Imprisoned

"Myriad Demons God-Imprisoning Finger!" Zhang Nianci sensed danger immediately. He sprang up from the ground, raised his hand, and thrust a finger toward the colossal palm. Surging demonic energy compressed across the surface of his finger, turning it ink-black like a miniature black hole. This technique had been derived from the Myriad Sages Demon-Imprisoning Finger. It did not seek widespread destructive force; instead, it pursued pure lethality. Against living beings, its offensive power was pushed to the absolute extreme. Even a cultivator with a Rule Dao Body would be critically wounded upon being struck by it. In battle, flashy spectacles did not equate to superior might, nor did sheer cataclysmic destruction make an attack truly terrifying. A silent strike focused to the utmost degree was often far deadlier. Yet the anticipated collision never took place. In an instant, his body passed straight through the massive palm. Before he could even process what had happened, he found himself standing in a stark white space. He stood there, his right hand still frozen in that pointing gesture. The trouble was, the pitch-black forefinger had lost every trace of demonic energy. Staring blankly ahead, he looked thoroughly bewildered. "Who is it?" "Show yourself!" Zhang Nianci drew a deep breath and abruptly bellowed into the surrounding void. This was no ordinary shout, but the Myriad Demons God-Shocking Roar. A single roar possessed enough power to shatter an enemy's divine soul, while also carrying the potency to dispell illusions. It boasted tremendous destructive capability against illusions, illusory domains, illusory arrays, and illusory realms alike. Yet after his frantic shouting, he remained firmly within the white space. "Not an illusion?" Startled, Zhang Nianci immediately threw a punch at the wall beside him. He soon realized that a punch capable of effortlessly obliterating countless worlds produced not the slightest effect against this wall. In fact... his fist actually stung with pain. It felt as though he had reverted to being an ordinary mortal who had lost all his strength. The real problem was that he could be one hundred percent certain his power remained within him; with that punch just now, he had even channeled his internal true demonic power. "What is going on?" Zhang Nianci took two steps back, finally panicking. He hastily produced a sword, gripping it tight, and slashed down ruthlessly against the wall. This was the miraculous item Realm-Breaking Toy Sword, endowed with the marvelous ability to sever realm boundaries, capable of cutting open any world. *Crack.* Zhang Nianci's sword struck, followed immediately by the sound of shattering. It was not the wall that shattered, however, but the toy sword in his hand, which had genuinely become no more than a fragile toy, crumbling into pieces. With trembling hands, he stared at the hilt. Tossing it aside, he frantically pulled out various items from his storage ring, yet without exception, every single one failed to work. "Aaaargh!" Zhang Nianci had run rampant across the heavens; when had he ever suffered such humiliation? Realizing he truly had no way to harm a mere wall, he flew into a frenzy, attacking wildly, flailing and clawing inside the white space. In the end, he came to an exhausted halt, panting heavily. His entire body was covered in scrapes and bruises, and the skin on his fists was torn open to reveal stark white bone. It hurt. He had not experienced such pain in an eternity. Inexplicably, he remembered the dream he had had earlier. Mighty Ones generally did not dream, for their spirits were unified and their cultivation profound, making dreams exceedingly rare. Yet once they did dream, it was highly likely their sixth sense was at work. "Could it be... Master?" "Master! Master, I was wrong! I shouldn't have done evil! I shouldn't have killed people! I was wrong!" Catching on, Zhang Nianci's eyes darted around, and he dropped straight to his knees, screaming and wailing into the empty surroundings. Even after hours of shouting, however, he received no reply whatsoever. The place remained as it had always been, an endless, silent expanse of white. *** Administrator Space. After capturing Zhang Nianci, Yu Xian did not waste a single moment, immediately setting off to apprehend Zhang Buyao's next student. In truth, the space imprisoning Zhang Nianci was the very same white room that every player entered upon logging in. Only by answering questions in that room could one be teleported into the true Zhen Realm. All Yu Xian had done was temporarily disable the question-prompting function for the specific space holding Zhang Nianci. To put it simply, if Zhang Nianci wanted to leave that space, he had to answer questions first. But since Yu Xian forbade the system from issuing questions, Zhang Nianci could not answer them, and without answering, he naturally could never leave. In effect, that space had become a disguised prison cell. Until Yu Xian decided how to deal with him, Zhang Nianci would remain locked up there indefinitely. Both Chi Feihong and Feng Mingge were utterly dumbfounded by Yu Xian's maneuver. Through the surveillance feed, they could clearly watch what was happening inside Zhang Nianci's space. Eyes wide, both held the identical thought: *You can even use the Zhen Realm like this?!* Only at this moment did they realize the true terror of Yu Xian's authority as the Zhen Realm's administrator. "Could you beat this Zhang Nianci?" Chi Feihong asked curiously. Feng Mingge shook his head and replied, "He is stronger than me. If I fought him, I would probably be defeated within half a day." "What about me?" Chi Feihong asked. Feng Mingge glanced at Chi Feihong and shook his head. "Hard to say. Both you and he are stronger than me, so I can't judge." "Fair enough. Even though your strength isn't great—in fact, you could say you're quite weak—at least your knowledge and experience surpass mine. In a thousand years, ask Master for a better class, and maybe you'll be stronger than me," Chi Feihong comforted him. For a moment, Feng Mingge could not tell whether Chi Feihong was mocking him or actually offering comfort. *** Tree Universe. Near one of the great branches, a woman clad in a black dress curled her body inside a floating black bubble. The sphere radiated a dark, sinister glow. Any matter, world, or living being illuminated by that black light was thoroughly swallowed by the dark bubble. This was the second student adopted by Zhang Buyao, whom she had named Zhang Rourou. Zhang Buyao had genuinely regarded Zhang Rourou as her own daughter. Yet after several thousand years apart, Zhang Rourou had long since fallen into the demonic path. She had even intentionally avoided Zhang Buyao, madly devouring myriad worlds and all living things. By now, she had grown into the Calamity of the Myriad Realms. Wherever she passed, worlds vanished and civilizations disappeared, leaving behind only empty, barren stretches within the Tree Universe. Whenever cultivators across the myriad worlds saw a blank void in the Tree Universe, they immediately knew the Calamity of the Myriad Realms had visited. There was even an organization dedicated solely to investigating the blank zones of the Tree Universe to trace her trajectory. Yet as the black bubble drifted toward the interior of the branch, a colossal palm materialized before it and clamped down hard. The bubble retaliated automatically. However, the black light had not the slightest effect on the palm. Inside the bubble, Zhang Rourou snapped her eyes open. She drove the bubble in a frantic attempt to retreat, only to discover the palm was moving far too quickly. "Heaven-Devouring Earth-Consuming, Black Membrane!" Zhang Rourou unleashed her strongest attack straight at the hand. Countless strands of dark light instantly wove into an enormous black shroud that draped over the palm. Yet the hand punched straight through the shroud without a single second of hesitation, seizing the bubble directly. In the next instant, Zhang Rourou was captured by the Zhen Realm.