The scene fell deathly silent.
After a long while,
Ye Liang collapsed from the unbearable pain.
When he came to again, it was already the next day.
He now found himself locked in a dungeon. Aside from several additional piles of shattered bones scattered around him, there was nothing else.
"Ahh, looks like I really shouldn't have acted on impulse."
Ye Liang sighed.
His bad temper had developed from constantly trying to act cool—whether back when he first crossed over, or right now, he always carried that modern mindset toward the NPCs.
Little did he know, he had now become a wandering vagrant with no place to go.
He pulled himself together and limped toward the cell door.
Outside were a few guard attendants. They were chatting idly, and as Ye Liang shifted his arms and legs, pain shot through his still-unhealed wounds.
"Hey! Officer outside, could I get some water?" Ye Liang moistened his lips and tapped his sore leg.
The guards were gambling and joking around, but at Ye Liang's voice, they reluctantly shuffled toward him. "Hey! Newbie, can't you see the officers are busy? What're you shouting for!"
Ye Liang glanced at him.
This guy must've been gambling with his buddies earlier—and judging by his irritable demeanor, he probably lost quite a bit.
"Officer, I just want a drink of water."
Ye Liang forced a smile and handed him a Death Qi Orb.
This item he had obtained back in the Yomi World, and he figured these young soldiers might appreciate it.
"What intense energy!"
The guard was momentarily surprised when he saw the Death Qi Orb, then quietly pocketed it. "Want water? I've got some. I'll fetch it for you right now."
Ye Liang nodded.
As the soldier went to get the water, Ye Liang returned to his seat inside the cell and began inspecting himself.
His leg bones were seriously damaged, and his chakra reserves had dropped to less than ten percent!
They were high above the cloud layer—there was no way to replenish his chakra. Therefore, during his clash of [Divine Power] with Izan Yamato, he had used up all his chakra.
Damn it!
"What use am I now, compared to a useless cripple!" He cursed himself.
At this moment,
The guard who went for water returned.
"Kid, you're lucky not to have been killed on the spot by the god lord," the guard muttered, willing to say a few more words since Ye Liang had offered a bribe.
"Unfortunately, your life won't last much longer either." Then he suddenly sighed, sorrow flickering across his eyes.
Ye Liang was taken aback.
Seeing the expression on the soldier's face, he naturally sensed there was hidden meaning behind the words. After a pause, when the guard didn't continue, Ye Liang understood without further explanation.
He handed another Death Qi Orb over.
The guard immediately grinned.
"Kid, you sure are rich," he chuckled, secretly tucking the orb into his robe before leaning close. "To be honest, when I came on duty today, I overheard the warden chief saying you'll be exiled to an [Alternate Dimension] tomorrow!
That's an [Alternate Dimension]!
With your current condition, I doubt you'll make it out alive."
"Alternate dimension? What kind of place is that?" Ye Liang asked, puzzled.
The guard lowered his voice and explained: "It's where Takamagahara exiles its criminals. Usually, gods who commit grave offenses or aliens who mistakenly wander into earth end up being sent there.
Of course, occasionally some younger generation members of Takamagahara also choose to train there voluntarily."
"This is actually the first case of a clueless mortal being exiled," said the soldier.
Ye Liang's pupils flickered slightly. "Brother Bing, then what level are those people usually at?"
"At minimum they're all experts at the third stage!" After saying that, the young soldier turned and left immediately.
"The third stage?"
Back in his prison cell, Ye Liang summoned the System again. "System, do you know what this 'third stage' means?"
The System shook its head.
"These power classifications are all local terms. For example, in Heavenly Demon it's called a Douzhe, and in Soul Land it's referred to as a Hunshi; there are countless variations across different worlds! I simply don't know."
Ye Liang gave a helpless shrug.
"By the way, can you detect where we exactly are? Any practical escape plans?"
"We're inside the cloud layer beneath Takamagahara. The entire land of Takamagahara is built atop these clouds as an island, protected above by a sealing barrier, so people below cannot see it. If the Host wants to escape, digging a hole from underground would naturally cause him to fall back onto solid ground. However, breaking through these walls requires a physical strength of at least 50!"
"Fifty?! Isn't that on par with Susanoo-no-Mikoto!" Ye Liang gasped in astonishment. It seemed he truly couldn't avoid being exiled after all!
While he still had time, Ye Liang took out the secret manual Izan had secretly given him. He'd kept this within the System Space, so no one had found or confiscated it.
[Chakra Refinement Method]? He skimmed through it briefly. The manual detailed how to compress and refine one's own chakra for body strengthening purposes.
Ye Liang pondered thoughtfully.
His abilities had reached a bottleneck and could no longer improve.
Back when fighting Otsutsuki Tenji, despite using the same techniques, his inferior physical strength had ultimately left him a step behind.
Now with this book, everything suddenly made sense.
He carefully put the book away.
Yet another problem arose in his mind.
Dammit, without any chakra to start with, how was he supposed to refine anything...?
The next day.
Several Warden Chiefs came together to his cell.
Ye Liang had fallen asleep, since exile had already been decided. He figured that getting a good rest would help him face whatever harsh conditions lay ahead.
One of the Warden Chiefs immediately threw a sack over Ye Liang's head, and two of them carried him off together.
Before long, they arrived at a secluded chamber.
After setting Ye Liang down, they turned around and left.
After some time passed and with no one holding him anymore, Ye Liang climbed out of the sack. As soon as he poked his head out, his eyes met a pair of stern ones staring right back.
"Susanoo-no-Mikoto! What are you doing here!"
Ye Liang was taken aback.
Susanoo-no-Mikoto was squatting directly in front of him like an idiot.
"I have something to discuss with you."
"With me?"
"Yeah."
Before Ye Liang could finish speaking, Susanoo-no-Mikoto extended forward a cursed blade straight into Ye Liang's hands.
This was the Chaotic Cursed Blade!
Ye Liang was momentarily stunned but quickly understood Susanoo's intention. This guy was returning his weapon to him. "Didn't you say this blade was a sacred treasure of Takamagahara? Won't you get punished by Father for doing this?"
"Our Takamagahara does not need to seize weapons from mortals." Susanoo-no-Mikoto snorted coldly.
Ye Liang shrugged indifferently.
At this moment, those Warden Chiefs returned again. Judging from the situation, they were the ones who secretly helped Susanoo-no-Mikoto sneak people out.
"Lord Susanoo, it's about time. If we delay any further, it'll be hard for us to explain," one of them said.
"Fine, then take the person away," Susanoo-no-Mikoto replied.
Ye Liang immediately retrieved the Condensation Method manual from his System Space — the item Izanami had given him. Although this item was useful to him, Ye Liang didn't want Izanami taking the blame for him!
"Are you sure you want to give this back to me?" Susanoo-no-Mikoto hesitated.
"Take it. And let Izanami know that the debt she owed from the Yomi World has been repaid. She doesn't need to pull stunts like this anymore."
After saying that, Ye Liang said nothing and crawled into the burlap sack.
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