Chapter 435 - 409: The Western Line

Chapter 435: Chapter 409: The Western Line

Back at the marketplace, Li Yuan sorted through his spoils inside his stone house.

The storage bags of the two Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators didn’t contain much. All together, there were a little over forty Middle Grade Spirit Stones, a few Tier One Magical Artifacts, and some daily consumables.

Only one item was noteworthy.

Hidden in a secret compartment of the saber-wielding Demon Cultivator’s storage bag was a communication jade slip. After peeling away the Demon Qi Seal, he found three undeleted communication logs inside.

The first two were routine dispatch orders of little value.

The third was an encrypted message.

The contents were short: With the northern supply line suspended, the outer strongholds have reached their limits of self-sufficiency. The main headquarters has decided to reroute the infiltration path, bypassing the north and taking the western route instead. The western path enters through Skeleton Ridge, northwest of the Ghost Mist Forest. An advance team has already been dispatched to survey the route. All strongholds with spare capacity should converge on Skeleton Ridge and await further instructions.

Skeleton Ridge.

Li Yuan pieced this message together with information he already had.

The short, stout Demon Cultivator from the third transit station had mentioned it: a suspected entrance to the Profound Nether Sect’s ruins was discovered beneath Skeleton Ridge, but it was sealed by a Tier Three Top Grade Restriction. The Evil Slaying Sect hadn’t acted on it at the time, probably because the northern route was still operational and they weren’t in a hurry to open a new one.

But now the northern line was cut. The second transit station had been taken out, the third had been abandoned, and the supply chain was completely paralyzed. The Evil Slaying Sect had no choice but to find another way, and Skeleton Ridge happened to be a key node on the western route.

’Rerouting the infiltration path is just a pretense. The real target is the ruins at Skeleton Ridge.’

The entrance to the ruins was sealed by a Tier Three Top Grade Restriction, which not even a Golden Core could breach. But the Evil Slaying Sect had more methods than just brute force. They were already in contact with the Abyss Sect, and who knew if the Abyss Sect had someone who could break a Tier Three Top Grade Restriction.

He then recalled the righteous-path-style surveillance array he had found above the entrance to Skeleton Ridge last time. It meant the Evil Slaying Sect wasn’t the only one with its eyes on the place.

Once the western route was established, Skeleton Ridge would likely transform from a secret ruin into a focal point for a multi-sided struggle.

Li Yuan placed the communication jade slip into his storage bag.

「That night, he set out again.」

Using the Earth Escape Technique, he sank underground and advanced northwest along the route he had taken to Skeleton Ridge before. The bonus from "Subtle Earth Evasion" shortened the journey by about ten percent, and he arrived in less than two hours.

After surfacing, he fully extended the perception net of his Dark Evil Insight.

The surface of Skeleton Ridge was no different from his last visit. It was a desolate slope of gravel, withered grass, and short trees, with weathered rock formations that looked ghastly pale under the moonlight.

Li Yuan focused his perception on the area of the ruins’ entrance, forty zhang underground.

The Tier Three Top Grade Restriction was still stable. Its three layers of seals were stacked one upon the other, showing no signs of having been touched or probed. The Spiritual Wave on the Restriction’s surface was as steady as ever, which meant no one had attempted to break it since his last visit.

He shifted his perception again, this time to a crevice in the rock layer ten zhang above the entrance.

The Concealment Array was still there.

Its three Array Hub nodes were virtually unchanged from his last scan.

Other than that, there were no new arrays, new tracks, or new spiritual power residue around the perimeter of Skeleton Ridge.

’Other factions know about this place, but they haven’t made a move yet.’

’The Evil Slaying Sect’s advance team might still be on its way, or maybe they’ve already arrived nearby but haven’t approached the core area.’

Li Yuan didn’t linger. After confirming that the perimeter was unchanged, he slipped back to the marketplace the way he came.

「Over the next few days, Li Yuan shifted his cultivation focus to the Profound Nether Killing Skill.」

This Tier Three Low Grade Demon Cultivator technique was copied from the communication jade slip of an Evil Slaying Sect Golden Core. The Cultivation Technique used Evil Qi as a base to refine Demonic Qi, gradually increasing the purity of the Demonic Qi within the body. The barrier to entry was low, but progressing was extremely difficult.

For Li Yuan, however, the barrier was nonexistent.

The Evil Qi affinity from "Evil Essence Unification," the fusion of Evil Qi and the Fire Attribute from "Flame-Evil Integration," the thirty percent condensation bonus from Demon Qi Condensation, and the foundation for circulating Demonic Qi laid by perfecting the Demon Essence Skill—all these stacked entries and cultivation technique foundations made learning the Profound Nether Killing Skill as easy as pushing a boat along with the current.

Five days passed. The Profound Nether Killing Skill went from Uninitiated to Practiced, and the Demonic Qi that settled in his Dantian was noticeably more condensed. Stacked with the Demon Qi Condensation entry, the quality of his Demon Qi Golden Core was continuously improving at a rate that was imperceptible to the naked eye, yet undeniably real.

[Profound Nether Killing Skill: Uninitiated → Practiced]

It had taken him five days to advance a Tier Three Cultivation Technique from Uninitiated to Practiced. For an ordinary Cultivator, just reaching the entry level of a Tier Three technique would take months or even years. But with his Golden Core Stage Cultivation and the stacking effect of his multiple entries, this time was compressed to the absolute minimum.

