My Demon Friends-Chapter 622 - 594 Symbol Array

Disturb my peaceful dream? It sounds like Your Highness is quite comfortable here? Or is that deliberately contrary? Yin Le wildly speculated.

But in front of the mighty Demon King, he dared not act rashly. He maintained a very humble attitude, honestly saying, "We have come here to escort Your Highness out."

"It was you who locked me in here." The figure stared coldly at Yin Le. "Why then would you want to let me out now?"

"The situation is chaotic. Conspiracies abound from other Demon Kingdoms outside Yu Country, and within Yu Country, radicals are itching to act. It is said that Master Ming might also be on the verge of falling. If this continues, the peace between humans and Demons that has lasted for a thousand years will eventually break. Only with Your Highness's return can we suppress them."

"You think I'll just go out because you ask me to?"

"Y-Your Highness, what do you wish to do?"

As he spoke, Yin Le bowed his head deeply, lest His Highness start a massacre in a fit of anger. He was a Heavenly Master and a descendant of the Six Imperial Families. If he were to die, so be it; history had seen many Heavenly Masters die at the hands of Demons. However, others were present. This included the contemporary Master Ming, who was also his good friend and had come purely to help without expecting anything in return. Therefore, Yin Le had to endure patiently.

The others listened to their conversation, not daring to breathe too loudly.

A Demon King who had been suppressed for a thousand years and was still alive?

Several people present were ordinary humans; in the past, they would have thought this was a myth.

Even now, they found it incredibly unreal.

But the fact was... it really wasn't real.

"Stop it."

Zhou Li's voice rang out.

Upon hearing this, Yin Le was greatly startled, and his hair stood on end.

He stealthily glanced at the Elm King and, as expected, saw the Elm King frowning deeply, his gaze directly skipping over him to where Zhou Li stood behind—

"Contemporary Master Ming? Tired of living?"

"Y-Your Highness..."

"That's enough..."

Zhou Li, with a head full of black lines, asked, "How did you even get here?"

"Tsch! Boring!"

Exposed, Huai Xu turned back around and continued to face away from them, staring at the central altar.

"This..."

Yin Le was completely petrified.

Zhou Li walked forward, patted his shoulder, said nothing more, and addressed Huai Xu again, "I'm asking you, how did you get here?"

"I came here with you guys."

"How did you get in?"

"I entered with you guys, duh."

"How did you know we were coming here?"

"Because I've been quietly following you these past few days." Huai Xu's side profile was illuminated by the white light from the altar, appearing as though coated in white frost. She continued, "You didn't let me appear, so I was bored. I could only silently follow you around each day, watching what you were all up to."

"Every day?"

"Yes."

"..."

What a twisted sense of humor this old monster had.

Zhou Li then turned to the others and said, "She's not the Demon King; she's my friend."

Yin Le stood straight. Though he had freed himself from his petrified state, his body was still rigid, and his expression was blank. His fists were tightly clenched, his toes curled, and he insisted on keeping his back to the people behind him to avoid the awkwardness of seeing their reactions.

"You've been following us all this time; how did I not notice?" Yin Le asked, looking distressed.

"I already told you, I was following you quietly, idiot."

"You…" Yin Le was exasperated. "But you're a Demon! How could you enter? Besides, I used a Magic Artifact!"

"I must remind you," Huai Xu said seriously, "before you stands a Great Devil King."

"..."

"Alright, shut up. Shouldn't you be wondering where the Demon King went instead of bothering with these trifles?"

"!"

Suddenly, Yin Le realized.

Yes, if the one in front of him wasn't the Demon King, then where had the Demon King gone?

He instinctively looked towards the central altar, where a dense white light made it hard to look directly.

Huai Xu knew what he was thinking and explained, "That isn't the Demon King either, but a mass of pure, powerful Spiritual Power. Though there's no trace of the Demon King's aura left on it, I guess that's what she left behind."

"The Demon King was suppressed and killed?" Yin Le's eyes widened.

"Idiot."

"Then tell me!"

"I can't be bothered to explain to you…"

"..."

Yin Le took a deep breath, turned his gaze away from her, and looked towards Zhou Li, only to realize something else. "Zhou Li, you don't seem surprised at all?"

Zhou Li paused briefly. "I've been trained."

After saying that, he became even more silent.

It's really true what they say about being influenced by the company one keeps.

Huai Xu turned once more, looking at the surrounding stone walls. She quickly rotated her head and body. The tiny, intricate runes, barely visible to ordinary people, were clearly reflected in her eyes.

Then she said to Zhou Li, "There's something odd about this Symbol Array."

"Yes..."

Zhou Li had noticed it too.

Although his skills were quite basic, it was very obvious.

From his perspective as a modern person, ancient Arrays and modern electrical circuits shared some fascinating similarities. The runes, and the combinations they formed, were like the working components within the Symbol Array. These components often produced various effects and were connected in specific ways, allowing Spiritual Power to flow through them to achieve complex or powerful functions.

The complexity and vastness of the Symbol Array here exceeded his imaginative limits, reminding him of high-precision products crafted with modern technology.

Although not as refined as modern nano-scale technology, this space was vastly larger than a tiny chip, by many orders of magnitude.

He felt that even ancient Heavenly Masters at their peak, wielding the power of the entire world, could not have achieved this.

