Quinn steadied himself. The pre-cataclysm map of the Great Ruins was invaluable—it marked many ruins throughout the wasteland. If he went hunting and couldn’t make it back to Oldridge Village in time, he could use the map to find shelter in these ruins and escape the darkness.
"With this map, I can avoid a lot of danger."
He focused intently, committing the map to memory. After a while, he found the location of this valley: on the map, it was called Calamity-Seal Palace.
"Calamity-Seal Palace? 'Seal' means to suppress, and 'calamity' means disaster."
Quinn had learned calligraphy and painting from Deaf Uncle. He wasn’t exactly well-read, but he’d picked up plenty of knowledge. Muttering to himself, he said, "Calamity-Seal Palace is a palace built to suppress disaster. But what kind of disaster was it meant to contain?"
He looked around, but saw that the Demon Ape had slipped out at some point and wasn’t in the palace. Most likely, the Demon Ape was worried his presence would disturb Quinn, so he’d left on purpose.
"Big guy’s pretty considerate."
Quinn walked out of the palace, called the Demon Ape over, and asked, "Big guy, is there anything strange about this place?"
The Demon Ape scratched its head, thought for a moment, then dashed toward the side hall of Calamity-Seal Palace. Quinn hurried after it, with the foolish deer tagging along behind.
"This!"
The Demon Ape entered the side hall and pointed at something. Quinn followed its finger and saw that it was pointing at a white wall. On the wall was a painted human figure—tiny, no bigger than a thumb.
Quinn examined the white wall up and down, but aside from that tiny human shadow, he found nothing else.
The foolish deer sniffed its way over, pressed its nose to the wall, and sniffed at the painted figure. Just as it was about to lick the wall, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed it—the foolish deer vanished!
Quinn jumped in fright. The Demon Ape pounded its chest in anger and roared at the wall, but didn’t dare approach.
On the wall, next to the tiny human shadow, a new image of a deer appeared—so lifelike it seemed to move. Then Quinn saw the painted figure on the wall begin to stir, opening its mouth wider and wider, its jaws lined with nail-like teeth. In one bite, it devoured the deer!
Quinn was horrified—the shadow on the wall had eaten the deer, then suddenly stepped forward, heading straight for them!
Then, to Quinn’s shock, he realized that although the figure hadn’t left the wall, its body was growing taller and larger—soon it was the size of a normal person, and it kept growing, still striding forward.
It didn’t take long before the shadow filled the entire wall. Its head—mouth gaping—cast a huge shadow on the ceiling, and its hands stretched across all three walls of the side hall.
"Kid, run!" The Demon Ape grabbed Quinn and leapt out, narrowly avoiding the grasp of the shadow on the wall.
A furious roar erupted from the wall, shaking it so hard that dust filled the air. In an instant, the black shadow spread from inside the side hall, and the entire hall was swallowed by darkness!
The shadow tried to tear itself free from the walls of the side hall, but it could never break loose.
"Is that a demon?"
Quinn stopped, blinked, and experimentally recited, "Qi-ke-duo, Samoye, Prajna Samoye, Qi-ke-duo Prajna Samoye."
The shadow covering the side hall suddenly fell silent. The windows of the hall swung open like two pitch-black eyes. Quinn felt as if a terrifying gaze had locked onto him, sending chills down his spine.
Then the side hall doors slammed shut, only to swing open again. Between each opening and closing, a raspy voice echoed: "Great Freedom Mantra. Are you a descendant of my clan? How pitiful—your mantra is incomplete. Has our clan really fallen so far?"
Quinn asked tentatively, "Senior, do you know the true Great Freedom Mantra?"
"Of course I do!"
The doors swung open and shut, and a voice full of demonic pride declared, "The Great Freedom Mantra of my clan holds supreme power—the power to create worlds and gain true freedom! Yet in your hands, it’s become this pitiful thing, not even a hint of its true might. Have the monkey step aside and I’ll teach you the real mantra!"
Quinn glanced at the Demon Ape. The Demon Ape shook its head and rumbled, "Don’t trust it!"
"This senior is of my clan, he won’t harm me. Wait outside for a bit," Quinn reassured.
The Demon Ape was still uneasy, but Quinn pushed it out.
