As Bai Qi expanded his senses, now fused to his mind-power, he easily scanned not only the prison but also a few miles around the latter.
Like most Warrior Lord cultivators, Bai Qi had fused his senses with his aura, both for ease of control as well as training. And while he was perfectly aware of his mind power's actual strength, even he didn't expect that a fuse between the senses and the former would allow him to scan on nearly everything undefended by the special arrays and formations in the entire city, showing a prowess of easily a level above beginner Martial Emperors.
And actually, even if it was hard to admit, it was a truly sudden growth from before. After all, while he had already gathered his Mind power earlier, and on not a couple of occasions, he had barely wounded Warrior Lords, of whom neither was a practitioner, meaning that his power had been repressed by one or another source.
Even in the [Seven Islands] plane, where he had not fully merged with the body, his mind power only boosted his senses, while the actual spells had been of so low power that he failed to kill Soul realm cultivators. After all, no matter how hard he had limited himself, if he had released even a toned-down mind power of Bai Qi's original one, he would have easily obliterated half of the low-tier plane! And while during the events leading towards the unexpected last stand of his, and later, Bai Qi did release mind-power comparable to a Warrior Lord, the experience had depleted most of it, signifying that he had somewhat overestimated his level.
The known way of the mind powers and the one of the senses had 33 levels. Although they differed a lot in the levels that a martial cultivator could attain, the top level was the same as the full senses and mind power of a peak Heaven Realm cultivator, or in some cases, when reinforced by treasures or special skills, the one that a Divine Realm cultivator could attain.
And while Mind Power could advance far further, the 34th and up levels were considered nothing but a myth, even in Superior or High-tier planes, as they were enough to contend against gods, the latter being nothing else than Divine Realm cultivators descending on the lesser planes while using the Astral Road rules as to not decrease their cultivation.
Furthermore, because the rumored Astral Lords were far from the mythical 40th level, which was rumored to be the threshold to become a true Astral God, one that stood against any Astral Lord or the lesser, and the one that controlled the Astral Road itself, not even Immortals considered the existence of mind power above the 40th level to be possible.
In fact, even Bai Qi, with all of his connections as a ruler of a high-tier plane, and having met not a few Divine Realm cultivators, even he had never heard of any mind power level above the 40th, which was equivalent to a Divine Sovereign, a deity he had never met in his long life!
Thus, for most of the high-tier realms and lessers, the paths of senses and mind power unfolded across the known 33 distinct levels, representing milestones on the journey of enlightenment of each path.
But for an Immortal, while the two paths diverged in their methodologies and applications, they shared a common goal: the attainment of mastery over the mysteries of human consciousness.
Senses, integral to the martial prowess of cultivators, encompassed the ordinary faculties of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, augmented by the qi sense and divine sense. From the earliest stages of training, cultivators begin honing their senses, reaching the 2nd level upon reaching the peak of the Yellow realm. Advancement to the 3rd level occurs upon entry into the Earth Realm, offering cultivators a deeper understanding of their surroundings and the ability to anticipate their opponent's actions. While capped by the relevant Martial Path cultivator's realms, they would always evolve accordingly, with experts that never trained their senses gaining the levels that their realm had as a minimum. In fact, the so-called 33rd level was nothing more than the level attainable by a peak True Immortal who bordered the Heaven Realm. From then on, it would begin the road of the [Deitly Senses], a path of just nine levels, but in which each represented a different level of the true Deities of the [Astral Road].
While Bai Qi had never reached the state of becoming a deity, he knew that any of the senses of a first-stage [Deitly Senses] practitioner would actually cover an entire plane, no matter the latter size or advancement. Just how amazing would be the 2nd, 3rd, or 9th?!
