Techniques and Dao

Chapter 120 Blazing Heavenly Prison

A thunderous roar echoed in the sky. As the clouds dispersed, Lei Zhenzi appeared.

"Who goes down there!"

Immortal Master Qingmiao rose on a cloud and ascended into the air, bowing respectfully to Lei Zhenzi. He then took out a celestial token from the Academy of Arts and Sciences from his sleeve to demonstrate his identity.

"I am Qingmiao from the Daoist Academy. Today, I have dared to offend the Heavenly Thunder General. I pay my respects!"

"A celestial master from the Daoist Arts Academy?" Lei Zhenzi glanced at the celestial tablet, a look of suspicion on his face. "Where were you just now?"

Master Qingmiao smiled and said, "Today, I took two disciples to Chizhou to cultivate immortal arts. They left first, and I had other matters to attend to, so I arrived a moment later. Who knew that they were young and impetuous and unintentionally offended Lord Lei Zhenzi. I am deeply sorry for their rudeness! Please forgive me, Great Sage!"

"Why is it that I have never seen anyone from the Academy of Arts and Sciences go to the Crimson Continent to cultivate?"

Master Qingmiao bowed and said, "It is precisely because we have not been out much before that our disciples have inevitably become narrow-minded, ignorant, and lacking in skill, and their cultivation methods are somewhat biased. That is why I want to take them out to travel more."

"You said you were guiding your disciples in their cultivation, so why are you only bringing two? As far as I know, each of your Daoist Masters should be leading at least dozens of disciples!"

“Well…” Master Qingmiao paused for a moment, “because those two were both top students.”

Lei Zhenzi frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Master Qingmiao raised his head and laughed, "Isn't someone who can exchange a few blows with the Heavenly Thunder General Star an outstanding disciple?"

"What about the Golden Cudgel of the Victorious Fighting Buddha?"

Master Qingmiao replied, “This magic treasure was borrowed by my disciple Hua Sheng from the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Since the Victorious Fighting Buddha was willing to lend this treasure, it is clear that my disciple is not a wicked person. Today’s offense against the Great Sage is truly due to my poor discipline. I hope that the Heavenly Thunder General Star will show leniency today and let us go west.”

After saying this, Master Qingmiao bowed to Lei Zhenzi again.

"Your disciples from the Daoist Arts Academy are indeed quite capable! However, you should discipline them more in the future. If they still do not know manners when we meet again, I will make them suffer."

"Definitely, definitely!" Master Qingmiao pulled Hua Sheng along and bowed deeply to Lei Zhenzi.

Lei Zhenzi reached out, retracted the Wind and Thunder Golden Cudgel, and turned to leave.

Just as Master Qingmiao and Huasheng were about to take their leave, Lei Zhenzi suddenly turned around and asked, "Hmm? Where is that arrogant female disciple from earlier?"

Hua Sheng, quick-witted, hurriedly said, "She...she just offended the Heavenly Thunder General, and now she's too ashamed to face you, so she's reflecting on her actions in the forest below!"

"Humph!"

Lei Zhenzi flicked his sleeves and rode away on lightning.

Watching Lei Zhenzi's departing figure, Hua Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did he fly down into the jungle and retrieve the Ruyi Jingu Bang that had just fallen to the ground.

When they returned, the appearance of the Immortal Master Qingmiao had faded, leaving Xiao Qi with golden-brown hair rubbing her eyes, as if she had just woken up.

Hua Sheng thought to himself, "It seems that every time we go to the Western Red Continent, Immortal Master Qingmiao likes to have Xiao Qi appear."

Hua Sheng then said, "Xiao Qi, you missed a great show! You were struck by Lei Zhenzi's lightning and disappeared, while your sisters and I were fighting the monster fish and Lei Zhenzi at the same time."

Mieying was taken aback. "Huh? You can fight Lei Zhenzi? Where is he?"

Hua Sheng joked, "I chased it away."

"Which of my sisters came out to help?"

"Ugh! Don't even mention it, a pink-haired girl holding a teddy bear."

"The little stick came out? Then you've hit the jackpot."

Hua Sheng found this description peculiar and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Haha! We sisters all call her 'Stick' because she just stands there like a stick, she has no skills whatsoever!"

Hua Sheng shook his head and sighed, "I see. I thought your sisters were all highly skilled in magic."

Mieying laughed and said, "Do you still remember the second trial of the Heavenly Eye Trial, the Divine Mind Calculation Game? At that time, Tianjizi called out two numbers at the beginning, which resulted in the elimination of two older sisters. One was my 'Korean' fifth sister, and the other was my fourth sister. She was really good at calling out numbers."

