When the Refining Essence into Qi technique was activated, the Qi-Gathering Pill's medicinal power rapidly transformed into true qi, flooding straight into the special golden elixir.
The true energy that once took a full second to recover now surged like a spring — endless, vital, furious.
With the Qi-Gathering Pill fueling him, Liang Xiao's true qi swelled until it was overflowing.
He suddenly flung the crippled old man in his hand, the mangled body smashing a prisoner aside. Then — a flick of his finger.
"Bang!"
One enemy dodged instinctively — but the wall behind him erupted, a hole the size of a bowl punched clean through it.
"Boom!"
A thin, middle-aged cultivator who had been casting a spell exploded in half, his remains splattering across the floor.
"Bang!"
Another prisoner, emerging from stealth, was torn apart midair, upper body vaporized.
Liang Xiao lavishly devoured Qi-Gathering Pills, restoring his strength as fast as he could spend it — and unleashed pure carnage.
When completely unrestrained, his destructive power was terrifying.
The Annihilation Needle carried both annihilation and explosive force, able to lock onto a target through will alone. Against any cultivator in the early Qi Refining stage — it was a one-hit kill.
In the distance, Zhang Jiadong pressed himself against the wall, terror flooding his veins.
"H-how… how could this happen?!"
This was supposed to be his home turf!
Why had it turned into this nightmare?
Why was the boy who should still be a Qi Refining novice suddenly more terrifying than a Foundation cultivator?
Why… did I have to provoke a monster like him?
He suddenly felt like a clown — a pitiful joke trapped in his own downfall.
Then — a blur of motion.
A prisoner dashed past him, narrowly avoiding a streak of golden light.
Zhang Jiadong wasn't as lucky.
The streak shifted course —
"BOOM!"
His waist exploded, tearing his body clean in half.
"No—!!"
Zhang Jiadong's scream echoed through the chaos.
Blood pooled beneath him, despair etched across his face.
From the far side of the cafeteria, fanatical roars erupted:
"Brothers of the Longevity Cult, kill all these arrogant bastards!"
"Kill them!!"
"Immortality is our destiny — everything else is meaningless!"
Suddenly, explosions and violent collisions shook the hall.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Shockwaves blasted outward. Tables, chairs, and food bowls were hurled skyward, detonating midair in a rain of debris.
Liang Xiao's eyes narrowed — the guards weren't just fighting prisoners anymore.
They were fighting… each other.
"You traitors!!"
The sound of battle erupted in every direction.
He could feel new auras — strong ones — breaking free from the lower levels.
Then, a fourth-level Qi Refining aura surged toward him like a storm.
Liang Xiao immediately tossed aside the old man's broken body.
"Boom!"
The corpse detonated in midair, leaving only a screaming head flying through the chaos.
"No… I haven't achieved immortality yet… I haven't killed the genius… I'm not reconciled…"
The head's eyes were wide — filled with terror, madness, and regret.
The ritual he'd started had failed. His "immortality" was over.
A new figure appeared — a Qi Refining Level 4 expert, barreling toward him.
Liang Xiao's fingers blurred.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Streaks of golden light blasted forward.
The man roared, meeting the assault with a punch.
The shockwave rolled through the prison — then his fist burst apart, his arm disintegrating, his shoulder exploding.
Liang Xiao didn't stop. His fingers flicked faster and faster, the Annihilation Needles shooting like a machine gun.
Each blast carried devastation.
"Impossible!!"
The Level 4 expert's expression contorted — right before he was blown apart in a burst of gore.
The shockwave that followed crushed the old man's floating head, erasing even his lingering soul.
"He can even kill someone mid-stage Qi Refining?!"
The Longevity Cult members who had been charging suddenly froze — fear replacing their zeal.
But Liang Xiao didn't hesitate.
His gaze turned cold as death.
He turned — and raised his hands.
"Run!"
Their screams filled the air.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Dozens of Destruction Needles burst forth, streaking through the air like golden lightning.
Bodies exploded one after another — a grotesque orchestra of thunder and blood.
No one survived within ten meters of his aim.
Even the body-refining experts were torn open, limbs shredded like paper.
Liang Xiao's fury was unrelenting.
He had never provoked these people — yet they had all turned on him.
So… they could all die.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The final group fell in seconds, leaving only shredded corpses and the stench of death.
Then—
A pulse.
A sharp, instinctive premonition in his chest.
He rolled aside just as—
"BANG—!"
A massive spike erupted from the ground, grazing where he'd just stood.
"There are still more?!"
His killing intent surged.
He swallowed every remaining Qi-Gathering Pill at once, refining them instantly.
His spiritual sense flared, locking onto movement — a young cultivator hiding thirty meters away behind rubble.
"Bang!"
The man's head and half his torso disappeared in a flash.
Lightning flashed.
"Thunderbolt!"
A bolt of electric energy struck the ground he had just vacated, blackening the stone.
"A palm-sized lightning bolt?!"
Liang Xiao's face hardened as more bolts followed.
"Thunderbolt! Thunderbolt! Thunderbolt!"
Each one screamed through the air, relentless.
His instincts — sharpened by endless near-death battles — let him evade them all by a hair's breadth.
"There you are."
His eyes locked on a trembling figure hiding among terrified prisoners.
One of them panicked, trying to flee—
"Bang!"
His head and chest detonated instantly.
"It's none of our business!"
"It has nothing to do with us!"
The other prisoners threw themselves to the ground, trembling, hands over their heads.
These were real criminals, but even they dared not move.
They knew that to stand with the Longevity Cult was to embrace death itself.
Those imprisoned here weren't death row inmates — not usually. Death row prisoners were executed, not kept alive.
But some still tried to escape.
And those who did… Liang Xiao killed on the spot.
He was getting used to it now.
Then — a chilling new aura.
"He's the sacrificial offering? And only at the first level of Qi Refining?!"
Another Qi Refining Level 4 expert appeared, eyes gleaming with fanatic excitement.
"The chance for immortality is within reach!"
He roared, his fist blazing with killing intent.
Liang Xiao's fingers blurred again.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A stream of Destruction Needles shredded the incoming attack —
first the man's fist, then his arm, then his shoulder.
"What kind of monster are you…?"
Fear overtook the man's face. Burning his essence blood, he erupted with desperate strength, summoning a crimson barrier.
Liang Xiao's gaze was ice-cold.
He unleashed another furious volley, faster than before.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The crimson shield cracked — then shattered.
"BOOM—!"
The cultivator was blasted backward, crashing into the wall. Miraculously, he survived.
But before Liang Xiao could pursue, something changed.
His expression darkened — then he suddenly dove into a group of cowering prisoners and squatted down, covering his head.
They stared at him, confused — until they felt it.
Three enormous auras were rapidly approaching from above.
"Weng—"
A single sword beam fell from the heavens, nailing the crippled Level 4 cultivator to the floor.
Then — more beams.
"Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!"
Dozens of radiant swords slashed through the prison, cutting down traitorous guards in an instant.
"Puff! Puff! Puff!"
Every corrupted jailer died where they stood.
Even prisoners from the lower levels — including two in the late stage of Qi Refining — were sliced apart without resistance.