Chapter 296: Unveiling the Third Layer

There were some things Su Che needed to clarify with Xiao Ling’er in advance.
To ordinary people, the Spirit Grass Doll was just an incredibly cute little girl with somewhat strange hair; but to cultivators, she was an obvious target.
In a few days, when Spirit Medicine Mountain opened its treasure vault as usual, it would surely discover that all the top-grade elixirs of the tenth rank and above were missing. It was hard to imagine what kind of measures such a powerful sect would take.
Besides the elixirs, Spirit Medicine Mountain would soon realize that one of the Spirit Grass Dolls was also missing. If Su Che carried one around in public, it would be tantamount to confessing his crime, and it might even put the other Spirit Grass Dolls in the sect at risk.
After explaining these implications to Xiao Ling’er, Su Che said gently, “That’s why I need to send you into my personal space. You probably won’t be able to come out for over a hundred years. I have to make this clear to you.”
Su Che planned not to let her out to help during battles. The Spirit Grass Doll had a pure heart and preferred peace; involving her in any brutal battles would be an extremely cruel and sinful act, and Su Che certainly wouldn’t do such a thing.
Xiao Ling’er understood things well and could distinguish between what was important and what wasn’t. Still, she timidly asked in a soft voice, “If I’m locked in your personal space for over a hundred years, I’ll be very lonely. You need to talk to me more…”
Su Che chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry. My personal space is huge and fun, and there are many people there with you. You definitely won’t be lonely.”
“Okay!”
Xiao Ling’er was delighted and nodded vigorously. “Then I’m not afraid. Can I go in now?”
At the thought of having endless life energy to consume, a fairy-grade Spirit Grass to accompany her, a vast space, and many companions, the little girl became eager.
Su Che nodded silently. Facing such a cute little one, he really didn’t want to let her go. He wanted to hold her and play with her for a longer time…
“Don’t resist. Just like when I entered your Spirit Wood Space,” Su Che advised gently.
“I know,” said Xiao Ling’er, nodding her little head, her tufts of tender green grass hair swaying back and forth.
Swish!
The cute little girl disappeared. Su Che placed her in the Immortal Prison and teleported her right in front of the Black Region Immortal Lotus.
“Immortal Lotus!”

At first glance upon entering this strange place, she saw the long-desired precious spiritual herbs, and the sense of joy instantly washed away any slight unease in her heart. Her delicate white hands gently touched the petals and pistils of the celestial lotus, her small nostrils flaring as she murmured in admiration, “It smells so good!” Did it really smell good? Su Che and Lao He, however, had never sensed any fragrance from that Black Realm Celestial Lotus; everything about it was extremely ordinary and unremarkable. Although Lao He really liked the spiritual herb doll, he was worried that his terrifying appearance might scare her. So, he sent the stunningly beautiful snake woman, Ye Lan, to be by Xiao Ling’er’s side, so that Ye Lan could represent everyone in welcoming the arrival of the spiritual herb doll. But at that moment, Xiao Ling’er’s attention was entirely focused on the Black Realm Celestial Lotus, completely ignoring Ye Lan standing nearby. Interestingly, the Black Realm Celestial Lotus responded quite clearly to Xiao Ling’er’s touch—its remaining eight petals fully bloomed before slowly contracting slightly, as if greeting her. “It must be so sad—having one petal and two lotus seeds picked away; it must hurt a lot.” Xiao Ling’er’s compassionate words filled Su Che, the observer, with guilt. Yet, despite his guilt, he would still pick what was necessary when the time came… “Wow, there’s a little baby here too.” Xiao Ling’er’s gaze fell onto the black water in the flower pot, where a single lotus seed was planted. Due to the short time elapsed, even with regular watering to stimulate the growth of spiritual liquid, no changes could be seen yet. “Xiao Ling’er, from now on, these two celestial lotuses—one large and one small—are in your care.” Su Che’s voice echoed in the spiritual herb doll’s ears, “Do you need to consume its petals or seeds to advance?” “What are you saying!” Xiao Ling’er pouted and said to the sky, “I certainly won’t harm it like you would!” Su Che was left speechless. Only then did Xiao Ling’er notice Ye Lan standing by and realized that from now on, this beautiful snake woman from the demon race would surely be her good friend here. The spiritual herb doll race possessed extremely keen sensing abilities—just as she had instantly seen through Su Che’s true strength and certain secrets, she also immediately recognized Ye Lan’s racial lineage. For Su Che, the help Xiao Ling’er could bring wasn’t limited to spiritual herbs; after all, she was also one of the top master strategists in the cultivation world. In the future, if he encountered difficulties related to formations or restrictions, having her around would make things much easier…

