Chapter 574: Expectations for the Sixth Floor

Acting on his thoughts, Su Che really wanted to give it a try—to see if he could merge a certain divine ability into a mythic level. Of course, it had to be a relatively common ability that many people in the Immortal Prison World possessed.
Too advanced abilities were rare to master, making it impossible to find enough guilty individuals who possessed exactly the same advanced ability.
“Extreme Fire Cutting would be good!”
Lao He said, “Fire-based abilities already match the master’s cultivation style. Moreover, to reach a mythic level, at least two hundred intermediate abilities are needed.”
Two hundred intermediate levels of Extreme Fire Cutting meant that an equal number of cultivators would have to be willing to contribute such abilities. Generally, only those at the later stages of the Golden Core realm or above could master Extreme Fire Cutting to an intermediate level.
“How many criminals possess this ability?” Su Che asked.
“Only a dozen or so. After removing those seven just now, the rest are mere beginners or even apprentices—of little value for skill extraction.”
Lao He suggested, “I’d better spend some time capturing more guilty fire cultivators. Even if they don’t need to be imprisoned permanently, using skill extraction as punishment for them isn’t unfair.”
“Agreed!”
Su Che wasn’t someone who hesitated. He immediately said, “There’s no need to be polite with those guilty people. When necessary, we should act against them. If villains live more comfortably than good people, it seems unjust to heaven.”
By “heaven,” he clearly meant himself.
“Great!”
Lao He loved this kind of task and agreed readily, “I’ll handle it right away. It’ll be done quickly.”
As the ruler of the Immortal Prison, Lao He’s efficiency was beyond doubt. He could easily determine who was guilty and who wasn’t through mind-reading. Su Che estimated it would take less than half a day to capture two hundred cultivators with intermediate-level Extreme Fire Cutting abilities.
Indeed, in less than three hours, all two hundred guilty individuals were brought to the fifth floor of the Immortal Prison, floating silently in that strange space as if in a coma. Many of them already possessed advanced levels of Extreme Fire Cutting.
“It’s fine not to deal with them usually, but since they’re all guilty and have been captured, after extracting their skills, they should be given appropriate punishments—there’s no point letting them go easily.”

Su Che casually gave an order, saying to Lao He, “You handle this matter on your own.”
“Understood!” Lao He agreed readily.
With over 200 people possessing the Extreme Fire Cutting skill, Su Che certainly didn’t dare to take it all at once. Without sufficient experience, everything had to be approached with caution and trial and error.
Su Che believed that, given his current cultivation level of the Refining Void stage, he should be capable of wielding master-level divine skills.
So, he first extracted less than 20 intermediate skills, combined them into two master-level skills, and along with his existing master-level skills, he smoothly reached the master-level skill realm.
After that, Su Che didn’t rush things. He quietly assessed his own condition and, finding nothing abnormal, dared to proceed.
“To master a combat divine skill to the master level, I wonder how many battles and trials are required. Without thousands, even tens of thousands of years of cultivation, it’s absolutely impossible. Yet, thanks to the miraculous functions of the Fifth Layer of the Immortal Prison, I’ve already acquired a master-level combat divine skill in no time…”
At this moment, Su Che was filled with emotion: “This proves that the strongest force in the world is the power of the laws of heaven and earth. With control over the laws of a world, nothing is impossible.”
Let’s continue!
Next, Su Che continued to merge numerous divine skills, raising his mastery of Extreme Fire Cutting to the legendary level—the highest level that experts at the Great Vehicle stage could achieve in a particular skill.
At this point, there was no need for further experimentation. Su Che naturally realized, “For now, this is as far as I can go! My previous ideas were too idealistic. My current cultivation level of the Refining Void stage truly cannot support mythic-level skills.”
It wasn’t that the skill extraction function of the Fifth Layer of the Immortal Prison had flaws, but rather that Su Che’s own capacity had limits. There was simply no way to match the cultivation level of the Refining Void stage with the mythic-level skill realm.
It would be like trying to pull a heavy cart with a small horse—a dysfunctional and unhealthy state. Even if it were possible, it would only bring harm to Su Che’s future development.
“At the very least, one needs to reach the Calamity Crossing stage to handle mythic-level skills. I still can’t rush things!”
Su Che wasn’t short-sighted and wouldn’t do such foolish things as forcing growth prematurely. So, the remaining over 100 prisoners could only be temporarily detained until he reached the Calamity Crossing stage, when they would be useful to him.
“That’s already very good!”

Although Lao He was a bit disappointed, he still didn’t forget to comfort his master: “This means that once you reach the Tribulation Crossing stage, you’ll be able to effortlessly master over a dozen mythic-level divine spells and techniques. That would make you truly invincible in the mortal world—able to kill even Great Vehicle stage warriors at will.”

“Kill Great Vehicle stage warriors at will?”

