*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
At the Tianyuan Sect headquarters, two figures shot into the sky, hovering in mid-air as they looked toward the location of the Demon Trapping Cliff at the back mountains.
"That old demon hasn't shown any movement for over a hundred years. Why would it suddenly create such a disturbance now? Could this be an ill omen? Let's go take a look."
One of them, an elderly man with both hair and beard white as snow, spoke with a frown.
"Close the mountain gates! All disciples of the Tianyuan Sect must remain within the headquarters and are not allowed to enter or leave at will!"
The other, a middle-aged man, shouted in a clear, loud voice, his booming tones spreading throughout the entire headquarters.
The white-haired elder was the Reclusive Elder of the Tianyuan Sect!
And the middle-aged man was Shi Zongyang, the current sect master of Tianyuan Sect!
Then, the Reclusive Elder and the sect master, like two great birds, glided through the air toward the back mountains.
*****
At that moment.
The Back Mountain.
"Senior Brother Ye Yunfei, this is bad! It must be that legendary peerless great demon emerging! We need to run, now!"
A Niu's face was deathly pale, his legs trembling.
"Alright. A Niu, you run ahead, I'll follow behind you."
Ye Yunfei thought for a moment and replied.
"Okay!"
Without another word, A Niu turned and ran, with every ounce of strength he possessed, pushing himself to run as fast as he could!
Ye Yunfei followed behind A Niu.
After a short while, the two of them gradually distanced themselves from the Demon Trapping Cliff.
*Boom! Rumble…*
The earth continued to shake violently.
From the direction of the Demon Trapping Cliff, surging demonic energy erupted like a volcanic explosion, dyeing that section of the sky a deep green.
"It's too terrifying! I really can't come to the Back Mountain anymore! Senior Brother Ye Yunfei, let's run faster!"
A Niu shouted as he ran, not daring to look back. Then, he suddenly felt something odd. He glanced behind him.
"Huh? Where's Senior Brother Ye Yunfei?"
Ye Yunfei was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he run ahead of me? That's possible. After all, Senior Brother Ye Yunfei's strength is far greater than mine."
A Niu guessed.
However, A Niu never would have imagined that, at this very moment, Ye Yunfei had already arrived in front of the Demon Trapping Cliff.
*****
This was a bottomless abyss. Surging, jade-green demonic energy rose skyward like immense columns of beacon smoke.
Within the energy, one could vaguely hear the laughter of demons, ghosts, and monsters, entrancing and deceptive.
The entire cliff trembled violently.
Clearly, the demonic energy was erupting from here, and the tremors were spreading outward from this point.
The surging demonic energy rushed toward Ye Yunfei, threatening to engulf him.
However, Ye Yunfei's physical body glowed with light, forming a shimmering aura that repelled the demonic energy.
This was a secret technique specifically for defending against demonic energy. Moreover, the Heavenly Demon Blood-Refining Body Art that Ye Yunfei cultivated was an inheritance technique from the Demon Race itself. After successfully achieving the first layer, his physical body's blood and qi had become extremely vigorous, granting him innate resistance to demonic energy. Therefore, Ye Yunfei was completely unafraid of the demonic energy here.
"Huh?! Could it be…"
Standing beside the abyss, Ye Yunfei suddenly sensed a familiar aura rising from its depths.
Ye Yunfei extended his Soul Power downward, probing into the abyss.
Soon, he discovered that at a depth of exactly about a thousand meters below, there was a massive platform.
On the platform was a huge cave opening.
From within the cave, vast amounts of demonic energy surged forth in a torrent!
"Alright. Let's go down and take a look!"
Ye Yunfei leaped, aiming for the platform deep within the abyss, and jumped down.
His figure plummeted downward. The demonic energy beneath his feet parted before him, while the sound of rushing wind tore at his ears.
After the span of a dozen breaths, Ye Yunfei felt solid ground beneath his feet—he had successfully landed on the platform.
This platform was essentially a massive rock jutting out from the cliff face.
On the rock wall at the platform's edge was an ancient-looking cave entrance. Its two stone doors were tightly shut.
The moment Ye Yunfei approached the cave entrance, a terrifying wave of energy crashed toward him.
"There's an ancient Formation here!"
Startled, Ye Yunfei hurriedly retreated.
He discovered that at the cave entrance stood a massive defensive Formation. This defensive Formation emitted an aura of countless ages—clearly, it had been set up here for a very long time. Yet its power was still incredibly potent.
If Ye Yunfei weren't proficient in Formations and hadn't detected it in time, he would have been struck by the Formation's energy just now.
"The power of this ancient Formation is formidable. Even a martial artist at the Saint Realm would struggle to break through here."
Ye Yunfei studied the Formation with his Soul Power, murmuring to himself.
"But it poses no difficulty for me."
Ye Yunfei soon understood the Formation completely. He had once meticulously researched all sorts of Formations under heaven. Although powerful, this ancient Formation before him was nothing special by his standards.
Ye Yunfei approached the cave entrance again, taking a step left, then a step right, following a special trajectory akin to a dance.
Soon, he stood directly in front of the two stone doors. He pushed.
*Boom! Boom…*
Amidst a series of rumbling sounds, the two stone doors swung open.
Without hesitation, Ye Yunfei walked inside the stone cave.
Inside the cave was a stone staircase leading downward.
The jade-green demonic energy was so thick it had turned viscous, whistling and churning as it flowed past Ye Yunfei.
"It seems it must be the legendary race!"
By now, Ye Yunfei had roughly guessed which race the peerless great demon trapped within this stone cave belonged to.
Ye Yunfei walked down the stone staircase.
Just at that moment...
*Whoosh! Whoosh!…*
Above, at the edge of the abyss atop the Demon Trapping Cliff, two figures descended.
It was none other than the Reclusive Elder and the sect master of Tianyuan Sect.
"The tremors truly originated from here. It seems that old demon is still alive. That old demon's vitality is truly astonishing."
The Reclusive Elder sighed with emotion.
"I once heard from our grand-teacher that this old demon was suppressed here over four to five hundred years ago. Furthermore, back then, the powerful experts who took action to suppress this old demon arranged mighty magical artifacts to gradually erode its life force, slowly depleting its life source in hopes of completely annihilating it someday. Who would have thought, after several hundred years, this old demon is actually still alive. It is truly astounding!"
The Tianyuan Sect master also exclaimed in amazement.
"However, even if that old demon isn't dead, what remains of its life source can't be much. Over a hundred years ago, it struggled once. That time, the tremors spanned several thousand li, causing the earth to crack for a thousand li. Countless living beings were corrupted by the demonic energy, becoming mindless idiots. It was truly terrifying. This disturbance now is clearly far smaller. This shows that, although not dead, that old demon is becoming weaker and weaker. Therefore, we need not worry too much."
The Reclusive Elder stated.
*****
At this moment, inside the stone cave.
Ye Yunfei proceeded down the stone staircase.
He had no idea how long had passed.
Finally.
The view before him suddenly opened up.
Ye Yunfei discovered that he had arrived at a vast underground plaza.
At the center of the plaza, arranged according to a specific pattern, stood nine colossal stone pillars. Their surfaces were mottled, covered in dust—clear signs of their great age.
Each pillar was so large that it would require at least six or seven adults holding hands to encircle it.
From the top of each stone pillar extended a single red iron chain.
The nine chains stretched across the air, intertwined together. And at their center, between the nine pillars, a living creature was bound!
"I wasn't wrong in my guess!"
Ye Yunfei's gaze fell upon that creature, a trace of shock in his eyes.