Chapter 404. Dragon Penitentiary, A Place of Incarceration, Arrays
Yinglong's reaction caught both of them off guard. After all, Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian knew full well that Yinglong wasn't just any dragon. In ancient mythology, Yinglong had authority over the rain and the wind.
Considering its natural talent and level of strength, both Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian could not understand why the mere mention of a place had made it reveal such an emotion. Especially when that place was just a prison.
"Is there something inside that Dragon Penitentiary?" Lu Yuan asked. Other than the idea that there was something inside the Dragon Penitentiary, Lu Yuan couldn't think of anything else that would make Yinglong feel rattled.
Jiang Ningxian turned toward Yinglong as well, waiting for an answer.
Yinglong nodded at first, but then it quickly shook its head. "It did hold some extremely powerful beings at one point, but that was a very long time ago. With everything that has been happening to the world these years, I don't think they're still in there. And I visited that place before, but I didn't find anything."
Despite what it said, a trace of fear still lingered in its heart. The Dragon Penitentiary was a forbidden zone, after all. The only reason it visited that place was that it knew something important to it was in there.
Yinglong's hesitation was plain to see. Jiang Ningxian noticed it and asked, "The two of us are with you, so why do you look so worried?"
Jiang Ningxian didn't take Yinglong's worry and hesitation seriously, but it wasn't because she was being reckless here. She simply had absolute confidence in her own strength, and Lu Yuan was right beside her as well. Whatever danger they encountered, they would surely come through unscathed.
"Makes sense." Yinglong nodded. The Dragon Penitentiary was dangerous, but it wasn't a death zone. Besides, Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian were with it. There was no reason to keep hesitating.
With that in mind, it squeezed out a drop of blood from its palm, allowing it to fall.
Buzz!
Space itself rippled outward as a spatial rift manifested before Yinglong Ao Ze, Lu Yuan, and Jiang Ningxian.
Layers of energy radiated from within, but this energy was nothing like what they had felt in the Dragon Palace. It was cold, and it was indescribably bizarre.
Those who had made contact with it would feel as if their soul itself was being restrained.
"This place really is something else," Jiang Ningxian remarked. Those the dragon race had deemed worthy of imprisonment weren't simple beings. Even after all these years, this inexplicably cold energy had yet to dissipate.
It was no wonder Yinglong looked worried.
Jiang Ningxian estimated that the prisoners here had to be Immortals at the very least. Under normal circumstances, no one would dare approach this forbidden zone, but all of that was in the past now. Nothing remained here but remnant traces of some bizarre energy.
In Jiang Ningxian's eyes, nothing could possibly withstand the ruthless passage of time. Whoever was imprisoned here had to have perished a long time ago. In practical terms, the Dragon Penitentiary posed little real danger to them.
Soon, they found themselves in a different space. Everything around them had turned dim and gray; there were also massive prison cells before them. They were so tall that their presence alone made the air feel oppressive, making anyone feel suffocated.
An ordinary person would have probably collapsed by now. The place was just too overwhelming for the weak. However, neither Lu Yuan nor Jiang Ningxian was weak. This was nothing to them, and they easily pressed onward.
"I've never seen prison cells this massive. What kind of beings were imprisoned here? Were they all giants?" Jiang Ningxian asked, her voice sounding amazed.
Even she had to admit that this was an extraordinary place, and the prison cells were as extraordinary as the entire penitentiary itself, as each one still had intact arrays, despite the long passage of time.
Jiang Ningxian realized that if she were locked inside one, even she would have a hard time escaping. Time could erode many things, but not everything. The penitentiary had stood for an unknown number of years, yet the arrays on its prison cells remained intact. Just what sort of beings were the prisoners here?
"I'm not sure, actually. I was so young back then, and the inherited memories I've unlocked so far don't contain that information," Ao Ze replied, "But now that we've entered the Dragon Penitentiary, I'm certain that the cauldron we're looking for is here."
It had finally remembered that the cauldron it had seen was inside the Dragon Penitentiary. Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian exchanged glances at those words. They both found it strange.
The Nine Cauldrons weren't that useful to the dragon race, but they were still one of the symbols of humanity. Why would one of them be in a penitentiary?
"Follow me," Ao Ze said, "I've mostly remembered where it is."
With that, Ao Ze led them deeper through the Dragon Penitentiary.
The penitentiary was vast, and every prison cell they passed was striking in its own right. The further they went, however, the smaller the cells became until eventually, they became only large enough to hold beings roughly the size of a human being.
Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian said nothing, but the two realized that the deeper they went, the more dangerous the prisoners had been. An idea popped into their minds. Was one of the Nine Cauldrons being used to restrain something?
However, it didn't make sense, especially for Lu Yuan, who knew that activating one of the Nine Cauldrons required at least one Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token, but then he froze upon realizing something.
His second Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token was found inside the Water-Crystal Palace of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. Could there truly be a connection between that and the cauldron here?
While he was in the midst of deep contemplation, Ao Ze finally led them to the deepest reaches of the Dragon Penitentiary. There, they found a small cell. As expected of time, the prison cell looked dilapidated. If it weren't for the fact that it was inside the Dragon Penitentiary, it would easily escape anyone's attention.
Of course, the prison cell's state wasn't what caught Lu Yuan's attention. Instead, it was the square cauldron with four legs and two handles. It was bronze in color and was covered in a thick layer of rust.
From afar, it was nearly impossible to tell what it truly was.
"That's definitely one of the Nine Cauldrons, but I can't tell which one," Jiang Ningxian said. She truly had a discerning eye. The cauldron emitted neither an aura nor energy, but she could still discern that it was no ordinary object.
"Agreed." Lu Yuan nodded. Having collected six of the Nine Cauldrons, he recognized it at first glance. What neither he nor Jiang Ningxian had expected, however, was the fact that the dragons had placed one of the Nine Cauldrons in a penitentiary of all places.
In addition, it seemed like it was just sitting out in the open. It was like someone could just go up to it and take it away. The sight truly made Lu Yuan and Jiang Ningxian feel baffled.
"I know it looks like it's just sitting in there, but there is an array placed on it by one of the great figures of the dragon race. As for whether you can take it or not, it all depends on your capabilities," Yinglong remarked.
Comments