Chapter 59: Anomalies in the Seal of Demons

Su Che was unaware that his actions had stirred up tremendous turmoil in the Seal of Demons. However, within the past hour, he had noticed that the number of low-level heavenly demons near the teleportation array had drastically decreased, significantly reducing their capture efficiency.
“Could it be that we’ve already caught all the low-level heavenly demons in this area?” Su Che wondered.
“Possible,” replied Lao He. “Maybe we’ve caught too many, and they haven’t had time to replenish their numbers. How about we go deeper?”
Su Che hesitated for a moment before firmly rejecting the idea. “No! There are too many examples of greed leading to nothing. We can’t get carried away by temporary success. Since we’ve decided to only take advantage of what’s near the teleportation array, we shouldn’t take any risks by going deeper.”
“The master is right,” agreed Lao He in the Immortal Prison. “Indeed, if we go too far, not to mention running into demon generals, even just any ordinary demon would be beyond our ability to handle.”
Thus, the master and servant restrained their greed and remained near the teleportation array, moving at most a few hundred feet away.
After another hour, Su Che and Lao He confirmed that something was wrong in the Seal of Demons—there were no signs of heavenly demons outside the domain. So far, they hadn’t caught a single one.
Weren’t they told that everything was scarce in the Seal of Demons except for heavenly demons? How could this happen?
Everywhere was dead silent; it had never been this quiet in days… Su Che murmured, “It seems like the calm before a storm. This doesn’t bode well.”
“Master, for safety’s sake, let’s leave,” suggested Lao He. “We’ve already caught over a thousand heavenly demons, enough to sustain us for a long time. We can come back again another time.”
“Leave the Seal of Demons?”
After careful consideration, Su Che nodded decisively. “We’re not strong enough to handle such risks. Being cautious isn’t a bad thing. Let’s go!”
With their decision made, they stopped worrying about what would happen to Yu Qing and Linglong. After all, they were highly skilled and didn’t need their help. To put it bluntly, it was already good enough if they didn’t cause them any trouble.
Su Che turned and walked toward the teleportation array. He placed his hand on a teleportation crystal at its center, channeling his vital energy into it while silently thinking, “Return to Demonic Subduing Peak.”
“Huh? No reaction?”
“Could it be that there’s not enough vital energy?”

Su Che’s heart skipped a beat. He increased the amount of vital energy infused into the teleportation array, but it still showed no reaction. He tried several more times from different positions—still nothing! “This is bad!” Su Che finally realized that something must have happened in the Sealed Demon Realm, causing the teleportation array to fail. “How is that possible?” In the Immortal Prison, Lao He quickly consulted relevant books, equally puzzled. “That can’t be right. According to the records, nothing like this has ever happened in the Sealed Demon Realm; there’s no mention of teleportation arrays failing.” “Has it never happened?” Su Che frowned. “Yes,” replied Lao He. “This scripture should contain a very complete account of the Sealed Demon Realm’s history. From its formation 2,400 years ago to the present, among nearly a thousand events of various sizes, none describe a situation like what we’re seeing today. How come it’s only the first time we’ve entered here that this happens…” At this point, both Lao He and Su Che were stunned, realizing that perhaps they themselves were the cause of today’s trouble… “This is troublesome,” Su Che said with a bitter smile. “Lao He, I guess some female demon has taken a fancy to you and wants to keep you as her son-in-law.” “Master, can you even make up stories like that?” Lao He grabbed his cheeks. “With my appearance, who would even want me? Besides, the demons outside the realm have no gender distinction—so where does the concept of husband and wife come from?” Su Che laughed heartily, just trying to find some humor in the situation. Next, Su Che persistently experimented with the teleportation array but still couldn’t activate its teleportation function. Just like the surrounding environment, it remained utterly silent and unresponsive. “Master, someone is coming,” Lao He suddenly warned. Su Che quickly hid behind a stone pillar and peeked outside. Sure enough, he saw three figures approaching—already within a hundred feet away. “Those who dare to enter the Sealed Demon Realm for training must be disciples in the later stages of Qi cultivation. Why aren’t they flying?” Su Che wondered. “The air above the Sealed Demon Realm is thick with demonic energy. Flying there can easily disrupt one’s vital energy and cause confusion. Those below the Golden Core stage dare not fly here,” Lao He replied, having memorized all the relevant books; such basic knowledge posed no challenge to him. Su Che nodded, now clearly recognizing those three figures—they were Hua Lu and the others from Tianlu Peak. With no demons blocking their path, they ran at high speed and soon arrived at the teleportation array. Their expressions were anxious and grim, clearly indicating they had encountered some kind of danger and were fleeing for their lives.

“Who is it?” Hua Lu sensed someone hiding behind the stone pillar and shouted loudly.
“It’s me,” Su Che quickly stepped forward, spreading his hands to show he meant no harm.
“It’s you!” Hua Lu certainly remembered this outer disciple of Mysterious Peak. He was quite surprised: “You’re still alive?”
With such a question… Su Che pretended to be innocent and immediately explained, “A few days ago, Senior Yu Qing sent me here, saying it was relatively safe and that I should practice alone here.”
Hua Lu didn’t care about such trivial matters. All he wanted now was to leave the Seal of Demons as soon as possible. He said coldly, “Move aside!”
Su Che jumped to the left, exiting the teleportation array. He knew they were eager to leave, but, humph, that teleportation array was already…
Sure enough, Hua Lu and the others tried several times, but the teleportation array remained unresponsive.
“What did you do?” Hua Lu turned sharply and demanded angrily of Su Che.
“I didn’t do anything,” Su Che shrugged and explained, “A few hours ago, I sensed something was wrong in the surroundings. Fearing for my life, I wanted to leave, and that’s when I realized the teleportation array had stopped working. I don’t know why.”
“It really stopped working?”
The two followers behind Hua Lu also changed color, their fear evident.
“Did you destroy the teleportation array?” One of them glared at Su Che, his face full of hostility.
“How could I do such a thing?” Su Che retorted fearlessly, “I’m not desperate enough to ruin my own escape route.”
“Maybe you’re no longer human—possessed by a demon, turned into a demonic puppet!” The man screamed loudly, clearly panicked and out of control.
However, there was some truth to his words. Hua Lu, with a deep voice, said to his two followers, “Grab him and tie him up first.”
“Damn it… Everyone from Furnace Peak is the same!”
Su Che cursed inwardly. He would rather risk entering the deeper areas of the Seal of Demons than endure such humiliation. So, without hesitation, he turned and ran again.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao Hei was also furious, shouting, “Wah! This drives me crazy! No, I still need to beat that ‘Luo Lianqiao’—after all, he’s from Furnace Peak.”

Su Che fled deeper into the Sealed Demon Realm. Even though Hua Lu and the others had much faster running speeds, they didn’t dare chase after him. After exhausting all their strength and losing two of their comrades just to escape from that place, they certainly didn’t have the courage to go back again.
“Damn it!”
Hua Lu slashed with his palm, sending a surge of powerful qi forth, which exploded on the ground with a loud boom, creating a large hole. The teleportation array had failed, and with no way to retreat, he was momentarily at a loss.