Chapter 354 - 343: Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade

Chapter 354: Chapter 343: Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade

The stone house was brightly lit.

Li Yuan stood before a table, where specially-made, blood-colored Spiritual Ink gave off a pungent odor from within a Jade Disc. Five Divine Sense Lines maintained a firm grasp on every trace of Spiritual Waves in the area, with one of them coiled around the talisman brush.

The Spirit Patterns of a Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit-Breaking Talisman were exceedingly complex, but Li Yuan’s own talisman-crafting mastery had reached Tier Two Minor Achievement, so drawing it was still relatively simple.

Saturating the brush tip with Spiritual Ink, he lowered it onto the Tier Two talisman paper. Li Yuan kept the output of his body’s Spiritual Power extremely steady, his Divine Sense precisely guiding the Spiritual Ink across the paper to form the inner circuits, followed by the middle acceleration structure, and finally cutting into the outer layer.

This time, he intentionally slowed his speed by thirty percent, injecting an extra sliver of wood-element Spiritual Power at the nodes of the spike-like structures to act as a buffer.

The final stroke converged.

A sharp, blood-red light suddenly erupted from the surface of the talisman paper. The glow was incredibly piercing, but it flickered for only an instant before rapidly receding, locking itself firmly within the complex Spirit Patterns.

’Success.’

Li Yuan put away the talisman brush and reached out to pick up the Spirit-Breaking Talisman.

A panel popped up at the edge of his vision.

[Equippable Item Detected: Spirit-Breaking Talisman (Intact)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade (Green)]

[Effect: Offensive Magic gains a spirit-breaking effect; has a chance to penetrate Spiritual Power defenses like Protective Spirit Lights; penetration effect depends on the strength of the opponent’s Spiritual Power defense; also enhances damage against Spiritual Power defenses themselves.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Cultivation reaches Late-stage Foundation Establishment]

’A green trait.’

Li Yuan’s gaze fixed on the effect description. Offensive Magic would gain a spirit-breaking effect and had a chance to directly penetrate Spiritual Power defenses. In actual combat, the things Cultivators relied on most were their Protective Spirit Lights and magic shields. Once these two lines of defense were ignored or easily torn apart, an ordinary Cultivator with their fragile physical body was no different from an undefended target.

He glanced at the permanence condition.

’Cultivation reaches Late-stage Foundation Establishment.’

’Not only have I reached Late-stage Foundation Establishment, I’m already at Foundation Establishment Perfection. It’s more than enough.’

Li Yuan brought up his equipment screen.

"Equip."

[Equipped: Spirit-Breaking Talisman (Intact)]

[Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade (Green) is now active]

Immediately after, the panel popped up again.

[Permanence condition for Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade (Green) has been met]

[Cultivation reached Late-stage Foundation Establishment (Met)]

[Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade (Green) has become a permanent trait]

The phantom image of the Spirit-Breaking Talisman solidified for a moment in the equipment screen, then dissipated. The slot became empty again.

The instant the trait became permanent, Li Yuan felt an extremely subtle, qualitative change in the Spiritual Power within his body. The amount of Spiritual Power itself didn’t increase, but as it circulated, it gained an exceptionally sharp property, as if every sliver of Spiritual Power had grown invisible spikes along its edges.

The next morning, Li Yuan went to the administration office.

He picked up a recent defense deployment document from the table, casually added and altered a few directives, and then handed it to a deacon standing nearby.

"Pass this down. The Defensive Array on the north wall will be undergoing a Spiritual Power circuit rotation tonight. There will be a brief defensive gap at the third quarter of the Chou hour," Li Yuan said in a calm voice.

The deacon nodded in acknowledgement. Just as he was about to turn, Li Yuan added a few more words.

"Also, delay today’s escort shift change on the southern route by four hours. Divert the personnel to the west district to help out for now. I’ll be clearing out Demon Beasts in the northern woods for the next few days, so you all keep a close eye on the patrols within the marketplace."

"Understood." The deacon took the document and hurried away.

These directives would soon be passed down to every stationed Cultivator through regular patrol schedules and defense bulletins.

On the surface, these were all routine logistical details that naturally arose from the marketplace’s expansion and resource integration. A brief defensive gap, a delayed escort, the Pavilion Master leaving to hunt beasts—it all seemed perfectly reasonable, without the slightest trace of a deliberate setup.

But as long as the mole passed this information along, the Dark Abyss Association was certain to make a move.

During the day, Li Yuan did indeed take two Cultivators to the perimeter outside the north wall.

He walked a lap along the edge of the treeline, pretending to investigate a few suspicious Demon Beast tracks and clearing out a couple of reckless Tier One Demon Beasts, playing the part of the Pavilion Master clearing beasts in the northern woods to the hilt.

That night.

Li Yuan left the stone house alone. With all three layers of concealment active, his figure vanished into the night like a ghost.

He didn’t use the city gate, instead slipping over the north wall from a hidden corner.

Ahead lay a grove of mixed woods outside the north wall, less than a thousand feet from the wall itself, situated right at the edge of the Defensive Array’s detection range. If someone wanted to sneak into the marketplace during the defensive gap, this grove was the best place to land and take cover.

Concealed by the dense foliage, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.

While waiting for his prey to enter the net, Li Yuan replayed the intercepted frequency of the Demonic Qi pulsations over and over in his mind.

One long, two short. Three short, one long.

The high-precision discernment of his Dark Evil Insight allowed him to clearly distinguish the minute differences in intensity of each Demonic Qi pulse. After repeated analysis and deconstruction, he was certain this wasn’t some random signal noise, but a repeatable, recognizable communication system.

It had a fixed beginning, sectional pauses, and an ending.