Once he became Practiced in the Profound Nether Killing Skill, the efficiency of purifying the Demonic Qi in his body rose to another level. After every cycle of circulation, the Demonic Qi that settled in his Dantian was even more condensed than before. Stacked on top of the Demon Qi Condensation entry, the quality of his Demon Qi Golden Core was slowly but surely improving.

At the same time, the condition to make the "Dark Essence Demon Mirror" permanent was to reach Great Success in a Tier Three Demon Cultivator technique. There was still a long way to go from Practiced to Great Success, but the path was now open.

In his spare time from cultivation, Li Yuan turned his attention back to the marketplace.

The monthly ledgers showed that the marketplace’s revenue was still climbing. The constant influx of Loose Cultivators and Low Tier Cultivators provided a stable consumer base, and the fact that the supply of Condensing Evil Pills couldn’t meet demand drove profits even higher. The Spirit Stone reserves in the storehouse had broken a new record.

Li Yuan went to find Xu Zhang.

"It’s time to expand the marketplace."

Xu Zhang was clearly prepared. He took a written proposal from his sleeve and spread it out on the table.

"The Commerce Association feels the same way. The shantytown south of the marketplace has already expanded outward on its own by more than two hundred zhang. If we don’t plan it out now, it’ll become a mess. I suggest expanding toward Lingxi Valley. The terrain there is flat and there’s plenty of water, making it suitable for large-scale construction."

Li Yuan glanced at the proposal and nodded.

"As we expand, I’d like to open a shop in the new district."

"What kind of shop?"

"Pills, Magical Artifacts, and Talismans. It’ll be registered under the Commerce Association’s name and called Yuanming Studio."

Xu Zhang was taken aback for a moment, then he understood.

Registering it under the association’s name would avoid drawing outside attention to the Pavilion Master himself. If the head of the marketplace personally opened a shop to sell goods, it wouldn’t look good and could attract unnecessary questions. But it was a different story if it was under the association’s name. The Mingyuan Commerce Association was in the business of trade, so one more shop was perfectly normal.

"What about the supply of goods?" Xu Zhang asked.

"I’ll provide them. You just handle the storefront and the staff."

Xu Zhang thought for a moment and nodded.

"That can work. The Commerce Association already has two shops in the marketplace, so adding one more won’t be conspicuous. As for staff, I’ll transfer two people from the main shop. All inventory will go through the association’s internal accounts, so outsiders won’t notice anything unusual."

"How do we split the profits?"

"The Commerce Association takes a twenty-percent cut."

"Fifteen percent."

"Deal."

With the matter of Yuanming Studio settled, Li Yuan returned to his stone house.

After sitting down cross-legged, he split his Divine Sense into eight threads and controlled them simultaneously.

The first Divine Sense Line guided his Spiritual Power to circulate the Profound Nether Killing Skill. The second controlled the temperature of the medicinal liquid in his Pill Furnace. The third maneuvered a talisman brush to draw Spirit Patterns on talisman paper. The fourth monitored the fusion state of ores in an Artifact Refining furnace. The fifth through eighth threads were respectively responsible for the passive perception of Dark Evil Insight, real-time monitoring of the marketplace’s Defensive Array, and two threads kept on standby for emergencies.

Eight threads, running in parallel. Each one operated stably, without interfering with the others.

The strength of his Golden Core Stage Divine Sense, combined with the permanent "Divine Split Multitasking" entry, made his ability to multitask far exceed that of his peers. Eight Divine Sense Lines was his current stable limit; any more would cause a drop in precision. But eight was enough to handle all his daily needs.

Cultivating, performing alchemy, making talismans, and refining artifacts—four tasks at once. His efficiency was at least three times higher than if he had done them one by one.

「Several days later, Li Yuan used a Teleportation Array to travel to Mozhou.」

Near the Spirit Vein Core node, the Jade Bead’s nurturing nest was still operating stably.

He used the "Earth Vein Spiritual Pivot" to perceive the repair status inside the bead.

The first phase of repairs was mostly complete.

The eight energy voids in the shallow layer had all closed. The corresponding surface cracks had shrunk by nearly seventy percent, and the two shallowest cracks had almost completely disappeared, leaving only the faintest of traces. Of the twelve main Spiritual Power circulation circuits inside the bead, one and a half of the four broken ones had been repaired, allowing Spiritual Power to complete a partial loop along the restored trunk line.

But the damage to the middle and deep layers had barely changed.

The penetration depth of the fragmented-component powder used as a medium was limited. After being converted by the powder, the Spirit Vein’s energy could only reach the outer edge of the bead’s middle layer at best. Any deeper, and the energy loss during transmission increased sharply, leaving almost nothing by the time it reached the voids.

The second phase of repairs would require higher-quality Homogeneous Materials, or a new medium capable of directly channeling the Spirit Vein’s energy to the vicinity of the bead’s core.

Li Yuan recalibrated the nurturing nest’s parameters, concentrating the Spirit Vein’s energy to penetrate toward the two voids in the middle layer closest to the outer edge, attempting to extend the medium’s effective depth through continuous saturation.

The effect was limited, but it was better than nothing.

Before leaving Mozhou, he lingered for a moment near the Spirit Vein Core, using the "Earth Vein Spiritual Pivot" to sense the energy fluctuations in the direction of the sealed area.

Everything was stable. There were no abnormalities.

He returned to the marketplace.