“This is, the clan leader’s token of my Hu clan!”
Hu Mazi picked up the token, trembling with excitement, “It’s said only the clan leader could possess it, I never expected to find it here!”
Chen Ping took the animal hide and unfolded it, the text on it was obscure and hard to understand, but fortunately, he had studied ancient scripts and could roughly discern its meaning.
The hide recorded the origin of Burial Demon Abyss, it was once a battlefield in ancient times where the human race fought the demon race, countless strong warriors fell here.
Later, a powerful talisman master set up a grand array, sealing the fallen demons at the bottom of the abyss, hence the name “Burial Demon Abyss.”
The talisman master who set up the array was none other than the ancestor of the Hu clan!
“Your ancestor was actually an ancient talisman master!”
Chen Ping looked at Hu Mazi, a hint of surprise in his eyes, “The hide says that, to seal the demons at the abyss’s bottom, he exhausted his life’s energy, and before his death, he hid part of his talisman inheritance deep in Burial Demon Abyss, hoping his descendants would inherit his will and guard Jiupan Mountain.”
Chen Ping now understood why Hu Mazi’s talisman skills were so impressive, it turned out his clan had such a legacy.
Hu Mazi looked at the text on the hide, his eyes red with emotion, “So my Hu clan wasn’t an ordinary family, our ancestor achieved such great feats, but why did we end up being wiped out?”
Chen Ping continued reading, the latter half of the hide revealed a shocking secret.
The seal of Burial Demon Abyss was not eternal, it weakened every thousand years, and the Hu clan’s task was to enter the abyss during these times to reinforce the talisman array.
But 2,800 years ago, the seal suddenly malfunctioned, and the demons at the bottom nearly broke free.
The Hu clan used all their strength to barely suppress it, but this greatly weakened them, and they were attacked by an unknown force.
“It seems your clan’s destruction might be related to the seal of Burial Demon Abyss.”
Chen Ping put down the hide, “That unknown force likely wanted to exploit the demons breaking free or coveted your ancestor’s talisman inheritance.”
Hu Mazi clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, “No matter who it was, I will find out!”
He carefully stored the clan leader’s token and the hide, as if holding the entire clan’s hope.
Chen Ping turned his gaze to the depths of the cave, where a narrow stone gate stood, engraved with the same talisman array as the bronze box.
“It seems this is the real entrance, let’s go.”
With the clan leader’s token, the talisman array on the stone gate deactivated, and the two entered the next area smoothly.
It was a long corridor, with rock walls on both sides covered in talisman patterns, unlike those seen before, these emitted a faint golden light, clearly left by a human talisman master.
“These talisman patterns can suppress demonic energy, they must have been set by your ancestor.”
Chen Ping touched the patterns, feeling a gentle force flow into his body, “If we follow these patterns, we should avoid most dangers.”
At the end of the corridor was a massive stone chamber, in its centre stood a ten-zhang-high stone stele, covered in dense talisman runes that shone with dazzling light.
Around the stele lay several skeletal remains, their clothing suggesting they were Hu clan members.
“These are, my Hu clan’s ancestors!”
Hu Mazi looked at the talisman tokens on the bones, his eyes welling up again, “They must have come to reinforce the seal but never made it back.”
Chen Ping approached the stele, studying the runes closely, growing more shocked as he looked.
The arrangement of these runes was incredibly intricate, containing profound truths of the universe, far beyond his understanding of talisman arts.
He tried probing the runes with his divine sense, and a vast stream of information flooded his mind, filled with insights and techniques about the talisman path.