Although he couldn’t translate the specific content yet, the code itself was a key. As long as he came into contact with more Demon Cultivator communications or Dark Abyss Association strongholds in the future, this code could help him decipher deadly intelligence at any time.

「The third quarter of the Chou hour.」

The night wind suddenly stopped.

Li Yuan opened his eyes in the treetops.

Within the perceptive net of his Dark Evil Insight, three extremely faint fluctuations of Demonic Qi were skimming along the ground, rapidly approaching from the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest.

Their speed was immense, and they made no effort to conceal their direct path toward the north wall.

Clearly, they were utterly convinced the north wall was currently an undefended area.

Three dark figures stopped at the edge of the mixed woods, a thousand feet from the north wall.

By the faint moonlight, Li Yuan got a clear look at them.

Three Demon Cultivators clad in black cloaks. The leader’s aura was incredibly heavy; the very air around him seemed to twist slightly under the pressure of his Demonic Qi. The other two were half a step behind, warily scanning the surroundings.

One was Late-stage Foundation Establishment, the other two Early-stage Foundation Establishment.

After confirming the area was safe, the three of them swiftly advanced.

One step, two steps.

The leading Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator was the first to step into the designated landing point.

The two Early-stage Demon Cultivators behind him followed close behind.

A cold glint flashed in Li Yuan’s eyes as his fingertip abruptly snapped down, channeling a surge of Spiritual Power.

HUM.

"It’s an ambush!"

The leading Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator reacted with extreme speed. With a furious roar, the black Demonic Qi around his body erupted. An incredibly thick, dark purple Protective Spirit Light instantly flared to life, shielding him completely.

But in the same instant he shouted, Li Yuan was already there.

He leaped down from the treetops, crashing toward the ground like a meteor.

His Iron Bone Golden Body and Medicine-Refined True Body erupted at full power. Rampant Qi Blood energy and the Fire Python Skill coiled around his right fist, compressing wildly.

Not only that, but his fist was also covered in an exceptionally sharp, green Spiritual Light.

The Flame-Evil Spiritual Essence enhanced the Fire Element Magic, with the Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade attached on top.

Li Yuan held nothing back, slamming his fist into the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator’s Protective Spirit Light.

CRACK.

The crisp sound of shattering was exceptionally jarring in the night sky.

The moment Li Yuan’s fist made contact with the dark purple shield, the effect of Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade erupted completely. The Spiritual Power defense, which had seemed indestructible, was pierced through as if it were made of paper.

Raging flames and immense force surged straight through the opening.

A look of utter horror finally appeared in the Demon Cultivator’s eyes, but it was too late.

The fist slammed heavily into his chest, instantly pulverizing his sternum as scorching, fiery baleful energy flooded his organs. He didn’t even have time to scream before his body was sent flying backward, violently snapping two large trees and landing on the ground, silent.

A Late-stage Foundation Establishment expert, killed in a single blow.

The remaining two Early-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators didn’t even have time to see what had happened. They only saw a flash of fire before two Fireballs, both imbued with a spirit-breaking effect, were already smashing toward them.

The Spiritual Qi shields they hastily erected were useless before the Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade and were instantly pierced.

Two muffled thuds followed.

Two charred corpses fell into the mud.

From the activation of the Array to the annihilation of all three, the entire battle had lasted only a few breaths’ time.

Li Yuan stood in the middle of the three corpses and flicked the ash from his fist.

The piercing effect of Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade was incredibly domineering, completely exceeding the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator’s expectations. This was the overwhelming advantage brought by a hidden trump card.

He didn’t rush to loot the bodies.

Instead, he drew a Tier One Top Grade flying sword and slashed it across his left arm and chest several times.

It failed to break the skin.

Li Yuan had to control his muscles and create the deep, bone-visible wounds himself. Blood gushed out, staining half of his Daoist robe red.

Next, he disguised his aura, making it seem extremely weak and unstable.

’If you’re going to put on a show, you have to go all the way.’

Three Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators were dead outside the marketplace, and the mole’s information had been correct. If he returned unscathed, the Dark Abyss Association would definitely suspect the mole had been exposed. Only by being heavily injured could he convince the Dark Abyss Association that they had simply hit a steel plate while carrying out their assassination, not that their intelligence was flawed.

Only after successfully feigning a heavily injured state did Li Yuan finally crouch down and take the three men’s storage pouches.

He used his Divine Sense to forcibly break their imprints and gave the contents a quick scan.

None of the three storage pouches contained items that would directly trigger an equippable trait.

However, deep within the storage pouch of the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, Li Yuan discovered a jet-black Restriction box.

The box’s surface had no keyhole, only a carving of extremely intricate Demonic Qi patterns.

The moment Li Yuan’s hand touched it, his Dark Evil Insight immediately sent back an extremely dangerous signal. The box was fitted with a self-destruct Restriction; it had to be opened with a specific frequency of Demonic Qi, or its contents would instantly turn to dust.

More importantly, his perception penetrated the box’s surface and clearly captured the halo of a blue-rarity trait emanating from within.

’A blue-trait item.’

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes, the set of intercepted Demonic Qi code frequencies immediately surfacing in his mind.

’There seems to be some inevitable connection between the two.’

He couldn’t solve it for now, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He carefully tucked the box deep into his storage pouch.

He continued searching.

Amidst a messy pile of Demon Dao pills, a jade vial affixed with three Sealing Spirit Talismans caught his attention.

He uncorked the vial, and a peculiar medicinal fragrance wafted out. Just a single whiff made him feel as if a clear spring had been injected into his life force.

’Three Lifespan Extension Pills. A pity I’ve used the same kind before.’

After confirming he hadn’t missed anything, Li Yuan dragged his heavily injured body, staggering toward the marketplace’s north gate.