403: Chapter 403 The seal's anomalies intensify! A terrifying aura resurfaces five hundred feet underground.

"The Seal has decayed by seventy percent."

Tu Lie was the first to react.

"How much longer can the Seal hold?"

Su Changge quickly retrieved the calculation results from the Scripture Pavilion in his mind. The decay rate of the Nine-Lock Dragon Suppressing Array was not linear; the first thirty percent of decay took about a hundred thousand years, the middle thirty percent took about twenty thousand years, and the final ten percent—

"Within a hundred years, the Seal will completely collapse."

As those words fell, the crack suddenly moved.

It wasn't a large movement.

It was a very faint tremor.

From the depths of the crack, from the darkness five hundred zhang below, a wisp of an extremely faint aura drifted up.

That wisp of aura penetrated layer upon layer of formation patterns and Seals; by the time it reached the surface, it had decayed to an almost negligible degree.

But the weakest Cultivator present was at the Soul Transformation Stage.

They felt it.

The moment that wisp of aura touched their skin—

Among Tu Lie's twelve confidants, two Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators simultaneously retreated two steps, their Faces deathly pale.

Halberd Demon Elder's cane dropped.

The female Cultivator in the iron mask let out a short, low cry.

Among the White-Robed Old Woman's three Disciples, a young female Cultivator sat directly on the ground.

Tu Lie's Face turned ashen; his body stiffened for about two breaths before he forced himself to steady.

Liu Can—Liu Can's grayish-white pupils dilated suddenly, then shrank to the size of needle tips.

Su Changge stood at the edge of the crack.

That wisp of aura blew against him—and was blocked by a passive special effect.

He felt nothing at all.

But from the reactions of others, he judged one piece of information: the thing below was incredibly strong.

So strong that even the Tribulation Transcendence Stage Cultivators present would experience a drastic change in expression.

[What on earth is sealed down there???]

He searched within the Great Dao Scripture Pavilion. The Pavilion's information database provided several possible answers, but none were certain—he needed a closer observation to match them.

He kept his expression steady, turned around, and looked at everyone.

Everyone's gaze was on him.

Tu Lie's gaze held terror and inquiry.

Halberd Demon Elder bent down to pick up his cane, his hands trembling.

In Liu Can's gaze—beyond fear, there was another layer, something called 'only you can save us.'

Su Changge took in all their expressions.

Was he not afraid?

He was scared to death.

But he couldn't show it.

Because he was the backbone for everyone here.

Once he panicked, everyone would panic.

If everyone panicked, no one would be there to protect him.

So he could not panic.

It wasn't for Face.

It was for his life.

He ran through this logical chain in his mind and then spoke.

His voice was as steady as the surface of a lake.

"There is no need for panic. Although the Seal has decayed by seventy percent, the remaining thirty percent is still functioning; it will not collapse in the short term."

He paused for a breath.

"That aura just now was merely a natural leakage from the Suppressed Entity beneath the Seal; it is a normal phenomenon."

[How is this normal!!! Halberd Demon Elder was so scared he dropped his cane and you call this normal???]

He complained wildly in his heart while continuing on the surface.

"Next, I need to descend to the core of the Seal to assess the specific situation up close."

After those words were thrown out, there was another period of silence.

Tu Lie was the first to speak.

"Mr. Su is going down personally?"

"Yes."

"Do you need us—"

"No need."

Su Changge glanced at Ye Qingyao.

"She will go down with me. You all wait up here."

Tu Lie shut his mouth.

He glanced at Ye Qingyao. Ye Qingyao's expression was calm, showing no objection.

Zhao Tian stood at the back; his lips moved slightly, but in the end, he didn't speak.

Liu Can leaned against the Spatial Wall; hearing Su Changge say he would descend personally, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

Five hundred zhang below that crack—was the core of the Seal.

The aura that had leaked from that direction just now had caused all the Tribulation Transcendence Stage Cultivators present to change color.

He was going to take just one person and go down.

Liu Can recited the words 'Return to Simplicity' once more in his mind.

Then he closed his eyes.

He wouldn't look.

He couldn't bear to look.

Su Changge walked to the edge of the crack and looked down.

Darkness.

Five hundred zhang of darkness awaited him below.

He didn't have enough spiritual Qi in his body to support flying down.

He couldn't even fly.

But he couldn't let others know this.

He turned to look at Ye Qingyao and sent a voice transmission.

"Let's go down."

Ye Qingyao walked to his side.

Her spiritual Qi condensed around them, forming a light membrane that enveloped both of them.

Then she took him and descended into the crack.

From the outside—the two of them stepped into the crack simultaneously, sinking into the darkness below.

Su Changge was in front, Ye Qingyao behind, as their two figures were swallowed by the darkness.

The people above watched them disappear into the crack; no one spoke.

Tu Lie stood at the edge of the crack, peered down, and then stepped back.

Zhao Tian stood in place, his fists clenched tight.

Liu Can leaned against the wall, eyes closed.

Silence.

During the descent.

Ye Qingyao's spiritual Qi membrane enveloped the two as they slowly descended; the speed wasn't fast because the formation patterns on both sides of the crack would interfere with spiritual Qi, requiring careful control.

Su Changge was supported by her spiritual Qi and felt no sensation of falling.

He looked down.

The darkness was receding.

Because the deeper they went, the higher the density of the formation patterns; although the light from those patterns was faint, when there were enough of them, they accumulated to form a strange dark-red illumination in the depths of the crack.

Fifty zhang.

One hundred zhang.

Two hundred zhang.

Three hundred zhang—

The aura changed.

The aura surging up from below the crack was no longer that faint wisp of leakage from before.

It had thickened.

The concentration was increasing rapidly.

Su Changge's passive special effect was still blocking it for him, so he couldn't feel the pressure of that aura, but he could see Ye Qingyao's reaction—

Her brow was furrowed.

Her spiritual Qi membrane was trembling slightly.

"Revered Master," she transmitted, her voice dropping a tone.

"The aura below... is very unusual."

Su Changge rolled his eyes in his mind.

[You think? Those Tribulation Transcendence Stage guys above were so scared they dropped their canes just from smelling a wisp of it, and now we're heading toward the source; it would be weird if it were normal.]

He transmitted back two words.

"Continue."

Ye Qingyao's gaze fell on his profile.

His expression hadn't changed at all.

A terrifying aura so thick it was suffocating surged up from the depths of the crack, and he stood right in the Face of it—expression as usual.

Four hundred zhang.

Four hundred and fifty zhang.

That aura had thickened to the point of being visible to the naked eye. Black mist slowly rose from below, and something was writhing within the mist.

Five hundred zhang.

They had arrived.

A platform appeared beneath their feet.