Chapter 878: Containing a Conspiracy

Ye Fan and Huan Chen entered the Prison Emperor Hall and saw that many Martial Artists had gathered here, mostly men and few women; some had vicious looks on their faces, while others sat with eyes closed, resting.

There were also some people laughing.

Of course, most of all, there was a heavy, suffocating gloom.

Ye Fan knew that the Prison Emperor Hall was a place where fish and dragons mixed together. There weren’t many High-level cultivators here. In Ye Fan’s view, only those at least Ancestor Realm First Grade counted as high-level cultivators.

Martial Artists below Ancestor Realm First Grade simply didn’t count as any sort of high-level cultivators.

At this moment, with Huan Chen leading the way ahead, Ye Fan walked forward with a calm expression.

“Huan Chen, you’ve finally returned.

A mild voice sounded.

Huan Chen immediately bowed and said, “Prison Emperor!”

“No need for formalities. This time, what sort of friend have you brought?”

Ye Fan looked up and, sure enough, a slightly chubby middle-aged man appeared before him. The man wore a smile and sported a beard.

This was the Prison Emperor, but in Ye Fan’s eyes, this Prison Emperor didn’t have much imposing presence. As long as Ye Fan unleashed his own aura, he could absolutely suppress him.

Of course, this person’s strength wasn’t weak either.

Ancestor Realm Fifth Grade—though only elder-level strength, in this place he still stood out like a crane among chickens.

At this moment, he smiled at Ye Fan and said, “And this friend is…?”

Ye Fan had just opened his mouth when Huan Chen spoke first: “Prison Emperor, let me introduce him. He’s no ordinary person—he is the King of Heaven!”

“What?”

Those who had been resting with eyes closed or sunk in gloom were all jolted awake in that instant. None of them had expected that the young man who had wiped out all the Demon Genius prodigies on the Daoist Demon Battlefield would actually come here.

But looking at Ye Fan, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly striking about him.

A one-armed man snorted disdainfully and said, “He’s the King of Heaven? I don’t see anything that looks like it! Huan Chen, did you get it wrong and drag some fake here to impersonate the King of Heaven?”

“Lord Broken Blade, he is absolutely the genuine King of Heaven, not the slightest bit watered down. If you don’t believe it, you can test his strength yourself!”

Huan Chen said immediately.

“One-Armed Broken Blade?”

Ye Fan abruptly came to his senses. Back in a remote region, there had once been a wicked bandit who specialized in slaughtering commoners and robbing the Sword Sect!

He committed every imaginable evil, utterly devoid of conscience. That man was One-Armed Broken Blade, a key wanted criminal of the Sword Sect. Back then, the Sword Sect dispatched eight elite disciples to hunt him down.

But later he vanished, and from then on there was no more word of him in the world. Ye Fan hadn’t expected that the long-disappeared One-Armed Broken Blade would actually be here.

Sure enough, Huan Chen had been right: everyone in the Prison Emperor Hall had a story.

“I don’t think he is either!”

“Although you can’t judge a person by their looks, no matter how I look at him, he’s just some punk who eats and drinks his way through life. The Prison Emperor Hall isn’t a place just anyone can fool!”

“Lord Bai Wuchang, how can you be so sure he’s not the King of Heaven? Are you judging solely by appearances?”

Huan Chen spoke up.

“Bai Wuchang?”

Ye Fan reacted at once. Bai Wuchang, a thousand years ago, had been an evil Cultivator who specialized in flaying human skin and flesh to trade with the Demon Clan!

Compared to One-Armed Broken Blade, his depravity was even more gruesome. Ye Fan hadn’t expected him to be here as well, and to have become such an overwhelmingly powerful figure.

No—he should say, overwhelmingly evil.

“I support Bai Wuchang and One-Armed Broken Blade’s opinion!”

Another voice rang out.

Ye Fan looked over again. This person’s face was covered in sores, yet he exuded a strong Magic Power: this was the Cannibal King.

He had once emulated the Demon Path and established the Cannibal Sect, specializing in capturing Sword Sect disciples and innocent commoners to eat their flesh alive. But his movements were so mysterious.

So the Sword Dao disciples had been unable to capture him.

Later, the Cannibal Sect’s disciples all died overnight. Ye Fan had never thought that their Sect Hierarch, the Cannibal King, would still be alive. Truly extraordinary—extraordinary indeed.

The people here were all heinous criminals beyond redemption. Ye Fan did not believe for a moment that these people were innocent or merely bearing false charges.

This so-called Prison Emperor Hall was nothing more than a gathering place for bandits.

At this moment, Ye Fan said, “Since the three of you think I’m not the King of Heaven, then come at me together! I’ll let you see for yourselves whether I am the King of Heaven or not!”

