chapter 1 Back again!

Empty Mountain Prison!
Situated fifty miles south of Riverway City, atop the Broken Soul Mountain.
Three faces were sheer cliffs, one a gentle slope.
It was said that even if you died inside, not even your ashes could escape.
Unless your sentence was served.
In the deep of night, Cell 4027.
The other inmates were already asleep, their noises of farting, grinding teeth, and snoring intermingling into a cacophony.
In the corner of the room, near the latrine, a scrawny young man was curled up.
Suddenly, the young man in the corner was jolted awake as if from a nightmare, his eyes flashing open. A pair of golden flames danced in his eyes, lingering before finally extinguishing.
The young man looked around, his expression growing excited.
"Sacrificing a millennium of cultivation, I, Abraham Griffith, have finally returned," his voice was barely audible, but it carried an intense chill.
Three thousand years ago, or more precisely, in his last life, Abraham was wrongfully imprisoned.
For three years, Abraham had been subjected to inhuman torture.
His cellmates tortured him creatively every day.
They beat him until he was covered in bruises during the day, and at night, he could only curl up in the corner by the latrine, not daring to close his eyes. Any slight noise made him shiver in fear, like a frightened bird.
In the summer, his cellmates would strip him naked and leave him in the middle of the cell to be bitten by mosquitoes.
In the winter, they would drench him until he was soaking wet, nearly freezing to death in the cold night on numerous occasions.
Although he escaped death many times, on the last day of his sentence, he was still killed by the random punches of his cellmates.
Thankfully, after his death, he unexpectedly transmigrated to another world, the Cultivation Continent.
On the Cultivation Continent, cultivation was the only way of life.
Abraham was not willing to give up. With deep hatred, he began to cultivate the path of immortality. He wanted to become an Immortal Emperor, only the Immortal Emperor could reverse the universe and traverse through time and space.
Fortunately, Abraham was extraordinarily talented in the path of cultivation.
When the Immortal Emperor Oceanic, who was then considered the pride of heaven, ascended to the position of Immortal Emperor, it took him a full ten thousand years, which caused a great sensation at that time.
However, Abraham shocked the entire Cultivation Continent by ascending to the position of Immortal Emperor in just three thousand years.
After ascending to the Immortal Emperor, Abraham did not hesitate to exhaust his cultivation and reverse time and space to return to the day he was imprisoned.
Regrettably, the mighty Immortal Emperor Abraham was now reduced to a mortal.
After today, it would be the day of his release from prison. But Abraham knew that he would die in this cell tonight.
Gently moving his broken body, the intense pain caused him to break out in a cold sweat. His body was covered in countless new and old wounds.
A cold light flickered in Abraham's eyes. He was no longer Immortal Emperor Abraham, but just an ordinary person. With his current physical condition, he would not be able to avoid death tonight.
He needed time now, he needed a quiet environment, he had to start cultivating again.
The tragedy must not be repeated.
Abraham took off his prison clothes and twisted them into a rope. Like a hunting beast, he was waiting.
At dawn, the first ray of sunlight shone through the iron window of the wall.
Abraham moved, he gritted his teeth, stood up, and walked towards a burly man lying on the bed.
This man was named Matthias Lewis, nicknamed "Tiger". On the fourth day after Abraham entered this cell, Matthias came in, and since then, Abraham had been living in a nightmare.
Abraham strangled Matthias's neck hard with the rope made of prison clothes.
Matthias, who was in his sleep, woke up suddenly and saw a ferocious face as soon as he opened his eyes. He was so scared that his soul flew away, and he struggled desperately.
Abraham's two arms bulged with veins, his teeth clenching with a "grinding" sound, exerting all his strength.
Matthias's face turned purple, his eyes bulging out. Suddenly being strangled, plus being overly frightened, his brain couldn't react at all, and he just struggled desperately.
The violent movements woke up the others.
Seeing this scene, everyone was stunned. Abraham, who usually didn't fight back or retort when insulted, suddenly erupted, which left him momentarily unable to react.
"Stop." Finally, someone woke up and rushed towards Abraham.
But at this moment, Abraham suddenly let go and grabbed the edge of the upper bunk and pulled hard.
The beds in the cell were made of iron, with upper and lower bunks. Abraham grabbed the edge of the upper bunk and pulled hard, and the whole bed was actually pulled down.
"Boom."
The iron bed fell to the ground with a loud noise, causing the ground to tremble.
Taking advantage of everyone's stunned moment, Abraham rushed to the washstand by the cell door.
The washstand was made of wood, and all the toiletries of the eight inmates in the cell were placed on it. Abraham, like a madman, grabbed and smashed everything, toothbrushes, washbasins, and plastic fragments flying everywhere.
Finally, after Abraham pushed the entire washstand to the ground, he stopped.
