After breaking through the wall and entering the secret room behind the bookshelf, the thieves immediately realized they were exposed: a mechanism dropped from the ceiling.

This mechanism was just a wooden pole, with the top fixed to the beam, and it could rotate around an axis. The bottom seemed to have something tied to it. When Li Long sounded the alarm, the whole house shook, breaking the suspension wire of the wooden pole mechanism, allowing it to swing down like a pendulum, stopping at the lowest point, and letting the attached item fly into the Secret Realm.

A very simple mechanism, but enough to thwart their plans completely. The wooden pole was completely flush with the beam, and even after examining the sandbox for three days, Yan Qing and his companions didn’t notice anything unusual, all treating it as part of the beam.

They had traversed the complex and vast Military Mansion under hundreds of gazes, but their greatest enemy was the alarm and the wooden pole. The simpler the mechanism, the less room for error.

But there was still a chance; since Li Long was delaying time, it indicated that even if the dungeon Secret Realm was prepared, it needed time to activate!

Pharmacist’s Wish was the first to step into the Secret Realm, immediately seeing a prison guard who seemed to want to leave the Secret Realm to check outside, not expecting a mysterious figure in a Black Wolf Mask to emerge from the entrance... and thus he died.

The Seven-Star Sword severed the head!

Yan Qing’s first impression upon entering the Secret Realm was heat, the second was dryness, like a winter night with the stove on and moisture escaping rapidly, staying a bit longer seemed to make the lips crack.

"Hey, how did you—" As the thieves entered the Secret Realm and even killed someone, the top-level prison guards were still confused, even wanting to come over for questioning. Staying in such an isolated place, surrounded only by colleagues and prisoners they could bully, despite the poor environment, there was virtually no pressure, comfortably like an Ivory Tower; the guards’ responsiveness was inevitably reduced as a side effect.

The prison guards’ rest area being at the top level, along with Li Long’s early warning, had gathered most of them to check the situation, though many hadn’t fully awakened, and some were drinking, barely a few were alert.

But when the thieves charged forward and killed two people, even pigs should sense something was wrong.

"Intruders!"

"Quick, sound the alarm!"

"Don’t run, they’re only three; if we gather—ugh!"

More than a dozen prison guards scattered immediately, forced to flee, as they had no spiritual power at all. Who would expect danger in such a place? With a Third-Turn Powerhouse outside and an entire Chang’an Military Mansion for protection, wouldn’t it be better to save some Spiritual Jade and enjoy themselves during their leave?

So the result was eight guards killed by the thieves, utterly defenseless even unable to raise their barriers!

Having scattered the guards, the thieves didn’t waste time pursuing them. Approaching the dungeon’s center, Yan Qing understood why the guards’ rest area was at the top level: it was too hot. When the Earth Flame below roared, the temperature at the center rose significantly, hot even at the top level; one could imagine the extreme heat and pressure below, reminding Yan Qing of Guangzhou in June and July, this dungeon almost rivaling that infernal place.

"What..." Pharmacist’s Wish glanced down at the edge for a second, unable to fully express her shock before immediately leaping forth, urgently as if a moment’s delay would miss her rebirth.

Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei were shocked, but when Yan Qing leaned over, he understood the urgency—because the dungeon was closing!

In the dungeon’s center hung two huge Black Ebony Rock slabs, with rough and solemn patterns they had noticed during the sandbox observation, deeming them a decoration naturally existing in the Secret Realm. Now, upon closer inspection, the Black Ebony Rock slabs were indeed inherent to the Secret Realm but were not decorative, functioning instead as gates to divide the upper and lower parts!

Unsure how these gates operated, they saw them lifting thunderously, the blazing Earth Flame only able to surge from the gate slit, which would completely close soon!

In a flash of insight, Yan Qing made a decision: "Red Snake, you go block the entrance, find a way to open this gate!" With that, he leapt forward, and Shang Xinlei’s heart almost leaped in her throat—when Yan Qing jumped down, the Black Ebony Rock gates were nearly fully closed, he almost got crushed between the gates!

Lunatic!

Aren’t you a timid, selfish guy? Why suddenly so brave, jumping in after Black Wolf!

Shang Xinlei cursed in her heart, momentarily unsure whether she disliked Yan Qing for pursuing Black Wolf or resented him for leaving her behind... perhaps both.

Suddenly, there was an uproar of shouting nearby. She turned her head to see that the prison guards who had just scattered had picked up their weapons and activated a defense barrier after absorbing Spiritual Jade. They seemed to be looking for an opportunity to ambush Shang Xinlei or escape the Secret Realm, but how could the prisoners awakened on the lower levels miss such a spectacle? The prisoners shouted and screamed wildly, like caged animals eager for a bloody show outside the cage.

