The Seal and a Great Devil
"This is... High Antiquity Divine Script!" Fang Hexuan exclaimed, quickly walking to the stone tablet and carefully examining the characters on it.
Li Yunjing, Lu Xian, and Xie Zheng also joined in.
The High Antiquity characters were simple and archaic, exuding a sense of vastness and antiquity.
Although Li Yunjing did not recognize these characters, he could sense the powerful force contained within them.
He looked at Fang Hexuan: "Grandmaster Fang, do you recognize these characters?"
"I know him." Fang Hexuan nodded, his expression serious. "Back in the Heavenly Palace, I studied High Antiquity Divine Script."
After saying that, Fang Hexuan began to decipher the inscription on the stele.
After careful examination, Fang Hexuan murmured to himself, "... Myriad Spirits Ruins of Return, the phoenix is reborn... I am Qingyun Clan, and I have built the Myriad Spirits Garden here to cultivate all the Spirit Plant in the world... waiting for a destined person to arrive and pass on my mantle..."
"The Qingyun Clan?" Fang Hexuan's eyes widened immediately. "This is actually the legacy left behind by the High Antiquity great clan, the Qingyun Clan!"
Standing to the side, Xie Zheng asked, puzzled, "Senior Fang, is the Qingyun Clan very famous?"
Fang Hexuan didn't answer, but Li Yunjing spoke up, "The Qingyun Clan is not just famous; this clan is a key factor in the continuation of our Tianyuan Human Race..."
Li Yunjing then shared the relevant information about the Qingyun Clan.
In the ancient times of Tianyuan, when the human race was still very weak, a human with the surname Qingyun suddenly appeared.
He led the entire human race through a difficult period of hardship.
Later, when other races were thrown into chaos, this Qingyun human seized the opportunity and completely expanded and strengthened the human race.
After his death, the surname Qingyun was passed down, and a clan with the surname Qingyun was formed.
However, after several upheavals, the Qingyun Clan disappeared into the annals of history.
Despite this, the Qingyun Clan still wielded considerable influence.
The legacy it left behind is of undeniable value.
Fang Hexuan took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and continued reading.
Suddenly, his face turned extremely pale, and his body began to tremble slightly.
"Grandmaster Fang, what's wrong?" Li Yunjing sensed something was wrong and quickly asked.
Fang Hexuan did not answer, but stared intently at the last few lines of text on the stone tablet, his eyes filled with fear and disbelief.
Li Yunjing, Lu Xian, and Xie Zheng followed his gaze and saw that at the end of the stone tablet, several lines of scarlet characters were engraved, as if they were written in blood.
Just by looking at these few lines of text, one can feel a terrifying killing intent emanating from them.
The murderous intent stung the three men's eyes, causing them to quickly close them. It took them a while to feel better.
Despite this ordeal, the three men's doubts only deepened.
The three of them had no idea what those lines of text meant.
Once the stinging sensation in his eyes subsided, Li Yunjing looked at Fang Hexuan.
"Grandmaster Fang, what exactly did those lines say?"
Fang Hexuan took a deep breath and then spoke:
"I have suppressed this demon for ten thousand years, and now my time is up. I have exhausted my life to strengthen the seal. As long as the seal remains, this demon will never be able to be reborn. If any of my descendants see this stele, leave immediately and never touch the seal beneath it! Remember! Remember!"
This is what these few lines are trying to express.
Upon hearing this, Li Yunjing's eyes widened immediately.
What do you mean by "a great demon is being suppressed beneath this monument"? And who is suppressing this great demon?
Li Yunjing turned his head and looked around, and an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
Could the reason the surrounding Spirit Plant possess such a dense life force be because of this great demon?
"Senior Fang, we didn't touch the seal, did we?" Xie Zheng asked anxiously.
Fang Hexuan shook his head. "Don't worry, no."
The seal is located beneath this monument; to break the seal, the monument must be moved.
We'll take all the surrounding Spirit Plant with us, just don't touch this monument.
The other three nodded and then began to divide the work, digging up all the Spirit Plant around them.
Before long, the four of them had taken most of the surrounding Spirit Plant.
The four of them also put their fear of the Great Demon behind them at this moment.
But then, the entire ground suddenly trembled.
Although the movement was very slight, it was still keenly noticed by the four of them.
The four of them looked at each other and then quickly gathered together.
"The ground shook," Lu Xian was the first to speak.
The other three nodded, indicating that they all felt it.
"Something might happen; let's leave this place first," Fang Hexuan said.
His sixth sense was screaming warnings.
A cultivator's sixth sense doesn't usually appear easily.
But its appearance signifies that something big is about to happen.
Especially for cultivators like Fang Hexuan who have achieved the Dao Union Realm, their sixth sense is almost always accurate.
If he senses danger is imminent, then danger will almost certainly occur.
At that moment, the voice of the Five Spirits Lord also echoed in Li Yunjing's mind.
"Young master, hurry and get out! Something is about to burst out from underground!"
The moment the sound disappeared, the entire Myriad Spirits Garden suddenly began to shake violently.
Li Yunjing and the others reacted quickly, immediately unleashing their Law Power and riding the rainbow light into the sky.
Once they reached high altitude and looked down, they saw the earth cracking open, rocks collapsing, and ancient spiritual plants swaying wildly, emitting mournful screams.
Suddenly, the phoenix's eyes at the top of the stone tablet burst forth with a dazzling red light.
Another crack appeared at the bottom of the stone tablet.
"What's going on? Is that great demon about to be born?" Li Yunjing stared at the scene, his eyes filled with horror.
"No, we didn't touch the seal at all!" Fang Hexuan immediately denied.
The four of them didn't touch the stone tablet at all, so how could the seal have been loosened?
Besides, even if the stone tablet is touched, the seal should not be loosened.
After all, the seal was beneath the stone tablet, not on it, so touching the tablet didn't necessarily mean the seal would loosen.
Fang Hexuan naturally did not consider it a sign of the emergence of a great demon.
But as time went by, Fang Hexuan had no choice but to believe it, even if he didn't.
The stone tablet was now covered in cracks and looked as if it could shatter at any moment.
A loud boom was heard, followed by a muffled thud from underground. The stone tablet trembled violently, but quickly stabilized and did not collapse.
A black crack slowly opened at the base of the stone tablet, and an indescribable, extremely evil aura surged out from it.
The moment this aura appeared, the entire world seemed to lose its color.
Li Yunjing felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, and his sea of consciousness began to ache intensely, as if countless evil spirits were gnawing at his soul.
The other three also turned deathly pale. Fang Hexuan suddenly shouted, unleashing his full Law Power to shield Li Yunjing behind him. "Not good! The seal has really broken! Run!"
However, by the time he said those words, it was too late.
Suddenly, a huge claw covered in black scales shot out from the crack and slammed hard onto the ground.
"Boom!"
The entire Myriad Spirits Garden was instantly reduced to ruins.
The moment the giant claw struck, the entire world was swallowed up by boundless darkness.
The claw, covered in dark black scales, was dozens of feet wide. Each scale was the size of a millstone, gleaming with a cold metallic luster. Its nails were sharp as knives, emitting a piercing shriek as they sliced through the air.