Chapter 490 - 462: Deep Sea Inheritance

Chapter 490: Chapter 462: Deep Sea Inheritance

The deep-sea undercurrents were stained a dark red by the thick scent of blood.

Li Yuan floated in the seawater, holding two Demon Beast Cores in his hands, both emitting astonishing Spiritual Waves. One was dark red as blood, with Demonic Qi roiling faintly within; the other was abyss-blue, its surface naturally covered in peculiar patterns.

The perception within a three-foot radius constantly fed back information, and the system panel automatically unfolded in his vision.

[Detectable equippable item: Devouring Demon Tiger Whale Inner Core (Intact)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Demon Devouring (Blue)]

[Effect: Can absorb and devour Demonic Qi to strengthen the upper limit of the physical body; also extends lifespan by up to two hundred years.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Cumulatively devour Demonic Qi from over one hundred different sources.]

Li Yuan’s gaze shifted slightly.

’It can directly strengthen my body’s limits and even comes with a lifespan increase of up to two hundred years. A trait that directly affects the essence of life is a foundational accumulation I need the most right now.’

"Equip."

[Equipped: Tier Three Tiger Whale Inner Core (Intact)]

[Devouring Demon Tiger Whale Inner Core (Blue) is now active.]

The dark red Inner Core in his hand instantly vanished, transforming into a ray of light that merged into the system panel. The Demonic Qi in his body was absorbed by it, and then an incredibly violent life force swiftly spread through his limbs and bones.

Li Yuan could clearly feel the carrying capacity of his physical body being forcibly raised another level.

Li Yuan turned to look at the other abyss-blue Inner Core, the one from the Octopus Great Demon.

[Detectable equippable item: Tier Three Octopus Core (Intact)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: True Path of Ten Thousand Dharmas (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases learning speed and the proficiency rate for all Magic by 100%; increases the effect of mastered Magic by 10%; the more Magic learned, the stronger the buff, up to a maximum of 50%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Cultivate or master over one hundred different systems of Magic and Talismans.]

’An excellent support trait.’

’It doubles my proficiency rate with Magic and even directly raises the power ceiling of Magic I’ve already mastered. If I can make this trait permanent, cultivating any High Tier Magic in the future will be twice as effective with half the effort. A hundred different systems of Magic and Talismans are just a matter of time for me.’

[Equipped: Tier Three Octopus Core (Intact)]

[True Path of Ten Thousand Dharmas (Blue) is now active.]

The abyss-blue Inner Core vanished, and a blue light flashed on the panel. Li Yuan’s mind instantly became incomparably clear. The nodes in his Magic deductions that were once slightly fuzzy now appeared as distinct as reflections in a polished mirror.

After quickly storing the remains of the two Tier Three great demons in his personal space, Li Yuan turned to face the massive underwater fault ahead.

Below the fault was the stone grotto where the Octopus Great Demon had laired.

Li Yuan activated Demon Shadow Step, his figure transforming into a current of water and shooting directly into the cave entrance.

There were some defensive Restrictions at the entrance, but they were crudely made. Li Yuan didn’t even bother using any array-breaking techniques. He merely released a sliver of his Late-stage Golden Core Spiritual Power pressure, and the dilapidated Array Patterns crumbled inch by inch as if made of paper-mache.

The space inside the stone grotto was immense, large enough to hold several hundred people. But the scene before him made Li Yuan frown slightly.

The entire cave dwelling was a complete mess.

The once-smooth stone walls were covered in giant sucker marks and scratches. The ground was littered with foul-smelling silt and broken coral reefs. A few celadon jade pillars that had originally supported the grotto were snapped in half and piled haphazardly in a corner, forming a huge nest.

The Octopus Great Demon had clearly treated this ancient Cultivator’s legacy site as its own living room.

Li Yuan rummaged through the scattered silt.

At the edge of the nest, Li Yuan discovered a pile of broken skeletons. Judging by the shape of the bones, they clearly belonged to human Cultivators, and they bore traces of acid corrosion.

Li Yuan waved his sleeve, and a current of water swept away the silt, revealing a stone platform below that had been forcefully smashed open.

The hidden compartment inside the platform was already shattered. Several jade slips of various colors and a few scrolls made from some unknown Sea Beast hide were scattered on the ground.

Li Yuan picked up the jade slips and scrolls one by one, probing them with his Divine Sense.

