Qin Renhuang just became an immortal, and you told me this is the prehistoric time

The gray tower trembled violently! The cracks on its surface rapidly healed under the influx of immense energy!
The tower's body transformed from gray to gold, radiating a dazzling light! The tower continued to expand and grow taller!
One floor, two floors, three floors...

The final design was a nine-story pagoda, its entire body shimmering with golden light, exuding an aura of majesty, solemnity, and purification!

On the tower, countless mysterious runes flickered on and off, faintly emanating from Buddhist chants, yet also carrying the imperial dragon aura unique to the Qin Empire!
"The Demon Refining Tower is complete!"

Ying Xuan gave a low shout and flicked his finger!
The nine-story golden pagoda transformed into a beam of golden light, bursting through the wooden house and instantly appearing atop the highest mountain outside Qin Capital!

The tower grew taller in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a towering golden pagoda, hundreds of feet high!
The spire points straight to the sky, radiating golden light and making the entire mountain appear like a sacred Buddhist site!

"lead!"

Ying Xuan's mind stirred again.

Deep within the palace, the turbid incense offerings and prayers that gathered the distractions, desires, and fears of millions of people seemed to have found an outlet, transforming into an invisible torrent that crossed space and continuously poured into the Demon Refining Tower!

The golden pagoda shone brightly! The runes on its body flowed like living things!

The massive incense and spiritual energy that surged in was filtered and purified layer by layer inside the tower!
Negative thoughts such as violence, resentment, and greed are forcibly stripped away, crushed, and annihilated by the runes!
Only the purest and most peaceful power of faith remains, like golden raindrops, falling from the top of the tower to nourish the mountain and the surrounding land!

Having done all this, Ying Xuan closed his eyes, and a divine thought, like an invisible radio wave, instantly traversed space and entered the mind of Li Si, the Minister of Justice:

"On the western outskirts of Qin capital, atop Luoxia Peak, stands a tower named 'Demon Refiner.' This tower can purify impurities from incense offerings and transform the power of faith."

"All prisoners guilty of heinous crimes and deeply sinful acts may be escorted to the foot of the tower to be baptized by its light, cleansing their sins and perhaps transforming their sins into peace, so that they may be of service to the Empire. The specific regulations shall be drafted by your Ministry of Justice and submitted to me for review."

Li Si, who was handling official business at the Ministry of Justice, suddenly shuddered! The voice that echoed in his mind was authoritative and familiar!
He suddenly stood up and looked towards the direction of Luoxia Peak in the western suburbs. He saw a dazzling golden light soar into the sky, with faint Buddhist chants and a majestic imperial aura!

"The Demon Refining Tower...purifies the impurities of incense offerings...transforms the power of faith..."

Li Si murmured to himself, his eyes filled with shock and contemplation.

He was well aware of the potential harm that incense offerings and distracting thoughts could bring to the empire's fortune, and he also understood the profound meaning behind His Majesty's actions!

This is not just a tower, but a divine artifact that concerns the foundation of the empire and the education of all people!

"Your Majesty is wise! Your subject... obeys the decree!"

Li Si bowed deeply towards the direction of the palace, his face showing unprecedented solemnity and excitement.

He knew that a new policy concerning the future of the empire and with far-reaching implications was about to unfold in his hands!

On the summit of Luoxia Peak in the western suburbs of Qindu.

The hundred-foot-tall golden pagoda stands majestically, its body shimmering with golden light, faint chanting of Buddhist hymns emanating from it, exuding imperial majesty.

The spire points straight to the sky, making the entire mountain appear like a Buddhist paradise.

The atmosphere at the foot of the tower, however, was somber and heavy.

Li Si, the Minister of Justice, stood before the tower, his brow furrowed, dressed in his official robes.

Behind him were hundreds of heavily inmates, shackled and chained, exuding a fierce aura!
There are notorious bandits who kill without hesitation, rebel leaders who incite unrest, and demonic cultivators who practice evil arts and harm living beings...

Each of them exuded a fierce aura and had an arrogant look in their eyes. Even though they were bound by shackles, they still radiated a chilling murderous aura.

"My lord! This... how are prisoners kept in this tower? Are we going to stuff them inside?"

Looking at the gleaming, golden tower with no doors or gates, the head constable in charge of escorting the prisoners couldn't help but ask in a low voice, his face full of confusion and worry.

"Moreover... this tower looks sacred, but it's unguarded. What if these thugs..."

Li Si raised his hand to interrupt him, his gaze sweeping over the thugs behind him with a deep and authoritative tone.

"His Majesty's decree is not open to any dissent! Take him to the tower and await your judgment!"

The constables dared not say anything more and had no choice but to bite the bullet and drive hundreds of serious criminals to the edge of the Demon Refining Tower shrouded in golden light.