"Your fourth sister?"

"You haven't met her. Fourth Sister is very aloof and doesn't like to interact with people, so she rarely appears."

Hua Sheng wanted to ask more questions, but then she realized that she had already wasted a lot of time on the way and had to hurry on her way.

Having said that, he recited a magic incantation and was about to fly west.

Suddenly, Mie Ying slapped him hard on the back of the head. Stars flashed before his eyes, and he turned around and said, "Little Qi, why did you hit me?"

"You pervert! My older sister just told me you were disrespectful to her? Tell me!"

"Huh? What do you mean by respect?" Hua Sheng was completely confused.

"How dare you hug my eldest sister! Aren't you my servant? How dare you be so shameless, are you trying to rebel?!"

Hua Sheng then realized that Xiao Qi had learned about what had just happened from Master Qingmiao, so he had no choice but to change the subject.

“I didn’t disrespect your older sister when I was being chased. I was forced to by Lei Zhenzi.”

Mieying glanced at him suspiciously, pointed at his forehead with her finger and said, "Don't be so ungrateful with your little brain. If I find out you have even the slightest thought about your other sisters, I'll skin you alive!"

Afternoon, Shen Shi (3-5 PM).

In the desolate desert of Chibiao Nuzhou, yellow dust flies everywhere, and the temperature remains high at nearly fifty degrees Celsius.

After their fierce battle with Lei Zhenzi, and now being in the sweltering heat, Hua Sheng and Mieying Xiaoqi were both exhausted.

The climates of the northern and southern regions of Chizhou are vastly different. After passing through the rainforest shrouded in dark clouds, the sky immediately cleared up. So clear was the sky that there wasn't a single cloud to obscure it.

Hua Sheng had no choice but to conjure a banana leaf and place it on the two people's heads so they could fly under the scorching sun.

Despite the strong winds from the high-speed flight, the sweltering heat was unbearable, making everyone worry about getting heatstroke at any moment.

"It's so hot down here! It's like the Flaming Mountains..." Mie Ying muttered to herself, looking down at the desolate desert below. "It was pouring rain over there just now, and here it's all dry. We really should spread the heat out a bit."

Hua Sheng shook his head: "If the world could really be more evenly distributed, then it would be better if the rich and the poor were all evenly distributed."

Looking far into the distance, in the center of the southern desert, amidst the swirling dust, a blood-red city wall looms indistinctly.

The blood-red city walls soared into the clouds, and at first glance, they looked like a deep red stone tablet standing at the edge of the sky.

As they flew closer, the two realized that it was actually a rectangular building, unlike the prisons they had seen before, which were surrounded by walls and fences. Instead, it was a deep red cube-shaped building without any windows, which even reminded them of a huge, deep red coffin.

This is the legendary Blazing Wrath Heavenly Prison, completely isolated from the world from top to bottom. It appears that there are no passages for entry or exit, making the entire heavenly prison seem airtight.

Hua Sheng thought to himself, "It seems I need to find the entrance first before I can get in."

To avoid unnecessary trouble, he and Mieying landed on the ground some distance from the Heavenly Prison and walked towards the towering city wall.

As the saying goes, "Looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death," because the Heavenly Prison was so high and vast, it took the two quite a while to approach the bottom of the fiery red walls.

As they approached the foot of the high wall, they saw a figure waving at them from the right side of the wall.

So it was the Supreme Lord Xiaojun!
Hua Sheng and Mie Ying quickly stepped forward to meet them.

"You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun had a package at her feet and a bowl of chilled mung bean soup in her hands. She greeted Hua Sheng and the others, who were almost dehydrated.

Hua Sheng, panting heavily, said, "You arrived earlier than us, and you still have the leisure to drink mung bean soup here!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun conjured up two bowls and gave them to Hua Sheng and Mie Ying. Mie Ying quickly took them and gulped them down, saying, "Oh! Tai Shang Xiao Jun, your cooking is pretty good! It tastes better than what I conjured up."

"That's right. Only those with high aspirations can have high skills."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked somewhat smug, pointed to the package at his feet, and said, "This luggage is definitely overweight, it's so heavy from running all this way... By the way, how come you two are so late?"

"We encountered a random inspection on the way here... and it was none other than the Thunder God Lei Zhenzi."

