After spending roughly seven or eight days on the thirteenth level, the Stone Demon appeared at the window once more.
Yang Kai had been in the middle of a particularly riveting passage. Seeing the Stone Demon materialize, he showed no surprise, merely smirking coldly. "Moving me down again?"
The Stone Demon looked him up and down, then raised one hand and gave him a thumbs-up, his expression one of genuine admiration. Whatever else could be said, this fellow in front of him was absolutely one of a kind. No one had ever managed to make the Holy Sovereign revise her decree time and again — each time escalating the punishment. In a sense, this human had set a completely unprecedented precedent.
But the eighteenth level… Even someone as formidable as this Stone Demon couldn't help but shudder at the thought.
As before, he produced the token to dispel the ice prison's restrictions. There was no need to drag Yang Kai out — he simply gestured, and Yang Kai walked out on his own.
Rows of unfamiliar, haggard faces peered from the windows of the surrounding ice cells. All of them had been faithful listeners to Yang Kai's storytelling these past few days. None knew what awaited him now, but everyone could guess his chances were slim at best.
There was no real bond between them — Yang Kai had merely told stories for a few days, adding some small measure of entertainment to the dreary, death-bound monotony of their existence. They exchanged faint nods and parted ways as he passed.
The deeper they went, the more biting the cold became.
Yang Kai silently kept count of the levels, while also making a casual inquiry. "What level was I on before?"
The Stone Demon, seemingly convinced Yang Kai was a dead man with nothing left to hide, answered readily. "You're being sent to the eighteenth level this time!"
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Then how many levels are there in total?"
"The eighteenth level is the bottom." The Stone Demon glanced at him.
Yang Kai bared his teeth. "Your Holy Sovereign really thinks highly of me."
The Stone Demon shook his head and sighed. "If you'd known this would happen, you should have thought before acting. Take my advice — when you get to the eighteenth level, find a spot, sit down, and do nothing. Don't even try to resist. That way, it'll be over faster. Oh, and your cultivation is sealed anyway, so you can't resist anything."
Yang Kai shot him a sidelong look. "You think I'm a dead man for certain?"
The Stone Demon smiled but said nothing one way or the other. That was the eighteenth level of the Frigid Ice Prison. If someone could still be lively and kicking down there, there truly would be no justice in the world.
Reading the thought behind that silence, Yang Kai didn't pay it much mind. He figured Bei Li Mo was most likely just toying with him — she probably wouldn't actually kill him. Still, there was no point explaining himself to anyone else. Instead he asked, "Is there anyone else in the eighteenth level?"
"Yes," the Stone Demon nodded. "Dead men!"
Yang Kai's mouth twitched. He said nothing more.
He had no idea how long they walked before finally reaching the entrance to the eighteenth level. This time, the Stone Demon didn't even bother sending Yang Kai inside. He simply opened the entrance with his token, looked at Yang Kai, and said, "Go in yourself."
Yang Kai glanced at the entrance. Before he even set foot inside, he felt bone-piercing cold wash over him. Once in there, he had no idea how long he could last. He quietly calculated the odds of launching a surprise attack with his current abilities and killing this Stone Demon. The conclusion was disappointing — with his cultivation sealed, he was no match whatsoever. Of course, if he let the Dharma Body emerge from the Mysterious Boundary Bead, dealing with the Stone Demon would be trivial. Yang Kai's cultivation might be locked down, to the point where he couldn't even open his storage ring, but the Dharma Body could free itself from within the Mysterious Boundary Bead on its own.
But Yang Kai wasn't about to reveal the Dharma Body's existence under Bei Li Mo's watchful eye so soon.
An arm couldn't twist a thigh. With no other choice, he plunged in.
Only after Yang Kai stepped into the eighteenth level did the Stone Demon hastily seal the entrance and hurry away, as though he couldn't bear to linger there a moment longer.
The eighteenth level was nothing like what Yang Kai had imagined. The previous seventeen levels had all been composed of isolated ice cells. But here, there were no cells at all — just a vast, blindingly white expanse.
The instant he set foot inside, Yang Kai felt his entire body constrict. A layer of frost coated him from head to toe and was visibly thickening by the second. Omnipresent cold Laws seeped through every pore and invaded his body, producing a stabbing sensation as though a billion needles were piercing him at once. In mere seconds, his face had turned bluish-purple, his lips dark violet.
He quickly shifted his body, breaking through the frost that had accumulated on him, lest he actually freeze solid.
But the moment he moved, his expression changed again. He realized that in this godforsaken place, even his thoughts were being affected — the signals reaching his limbs and muscles no longer flowed as smoothly as they should.
A chill ran through his heart. The cold of the eighteenth level was powerful enough to influence even his Divine Soul. Fortunately, he had the Warm Divine Lotus, so he wasn't truly afraid of his soul freezing over. Waves of soothing coolness surged from within his mind, pushing back against the frigid cold encroaching upon his Knowledge Sea. At last, his thoughts flowed a little more freely.