The doors of the side hall swung open and shut, and that demonic voice continued, "The mantra is the marvel of cultivation, containing the power of gods and demons. You only have the syllables, not the spirit, nor the method to unleash its power. That method is called the Great Freedom Seals—the core ultimate art of my clan! My power is sealed in this hall and won’t last long. Watch closely, I’ll only teach you once. How much you learn depends on your skill!"
The shadow on the wall shrank, then reappeared at about Quinn’s height. Lines appeared inside the shadow, moving around—those were the routes of circulating yuanqi.
The demonic voice said, "There are four Great Freedom Seals: Demon-God Might Seal, Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal, Great Wisdom Seal, and the final seal—fusion of all three—the Great Freedom Heavenly-Demon Seal! This is the first: Demon-God Might Seal! You must intone the demonic mantra to unleash its power. Qi-ke-duo!"
Quinn stared at the shadow on the wall outside the side hall, memorizing the cultivation route. Inside him, his yuanqi began circulating along the same pattern.
"Qi-ke-duo!"
The demonic syllable burst from his lips. Quinn instantly felt a surge of terrifying power within him, forcing his fingers into a strange seal and driving his palm forward, utterly out of his control!
Boom!
A dull thunderclap echoed—Quinn had finally unleashed the palm-thunder he’d dreamed of: thunder roaring from his palm!
Quinn stood there, stunned. It was almost unbelievable.
The power of the Demon-God Might Seal taught by the shadow on the wall was astonishingly strong. In terms of transformations, it couldn't compare to Grandpa Mark's Thunder Chant Eight-Form, but in sheer force, it far surpassed it.
However, this Demon-God Might Seal consumed a tremendous amount of yuanqi—several times more than Thunder Chant Eight-Form!
The shadow on the wall writhed, as if something was pulling it back, and involuntarily returned to the side hall, panting: "The power of this side hall is too strong—it keeps suppressing me. I don't have much time left. Watch closely, this is the second seal, Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal! Samoye!"
On the inner wall, the shadow’s yuanqi route changed again, but the inside of the side hall was dim and too far to see clearly.
Quinn focused and unconsciously stepped forward, finally able to see the shadow’s yuanqi route and changes on the wall.
Samoye!
He silently recited the demonic syllable, his yuanqi circulating, and immediately another wondrous force surged from within, prompting his body into a new motion.
A smile appeared on his face against his will, his fingers formed a flower-pinching gesture, and he struck out with a seal.
This seal didn’t seem powerful at all—in fact, it appeared to have no power whatsoever. Yet Quinn felt that one of the Thunder Chant Eight-Form’s seals had a similar effect to the Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal.
Thunder Chant Eight-Form, Fifth Form: Sun-Bathing Soul Refining in Midair!
The move Grandpa Mark taught him didn’t seem powerful at first glance, but its essence lay in attacking the opponent’s soul!
The secret of Sun-Bathing Soul Refining in Midair was that the fist shone like the sun in the sky, and the palm’s yang thunder refined the soul!
The Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal taught by the shadow on the wall also didn’t seem powerful, but it targeted the soul, just like Grandpa Mark’s Sun-Bathing Soul Refining in Midair.
The only difference was that Grandpa Mark used blazing yang thunder to destroy the soul, direct and fierce, while the Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal pulled the soul into the palm—where the palm became the Heaven of Freedom, grinding the soul away. It was much more insidious and hard to guard against.
Direct force can be defended against, but the Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal is impossible to guard against.
Quinn wondered—there were many parallels between the wall-shadow’s seals and Grandpa Mark’s martial arts. Both followed similar principles, but their methods were utterly different: one was orthodox, the other demonic.
As for which was better, Quinn couldn’t say—each had its strengths.
Grandpa Mark’s Thunder Chant Eight-Form was best for direct confrontation, smashing opponents with overwhelming force, while the Great Freedom Seals were best for catching enemies off guard.
The shadow on the wall shrank further, struggling under the suppression of Calamity-Seal Palace, panting: "Watch closely, this is the third seal—the Great Wisdom Seal…"
The shadow on the wall grew blurry. Quinn unconsciously stepped forward, almost entering the side hall. Suddenly, he stopped, activated the Ninefold Heaven Eye Art Grandpa Blind had taught him, and a new pupil appeared in his eyes. The shadow, though dim, became clear to him.
"You’re not coming in—can you really see?" asked the shadow on the wall.