Demon Mirror

An hour?

He took a look and left without even taking a quarter of an hour.

Zhang Li slowly walked down the stairs. Wherever he looked, there were streaks of flowing golden-red light.

These were all formed by runes, and they carried the power of sealing.

The further down he went, the more he could feel a huge force pressing down on his shoulder.

He dared not be negligent, and he held a green wooden sword in his hand.

This wooden sword was a rare magic tool that could suppress demons. The lightning runes engraved on it were specially used to suppress demons.

Even so, he was not at ease with the sword in his hand. He took out a few talismans that flashed with golden light and put on a set of light golden armor. After some thought, he put three array disks into his pocket.

At the same time, he put two Thunder Pearls that could kill demons into his sleeves.

It was a pity that he never cultivated the Lightning Palm that could subdue demons. Otherwise, he would have been safer.

Zhang Li felt that he had to flip through the ancient books when he returned.

Once he was underground, Zhang Li looked around in surprise.

The bottom of the Demon Subduing Pavilion was not a prison with cages as he had imagined. Instead, it was a verdant hill.

What kind of imprisonment was this?

This Demon Subduing Pavilion seemed to be extraordinary.

Unfortunately, he had only been a low-level Spirit Refinement cultivator in the cultivation world. He had never seen something as bizarre as the Demon Subduing Pavilion.

He had never even heard of it.

At the foot of the hill, there was a thatched cottage beside the mountain and the river.

There were also a few other thatched cottages on the distant mountain ridge.

Zhang Li had asked Yuanhe why he could only stay there for an hour.

The suppression of vitality down there reached 60%.

Warriors who had not reached the peak of the Tendon Transformation Realm would die once their bones and muscles were shattered. Their vitality would explode within 100 breaths.

As far as his eyes could see, the space on the first underground floor was not large. At the edge of the forest in the distance was a green iron wall.

The whole area only had a 10-mile radius.

Where was the demon?

Over in the mountain forest, there was a woodcutter with an ax in his hand. When he saw Zhang Li, he turned around and continued cutting wood.

On top of the hill, there were two elders playing chess in a pavilion. They were focused, and they did not care about Zhang Li's arrival at all.

There was also a village woman carrying water and washing clothes by the pond in front of the thatched cottage. She did not even raise her head.

Were they all demons or not?

He had forgotten to ask Yuanhe how many demons were there before he ventured down.

"Demon…"

Zhang Li reached into his pocket and flipped through his storage bag. Spirit light flashed in his hand, and a three-inch round bronze mirror landed on his palm.

A smile appeared on his face.

Fortunately, he was well-prepared, so he was not helpless at this moment.

This Demon Mirror was only a partially-magic tool, but it was the best at identifying demon energy.

True Essence penetrated the round mirror in his hand. He then formed a seal and shouted, "Boundless heaven and earth, boundless Dao techniques, spirit of heaven and earth, appear..."

As the spell was cast, green spirit light shot out of the round mirror.

This spirit light covered a radius of 100 meters around him.

At this moment, his hand trembled, and he almost threw the mirror away.

There were no more hills, no ponds, and no thatched cottages!

He was now in a dark space with iron fences and black chains. Demons of all shapes and sizes were tightly locked.

A fox with a long tail, red skin, and fierce eyes was bound by chains. There was red light on the chains that extracted its power.

A two-foot-tall tiger that was golden and white was sitting on the ground. Chains were wrapped around its body, and they made it difficult for it to move.

A black wolf with dark green eyes and four legs covered in faint flames was bound by iron chains.

A koi fish with red scales all over its body and a long golden pattern on its head was lying in a shallow puddle of water with golden chains passing through its body.

...

A total of nine demons were imprisoned there.

"Exalted Immortal, please stop staring at us," the golden tiger on the ground whispered. It sounded like it was pleading.

The other demons turned their faces away as well.

This was a demon?

Perhaps, it was.

