Zong Shou was naturally taken aback; he was certain that the mutated spirit beasts he had selected should have been beneficial to Han Xi. Yet, this Holy Fire Ant Queen seemed decidedly unimpressed.

In the next instant, Han Xi’s divine sense reached him again. A look of sudden realization dawned in Zong Shou’s eyes.

“Indeed, if they could continue to devour and evolve like this, wouldn't these Heaven and Earth Anomalies become invincible in the world?” Each time a mutated spirit beast advanced, the capacity to devour and refine the Laws it could absorb was finite. Although Han Xi still possessed considerable capacity at this moment, it was precious beyond measure, and she was unwilling to merge casually anymore.

The demon cores he procured were beneficial to her, certainly, but they could not bring about an essential change in Han Xi’s power, so naturally, she held them in contempt. This Holy Fire Ant Queen was extremely intelligent and not greedy for quantity.

It focused solely on the Laws of 'Light' and 'Fire,' integrating all derived techniques at once. At this point, it had already pushed these two profound divine abilities to their absolute peak.

By Zong Shou’s observation, among all the innate anomalies he had witnessed in the Nine Desolation Death Prison, none could compare to this one. Lu Wubing and Lin Xuanshuang had both praised the Ant Queen, affirming it was a kingly entity even among its own kind.

This clearly referred not only to the divine abilities it commanded and its capacity to hatch soldier ants. “Truly, all things in this world, even those born of Heaven and Earth, cannot escape the path of balance.

It’s just that Senior Brother Han once said that if Master Xi Zi had possessed an innate anomaly back then, he would never have perished. This statement must not only refer to assisting the Master in grasping those grand Laws—” As Zong Shou pondered this, he saw that Han Xi did not discard those mutated spirit beast inner cores.

Instead, with a mere flick of her silver wings, she directly allocated these cores to the few soldier ants generated earliest under her command. Zong Shou’s scalp immediately tingled.

Could the soldier ants split from Han Xi also possess the full capabilities of mutated spirit beasts? A moment later, Zong Shou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His heart felt both relaxed and regretful. These few soldier ants clearly could not fully assimilate these mutated beast cores.

Moreover, judging by the situation, the Heaven and Earth Laws contained within just one Immortal-rank beast core already rendered them almost overburdened. To attempt to integrate any more was utterly impossible.

Yet, even so, this was more than enough to cause a drastic surge in the combat power of these soldier ants! A chill ran through Zong Shou’s heart.

He cast a deep look at these soldier ants before retracting his gaze. Leaving this temporary resting place, Zong Shou continued to travel through the void.

This time, however, he did not use his own divine sense to search around. Instead, he dispersed all of Han Xi’s soldier ants into the surrounding area.

They covered the subterranean and aerial spaces completely. After entering the Spirit Realm, Han Xi’s soul sense could cover a radius of two thousand li.

In this world filled with blazing fire, she was not restricted in the slightest. Coupled with the myriad soldier ants connected by her mind, every detail of the terrain, the flow of vital energy, and even the slightest disturbance of the wind within an eight-thousand-li radius were projected flawlessly into Zong Shou’s soul sea.

Relying on these Holy Fire Crystal Ants, the million-li expanse of this fifth layer of the Death Prison was truly insignificant. In just two hours, Zong Shou located one of the four entrances leading to the sixth layer of the world, as mentioned by Lu Wubing.

It was also an abyss, but unlike the previous locations, there were no aberrant spirit beasts here. Instead, over a hundred towering platforms stood erect, with one figure on each.

Some were muscular and rugged, some were enchantingly seductive women, and some were small and frail. Dozens of these figures were not even human in form; they were alien races Zong Shou had never encountered before.

Yet, without exception, they were all bound by chains as thick as a child’s arm—dozens of them. The chains pierced through flesh and locked bone, preventing these beings from moving more than a hundred li away from their respective platforms.

Not far away, there stood a further, taller pagoda, shielded by a spiritual formation; Zong Shou could not ascertain the conditions inside. Gazing upon the scene, Zong Shou fell into deep contemplation.

It was Lu Wubing, standing nearby, who spoke first: “These are individuals captured when the Lu Family campaigned in the Outer Domains. The Nine Desolation Death Prison does not just hold sinners from our clan; there are many prisoners of war here.

These people must all have the blood of our Lu Family disciples on their hands. They are confined here, and only by capturing and slaying ten or more individuals attempting to break through the dimensional barrier can their chains be broken, granting them freedom.

That tower houses the Lu Family overseers stationed in this prison. The Lu Family rule states that if the guards perish, all these prisoners are executed on the charge of failing to maintain custody—” He then asked curiously, “My Lord, are you puzzled why the first five layers, where the restriction penalties are lighter, have no guardians, yet the entrance to the sixth layer, the Burning Sky Lu Family, deploys such a setup?” Zong Shou nodded slightly; this was precisely what confounded him.

The first layer of the Nine Desolation Death Prison was the safest world within the Death Domain. Although restrictions existed, compared to the third, fourth, and fifth layers, they were practically negligible.

It was baffling why these layers only contained mutated beasts, yet the entrance to the sixth layer was so strenuously guarded by the Lu Family. These hundred-plus individuals, at a glance, were almost all cultivators at the Immortal Realm strength.

Although they were all in poor condition, weakened by the restrictive arts of this Molten Fire Death Prison, every one exuded a fierce aura, clearly surpassing the aberrant spirit beasts of the preceding layers. “Lu Family convicts actually have an expiration term for their sentence.

However, once they leave the Death Prison they originally belonged to, there is no possibility of acquittal or departure. Thus, the Lu Family does not obstruct the transfer of these inmates to other hells.” Lu Wubing continued, pausing slightly, “As for this place, Wubing does not know the reason.

But many people, for this reason, believe that there must be an exit in the ninth layer, or that the Lu Family conceals some monumental secret within the Nine Layers of the Death Prison—” Before Lu Wubing could finish, Zong Shou shook his head, abandoning any immediate plan to learn the detailed reasons here. With a single instantaneous movement, utilizing a Star Dao Seed, he materialized above the abyss.

The hundred-plus imprisoned Immortal Realm cultivators were first taken aback, then reacted instantly. All their eyes flared with fanatic elation.

Amidst the clamor of countless chains, dozens of figures ascended into the air. The Spirit Masters, meanwhile, directly unleashed spiritual arts, gathering fire into flames that surged forward.

Zong Shou, however, did not charge down into the abyss. Instead, he observed the platforms from a distance.

At this layer, the possibility of concealing one’s tracks while crossing the dimensional barrier was vanishingly small. Even if he annihilated every person present, it would still alert the Boundary Protecting Venerables of the Lu Family.

Therefore, Zong Shou had completely abandoned any thought of holding back. The only way to safely step into the sixth layer of the Death Prison was to resolve the entire situation with lightning speed, instantaneously.

Thus, from the moment he struck, Zong Shou exerted his full strength. When the sword light appeared, six silver flying daggers shot out, almost unseen.

Flickering in the air, they violently pierced the heads of six distant Immortal Realm Spirit Masters!