"Your two companions have jumped down," the Prison Warden led his men forward, twirling an iron chain with his left hand and holding a rare long knife in his right hand, "Be smart and step aside... or choose to die here!"

The clinking of chains was incessant. Almost all the prison guards here were adept at using chains, this peculiar weapon, because they needed it to punish disobedient prisoners through the bars. Such a soft, long weapon had a significant advantage of being able to attack in unison during a group fight without worrying about hitting their companions.

After replenishing their Spiritual Power and tightening their grips on weapons, these prison guards reverted back to the fierce wardens they had seen in the sand table. Just in these three days of observation, Shang Xinlei and her companions had seen the guards beat to death at least two prisoners. It must be noted that prisoners who entered this dungeon were subjected to extremely high-intensity labor daily — even if they weren’t First-Turn Messengers, they would surely be proficient in basic Cultivation Techniques. For such people with vigorous Qi Blood to be beaten to death showed how ruthless the guards were.

Shang Xinlei wasn’t interested in crying out for justice for the prisoners; she had no interest in understanding why these people were captured to become mere tools in the dungeon. But if she needed to kill these guards, she naturally had no psychological burden.

"Just right." Shang Xinlei flicked her hands, and the Legendary Flying Ring hovered and rotated around her as if it were a living sprite: "I also want to test the power of the Dancing Sky Wheel... and my capacity!"

... 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

...

Yan Qing landed steadily on the ground like a superhero; this was the great advantage of the Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror, almost immune to kinetic impacts from the environment. Upon reaching the bottom, the environment was still harsher than Yan Qing had imagined. His defense barrier was already rippling slightly — the heat here had reached a level of environmental damage!

He looked up and saw Pharmacist’s Wish confronting four strangers, with the Earth Flame Pool right behind them.

These four strangers were all wearing Six Harmonies Boots, Listening Robes, and Zanying Crowns. The difference was that the three behind wore Copper Seal Waist Tokens, while the person at the front wore a Silver Badge Waist Token.

Despite being so close to the Earth Flame Pool, they showed no signs of discomfort and stared indifferently at Yan Qing and Pharmacist’s Wish. The Silver Badge Chief Constable took out a warrant from somewhere and opened it: "Warrant for Yellow Dog, reward of twelve million Spiritual Jade; warrant for Black Wolf, reward of fourteen million Spiritual Jade."

After the second incident, their bounty values changed: White Fox was now first and Red Snake remained fourth.

"Divine Marquis Mansion orders the suspects to be taken back to the mansion." The Silver Badge Chief Constable put away the warrant and drew the long knife: "Everyone draws their weapons."

"Draw!" the Copper Seal Constables echoed in unison.

Yan Qing sighed; even though they rushed as fast as they could, they still couldn’t seize the Exotic Iron before the constables from Divine Marquis Mansion arrived. It seemed that this battle was inevitable. Two against four was a bit challenging, but given their token-enabled combat strength, it shouldn’t be a problem—

Clang!

Suddenly, the sound of breaking metal rang from behind, and both Yan Qing and Pharmacist’s Wish turned their heads to see an elderly man with white hair smashing and freeing himself from his cell.

While there were many cells in the Secret Realm dungeon, they were mostly occupied by prisoners above, as the environment got harsher the deeper it went. Yan Qing’s continuously draining defensive barrier was the best evidence. Yet at the dungeon’s bottom lived a prisoner. No one knew why he was confined here, but being a prisoner meant he was irrelevant. After all, would someone who can leave their cell willingly stay in hell’s closest realm and endure day and night torment?

Indeed, he would.

The white-haired old man conjured a golden-tipped spear and raised a defense barrier, completing his full armament in the blink of an eye. The look in his eyes directed at Yan Qing and Pharmacist’s Wish was filled with excitement and madness, like a despairing soul in hell suddenly spotting a silk thread leading to Pure Land.

"Thief’s House... Bingzi Pepper Forest... You two little thieves dare to steal Locking Dragon Bodhisattva’s treasure?" Suddenly, he burst into laughter: "Heaven hasn’t abandoned me; heaven hasn’t abandoned me, old man! I still have a chance to rise again! Capture you two, and Locking Dragon Bodhisattva will surely be satisfied with this act of redemption!"

"Old man, you actually offended a Foundation Establishment True Man? Offended and still survived?" Yan Qing raised his eyebrows: "How did you do it?"

"Offended? I just failed to kill one more person, leading to complete defeat." The white-haired old man let out a long howl then coldly said:

"Remember, thieves, the one who captures you will be me, Chu Luoyan!"