No glimmer of a trait flickered. These legacy items themselves didn’t possess any special equippable attributes; they were merely carriers of pure knowledge.

But this didn’t disappoint Li Yuan.

Li Yuan extended his Divine Sense into the most ancient-looking of the jade slips. A massive flow of information instantly flooded his sea of consciousness. Aided by the "True Path of Ten Thousand Dharmas" trait he had just equipped, the once-obscure ancient Array Patterns and runic structures were rapidly deconstructed, reorganized, and converted into knowledge he could comprehend.

This was a pure inheritance of Arrays and Talisman arts.

The original owner of the inheritance seemed to have extremely high attainments in Water Element Arrays and the art of Talisman Making. The jade slips recorded a large number of special techniques for utilizing the deep-sea environment and Water Spiritual Power.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the stone platform, rapidly browsing through the scrolls.

Although the Octopus Great Demon had made a wreck of the grotto, the core jade slips were made of excellent material and were still in relatively good condition.

Several hours later, he let out a long, turbid breath.

A piece of talisman paper floated in the air. With a light tap of his finger, Li Yuan guided Spiritual Ink onto the paper, followed by an influx of Spiritual Power. A Talisman formed in an instant.

The system panel popped up in his vision.

[Talisman Making Skill: Tier Two Perfection → Tier Three Entry]

Li Yuan looked at the words on the panel and slowly exhaled.

’I broke through.’

Li Yuan turned over the Spirit Gathering Talisman in his hand, carefully examining its internal Spiritual Power circuits with his Divine Sense.

The overall framework of the circuit was no different from a Tier Two, but at the junction of each node, there was an additional, extremely subtle, self-circulating structure that resembled a water ripple.

It was these self-circulating structures that gave the Talisman the ability to "breathe" on its own, allowing its Spiritual Power retention time and burst efficiency to far exceed that of a Tier Two.

’This is the hallmark of a Tier Three Talisman.’

’I’ve benefited greatly.’

Li Yuan turned his attention back to the inheritance.

This inheritance filled a significant gap in his expertise in the Water Element. It included two Arrays and one special Talisman Making Skill.

Array one, the Sea Spirit Array.

This was a variation of the Spirit Gathering Array that could filter and purify the surrounding violent sea Spiritual Qi, transforming it into gentle Spiritual Qi suitable for long-term absorption by human Cultivators. By setting up this array, one could create a cultivation paradise in the desolate depths of the sea.

Array two, the Water Absorption Array.

An extremely rare defensive and energy-storing Array. It could absorb the Spiritual Power from Water Element attacks, store it in the array’s nodes, and then unleash it in reverse at a critical moment.

Besides these two Arrays, there was also a Talisman Making Skill for something called a Water Transport Talisman.

The jade slip’s description of the Water Transport Talisman was rather peculiar. It wasn’t a Talisman for offense or defense. Instead, by consuming a large amount of pure Water Spiritual Power, it could faintly influence the flow of surrounding water veins for a short period, thereby improving the user’s luck in aquatic environments.

The concept of luck had always been ethereal and illusory, but the fact that it could be influenced by a Talisman demonstrated the profundity of this Talisman Making Skill.

Li Yuan solemnly placed all the jade slips and scrolls into his storage bag. With the buff from "True Path of Ten Thousand Dharmas," he could completely master this knowledge anytime he had a spare moment.

Li Yuan stood up, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding Arrays.

’These Arrays, and the ones outside, don’t look like human handiwork. Clearly, the Demon Beast in this cave saw the inheritance inside. Then it must have gotten its hands on a human Cultivator’s Array Discs and Array Flags and, relying on its Tier Three Demon Beast instincts, cobbled this thing together.’

’Even if a Sea Beast had its intelligence awakened, it would be impossible for it to understand the complex jade slips and ancient texts left by human Cultivators. The reason it knew this was an inheritance site and had a crude understanding of how to use those Array Flags...’

Li Yuan looked toward the Cultivator corpses from before.

’This area of the sea is remote, but occasionally some demon-hunting Loose Cultivators might pass through. The Octopus Great Demon, relying on its Tier Three Top Grade strength, could have captured a few knowledgeable human Cultivators. By forcing them to interpret and compare the contents of the jade slips, it could have slowly figured out the basics of the Arrays and the inheritance.’

Li Yuan scanned his surroundings one last time to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Then, with a flicker of his body, he transformed into a stream of azure light, shot out of the grotto, and vanished into the dark, deep sea.