At the same time, chaotic footsteps sounded outside the iron door.
"Clang, clang."
The iron door was knocked with a clang.
"What are you doing, rebelling?" The small window on the iron door opened, revealing the fierce face of Police Lewis.
Including Matthias, who was still in shock, everyone quickly hugged their heads and squatted on the ground.
Matthias was the prison bully, but he could only bully in this cell. The real powerful ones were these wardens. No matter how powerful you were outside, once you entered here, everything was up to the wardens. Regardless of what they wanted to do to you, it all depended on their mood.
Especially Police Lewis, who had a violent temper, falling into his hands, if you didn't die, you would at least lose a layer of skin.
The iron door opened, and Police Lewis walked in with a livid face. Looking at the mess on the ground, his eyes were filled with rage.
"What's going on here, causing trouble under my jurisdiction, are you tired of living?"
"Police Lewis, it's this kid, he tried to strangle me." Matthias pointed at Abraham and shouted.
"Police Lewis, this kid is crazy, he not only tried to strangle Mr. Matthias, but he also knocked down the bed and the washstand."
""
All the inmates naturally formed a group.
Police Lewis looked at Abraham, who was squatting on the ground. His brows furrowed. At this moment, Abraham was barely clothed, his body was skinny, and he was covered in bruises, with scars crisscrossing all over his body.
However, in Police Lewis's eyes, these people were all heinous, the scum of society, trash. They were not worthy of sympathy at all.
"Did you do all this?" Police Lewis squinted his eyes and questioned Abraham.
"Yes." Abraham replied calmly.
Police Lewis was taken aback, he thought that Abraham would at least defend himself a bit.
"Give you ten minutes to clean this place up." Police Lewis said to Matthias and the others. After speaking, he turned around and pointed at Abraham, "You, come with me."
Matthias and the others showed malicious smiles on their faces. They all knew what Police Lewis's words 'come with me' meant, Abraham was definitely going to be locked in the black room.
The so-called black room was made of sharp stones, and the ground was covered with sharp-edged stones. This was a method used in the prison to deal with disobedient inmates.
The black room was full of sharp stones all around, and people could only stand on their toes. If they were careless, they would cut their feet. If they wanted to lean against the wall, they would also be cut by the sharp stones protruding from the wall.
Once the door was closed, it was pitch black inside, and people could neither sit nor sleep in this dark and enclosed environment. It was a great test for both the body and mind. If it was closed for a long time, it could cause a mental breakdown.
So far, no one has been able to last three days in the black room.
Therefore, this made the inmates in the prison talk about it with a change of color.
Abraham followed Police Lewis without any resistance.
But before he left, he gave Matthias a strange smile.
"Mr. Matthias, what should we do now that this kid has been taken away, how should we do it?" A burly inmate said viciously.
"What's the rush?" Matthias yelled impatiently. "Considering this kid's physical condition, he'll be released in at most ten or so hours. There's still more than a day before his release, that's enough time for us to act."
"After tonight, as long as this kid is dead, we can get out of here. I'm really fed up with this damn place." Another inmate spat out, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Abraham followed Police Lewis to the front of the black room.
Police Lewis opened the door of the black room with an expressionless face.
"Get in."
Abraham smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Just as he was about to enter, he was stopped by Police Lewis.
"Take off your shoes."
Abraham's eyes flashed with a hint of fierceness as he bent down to take off his shoes.
As he stood up, Police Lewis pushed him into the room with a mocking smile.
With a thud, Abraham couldn't help but emit a muffled groan as the sharp stone pierced the sole of his foot.
The door closed, trapping Abraham in darkness, with his hand outstretched and unable to see a thing.
In the darkness, Abraham endured the intense pain but wore a knowing smile on his face.
He allowed the stone to pierce his foot as he bent down in the dark to feel around. Unable to rely on sight, he began collecting the stones scattered on the ground.
The stones he collected were arranged into five piles in seemingly disorderly fashion but with an underlying pattern.
One hour later, the last stone fell from Abraham's hand.
"Boom."
The airflow inside the small dark room suddenly erupted as the final stone fell, as if it were being stirred up by invisible hands, creating rippling effects.
Abraham wiped the sweat from his forehead, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"The Five Ghosts Shifting Formation, complete."
The Five Ghosts Shifting Formation was a spiritual formation with the sole purpose of transferring spiritual energy and absorbing the ambient spiritual energy from the surroundings.
Of course, this was just a simplified and rudimentary version of the Five Ghosts Shifting Formation.
Abraham walked into the formation, crossed his legs, formed hand seals, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.
The Empty Mountain Prison was built on the Desolate Soul Mountain, hundreds of miles away from civilization and untouched by pollution. The spiritual energy here was even more abundant than he had imagined.
What an unexpected delight.