"Oh dear, you've run into the Flash?" Tai Shang Xiao Jun immediately gave Lei Zhenzi a nickname, shaking his head and saying, "But this Flash isn't that fast, so it's not like we're helpless. What's he checking on you for? Have you been drinking?"

"You're joking? I'm almost dead."

"With Immortal Master Qingmiao protecting us, what is there to be afraid of?"

Hua Sheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It was indeed thanks to Qingmiao Immortal Master's status that they were able to let us pass."

Mieying urged from the side, "Hua Sheng, hurry up and finish your mung bean soup so we can get down to business."

Hua Sheng gulped down the mung bean soup in his hand, wiped his mouth, and said, "I'm done drinking, let's go!"

"Please be patient! Let me explain in detail." Taishang Xiaojun said unhurriedly, "I also thought about it when I had some free time. The three of us can only appear in the form of myself and Huasheng. Let's try to get closer to him first. If Erlang Shen Yang Jian is willing to let us meet Daoling Xingjun, that would be ideal, but that's unlikely to happen. In that case, the two of us will just have to stay and keep Erlang Shen company. Mieying is clever and has the protection of her sisters, so it's not unreasonable for her to go to see Xingjun in place of Huasheng."

"How did Shadow Extinction follow without being detected?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked Hua Sheng up and down and said, "Mie Ying, transform into some of the accessories on Hua Sheng's body, similar to my earrings."

As he spoke, he pointed to the two sword-shaped pendants on his left ear.

Mieying frowned as he looked at Huasheng and said, "Huasheng already has that iron gold hoop around his neck, so he doesn't need any other ornaments. Besides, he's a boy, not a girl, so his accessories shouldn't be too conspicuous..."

Hua Sheng nodded in agreement.

"Let me think about it..." Taishang Xiaojun rested his chin on his hand, then pulled up Huasheng's left sleeve and pointed to his wrist, saying, "A watch! There's never anything wrong with a boy wearing a watch!"

“That works too!” Mieying readily agreed, made a hand gesture, and turned into a red and gold watch that landed on Hua Sheng’s left wrist.

Hua Sheng raised her wrist for a closer look. Not only was the red gold case truly beautiful, but the dial was also hand-carved and painted from white mother-of-pearl, while the hands were made of onyx. The most stunning feature was the exquisitely crafted bird-shaped movement at the six o'clock position.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "This watch is so beautiful!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun glanced at it and said, "Jacques Droz, even the Qianlong Emperor loved this. What's this one called... Bird of Time?"

"The Bird of Time?" Hua Sheng thought to himself that this beautiful watch was indeed the most suitable for Mie Ying to transform into. Upon closer inspection, the red-gold case even had a touch of the charm of Mie Ying Xiao Qi's golden-brown hair.

“But in my opinion, men should still wear Rolexes! They’re the hard currency!” Tai Shang Xiao Jun shook his head.

Hua Sheng slung the package over his shoulder and said, "Alright! Stop talking about your Rolex! Isn't it tacky? I think this watch suits me better. Hurry up and figure out how to get in!"

Taishang Xiaojun pointed ahead: "Follow me."

Hua Sheng followed Tai Shang Xiao Jun to the red brick wall and saw that it was no different from the wall they had just seen.

"This... does it mean we have to dig a hole in?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun glanced at Hua Sheng and said, "Since we've decided to come, how can we not do our research? I already found out that the gate to the Blazing Heavenly Prison is located in the middle of the north side."

Hua Sheng looked around and asked, "Where is the main gate?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked around, then stretched out her slender fingers and made several calculations before reaching out and tapping on the red brick wall.

The brick wall, however, emitted a thumping sound like wood being knocked.

Then the red stone bricks suddenly turned from red to black, and the black color continued to extend upwards, rising hundreds of meters like waves.

Upon closer inspection, the black area had transformed into a pitch-black gate in the center of the city wall.

But the gate was hundreds of meters high, making it impossible to know how to open it.

Hua Sheng asked, "Should we just knock on the door?"

"Don't just look up. That main gate is only opened when the emperors and generals of the Heavenly Court come to inspect the area. It can't be opened on ordinary days," said Taishang Xiaojun, pointing back. "On ordinary days, only the small side gate is open."

As Hua Sheng observed, sure enough, there was a small door in the lower right corner of the huge, dark wooden door. The small door's color blended seamlessly with the large black door, making it difficult to distinguish.

Upon closer inspection, there were two animal-faced rings on the door. Taishang Xiaojun stepped forward and knocked on the door rings.

(End of this chapter)