In Central Zhongtu, beneath the nine provinces, Da Zhou reigned supreme.

Ever since it overthrew the Shang Dynasty thirty-five thousand years ago, Da Zhou had ruled without question. Its territory stretched as far as the eye could see, and for tens of thousands of years, none dared challenge its might.

But now, the emperor had turned to indulgence and negligence. Corruption spread, chaos stirred. Dark forces crawled out from the shadows, and the old remnants of the Shang Dynasty were making moves, hungry to reclaim power.

Even so, among this growing unrest, there was one place still feared across the nine provinces—the Myriad Palace in the imperial capital of Wanxiang City.

It was massive. Music flowed day and night, palaces glittered under sunlight. Grand beyond description.

But beneath all that glory, under those golden halls, hid another world.

Da Zhou’s Hell Prison—Tianyu.

Tucked in a far corner beneath the outer palace, Tianyu wasn’t big, but its weight couldn't be measured. It held monsters and criminals too dangerous to be left free.

Man-eating demons, twisted cultists, traitors to the dynasty, even exiled nobility of the old Shang Empire.

All locked up there.

Ethan Reed stood frozen at the gate of Hell Prison, the silver pouch in his hand heavy with twenty taels. Mouth dry, he looked at the three-foot gate in disbelief.

People said the prison held unspeakable terrors. But all he could see was a cramped little door that didn’t look like much—no name, no plaque. If it weren’t for the armed guards at both sides, no one would believe this was the infamous Tianyu.

When the soldiers raised their spears to block him, Ethan quickly pulled out a metal token, black markings etched across it. The character “Zhong” stood clear in the center.

One look and a gruff voice snapped through the air.

"You’re David Reed’s boy?"

"Coming to take your old man’s post?" A broad, middle-aged man strode over. His uniform resembled David’s, but with an extra star on the sleeves and cap.

Dad once told him—that star marked a prison officer.

So, this had to be Vicary Coleman.

Ethan bowed, voice steady. “Ethan Reed, son of David, greets Officer Coleman.”

“Hmph. At least you’ve got manners.” Vicary’s words praised, but his eyes didn’t—they were scanning Ethan like a hungry wolf eyeing a lamb. “Boy, Hell Prison ain’t a place just anyone can waltz into. You need connections—bribes.”

Ethan didn’t miss a beat. Pulled off his bundle, dug out the heavy pouch of silver, and offered it up with both hands.

“All I brought, sir. A token of respect.”

Vicary weighed the pouch. His face turned sour.

“Bah! Only twenty taels? That wouldn’t buy me a single drink at Coldmist Pavilion! Who do you think I am, a damn beggar?”

“You know what Shane Bennett from the next village gave me? Eight hundred taels! Eight hundred!”

Ethan dropped his shoulders, face pleading. “Officer, please don’t be angry. We Reed’s are poor folk. We can’t compare with the Bennetts. Once I get my first pay... I’ll bring you more, I swear—"

“Spare me the crap!” Vicary cut him off, waving the pouch away with disdain."With that pathetic pay, I'd have starved to death already!"

"You're just like your dead old man, David Reed—both worthless nobodies!"

"Get moving. Turn left at the Yellow Zone, cell number forty-nine. That’s your new place. From now on, all the piss and shit in the Tier-A cells on the first floor—yours to deal with."

Vicary Coleman threw the words out coldly, then turned and walked deeper into the prison, not giving Ethan Reed another glance.

Ethan's father had told him before—there was more to Heaven Prison than just one level. But even he had only seen the top floor.

This first level was split into eight sections: Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow, Wood, Fire, Water, and Gold.

The Tier-A section was packed with hundreds of cells, and the scum locked inside were even more countless.

Normally, clearing waste from that section took ten men two or three days working nonstop.

Now they wanted him to do it alone?

Nothing but pure humiliation.

"Jobs aren’t easy to find these days. At least this one keeps me fed. A true man picks his battles. For now, I'll bear it."

Though rage churned in his chest, Ethan clenched his fists and stepped into Heaven Prison. This was the last thing his father left him. He gritted his teeth and endured.

Just then, a voice echoed in his ears.

“Ding! Prerequisite met. Causality Sign-In System activated.”

Ethan froze, stunned.

He’d been waiting for this ever since he arrived in this world.

‘Finally, my golden cheat showed up!’

