Chapter 84 - 81: Divine Soul Attack (2)
Chapter 84: Chapter 81: Divine Soul Attack (2)
Tier One Middle Grade.
Li Yuan’s gaze paused on the Demon Beast for a moment.
Bone spurs on the sides of its head glowed green, it had four eyes, and its Spiritual Qi was concentrated in its head.
The features matched the description of the Divine Soul-attacking Demon Beast the previous team had mentioned.
The four-eyed, bone-spurred Demon Beast seemed to sense something. It immediately opened its eyes and stood up.
The other Demon Beasts were startled as well.
With a gesture from Li Yuan, the six of them quickly spread into formation.
A flash of fire erupted from beneath Li Yuan’s feet as he took the lead, charging down the slope.
A Fireball Technique materialized in his palm, and he hurled it at the nearest Gray Iguana. With a dull THUD, the Gray Iguana was thrown off its feet, a blackened crater blasted into its side.
The Demon Beasts on the gravel beach erupted into chaos.
Two Gray Iguanas scurried left and right, while the Iron-Spine Hyena dropped what was in its mouth and turned to flee downriver.
Song Tiezhu and Han Xiaoyi cut in from the flanks, intercepting the two Gray Iguanas. Tian Qi shouldered his spear and chased after the hyena.
But the four-eyed, bone-spurred Demon Beast did not run.
It rose slowly, stretched its neck, and its four eyes widened simultaneously. The green light from the two clusters of bone spurs on its head suddenly intensified.
An invisible ripple spread out from its head.
Han Xiaoyi happened to be the closest to it, about ten zhang away.
The moment the ripple swept over him, Han Xiaoyi’s steps faltered. He swayed as if his skull had been struck by something, and one hand immediately flew to his forehead.
"Fuck—!"
Han Xiaoyi cursed, his other hand pressing hard against his temple, his face deathly pale.
The Divine Soul damage wasn’t severe, but the backlash from his failed Magic was.
Song Tiezhu glanced back, and his expression changed.
"Get away from it!"
Li Yuan didn’t approach Han Xiaoyi, his eyes fixed on the Demon Beast instead.
When it released the ripple just now, Li Yuan had also been within range, but he was further away—about fifteen zhang out.
When the ripple passed over him, he only felt a slight numbness at the back of his head, almost nothing at all.
Xu Qing had already run to Han Xiaoyi’s side and was dragging him back.
After being dragged a few steps, Han Xiaoyi recovered, his teeth grinding audibly.
"Felt like my brain was pricked by a needle... but it gets better after a bit. No real damage."
"The main thing is the backlash. My meridians are in agony, I can’t cast any Magic."
Li Yuan averted his gaze and glanced down at his panel.
[Fire Escape Skill (White) Permanence Progress: 49/50]
’Just one li to go.’
Li Yuan’s gaze returned to the bone-spurred Demon Beast.
It hadn’t pursued them. It remained crouched in the center of the gravel beach, its four eyes staring in their direction. The green light on the bone spurs at the sides of its head flickered, as if it were gathering power.
The surrounding minions had already been dealt with, leaving only this one.
With Li Yuan’s current Cultivation and methods, a Tier One Middle Grade Demon Beast wasn’t difficult to handle, even one with Divine Soul attacks. He could just bombard it from a distance with Fire Arrow Skill and Fireball Technique. It couldn’t outrun his Fire Escape Skill, nor could it withstand attacks enhanced by Precision.
But Li Yuan didn’t act immediately.
He stared at the Demon Beast, his fingers rubbing the edge of his sleeve.
The Mind-Calming Plate in his sleeve felt cool to the touch.
’The second of two options for making the ’Stable Mind’ trait permanent was to receive a mental attack of a certain power.’
’The power should be sufficient.’
Li Yuan turned to survey the surrounding terrain.
The gravel beach extended for some distance to the north, flanked by low slopes. The Demon Beast was crouched in the southern half of the central area. The distance from its current position to the base of the northern slope was about twenty-five zhang.
His Fire Escape Skill still needed one li of progress.
Li Yuan retreated a few steps toward the northern slope, activating his Fire Escape Skill as he moved.
A flash of fire appeared at his feet, and his figure shot three zhang north.
Another flash, another three zhang.
He wasn’t charging the Demon Beast. Instead, he moved laterally along the riverbank on the northern edge of the gravel beach, increasing the distance between them while simultaneously using his Magic to attract its attention.
