Human Clan Defender

The commotion just now wasn't loud.

From the moment the demon evil struck to being slain, it was all over in an instant.

Shen Changqing's expression was composed: "Is there truly no expert stationed within the Demon-Subduing Prison?"

A demon evil had broken the seal and emerged into the world.

Yet it failed to attract the attention of the experts in the Demon-Subduing Division. One has to admit, this is suspicious.

Upon hearing this—

Jiang An shook his head: "Brother Shen, you may not know, but the strength within the Demon-Subduing Division is limited, and most of the beings sealed inside the Demon-Subduing Prison are not powerful demon evils. Naturally, they wouldn't assign an expert specifically to guard this place.

Besides, positioned before the prison are the Demon Hunters, and behind, the Defender Envoys. Don't be fooled by this demon evil's successful possession now; the moment it steps out of the prison, it will surely be detected."

Speaking of this—

He paused, then continued.

"In the past, there would be no issue. There were always some experts stationed inside the Demon-Subduing Division.

But this time, the Imperial Court dispatched many of the division's experts to support Luo'an Prefecture.

If a demon evil within were to break out now, there might be some trouble."

"Is there a possibility that a demon evil breaking the seal could shatter the confinement?"

"Ordinary demon evils do not possess such means, unless they are of Fiend Level or above—only then do they qualify to break the seal. However, the cells that confine those beings are all equipped with certain warning signals.

If a seal is breached, there will definitely be a warning."

After saying this, Jiang An himself felt somewhat at ease.

That's right.

The cells that contain demon evils are all equipped with warnings. It is impossible for a breakout to go unwarned.

In that case—

It was likely just now that demon evil was lucky, which allowed it to escape.

At the side, Shen Changqing also felt a little reassured.

He had never fought demon evils, but from others' words, he could tell how powerful they were.

In this situation—

If a demon evil truly broke out, he might not last long.

That being the case, he should plan an escape route.

Glancing at the corpse, Jiang An said, "Let's leave the body here for now. We'll inspect the other cells before dealing with it!"

With that,

He took the lead and walked ahead.

Very soon—

The first cell appeared in the line of sight of the two. Demon evils were confined within, the protective runes still intact. Although they had been depleted quite a bit, they had not reached their limit.

They checked the cells one by one.

Each cell contained a formidable demon evil.

Eventually—

The two stopped before a certain cell.

They saw that all the runes on the cell had completely vanished. Outwardly, it appeared intact, but in truth, no demon evil remained within.

"Looks like that demon evil escaped from here!"

Seeing the empty cell, Jiang An understood at once.

Demon evils have no form or substance.

A cell without runes is just an ordinary place and could not possibly contain a demon evil.

Beside him, Shen Changqing's attention fell on the other cells.

Roar!

Roar!!

From among the many cells, some held demon evils that roared, constantly smashing against the seals. Others were calm and docile, as if content to remain inside forever.

Suddenly—

A thought flashed in his mind. A thread of spiritual power reached out and touched the seal of a cell.

In the next instant—

He saw that the runes, already somewhat depleted, faded a little further when they came into contact with his spiritual power.

"Spiritual power can also break the seal!"

Shen Changqing realized.

Right away—

He glanced at Jiang An, who was studying a cell's seal, then at the demon evils confined in the other cells, contemplating something.

After a long pause—

Shen Changqing ultimately abandoned the idea.

He very much wanted to release all the demon evils from their cells and slaughter them all to harvest a big batch of Slaughter Value.

In the past—

He would hardly have needed to think twice before acting.

But after returning to the Demon-Subduing Division this time, Shen Changqing had noticed many unusual things. The division now was completely different from what he had understood before—a world apart.

If he used spiritual power to break the seal, there was a chance that some trace would be left behind.

In that case—

The Demon-Subduing Division might use some means to track it back to him.

By then—

If accused of colluding with demon evils, he would be doomed.

The immediate Slaughter Value was tempting, but compared with his own life, Shen Changqing ultimately chose the latter.

No rush!

There are plenty of demon evils out in the world; these few here don't matter.

He consoled himself inwardly.

Shen Changqing decided he would not take risks right now.

"Brother Shen."

"Hm?"

"Some of the cell seals have been broken. I'm concerned that other cells may also develop problems. Please stand guard while I reinforce each seal, to prevent further accidents."

Jiang An spoke in a grave tone.

He then stepped up to the cell next to him, took out an engraving knife, and began to reinforce the seal.