Ye Fan very much wanted to teach these three a lesson. Thus, at this moment, he didn’t give them the slightest face.

“Together? I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it!”

“Let me be the first to test you!”

The Cannibal King instantly launched himself at Ye Fan, throwing a killing punch.

Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth—he was clearly very interested in Ye Fan’s flesh.

But at this moment Ye Fan moved. He swung his sword in a cleaving strike.

“Ah!”

The Cannibal King’s mouth split open—it had been slashed apart by Ye Fan’s sword.

Seeing this, Bai Wuchang and One-Armed Broken Blade charged in together. They understood that Ye Fan was not simple, so the two attacked in concert.

Then, Ye Fan moved. Using stillness to counter motion, he evaded Bai Wuchang’s skin-flaying technique, then clashed violently with One-Armed Broken Blade using the Yuanhong Sword.

“Clang!”

The broken blade snapped instantly. As the blade shattered, One-Armed Broken Blade was stunned—and only then realized that Ye Fan had already drawn a massive gash across his abdomen with a single sword stroke.

He let out a miserable scream.

Seeing this scene, Bai Wuchang attacked again. He could flay a person’s skin in an instant, but he was unable to flay Ye Fan.

Instead, Ye Fan sliced off his ear with a single sword.

“Ah!”

He too let out a heart-rending, lung-tearing shriek.

The three powerhouses who had joined forces were scattered just like that by Ye Fan. Everyone was shocked—wave of the hand, killing like mowing grass—this truly matched the aura of the King of Heaven.

Even Huan Chen was frightened by Ye Fan. He had previously thought that Ye Fan’s reputation far exceeded his actual strength, but now he finally understood that Ye Fan’s strength was even more terrifying than the legends.

“Pa pa pa!”

The sound of clapping rang out.

The three, who had just been routed, were about to launch a joint strike again, but when they heard the clapping, they all chose to stay where they were, not daring to act rashly.

At this moment, the Prison Emperor said, “Truly worthy of the title King of Heaven. You’re even stronger than the rumors outside. I believe you are the King of Heaven, and I welcome you into our big family!”

The Prison Emperor walked forward.

The three were furious, but at this moment they no longer dared to cross Ye Fan. They might dare to fight Ye Fan, but they did not dare defy the Prison Emperor.

Because this place was the Prison Emperor’s domain. If the Prison Emperor wanted them dead, they would have no life left.

Ye Fan said simply:

“Many thanks for the compliment!”

“Hahaha, King of Heaven, you’re too polite. Although in this big family we have our minor frictions in daily life, rest assured—once you’re here, you’ll soon find a sense of belonging.”

The Prison Emperor said with a laugh.

Then he said to Huan Chen, “Protector Huan Chen, first take the King of Heaven down to bathe and change clothes. Three days from now, I’ll hold a banquet to welcome the King of Heaven and wash away the dust of his journey!”

“Yes!”

Huan Chen nodded immediately, then led Ye Fan away. Ye Fan had observed the expressions of these people—it was truly bizarre. He was very disappointed in this place.

But since he was already here, he wanted to investigate what secret lay hidden here. These ferocious, vicious people must have some reason for coming here.

So he feigned being quite at ease with the place.

After Ye Fan and Huan Chen left, the people in the hall began discussing noisily.

“Prison Emperor, do you really trust him?”

One of the Martial Artists asked the Prison Emperor.

The Prison Emperor said, “He’s not one of our own yet, so talk of trust is premature. However, for the next few days, the three of you will shadow him in secret!”

“If you notice anything unusual, kill him for me!”

The Prison Emperor had chosen three Grade Three Ancestor Realm elders. The three elders nodded in agreement at once.

Clearly, the Prison Emperor did not trust Ye Fan. But in his opinion, although Ye Fan’s strength was great, sending out three such powerhouses made killing Ye Fan no problem at all.

After all, these three were ranked in the top five within the Prison Emperor Hall!

At this moment, the Prison Emperor said, “Brothers, all of you are sinners. Our plan is about to begin. Once the plan succeeds, all of you will be able to wash away your crimes!”

“Sword Dao, Demon Path—in the end they’re nothing but tools to make wedding clothes for us, hahaha!”

The Prison Emperor laughed wildly.

The crowd also burst into wild laughter.

In that instant, they were all full of anger, yet also full of motivation. That’s right—they were all criminals wearing shackles, driven to desperation by the Sword Dao and forced to hide in this godforsaken backwater.

Now the plan was about to be set in motion. On the eve of its launch, they firmly believed that the plan would definitely succeed. Only if it succeeded could they live; if it failed, they too would vanish along with it.