The four-eyed, bone-spurred Demon Beast was indeed drawn to Li Yuan. It ran toward him and launched a Divine Soul attack.
From over ten zhang away, the Divine Soul attack only made Li Yuan’s head feel dizzy, and the sensation quickly faded.
’Good thing the progress only displays integers. It was actually just a tiny bit away from becoming permanent.’
After about ten uses, the panel appeared.
[Fire Escape Skill (White) Permanence Condition Met]
[Make Permanent?]
A thought crossed Li Yuan’s mind.
’Yes.’
[Permanence Successful]
[Fire Element Conversion (White) has become a permanent trait.]
[Equipment Consumed]
An equipment slot opened up, and the conversion of Fire Spiritual Power seemed to become a tiny bit smoother.
Li Yuan stopped, standing by the riverbank and facing the bone-spurred Demon Beast that was approaching him in the center of the gravel beach.
The Demon Beast’s four eyes were locked onto him, the green light on its bone spurs charged to an extreme brightness, ready to be unleashed again at any moment.
Li Yuan reached his right hand into his sleeve, his fingertips touching the cool bronze surface of the Mind-Calming Plate.
’Equip.’
The bronze plate dissolved into an extremely faint gray light and entered his body.
In the next instant, a thin, cool layer formed at the back of his head, the exact same feeling as the last time he had equipped it.
[Trait Acquired: Stable Mind (Gray)]
As the Demon Beast drew closer, its four eyes narrowed simultaneously, and the bone spurs on its head flashed brightly.
An invisible shockwave erupted from the beast’s head, like a sledgehammer smashing directly into Li Yuan’s consciousness.
His mind went BUZZ.
But at the same moment, the cool layer at the back of his head held firm, like a thin shield blocking part of the attack.
The Stable Mind trait was taking effect.
Combined with Li Yuan’s own Cultivation at the Qi Refining Sixth Level, the damage felt like nothing more than a needle prick, not even interrupting the Magic he was casting.
The panel appeared.
[Stable Mind (Gray) Permanence Condition Met]
[Make Permanent?]
[Permanence Successful]
[Stable Mind (Gray) has become a permanent trait.]
[Equipment Consumed]
The equipment slot was empty once again.
Without pausing, Li Yuan released the Fireball Technique.
The bone-spurred Demon Beast had just unleashed a wave of Divine Soul attacks, and the green light on its spurs had dimmed, clearly indicating it had entered a brief period of weakness. A hint of panic appeared in its four eyes as it pawed at the ground, about to turn and flee.
Too late.
A crimson fireball exploded on the Demon Beast’s head. Both clusters of bone spurs snapped at the base, sending fragments flying. The beast’s entire body was thrown more than two zhang, tumbling one and a half times before landing on the gravel, its breathing faint.
Seeing this, Song Tiezhu immediately moved in to deliver the finishing blow. The Demon Beast’s body stiffened violently and its limbs twitched a few times. A charred, penetrating wound was burned into its dark gray fur, and then it stopped moving completely.
The gravel beach fell silent.
Song Tiezhu walked over, looking from the Demon Beast’s corpse on the ground to Li Yuan.
"Captain, did you get close on purpose just now?"
"I was testing its attack range," Li Yuan said with a nod. "It’s effective within ten zhang. Beyond that, its power drops significantly."
Han Xiaoyi came up from behind, his face pale, and cast a curious glance at the Demon Beast lying on the ground.
Li Yuan didn’t reply, instead crouching down to start harvesting the Demon Beast.
There weren’t many materials to be had from the bone-spurred Demon Beast; the only valuable parts were the two clusters of bone spurs. Although they were broken, the fractured ends of the bone glowed with a faint green fluorescence. They were a supplementary material for refining Divine Soul Class Magical Artifacts and could fetch a good price in the market square.
Li Yuan sorted the bone spurs and other materials and put them into his storage bag.
After the group finished clearing the battlefield, they returned the way they came.
As he walked off the gravel beach, Li Yuan glanced down at his panel.
’Sixteen permanent traits.’
Five Gray: Pure Body, Valley Qi Condensing Spirit, Danger Sense, Evil Warding, Stable Mind.
Ten White: Spiritual Qi Filtration, Five Grains Qi Nourishing, Circulatory Acceleration, Scale Armor, Spiritual Qi Convergence, Precision, Talisman Crafting Insight, Marrow Vitality, Rapid Fire Casting, Fire Element Conversion.
One Green: Flame Marrow Constitution.
Li Yuan looked at his extensive panel, then put it away and followed the team toward their camp.