After taking care of Xiao Ling, there was one more thing Su Che was eager to do—open the third layer of the Immortal Prison! Logically, such an important task should be carried out more safely back at the sect. But Su Che believed that when it came to matters related to the Immortal Prison, there was no place in the world that could be truly safe. If opening the third layer caused significant disturbances, such as obvious anomalies in the natural world, he would rather choose a completely unrelated foreign place than stay within the sect where everyone knew each other too well. The chaos in the cultivation world was clearly linked to the Immortal Prison Pagoda, and any oversight could bring devastating consequences. “Lao Hei, start!” Su Che ordered. “Sure!” Eager as well, Lao Hei summoned the spiritual pill furnace “Zhuque Xuan Ding” needed to open the third layer of the Immortal Prison, the ten grades of Yin-Yang flames, and Lu Changqing, who was completely paralyzed, all before him. “It wasn’t easy!” Su Che sighed deeply. “Gathering all these things was truly difficult. Thanks to the help of the sect, otherwise, even with a few more years, I still wouldn’t have been able to collect them all.” As he reflected, Su Che could also imagine that opening the fourth layer of the Immortal Prison would be even more challenging in the near future. It was even possible that he might not be able to open it during his time in the cultivation world. The first condition for opening the third layer was a spiritual pill furnace—currently, the Zhuque Xuan Ding no longer had a spirit, so it showed no reaction to the impending consumption by the Immortal Prison Pagoda. The second condition was the ten grades of Yin-Yang flames—Su Che had kept seeds of all ten types, meaning that if half of him was consumed by the Immortal Prison, he could still use the other half for future cultivation. The third condition had already been met, as Lao Hei’s third fusion had already taken place, so there was no need to say more. The last condition, and the most difficult one, was the need for the soul or essence of a master alchemist. Lu Changqing, lying on the ground, had eyes filled with terror and despair. Having lived for over two hundred years, he understood perfectly that he would soon become a sacrifice for some ritual. At this moment, he finally understood why he had been captured. Unfortunately, completely paralyzed, he could only move his eyes and no longer had the ability to plead for mercy. “You only understand half!”

Lao He, who possessed telepathy and could hear his thoughts at any time, said, “I, Lao He, am also a merciful demon. I can ensure you die with some understanding. To be honest, aside from needing to use your original spirit for sacrifice, the more important reason is that you once killed a woman from Xuanji Peak of Tianxuan Sect. There’s no need for me to mention her name, right?”
It was her…
Lu Changqing’s expression stiffened, but his eyes were filled with shock and astonishment. He certainly remembered that woman, for he had once loved her too…
So this was the karma!
Lu Changqing seemed to gather all his strength, slowly exhaled, and gradually closed his eyes…
Boom!
Both Su Che and Lao He heard a very faint explosion sound. He had used the power of his original spirit to blow up his own brain and commit suicide on the spot.
Before dying, his last thought was, “I didn’t want to kill her. I just hoped she would come to me and beg me to save her… I just hoped she could stay by my side…”
Though his body was dead, his original spirit remained. The spirit of a great alchemy master slowly floated out and appeared in mid-air.
Inside the Immortal Prison, no one’s original spirit could escape.
“Immortal Prison!”
Lao He roared, “I’ve gathered everything for you. Hurry up and eat it! You need to eat it to open the door!”
Su Che inwardly cursed, “Can’t you be serious about such an important matter?”
In fact, as the spirit of the vessel, Lao He didn’t need to shout loudly. With a mere thought, he could communicate with the Immortal Prison Pagoda.
Swish…
The alchemy furnace, the spiritual fire, and the original spirit all disappeared, being sent to their respective destinations by the Immortal Prison Pagoda.
The third layer of the Immortal Prison was opened!
Huh…
Just like when the second layer was opened, a mighty force appeared out of nowhere. A sense of profundity, grandeur, antiquity, and authority filled every corner of the first layer of the Immortal Prison.
“What’s going on?” Xiao Ling’er, the spirit herb doll who had just entered the Immortal Prison, was instantly filled with surprise.
“Nothing. This little world is evolving again. It will probably grow much bigger.”
Snake Woman Ye Lan had experienced something similar before. Although she didn’t fully understand the true meaning of the Immortal Prison space, she could still predict some of the surface changes.
“It’s already quite big. With just me added, is it really necessary to grow any bigger?”
Xiao Ling’er thought that the space owner was preparing a place for her, the new member.
“So cute.” Snake Woman Ye Lan was amused by her and couldn’t resist hugging her, giving her a kiss on her plump, rosy cheeks.
Boom…
The earth trembled, the heavens and earth spun, as one layer of space began to expand dramatically.

“Is it still ten times?”
Su Che guessed secretly that since the last expansion had increased the size by ten times, it might be the same this time as well.
The answer came quickly.
As the rulers of the Immortal Prison, Su Che and Lao He immediately realized: it wasn’t ten times, but twenty times!
The first layer of the Immortal Prison used to cover an area of a thousand miles square, but now it had expanded to twenty thousand miles square—larger than the territories of any human nation in the secular world of Qi Yuan Star.