Demons did not have human bodies and beast heads like in the world of Journey to the West. They did not have the rumored strange figures and appearances either.

The round mirror showed that the cultivation of each demon was not very strong.

Five to six hundred years of cultivation was equivalent to Level 4 or Level 5 of the human Spirit Refinement Realm.

With the Demon Subduing Pavilion wearing them out, these demons appeared very weak.

The spirit light from the mirror was green. This meant that the level of their power was lower than the power Zhang Li had injected into the mirror.

If they were stronger than him, the light in the mirror would be red.

The stronger someone was, the redder the light would become.

Since they were of no threat to him, Zhang Li became much more relaxed.

So, these were demons.

After he saw them in the Demon Subduing Pavilion, the fear in Zhang Li's heart lessened by a lot.

What he wanted the most right now was to cultivate in peace and not be disturbed or threatened by anything.

Once he cultivated for 100 years, he might be able to come out and take a walk, vanquish demons, and wander the martial arts world.

He kept the round mirror, and the scenery before him switched back to the green mountains, rivers, grass huts, and thatched cottages.

"Greetings, Exalted Immortal."

"Greetings, Exalted Immortal."

The woodcutter who had been chopping wood, the old man who had been playing chess, the village woman who had been washing clothes by the pond, and the woman who had been spinning in the straw hut, all came forward and bowed before Zhang Li.

He knew that this scene was just an illusion of the demons who were separated by a layer of iron fence.

The demons were bound by chains and suppressed by the Demon Subduing Pavilion's power.

He calmed down and quietly put away the few talismans in his hand.

"Exalted Immortal, you have a strong physique. There is immortal light surrounding your body. You must be a mighty figure who is cultivating in seclusion in the cultivation world." The previously cold woodcutter was speaking respectfully now.

However, Zhang Li had seen his true form before. He was the fox.

Zhang Li had heard the story of the fox that deceived the crow when he was two years old.

The fox's words could not be trusted.

"Exalted Immortal, look at us. We've all changed for the better in the Demon Subduing Pavilion. How many hundred years have passed? When will you let us out?"

"That's right, Exalted Immortal. We've really repented and turned over a new leaf. We won't become demons again." A group of figures surrounded Zhang Li and begged him bitterly.

"Exalted Immortal, have you come to the Demon Subduing Pavilion to let us out?" The woodcutter looked at Zhang Li, and his eyes were filled with anticipation.

Zhang Li shook his head, and their faces froze.

"Come, come, come. Exalted Immortal, you came at the right time. Fellow Daoist Zhao Hu and I are in a stalemate. Exalted Immortal, let's see who wins and who loses."

The skinny old man in gray robes bowed before Zhang Li and led him to the stone table in the pavilion.

Zhao Hu was the old man with the white beard. His expression changed slightly when he heard the skinny old man's words. He glanced at Zhang Li and took a step back.

"Chao Ji, the Exalted Immortal has come—" It was the woman who had been spinning straw in the thatched cottage by the water's edge. However, before she could finish speaking, the old man in black robes stopped her with a glare.

Zhang Li was a little curious. Could there be something hidden in this chess game?

He took a few steps forward, and his gaze fell on the chessboard. However, his hands were tucked into his sleeves.

The chess game on the stone table was the typical white versus black, but it was challenging.

In his previous life, he had controlled a huge amount of wealth, and he knew a lot of rich folk who were great at chess. Zhang Li had also learned a few pointers back then.

"The black side appears to be trapped, but there's still a chance to turn things around. The white side could have defeated the black in one strike, but the opportunity was missed."

Zhang Li suddenly narrowed his eyes.

A hidden protective talisman on his body burned up and turned into a golden light shield that protected his body.

Outside the light shield, a shadowy black wolf stretched out its front claws, and it was about to scratch Zhang Li in the neck.

However, the golden light barrier was dazzling. When the black wolf raised its claws and struck him, it failed to break the light barrier. Its eyes widened in shock as it disappeared into nothingness.