Bloody hell…
Chen Ping was fuming now. He unleashed his full strength, swinging again at the cage’s edge!
*Clang!*
Another deafening clang, and this time Chen Ping’s entire body was flung back by the impact!
He felt his insides churning. To think a seemingly ordinary cage could trap him like this!
Now he recalled the old man’s words, and they made a grim sort of sense!
With his current strength, even if he made it to the Heavenly Realm, danger would lurk at every turn!
Chen Ping believed it now. If this cage was part of the Celestial Realm, he knew he’d have no chance of breaking it!
“Friend, save your strength. No one who ends up here escapes unless their sentence is served!”
A man’s voice rang out suddenly!
Startled, Chen Ping hurriedly asked, “Friend, who are you? Where are you?”
“I’m in the cage next to yours. To think, a monk who’s only just reached the Immortal Transformation Realm dares come to the Heavenly Realm!”
The voice sounded surprised as it replied!
“Friend, is this the Heavenly Realm? Why are we locked up?”
“I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong, so what’s this about serving a sentence?”
Chen Ping was utterly confused, unable to make sense of it all!
He was a law-abiding citizen, never committed a crime, so why was he locked up, waiting for some sentence to end?
“You didn’t ascend naturally but used external help to reach the Heavenly Realm. That alone breaks the rules of the Great Path, so it’s no surprise they’ve caged you.”
The man explained!
“I was guided here by the Great Path, and no one stopped me! Why arrest me? Go after the ones who guided us!”
Chen Ping was exasperated. How could a proper guiding process turn him into a prisoner?
“No use arguing. The Heavenly Realm runs on rules, not reason. Try reasoning here, and you’ll be laughed at.”
“Where are you from, monk? What’s your name? To be guided to the Heavenly Realm at just the first tier of Immortal Transformation, your backers must be impressive, giving you a leg up!”
The man could tell at a glance that Chen Ping had been given a free pass!
“I’m Chen Ping, from the Mortal Realm. The Ladder to Heaven did let me off easy.”
Chen Ping nodded candidly, then asked, “Friend, how can you see me when I can’t see you? Where are you from, and what’s your name?”
Chen Ping pressed the man for answers!
After all, this was his first contact in the Celestial Realm, and he needed to get the lay of the land from this fellow!
“Dispel the black mist in your cage, and you’ll see me!”
“I’m Xiu Rui, a monk from the Wuxu Realm. I also climbed the Ladder to Heaven to reach the Celestial Realm!”
“But once I was guided here, I got trapped in this place, for a full five hundred years!”
The man let out a soft sigh!
Chen Ping eyed the black mist in his cage, then thrust out a palm. A gust of wind roared, scattering the mist completely!
With the mist gone, Chen Ping saw a man in a cage just a few metres away, his face gaunt and bearded!
Though the man looked worn, his spirit still seemed intact!
His clothes, however, were tattered, likely unchanged for centuries!
“Friend Xiu, do you know why we’re trapped in cages right after being guided here?”
Chen Ping asked!
If this was the case, then Ning Zhi and Su Yuqi would surely be trapped here too!
The thought sent Chen Ping into a panic!
“How would I know? But these cages seem to only trap human monks. Other races don’t seem to get locked up!”
Xiu Rui replied!
“What’s that supposed to mean? Targeting human monks, are they?”
“Let’s see who’s behind this nonsense.”
Chen Ping’s temper flared. Wasn’t this just discrimination?
“Senior, if I lend you my body, can you break this cage?”
Chen Ping asked the Red Cloud Demon Lord!