The prisoners looked at the colossal tower that exuded an aura of holiness and majesty. Their eyes held surprise and doubt, but even more so, arrogance and disdain.

They didn't believe that a tower could do anything to them!
The moment the last prisoner stepped into the golden light!

The Demon Refining Tower trembled violently! Countless profound runes suddenly lit up on the tower's surface!
A series of soft yet irresistible golden beams shot out instantly, precisely enveloping each serious offender!

"what!"

"what happened?!"

"let me go!"

The gasps and angry shouts abruptly stopped!

Hundreds of thugs, regardless of their cultivation level, were instantly immobilized under the golden light!
Immediately afterwards, a flash of golden light appeared, and their figures disappeared instantly as if swallowed by an invisible giant mouth!
The constables gasped in shock, their faces paling with horror!

They watched helplessly as hundreds of living people vanished into thin air in a golden light! This...this is simply divine intervention!

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is divinely mighty!"

The head constable was the first to react. He knelt down with a thud in the direction of the Demon Refining Tower, shouting in a trembling voice.

The other yamen runners also seemed to wake from a dream, and they all knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

Li Si stared at the empty space in front of the tower, the shock in his eyes lingering for a long time.

He bowed deeply to the Demon Refining Tower.

"Your subject, Li Si, has acted in accordance with the imperial decree and has escorted the serious criminal here. Further matters are at Your Majesty's discretion!"

After saying this, he didn't linger and quickly retreated down the mountain with the still-shaken constables.

Inside the Demon Refining Tower.

The tower is not solid, but is filled with countless layers of independent spaces.

Each space is like a simple stone chamber, only large enough for one person to sit cross-legged.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of flowing golden runes, exuding a faint aura of purification and suppression.

Hundreds of hardened criminals are now standing blankly in their respective stone chambers.

Their shackles had disappeared, but an invisible force held them firmly in place in the center of the stone chamber, unable to move an inch. "What kind of hellhole is this?!"

"Let me out!"

"Playing tricks! If you've got the guts, come out and fight!"

The prisoners were filled with fear and rage, frantically pounding on the runic walls and roaring.

Their attacks landed on the runes without even causing a ripple.

at this time!

At the top of each stone chamber, a drop of murky, viscous liquid exuding a chaotic aura silently condenses—it is a "phantom drop" highly concentrated from countless incense-burning thoughts!
The water droplets fell silently, landing precisely on the foreheads of each prisoner!

"Ugh—!"

The moment the water droplet merged with the water, all the prisoners' bodies stiffened abruptly!
His eyes instantly lost focus, becoming empty and dull!
Their consciousness has been forcibly pulled into a bizarre and fantastical illusion constructed from incense and distracting thoughts!

Ying Xuan's divine sense, like an invisible heavenly eye, overlooked every space within the tower.

He wasn't torturing these prisoners; he was conducting an unprecedented "experiment."

"The impure thoughts surrounding incense originate from the desires, fears, and obsessions of all living beings. Demons and monsters are inherently filled with malevolent energy. If we can use them as a furnace to refine these impure thoughts, we may be able to produce pure incense."

Ying Xuan mentally deduced the reasoning.

"However, demons and monsters are hard to find and easily get out of control. These heinous criminals, full of malice, are a good alternative."

He had already poured a massive amount of incense and distracting thoughts into the tower, and now these distracting thoughts were frantically assaulting the minds of the prisoners through the illusion!

The tower was eerily silent.

Only the prisoners sitting there motionless trembled slightly, their expressions shifting constantly—sometimes ferocious, sometimes pained, sometimes bewildered.

Their consciousness is undergoing unimaginable torment within the illusion.

Ying Xuan's divine sense locked onto one of the prisoners.

This man was a notorious bandit with dozens of lives on his hands, exuding a chilling aura.

At this moment, in his illusion, countless wronged souls he had killed are turning into vengeful ghosts, demanding his life!

His past greed, cruelty, and fear have been magnified infinitely!
He wildly brandished the non-existent knife, roaring, but could not harm those illusory ghostly figures in the slightest!
Mental torment is a hundred times worse than physical pain!
In another stone chamber, a demonic cultivator who practices evil arts and drinks human blood is currently experiencing the nightmare of backlash from his cultivation technique!
The evil arts he had cultivated throughout his life transformed into countless poisonous insects in the illusion, gnawing at his meridians and bone marrow!
The power he was so proud of became the most painful punishment!
Time loses its meaning within the tower. The flow of time in the illusion far surpasses that of reality.

The prisoners felt as if they had been struggling in a hallucination for years, even decades!

Ying Xuan observed calmly.

