89. Locking the Spirit (Part 1)

◎ A draw. ◎

The atmosphere on the field suddenly became tense due to Lin Ge's intervention, and Lou Yi's face was so gloomy that it could drip water.

Because he knew that Ran Qinghe's flogging punishment was probably no longer feasible.

Among the five sects, the Buddha Hand Sect's leader, Bukong, has always been detached from worldly affairs. Now, two sect leaders have opposed the execution. Even if Qingxiao and Baixu agree to the execution, it would only be a draw.

Lou Yi's gaze swept across the stage and the audience. Although the cultivators from the Mortal Valley dared not step forward, they all stared intently at the stage. If he insisted on carrying out the execution, things would probably not end well today.

More importantly, Lin Ge clearly came prepared, and she did so so openly that it was as if Ran Qinghe was being instructed by her.

Lou Tinglan's condition was even more abnormal. When the first whip fell, Lou Tinglan's reaction was not as simple as "stagnation of spiritual energy".

Lou Yi's heart sank, and an ominous premonition quietly grew.

"Fine," Lou Yi said through gritted teeth.

"Since Sect Leader Lin believes that the five sects still need to discuss this together, then let's proceed according to the rules. However, Ran Qinghe is a serious offender, and before a decision is made, he must be immediately imprisoned in the Tower of Babel Prison and placed under strict guard!"

He turned to the elder in charge: "The execution is suspended. Take the prisoner Ran Qinghe to the Tower of Heaven Prison."

Below the stage, two disciples from the Discipline Hall stepped forward again and fastened the heavy Spirit Binding Chains to Ran Qinghe's wrists.

On her back, the whip mark was jagged and exposed, blood soaking through her clothes, but she found it strange.

It was as if... there were no injuries on her body.

The Spirit-Locking Whip, as its name suggests, damages a cultivator's spiritual energy, but her spiritual energy was not diminished at all. In fact, she felt as if she were having an illusion, and even the pain on her back seemed to have lessened.

As she passed Lou Tinglan's seat, she paused.

She turned her head, her gaze falling on that excessively pale face. Lou Tinglan lowered her eyes, avoiding her gaze, but the veins on her hand resting on the armrest were visibly prominent.

His aura seemed stable, but Ran Qinghe sensed a slight disturbance in his spiritual energy, like the spiritual energy being unstable after a serious injury.

"Go!" The disciple behind her gave her a push.

She turned her gaze away for the moment, suppressing the turmoil in her mind.

*

The tower gates were open, and a withered old man was waiting at the gates to hand over the duties.

He took the judgment document handed over by the disciple of the Discipline Hall, glanced at it, and then looked up to examine Ran Qinghe.

"Ran Qinghe, a criminal at the Nascent Soul Realm, is to be escorted to the Nascent Soul Realm Tower Prison." The old man gestured to the two Discipline Hall disciples behind Ran Qinghe.

However, not long after, the two disciples brought Ran Qinghe back the way they came.

"Please, Elder, open the gates of the Nascent Soul Realm Prison," one of the disciples said respectfully.

The old man was puzzled by this and said, "The restrictions on the Tower Prison have been lifted. You just need to take her to the prison."

Unexpectedly, the two returned again: "Elder, we really can't get in. Please take a look yourself so we can go back and report."

The old man was puzzled. After investigating, he found that the Tower Prison's restrictions had indeed been activated, and his expression turned solemn.

The message was delivered back to the Discipline Hall at top speed.

Lou Yi, Lou Guan, Lin Ge, and the others had not yet completely dispersed when they heard this astonishing report.

Lou Yi's face instantly turned ugly, and he muttered to himself, "Ran Qinghe must have stirred up some trouble again."

Unexpectedly, when he personally visited the Tower Prison, he was also completely baffled.

Ran Qinghe stood aside, her face showing a look of anticipation: "Old man, if you ask me, it's your problem with the Tower Prison's restrictions. What does it have to do with me? Now that I'm bound like this with your shackles, what tricks can I possibly pull?"

Lou Guan, who was standing to the side, seemed to have noticed something. A smile appeared on his lips, and he turned around and gave a few instructions to the disciple beside him.

Before long, the disciple presented a jade slip used to test the disciple's cultivation level.

Lou Guan personally took action, and a sharp sword aura rushed straight towards Ran Qinghe's face. Ran Qinghe subconsciously retaliated, but the spiritual energy struck not the sword, but the jade slip that had just been presented to her.

The answer couldn't be clearer.

"The Nascent Soul Realm!" the disciples present exclaimed in surprise.

"When did you break through to the next realm?" Lou Yi pressed.

Why hadn't they noticed even the slightest thing? His face grew increasingly dark, as if he had realized something.

A glint of surprise flashed in Lin Ge's eyes, which she quickly concealed. She said slowly, "This is interesting. In my opinion, since we can't get into this tower prison, why not..."

Lou Yi coldly announced, "Since that's the case, then the Nascent Soul stage cultivator will be temporarily detained!"

"You've mastered the spiritual energy techniques of Yunya Academy to an unparalleled degree..." Even he couldn't fathom Ran Qinghe's true level of cultivation.

The moment Ran Qinghe stepped through the tower gate, she looked back one last time.

Lou Tinglan stood in the center of the crowd, staring straight at her. Their eyes met briefly in the air, and Ran Qinghe saw him shake his head slightly, his lips moving as if he had said two words.

careful.

Until the tower's restrictions completely separated the two.

The two disciples eventually pushed Ran Qinghe into a prison cell about ten feet square. There was only a stone bed in the room, and nothing else.