Su Che smiled inwardly. “That’s nothing. Really nothing! Figures like the Witch God or the Sky-Devouring Rat can kill thousands or tens of thousands of Great Vehicle stage warriors with just a sneeze… My ultimate goal is to enter the Immortal Realm in the future, merge all three thousand paths into one, and elevate my mastery of each path to the mythic level. By then…”

Su Che didn’t continue, because no one knew what would happen. Could it be that being the ruler of the Immortal Prison World wasn’t enough, and he wanted to become the ruler of this entire universe as well?

It could only be said that Su Che’s ambitions were growing ever larger, just like his appetite…

As of now, he had been in seclusion in the Left Prime Minister’s residence for five days. After all, since he was in someone else’s home, Su Che didn’t want to cause too much trouble, so it was time to leave.

But before that, one more thing needed to be decided—that was…

Reaching the Divine Transformation stage would allow him to unlock the fifth layer of the Immortal Prison; reaching the Void Refinement stage would allow him to unlock the sixth layer. Due to the special circumstance of training inside the Time Wheel for a thousand years, Su Che had advanced to the Void Refinement stage, thus unlocking the fifth layer. Now, he naturally had to face the task of unlocking the sixth layer.

“Master, what do you envision as the function of the sixth layer of the Immortal Prison? Can you decide on it now?” Lao He asked.

“The most ideal function in my mind is to be able, like the Nether Ghost Emperor, to harness the power of all creatures in the Immortal Prison World during battle, concentrating it within myself and boosting my combat strength by a hundred or a thousand times in a short time…” Su Che said slowly. “Of course, I know this idea is rather exaggerated. The sixth layer might not be achievable; perhaps it will only be possible with the seventh or eighth layers in the future.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Lao He mused. “Boosting strength by a hundred or a thousand times during battle is indeed an extreme idea. But I can try to convey this to the Immortal Prison Pagoda and see if it can help you fulfill this wish.”

“Then try it.”

Su Che knew well that the biggest issue here wasn’t whether the Immortal Prison Pagoda could generate such a function, but rather that he himself simply couldn’t bear such an immense amount of power, not even for a short period of time.

Excessive power will only cause one to burst instantly—this is an obvious truth. Unless one possesses a special vessel like the “Heavenly Ghost Soul Gathering Pearl,” as did the Netherworld Ghost Emperor, and can perfectly merge with it, the ideal state cannot be achieved. It must be remembered that before merging with the Soul Gathering Pearl, the Netherworld Ghost Emperor still needed to practice the connected cultivation techniques of ghost cultivators to gradually enhance his capacity to bear such power. As Su Che had guessed, not long after, Lao He sent back a message: “Master, the message from the Immortal Prison Pagoda is that just the sixth layer of the Immortal Prison already has such capabilities. If your own capacity is insufficient, doing this is tantamount to suicide. Unless you can obtain some innate divine artifact to rely on, or find some way to raise your capacity to a sufficient level, it’s impossible.” If we compare a cultivator’s physical body to a container that can hold only ten pounds of water, forcing twenty pounds into it will surely cause it to burst. Unless the container is flexible enough—like a ball—that it can expand ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times in a short time, then it’s possible to attempt such a thing. “Innate divine artifact?” Su Che murmured, “Innate divine artifacts aren’t easy to obtain. So far, I only have one confirmed innate divine artifact in my possession—the Fate Divine Stone.” The Fate Divine Stone Su Che mentioned was the huge black stone he had with the Mi Xian Ling Banner back then. The black stone’s pure energy, combined with life energy, remains Su Che’s strongest support in his cultivation of true essence. Without these two energies, even if he consumed countless precious pills, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he has today. Clearly, the Fate Divine Stone isn’t helpful in enhancing his capacity to bear power; he must obtain other innate divine artifacts that meet the requirements. The problem is that innate divine artifacts are rare even in the immortal realm—how could they be found in the mortal world? Obtaining just one Fate Divine Stone is already a stroke of incredible luck. “But aside from the function of ‘temporarily borrowing the power of all beings,’ I’m not very satisfied with the other functions designed for the sixth layer of the Immortal Prison,” Su Che thought. “Each layer’s function of the Immortal Prison Pagoda is extremely valuable to me. I absolutely cannot settle for anything less, nor can I make hasty decisions… I’d rather put it aside for now than make a rash choice.” “Indeed.”

Lao He nodded and said, “The skill extraction function on the fifth floor of the Immortal Prison is enough to keep us entertained for a long time. For now, there really aren’t any other urgent functional needs…”
“Since I’ve come to the Spirit Realm, I thought I’d take some time to explore around, before it fully merges with the Cultivation Realm…”
Su Che smirked slightly and said, “At the very least, I should know what this Spirit Realm I destroyed looks like.”
There was another thing he didn’t say outright—Su Che hoped that by exploring around, he might encounter some opportunity that could fulfill his desire for the sixth floor of the Immortal Prison.
Such a wish couldn’t be voiced, as there was a saying among the people that once it was spoken, it might just stop working…