Chapter 119: The Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons

"Is Master Ciyun still alive?" I asked, pouring my master a cup of tea. However, I read the answer in his eyes before he even spoke. It made sense; the Samsara Cauldron dated back a millennium. Even if Master Ciyun had not perished, he would surely have attained immortality by now—how could he possibly still walk this earth? My master took a sip of tea and said, "Master Ciyun vanished without a trace after that time. No one knows where he went. The seal on the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons was placed by him. It seems there is some connection between the seal of the Demon God and the seal on the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons."

"Should we go and investigate now?" I was eager to settle these trivial matters quickly so I could reunite with Murong Xue and the others. I had thought much during my journey; I could no longer remain with the World Alliance. Though I didn’t know Chu Jun well, his two rescues and our one clash, combined with the whispers among the Alliance members, had put him on my "blacklist." One must be wary of such a person! My master stood up and walked outside, saying without looking back, "Do not be hasty. The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons is exceptionally dangerous. Let me first test your abilities. Do you remember the Bagua Palm I taught you?"

"I remember. Do you wish to test the Bagua Formation, Master?" I readied myself. Although I rarely used the Bagua Formation, I had not forgotten it. It lacked offensive power and was poor for escaping; it might work against novices, but it was useless against strong enemies, which was why I rarely employed it—not to mention that it consumed internal energy. My master nodded and turned around. "Come, let me see if you have made any progress."

I stepped outside and stood three meters away from him. I gathered my internal energy in my right hand, closed my eyes, and recited the incantations he had taught me. Feeling the flow of energy swirling in my palm, I suddenly opened my eyes and struck out toward his position. As my palm landed, a faint black-and-white Bagua diagram flickered on the ground. But when I looked at my master, he was gone. Suddenly, my neck tightened; a large hand had clamped around my throat.

"Yunfei! Never forget your wits when seeking to defeat an enemy!" It turned out that while I had my eyes closed, he had quietly moved behind me. I thought, *This old man is still playing these tricks,* and pulled his hand away. "That doesn't count. Let's go again!"

My master smiled slightly, stroked his beard, and said, "The test is over. Your Bagua Formation has shown no improvement, and your reflexes are far from sufficient. I am uneasy about you going to the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons." So this was his "test." I should have known—the Bagua Formation was never meant for offense; the true key lay in the internal energy techniques he had taught me. As he walked back inside looking disappointed, I quickly moved behind him and gave him a taste of his own medicine, locking my hand around his throat. My master shuddered, grabbed my right hand, and flipped me over his head. I landed hard, scrambled up, and rubbed my lower back. "Master! You hit too hard!"

"I never taught you to ambush your master." He rapped me on the head, walked back into the cave, and took a stack of yellow paper strips from his bedside. He dipped a brush into ink and began writing. I walked over to look; the strips resembled the talismans used by Taoist priests in films. I couldn't read what was written, so I asked him about them. He explained that the ink, made of cinnabar mixed with sandalwood, could restrain demonic entities. He told me to take them with me to the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons to protect my life in critical moments.

"Don't touch it, it's still wet!" I had reached out to examine the talismans, but he swatted my hand away. I asked where he learned this method, and he said it was handed down by the ancestors. These were known as "Heaven-Shaking Thunder" talismans, which required specific incantations to function. Designed to deal with evil entities, the cinnabar and sandalwood used in the script were natural banes to malevolent spirits. When combined with the practitioner's incantations, the talismans would trigger a massive explosion—hence the name.

My master used stones to weigh the talismans down in the sun. After a simple lunch of fish we caught in the stream outside the valley, we headed toward the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons. He explained that the sun’s energy was strongest at noon, making it the safest time to enter; once night fell, the lesser demons would emerge. Before we left, he made me take the entire stack of Heaven-Shaking Thunder talismans—at least a hundred of them. The path through the valley was treacherous, growing narrower as we progressed, with rotting leaves scattered across the ground. My master noted that the place where the demons were sealed lay in the center of the valley, visible once we passed the gorge ahead. Clearly, he had been here before and was well-prepared.

As we entered the gorge, the sunlight vanished, replaced by an eerie chill that made me shiver. My master whispered, "The Blood-Tailed Spotted Python is inside the gorge, right on the path to the seal. Do not alert it; we must pass quietly." I hugged myself, feeling the intense cold, but my master, wearing fewer clothes than I, showed no signs of shivering. Whether it was because he was a seasoned veteran or my cultivation was simply too low, I didn't know. I pulled my clothes tighter and emitted a sliver of internal energy to form a protective barrier, which brought some warmth. Suddenly, he stopped, and I followed suit. He raised his right hand without looking back.

"Master, why did you stop?" I whispered.

"Hush. Look there." He gestured toward a spacious clearing ahead. I followed his gaze and saw a massive python coiled in the center of the area, as large as a small hill. Its body was as thick as a water vat, with a blood-red tail and a greenish-blue upper body—it was easy to see why it was called the Blood-Tailed Spotted Python.

"Follow me, and do not disturb it." With a gesture, he crouched low and crept forward. I followed, his cautious movements reminding me of a scene from a war movie. It took us a full half-hour to cross the few hundred meters. Beyond lay another gorge, and after passing through it, we emerged into another clearing, twice as large as the last and perfectly square. At each of the four corners stood a statue of a mythical beast, though they were so weathered that their features were unrecognizable. This was the end of the gorge and the site of the seal. A cave entrance blocked by a massive stone slab stood at the far end, and between the four statues sat a large bronze cauldron. Just as I prepared to walk over to investigate, the ground suddenly shook violently, and rubble began to tumble down from all sides.