Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

three years?

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. That should be enough.

My gaze slowly swept across the boundless sea of ​​books, starting with the table of contents.

Since it was a seal from an ancient celestial being, he naturally started by searching through ancient books from the same era. He walked to the nearest bookshelf, checked the date, and then moved on to the next shelf.

Soon, he found the ancient scroll, reached out and took down a yellowed bamboo slip, unfolded it and glanced at it. It recorded hunting and sacrificial rituals from ancient times, which was not the content he needed.

Without hesitation, he put it down and picked up another scroll, which was neither a travelogue of some immortal nor not.

Looking at the vast bookshelves, Li Yuan quickened his pace, his divine sense sweeping over the titles of the volumes of classics like flowing water, filtering them as quickly as possible.

Suddenly his eyes lit up as he finally found a parchment scroll related to the seal, and he immediately began to read it with great eagerness.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Yuan perused tens of thousands of bamboo slips, silk scrolls, and animal skin scrolls, carefully selecting the records concerning ancient formations and restrictions.

Most of the contents of these ancient books were incomplete or unclear, but he still managed to extract some valuable clues from them by drawing on the strengths of many sources, and gradually pieced together the outline of the ancient sealing technique.

He soon discovered that most ancient seals had one thing in common: they were not a single structure, but rather a combination of multiple forces of different natures layered together, balancing each other to achieve permanence.

Soon, he finally found a scroll of silk buried in dust in a secluded corner of a bookshelf.

The material of the silk scroll is unknown; it feels cold to the touch, and its surface has a very dull luster, as if it has been sealed by some force for countless years.

He gently unfolded the silk scroll and saw that it contained a very ancient sealing technique. Li Yuan compared it with the seals he had seen before and felt that they were very familiar.

Just as they reached a crucial point, a dense line of runes lit up, firmly locking away the contents of the silk scroll.

The moment his fingertips touched the runes, a bone-chilling cold rushed through his fingers straight to his mind, making him shudder.

Li Yuan took a step back, staring at the line of runes. He was surprised that someone had placed a restriction on the book, and it was actually composed of two different restrictions overlapping each other.

One exuded a majestic and sacred aura, as if it came from an ancient god race, while the other was filled with profound demonic energy. The two completely different powers intertwined, forming a tight-fitting lock.

This set of restrictions is extremely tricky; to open it, one must simultaneously break two different restrictions imposed by the gods and demons.

Li Yuan put away the silk scroll and turned to another bookshelf, which was dedicated to collecting demonic scriptures.

After six months of research, he had some understanding of the divine restrictions, but the demonic restrictions were completely unfamiliar to him.

For the next period of time, he read through a large number of records of demonic restrictions, reading and experimenting repeatedly. Several times, he was almost corrupted by the demonic energy within the restrictions and nearly lost control.

This time, when he tried to forcibly remove the demonic restriction with his divine sense, the restriction suddenly transformed into a huge black shadow that pounced on him. Li Yuan retreated hastily, but the speed of the shadow far exceeded his expectations, and a pitch-black claw reached straight for his sea of ​​consciousness.

At the critical moment, Li Yuan used the power of the Star River to force it back, at the cost of burning the meridians in his left arm and being unable to move for a full half hour.

Fortunately, he was in the Myriad Realms Palace, where he was not in danger. If he were outside, half an hour would have been enough to kill him hundreds of times over.

After more than half a year had passed and through repeated experiments, he finally broke the seal and saw the core chapters of the silk scroll.

He held his breath and read on, word by word, his expression growing more and more solemn as he read. The records here were indeed related to the seal outside.

There is indeed a way to break the seal, but the requirements are extremely high; one must possess celestial-level magical power, otherwise it's out of the question.

Ascension is no longer possible in this world. Where are you going to find a celestial being? Li Yuan felt a headache coming on, but he patiently continued reading.

The silk scroll clearly states that if one's cultivation level is insufficient to reach the Celestial Immortal realm, forcibly breaking the seal will result in severe injury at best, and complete annihilation of the soul at worst.

Just as he was feeling disappointed, he saw the supplementary information below: if the seal itself is damaged, even a powerful cultivator at the Earth Immortal level can give it a try.

Earth Immortal?

Li Yuan put down the silk scroll, and a cultivation manual he had once seen in the vast sea of ​​books in the Myriad Realms Palace came to mind.

According to the notes, above the realm of forgetting the world is the Earth Immortal. In ancient times, human cultivators who cultivated to the Heavenly Immortal realm could break through the void and ascend to the upper realm.

However, since that great battle tens of thousands of years ago, the spiritual energy of this world has gradually thinned, and the Heavenly Dao is no longer complete. No one can cultivate to the Heavenly Immortal realm anymore.

Therefore, for tens of thousands of years, countless exceptionally talented cultivators have devoted their entire lives to the pursuit of enlightenment, only to ultimately stop at the stage of forgetting the mundane realm, unable to advance any further.

This world can no longer support the birth of any celestial being.

"If it's just an Earth Immortal, perhaps it's worth a try."

Li Yuan chuckled softly.

Then he thought of something else, "There's something wrong with this world, the spiritual energy is insufficient, and the Heavenly Dao is incomplete, but I always feel that there is an even more fundamental reason."

He thought of the Heavenly Ladder, which was said to be a passage between different worlds, but Li Yuan always felt that it wasn't that simple.

"Li, is the so-called Heavenly Ladder a passage to the upper realm?"

Li Yuan suddenly asked in a deep voice.

After a moment of silence, he revealed himself.

"You can understand it that way."

"But the ladder to heaven is not a road, but a door."

"A door?"

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Influenced by the name, he had always thought it was a road.

"Yes, it's a door."

"Your task is to find that door and the key to open it."

Only now did Li reveal his true purpose; before, he had always said that Li's cultivation was insufficient and that he was not qualified to know.

After saying this, Li disappeared again. Knowing that asking further questions would be pointless, Li Yuan turned his attention back to the cultivation technique.

Now that we've found a way to break the seal, the most important thing is to find a way to improve our cultivation and break through to the Earth Immortal realm.

While using the time flow of the Myriad Realms Palace to hone his cultivation, he also searched for records related to breaking through to the Earth Immortal Realm.

For the next period of time, he read through a large number of immortal cultivation techniques, but was repeatedly frustrated. The world he was in now had no spiritual power, only the power of annihilation.

To break through to a higher realm, he must also rely on this power. However, the nature of the annihilating power is inherently incompatible with immortal cultivation methods. Orthodox immortal cultivation methods emphasize tranquility and inaction, which is incompatible with the power he draws from the dead space.

If he forced himself to cultivate, he would either suffer from qi deviation at best, or have his meridians shattered at worst. Li Yuan realized that he might need to find another way out.

After a moment's thought, he turned to demonic cultivation techniques.

The number of scriptures in the demonic path is far less than that in the immortal path, and most of them are still sealed in a deeper area.

It took him quite a while to find an ancient scroll hidden in a corner. The scroll cover was blank, with only a very strange pattern drawn on it, like some kind of totem or a seal.

When unfolded, the text inside recorded a very peculiar technique, which was not a pure demonic technique, but rather seemed to be somewhere in between.

However, its perfect match with the nature of annihilation power surprised and delighted Li Yuan.

"This cultivation technique... is truly tailor-made for me."