, there’s no need to worry. Every month, many criminals are captured to replenish the numbers. According to everyone’s tacit understanding, we can kill as many criminals as we capture.”

As he spoke, the middle-aged Pawn pushed open the cell door. When everyone walked out, Xu Qing glanced at the place where he had placed his pouch earlier.

The surrounding Pawns coughed dryly and looked at each other. They each took out some spirit stones and handed them to the middle-aged Pawn.

After the middle-aged Pawn took it, he sighed.

“It wasn’t easy to have a newbie in the team. I thought I could make a fortune, but…” He shook his head and distributed the spirit stones to three to five Pawns.

These Pawns took them with a smile. They were the ones who had bet on Xu Qing’s victory.

After that, the middle-aged cultivator kept some of the remaining spirit stones and gave them to Xu Qing according to certain odds.

Xu Qing’s previous judgment wasn’t wrong. These people followed him because they wanted to bet.

Most of them were betting that Xu Qing wouldn’t be able to hold on for long and the banker was none other than the middle-aged Pawn. Clearly, although some people bet that Xu Qing would succeed, and obtained benefits, Xu Qing also obtained a lot.

After all, his odds were very high.

He was satisfied with the spirit stones.

The other Pawns each had their own cells to guard. After they bade farewell, the middle-aged Pawn brought Xu Qing to the registration office.

On the way, his attitude was completely different from before.

“Brother Xu Qing, I’m usually stationed on the 35th floor. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to find me. I’ll bring you to register now, and you’ll be allocated a cell and a Pawn’s Daoist robe. Your aura will also be recorded so that you can enter on your own.”

Xu Qing nodded. As he walked, he passed by many cells. His gaze would look at them from time to time with some regret.

This expression was noticed by the middle-aged Pawn. He smiled and spoke.

“Actually, there’s another way. That is, you need to suppress Area D1 on the 88th floor. At that time, you can choose to advance to a Pawn of Area C.”

This time, his smile wasn’t fake but sincere.

“After becoming a Pawn in Area C, you won’t have any restrictions on dealing with criminals. Moreover, you’ll be rewarded with more military contributions.”

“Under the 89th floor?” Xu Qing asked. He had heard the other party mention Area C before.

“That’s right. The Prison Department is divided into four areas: A, B, C, and D. All the floors above the 89th are Area D.”

“Below the 89th floor is Area C. As for Area B and Area A, they’re not something we can know about. In reality, Area C is already very mysterious. I’ve never been there and don’t know how many floors it contains.”

“I only know that among the criminals imprisoned there, the weakest is in the Nascent Soul realm. Moreover, their cruelty far surpasses that of prisoners in Area D.”

As he spoke, the middle-aged Pawn brought Xu Qing to the registration office on the ninth floor. There, Xu Qing obtained the Daoist robe with black flames and recorded his aura.

The cell he was going to guard was also arranged.

“Area D132.” After seeing the cell Xu Qing was guarding, the middle-aged Pawn’s expression was a little surprised. He took a few more glances at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was puzzled and looked at the other party.

“Is there a problem?”

“D132. How should I put it? It’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s on the 57th floor.” The middle-aged Pawn shook his head and looked at Xu Qing with a complicated gaze.

Xu Qing frowned.

“This has nothing to do with the criminals. Although the criminals inside are indeed more ferocious than those in the other cells, it’s still Area D after all. It’s a curse because many of its successive guardians have died mysteriously outside.”

“However, not all the guardians died. There were still some who were fine. It’s a blessing because our Palace Master was the guardian of Area D132 when he was at the Golden Core Realm.”

“There hasn’t been a new guardian for Area D132 for almost a hundred years.”

Xu Qing’s gaze froze. This matter attracted his attention.

Hence, he took out the jade slip that recorded the information of the prisoners in Area D132 and scanned it with his divine sense.

There were very few prisoners in Area D132. At first glance, Xu Qing didn’t see any problems. However, he didn’t plan to go to Area D132 immediately. Instead, he planned to go back and research first.

Just like that, after Xu Qing asked some more questions about the Prison Department, he left the first prison of Fenghai County.

When he arrived in the outside world, it was already dusk.

Xu Qing felt that today had been very eventful. From meeting the Palace Master to serving as a Pawn, killing criminals, and his Fifth Heavenly Palace near to completing its materialization.

“Next, I have to build the Sword Pavilion.” After walking out of the Prison Department, Xu Qing looked at the circles of the Sword Pavilions of different heights on the ground and arrived at the outermost layer. He then took out his command sword and stabbed it into the ground 10,000 feet away from the last Sword Pavilion.

At the next instant, the command sword shone with a resplendent light and rumbling sounds rang out. A 100-foot-tall Sword Pavilion stood in front of him, identical to the other Sword Pavilions in the surroundings.

