Fantasy: I, the Great Celestial Venerable of the Dao

The chaotic and surging magical energy fluctuations around him had gradually subsided.

Although a complete recovery is still far off, the depleted magical power has been restored to about 70-80%.

More importantly, he clearly sensed that the barrier leading to the Earthly Immortal Realm seemed to have... loosened slightly!

"Good fortune may be the harbinger of misfortune, and misfortune may be the harbinger of good fortune. The ancients were indeed right."

He pondered to himself, a sudden realization flowing through his mind.

However, just as he was preparing to delve deeper into this rare opportunity...

The sound of hurried and slightly disordered footsteps came from outside the quiet room.

Accompanied by Wan Jianyi's familiar yet unprecedentedly anxious voice, it pierced through the stone door:

"Senior brother! Something terrible has happened! It's extremely urgent!"

Dao Xuan's brows furrowed instantly, and the joy he felt from the breakthrough in his cultivation vanished without a trace.

With a flick of his sleeve, the heavy stone door slid open silently.

Wan Jianyi practically rushed in, his usual composure and nonchalance completely gone.

Instead, there was a profound sense of solemnity and shock.

"Junior brother, what's the matter that you're so panicked?"

Dao Xuan asked in a deep voice, his mind racing with thoughts.

The Beast God has just been defeated, and based on his condition and words when he left, he has absolutely no chance of making a comeback in the short term.

Could it be that a new change has occurred among the scattered beast demons?

Or are remnants of a demonic cult taking advantage of the chaos?

"Shushan! Something's happened at Shushan!"

Wan Jian's voice was hurried, even trembling slightly.

"We just received a message from a disciple of Mount Shu! The leader of the Moon Worship Cult, that demon from Nanzhao, he... he has suddenly appeared with the ancient demonic beast, the Water Demon Beast, and is launching a fierce attack on Mount Shu!"

"Moon worship?"

A glint of surprise flashed in Dao Xuan's eyes.

Why would he attack Mount Shu? Could it be...?

A terrifying thought flashed through his mind like lightning: "His target is... the Demon-Sealing Tower?!"

Wan Jian nodded repeatedly, his face extremely grim.

The letter states that the leader of the Moon Worship Cult appeared at Mount Shu and immediately asked Daoist Qingwei for the Demon Locking Tower!

Master Qingwei resolutely refused, and the two sides started fighting immediately after a disagreement!

The water demon beast unleashed boundless torrents, submerging the mountain gate, and the protective array of Mount Shu was on the verge of collapse... The situation was extremely critical!

Dao Xuan stood up abruptly, his face instantly becoming ashen, and a chilling aura emanated from him.

Demon-Sealing Tower!

It really is the Demon-Sealing Tower!

Countless vicious demons and monsters are suppressed there.

If the Moon Worshiping Tower is breached, all the demons inside will be released, and the human world, which has just recovered from the calamity of the Beast God and is in dire need of rebuilding, will immediately fall into another boundless catastrophe!

The casualties will be unimaginable!

"Let's go! Let's discuss this with Senior Brother Dugu!"

Dao Xuan had no more intention of seclusion. In a flash, he left the quiet room like a ghost.

Inside the main hall, Dugu Yuyun's face was ashen, and he paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.

His sharp sword intent appeared and disappeared intermittently.

It reveals the extreme turmoil within one's heart.

Clearly, he had also received the message through the Shu Mountain secret technique.

Upon seeing Dao Xuan enter, he immediately went to greet him, his tone filled with unprecedented anxiety and anger:

"Dao Xuan Zhenren! You found out too?"

That Bai Yue scoundrel, he's a wolf in sheep's clothing! How dare he covet the Demon-Locking Tower!

If the tower breaks and the demon is unleashed, the world will surely suffer once again! Moreover…”

He stopped abruptly, his expression shifting rapidly, his gaze sharp as a sword as he swept over the other elders from other sects who had rushed to the main hall upon hearing the news, his face showing extreme difficulty.