Mind power, on the other hand, represented a more esoteric path, focusing on the mobilization of consciousness beyond the realms of qi and soul. Accessible only from the Sage realm onwards, the cultivation of mind power required cultivators to delve into the depths of their minds, confronting their innermost fears and insecurities, all while working to strengthen their mind power. While the lower levels of it reinforced senses and enhanced understanding, at the most, reaching beyond the 15th level is a feat few can achieve, reserved for those who transcend the limitations of mortal consciousness. After all, except for a Warrior Emperor who cultivated the mind power before his ascension, it was rare to see a Saint with mind power above the 20th level. But, in truth, while the 15th level was the last one to give any upgrade to one's senses and mind, it would also be the one that allowed one to step on a far different path.
As the Sage realm offered a glimpse into the possibilities of harnessing one's consciousness, it is only in the Earth Realm, with its four minor stages of Warrior Lord, Warrior King, Warrior Emperor, and Saint, that cultivators would have the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of mortal achievement. And it was only then that they could train their mind power to level 24, known as a Mind, or in some planes, the Mage Immortal, granting them unparalleled insight into the world around them and allowing them to battle common Human Immortals, with no regard for the minor realm levels.
Regretfully, mind power was usually ignored in low- and medium-tier planes, even if it was the key to unlocking the true realm of spells, manifestations of one's consciousness that harness the surrounding qi for attack or defense. While lower-level spells may seem rudimentary, and any Saint would learn them, their power grew exponentially with the cultivator's mastery of mind power, and at some point, be it with manuals or by pure practice, Mind power cultivators would discover the 2nd tier and onwards tiers. Spells that could combat the Martial way cultivators without much trouble.
After all, it was known that a 1st tier spell could wound a Sage or even push back a Warrior Lord. And yet, no one usually shared that the 2nd tier Spells would kill either with ease, and such an increase would grow along the tiers and mind power level. Not to mention that above the 20th level, even a single 1st tier spell would easily kill any cultivator beneath the caster's cultivation, at least in the Earth Realm.
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However, achieving initial mastery over Mind, or the 20th level was such a rare feat that medium, intermediate-tier planes had not developed or ignored formations that could block the former, leading to the situation that Bai Qi was now in, currently.
Although it wasn't the plane tier to blame or even the higher tier planes' usual bad disposition to Mind power Saints or even Immortals. The latter being nothing more than the anger for nearly-mortal people reaching tiers that easily fought against them, but couldn't resist a single Void travel without protection. The real reason was that a true Mind power Immortal of any level was so powerful that it could contend with anyone below the True Immortal real, nearly as if mocking the previous weakness of any Mind power practitioner.
In any case, this had just some relation to Bai Qi's situation, as he found out that his controlled, actually, mind power already bordered the natural peak of the Emperor Realm, which was nothing else than the 19th level, showing that not only he had retained a lot of his own mind power, which had reached the natural peak level of a True Immortal, level 30, but also that Bai Qi was able to retain nearly two-thirds of it, leaving him enough to practice spells to combat even Warrior Emperors, without having to resist them, and run as he had always planned before!
At least until now, as he sensed that he could fight against cultivators two entire minor realms above him - in the right conditions - something that he had never felt before!
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Bai Qi's pursuit of knowledge had brought him to train his own mind power to the utmost. And while he had believed it to be half lost, initially, he did discover later that he could resist any Warrior Emperor's aura without pressure. While it hadn't been confirmed that he could be able to fight the latter, it was now, and this would actually elevate any cultivator's morale, any, except for Bai Qi.
While he had used his previous life attainments to cultivate, prevail, or simply survive, his new goal was far different from the vengeance that prevailed in his first thoughts. Between the ruler-like goals of his current cultivation method, as well as his mindset of repaying his debts, he intended to not only complete the mission from the [Black Empire] Emperor but also lend a helping hand to all of his current acquaintances, even friends, of both the [Seven Islands] and [Sky Tear] planes.
And the latter meant to gain a standing in the plane, no matter for which of the reasons.
Thus, he didn't use his newly discovered power to break himself out but concentrated on scouting the prison and surrounding mansions, concentrating on the auras of whom he had already met or fought against. While somewhat unexpected, he quickly located the aura of the young noble that he had ignored before, but later found out to be the current young lord, basically the future ruler, Dongpo Qingqiu.
