In a deep, uncharted sea, where sunlight could never reach, where the water pressure was enough to crush even the toughest deep-sea monsters, there lay a structure not of nature's making.
A colossal concrete block, made from an unknown jet-black stone, rested silently on the ocean floor. It had no windows, no exits, looking like a vast and silent ancient tomb. Surrounding this edifice, giant Megalodons, monsters that existed only in legend, swam and patrolled obediently, like loyal guard dogs.
This was Blackwater Prison, the most fearsome and secret prison of the "Dao Saint of Salvation."
Inside, in a dark, damp stone cell.
A young man, his clothes tattered, revealing a body covered in old and new wounds, was suspended in mid-air. His hands and feet were bound by four jet-black chains made of Blackwater Stone, shackled to the four corners of the room, forming a humiliating "Bát" (八) shape.
It was Lam Minh.
"You seem to be holding up well."
A voice as cold as ice echoed. Standing opposite him was a figure, hands clasped behind his back. He wore a black cloak that covered him from head to toe. A terrifying dark aura emanated from him continuously. If any ordinary person were here, they would surely scream: "You're the villain!"
Lam Minh slowly opened his eyes. They were no longer normal. One pupil was a milky white, the other a jet black, looking extremely sinister. It was the consequence of his soul being eroded by the dark qi; though not controlled, it had left its mark.
"Heh heh... well my ass," he cursed, his voice hoarse and weak.
Waves of mutations from the various toxins and strange energies they had injected into him were continuously twisting his face and body. A sense of pain and helplessness enveloped him, from his physical body to his very soul. He had tried to use the system, but the Blackwater Stone had completely sealed his cultivation and his connection to it. He couldn't kill himself, couldn't be reborn. He had truly become a prisoner.
"You don't seem to grasp your current situation," said Zeros, the one standing before him, his voice devoid of emotion. "You have failed, Lam Minh. From now on, you will be imprisoned here, witnessing the suffering of humanity. You will slowly savor the feeling of helplessness as you watch your loved ones fall one by one. That is the price for your arrogance."
He was using words as sharp as knives to attack Lam Minh's only remaining weak point: his spirit.
"All... of you... will pay," Lam Minh said, his voice heavy and strained, each word seeming to take all his strength. "You will know... just how high the price is... for what you are doing."
Zeros said no more. He just silently turned and walked out of the cell. The thick Blackwater Stone-barred gate slammed shut. The sound of his footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing more distant.
In the dark room, Lam Minh was left alone.
"Cough... cough..."
He coughed a few times. He felt a despair he had never known before. In his previous life, though he lost, he had at least died a heroic death. But in this life, he had to endure eternal imprisonment and torture, forced to helplessly watch the world he loved be destroyed.
Just then.
"Young man."
Another voice sounded. Not from outside. But from the cell opposite.
"New here? Can you hear me?"
Lam Minh forced himself to endure the pain tearing through his body and slowly looked up.
Through the bars, he saw that in the cell opposite, there was also a person imprisoned.
It was a middle-aged man, squatting, staring at him intently.
He had the appearance of a human, his face handsome and refined, despite the traces of time. But on his arms and neck were emerald-green fish scales, sparkling in the faint light.
His clothes were ragged, but they couldn't hide an extraordinary temperament, a majesty and nonchalance that emanated from his very bones.
Lam Minh was puzzled. A human, yet not entirely human. His aura was ancient, and... there was a slight resemblance, like his uncle Lac Long Quan.
"Who are you?" Lam Minh asked, his voice still gruff and unfriendly due to the pain. If this were a job interview, he would probably have been rejected immediately for his attitude.
The man laughed, a hearty laugh, not at all like a prisoner's. "Young man, you look young but you've got quite a temper. Me? I'm just like you. Someone locked up in this godforsaken place. Haha."
He paused for a few seconds, then continued, his eyes growing deep. "And I know the problem you're facing."
Lam Minh was momentarily surprised. He looked at the man, trying to assess him. A strangely familiar feeling stirred within him. He was sure he had met this person somewhere before, or this aura... but he just couldn't remember. The feeling was incredibly frustrating.
"What do you know about me? What do you know about those mutated freaks who are neither human nor demon?" Lam Minh asked.
"I know many things," the man said. "I know all their secrets. That's why I'm locked up in here. And..."
He looked straight into Lam Minh's eyes, the corner of his mouth curling into a mysterious smile, carrying both challenge and indifference.
"I know how to solve your problem, young man."
...
Lam Minh looked at the middle-aged man sitting opposite him through the bars, his heart filled with confusion and doubt. A thousand horses seemed to be stampeding in his head, trying to sort out the chaotic information and feelings.
