Chapter 191: In Front of the Mountain Gate

He could imprison two late Foundation Establishment-level ghost servants for fifteen minutes; one such servant for half an hour; and three mid Foundation Establishment-level ghost servants for twenty-five minutes…
After numerous attempts, Su Che finally confirmed that the power of the Demon Prisoning Art had indeed doubled!
“Amazing!” Lao He shouted in the Immortal Prison. “Now, if we encounter a cultivator in the early Golden Core stage, we can lock him in place, torment him mercilessly, trample on him—if killing him in one hit isn’t possible, we’ll cut his flesh with a knife and slowly wear him to death…”
Su Che couldn’t help but marvel at Lao He’s unchanging optimism.
Su Che knew that with the power of the Demon Prisoning Art doubled, it would pose a greater threat to cultivators in the early Golden Core stage. But it certainly wouldn’t be able to trap someone in place completely, rendering them incapable of resisting, as Lao He claimed.
However, if the Soul Capturing Art could also double in power like the Demon Prisoning Art, combining the two might indeed lock an early Golden Core cultivator in place, forcing them to suffer passively without any chance to resist…
Unfortunately, there was no suitable subject available for testing at the moment, so it was still impossible to determine if the Soul Capturing Art had changed as well.
The prisoners in the Immortal Prison could certainly be used for experiments, but at this stage, Su Che wouldn’t release any of them for any reason. Once released, it meant they would have a chance to escape. Even if that chance was only one in ten thousand, Su Che wouldn’t take such risks.
There must be absolutely no slackness when it came to the Immortal Prison.
“After three months and nine days of seclusion, the people from the Taiyi Sect should have left by now, right?”
Before leaving the cave, Su Che guessed silently.
Lao He replied, “I don’t know what the people from the Taiyi Sect are doing or thinking, but I’m sure many in the Tianxuan Sect must be worried about you. Master, we’d better hurry back.”
“That’s right.”
Su Che nodded inwardly. “For cultivators, disappearing for three months isn’t a big deal. But if it drags on too long, it will surely worry our master.”
Once again soaring into the blue sky, Su Che transformed into another appearance. Yet he knew that disguise techniques no longer worked—the Taiyi Sect would surely capture anyone they encountered, regardless of their appearance, and bring them back to the sect for thorough investigation…

At first, he was somewhat cautious, on high alert, flying for over ten thousand miles without seeing a single soul. Gradually, the weight in Su Che’s heart lessened: “It seems that the Taiyi Sect has indeed withdrawn their forces.” After flying for a few more hours, he spotted a continent—Mo Luo Continent, a place lacking in spiritual energy, a desolate land with virtually no cultivation sects, thus completely outside the Taiyi Sect’s jurisdiction. Crossing Mo Luo Continent and flying into the Dongming Sea, he resumed his endless flight over sea and sky… Su Che had chosen a purely maritime route, passing only through remote areas like Aurora Island where individual cultivators gathered, avoiding any encounters with cultivation sects. Along the way, he encountered several cultivators flying at high altitudes, but no conflicts arose. From this, Su Che deduced that the great upheaval in the cultivation world had not yet reached here. The maritime route was long—twenty-three thousand miles—and it took Su Che five full days to finally set foot on the land under the jurisdiction of the Tianxuan Sect. “I’m back. I’m finally back!” Although there were still over thirty thousand miles left to the Tianxuan Sect’s main gate, Su Che felt a strong sense of familiarity, as if a wanderer who had been away from home for years had finally returned, finding every plant and piece of soil especially dear. Eager to return home, he pressed on. In the afternoon, Su Che first arrived at the market by Feiyun Lake and met the shop owner, Fei Yun. “You’ve reached the Foundation Establishment stage?” Su Che was taken aback. “Mm,” Fei Yun nodded smilingly, her expression filled with pride. The fact that she could surprise him brought her satisfaction. But in an instant, her own shock far exceeded Su Che’s. “You…?” She was still unsure. “Late Foundation Establishment?” Su Che nodded with a smile. “I just advanced a few days ago. How’s business?” Fei Yun was stunned for a moment, still recovering from her shock, and instinctively replied, “It’s very good.” “How good?” Su Che sat down. The shop wasn’t large, but it was tastefully decorated and very comfortable, clearly the result of considerable effort. Fei Yun composed herself before answering seriously, “As you must know, the cultivation world is in chaos now, and many people have started hoarding cultivation materials. I’ve raised prices three times already, and the goods I put out each day sell out before noon.”

