Chapter 184: Prison Demon Art

After Hua Ye left, only Su Che remained in the VIP room.
During his time on Aurora Island, this VIP room had become Su Che’s temporary dwelling.
Since he still needed to stay on Aurora Island for a few more days—though the exact duration wasn’t determined yet—he was eager to find out what would happen when that ancient wooden talisman was fused with the first layer of the Immortal Prison.

“Fuse!”
As the master of the Immortal Prison, Su Che merely gave an order, and the wooden talisman immediately rose into the air before exploding with a snap, turning into countless particles that were completely absorbed by the space of the first layer of the Immortal Prison.

Su Che was secretly delighted. “Such an ancient treasure—can be disintegrated at will or fused at will. My Immortal Prison truly is the greatest.”

Although fusing such a small wooden talisman didn’t cause any changes to the Immortal Prison’s space, just a few moments later, Su Che understood many things on his own…

Just as he had effortlessly mastered the Soul Seizing Art, now he naturally raised his left hand. With a thought, the character “prison” appeared in the center of his palm.

Su Che released a ghost servant with the strength of a late-stage Foundation Establishment from the Immortal Prison. Then, he raised his left hand, pointing it at the servant, and shouted, “Prison Demon!”

Whoosh!

A large, dark gray shadow of the character “prison” appeared above the ghost servant, trapping it in place instantly.

Su Che ordered the ghost servant to resist with all its might but received a mental reply from it: It couldn’t move, couldn’t exert any strength—its entire ghostly energy had been sealed.

“What an amazing ancient Prison Demon Talisman! It completely sealed and trapped a ghost general at the late-stage Foundation Establishment level. Truly an ancient treasure!”

“Great! Great! Great!”

Su Che was overjoyed, shouting “great” three times in succession, causing the entire Immortal Prison space to tremble.

In the first layer of the Immortal Prison, dozens of prisoners were terrified, feeling as if a celestial deity had descended or a true immortal had appeared.

The little dragon was also startled and quickly curled up into a ball.

The snake woman was frightened too. Holding her chest, she muttered softly, “What madness is this…?”

Unfazed by others’ feelings, Su Che continued to exclaim in ecstasy, “Now, I possess two great arts!”

Soul Seizing!
Prison Demon!

Though neither was an offensive art, they were both unexpected and special arts—far rarer and more precious.

“Special arts are the best! There are plenty of offensive techniques that can be compensated for in other ways. Such special arts are truly priceless!”

Excited, Su Che summoned several ghost servants again. Swish, swish, swish—he released the Prison Magic several times in a row, trapping them. However, after that, Su Che felt dizzy. He realized then that the Prison Magic skill was different from Soul Capture; it consumed a great deal of mental energy. After using it five or six times in a row, he already felt lightheaded. “In this situation, it can only be improved after reaching the Golden Core stage and cultivating a true spirit. For now, I can only rely on some pills that replenish mental energy, such as Grade 3 pills like Spirit Nourishing Pills or Mental Strength Pills…” Thinking of this, Su Che immediately asked Lao He to search the Immortal Prison’s inventory for such pills. To his surprise, hundreds of them were found. There were even over thirty Grade 5 Soul Essence Pills, whose effects were more than ten times stronger than those of Grade 3 pills. The reason so many such pills could be found was that the dozens of Cosmos Pouches obtained from the Soul-Shocking Bell belonged to cultivators who were originally demons. These demons used aggressive and domineering cultivation methods that often caused damage to their bodies, so they needed to take pills with nourishing and healing effects regularly. Su Che immediately took a Mental Strength Pill. With the activation of the two magical energies, its effects were quickly absorbed and transformed into mental power, eliminating his dizziness. After a while, the first trapped ghost servant regained its freedom, and the “Prison” character floating above its head disappeared as well. By the time all the ghost servants were freed, Su Che had concluded that, for now, his Prison Magic could trap a cultivator at the later stage of the Foundation Establishment phase for fifteen minutes and one at the middle stage for twenty minutes. After the trapping effect faded, they suffered no damage. It could be said that the Ancient Prison Magic Talisman was a rather gentle skill—only trapping people without harming them. Thinking of this, Su Che smiled silently: “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t hurt them; I will!” First trap them, then harm them. Once they’re defeated, capture them and bring them to the Immortal Prison… After that, Su Che stayed in the VIP room, meditating and cultivating, patiently waiting for Hua Ye’s reply. Two days later in the morning, Hua Ye arrived. After sitting down, she said, “These past two days, I’ve contacted several cultivators who previously purchased the Aurora Talismans. I explained to them that someone is willing to exchange top-grade spiritual artifacts for them. Initially, it was agreed that one top-grade spiritual artifact could be exchanged for one top-tier Aurora Talisman and two high-tier ones. I wonder if you’re willing to accept such terms?” After thinking for a moment, Su Che nodded in agreement.

