Chapter 394 - 379: Mozhou Exploration 3

Chapter 394: Chapter 379: Mozhou Exploration 3

The Profound Nether Remnants.

Hiding in the shadows, Li Yuan keenly caught the term.

He studied the four individuals’ clothing and mannerisms. They wore uniform, tattered daoist robes, were familiar with the subterranean environment, and survived by excavating the residual resources of abandoned mining areas.

This was a tribe of underground remnants who had survived and propagated since the fall of the Profound Nether Sect.

They had not fled Mozhou. Instead, they had chosen to hide in the bottomless subterranean ruins, eking out a living generation after generation on discarded resources.

Li Yuan stood silently behind the rocky hill, not making a sound to disturb them.

These four posed no threat to him, but their existence was an extremely valuable source of information. As remnants who had lived in these underground ruins for years, their familiarity with the area would far surpass that of any outsider.

The Dark Abyss Association would soon be coming to Mozhou in search of treasure.

Li Yuan watched as the four painstakingly dug out a few thumbnail-sized, faintly glowing crystals from the base of a stone pillar. They quickly wrapped them in a ragged cloth, glanced around warily, and then turned to walk toward a hidden ravine deep in the wilderness.

He did not reveal himself, instead silently trailing behind them.

Li Yuan concealed his aura the entire way, tailing the four Profound Nether Remnants from a great distance.

The four moved with extreme caution, making several large loops across the gray Stone Wilderness. Only after confirming they weren’t being followed did they slip into an inconspicuous fissure in the ground.

Li Yuan stopped a hundred zhang from the fissure’s entrance.

His perception of the Earth Vein’s spiritual hub reached into the ground, extending down along the fissure. Deep within the crack was a massive network of natural caves that had been artificially expanded and reinforced. Inside, he could faintly sense the convergence of several hundred weak fluctuations of Spiritual Power.

It was a sizable subterranean settlement.

Li Yuan memorized the precise coordinates of the settlement’s entrance and did not venture further, lest he alert them to his presence.

After a ripple of distorted space, Li Yuan returned to the Mist Forest Marketplace.

Inside the stone house, the door and windows were tightly shut, and the sound-insulating Array was active.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged before a low table, laying flat the Solid Spirit Talisman he had brought back from the diversion chamber in Mozhou.

The Talisman paper was a dark gold, its Array Patterns as intricate as a miniature labyrinth. Though its Spiritual Qi had completely dissipated, turning it into a useless Talisman, it was still a crystallization of the Profound Nether Sect’s high-end talisman-crafting arts from their peak.

In his equipment slot, the Profound Nether Bead (Blue) was currently equipped.

Li Yuan closed his eyes. With a flicker of thought, he voluntarily immersed his consciousness into the "Golden Core Perspective" provided by the Profound Nether Bead.

The world before him once again underwent a dimensional leap.

In his vision, the Solid Spirit Talisman on the table was no longer a flat piece of paper, but a precise Array composed of countless minuscule Spiritual Power nodes and three-dimensional, folded pathways.

Even though the Talisman’s own Spiritual Qi had dried up, from this higher-dimensional perspective, the paths of the Array Patterns carved deep into the paper were still clearly visible. The logic of Spiritual Power flow, so minuscule it was imperceptible to the naked eye, and the spatial resonance frequencies between the nodes were all laid bare before Li Yuan.

He took out an ordinary talisman brush, dipped it in some cheap Spiritual Ink, and picked up a stack of blank Tier Two Talisman papers.

His goal wasn’t to create a finished product, but to deconstruct its logic.

Li Yuan stared intently at the microscopic, three-dimensional structure of the Array Pattern in his Golden Core perspective. Gripping the brush, he began to replicate the most central set of defensive nodes on a blank sheet of talisman paper.

The moment his first stroke landed and Spiritual Power was infused, the talisman paper exploded into a cloud of ash.

’Not enough precision.’

The Solid Spirit Talisman was a High Tier Talisman. The density of its Array Patterns and the stability required for Spiritual Power output far exceeded the limits of a Tier Two Talisman. On Tier Two paper, even the slightest deviation in the thickness of the Spiritual Power output would cause the Array Patterns to repel each other.