Without Su Che’s reminder, she softly said, “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I won’t take too much every day, so I won’t draw attention.” With that, she took out seven spirit stone bags, totaling 70,000 spirit stones as payment. Su Che didn’t refuse either, but he only kept five bags and said to her, “Keep these for yourself.” “I don’t need them.” Fei Yun stubbornly pushed the other two bags back and said, “I’ve already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and can use top-grade spirit weapons. If you have any extra…” “I do!” Su Che immediately took out three top-grade spirit weapons and one supreme-grade spirit weapon, a jade ring, and handed them to her. The three top-grade spirit weapons were a flying sword, a magic shield, and a purely offensive cone-shaped artifact. As for the supreme-grade jade ring, since he had mastered the Prison Demon Technique, Su Che had completely abandoned it. Seeing this jade ring that originally belonged to Senior Sister Zhen Zhen, Fei Yun sighed softly, “With all this chaos, Senior Sister Zhen Zhen really can’t return. I heard that the Illusion Demon Sect has joined forces with the Blood God Sect and the Taiyi Gate, completely breaking ties with our sect and siding completely against us.” “The Illusion Demon Sect has joined too?” Su Che was surprised but didn’t ask further. She probably didn’t know much about these matters. It would be better to return to the sect later and discuss it with her master. At parting, Su Che whispered, “If the chaos in the cultivation world spreads here, you must return to the sect immediately. If that’s not possible, change your name and join Xuanji Peak under a new identity.” “Okay,” Fei Yun nodded obediently. “Don’t worry. I know what to do.” “I’ll come see you again someday.” Su Che was eager to return to the sect, so he didn’t linger. Under Fei Yun’s watchful eyes, he flew out of the market and headed toward the Tianxuan Mountain Range, thousands of miles away. After flying about 200 miles and passing by a small valley, suddenly, a sword beam shot out from the valley and headed straight for Su Che. “I’m almost home, and yet I encounter an ambush?” Su Che was shocked. He didn’t even have time to activate his supreme-grade Dao robe for defense, nor time to dodge. He could only use his mind to activate the Dragon Soul Reverse Scales to protect himself. As soon as the Dragon Soul Reverse Scales released their protective force, the sword beam was already close. A black dragon claw appeared and blocked the flying sword. Whoosh! The flying sword was extremely powerful, piercing more than three feet into the dragon claw, less than half a foot away from Su Che’s lower abdomen, before finally stopping. “Such fast speed. The attacker must be at least at the early Golden Core stage,” Su Che deduced.

Whoosh!
The flying sword missed its target and was retrieved by its owner.
Soon after, two figures flew out of the mountain valley—both at the early Golden Core stage, as Su Che had guessed.
“People from the Taiyi Sect!”
Although they weren’t wearing the Taiyi Sect’s robes, their spiritual energy fluctuations couldn’t escape Lao Hei’s detection skills.
“People from the Taiyi Sect? Why come here to ambush me? Could it be that my identity has been completely exposed?”
Su Che’s heart trembled violently as he realized he had stumbled into a huge problem.
“Su Che, right?” One of the two, a cultivator with a square face, smiled faintly. “You really made us wait! We’ve been waiting for you in this desolate place for three whole months.”
“That trick of waiting passively for an opportunity really works well,” added the other, a thin-faced middle-aged cultivator. “Su Che, last time at the Arctic Sea, not only did you slip away right under our noses, but you also made our junior brother Zhe Hua disappear without a trace. We’re going to settle this account properly today.”
Hearing this, Su Che couldn’t help but laugh. “It seems I’m the one in debt here. In fact, it was you who started chasing me for no reason, right?”
“What if we do?” the thin-faced cultivator sneered. “Zhe Hua’s disappearance is a blood debt you owe. Tell us, how do you plan to repay it?”
“How about this…” Su Che said calmly, “You two answer one small question for me first, and I’ll tell you where Zhe Hua is.”
“No need,” the thin-faced cultivator waved his hand. “There’s no need for such trouble. Just capture him, and all the answers will become clear.”
“Don’t rush, junior brother Zhe Yu,” the square-faced cultivator chuckled. “What harm is there in talking to him a bit?”
The cultivator with the Dao name “Zhe Yu” nodded silently, his face dark.
The square-faced cultivator looked at Su Che and said with a smile, “I know you have many questions, but I’ll only give you one chance to ask.”
“Okay,” Su Che nodded. “I just want to know…”
Soul Seize!
Whoosh! A blue light flashed straight at the square-faced cultivator. Demon Prison!
A large character for “prison” appeared above “Zhe Yu’s” head.
Su Che launched an immediate attack, having no intention of asking any questions. Zhe Yu was right—once captured, all the answers would become clear.
Buzz…
The square-faced cultivator was already prepared for Su Che’s Soul Seize technique. His spiritual essence was highly condensed, and he had activated multiple layers of defenses before flying over.

But, just like that dead Zhehua back then, he still underestimated the power of Soul Seizing, and moreover, it was a more powerful version after advancing. Su Che finally realized that the strength of the Soul Seizing ability had also increased significantly, because… He saw the monk with a square face collapse and fall to the ground, even losing his ability to fly in the air. “Haha, great!” An old man named Lao He roared in the Immortal Prison.