Ran Qinghe looked around. The walls and the ground were covered with array runes that suppressed spiritual power and the soul. It seemed that Lou Yi had really gone to great lengths to trap her.

The footsteps of the two disciples gradually faded into the distance, and the surroundings fell into deathly silence. Even the low sobs and mournful cries of the vengeful spirits disappeared completely.

Ran Qinghe sat down on the stone bed, the wound on her back throbbing with pain from the cold aura inside the tower.

She raised her hand, looked at the chains binding her wrists, and simply shook her head with a soft laugh.

This is the fourth time Lou Yi has imprisoned her in the tower, yet he still hasn't learned his lesson.

Having previously managed to break through the Tower Prison's restrictions and escape, the shackles of the Discipline Hall would naturally be a piece of cake for her as well.

The chains slid down silently. Ran Qinghe stretched her wrists and then began to idly study the array runes on the wall.

However, not long after, a wisp of black mist quietly rose slowly from behind her.

Without even looking up, Ran Qinghe called out, "Stone, do you think you can scare me by appearing behind me?"

Shi Tou crawled in front of her, his words seemingly tinged with grievance.

“Hehe, you haven’t visited us in the Tower Prison for so long. We’ve been left alone in our empty rooms all day long.”

Ran Qinghe: ...

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shui and Xiao Hua nodded in agreement.

Ran Qinghe: I'm afraid if she keeps going in and out of the Tower Prison, that old man Lou Yi will be so angry he'll faint.

Suddenly, Ran Qinghe realized something was wrong.

"This is the Tower Prison of the Nascent Soul Realm. How dare you trespass here? What if you run into other vengeful spirits?"

Ran Qinghe belatedly realized what was happening.

Xiao Shui replied carelessly, "It's okay, Hehe, there are no vengeful spirits on this floor for a long time."

Stone chimed in, "Yes, yes, that's why we felt safe coming to play with you."

Ran Qinghe frowned and asked, "No vengeful spirits? How did you know that? Is it true?" Her tone still carried a hint of doubt.

The most composed of them all chimed in, "It's really gone. We vengeful spirits are most sensitive to auras. Ever since someone took away that vengeful spirit at the Nascent Soul stage, it seems that the aura of a great spirit has completely disappeared from the Tower Prison."

Ran Qinghe couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

The previous vengeful spirit had devoured all the vengeful spirits in the Nascent Soul realm, but why are there no vengeful spirits left in the Divine Transformation realm?

Could it be that it is not a vengeful spirit from the Nascent Soul Realm Tower Prison, but comes from the Divine Transformation Realm or a higher realm prison?

However, there are restrictions between each level of the tower prison. If it is a high-level vengeful spirit, how did it get to the lower-level tower prison?

Suddenly, she remembered the woman in the Mirror of Past Lives, Qianxue.

Given her level of cultivation, the vengeful spirit she transformed into after death must also be of extraordinary cultivation. However, she found it hard to imagine that such a pure person would choose to devour other vengeful spirits after death.

As she was pondering, the three vengeful spirits beside her began to talk to themselves.

“Although the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation realms no longer have vengeful spirits, Qinghe, it’s still better for you to stay here.” Xiao Hua circled around her twice, seemingly trying to get her attention.

"Why?" Ran Qinghe asked.

Shi Tou said, "We don't know either. There seems to be some kind of formation or talisman there. We were just passing by the Nascent Soul Realm, like scholars whose life force was drained by a fox spirit."

Ran Qinghe was amused by it and smiled, temporarily putting aside the thoughts swirling in her mind.

But what Shi Tou said next made her heart tremble.

"However, it seems to be a recent development. Before, we could come down here to get some fresh air."

Xiao Shui chimed in, "That's right, without you, we'd be bored to death stuck in the Golden Elixir Tower Prison."

Ran Qinghe's heart skipped a beat: "Recently? When was recently? Do you remember the exact time?"

The three vengeful spirits poked each other, seemingly unable to answer.

It's not their fault; the tower is dark all year round, and those inside have long lost track of time.

"However, we know that it only came about after a very powerful person came in," the three vengeful spirits continued to recall.

"We were playing around in the Nascent Soul stage when suddenly the Tower Prison's restrictions were broken, and we were so scared that we immediately returned to the Golden Core stage."

“Hehe, don’t go near there either, it really drains people’s life force,” Shi Tou said seriously.

Ran Qinghe pondered deeply: "Can you still remember the approximate appearance of those array runes?"

Hopefully, she's just overthinking it.

If there were no restrictions on cultivation level, in the eyes of others, she should have been imprisoned in the Nascent Soul Tower.

Stone added that the formation was only recently drawn up, and its targeting was too obvious, forcing her to take precautions.

Xiao Hua, who was standing to the side, seemed to have seen through her thoughts and immediately said, "Then we'll go and investigate for you. We're already on guard, so that formation shouldn't be able to do anything to us."

The three vengeful spirits came and went in a hurry.

“Hehe, there’s a symbol that looks like a goat’s horn in the upper left corner.”

"Hehe, the center is a trigram, two long and one short, broken in the middle, yes, yes, that's it."

As the vengeful spirit guided her, Ran Qinghe drew on the ground.

After an unknown amount of time, Ran Qinghe sat cross-legged on the ground, her body feeling somewhat numb.

Until the very end, the formation was just one corner away from being complete.

"Hehe, this is just one stroke away from being complete. Connect the circles..."

The vengeful spirit was speaking when it was interrupted by a voice:

"Young friend, this formation is extraordinary. If it is successfully completed, I'm afraid the three beside you will suffer."