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As Bai Qi expanded his senses, in the same prison building, an ornate room meant for the main warden.
A closed meeting had been going on for nearly an hour, Dongpo Qingqiu, exuding an air of superiority and sitting on the head warden's char, dismissed all of the cautious suggestions with a wave of his hand. Leaning back in the ornate chair, his eyes gleamed with arrogance as he declared his standing.
"My esteemed advisors," he began, his voice dripping with disdain, "it seems you forget who you are dealing with here. Bai Qi may have surrendered, but do not mistake his compliance for anything else than weakness. He is strong, even killing Dai Zhenya. However, his power is nothing compared to the might of our clan."
As his advisors, including the head warden who in all truth had no lord but the former's mother, exchanged uneasy glances, Qingqiu leaned forward, his expression darkening. "Yes, Dai Zhenya was a man of mine, but he fell to Bai Qi's blade. But even so, this so-called genius, no more than an idiot, surrendered to the city under the laws of it."
After getting silent for a while, he continued, "Now, we have the opportunity to make an example of him."
His eyes glittering with malice, Qingqiu continues, "Torture and killing him may seem crude to some, but it sends a clear message to those who would oppose us, not to say that it's still under the laws of the region. Bai Qi came and went against all of the laws, so it would be logical for him to now understand the consequences of crossing the Dongpo clan. And as for any potential backers, he may have, rest assured, they will think twice before interfering with our affairs."
While the speech was good, Donpo Qingliu found that no one nodded along to his declaration, not even his remaining drinking buddies, especially the ones that had fought Bai Qi and survived, the latter even trying to speak against it. Not that the young master of the [Dongpo] clan would have them speaking, right?
With a dismissive wave, Qingqiu rises from his seat, his decision final. "Prepare the necessary arrangements for his torture. I will take it over myself." He commanded, showing the badge of the City Lord to avoid any questions.
And then, as the crafty, to a degree person he was, he implicated everyone else present in the room, even the ones who had resisted him before the badge was shown, "We will show Bai Qi and anyone foolish enough to support him the true power of the Dongpo clan."
While being sure of his power, Dongpo Qingqiu still felt that the loyalty of the few men inside the room was shaky, and fearing that they would report it to his mother, who usually wouldn't approve of such methods unless it was a sure fact that the cultivator in question had no backing all soever, he decided that such loyalty should be bought, as que always did.
Especially the head warden, who while usually ought to be the most despised person in a city, was treated with a lot of respect, as he had gone against several times against his mother, and the latter had always respected the former's input.
"Head Warden Zhu, I have already asked one of your subordinates to create a [Aura-Copying] talisman to open the appropriated storage items. I hope this criminal has something useful to further the strength of the Main City Guards." Learning from Zhu Mo, the discarded nephew of the Head Warden he himself promoted, that Bai Qi had no weapons on himself and even used a discarded Spirit Weapon to fight, Dongpo Qingqiu was sure of not losing much. All while such an offer could be alike extending both an olive branch and a smile bribe to Zhu Gao, both the Head Warden and also the head of the Zhu clan, subsidiaries of the [Dongpo] clan, and the actual clan behind the main corp of soldiers and bodyguards.
"I understand, Young Lord. While I will still report to the City's Lord Mansion, I am not able to stop you anyway." Zhu Gao was a man of honor, a rare sight in the already depraved city. Still, he knew his position, and while he could bicker with Lady Lian and even get a few things approved, he knew that he couldn't actually defy her, both his clan's position and his cultivation preventing such. Thus, he could never argue against Dongpo Qingqiu, which would be equivalent to touching her sore spot, her only son and heir. Even higher-level people had been executed by her to defend her son, no matter the reasons, and ignoring their previous merits.
Thus, unwilling as he was, he was nearly forced to acknowledge the fact that Dongpo Qingqiu would torture someone inside his prison again.