Chapter 387 - 374: Penta Kill

Chapter 387: Chapter 374: Penta Kill

Li Yuan considered for a moment, then sent a voice transmission to the Qian-surnamed Demon Cultivator on the bluestone.

"What’s the difference between Core Formation for a Demon Cultivator and a regular Cultivator?"

Silence fell behind him for a moment. The Qian-surnamed Demon Cultivator seemed surprised that Zhou Tong would suddenly ask such an irrelevant question, but he still replied nonchalantly.

"The process is mostly the same—it’s all about uniting the Essence, Qi, and Spirit Three Elements. But the Spirit Medicines aren’t interchangeable. The supplementary Spirit Medicines used for forming a core with Spiritual Qi are like deadly poison to us. We have to specifically seek out rare treasures unique to the Demon Dao."

"There’s one more thing. Core Formation requires the support of an immense amount of Demonic Qi. We in the Demon Sect don’t have things like Demon Veins, so we have to find a baleful land where the Demonic Qi is incredibly dense. That’s enough. Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. Let’s go."

’Special ingredients for Demon Cultivators. A location with abundant Demonic Qi.’

’Information acquired.’

Li Yuan’s right hand hung at his side. He turned his palm over, and a jade case slid out silently. He flicked open the lid with his thumb and grasped the dark, cyan Profound Nether Bead.

He abruptly poured his Spiritual Power into it.

BOOM—

Without any warning, a terrifying aura—vast, profound, and far beyond the comprehension of anyone in the Foundation Establishment Stage—erupted from Li Yuan’s palm. The aura descended like an invisible, colossal mountain, instantly bearing down on all of Skeleton Valley.

Under this pressure, the Magic Shielding Array at the valley entrance let out an ear-piercing hum, as if overwhelmed. Its Array Patterns twisted violently, bringing it to the brink of collapse.

The impatience on the Qian-surnamed Demon Cultivator’s face instantly froze, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. The pressure pinned him to the bluestone, and his bones began to creak and groan—CRACK! CRACK!—under the strain. In a single breath, his face turned ashen.

The other four Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators couldn’t even remain standing. One, an Early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, felt his knees buckle. He slammed to the ground, gasping for air, his eyes wide with utter terror.

’A Golden Core master.’

Li Yuan raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers held together.

Void-Rend.

His Spiritual Power sliced along the most obvious seam in space. A gray spatial fissure opened noiselessly.

It met no resistance. The fissure sliced through the protective demonic light the Qian-surnamed Demon Cultivator prided himself on, then passed smoothly through his neck.

A head rolled to the ground. The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, Qian, was killed instantly, without even a chance to activate a Magical Artifact.

Li Yuan’s figure blurred.

Teleportation Skill.

As his form vanished, it wasn’t a violent displacement, but a smooth glide along the very texture of space. A distance of a hundred feet was crossed in an instant. He appeared behind the two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators on the eastern side, as effortlessly and quietly as a phantom.

The pair had just shaken off the shock of the Golden Core-level pressure. Their eyes fell upon the distant, headless corpse of their Senior Brother Qian, but before they could even cry out, two Void-Rends were unleashed at the same time.

Gray fissures weaved with precision through the web of space, each one piercing a man through the back of the heart.

Their protective Magical Artifacts shattered along with flesh and bone as their bodies crumpled to the ground.

Two left.

One at the valley entrance, the other in a shed in the northwest corner.

Li Yuan didn’t use spatial Magic again. He fully activated his Inferno-Wraith Integration. Crimson flames, wreathed in dark gray Evil Qi, condensed in his palm, forming two incredibly solid spears.

Spirit-Breaking Sharp Blade.

He threw both Inferno-Wraith spears simultaneously. They shrieked through the air and pierced the chests of the last two Demon Cultivators. The Nether-Lag’s slowing effect prevented them from even attempting to dodge, and they were instantly pinned to the ground.

From the moment he activated the Profound Nether Bead to the annihilation of all five men, less than three breaths had passed.

[Void-Rend: Proficient (187/400) → (263/400)]

Li Yuan returned the Profound Nether Bead to its jade case and began cleaning up the battlefield.

He moved deftly, pulling the storage pouches from all five corpses.

He also ransacked the stone house and shed within the valley.

Once the looting was done, Li Yuan piled his spoils on the open ground in front of the stone house and quickly took inventory.

