Prison

Thinking about other people's problems and losing myself in my thoughts got me in a slightly better mood and as the pain subsided, I tried again.I stirred a tiny bit of Qi to action and the painful assault came back. It hurt so bad I wanted to thrash around, scream, and even cry. Actually, a few tears did escape. It was inevitable. The pain was out of this world. Every time it hit me, I completely lost control over my body as my mind became flooded with pain. It was a purely physical nature as well. My Soul remained entirely undamaged.[Aw, fuck! I fucking hate this thing!]The anti-magic collar was the most cruel relic I had ever seen. It was brutal. What kind of sadistic fuck came up with it? Whoever made it deserved to taste its effects for a century.I let my body slowly get accustomed to the tingly residual pain and tried again. I wanted to throw my head back and scream, but my neck was clamped tight, and I could barely breathe. I just gritted my teeth and tried to focus on my breathing as the pain came and washed over me in waves.[I... fucking… hate… it!]But it was necessary. I repeated the same thing over and over, always careful not to push it too far so I wouldn't lose consciousness again. I needed to make use of all the time I could get before Elder De came back.I wasn't sure how good the body of a Spirit Realm Cultivator in the Brilliant Sword Sect was, but if they focused mostly on attack, like those in the Myriad Beasts Sect, I had a chance. Not a big chance, but there was one. Much better than letting my life fall into the hands of an unpredictable enemy and fate.***[Ugh! It hurts so fucking much!]After experiencing the pain many dozen times, my mind started getting used to it. It still hurt like a motherfucker, but at least I could think at the same time. If I only used a minimal amount of Qi, I could resist the pain without mentally breaking. It was difficult and I was in no shape to do such a thing, but at least I could slowly heal the most significant injuries.I improved slowly, incredibly so. And without a way to tell time, I had no clue how long I had been doing it. While it felt like days, it couldn't have been more than a few hours, since the Elder still wasn't back.That was good because it meant I still had some time before the real torture began. I had no doubt he would try to scan my Soul and extract my memories. And with the strength of my Soul, that was going to be painful. I was not looking forward to it.Instead of wasting any more of my precious alone time, I began increasing how much Qi I could manipulate and still keep a rational mind. Tears ran from my eyes as I gritted my teeth and tried to mentally resist the pain. The damn collar didn't seem to be running out of energy any time soon, and every time my Qi moved, I was plunged into the depths of hell.Eventually, I stopped again and took a breather. Being stretched like I was, hands and feet spread wide, was so fucking uncomfortable! It made the entire situation way worse. I had to do something, and with all the self-inflicted torture, I thought I might be able to do something.I closed my eyes and focused on feeling the Qi in my hand. I had to be careful and use the minimal amount that would do the job. It was going to be painful, but it had to be done.[Aaaah, damn it… I swear I'll kill this guy. I'll turn him into minced meat for making me do this!]I flared my Qi in my wrist for a second and was assaulted by such unimaginable pain I thought I was going to black out again. Luckily I didn't, and I succeeded. The hand was cut. My palm fell to the floor, and I pulled the remaining bloody stump out of the shackles. It felt so nice being able to move my hand after so long.I quickly stopped the bleeding and then just closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, letting the pain fade in the background.Once again, I didn't know how much time had passed in between, but after recovering, I called my cut-off palm closer with Telekinesis. it was difficult because I had to use the minimal energy possible, and then slowly, over many tries, reattached it to my arm.And then I repeated the same thing with my other three limbs. It was slow, bloody, it hurt, and it was fucking annoying. But, after all was said and done, I could at least stand upright with all my limbs free. My neck was still in the shackles and I couldn't move from the spot at the wall, but it was much better.Since Elder De still wasn't back, I began training again to resist the pain and did so for… a long time. It must have been well over 100 times that I slightly increased the threshold before finally feeling ready for my final crazy reckless stunt.I was going to cut off my own head.Yup… I mean, it happened before, and I knew it would be agony with the anti-magic collar, but I had no other choice. The metal of my shackles was way too strong for my physical strength to overcome, and using enough Qi to break it was out of the question. It would have to use my full power, and even then it might not be enough. I didn't recognize the material it was made of, but it was definitely not something simple.And so I gathered my wits and took a deep breath and with a flash of Qi, cleanly cut off my head.Blood sprayed everywhere as pain rocked my mind and I just barely kept it together so I wouldn't faint. I quickly reattached my head with the help of Telekinesis and Fire Mending, and then dropped to the ground, gasping for air.I was free. Well, free of shackles, but I still had that damn collar around my neck. It was merged with my flesh and I was in no state of mind to remove it at that moment.After hugging the cold stone floor for a few minutes, I slowly got back on my feet and looked around. The lab was an oval shape carved into the bedrock and had a counter going along the wall on one side. The other part was expanded with an empty cauldron in the middle that came up to my waist.There was some wooden furniture some jars of various powders and some odd-smelling liquids, but I had no clue what they were. Some alchemical ingredients for sure, but that was the extent of my knowledge. They weren't even labeled. Insanity! Then again, Elder De probably knew what those things were.I saw a still placed to the side, clearly unused, as well as a few stone bowls and a large pestle and mortar.I saw nothing that could be of use, and so I slowly tried to sneak out the way we came in. Yeah… As if it would be that easy. The vault door was locked, and as I tried to force it open, a barrier flashed in place, preventing me from moving the latch.I had no idea how to turn it off, and even if I did, it would be more pain than it was worth. I just wanted to test my luck, and as expected, it was dogshit. I had to complete a requirement first before being able to take on the main quest of escaping the underground prison. And I had an idea of just what it might be.