As the voice echoed, everyone present felt a sudden chill surge from the soles of their feet straight to their skulls!
Before they could even react, a vivid, lifelike phantom of a divine dragon materialized in the sky! In less than a heartbeat, the dragon lunged before the Mechanical Devil, its massive jaws snapping shut as it swallowed the metal titan whole!
Rumble—!
A towering explosion erupted from the ground, making the entire Hell Prison tremble as if it were undergoing an earthquake.
When the dragon phantom finally dissipated, the Mechanical Devil lay in a crater, gasping for breath. It looked at the approaching figure with utter disbelief.
"How... how is this possible... weren't you beaten into a stupor by that guy upstairs..."
However, as it finally saw the newcomer's face clearly, its optical sensors flared one last time. It let out a few ragged gasps, sparks showered from its broken chassis, and then it fell silent forever.
Ren, clutching his long spear, took a single step that crossed the distance to Gabriel's side. Looking at the lifeless Mechanical Devil in the pit, he asked calmly, "All three Lords of this floor have been eliminated. Shall we head to the higher levels?"
Earlier, while Ren was cultivating the Poem Immortal Heart Sutra, the Corpse King had already stormed the Pig-King's nest and devoured him. The commotion from that battle had been so massive that Ren was forced out of his meditative state.
Even though he had only grasped the surface level of the Heart Sutra, with his already monstrous base strength, the Lords of this floor were now nothing more than one-shot targets. However, facing the Lords of the final floor—especially powerhouses like Satan and the Holy Lord whose depths were unknown—Ren still felt a lack of absolute confidence.
Gabriel sat on the ground, recovering. "Wait for me to rest. Once I've regained my strength, we go up."
The battle with the Mechanical Devil had drained her significantly. She had even been forced to tap into her original celestial reserves. If Ren hadn't arrived to one-shot the machine, she would have had to reveal even more of her hidden cards.
Ren nodded. While Gabriel recovered, he walked over to Bai Xiaofei and Ran Aiguo.
"Peak God-level already?"
Xiaofei scratched his head and grinned. "Just luck, just luck, really~"
Despite his modest words, the upward curl of his lips betrayed his true pride. Ran Aiguo stared at Ren with wide eyes—here was yet another Yanhuang powerhouse he had never even heard of.
Ren gave Ran Aiguo a slight nod before sitting down to the side, reopening the Poem Immortal manual. Previously, a mere glimpse of its "intent" had allowed him to vaporize a Lord. Its power was undeniable.
"Relax the spirit, open the heart; let my will become the Heavenly Will, and drive the Heavenly Will as my own."
The core of the Heart Sutra was "Intent." As long as one grasped the intent, their strength was guaranteed to be at the peak of the God-level at minimum. More importantly, this intent was not suppressed by the laws of the Hell Prison. If he could truly master it... no, even just reaching the official entry level, he would be the apex predator in this cage. The only ones who could potentially harm him would be the prison's creator or Satan himself.
Activating his Acceleration, Ren immersed himself in cultivation once more.
Xiaofei and Ran Aiguo didn't dare disturb him. They sat near the recovering Angel, looking around boredly.
"Brother, you and that guy..." Ran Aiguo whispered cautiously.
"Him? My cousin!" Xiaofei laughed. "I owe everything I've achieved today to my cousin carrying me!"
"Holy crap!" Ran Aiguo was floored. Xiaofei was a peak God-level master! To achieve that by being "carried" was beyond ridiculous.
Xiaofei smirked but didn't elaborate. To be honest, he felt like he was in a dream too. Half a year ago, he was just a regular office worker whose most impressive connection was his wealthy cousin Ren. Now, he was a peak God-level powerhouse. He felt that once he left the prison and the suppression vanished, he might even break through to the Super-God level in one go!
This was because the golden soul he had just merged with was the legacy of his past life. With past and present united, his power was growing by the second.
After a while, the Corpse King returned before Ren or Gabriel had finished. He was radiating an intense bloody aura that drew their attention the moment they opened their eyes.
After devouring the Pig-King, Long You felt his power in this prison had reached its limit. His "Blood Qi" was surging, and though it didn't increase his raw attack power further, it drastically boosted his recovery speed. It was a massive buff to his survivability.
The moment he landed, the Corpse King looked at Ren. "That move earlier... was that you?"
The dragon's roar had echoed through the entire sector, and the tremor had been felt even in the lower levels. Long You had been so startled he'd rushed over before even finishing his digestion.
Ren nodded. "Mhm. I picked up a few new tricks."
The others were speechless. A few new tricks? That was a dimensional leap in power!
Long You felt a wave of relief. It was a good thing they were currently allies and not enemies. Otherwise, even if he reached the Super-God level outside, he'd likely just be a punching bag for Ren. He hadn't forgotten Ren's time-manipulation abilities—those were "out-of-bounds" cheat codes.
Three Days Later.
Gabriel stood up, her lips curving into an alluring smile. After three days of meditation, she had integrated her power, resulting in a significant boost.
However, looking at Ren as he emerged from his time-accelerated state, her heart sank. After seeing that spear strike, she wasn't arrogant enough to think she was his equal. Especially after he'd spent another three days (subjective time) training.
But Ren was never her target. She glanced covertly at Xiaofei and Ran Aiguo. Seeing that Xiaofei had already activated his Celestial bloodline, she was delighted—it saved her the energy of having to activate it for him.
"Next, we go to the highest level of the Hell Prison," Gabriel announced. "There are three Lords there: the Cosmic Overlord Satan, the Fallen Angel, and the Vampire Count. These three were all Cosmic Overlord-class before being imprisoned. Even though they are suppressed to the God-level here, you must not treat them as ordinary God-levels. No one knows what hidden trump cards they possess!"
The group nodded solemnly.
Gabriel erupted with Holy Light, enveloping the group. They soared upward, tearing through the atmosphere of the Scrapyard Floor and arriving at the final, supreme level of the Hell Prison!