Three hundred and twenty Mid-grade Spirit Stones, scattered across the various storage pouches.

Several black jade slips belonging to the Dark Abyss Association. They still had remnants of a Demon Qi Seal on them and were clearly records of intelligence reports.

A batch of decent-quality array materials for repairing the Shield Array.

In the storage pouch of the Demon Cultivator Qian, Li Yuan found a pair of dark cyan bracers. Their surface was covered in fine Scales and felt bone-chillingly cold to the touch.

The panel appeared.

[Detected equippable item: Snake Scale Bracers (Intact)]

[Equipment Affix Preview: Bodyguard (Green)]

[Effect: Automatically reduces damage taken by 10% upon being hit.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Withstand a full-power attack from a Tier Two Magical Artifact using only your physical body, taking no damage (0/1).]

Li Yuan didn’t equip them right away, instead storing them in his pouch.

He also found five sealed jade bottles. They contained identical dark gray pills whose auras were extremely subtle.

These were Qi Concealing Pills, which Demon Cultivators used to hide their presence and suppress the after-effects of their Spiritual Power. These pills were a major reason why the Dark Abyss Association could operate so frequently right under the Primordial Yang Sect’s nose.

However, the jade bottles were covered in a complex, interlocking Restriction. Li Yuan probed it with his Spiritual Power and discovered that trying to break it by force would likely detonate the Demonic Qi sealed within, destroying the pills.

’He couldn’t check for affixes at the moment.’ He put them away.

The inventory was complete.

Li Yuan raised his hand. The flames of his Inferno-Wraith Integration erupted from his palm, completely engulfing the five corpses. The intense heat swiftly reduced flesh and bone to ash.

He didn’t destroy the Shield Array at the valley’s entrance. The array continued to function, tightly sealing the acrid smell of burning and all traces of the battle within. It would be at least a few days before the Dark Abyss Association realized they had lost contact with this place.

Li Yuan activated his Triple Concealment and retreated from Skeleton Valley through the same fissure in the rock wall he had used to enter.

He fled for ten miles without stopping.

He stopped in a dense forest. After confirming no one was around, he reached up and removed the mask from his face.

Then, he ’equipped’ it.

The moment the mask left his skin, the subtle feeling of harmony throughout his body dissipated.

The panel appeared.

[Illusory Face Disguise (Green): Permanence Condition Met]

[Illusory Face Disguise (Green) has become a permanent affix.]

The spectral image of the mask in his hand slowly dissipated into the air, vanishing completely in a wisp of green smoke. An equipment slot was now free.

Li Yuan circulated his Spiritual Power, and with a mere thought...

Without needing to wear any Magical Artifact, the effect of the Illusory Face Disguise affix took hold. His face and physique reverted to those of the scrawny Zhou Tong.

The thirty-percent boost to his disguise was now a permanent part of his own abilities.

Li Yuan reverted to his original appearance, then took the jade case containing the Profound Nether Bead from his storage pouch.

He opened the lid and held the dark, cyan bead in his hand.

’The mission is complete. There’s no longer a need for physical activation.’

’Equip.’

[Equipped: Profound Nether Bead]

[Profound Nether Bead (Blue) is now active.]

[Permanence Condition: Break through to a new major realm (Unmet)]

The bead in his palm became a spectral image and faded away, absorbed into an equipment slot.

The instant the effect activated, Li Yuan’s Sea of Divine Sense trembled.

The Golden Core-level perspective he had experienced before descended upon him once more.

This time, it wasn’t a brief burst but a continuous, stable state. Although the perception was slightly blurrier than the ultra-clear image he’d experienced during the initial activation, the three-dimensional, web-like awareness was undeniably real.

Li Yuan opened his eyes.

In his vision, the flow of Spiritual Qi, the trajectory of the wind, and even the spatial distortions caused by a distant falling leaf all resolved into distinct, clear lines.

In this state, his understanding of the mechanics behind spatial Magic began to deepen at a terrifying rate.

At the same time, a profound and mysterious enlightenment washed over him. It was a three-dimensional blueprint of how the Three Elements—Essence, Qi, and Spirit—circulated within the body, and how they could perfectly converge and fuse at a critical juncture.

From this perspective, the entire process of Core Formation was deconstructed into its most fundamental components.

Li Yuan stood in the forest for a long time before slowly exhaling a long breath.

’This bead is far more valuable than any top-grade Magical Artifact.’

He turned and sped away in the direction of the market.