100 feet was also the base height.

As the Sword Pavilion was formed, Xu Qing kept the sword. He then entered the Sword Pavilion.

This pavilion looked to be 100 feet tall from the outside but that wasn’t the case from the inside. It was similar to the structure of the cave abodes and was divided into several rooms for alchemy, weapon refinement, closed-door cultivation, and even rooms to receive guests.

There was also a spirit gathering array, so the spirit qi in the Sword Pavilion was very abundant. It was much more comfortable to cultivate here than outside.

Hence, Xu Qing didn’t return to the branch sect but chose to rest here.

As for the necessary protective barriers, such as array formations and poison, Xu Qing naturally wouldn’t forget them.

Although the Sword Pavilion’s defense wasn’t ordinary to begin with, Xu Qing still arranged it according to his habits before he felt at ease.

After that, he sat down and closed his eyes to cultivate.

Time passed.

During this time, he also received a voice transmission from the captain, informing him that all the new Sword Holders’ assessments had ended. He also told Xu Qing in a very boastful tone about the post he had obtained.

“The Sword Holding Palace still thinks very highly of your Eldest Senior Brother. They arranged for me to work in the Office of Merit Records!”

“That chick Qing Qiu was assigned to inspection, Kong Xianglong is in charge of tracking down suspects in the field. Among all the newly promoted Sword Holders, including you, there are only five in administration posts, and I’m one of them.”

The captain was incomparably smug. The sound of eating an apple could be heard from the jade slip.

“Xu Qing, what about you? Are you busy as an edict bearer for the Palace Master?”

“It’s alright.” Xu Qing was a little surprised at the captain’s smugness.

“Little Qing, you don’t understand, do you? Let me tell you, others might snort disdainfully at my post, but they’re stupid. The moment I obtained the post, I could tell that this place isn’t simple.”

“The Office of Merit Records. This is a place for reviewing military contributions. If I use it well, I’ll have great authority.”

“At the same time, I also have a macro view of who’s earning military contributions at a rapid pace, and based on the tasks they’ve completed and their cultivation level, I can calculate the increase range of military contributions for all the Sword Holders. This way, I can easily determine which tasks are the easiest and yield the most military contributions.”

“In addition, as long as I have enough statistics, I can see any areas that are more suitable for obtaining military contributions. This location is too critical. If I study carefully, I can even see a lot of information from the clues inside.”

The captain’s voice was filled with excitement. He was extremely satisfied with this position.

After Xu Qing heard this, a strange expression appeared on his face. He felt that perhaps when the Sword Holding Palace arranged this post for the captain, they didn’t think so deeply…

“Let’s not talk about it. I want to continue digging up this Office of Merit Records. Little Qing, wait. It won’t be long before I find a good way and area to obtain military contributions. I’ll bring you there!”

The captain ended the call excitedly and immersed himself in his research.

Seeing this, Xu Qing also felt some anticipation.

“Military contributions!” Xu Qing lifted his head and looked at the distant world. That was the direction of Morning Glow Province and also the location of Mount Morning Glow.

“There’s also the Emperor Sword. I still have a chance to comprehend it. I have to do it as soon as possible.” Xu Qing took a deep breath and took out the command sword.

He needed to make an appointment in advance to comprehend the Emperor Sword. After all, there were many Sword Holders and there was a limited number of spots every day. Hence, Xu Qing used the command sword to make an appointment. The time was at dusk the next day.

After doing this, Xu Qing thought of D132. He took out the prisoner’s information jade slip and read it carefully.

There weren’t many prisoners in Area D132, only 14. Moreover, they had all been imprisoned for more than 500 years, some even for 1,000 years. During this period, no new prisoners were locked up, and the prisoners inside hadn’t died.

However, because there were no guards for the cell for the past hundred years, the prisoners could only stay in the cages. Only some spirit qi would seep in at a fixed time, allowing them to maintain their basic survival.

Xu Qing studied the slip for a long time, but even until dawn, he didn’t see many special things about the cell.

If there was really one, it would be that the prisoners from Area D132 lived longer than the other cells.

After pondering for a while, Xu Qing decided to take a look.

Hence, after dawn, he went to the Prison Department and went straight to the 57th floor. He stood in front of the cell gate in Area D132.

The greenish-black cell door exuded ancientness.

Xu Qing stood silently for a while as determination appeared in his eyes. He then slowly pushed open the cell gate that hadn’t been opened in the past hundred years…

An aura of decay spread out from the gap in the slowly opening gate, permeating the surroundings.

The many Pawns on the other floors were also leaning forward on the stairs and looking at where Xu Qing was.

“D132, it’s opened again.”