Chapter 358

Chapter 358: Guardian of the Stars

In the deep mountains, the door of a cave slowly opened.

Moments later, a beautiful figure walked out slowly.

"Whoosh~"

Ye Jian took a slow breath, then inhaled deeply the fresh air.

Having been in seclusion for over a decade, she hadn’t seen such lush scenery in a long time.

"With my strength, I should be able to escape the Abandoned Prison now, right?"

Ye Jian felt unsure.

The gravitational pull of the Abandoned Prison was immense; after all, cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage couldn’t escape, and it was said that only those at the Divine Transformation stage could.

In the next moment, her figure shot upward, rapidly flying toward the sky.

Her speed was fast, and it continued to increase.

In an instant, Ye Jian soared to an altitude of ten thousand meters.

However, her speed kept increasing.

Ten thousand meters, twenty thousand meters, fifty thousand meters, a hundred thousand meters…

Just as Ye Jian reached one hundred thousand meters high,

Boom!

In the next moment, Ye Jian felt as if she had crashed into an invisible wall.

Thankfully, this invisible wall wasn’t a hard barrier; it felt more like water in the air.

So at one hundred thousand meters, Ye Jian suddenly felt as if she had sunk into a quagmire. Her speed dropped instantly from several kilometers per second to a few hundred meters per second, and that speed was still decreasing.

Seeing this, Ye Jian’s face turned grim.

She had long heard that there was a natural restriction above the sky in the Abandoned Prison that could block all spiritual energy from entering.

This restriction was thick; to escape the Abandoned Prison, one needed to break through this layer of restriction successfully.

Feeling the pressure surrounding her, Ye Jian didn’t give up.

She exerted all her strength to channel her true essence, pushing through, but her flying speed had already decreased to one hundred meters per second.

Time passed, and after an unknown duration, Ye Jian finally felt the pressure around her suddenly lighten, and her speed increased once again.

She knew she had finally broken through the confinement of the Abandoned Prison.

If she wanted, she could now completely escape from the Abandoned Prison Star and head to the cultivation world.

However, Ye Jian wouldn’t do that because her tribe and younger generation were still in the Abandoned Prison.

Moreover, she didn’t lack cultivation resources right now, so there was no need to seek out cultivators.

In fact, the Abandoned Prison, being devoid of spiritual energy, was the more suitable place for her to quietly develop.

Just after Ye Jian broke through the restriction, a powerful divine sense pressure swept over.

Feeling the overwhelming divine sense pressure, Ye Jian’s expression immediately changed drastically.

She released her divine sense pressure but could not detect any trace of the other person.

It was clear that the other was beyond her divine sense perception range.

This meant the other was much stronger than her.

From the overwhelming divine sense pressure, Ye Jian understood that the person was definitely at least an Integration stage powerhouse; a Transformation stage cultivator could not exert such powerful divine sense pressure on her.

“Bold sinner, daring to leave the Abandoned Prison without permission—die!”

A cold transmission of divine sense echoed, making Ye Jian’s ears ring painfully as if a bell had sounded beside her.

The aura of this person filled her with intense malice and a dire threat.

In that moment, Ye Jian identified that this person would pose a danger to her, making her feel the threat of death.

So the next moment, without saying a word, Ye Jian quickly flew back toward the Abandoned Prison.

She hoped that once she returned, this Integration stage powerhouse would not pursue her, or else she was doomed.

She had just broken through to the Transformation stage and could not possibly take on an Integration stage opponent.

For an Integration stage cultivator to deal with her would be as easy as an ordinary person killing an ant.

However, Ye Jian would soon find herself miscalculating.

Because very quickly, within her divine sense perception range, the figure of the Integration stage powerhouse appeared.

The Integration stage powerhouse pursued her fervently and entered the restriction just like she did.

“Senior, I mean no offense, I will retreat back to the Abandoned Prison. Please let me go,” Ye Jian quickly transmitted, pleading with the Integration stage powerhouse.

“Evil one, daring to leave the Abandoned Prison, your only fate is death. I advise you to submit peacefully; otherwise, not only will your end be grim, but your tribe will also suffer the consequences,” the Integration stage powerhouse responded coldly.

“Senior, I…”

Ye Jian wanted to say something, but before she could finish, she was interrupted.

The Integration stage powerhouse continued, “From your mark, you must be one of the Lin family exiled to the Abandoned Prison hundreds of years ago. If you do not submit, your entire Lin family will be wiped out.”

Hearing this, Ye Jian’s expression changed drastically: “Senior, please don’t joke! I am not one of the Lin family…”

“Humph, all who have been exiled to the Abandoned Prison bear the recognition mark left by my master. I can sense it with just a sweep of my divine sense.”

“So, as a Lin family member, do you still wish to escape?”

Upon hearing this, despair washed over Ye Jian.

She hadn’t expected to have such a mark on her.

And she had no clue when it had been placed on her.

What to do?

Should she still escape?

As a Transformation stage cultivator, where could she flee to?

Even if she managed to escape, what would happen to her tribe and descendants?

At that moment, Ye Jian felt extremely conflicted.

As the two continued to converse, the Integration stage powerhouse closed the distance between them.

Although both of their speeds were slowed by the restriction, the Integration stage powerhouse was still much faster than her.

At this pace, they would close in on her in just a few minutes.

“Will you submit?”

Ye Jian felt unwilling.

She had worked so hard to reach the Transformation stage, and she was so close to finally leading her family out of the Abandoned Prison, only to find an Integration stage powerhouse wanting to kill her and threaten her tribe.

“Senior, I choose to submit. Will you let my tribe go?”

In the end, Ye Jian decided to submit.

Because she knew that against an Integration stage powerhouse, escaping was impossible.

Moreover, in the end, it would only endanger her tribe.

So rather than continue fleeing, it was better to plead for mercy from this senior and ask him to spare her tribe.

“Now you choose to submit? It’s too late; you will not only die, but your tribe will also perish,” the Integration stage cultivator said coldly, without any emotion.

Upon hearing this, Ye Jian’s face turned pale.

She regretted it deeply; if she had known someone would be guarding outside the Abandoned Prison, she would never have recklessly left the restriction.

Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world.

However, Ye Jian still couldn’t give up.

She said to the Integration stage cultivator, “Senior, I will give you all the superior grade spirit stones I have. Will you spare my tribe?”

Ye Jian continued to plead for mercy.

Since they knew her identity, if they wanted to investigate, her tribe would certainly not escape.

“Once I capture you, everything on you will belong to me,” replied the Integration stage cultivator, his demeanor as cold as ever.