“Ding! Current location: [Heaven Prison]. Sign-in available. Confirm sign-in?”

The voice came again.

Without hesitation, Ethan confirmed.

"Ding! Sign-in successful at [Heaven Prison]. Reward: Divine Elephant Suppression Manual."

“Divine Elephant Suppression Manual: Draw power through breath, manifest divine force into a colossal elephant. Channel eighty-four thousand ancient divine elephants to crush all evil spirits in hell. A single roar can shatter stars, eclipse suns and moons…”

In that instant, Ethan “saw” it—the towering form of a godlike elephant, vast beyond understanding.

It charged through hell, trampling demons underfoot. One furious roar sent stars tumbling from the sky.

The image shattered into a cascade of glowing runes, all searing themselves into Ethan’s mind.

His chest heaved, fighting to steady his breath.

"From what I've learned, Martial Arts are sacred in this world."

"Martial techniques are ranked: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow—with Heaven at the top, Yellow the lowest. Your technique’s grade decides your ceiling.”

“But this Divine Elephant Suppression Manual… it feels more terrifying than the top-tier Heaven-grade arts people whisper about.”

Back in his old world, Ethan had devoured web novels. He knew the cheat system tropes by heart.

So it didn’t take long to understand how his worked.

Called the Causality Sign-In System, it let him sign in at places or people tangled in deep karmic threads.

The heavier the karma, the better the reward.

And this place, Heaven Prison, had held countless monsters and infamous fiends—their karma had soaked into every stone.

This was the perfect place to start.That’s how he ended up with the top-tier cultivation art—Divine Elephant Suppresses Prison Technique.

But once he calmed down, Ethan Reed realized he’d signed in for the “Technique,” not the “Force.” Just one word apart, yet the two were fundamentally different, though they shared the same roots.

"Whatever. If I really got the one I was thinking of, probably not even all of Nine Provinces could train it."

A brief wave of disappointment passed, but Ethan quickly pulled himself together, shifting focus back to the system.

"This system's tailor-made for me!"

"Who cares about the filth or back-breaking work? It’s the perfect excuse to learn about every prisoner in the first-tier cells!"

"Anyone locked in Heaven’s Prison ain’t your average scum—that karmic weight on them’s gotta be off the charts!"

"Plenty of them are battle-hardened maniacs with real martial skill!"

"If I can manage to sign in off each of them, I might climb to a level I can’t even imagine!"

He’d only been in this world for ten-odd days, but thanks to the old man’s loose tongue, he’d picked up plenty about how things worked around here.

Across the Nine Provinces, demons ran rampant, and powerful cultivators were a dime a dozen.

Some powerhouses could boil seas, torch skies, and snatch stars like fruit off a tree.

There were monsters who farmed entire kingdoms of people like livestock, draining them dry with a flick of the wrist.

Ethan didn’t buy all those tales completely, but one thing was clear—this world worshipped power. The weak? They were just prey.

Just like his old man—David Reed—had been at postnatal level five, still got dragged into a fight between two innate-level elites and ended up dead in the crossfire. That’s when Ethan stepped in and “inherited” the job.

Here, martial ranks go from Postnatal, to Innate, to Grandmaster, and finally the near-mythical Great Grandmaster. Each realm had nine stages—the first barely stronger than a farmer, the ninth nearly untouchable.

Whatever’s beyond Great Grandmaster was something a lowly prison grunt like him couldn’t even dream of knowing.

In Heaven’s Prison, the stronger your skills, the better your odds at survival—and climbing the ranks. To even become a mid-level enforcer, you needed at least Postnatal six.

Break into the Innate realm? You could become a Warden, holding life-and-death power over an entire wing of inmates.

David Reed’s dream back then? Just hit Postnatal six and get promoted.

Too bad...

“Yeah…”

Thinking of it made Ethan let out a long sigh.

They’d only had about ten days together, but when he heard two days ago that the old man had been killed, it hit him harder than he expected.

That quiet ex-guard, who looked like some down-on-his-luck farmer, had been nothing but kind to him.

Man’s not made of wood—who wouldn’t feel something?

The worst part? Even if Ethan wanted to avenge him, there was nowhere to start.

The two masters who’d wrecked the city with their fight were wiped out already by Heaven’s Prison enforcers.

"Looks like all I can do now is carry on your will... get to the Innate level... and grab myself a Warden’s seat..."