***[Well, well, well...]Elder De Danw shuddered as the door to his room opened and he heard that familiar voice. He struggled to even turn from where he was lying on the floor and just barely moved his eyes to see the man.He realized he had made a terrible mistake, bringing the devil into his home. He thought he was just tired after the long flight and went to take a short nap after chaining him up, but he was soon awoken by terrible pain spreading through his body.His Qi was in complete disarray and he couldn't control its movements anymore. An insidious poison was slowly corroding his meridians, and his nerves already sustained severe damage. By the time he realized things went awry, it was already too late to stop it. He was able to slow the decay of his body and over nearly ten hours, managed to consume some antidotes he had at hand, but they didn't seem to work. Whatever poison infiltrated his system was a powerful one.And then he came after already spending nearly a week quietly suffering in his own room. Gerald. The Destroyer.De Danw looked at him in disbelief. The man still carried the cursed collar, yet he was somehow free from the Ferrocite chains. Chains even he couldn't escape or destroy. What good were the thousands of Spirit Stones he spent on them if they couldn't keep even a Golden Core Cultivator in place?!The anti-magic property of that metal should resist any attempts of tampering, not to mention the collar… It was simply impossible he could break out of them like that, even less so with physical strength alone.[Huh… I was wondering how long it would take… I was worried there for a moment.]De Danw's eyes opened wide as his head moved a few degrees to see better. He knew! He knew of the poison! But how?!De Danw thought back to everything that happened. He was always in control, never hurt, never scratched. It was impossible he would miss any such attack, delivering deadly poison.But then he suddenly realized. Blood. He ingested a few tiny drops of blood. It tasted strange, but… He mentally struggled with the idea. If the blood was so toxic, how was the man fine? Poison Body? Even if that was true, the man was only at the beginning of the Golden Core Realm. He was a Spirit Realm Cultivator! The two were nothing alike!Yet all the miracles the man had done spoke of strangeness he did not like. And now he stood beside him. And looking down at him as if he were prey. He! A Spirit Realm Cultivator![Eh… What am I going to do now? Seems like your life force is still strong…]De Danw smirked internally. Of course, he was nowhere near close to death. The poison was vicious and deadly, but there was just a tiny bit of it. Together with the medicines he consumed and stimulants he took, a few weeks, maybe a month, and he should be back in business.The damage to his meridians would take years to repair, but what was a few years to someone such as him? He still had centuries to live! This event would be nothing but a footnote in his memory. It would serve as a warning never to let his guard down, no matter how weak the enemy. A great experience, all things considered.De Danw felt a poke on his chest. He looked and saw a Spirit Sword trying to pierce his flesh. A thin barrier stopped it. He internally laughed. The first thing he did after realizing he had been poisoned was to activate all the life-preserving relics and consume long-lasting stimulants. He would be fine for months.The expense would be great, and he would have to replenish his relics later, but keeping his life was paramount. Now there was no way a kid like that could hurt him.And he soon realized it too.[Aaaah, you bastard! Hiding in your shell...]De Danw forced a smile on his face as he received a few kicks to his side. He felt absolutely nothing, and closed his eyes, continuing his battle with the poison.There was only one way out of this place, and the Formation was active. It made his hiding spot impossible to notice from the ground, and even if someone stumbled upon it, the power required to break in would require at someone least in the high Spirit Realm. He didn't know how high exactly, but it was high, possibly even the peak.It was great how such a small Formation could be made so much more efficiently than a large one, and made much stronger and easier as well.[Ah… Here they are.]De Danw saw Gerald rummaging through his pouches until he found those that belonged to him but then took them all away anyway. His blood boiled."That's… mine…" De Danw said weakly. He barely had enough strength to say those few words.[Nuh-uh. Mine now.] Gerald grinned.De Danw just gave him an angry look and then closed his eyes. He didn't have time or energy to care. Nothing would leave his secret home anyway, and the pouches carried nothing of significant value. Everything he owned that was worth something was safely stored in the ring on his finger, and that thing wasn't coming off any time soon. The protection of the various relics extended to his clothes, fortunately. Nobody was stripping him naked while he was unconscious.The stuff left easily accessible in this place was all he could afford to lose. Except for the things in the treasury, but that too, was under lockdown. Same with the armory. There was nothing the devil could get his hands on to kill him. He was safe.De Danw closed his eyes and resumed his internal battle. A month was a long time, best to get to it quickly.