194 Defeating the enemy in one move Shocking Athena
The method for opening the Heavenly Prison is still rather tedious; after all, the inscriptions on the walls are a thousand years old, and the joint administration of the Six Sects over the past decade hasn't produced any real improvements.
Zhong Yang, seeing everyone struggling with how to open the gate, said, 'I slipped out through that window in the wall as a wisp of gas, but it costs me demonic energy every time. I figure you could give it a try.'
Given Chu Feng's temperament, he actually preferred the brute-force approach of simply smashing the wall with one punch—but that was impossible.
The spiritual power left on the thousand-year-old seal was at least three levels above his, and it had been cast by many working together.
The pursuers would arrive soon; they had to think of something fast.
Meng Ran had been placed inside the light-sphere Qian Daoliu carried with him, while Qian Renxue insisted on relying on her own strength for the entire journey.
Big Fly leapt up, flitting back and forth in front of the tiny windows, then shook his head. 'There's no way in.'
If they were going to die, being stuck outside the Heavenly Prison would be far too undignified. Impatient, Zhong Yang raised his demonic saber and slashed straight at the prison.
The powerful seal-characters erupted with immense spiritual energy, clashing with the saber's demonic qi and producing a violent shockwave. The entire prison and the ground beneath it shook violently.
Seeing that it had an effect, Zhong Yang increased the speed of his saber-strokes.
Blow after blow left deep gashes across the prison, yet the seal still refused to break.
'Let me try!' Qian Renxue stepped forward. As a former goddess, if she kept relying on others for protection and support, she would lose all face.
She wanted to test the divine sense power unique to gods.
Sure enough, the ancient seal resonated with her might. When Qian Renxue focused her will and reached out her right hand, white light blazed conspicuously amid the surrounding demonic aura.
The seal-characters on the wall began to peel away—this was the power of a deity.
Huge iron chains snapped segment by segment; the gate slowly opened, revealing a black void inside.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, then cautiously stepped in.
As a prison, the Heavenly Prison was laid out like any other—except the cells for demons were sealed airtight, making it nearly impossible to see what lay within.
From the outside the prison was already eerie and colossal, but inside it held nearly ten thousand cells containing every sort of vicious demon imprisoned over the past millennium.
Icy air!
Terror!
Frigid cold!
All of it pressed down on them; without cultivation to resist, the malevolent aura would have crushed them to death.
Chu Feng wiped the drool from his lips. 'So many demons—how am I supposed to eat them all?'
Afraid he might wreck the place, Zhong Yang urged, 'Don't smash anything here. If these demons get loose, the consequences would be unimaginable. Let's plug the entrance to the Demon Realm first.'
Chu Feng looked up. The prison was stacked from hundreds of levels; the only way up was by riding the wind—no stairs existed.
'Where's the Demon Realm entrance?' Red Fang asked.
'Top level.' The instant Qian Daoliu spoke he was already soaring upward.
On the top level stood four steles, each of different material, color, and script—clearly from four separate eras.
Qian Renxue studied the inscriptions: they recorded the thousand-year-old Demon Venerable's war, the Heavenly Dao War of ten years ago, the Order War of five centuries past, and one blank stele.
'Do any of you know all of these battles?' Chu Feng asked.
'The Order War is only legend, a time when the Immortal Realm bowed to the God Realm. The details are unknown,' Qian Daoliu explained.
'Could this blank stele be the Demon Realm entrance?' Big Fly asked.
Zhong Yang nodded. 'Exactly.'
The prison seal had been removed thanks to Qian Renxue's divine force, but the blank stele was linked to the prison—tampering with it could collapse the entire structure.
That was why Zhong Yang had warned against rash destruction.
'If we can't solve it from outside, let's take a trip to the Demon Realm ruins,' Chu Feng suggested brightly.
'Are you sure? The Demon Realm isn't like the human world; demonic qi suppresses everything. Heavenly Spirit Body and Extreme Spirit Body are useless there. If your spiritual power lacks even a trace of demonic energy, your life will drain away.'
Zhong Yang was alarmed; Chu Feng was only at the Nascent Soul Stage—he wouldn't last long in the Demon Realm. As a brother, he had to warn him.
'I'll stay here and guard. Those people hunting us will arrive soon, so you'd better finish quickly,' Qian Daoliu said, ready to hold the position.
'What about Miss Qian Renxue and Miss Meng Ran?' Red Fang asked.
'I'll come along. I'm a goddess—divine and demonic power wax and wane against each other—so I should be fine. Meng Ran is frail; I'll carry the orb and protect her with my divine sense,' Qian Renxue said, having matured and gained her own sense of proportion.
'That works, but Qian Daoliu, once we're inside, can you hold out alone?' Chu Feng sounded concerned.
'It won't come to that. Don't forget that shameful deal—they still owe me an answer, and I intend to collect,' Qian Daoliu replied, sounding strained, but it was his own doing.
The discussion was settled. As for Panda, it had already slipped inside the stele, unexpectedly eager now that it was ignoring them.
Once the blank stele sensed their spiritual power, a single thought flashed through their minds and it sucked them inside.
The Demon Realm's sky was blood-red; the ground consisted of black dunes. Sandstorms swept endlessly across a landscape dotted with pools of purple liquid that steamed violently.
Broken castle ruins jutted from the sand.
Red Fang couldn't bear the scorching heat. 'There's no life here—absolutely nothing.'
'That's not so. After our defeat a thousand years ago, I placed some of my subordinates in hibernation beneath these dunes. Let me wake them.' Zhong Yang released a cloud of purple mist from his body.
The mist drifted outward; wherever it touched a dune, a small explosion erupted, birthing vast demonic qi as numerous demons reappeared.
Some of them, seeing Chu Feng and Qian Renxue, harbored evil intentions.
Zhong Yang quickly intervened. 'They're my friends. Your thousand-year slumber is my failure.'
'Your Highness, we have waited here for your call—let us rise again!'
The speaker wore tattered black armor, his body criss-crossed with bloody scars; his strength seemed on par with Zhong Yang's.
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