"No!! I don't want to be dragged up like a dead fish!"
"My lifetime of glory as Mouse Eradicator is ruined! My name will become a laughingstock among the Mousemen! This is a disgrace to my whole race. No, not like this! Why is this happening?!"
Mouse Eradicator screamed inwardly in madness, feeling his entire soul on the verge of collapse.
But of course, no amount of internal turmoil could stop what was happening. His entire body, under the pull of the fishhook, was forcefully dragged through the tunnel toward the surface.
Pop!
With a crisp sound, Mouse Eradicator was violently yanked out from underground.
He had been fished up.
"Damn you, scarecrows! I, Mouse Eradicator, will never rest until you're destroyed!"
His gaze immediately locked onto the golden scarecrow, filled with boundless hatred. If looks could kill, the scarecrow would've been blown to smithereens, pierced by countless holes, reduced to dust by his fury.
To be fished out like a dead fish—what utter humiliation.
"What a fat rat hiding underground."
At that moment, a man in snow-white robes stepped out of the crowd—it was none other than Lord Void, who walked forward and circled the suspended Mouse Eradicator with a scrutinizing gaze.
"What a chubby rat. I've seen mice before, but never a mouse spirit—this one's truly fat enough to have gained sentience."
His eyes glinted with the look of a predator examining prey, his tongue clicking in amusement, clearly intrigued.
"Human, if not for these damned scarecrows, you wouldn't have caught me," Mouse Eradicator hissed. "Let me go if you dare! Otherwise, today it's a million mouse troops—next time, it'll be ten million! These scarecrows will all be destroyed!"
"Don't think your Human City of Xuanhuang is invincible. We never saw you humans as a threat. If it weren't for the pact made by some of your human powerhouses with the other races, your kind would've been wiped out long ago!"
"Those human powerhouses are still part of our race," Yi Tianxing replied coldly. "On equal footing, humanity fears no race. And now, who dares face Xuanhuang City head-on?"
"You're Yi Tianxing?" Mouse Eradicator sneered. "Fine. Today, I've been defeated. But you humans—don't dream of rising!"
"You won't live to see that happen," Yi Tianxing said calmly. "What awaits you is the Sky Prison. I hope you enjoy the surprises it has in store."
With that, he grabbed Mouse Eradicator and hurled him into the sky.
Whoosh!
Without warning, a rift appeared midair—followed by a swirling vortex that swallowed Mouse Eradicator whole. He vanished in an instant.
If one looked closely, beyond the vortex was a terrifying scene: chambers upon chambers of rooms—all eerily identical.
The rooms moved, shifting in configuration. In one, venomous liquid suddenly sprayed out. In another, blazing flames erupted, turning it into a sea of fire. Some unleashed razor-sharp flying knives, others emitted deadly laser grids, or even launched blood-dripping guillotines that could decapitate with a whisper.
These traps—deadly, terrifying—were not new, yet still sent chills down every spine. Anyone imagining themselves inside would know escape was impossible.
There were only two choices: obediently rot in jail—or die.
This was the Sky Prison.
Now, they could even see Mouse Eradicator reappear in one of the empty chambers, cautiously looking around.
The Sky Prison had grown more terrifying than ever.
In recent times, many heinous criminals—human or otherwise—had been captured and thrown inside. Any reckless movement meant certain death.
The Dimensional Killing Formation that formed the core of the Sky Prison was no joke.
"Sky Prison…" Lord Void murmured, glancing up at the vortex, his expression tinged with dread.
He could feel it—that prison was now far stronger, far more terrifying than before.
Suddenly, an urgent cry echoed from the rice fields.
"Haha! My Snow Pear Rice—it succeeded!"
All eyes instinctively turned, even Yi Tianxing looked over.
There, in the fields, the man surnamed Song was laughing up at the sky.
Before him stood hundreds of rice plants—the few survivors from before.
And now, they were undergoing an extraordinary transformation.
The blood of countless slaughtered rats was being drawn into the roots, absorbed as nourishment. The rice plants shimmered with crystalline light—so bright that even the Lighthouse Beacons could not overpower it.
On the stalks appeared glowing grains of rice, madly absorbing nutrients and beginning a miraculous metamorphosis.
Above, the sky changed.
Without warning, snowflakes began to fall from the clear night sky.
"Snow? Why is it snowing all of a sudden?!"
"This is an omen! It's not the season for snow—this must be a celestial sign. When divine items emerge, they're often accompanied by strange phenomena. This snowfall must be one of them!"
"Look, the snow only falls on that field! On Old Song's rice! Could it be his new strain? He called it Snow Pear Rice, right?"
"This is a miracle! The snow is merging into the rice! Look—the grains are changing—so transparent, like perfect works of art! Stunning!"
"The world's energy is pouring into those rice plants! Look—they're glowing with spiritual light. So different from ordinary rice—radiating with spirituality, and even the temperature is dropping around them. It's mysterious and beautiful."
Excitement and amazement surged among the onlookers, who stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable scene.
"Who is this man?" Wu Yong asked curiously, his gaze at Old Song completely changed.
"I can't believe he really cultivated a new kind of spiritual rice. Unbelievable. A true miracle," Huang Chengyan gasped, utterly stunned. He had seen spirit rice before and knew its rarity.
"He is Song Yingxing," Yi Tianxing said, exhaling deeply.
He had already investigated the man before and suspected his identity. Now, with the successful cultivation of spirit rice and the emergence of heavenly omens, he was sure.
Song Yingxing.
Courtesy name Chang Geng, a Han Chinese from Fengxin County, Jiangxi. A renowned scientist from the late Ming to early Qing era.
Yi Tianxing knew well—Song Yingxing devoted his life to researching agriculture and industrial sciences, compiling extensive data. His forward-thinking philosophy made him one of the few to openly criticize feudalism and traditional scholasticism.
His magnum opus, "Tiangong Kaiwu" (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature), was a comprehensive encyclopedia of science and technology.
Divided into three volumes and eighteen chapters, it covered farming, handcrafts, machinery, ceramics, gunpowder, weaponry, textiles, metallurgy, and more—a true treasure of ancient knowledge.
He was not just a theorist—he would experiment with every method himself before documenting it, making his work practical and accurate.
Knowing this, Yi Tianxing had held off recruiting him directly, allowing him the peace to conduct his research.
And now—success. True success.
This was no longer Snow Pear Rice.
From his Wordless Heavenly Tome, Yi Tianxing saw the true nature:
Iceheart Rice.
[New Spirit Rice Discovered: Iceheart Rice
Appearance: Crystalline like glass, resembling frozen jade.
Growth: Prefers cold, shady environments.
Effects: When eaten, it's like savoring ice cream in summer—cool, soothing.
Contains spiritual energy.
Calms the mind, repels inner demons, nourishes the soul.
Grade: Earth Rank, Upper Grade (地阶上品)
It had undergone a complete metamorphosis, blessed by Heaven, transcending its original form—a truly miraculous event.]