If before, the agony felt like being flayed alive by a thousand knives or burned by raging fires, Zong Shou could endure it. But now, the pain within his pupils seared directly into the core of his soul, making Zong Shou, in that instant, desperately wish he could tear out his own eyes with his bare hands!

Those threads of scorching Blood Spirit Flame power, along with the vital energy and true power surging through his body, even his Soul Energy, all converged and poured into his eyes. Beyond the pain, there was a feeling of unbearable, distended pressure.

And almost instantly, he knew this change must be connected to his Void-Burning Bloodline and the Blood Spirit Curse power. It must have been triggered by the unique environment here, causing it to erupt suddenly.

"Damn it, infuriating!" The Blood Spirit Curse power, which had clearly been fading within him, seemed to have been replenished. Not only was it now surging with strength, but it was several times more ferocious than in the beginning.

The deep bone marrow throughout his skeleton felt as if it were burning, or perhaps being flooded with streams of flame, intolerably hot. An intense itching plagued him to the extreme.

But the pain in his eyes struck directly at his mind, and he felt as if a membrane, a 'door,' lay within his eyes. It stood firm and unyielding before the power that was about to explode, impervious to the impact of the fiery Blood Spirit energy, unable to breach it even a fraction.

Zong Shou now wished he could completely tear this door apart to release all the fiery swelling pain, yet he also felt that if this 'door' were opened, something truly terrifying would surely occur. Fortunately, the pain that arrived quickly also departed quickly.

When the 'door' repelled all the power back, all the true power and vital energy receded in a mere moment, returning to their original positions. And the Blood Spirit power vanished without a trace.

If not for the faint warmth still lingering in his pupils, he would almost believe the recent agonizing pain had never happened at all. Zong Shou was covered in fine beads of cold sweat.

Completely bewildered, he wondered if this was how the second burst of the Bone-Burning Blood Spirit Curse manifested. After several deep breaths, Zong Shou managed to catch his breath, then offered a wry smile to himself.

It was the first time he had felt such a near collapse of will, a sense of his mind scattering. He suspected that if the torment had lasted just one more breath, he might have acted impulsively to completely destroy his own eyes.

He also instinctively felt that the situation was not right. He probed his body internally, finding no other anomalies, and could not think of a reason.

Zong Shou could only shake his head slightly, choosing to ignore it for the time being. He mused that if this pain truly struck once every hour, it would indeed drive a person mad.

This Nine Absolutes Death Prison truly lived up to its name! It must have integrated itself into the foundational laws of this Death Prison world, making it difficult for cultivators to resist even if they tried their utmost.

The very structure of this world had been utterly distorted; he wondered which of the Lu family's Sovereign Realm masters was responsible for such an undertaking. He then thought of Lu Wubing, who had spent his formative years in such an environment.

The fact that his demeanor and actions could be utterly normal was a miracle in itself. Merely his tenacity and willpower were on par with his own.

"Thousand Knives Death Prison, is it? This Death Prison world is quite peculiar—" Fearing that the pain reaching deep into his marrow might strike again, potentially triggering other unforeseen changes, and unwilling to linger any further, Zong Shou executed dozens of consecutive teleports, traversing hundreds of miles within this realm, his figure constantly flickering.

This world was vast, its territory even exceeding the Cloud Realm. Yet, the population was not sparse; Zong Shou's divine sense, even hindered by the green mist, could survey four thousand miles.

The auras of living beings he sensed along the way numbered three to four million. The Lu Family's eight hundred worlds housed trillions of inhabitants.

Having this many prisoners in just the first layer of the Death Prison was far fewer than Zong Shou had expected; he even detected several Heaven and Earth Aberrations. Zong Shou wished to avoid unnecessary trouble, and after inquiring with Han Xi via divine sense and finding she held no interest, he steered clear.

The Great Dao True Intents carried by these several aberrant beasts were clearly incompatible with Han Xi; devouring them would yield no benefit. It was a blessing that the entrance to the fourth layer was not singular.

In just half an hour, Zong Shou found a location: a deep, bottomless abyss churned by countless forces of time and space. However, near the mouth of the abyss, more than a dozen aberrant spirit beasts were stationed as guards.

Their fierce killing aura even surpassed Han Xi's. Spirit insects and savage beasts of all forms were present.

As if starved for countless years, their eyes glowed crimson. They maintained a distance of a thousand miles between each other, wary and keeping a certain space.

The majority of their attention, however, was fixed on the abyss below the mountain range. "Most of the vegetation, fruits, and food in this realm are highly poisonous.

Even the spirit treasures are no exception. While they can fill the stomach, consuming them guarantees suffering beyond imagination.

There are only a few types of safe food; only about one-tenth of the inhabitants of the Thousand Knives Death Prison can live without hunger or thirst. These aberrant spirit beasts, however, often prey on humans." Lu Wubing continued, "The punishments in the Nine Absolutes Death Prison become harsher with each ascending layer.

Thus, it is permitted by the Void-Burning Lu Family that anyone entering the Death Prison will try every means to break through to the next layer. These individuals are often overwhelmingly strong, which is exactly what these mutated spirit beasts adore—" Zong Shou let out a short laugh and plunged directly downward, rushing into the abyss.

As he approached, the dozen or so innate aberrations reacted sequentially. Several of the faster ones immediately dissolved into light trails and sped towards him.

Threads of tyrannical, stiff energy lunged towards him—some overwhelmingly mighty, others sharply piercing—but the moment they neared Zong Shou, a sword light suddenly exploded, instantly covering hundreds of feet. Among them, one incredibly swift silver light flickered and darted, almost invisible to the eye, leaving behind afterimages and several blades of light.

Instantly, blood sprayed out, followed by a few sharp shrieks. Those few aberrant beast lights all retreated explosively.

Zong Shou, however, snatched out his hand, manifesting seventy-nine stars. Fusing dozens of types of stellar power, he formed a gigantic hand and forcibly seized two aberrant spirit beasts.

At this moment, Han Xi, without waiting for his command, darted into the bodies of these two beasts, swiftly extracting their beast cores one by one. Meanwhile, more than a dozen other beasts from the distance rushed over.

Zong Shou raised an eyebrow slightly. There were many innate aberrations here; although most were only at the Spirit Realm, with only three having reached the God Realm.

While they posed no threat to him, a large number presented trouble. He decided not to engage further and instead plunged into the vortex.

The instant his figure passed through, he felt the divine senses of the dozen or so Heaven and Earth Aberrations shift their focus, turning instead to attack the few injured spirit beasts. Outside the abyss vortex, a fierce battle immediately erupted.

The dozen or so aberrant spirit beasts began tearing at one another. Zong Shou was not surprised; innate aberrations truly fought until one side was dead, just as expected—