Lin Hai could already be certain that the Netherworld Guest had successfully escaped from prison long ago.

"Just from these inscriptions alone, you can see his extraordinary strength. Even I have to be extremely vigilant and cautious when dealing with such a person."

"In fact, he might be even stronger than me."

Lin Hai sighed. Although he had killed many, his martial path was not one of ruthless and cold-blooded slaughter.

Therefore, in terms of combat power, he might not match up to someone who had almost discarded their humanity.

"I knew you'd sneak here at night instead of sleeping."

The sudden voice made Lin Hai turn around abruptly.

It turned out to be the mysterious old man.

Lin Hai had always been very curious about this old man.

He himself could sneak in here, and the old man seemed to move as if it were uninhabited.

Regarding the old man's strength, Lin Hai admitted he couldn't see through it.

"Young man, you seem to be very curious about the Netherworld Guest." The old man spoke with a smile, walking steadily to a wall and casually touched the inscriptions on it, appearing to reminisce.

Lin Hai respectfully cupped his hand. With someone like this, there was no need to hide anything; the man's intelligence surely wasn't devoured by the Dog Star People.

"I have a mission. I need to confirm whether the Netherworld Guest has escaped from the Heavenly Prison."

Hearing Lin Hai's honest answer, the mysterious old man laughed: "You're very honest, with a good character."

"This writing on the wall is quite good, isn't it?"

Lin Hai nodded: "It's full of killing intent. I didn't expect the Netherworld Guest to have such power."

"Heh heh, these words weren't actually written by the Netherworld Guest. Though that boy is powerful, he's not quite at this level yet," the old man said.

Lin Hai was astonished.

It's not the Netherworld Guest?

"Then who wrote them?"

"They were left by the Netherworld Guest's master. He stepped into the Heavenly Prison just to see these inscriptions; otherwise, it would have been impossible for someone of his status to be captured here."

The mysterious old man said.

"Look closely, the small script on the wall and these killing words have different artistic concepts."

Lin Hai focused his gaze and realized there were indeed differences.

The killing words on the wall seemed more profound.

"Who is the Netherworld Guest's master?"

The old man smiled and answered, "The Netherworld Guest's master is the same as Taotie's master."

"..."

Lin Hai was speechless, "You didn't really tell me anything, old man."

Nevertheless, he was still shocked.

The Netherworld Guest and Taotie are actually fellow students?

To have trained two such formidable disciples, who on earth is their master?

"Actually, Taotie and the Netherworld Guest only inherited a part of their master's martial path."

"However, the two inherited different directions, so as the saying goes, 'paths diverging lead to clashes,' almost like water and fire."

Lin Hai felt as if he were hearing a great secret.

But this mysterious master was also quite pitiful, all three people from the same sect had essentially sat in the Heavenly Prison.

"By the way, young man, are you Lin Hai?"

"Yes, I'm Lin Hai. Might I ask for the grandmaster's name?"

Lin Hai was very curious. This old man was definitely not an ordinary person, so his name must also carry a legendary history.

"Oh me, you'll know later. Lately, I've been contemplating attaining sudden enlightenment in a realm, so my character isn't quite the original me. Once I'm enlightened, I'll go out and find you," the old man said with a smile.

Just, with this smile, for some unknown reason, Lin Hai seemed to faintly sense a hint of... Fan Jian's presence.

Rubbing his eyes, Lin Hai shook his head to dismiss the thought.

The old man was definitely a worldly master; how could he possibly resemble someone like Fan Jian?

"Oh? When is the grandmaster planning to leave? The Death Pass competition is starting soon. Are you going to wait another twenty years?"

"Ha ha, even the Netherworld Guest managed to escape. With my skills, how could I possibly not get out?"

"However, young man, if you want to leave, you'd better hurry. Once the Heavenly Prison Chief returns, even the Netherworld Guest cannot escape."

The old man reminded.

"They say the Chief Lord is very powerful."

Lin Hai spoke, but his heart was pounding; the old man seemed very confident. It seems his strength definitely surpasses the Chief.

However, the Chief is supposed to be a pinnacle mythical strong person. Just one step further, he would be like the undying seniors of the Xuanyuan Family, half a step beyond the mythical level.

And the old man was utterly unafraid, indicating that his strength indeed rivaled or even exceeded that of the Chief, perhaps being even stronger.

Could it mean... the old man is half a step beyond the mythical level?

With this thought, Lin Hai's perception of the old man changed.

Someone of such caliber, if they were outside in society, even the Xuanyuan Family would have to be extremely wary.

"The grandmaster's strength...?" Lin Hai asked tentatively.

"Half-step Human King level." The old man responded.

Hiss—

Lin Hai took a deep breath.

Half-step Human King level.

The Human King level is a level beyond the mythical, standing at the zenith of today's martial path world, akin to a martial arts myth.

Unexpectedly, this old man before him was half of a martial arts myth.

Although Lin Hai had guessed, it was still immensely shocking once uttered by the other party.

"Then why doesn't the grandmaster leave now? Isn't finding a scenic place more suitable for comprehending martial path than staying in the Heavenly Prison?" Lin Hai didn't understand the old man's approach.

With his immense power, there's nowhere in the world that could keep him?

The old man smiled wryly, "It's not that I can't leave; it's that I temporarily cannot."

"The greatest shackles on a person aren't walls of iron, but the chains of the mind."

"A promise binds you for life."

The old man sighed, "I promised a few people I wouldn't leave the Heavenly Prison unless it was absolutely necessary."

Lin Hai was just about to ask what constituted 'necessary' when the old man silently disappeared from behind him.

"Is this the strength of a half-step Human King level? I can't even tell how he left."

Lin Hai took a deep breath and was about to leave when the old man's voice rang in his ears: "Kid, the Death Pass competition is in three days, by then, the Chief Lord will definitely be back."

"With your strength, you can't leave the Heavenly Prison without relying on the Death Pass."

"Kid, do your best. I have faith in you."

The old man's voice disappeared.

Lin Hai stepped out of there.

As soon as he left the A-1 area, the old man's voice once again rang in his ears, slightly embarrassed: "Ahem, I forgot to mention, I've long disliked those two guys, Satan and Punishment Angel. I can't intervene directly to save face, but in the competition three days later, do well to handle them."

"If you do well, I might teach you a trick or two, haha."

Lin Hai was again privately shocked. Gang Qi Transmission is based on a person's strength to decide the distance of transmission.

A Supreme could transmit over fifty steps at most, while a legendary level was about two hundred steps.

Regarding half-step Human King level, based on the previous distance, Lin Hai judged it to be at least eight hundred steps.

Legends say the highest level of strength can truly achieve "transmission over a thousand miles," but this old saying is somewhat exaggerated; realistically, it's about a thousand steps.

"The competition in three days? Satan killed Wang Ergun; I won't let them have it easy."

Lin Hai clenched his fists.