Shen Changqing gave a nod in response.

Time passed.

The demon evils on the third level—perhaps because one had escaped—grew even more violent, with some frantically ramming the seals.

But their assault was far too weak compared with the power of the seals.

Thus—

These attacks had little effect at all.

After quite some time—

Jiang An finally finished reinforcing the seals on all the cells.

Taking the opportunity—

Shen Changqing wandered elsewhere on the third level and noticed that some cells housed new demon evil bodies.

Taking advantage,

He harvested another small batch of Slaughter Value.

Unfortunately—

It was only a small gain: wandering the third layer netted him only five or six points.

During this—

Jiang An changed engraving knives, because the power in the previous one had been used up sealing the runes.

"Let's head to the fourth level!"

——

Returning to the fourth level, Shen Changqing felt a different sensation.

He had not entered the fourth level many times. As a Probationary Demon Hunter, he had only entered once or twice.

The main reason—

Was that all the demon evils imprisoned here were unharmed and whole.

If one hoped to harvest Slaughter Value, there was nothing to be done before live demon evils.

Entering the fourth level—

Jiang An didn't rush to reinforce seals but walked through the entire level carefully. Only after confirming that no seal was close to being breached did he finally relax.

He then returned to the starting point and began repairing the first cell's seal.

The demon evil within was pinned by huge iron nails, and no matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free from the seal.

In previous visits to the fourth level, Shen Changqing had felt little.

Now—

He was already a Grandmaster.

The cells before him, and the massive nails pinning the demon evils, were nothing to a Grandmaster.

Thus—

Shen Changqing better understood the extraordinary nature of the runes on the cells.

If not for the power of the runes, such seals wouldn't confine demon evils—he himself couldn't be restrained by them either.

"Brother Jiang, these nails on the demon evils—could they be methods of the Suppressing Evil Hall?"

"Those are creations of the Demon Sealing Hall. Their purpose is to suppress the power within demon evils, to prevent them from unleashing it. Otherwise, relying only on the runes on the cells, there'd be no way to seal demon evils."

Jiang An replied without a second thought.

Then—

He added an explanation.

"Although demon evils and strange monsters are collectively so named, strictly speaking, they're completely different. Strange monsters have no physical body, and their power is much weaker. Generally, if a strange monster grows to the level of a Grandmaster, that's about its limit.

Among strange monsters, only a Calamity rising up could qualify to rival a demon evil.

Unfortunately, Calamities are immortal and indestructible, impossible to capture. To this day, the Demon-Subduing Division has never sealed a single Calamity."

Jiang An sighed.

Of all the strange monsters, only Calamities are the most mysterious.

If he could obtain a live Calamity, he would gladly trade all the demon evils in the Demon-Subduing Prison for just one.

Alas—

It was only a wish.

To obtain even one Calamity was an utter impossibility.

After sighing, Jiang An said,

"Unlike strange monsters, demon evils have a physical body and command much greater power. No ordinary Grandmaster can deal with even a single demon evil, and there are few things anywhere that can withstand a Grandmaster's strike.

To perfectly confine demon evils, the Demon Sealing Hall specifically created the Demon Sealing Nails. Once driven into the demon evil, they can seal off part of its power.

The more Demon Sealing Nails are used, the more power is suppressed.

As long as the nails are in place, even without the runes outside the cell, one need not worry about demon evils escaping.

Compared with how strange monsters are sealed in their cells, the cells for demon evils mainly serve to block outside interference—to prevent anyone from pulling out the Demon Sealing Nails."

Hearing this—

Shen Changqing finally understood the purpose behind nailing down the demon evils and the cells themselves.

It is truly the Demon Sealing Nails that bind the demon evils.

Whereas the cells—

Are to ward off external forces that might disrupt the seals on the demon evils.

After all—

A demon evil's power is simply beyond comparison to an ordinary demon evil type.

Should even one demon evil escape, it's highly likely all the other demon evils in the Demon-Subduing Prison would break out too.

One must remember—

Each demon evil, even the weakest, is comparable to the Physical System's extreme experts.

If many demon evils escaped at once, it isn't hard to imagine the plight the Demon-Subduing Division would face.

By that point—

It would no longer be a matter of one or two deaths.

Gazing at the demon evil before him, Shen Changqing felt a desire to test its strength, but as soon as that impulse surfaced, he suppressed it.

Recklessness is unwise.

Unless one day he reaches the apex of the Physical System—

Otherwise—

He would never confront a demon evil head-on.