Still the same thing—since he no longer needed top-grade spiritual artifacts, exchanging them for something like the Aurora Talisman, which could save his life, was the most appropriate choice. Perhaps others might think such an exchange would be disadvantageous for him, but Su Che believed that life was the most important thing, and one shouldn’t be overly concerned about minor gains or losses of material possessions. He was indeed being chased by those Golden Core cultivators, to the point of being terrified… “Very well, I’ll go to them now and collect all the Aurora Talismans first. Once you receive the talismans, you can give me the corresponding spiritual artifacts,” Hua Ye said with a smiling face. If this matter was successful, she would also receive a top-grade spiritual artifact as a reward, so she was naturally extremely eager. Su Che also knew that the reputation of the Independent Cultivators’ Alliance was highly respected in the Aurora Island market, so with Hua Ye acting as the intermediary, the transaction would surely go smoothly. Out of curiosity, Su Che still asked, “Since Aurora Talismans are in such short supply, why can’t the alliance’s leader produce more?” “The Arctic auroras are very harmful if one is exposed to them for too long,” Hua Ye explained softly. “Although the alliance leader is at the middle stage of the Golden Core realm, the number of Aurora Talismans he can produce in half a year is very limited. At this time, if you try to buy them from him, I doubt you can get even one.” “Is only the alliance leader able to produce them?” Su Che asked again. “That’s right,” Hua Ye nodded. “It’s related to a certain cultivation method he practices. No one else can capture the Arctic auroras from the sky.” “I see,” Su Che nodded, thinking to himself that this might well be a natural talent that others simply couldn’t learn. Hua Ye left in a hurry. After a little over an hour, she returned and handed Su Che three top-tier Aurora Talismans and six high-tier ones. These could be exchanged for three top-grade spiritual artifacts. Adding the one promised as a reward, Su Che took out four top-grade spiritual artifacts in total. Just as he was about to give them to her, he heard… Wu… A deep horn sound suddenly rang out. Hua Ye’s expression changed, and she murmured, “The alliance leader has sounded the assembly horn. Could it be that the Deep Sea Demons have come to cause trouble again?” “Assembly horn?” Su Che thought this had nothing to do with him and pushed all the spiritual artifacts toward her. “Keep these safe for now.” “Okay.” Hua Ye gave him a gentle, affectionate look, filled with deep gratitude, and said softly, “Thanks to you, I’ve also obtained a top-grade spiritual artifact. I’m truly very grateful.”

“Each other, each other,” Su Che said with a smile, waving his hand. “The Aurora Talisman is equally important to me. This trip to Aurora Island has been extremely rewarding.”
By “extremely rewarding,” Su Che certainly meant not just the Aurora Talisman but also the even more crucial Demon Prisoning Art.
If another similar art appeared before him, Su Che would be willing to give up all the spiritual artifacts in the Immortal Prison in exchange for it.
Ugh…
The call to assembly grew louder and louder. Hua Ye listened carefully and soon her expression changed drastically. She hurriedly said, “No, this isn’t the call to assembly. It’s the horn of disaster—something terrible must have happened.”
“Disaster again?” Hearing this, Su Che groaned inwardly. “What’s going on? Why does disaster follow me wherever I go? Have I really become an omen of calamity?”
Just as he was thinking this, a shopkeeper knocked on the door and entered, speaking to Hua Ye in a panicked tone, “Third Master, I heard just now that an army of over two thousand cultivators from the Taiyi Sect is about to attack us…”
“The Taiyi Sect?”
Su Che and Hua Ye exclaimed in unison.
“Why? Did you hear that wrong?” Hua Ye stood up abruptly, puzzled. “Our Aurora Island Freelancer Alliance pays tribute to the Taiyi Sect every year. There’s no reason for them to turn against us!”
She didn’t understand the reason, but Su Che knew better than anyone—the Taiyi Sect had gone completely mad. They captured anyone who passed through their territory, so how could they let go of the nearby Aurora Island?
“Fellow Hua Ye, I advise you to evacuate immediately. You can’t stay here. Otherwise, you’ll definitely be captured by the Taiyi Sect, and who knows what fate awaits you.”
Su Che said gravely, “If you trust me, pack your things now and run as far as possible. Also, avoid the territories of the Great Ghost Sect, Blood God Cult, Spirit Medicine Mountain, and Tianxin Pavilion—these powerful sects are arresting people indiscriminately and won’t reason with you.”
“Huh?”
Hua Ye was utterly shocked, asking in dismay, “Why is this happening? What exactly is going on in the cultivation world?”
“There’s no time to explain further. If you trust me, do as I say.”
Su Che stood up, bowed, and said, “Fellow Hua Ye, may we meet again if fate allows.”
Before his words faded, Su Che had already rushed out of the room.
With the Taiyi Sect attacking, an alliance of freelancers like Aurora Island would surely collapse instantly, unable to muster any coherent fighting force.

In fact, just a few elders in the later stages of the Golden Core phase from Taiyi Gate were enough to easily deal with a force like Aurora Island. The reason for sending an army of over two thousand cultivators was merely to capture more solitary cultivators. Su Che already knew that certain powerful figures in the Spirit Realm had assigned them the task of completely disrupting the entire cultivation world. This was just the beginning; even crazier things were yet to come. When a king gets angry, all the people suffer. This is the world—just such unfairness!