Dao Xuan immediately understood that there was probably a deeper hidden story behind this matter.

It is not convenient for outsiders to know.

He subtly flicked his sleeve, and a barrier instantly opened.

This completely isolated the two from the outside world, preventing even a single sound or divine thought from penetrating them.

"Brother Dugu, Liu Er is no longer here. If you have any secrets, please speak freely."

Dao Xuan said solemnly, his voice low and deep.

Dugu Yuyun took a deep breath, as if to suppress the turmoil in his heart. He took a step closer and lowered his voice.

It was almost like transmitting sound secretly:

"To be honest, I'm telling you the truth!"

The most important thing in the Demon-Sealing Tower is not the ordinary demons that are suppressed!

At the very bottom of the tower, sealed by an unparalleled seal blessed by generations of ancestors, lies a wisp of… ‘evil energy’!

"Evil energy?"

Dao Xuan's gaze suddenly narrowed, and the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.

I already had a guess in my mind.

"good!"

Dugu Yuyun's expression was extremely solemn, even carrying a hint of barely perceptible fear.

"This thing has an extremely ancient origin and is incredibly evil. It has been suppressed and sealed for over a thousand years!"

"Does the True Man know that approximately 1,500 years ago, the Six Realms were in turmoil, order was disrupted, and demons invaded the human world en masse, nearly wiping out all living beings?"

Dao Xuan nodded slightly, his brows furrowed.

"There are indeed scattered records of this in the ancient books of my Qingyun Sect."

Legend has it that at that time, the human world was in grave danger, thanks to five exceptionally talented elders from Mount Shu.

In order to turn the tide, he spared no expense and practiced forbidden techniques.

Ultimately, they were able to separate the six realms, keeping the main force of demons outside, thus saving the human world.

However, the historical records are vague on this matter, and later generations have largely regarded it as a legend.

"This is not a legend! It actually happened!"

Dugu Yuyun said in a somber tone, "Those five elders were elders from the previous generation of my Shu Mountain."

Their cultivation has reached the pinnacle of creation, and they have already touched upon the realm of Earth Immortals!

The forbidden technique they practiced was powerful enough to change the world, but it was also extremely dangerous.

The practitioner must forcibly strip away and expel all evil thoughts, negative emotions, and intentions from their body!

This evil energy, suppressed deep within the Demon-Locking Tower, was the very essence of the forbidden techniques practiced by the five elders back then.

It was a collection of all the negative thoughts of these five top-tier experts that they expelled!

Upon hearing this, even with his millennia of cultivation, Dao Xuan couldn't help but gasp and feel a jolt in his mind!

Five senior masters whose cultivation was comparable to that of Earth Immortals.

Is this the sum of all the evil thoughts and desires they generated and accumulated throughout their lifelong cultivation?

They are probably far more than demons in the ordinary sense.

It might even be more troublesome and unpredictable than the beast god born from the malevolent energy of heaven and earth!

It seems this is an enhanced version of the Evil Sword Immortal!

Dugu Yuyun continued, his voice tinged with bitterness:

"For thousands of years, our ancestors of Shushan have relied on the Demon-Locking Tower, this supreme artifact."

They set up multiple arrays to continuously wear down and purify this evil energy.

The hope is to completely eliminate it.

However... instead of being destroyed, this thing absorbed the malevolent energy and resentment emanating from the demons in the tower, as well as all kinds of evil deeds generated in the mortal world, over the long years, becoming stronger and more solid, and even... gradually developing sentience!

In recent years, especially with the rise of the Beast God Calamity, this evil energy has been nourished in the most fertile way.

Exceptionally active, it's ready to pounce!

When I left the mountain to provide support, Senior Brother Qingwei had already noticed frequent abnormalities in the seal within the tower. The impacts of the evil energy were becoming increasingly violent, and there was a risk that the seal might break!