"You look human enough," Lam Minh spoke, his voice still hoarse and laced with his inherent sarcasm, as if to mask his current weakness. "But how can I trust you? For all I know, you could be one of the Madakaros' cronies, or maybe one of their advanced experimental products."
The middle-aged man laughed upon hearing this, a hearty laugh that didn't sound like it belonged to a prisoner.
"Oh? You think in your current situation, you still have the right to disbelieve?" he retorted with equal, biting sarcasm. "Your cultivation is eroded by dark qi, your meridians are in chaos, and your dantian is sealed by Blackwater Stone. Right now, you're not even as good as a lowly Qi Refining practitioner. What do you have to make a choice with?"
His words were like daggers, striking straight at Lam Minh's harsh reality. It was true, he was now a failure, a tiger whose fangs had all been pulled. He no longer had the right to be arrogant.
"Fair point," Lam Minh sighed, his voice tinged with weariness and lethargy. Exhaustion, both physical and mental, began to consume him. "So... what can you do to help me?"
"Of course I know about your darkening, that's why I spoke up," the man said, a strange confidence shining in his eyes. "And I've been locked in this godforsaken place for hundreds of years. My value is far greater than you can imagine. Haha."
He still maintained his nonchalant and sarcastic demeanor. But Lam Minh no longer felt annoyed. On the contrary, he grew more curious. A man who had been imprisoned for hundreds of years, yet still maintained such an optimistic spirit and extraordinary temperament, was definitely not a simple person.
That temperament, along with his appearance and the indescribable sense of familiarity, gradually made Lam Minh begin to trust him a little.
"So what do you need from me?" Lam Minh asked, getting straight to the point. "What are the conditions? I don't believe you're going to give me a free lunch, right?"
Hearing this question, the smile on the man's face slowly faded, replaced by a solemn expression. He slowly stood up, turning his back to Lam Minh, and looked at the dark stone wall in front of him. He was silent for a long time.
"Hey, stop trying to be mysterious," Lam Minh sneered, teasing him. "I know you're trapped here, feeling helpless too, right? Looking for a gullible kid like me to help you escape?"
The man stiffened for a few seconds, as if his thoughts had been read, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Ahem... ahem..." he coughed a few times to cover it up. "Not so fast. First, let me tell you a story."
"Alright. I'm all ears," Lam Minh said. In any case, listening to a fairy tale in this desperate situation wouldn't cost him a single hair.
"The Dao Saint, the ones who captured you," the man began, his voice becoming deep and resonant. "They have existed, not for decades, but for... thousands of years."
He paused for a second, as if to give Lam Minh time to digest this shocking information.
"Thousands of years? Before the Common Era?" Lam Minh asked in astonishment. "How could such an ancient and terrifying organization exist without anyone knowing?"
"That's right," the man said. "They were created before the Common Era, a time when countless kings, those considered 'sons of heaven,' ruled all over this world."
He turned back, looking at Lam Minh with a meaningful gaze. "Do you know what those who have reached the highest position, holding absolute power, fear the most?"
"What?" Lam Minh replied, as an opening for him to continue the story.
"They fear death," he said, nodding slightly. "When they have everything, they fear losing everything even more. They fear death more than anything else."
"So, they secretly joined hands, these kings from different empires, and formed an organization. Initially, it was not called the Dao Saint. It had a very beautiful name: 'The Society for the Pursuit of the Longevity Secret'. Their goal was not power, but to find the elixir of immortality. Because, since ancient times, humanity has not known how to cultivate systematically. So they could only search for the great path of longevity, like searching for a miraculous pill."
He spoke with a voice full of sarcasm.
"A bunch of fools. They forgot the teachings of their ancestors, forgot the path of self-strengthening, and instead sought blessings from external forces."
"And then, that 'blessing' arrived. About two hundred years ago, the first scouts of the Fish-Demon race, or Madakaros as you call them now, came to Earth. They came not to invade, but to investigate the existence of the Father King Lac Long Quan, to confirm whether that legend was still alive."
"And the 'Society for the Pursuit of Longevity' seized this opportunity. They betrayed. From those scouts, they learned of the existence of more powerful races in the universe, learned about the true path of cultivation. They provided intelligence about Earth, about humanity, in exchange for cultivation techniques and gene-fusion technology. From then on, the 'Society for the Pursuit of Longevity' died, and the 'Dao Saint of Salvation' was born."
The man's story revealed a horrifying secret, a betrayal that had originated thousands of years ago.
Lam Minh was silent. He finally understood why this organization had such a solid foundation and such cruel methods.
They were not modern-day traitors.
They were a malignant tumor that had been deeply embedded in the history of all humanity.