He saw that some prisoners, under endless torture, began to break down mentally, their eyes became completely unfocused, they made unconscious hoarse noises, and their bodies withered and aged at a visible speed, as if their energy had been drained away.

Meanwhile, in the extreme pain and fear, the last remaining conscience or will to live deep in the minds of other prisoners was aroused!
They began to try to "understand" the pain of those they had hurt, to "feel" the consequences of their sins, and to "fight" the greed and violence deep within their hearts...

Although the process was still extremely painful, and some people even let out piercing screams because they could not bear it, their mental fluctuations began to show faint signs of "peace" that were different from the violent energy.

"It's done!"

A glint of light flashed in Ying Xuan's eyes.

He clearly saw that on the notorious thief who had begun to "repent," an extremely faint yet pure incense-like power of prayer was slowly emanating from his trembling body!

This wisp of aspiration is no longer murky, no longer filled with resentment, but carries a sense of liberation, tranquility, and peace!
It blends into the golden runes on the tower wall!
Although this wisp of pure incense was extremely weak and accompanied by enormous mental exhaustion (the prisoner's hair and beard were all white, and he looked emaciated), it proved that his idea was feasible!

If these deeply sinful prisoners can resolve their resentment and realize their mistakes in the illusion of incense and distracting thoughts through their own will, they can refine their turbid thoughts into pure incense power and give back to the Demon Refining Tower!
"This tower... has the potential to become a supreme treasure that can suppress the fate of the Qin Dynasty and purify the origin of the world!"

Ying Xuan was thrilled.

He didn't linger, leaving his divine sense to continue observing the changes inside the tower. With a flash, he disappeared from the spot.

The growth of the Demon Refining Tower is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It requires a continuous influx of prisoners and offerings of incense and spiritual energy, and it also needs time to verify its final effects.

Inside the Demon Refining Tower, Wang Li slumped on the cold stone floor, panting heavily, his tattered prison clothes soaked with sweat.

He had just experienced a nightmare illusion—transforming into a greedy businessman, navigating the illusory sea of ​​commerce, scheming and plotting, and ultimately amassing a fortune.

The swelling desire, the exhaustion of scheming, and the emptiness after success were like real marks etched deep into his soul.

"The tenth mission... is complete..."

Wang Li's voice was hoarse, trembling with the shock of surviving a disaster.

As his last thought confirmed the mission's completion, the entire stone chamber shuddered violently!
The originally cramped space instantly expanded several times over, the cold stone walls became warm and smooth like jade, and the air was filled with an enticing aroma of food!
A stone table appeared out of thin air, laden with steaming, fragrant delicacies!

Wang Li stared blankly at everything in front of him for a moment, then pounced on it, grabbing food and stuffing it into his mouth!

He was completely unaware that the scalding soup had burned his throat; all he felt was the ecstatic joy of surviving a disaster and the instinctive craving for food!

Inside the tower, similar scenes unfold in tens of thousands of stone chambers.

Those hardened criminals who had gone through ten missions and finally survived the illusionary trials, no matter how exhausted they were mentally or physically, were rewarded by the stone chamber—the space expanded and delicious food appeared.

This was not out of Ying Xuan's pity, but rather part of the rules of the Demon Refining Tower.

Successfully resolving ten distracting tasks proves that its will has initially acquired the ability to resist the erosion of distracting thoughts, qualifying it to become a more stable "purifier" within the tower.

Ying Xuan's divine sense swept across the inside of the tower.

After the initial stupor, madness, and breakdown, most of the tens of thousands of prisoners have now regained basic consciousness.

Although their eyes were tired and their breath was weak, the fierce and malevolent aura that had been surrounding them had dissipated by more than half!

Instead, there is a numbness and an imperceptible... peace that comes with hardship?
More importantly, Ying Xuan clearly "saw" that as the prisoners' consciousness returned to calm, the remaining, purified incense-related impurities in their bodies were transforming into extremely faint yet incomparably pure incense-related power, like wisps of smoke.

It rose above their heads and merged into the golden runes on the tower wall!
These pure incense sticks, though few in number, flow continuously into the rivers!

The entire Demon Refining Tower emitted a deep, satisfied hum! The golden light on the tower became even more condensed and restrained!
At the top of the tower, a pure golden beam of light shot into the sky, faintly echoing the golden dragon of national destiny above the Qin Imperial Palace!
The speed at which the runes circulate within the tower increases, enhancing the efficiency of purifying distracting thoughts!

Even more remarkably, Ying Xuan sensed that the existence of the Demon Refining Tower seemed to have become an "anchor point" for the membrane of the Great Qin world, and the speed at which the world absorbed chaotic energy from the outside world had actually accelerated! (End of Chapter)