After observing carefully for a long time, Yin Le said, "Only a very small number of these are runes of human Heavenly Masters. I can't understand the rest; they must be Demon's runes. But why would Demon's runes be inscribed in the place where we sealed the Elm King?"

Indeed, it was so...

The Spiritual Power of human Heavenly Masters was modeled after that of Demons, and human use of Spiritual Power also originated from Demons. If this was the work of Demons, Zhou Li could understand.

A glance from the corner of his eye showed Huai Xu pacing towards the other side, slowly walking across. He followed her.

"Did you find something?"

"This here..."

Huai Xu pointed to a small part of the Symbol Array, whispering, "It looks familiar to me."

"Familiar?"

"Only this small part," Huai Xu said. "It looked similar to when Tuanzi and I transformed into Demons. Well, I can only say it's similar, because I don't remember clearly."

"Oh."

I know, you're bad at studying.

Zhou Li nodded and asked, "What about the others?"

"The others are unfamiliar."

"Are those runes also inscribed by Demons?"

"Of course. When we became Demons, we needed a Demon's power," Huai Xu said, squinting her eyes.

"Becoming Demons, needing a Demon's power?"

"Hehe..."

The human and the Demon exchanged glances.

A glance from the corner of his eye showed Yin Le and Lou Qingqing already walking towards the altar. Yin Le, in particular, observed carefully as he walked, treading cautiously.

The altar was imbued with the Spiritual Power of the Elm King from ancient times.

Because Demons were suppressed in the human world, a Demon with the same combat prowess as a human Heavenly Master would undoubtedly possess a far greater total amount of Spiritual Power and mastery over it. To offset this suppression, a Demon might need nearly ten times the Spiritual Power of a human.

Therefore, this mass of Spiritual Power left by the Elm King was both pure and vast. In ancient times, it might have required the combined Spiritual Power of the top several dozen Heavenly Masters on the ranking lists to match such an amount.

Huai Xu couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment, "I thought Demon Kings weren't formidable fighters..."

Yin Le and Lou Qingqing drew near to the altar.

Zhou Li and Huai Xu also approached the altar.

Due to the altar's height, they gradually lost sight of each other. However, before they even set foot on the steps, they noticed the space rapidly brightening. It was already quite luminous, but by the time they registered the change, it felt as if they were exposed to the harsh sun of June or July, so bright they couldn't open their eyes.

"HUM..."

Everyone instinctively covered their ears!

The previously dim parts of the runes, which they had assumed were damaged, all lit up. The entire space transformed into an ocean of light, with massive Spiritual Power flowing within.

"What happened?"

They hadn't quite grasped the situation when they felt a tremor of Spiritual Power around them.

Then all the light went out.

Completely extinguished.

The space was pitch black.

So dark one couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

The Symbol Array no longer emitted light, and the Demon King's Spiritual Power at the center of the altar also vanished. Everything that had just happened seemed like an illusion.

Zhou Li hurriedly took out his phone, using its light to illuminate the ground. Fortunately, the runes on the ground were still there. They were just no longer glowing, perhaps having lost their energy source or been 'turned off.' Otherwise, he might have truly doubted that everything had just been an illusion.

In the darkness, points of light began to appear, and people were calling out. Zhou Li chose to move closer to them.

Yin Le's expression turned grave. "What just happened? Did anyone trigger something?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Only Huai Xu had seen what happened. She calmly said, "The Demon King's Spiritual Power has left."

"Where did it go?"

Huai Xu grinned and shook her head. "The commotion just now was very loud; some Demons must have noticed. When they come to investigate this place, with its multiple layers of Arrays and heavy defenses, it's easy for them to imagine things that could harm the friendship between our two races. You'd better think about how you're going to explain this to them."

Yin Le's expression indeed grew more solemn.

Zhou Li patted his shoulder again. "I have an idea."

"You speak... over here!"

Yin Le called him to a more secluded spot.

Zhou Li pursed his lips. "This place isn't where the Central Dynasty sealed the Elm King. Rather, it's the result of a cooperation reached between humans and the Elm King..."

Gradually, Yin Le's eyes widened.

After Zhou Li finished, he added, "But you aren't clear on the details either. Human lifespans are short, and by this generation, much information has already been lost. Moreover, perhaps many details were never passed down in the first place and have long since been obliterated in the river of history."

After pondering for a moment, Yin Le said gravely, "Although there are loopholes, it's worth a try. I'll think about how to plug them."

Zhou Li pursed his lips, not speaking, his thoughts drifting far away.

The Demon Kingdom secret that caused a great uproar in Yu Country, as recorded in Shui Zhenzhu's book, was almost certainly related to the Elm King. The entire Yu Country was likely searching for this very place. Zhou Li had once broached the subject when he had dinner with Sister Hong Ran, and she hadn't objected.

But clearly, humans had not been the ones to seal the Elm King.

Within the huge Array, only the Spiritual Power left by the Elm King remained.

Where did humans get the power to seal the Elm King?

Everything seemed very clear now.

The Elm King, back then, had likely cooperated with humans, or perhaps even used them, to conduct such an experiment.

An experiment, possibly.

It was like the 'Mirror Zone Plan,' the 'Migration Plan,' and other Demon Kingdom initiatives such as the 'War Against Humans Plan' and the 'Control Humans Plan.' These were among the many attempts Yu Country made to ensure the survival of their race. The only difference this time might be that the Elm King solely orchestrated this plan herself.

Zhou Li pursed his lips and remained silent.