Li Yuan’s expression remained unchanged. Five Divine Sense Lines extended from between his brows, wrapping directly around his right hand that held the brush.

A second sheet of talisman paper. He began to draw.

The Divine Sense Lines forcibly calibrated every minute tremor in his muscles, elevating the precision of his Spiritual Power output by a whole level.

The brush tip glided across the paper, tracing three intersecting arcs.

"HSSS—"

A wisp of green smoke rose from the paper’s surface. The Spiritual Ink had scorched black, and the sheet was ruined again.

’The folding angle of the Spiritual Power node was off by two degrees.’

He continued.

The third sheet, the fifth, the tenth...

A small mountain of ash from the ruined talisman papers piled up on the corner of the table.

For a full four shichen, Li Yuan was completely immersed in the three-dimensional deconstruction provided by his Golden Core perspective.

On the seventy-second sheet of talisman paper, Li Yuan’s wrist suddenly stopped, the brush tip steadily dotting the final node in the center.

Spiritual Light flickered for a moment on the crude Array Patterns. It barely maintained a weak cycle, but it didn’t explode.

Li Yuan’s eyes lit up.

A panel abruptly popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Solid Spirit Talisman (Complete)]

[Equipment Affix Preview: Spiritual Barrier (Green)]

[Effect: Increases Divine Sense defense strength by 40%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Tier Two Divine Soul Skill has reached the level of Perfection (Fulfilled)]

’The condition for permanence is a Tier Two Divine Soul Skill at Perfection.’

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yuan equipped the Solid Spirit Talisman from the table into an empty equipment slot.

"Equip."

[Equipped: Solid Spirit Talisman (Complete)]

[Spiritual Barrier (Green) is now active]

[Spiritual Barrier (Green) has become a permanent affix]

In the equipment slot, the phantom image of the dark gold Talisman flickered once, then instantly shattered into countless points of light and vanished, freeing up the slot.

[System Prompt: Affixes of the same origin and type have been detected. Fusion conditions met.]

[Divine Sense Condensation (Green) + Spiritual Barrier (Green) beginning fusion]

Divine Sense Condensation focused on gathering and attacking with Divine Sense; Spiritual Barrier focused on defending against Divine Sense assaults. One for offense, one for defense—the two green affixes, both belonging to the Divine Sense system, resonated perfectly at this moment.

In his Sea of Divine Sense, the previously free-floating Mental Power began to frantically collapse and reorganize. A metallic luster, as if tangible, swiftly coated the surface of his five tough Divine Sense Lines.

[Fusion Complete]

[New Affix Acquired: Divine Soul Iron Wall (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases Divine Sense condensation speed by 30%; Divine Sense attacks and defenses now carry a stun effect (duration extended); increases Divine Sense defense strength by 50%; the Sea of Divine Sense gains a passive shield that can automatically block one surprise Divine Sense attack.]

’A blue affix.’

Li Yuan closed his eyes, quietly sensing the cataclysmic changes in his Sea of Divine Sense.

His Divine Sense now condensed faster than before; his Divine Sense Lines could be drawn taut as steel wires with a mere thought. But the most crucial change was to the periphery of his Sea of Divine Sense.

An invisible, transparent, yet indestructible shield now tightly enveloped his entire Sea of Divine Sense.

He tried to violently jab one of his Divine Sense Lines into the shield.

"HUMMM—"

The shield’s surface only rippled faintly. An immense repulsive force sent the Divine Sense Line flying back, yet his Sea of Divine Sense felt no tremor at all.

’Automatically block one surprise Divine Sense attack.’

This meant that when facing insidious Divine Sense attacks from Cultivators of the same or even higher tiers, he now had a margin for error—one instance of absolute immunity. Combined with the 50% increase in defense strength, his Divine Soul defense had reached a terrifying level.

’A blue Divine Soul affix for both offense and defense.’

Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes and swept the talisman paper ash from his table.

With the Divine Soul Iron Wall and his traceless concealment, he was now much more confident about facing the impending chaos in the Ghost Mist Forest.