“Boom!” Li Qiye fell from the sky and landed in the prison. Sand splattered beneath his feet.

After stabilizing his stance, he looked around and saw yellow sand everywhere.

Upon closer inspection, the sand here was different from the ones in a desert. It was dried with a burnt yellow shade as if something has incinerated the entire place. If one were to throw sand into a pan and roast them at high temperature, this would be the result.

Moreover, there were signs of crystallization, at least on the outside. A knowledgeable person would certainly take a deep breath and feel dread after seeing this because only an exceedingly high temperature could create this area.

Ordinary flame certainly couldn’t do so. An invincible being must have turned this place into scorched earth.

Normally, a land ravaged like this would melt together into one piece, whether it be the specks of sand, pebbles, and mud - something similar to a porcelainization process. 

This place was unique that only this type of yellow crystallized sand was left behind, both the specks on the surface and the ones below. All of them suffered an even degree of temperature.

It meant that this being wasn’t only powerful but also had an apogee level of mastery over fire. Not just any progenitor could do this, and they would require a slow roasting process over a long period of time. Thus, this desert was the result of an unimaginable feat and a peerless true fire.

The sky was a muddled expanse. A master using their heavenly gaze wouldn’t be able to see through it. The entire azure seemed to be sealed. This was a great prison with no chance of escaping.

Li Qiye took a deep breath and found the air to be scorching inside his lungs. His throat was burnt as well.

He carefully analyzed this sensation, catching an earthy taste from the air. It was slightly moist, virtually undetectable in this high heat.

“It’s really here.” He murmured: “The old man really took advantage of the situation and gave me this tough problem, does he want me to gather everything?”

He smiled and looked around before picking a direction.

Both the hot sand and air were especially discomforting. The suppressive atmosphere didn’t help either. People would eventually go crazy after being stuck in this cage for a while.

Along the way, he found numerous skeletons of all shapes and forms buried in the sand.

One was massive; just its finger alone were more than ten meters long. One could imagine how big the entire thing used to be.

There were smaller ones as well. Their bones had a metallic shimmer, evident of their might when they were still alive. Though it has been a long time, their divinity still remained.

One would find that some of these corpses have died in an ancient era, unlike the ones that have died in the previous one or two generations ago. The former had decayed to a greater extent.

It was clear that back in the olden days, many existences were forced into this place. This was way before the creation of Nine Secrets System.

Remember, this prison wasn’t built by Nine Secrets Ancestor nor was it personally refined by him. Rumor has it that he got it from his master, Bao Pu, then he placed it in his system.

Others believed that he got the prison from a perilous ancient ground. He pulled it away and fused it with his system during the system refinement process.

In short, this place has existed way before Nine Secrets. Its true master and origin remained unknown.

As Li Qiye moved forward, he saw more remains from Nine Secrets System. Many powerful prisoners were thrown here. So in the past, the leaders of this system have also thrown people into the prison. This practice eventually stopped until Lucidity King’s generation.

What was the goal behind this? Was this place really only a prison? No one knew the answer.

Who knows how long Li Qiye has been walking now? It was impossible to tell the flow of time in this desolate place.

“Hahaha! A living person?!” A burst of dark laughter resounded as a figure come out of the sand.

It was an old man with eight arms. He looked old with withering vitality, but his eight arms were still muscular with a golden glow, seemingly cast from gold.

His bulging muscles and veins looked like golden dragons coiling around his arms - quite a magnificent spectacle.

“Boom!” The sand dune next to him also exploded and out came a bull’s head. Its heavy figure landed on the sand like a mountain, causing sand specks to go everywhere.

This was a strapping being who has the head of a bull and the body of a man. He had long and thick fur. When he shifted his body, the fur would move back and forth.

He had long, large horns; black yet bright as if they have been polished. His weapon of choice was a stone hatchet brimming with violence.

His lower half was covered by a loincloth that hasn’t been changed in a long time, looking quite shabby.

“Hahaha! I haven’t eaten meat in this god-forsaken land for thousands of years now. This brat looks very soft, he’s gonna taste good.” The big-eyed bull-man licked his lips, almost drooling. 

“I agree.” A different figure appeared, an old woman with gray hair and wrinkles. Nevertheless, she was definitely a beauty back then.

Though she has been trapped in this sandy place for countless moons, her dress was still perfectly clean.

Her eyes were especially bright. They fixated on Li Qiye as she said slowly: “Yes, such tender meat, roasting is the right choice. His fat oil will burn to a nice crisp, so we get both textures.”

“Haha, I think boiling is the better choice.” The eight-armed old man said: “So we can have a fragrant pot of soup too, now that’s perfect.”

“Alright, Wild Bull, Eight-armed Golden Dragon, Poison Phoenix Lady. Don’t be scaring the newcomer, he just got here.” A scholarly voice came about as a winged-man approached.

He was the youngest among them, resembling a middle-aged man with a red robe. He had a dark red feathered-fan, looking like a plume of fiery clouds.

When he got closer, the temperature instantly increased. People felt as if they were standing next to a cauldron.

“Please, Firefeather Scholar, you’re a murderous villain, since when are you so nice? Maybe your murderous nature is done for after being trapped in this hellish place for so long.” The man called Wild Bull laughed. His voice thundered like a bell, crisp and clear.

“No.” The scholar shook his head: “It’s rare to have a newcomer, this is a very interesting event. I want to hear what’s going on outside right now.”

The three of them glanced at each other and nodded in unison. They have been trapped for so long and didn’t know what was happening outside. This youth could keep them up to date.

“Firefeather is right.” Poison Phoenix Lady said: “I want to know if that geezer Lucidity has croaked before us or not.”