Yuan and the other began looking around the room, but there really wasn't much there to look at besides the sealed demon and the six golden coffins.
After a few minutes of looking around, the grand elders gathered.
"Besides the founders' coffin, there isn't anything else for us to look at." Senior Hong said.
"But to disturb the founders' peace…"
"If we don't do it, that demon will kill everyone once it breaks out of the seal! I'm sure they'll understand."
"You got a point…"
The grand elders then bowed to the golden coffins.
"We deeply apologize for disturbing your peace, founders."
After apologizing to their founders, the grand elders went to their family's coffin.
Each of the coffins had one of the Six Spiritual Families' surnames engraved into it, so the grand elders knew which one belonged to their family.
Once they were prepared, they opened the coffin to take a look inside.
However, to their surprise, all of the coffins were empty.
There was nothing— not even signs of a body having ever existed inside these coffins, almost like it was empty since the beginning.
"Why are these coffins here if they're empty?" Senior Wang muttered out loud everyone's question.
"If our founders are not in here, where are their bodies?" Senior Hong asked afterward.
"Let's look around again to make sure that there aren't any hidden passages."
Thus, the grand elders began around round of inspection.
Meanwhile, Yuan continued to analyze the demon statue with his divine sense.
He was fairly certain that the demon statue was actually a sealed demon, but he wasn't 100 percent confident.
"Brother Yuan, if the demon breaks out of its seal now, what are the chances of you defeating it?" Chu Liuxiang asked him.
After a moment of silence, he spoke in a solemn tone, "None. I have no chance of defeating a demon in my current state."
And he added, "That's why I need to quickly learn the demon sealing technique."
"Are demons really that powerful besides their regenerative abilities?"
"Yes, they're incredibly powerful. They can turn their own blood into weapons, and their bodies are incredibly durable by themselves. However, that's not what I am most worried about."
"A single demon at the Spirit Warrior level can defeat an ordinary Spirit Master cultivator. If this sealed demon is above that level, which is very likely, I won't be able to defeat it even with the demon sealing technique."
"Wait… If even someone like you cannot defeat the demon, who else can do such a thing?" Meixiu asked.
Yuan is very likely the strongest cultivator in this world at the moment, and if someone like that cannot defeat the demon, what chances do the others have? Won't they just be sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered by this demon?
"Well… Since demons exist… I hope there's a demon sealing clan somewhere out there in this world." Yuan sighed.
"Demon sealing clans?" Chu Liuxiang asked.
"Yes, they're clans that specialize in sealing demons. They also exist in Cultivation Online."
Sometime later, the grand elders returned to Yuan with dispirited looks on their faces.
"I'm sorry, but this place is empty."
"Daoist Yuan, do you have any idea when the demon might break the seal?" Senior Wang asked him.
"Unfortunately, I do not."
"Hopefully, it won't happen for a few more years. Hell, I will be happy even with a few months." Senior Shi sighed.
"Let's get out of here for now. We won't gain anything by staying in here."
However, as they prepared to leave the hidden room, the ground started shaking.
"Another earthquake? We're getting them more and more frequently."
"Let's hurry upstairs. It would be bad if this place collapses due to the earthquake." Senior Wang suggested to them.
Everyone there agreed and began making their way towards the exit.
However, for some reason, Yuan stopped walking when they reached the door.
"What's the matter, Brother Yuan?" Chu Liuxiang asked him.
Yuan didn't say anything and used his divine sense to look at the sealed demon after feeling this urge to do so.
"No way…" He muttered in a low voice.
"What did you just say?" Senior Wang turned around to ask him.
"T-The demon… It's cracking…" Yuan responded in a low voice.
"What?!"
Everybody there immediately turned to look at the sealed demon, and sure enough, there were visible cracks on its body.
Furthermore, these cracks were emitting a red glow that would pulsate like a beating heart.
"D-Don't tell me that it's already breaking the seal! We're not ready to fight that thing!"
Senior Wang and the others that had been shivering this entire time started trembling like they were at the brink of freezing to death.
Meanwhile, the earthquake grew stronger and stronger.
Crack.
Crack…
Crack!
The cracks on the sealed demon began spreading all over the rest of its body at a rapid rate— fast enough for Yuan and the others to follow with their eyes.
"Run!" Yuan suddenly shouted at them.
The next second, Senior Wang and the others began running back upstairs at full speed.
When they were halfway to the surface, the sealed demon that was completely covered in cracks started trembling.
BOOM!
An explosion occurred inside the hidden room the next moment.
When the smoke dissipated, a red-skinned figure could be seen standing in the middle of the room, silently looking at its own hands with a look of disbelief and excitement in its gaze.
Once the demon realized its situation, it immediately burst with laughter.
"HAHAHAHA! I AM FREE! I AM FINALLY FREE!" The demon laughed like a maniac.
After countless years of being sealed, it had finally managed to break free from its imprisonment.
The demon proceeded to spend the next few minutes digesting its current situation and pondering what it should do next.
Then its senses picked up a familiar smell— the smell of humans, and its mouth immediately began salivating, as it'd been starved for thousands of years.
Once the demon realized that there were humans nearby, like a starved beast, it stopped pondering and began chasing after this smell.
"This is exactly what I want! Flesh and blood— I want to feast!" The demon roared as it sped up the narrow staircase, quickly chasing after Yuan and the others.